January 1 2010

How many of us will miswrite the date these next couple weeks, but time is relative- only until there are assignments looming. As a reminder, everyone is to turn in their responses to Black Boy this Monday, the exception being those who read the first section of The Fountainhead. If you have forgotten th the questions, look back on the blog for December 15. We are spending only Monday on this material. Midterms are looming, and the term is extremely short. I am in the midst of finishing your Thanatopsis rewrites. Well done!

The French songwriter Jacques Brel wrote the following. It is lovely message I wish to share with you all as a nod to the New Year.

Our Deepest Fear.......

Je vous souhaite des rêves à n'en plus finir
Et l'envie furieuse d'en réaliser quelques uns.
Je vous souhaite d'aimer ce qu'il faut aimer
Et d'oublier ce qu'il faut oublier.
Je vous souhaite des passions. Je vous souhaite des silences.
Je vous souhaite des chants d'oiseaux au réveil
Et des rires d'enfants.
Je vous souhaite de résister à l'enlisement, à l'indifference, aux vertus négatives de notre époque.
Je vous souhaite surtout d'être vous!


Our Deepest Fear.......(English translation)
My wish for you is that you have a neverending series of dreams and a furious desire to realize a few of them.
My wish for you is that you love what must be loved and forget what must be forgotten.
I wish you passions. I wish you silences.
My wish for you is that you hear the songs of birds and the laughter of children at your awaking.
My wish for you is that you resist the downtroddenness, the indifference, the negative virtues of our era. My wish for you especially is that you be YOU!