What are you doing right now?

[EndOfTheEarth]

Besides posting on here and replying to this thread. Original credit for this goes back to Fate and Nathan on MX.

[nathan_p]

Really trippy Victorian history book. Some useful information, but most of it is pretty skeevy. It has the same tone as that bullshit kiddie history book Winston read in 1984.

[Hannah]

Dear God. v.v I'm stressed out at the beginning of summer.

First, I'm about to start volleyball practices that will be way more often than they used to be, and then rehearsals will be twice weekly on top of that. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to read 'most of these works before the school year begins;'
Augustine- Confessions
Dostoevsky- Crime and Punishment
Goethe- Tragedy of Faust
Homer- Iliad
Homer- Odyssey
Paton- Cry the Beloved Country
Tolstoy- War and Peace
Virgil- Aeneid
I'm already half-way through June, and I'm still on book two of Iliad. And that's because I read slow as hell because I'm a stupid homeschooler who's never experienced the pressure of a real classroom. And there's no way I'm going to be able to remember all the crap I'm supposed to remember by next school year either.

And I haven't even finished this year's biology course yet because I fell way behind during volleyball season. And I agreed to do Latin over the summer so that I could get a head start on book 2.

And then next year, I'm supposed to do all of these stupid subjects;
Math- Algebra 2 in the first semester, precal at community college in the second. But I'm going to fail because I'm stupid and I've never had to actually take tests and be graded on a deadline.
Science- Chemistry. And it's the same curriculum as this year and I had to do shitloads of extra credit work that my mom just made up so I could pass.
World lit- Which I'm going to fail because I'm not going to have read the books I'm supposed to.
World history- Which I'm going to fail because I'm so stressed out about failing all of the other subjects. Not to mention how I'm STUPID.
Latin- Which is hard. And I just don't want to do it. And I'm going to fail because all I could think about was how dirty those first two sentences were.
Apologetics- Which I'm going to fail because right now I HATE GOD FOR MAKING ME SO STUPID.
Debate- Which I'm going to fail because I'm too pre-occupied about seeing my God damn ex there and I'm pretty sure that my partner won't want to debate with me again.

Not to mention volleyball, with games and practices four times a week because the schedule makers just assumed that I wasn't stupid like the rest of the kids and could handle a busy schedule.

And I'm trying to pass everything so I can hopefully make it (with a scholarship) into this residential high school so I can get out of this fucking house and away from my fucking parents but even if I go there, I'm going to fail because I'm stupid.

And now my mom's mad at me for getting stressed because I'm a 'drama queen' and I'm just acting stupid but it's not acting because I really am stupid. And now I'm crying because I'm 15 and I have no control over my fucking emotions and I just want to be eight again.

Cause everything was easier when I was eight years old.

[Nighthawk]

I feel your pain. I have to read four two-inch-thick non-fiction books AND do reports on the authors AND do parallel readings before the school year starts. Not to mention I need to take Driver's Ed, get my license, and get a job sometime this summer... >.>

[Hannah]

You mean your permit? I mean, it's kind of prohibited by law to get your license and take driver's ed within one year... Just sayin.

[Nighthawk]

o.O It might be different in my state... I know a guy who got his license the day after he took driver's ed. And I already had my permit, but it kinda expired... on March 4th...

[Hannah]

What? How could you get your permit before you take driver's ed?

I totally need to move to wherever the hell you live. o.o

[Nighthawk]

XD It's called South Carolina. All you have to do is take a little test to get your permit. Lots of kids I know fail it several times after studying the book hard, but I only skimmed through once and only missed two questions. ^^"

I gotta go. Bye! ^-^

[nathan_p]

Fuuuuck Latin, man ;_;

Anyway. If you need any help throughout the year, uh... drop me a line? I'm willing to help out.

Some words on a few of those books.

Crime and Punishment is awesome and I love it. However, it is a bit hard to read. And read it before attempting War and Peace.

Speaking of which, I wish you the best of luck, and use Spark Notes. I'm a Russian lit geek, and I really could not make it through that book.

Faust is pretty ace. Be sure and get a good translation, though.

As for the Aeniad, the Iliad, and the Odyssey... also be careful to get good translations. All three works are pretty good, though the Odyssey is my favorite.

(I would recommend reading the poems/plays -- Faust, the Aeniad, the Iliad, and the Odyssey -- first. They're much easier reading than the other shit. Oh, that and they're fucking long; I'd recommend getting some Spark Notes so you know where the "good bits" are. No one will quiz you on the tiny, tiny things.)

[Hannah]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I have to read them mostly in a certain order as to which come first in the textbook.

But, um, what exactly constitutes a 'good translation'?

[nathan_p]

Ooh, I see.

Since it's in your textbook, it's probably middle-grade, buuuuut I look for translations that are more a translation of the intent/meaning than bound to the meter or rhyme scheme.

Also given you're supposed to learn Latin, if you see a side-by-side Latin/English translation of, uh... whichever of those poems are in Latin, get it. They're brilliant inventions.

[Hannah]

Oh yeah... I think the dude give gives us some wiggle room with the translations, he only specifies which to get for a couple books. I'm pretty sure that he chose, uh, that kind.

Oh, that sounds sweet. I'm doing most of the books on audio because I learn better that way, so I don't know...

[nathan_p]

Aww ;_; Even so, it's more of an aesthetic thing most of the time; translators generally do try to keep most of the meaning, even if English forces them to get tricky with meter and rhyme.

You might not see any, but if you do, get them :D I have a few side-by-side books to practice my German. If audio works better for you, then by all means do audio.