Geekery

Sometimes people I know come up with amazingly geeky things, and it makes me feel so much better about being a bit geeky on occasion. Here's something that Ruth came up with, which I loved. In primary and secondary school I used to hate assessments based on 'creativity' - because I felt like it wasn't really a viable component for fair judgement. Now I wish there were more creative things in the course, preferably involving cutting & pasting, and a good lot of crayons.

Total Disgrace at the End of Week 6

So I suggested that we all bring some wine to the last course A seminar (which I was happy to see the back of). Naturally everyone takes to the idea enthusiastically. I then suggest that we all drink whenever the word "manuscript" (or ms) is used. Some were pretty game, and having suggested it, I could hardly back down.

After explaining to everyone (in the context of the Katherine Group) that I was an early convert to fornication, I suggested that we all retire to the common room to finish off the wine. It was probably a little bit over ambitious.

The long and short of it is that I woke up in my bed later that evening, having spewed on Topher's side. Strategic to the last.

Saturday I spent gradually recovering from my hang over, which was not too bad, all thing considered. If you get drunk early enough in the evening, by morning time the hang over will have washed over you whilst you slept.

Today I again failed to get any work done. 2 days of not working at Oxford is pretty radical. There was rain earlier in the day and then the sun came out. We bundled up and went for a walk by the Isis, and fed the ducks. I wore my riding boots, which double as wellies, and walked through many puddles. We saw rowers, who didn't look like they were enjoying themselves.

I'm meeting with Rebecca later on to do some work... but right now I am thinking about what to cook for dinner...

I remember a time when I didn't work in the library every day...

p.s. Do-well, Do-better, and Do-best are three characters from Piers Plowman. What I want to know is: where is Do-nothing?

Away with me

Right now I am in the Bodleian library trying to churn up some kind of outline for my C essay, so I can give it into Sally for some feedback. This will be good, obviously - except the catch that I have to come up with the thing first. Hahaha... There's so many ideas, and I've done a lot of reading. I'm just evading actually trying to put them together in a coherent way. Bold headings 'femininity,' 'laughter,' 'literature as recreation,' etc. are running loose and refusing to stay where I put them.

So I turn on my Google Reader and look at some blogs instead. One blogger blogged (yesterday) about how it's Friday and a good day and she is joyful because she is going to go and finish a photoshoot.

I am green with envy.

So who thinks I should throw my notes down the drain and run away with the circus, mmm? Or just run home to Toronto, and spend all my time on frivolous pretty things?

I stopped and picked up some golden ginko leaves from just outside Keble. There's a tremendous amount of beauty everywhere in Oxford. I just wish I had time to appreciate and document it all properly...

Here's a little excerpt from my email to my college supervisor. I reckon it'll be a good way for you to be caught up with how I'm feeling at the mo'.

...You are right in pointing out that I may be suffering premature despair, though I tend to think of it as commitment phobia. I guess looking back now, my four years of undergraduate studies was like falling in love with the Middle Ages. Everything went well and I was fascinated and intrigued and really wanted to find out more - time spent with my studies felt like they went by really fast, and everything was rewarding. In comparison graduate studies is like moving in with the person. All of a sudden we are spending ALL our time together - and this person is expecting devotion and commitment on a level which I had thought was what I wanted - but turns out to be a bit scary. Things start to get kind of guilt-trippy too - I imagine my 'partner' saying things like 'So, where were you today? 'Cos I was waiting for you at the library...' (baleful silence ensues). When I think of quitting this degree, this person says 'But don't you love me any more?' and of course I say 'No no no, I still find you really interesting and everything....' (but not with quite enough conviction).

Then 'All Along the Watch Tower' comes on.

Do we all know 'All Along the Watch Tower'? It beings 'There must be some kind of way out of here, said the Joker to the Fiend. There's to much confusion...etc.'

This, then, is where I'm at. But let's face it, things aren't all that bad. It could all be worse. I could have PAID to do this - but I didn't. Let's just sit back, and contemplate the silver lining, eh? (literally the silver lining in my case - or rather, lined with pounds sterling).

Ordinary Lives and Extraordinary Verse

Sometimes I search for things on Google and end up getting very unexpected results. It would be like plunging my hand into a sandbank looking for a pebble and coming up with a pretty bit of polished glass. I know I could make the analogy more fancy - and say that it's like finding a bit of gold - but this one thing I found is definitely beach glass. It has that kind of feel to it.

It's from a blog called The Conceptual Oyster. Enjoy.

conceptual oyster: a poem about us?