That is amazing! I am just barely beginning to learn it. I love roman culture and what not. So along with my study of Latin, I am also learning it's origin. Nice to meet you by the way. I am Alexis.

Yupp!
Easy really :]
Thnx for actually reading it!

I'm sorry. I didn't mean modernism as a whole (there's too many isms in there, anyway!). Just that style of prose writing. Though, you're right about Eliot, of course! He completely revolutionized poetry, and brought about much of the ideas of modernity that were used by Fitzgerald and Lowell and, well, everyone and their half-brother's call girl.
Hm.... Joyce, though... Philosophically, I agree. I was thinking more of who created the normative prose style, and I see that more in Hemingway than Joyce. He probably influenced such writers as Jack Kerouc and such, but I don't see his prose style to be quite as far-reaching. That isn't to put him down at all! He's a brilliant writer, one of the top greatest the world has ever produced. That's undeniable. But, and maybe this is just a totally flawed perception of literary development, it seems as if Hemingway's writings created more of the normative modernist prose style than Joyce's works. I see his fingerprints on everything.
I was probably disjointed in my rave-mode when I wrote about Hemingway, as well. Take what I say with a grain of salt. ;) I'm prone to hyperbole when I rave. I may say about seventy different things are the best ever, or the number one example of x,y,z, or whatever. ;) I'm apologizing up front.
However, do I detect some anti-Hemingway sentiment in your tone? Or, am I mistaken? Don't worry. I'm not one of those people who troll the internet looking for a debate. I don't even enjoy that at all. I'm just honestly wondering. =)

...I'm sorry these messages are so long and strange!

More like four... But, the book I'm focusing on is 'The Sun Also Rises'. Have you ever read that? Hemingway is one of my favorite writers! He's so pithy. You can see his influence in so many other works. Why, he practically founded the modern (and, as a result, postmodern) style. We could argue that we would never have had 'The Stranger' by Camus without Hemingway, as well. At least, Jean-Paul Sartre made that point in his literary criticisms. What books do you prefer? I adore the modernist writings of the Lost Generation, but I also like WWII era and postwar era modernism, like, well, Sartre and de Beauvoir. But, Gothic has always enthralled me. Poe is just such a fantastic writer, and I really enjoy Le Fanu and Emily Bronte, as well. Neo-Gothic and speculative fiction can be good, too, when well done. Lovecraft is just astounding in his creative prowess, and Bradbury is my idol. Neil Gaiman is a favorite, too. I can see a lot of Bradbury in his writing style, but he has more of a current, punk-rock edge. For outright postmodernism, Chuck Palahniuk is fantastic. His minimalism is just a thing of beauty. There's this scene in 'Haunted' where he describes a bed as cold and hard. My sister and I rave regularly about how that speaks volumes about the characters. So brilliant! Otherwise, I just finished 'Descent into Hell' by Charles Williams, and he is a fascinating writer. Have you read any of his works? I need to read more of his!
Are you reading anything right now? Do you have an absolute favorite book that stands above the rest? My favorite book just has to be 'The Great Gatsby'. I love it. Every time I read it, the scintillating prose holds me to the end. It's just a phenomenal work of literature.

Meh. Infusions are delightful as well. I'd be a lost soul without them. Embrace the brews!

So, not that tea isn't possibly the greatest thing since first learning how to apply color crayons to nice, clean walls, would you care to chat books? I'm mad about books.

Those are delicious teas! They are both so different. Black tea is very cozy, while green tea feels more fresh. Black tea feels like a quilt and a fire and a dusty collection of Victorian novels. Green tea is like a light spring rain and a run in the field with no shoes on and a smell of growing things.

Or... this random bout of romanticizing of beverages may simply be the sign of an unhinged mind.

The best tea I have ever had is Dragon's Well Tea (rough translation). My friend's mother sent it to her from China. It local to her area and is fresh and yummy. The best green tea ever. The best of the best. You drink through the best, and then you sort the best of those, and then you find God, and he is holding Dragon's Well Tea. So, you have to try and steal it, and he turns you into a newt. But, I got better and the tea is amazing!

I also like fresh jasmine. Fresh jasmine... I am going to grow a tea garden so that I can have fresh herbs always and forever.

But, for store blends, I really like Good Earth original. They have quotes on the bags, spicy flavor, and I feel so Oregonian when I drink them that my little heart starts playing to the beat of Decemberists music and the script for Fight Club plays through my brain on repeat.

How about your favorite tea?

I would take kidney failure over a tea-less life any day. It would be a pitiful and empty sort of existence, one of shallowness and soulless misery.

Really? That's quite funny. I suppose it must be. Portland is very fond of teas. That's my homeland. But, actually, few people drink as much tea as I do. I will die of kidney failure, surely.
Isn't that a cheerful thought?