So... it's Tuesday.

And with Tuesday comes the weekly debate over whether or not to go to Irish dance. I had class and other assorted academic events from 9.30 until 5.30, just finished dinner, and (would theoretically) have to leave in 10 minutes or so for dance. Every week, I have the choice between (a) going to dance and (b) sleeping, and to be honest, (b) sounds pretty good right now. Except taking a nap at 7.30 is definitely not smart. And I need the exercise. (though that sounds less than tempting right now) I'll probably end up going, it's just a matter of dragging myself back outside in the cold... yeah, this is making me want to go even less. Heh.

Also, I'm supposed to help Ceilidh Band folk make music folders tonight, but I don't know if I'll last that long. So I'm weighing the feeling of duty/guilt against the desire for this day to be OVER already. Which will I choose? Stay tuned.

(PS-How exciting is my life? This is what you get when you sign up for NaBloPoMo.)

This is the part where NaBloPoMo gets incredibly boring.

Sorry, folks, I've got nothing today. No exciting things happened in my (admittedly somewhat self-centered) world today. Turned in the essay (hooray!), went out with most of the people in my class to celebrate, and am taking the night off.

With tomorrow comes the next essay, and tomorrow will be Crazy Busy^TM, but that'll all happen soon enough. For now, I'm going to find some way to entertain myself that does not involve schoolwork.

Essay update: (wow, aren't these fascinating)

Time logged: almost 2 more hours
Words written: 1998
Words remaining: none!
Status: one more read-through, and Bob's your uncle! (heh) How do you like that ability to stay under 2000 words?

Also, it's only 9.45. Awesome. However, I'll try not to get too complacent until I get this thing back next Monday.

Essay update:

Time logged: another hour
Words written: 1326
Words remaining: 674
Status: I just finished dinner and chatted with Jamie for about an hour... ready to sit down and finish this bad boy. Er, in a minute, after I check my email.

Essay status:

Time logged: 2 hours
Words written: 969
Words remaining: 1031
Status: between 1/2 to 2/3 done, I'd say... in only two hours! If this keeps up, I'll be able to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. Also, I'm feeling way too confident about this, especially since syntax is my worst subject. We'll see what the result is next week...

You know you've been out of touch too long when...

...your own brother doesn't recognize your voice on the phone. Hi, Müs!

In essay news:
Time logged: 3 hours
Words written: 0
Words to go: 2000
Status: outline is finished but I just can't...get...started...

Happy 200th Post!

Dear Blogger,

Wow, has it really been 200 posts? It feels like just yesterday, I was lamenting my generally boring existence and lack of job, or writing odes to Canadian television. But here we are, 200 posts later, and it's been quite a trip. We've had some good times, and some not-so-good times. We've had quite a relationship, you and I, even if it is rather one-sided. Whoops, sorry about that; I shouldn't be so judgmental. It's all right that I put more into this relationship than you do; you're busy and I understand that. You're always around when I need you, though, so I can't complain.

What, you didn't get me anything for my 200th post? That's okay, I didn't get you anything either.

Here's to another 200 mundane, rather silly posts!

Love,
Bridget

*****
And now for something completely different: This video is about the most hilarious, adorable thing I've ever seen; I've watched it five times now and it's made me laugh every single time. And it almost makes me want to have kids. Wait, who said that?

Schedule

• 8.40: leave for class
• 9.00 - 1.15: classes
• 1.15 - 2.00: talk about/pick apart Monday's essay assignment with two classmates
• 2.00 - 3.15: go into town for lunch on the market square
• 3.00: get caught in the rain
• 3.15: meeting with supervisor about Big Scary Research Paper #1
• 4.00 - 5.00: class
• 5.15: en route to my place, the bike breaks down. I walk it the rest of the way back.
• 5.30: change for yoga, grab fiddle, eat 5 mouthfuls of pasta, leave for yoga
• 6.00: arrive at yoga
• 6.10: find out that yoga is cancelled
• 6.10 - 6.45: head back up the hill with a friend to her place so she can get some money, then head back down the hill to find someplace to eat
• 6.45 - 7.45: dinner... delicious French food!
• 8.00 - 10.00: Ceilidh Band rehearsal
• 10.40: arrive home

I am wiped out, but it was a good day. Ceilidh Band is AMAZING! V. excited for next Thursday.

Good night!

Sometimes I think my computer knows too much.

After checking my email, which 'news' link should happen to show up but: Britain's Most Ridiculous Laws! I must remember not to wear a suit of armor or die in Parliament.

Hmm.

Sometimes, no matter how long you’re in a country, and no matter how accustomed to their ways you think you are, you still revert to old habits. To wit: I decided to take the bus back from Irish dance tonight, since it’s kind of dark and creepy walking back alone at 9.30. (Usually I have my bike, but the chain came off the gears, so that’s on my list of things to do tomorrow.) So I got out of dance and went to the bus stop across the street, only to find that I missed the bus by three minutes. Well, crap. I started walking, and after about two minutes… the bus passed. On the other side of the road. Because they drive on the left here. Duh.

On the plus side, I saved 50p.

In other news, there are a few interesting job postings by the Cambridge University Press, in Cambridge as well as in New York (City). The ones I’m looking at require an advanced degree in applied linguistics, conveniently enough. But do they hold jobs eight months? Would I like editing? (I think so, I can be picky. Shut up, Müs.) Would they even hire me? Do I want to go for a PhD? Would I even get into the PhD program? All good questions. Also, I’m getting tired of starting something new every two years; it’s time to find something good and stick with it. So there’s lots of pondering going on here at Windsor Castle. Where the Internet sporadically breaks down. Grr.

I'm not really sure if they're celebrating the fact that they tried to blow up Parliament, or that they failed.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Happy Guy Fawkes Night!

My fair lady

London was great! Not sure if it rivals Berlin (oh Berlin, how I miss you), but good times were had. Plus, they speak English in London, so that's one point Berlin doesn't have.

It's nice to go to a city you've visited before; it kind of takes the pressure off. You don't have the feeling that you absolutely have to visit the top 10 tourist sights, since you've already seen them. You don't have to spend half an hour figuring out where you are, where you want to go, how you're going to get there, and how to ask the guy behind the counter for the ticket you want. Fitting everything in doesn't matter as much, you're just relaxed and there to have a good time, which makes it more likely that you will actually have a good time. What I'm trying to say here is that I really didn't do very much in London, and I'm totally okay with that.

What I did do was meet up with Mandy, a former Wittenberger who's doing her PhD at University College London. We got to talk about Witt, good times as Fulbrighters, and the perils of academia. (And I was very, very envious that she is fully funded. Grr.) We took the bus up to St. Paul's Cathedral but didn't go in because it costs 10 pounds. (For a church! Prime example of how London is overpriced.) We wandered around for a bit, then went to the Tower of London, which was awesome! From the outside, it just looks like a fortress, but there is a regular complex in there, including 13 towers which held prisoners, a courtyard, the house that was built for Anne Boleyn (but wasn't finished before she was beheaded), the central White Tower which was home to kings and queens, the chapel where many, many (mostly unidentified) people are buried, and the building housing the crown jewels. We had a tour by one of the Yeoman Warders, who clearly had done this a million times, but was just as enthusiastic this time as he was the previous 999,999 times. Did you know that the Beefeaters live in the Tower? And that their dress uniforms cost 10,000 pounds?

our excellent tour guide

After hanging out in the Tower for a good 4 hours, we then went for dinner at a Pakistani restaurant, which was delicious... I am totally going to miss this kind of food when I go home. And then we had to book it across the city so I could make my 7.30 bus: from the bus, to the Tube, to the coach station, to running through the coach station, to sprinting across the parking lot... I made it to the bus at 7.29. Whew.

So now it's Sunday night, we get an essay assigned tomorrow and I'm dreading this week. But of course I'll keep you all updated on that, because it's NaBloPoMo and I have to.

Two more pictures of the Tower of London for good measure. Here's the White Tower:

... and a shot of where some of the Beefeaters live, complete with laundry:

Jolly good egg!

Just got back from London, and in the interest of NaBloPoMo, I'm posting to my blog! (*gasp*) Full details to come tomorrow, because I am wiped out. Also, because I will more than likely need something interesting mildly amusing to write. In the meantime, enjoy these photos as an appetizer:

The Tower Bridge. Not the London Bridge. People get them confused. (London Bridge is far less attractive.)

The Tower of London! Bloody and gory and creepy and wonderful.

Sunset over the Thames. Those buildings are doubtless landmarks and very interesting, but I don't know what they are.

And now, instead of the Halloween party, I am off to watch 'The Office' and to bed. Sounds like a much better evening to me.

NaBloPoMo: day two

Bridget's To-Do List for today:

• Semantics reading
• Semantics homework
• Phonology reading
• Phonology homework
• Pick up debit card from bank
• Get cash...again
• Buy student card for the bus lines
• Buy bus ticket to London
• Pick up TV
• Harass housemates to pay their shares of the TV
• Go to Aldi
• Get book from library for research essay
• Mail postcards
• Mail payment for Thanksgiving lunch
• Find suitable costume for Halloween party tomorrow night...?
• Formal Hall with Oxford students

Pretty good description of my day. How was yours?

NaBloPoMo

I've decided to give NaBloPoMo a shot, since I'm online every day and interesting stuff happens to me every day. Er... at least the first part's true. I haven't officially signed up or anything, though, so we'll see how it goes. Whether or not these posts will degenerate into incoherent and hysterical rambling is anyone's guess. (oh wait! they generally are already!)

So today's news is that I've got a violin! I'd talked to a couple of different orchestras and the university Ceilidh Band at the beginning of term about how I had to leave my violin at home, but no one had a lead on how I could borrow one. Apparently no one rents/loans musical instruments here. Finally on Wednesday, someone from Ceilidh Band emailed me to say that she found someone who'd lend me their violin until Christmas! Woo! It's a piece of crap, practically plastic violin, but it's better than nothing. Here's the analogy (I've been working on this): It's been like I've left one of my arms at home, and now I have this temporary, really cheap plastic prosthetic arm. Which looks like an arm but is not very functional. With a hook for a hand.

I guess I can't complain, since it's way better than nothing. And the guy from whom I'm borrowing it got it for 60 pounds at Costco. But still, the ability to play with dynamics or hear the vibrato that I'm using would be nice. < /music geek rant>

So there's Day One of NaBloPoMo. Bets now being taken on how many days this will actually last.

Update on the general status of things

Dad is fine, thank goodness. Apparently he has developed an infection (!), but should be out of the hospital soon. Hopefully tomorrow.

Things are generally better. I still feel really stupid a majority of the time, but I put in a lot of hours this weekend on...well, pretty much everything. So there's that. I get my essay back tomorrow, though, so will probably be in tears again.

Also, went to a formal hall at Christ's College with two of my classmates tonight. (Sidenote: Every time I hear the name of this college, it's like an expletive: Christ's! College. There is also Jesus! Green and Jesus! Lane.) This was fantastic for a number of reasons:

1. Going out to eat for relatively cheap (6 pounds...that's right, $12 is now relatively cheap for me. Good lord.) and not having to cook or do dishes.
2. Getting an insider tour of Christ's! College. The dining hall is straight out of Harry Potter, with dark wood paneling, stained glass windows, portraits, and long tables of people wearing gowns. (Though gowns were optional. It did provide a way to tell the graduates from the undergrads, though: all the undergrads were in gowns.)
3. Chatting with my classmates and finding out they're just as lost as I am!! Oh, thank God. I feel considerably better about my status in the class; if I'm at the bottom, there are at least two people almost down there with me.
4. Walking back through the city on a clear, moonlight night made me remember that I am lucky to be here. Not everyone gets to do this. I keep forgetting about that and have to kick myself once in a while.

Two more things: Hi, Hans Martin! Also, can I just say Christ's! College one more time? Awesome, thanks.

So.

Things are not good. Not, not good.

• First of all, my dad is in the hospital with a broken leg. He's fine now, but only after surgery and some time in the ICU. There are also underlying problems here that I'm not going to get into. Also, no one bothered to inform me of this until a week after it happened.
• V. lonely. *cue the self-pity* For reasons mentioned in the previous post. And the fact that I don't have good friends here yet. And that people in my class are weird and competitive as hell. *tries to beat self-pity back with a stick*
• My essay was crap. Really awful. I'm not just saying this.
• Completely lost again in class today, because I spent all last week doing reading for the essay, and not reading for my classes.
• Apparently I get all the effects of being hungover without the 'fun' of being drunk. Curse you, genes.
• Too tired to eat. I have no food anyway. This is something I should maybe remedy.

Going to bed early tonight; maybe 12 hours of sleep will help. Also, maybe I should do something fun this weekend, like go to London... let's just ignore the fact that I am po'...

Names acceptable for cats owned by a cat lady:

• Sprinkles
• Marmalade
• Mittens
• Snowball
• Cupcake
• Garbage ('TO', anyone?)

Suggestions?

Fate hates me.

I will undoubtedly die alone. With cats.

ETA: Good lord. October really is the month of doom.

Matriculation dinner, Windsor castle, etc.

The thing about not having class on Fridays is that I tend to sit around and not do anything. I have reading to do, and an essay to write, but no! Let's update my blog, shall we?

On Monday, we had a formal matriculation dinner at the College. Rumor has it, this was the best meal we'll get all year... and it was FREE. The food was indeed delicious: a three-course meal including smoked salmon with cream cheese, pork with roasted vegetables, and a lime marscapone tart. It also involved candles, more silverware than I've ever seen, mandatory gown-wearing, and lots and lots of wine. (heh) Oh yeah, and I got to sit at the head table, next to the Master of the college. (Don't know what the equivalent of his position would be in the US... something like the Dean, on a slightly smaller scale?) I'm not entirely sure how I managed this. Apparently he wanted to sit next to a linguist, or something. At any rate, it was a bit intimidating sitting in the middle of the high table, next to the Master, but I managed to make enough small talk. (and then he turned to other people at the table and I could just sit back and listen) The guy has this amazingly dry sense of humor. Added bonus: I got to hear all sorts of sordid stories about the College.

The rest of the week has been pretty much awful, with this (8-page) essay I have due on Monday. I spent the entire day Wednesday in the library reading for it, and didn't understand a thing. Just now, I sort of have an idea, but I haven't started writing yet. We'll see if I actually do know what I'm talking about when I start working on it.

Randomly, here's a picture of my house. Or, more accurately, the house in which I rent an 11' by 7' cubicle. I live on Windsor Road (how English!), so I suppose you could call this Windsor Castle:

Pictures of my cell room available upon request.