Mass, archery, and not much else

Today was a nice day - in the 60s, sunny, and raining at the same time : P

I went to Mass today, and they gave us lunch! yay! Ran into Miguel and Chiara there, as well as Annie - she's a Roman Catholic, but this is the first time she's been to Mass at the chaiplancy. So I've gone from knowing no one to knowing three people.

After Mass I wandered about campus enjoying the sun. And the rain. Then it was back to the room for some reading before archery. manbeast forgot about archery today, so when I went to get him he had just started cooking dinner and he asked me to wait for him. So we were about an hour late for archery. I don't mind that so much, but I do mind that I then had to watch him eat. Remember the scene from Beauty and the Beast where the Beast doesn't know how to use a spoon? A lot like that, yeah.

Anyway, it would appear that taking a month off has completely wrecked my shot : P Hopefully next weekend will be better because I was all over the place tonight. I didn't go to Top Bar after because I was feeling a bit run down for some reason, so I just came back to the room for some more recreational reading (ie, webcomics)

And that's about all.

Super Awesome Special Three-Day Update Blog, GO!

Ok so, I meant to update on Saturday, but the Internet went out and didn't come back until Monday afternoon. So then I meant to update Monday evening, but I got distracted... So here's a three-day update! I don't expect anything entertaining to happen tonight, so maybe it can count as a four-day update including Tuesday as well.

SATURDAY

Saturday (I just typed that Satyrday... interesting...) Lisa came to visit! Very exciting : ) I met her at the train station and we bought day bus passes and proceeded to explore Colchester. By the way, the one-day passes are completely worth it if you're going too and from University. The passes cost 2.80, and to get from University to town and back again costs 3.60. Lisa brought me tasty American junk food : )

We took the bus to high street and wandered aroung, thinking about lunch. We went to the tourist information building and asked if they could reccomend any restaurants. They reccomended The Lemon Tree. We thought about it, wandered back up High Street, and completely ignored their reccomendation, choosing to eat at a nice little cafe called Roxi. The food there was excellent and pretty reasonably priced too (in pounds anyway... I'm trying not to think of the dollars : P). The waitresses were all super friendly as well. We got some bread and calimari as appetizers, and then both got cottage pie as a meal.

Cottage pie is a sort of casserole dish... kind of... Well, basically it's beef, peas, carrots, and onions all cooked together, then topped with mashed potatoes and covered in cheese and baked. And the portions were huge.

So after lunch we walked around some more. We went to Red Lion Books... actually, it was Red Lion Ooks... and I finally bought a copy of Peter Pan! The books there were slightly cheaper than in London. Also, Red Lion Ooks is right across the street from the Red Lion Hotel! I took some pictures.



That's the hotel. It's got shops underneath it - a chocolate shop and something else. The dark archway people are standing in has the entrance to these shops, and the entrance to the hotel further back.



This is what you see when you walk in. A staircase right away - hope you're packing light.



This is looking up from on the stairs. The ceiling is a big skylight so the stairwell is pretty bright. didn't go into the reception area and didn't see any rooms. The construction looks pretty rustic, but also in good shape from what I saw. The carpeting on the stairs may be an unfortunate color choice, but at least it's not too ragged : P I didn't see a carpark anywhere nearby, but it is possible I missed it.

Next Lisa and I explored Castle Park. We sat on Roman foundations under a bridge and watched kids try to climb the castle walls. There was some kind of small agricultural fair going on. There was a horse. We xplored pretty much the whole park - it's huge. It has a lovely lake and a river. We got ice cream even though it was a bit chilly, and wandered all over the place.



Pretty flowers



I think this is technically no longer Castle Park, but it was still very pretty.

After that we caught a bus back to the University and I showed her around the campus. Then it started raining so we hid out in my room and ate Doritos and talked. Lisa colored a picture and shared stories. It was good times : )

I took the bus with her back to the North Station and we parted ways. When I got back to the room I sat down to blog, only to find the internet missing. Sigh. So, I finished doing my research for the Metamorphosis paper and then proceeded to attempt to beat my high score in pinball. It didn't work. In fact it was sort of pathetic.

SUNDAY

Happy belated birthday Grandma! It would have been on time had I had Internet : P

Sunday I got up and went to Mass. Had lunch (I'm slowly but surely eliminating the perishables). The Internet still wasn't back, so I wrote the Metamorphosis paper, so that's done! No more papers! Some revising yet, but the hard part is finished. Then I beat my second highest score on pinball... but my high is 7 million... probably won't be beating that any time soon.

Archery Sunday evening was the first annual super awesome Easter extravaganza : P We pinned balloons to the targets - three types, confetti-filled, pearly normal ones, and animal shaped - and shot at them. There was a pinata pinned to one of the targets, but as it turns out, arrows are not the best way to break a pinata. There were also enormous chocolate eggs at the center of each target. I took it upon myself to only shoot at animal shaped targets, and I popped a lot of them. I was having a really good night for shooting : P I also shot one of the center eggs. Thing completely shattered. It was awesome. At the end of the night we simply tore the pinata open and went on to top bar to hand out prizes : P I won the prize for most animals slain, as well as the nickname The Huntress, which is the best nickname I've ever had : ) Prizes were five-inch plastic trophies. I plan to keep toothpicks in mine.

Here are some pics of the enormous egg I shattered:




Watch shown for size comparison : P It was delicious.

After top bar I found an open computer lab and posted the blog about the Internet being down. Before archery I had stopped by the library to pick up a movie to keep me occupied that night - Troy. I forgive its tragic inaccuracy for its violence and attractive cast : ) I watched it with my tub of ice cream, and it was good.

MONDAY

The Internet was back Monday! I signed on and went to class. After Versions of Modernity lecture, I stopped by the Information Desk to ask where the best place to catch the bus to Stansted is. Then I went by the Lit Office to see if any more of my essays had been graded - and got my Early Modern Culture essay back! I got a 70!! That's a "first"! That's freaking awesome. Of course now he's going to expect my next paper to be just as good... and I'm not sure that it is. I certainly had trouble finding sources for it. Well, we shall see. I'm just glad it's done, honestly...

Got back to the tower and had lunch. By the time I was done with lunch, the Internet was crippled and barely running. Then it went away again, so I took a nap. When I woke up, it was back on and running smoothly! Hurray! Hopefully it is for good this time.

Around 4, Vicki came to get me to make a trip to Tesco. We went with her friends Nora and Lucy, who are fun people. Turns out, Vicki has a car! So we didn't walk : P That was awesome. I bought some milk for hot chocolate and bread. I mean I also bought bread. Not that I bought milk for bread. Because really, bread does not require milk.

Sadly I didn't need anything heavy while I had the advantage of a car. Vicki invited me to a party on flat 4 on Thursday. It's partly a general party, partly a birthday party for Vicki since her birthday is in April and no one will be around. I plan to go - it's at 8, so the archery meeting will be over - but only for a short while since I'll need some sleep, and I anticipate much smoking and drinking anyway.

So I chilled in the room doing random stuff for a while until i got hungry around 8 or 9 for dinner. While I was cooking some pasta, Vicki came in for dinner too, so we ate together and ended up talking until like, 11. Manbeast came in around then completely trashed, followed shortly by Mark or Mike... he lives on my flat and i can't remember his name... The last time I saw someone moving like manbeast was moving, he was promptly sick all over the place, so Vicki and I told manbeast to get to bed. He mumbled something incoherent and Mike, or possibly Mark, led him off in a daze. It was pretty disgusting. I don't get this whole getting drunk thing...

Well anyway, then Vicki and I were like "time to get out of the kitchen". After all, it was St. Patrick's day. So we went back to our rooms. I started talking to Kai and next thing I knew it was 3 AM. But before three AM happened... return of the mysterious thumps! Only this time they were annoying thumps around 2 AM. I'm glad I wasn't sleeping because really they were more like crashes. I think it was the guy below me opening his window, shouting out into the night, then slamming it closed. Repeatedly. Whatever.

So I went to bed around 3, a little after since I stayed up reading Dorian Gray for a bit.

TUESDAY

I woke up around ten this morning of my own accord. It was odd - normally I sleep til about 11:30 on Tuesdays. But it smelled like Summer in my room - like how the house smells when it's finally warm enough to open the windows and you leave the lights off because the sunlight is enough. Like how it smells in the upstairs when it gets warm, before dad puts the window unit in. So I got up. And it was cold. What the heck. I was very disappointed.

I did my morning stuff, read some webcomics... and discovered I had nothing left to do. So I took a walk. It was cold outside, too. When I came back I finally blogged!

Further plans for the evening include: Shower, revising a paper. Possibly a nap.

The end.

titles are hard

Church this morning. Uneventful, except that Father Martin announced that the chaplaincy is planning to go to a cathedral for mass during Holy Week if enough people are interested. I signed up for info. I could stand to go to a church where there is music : ) plus, cathedrals are pretty. The one we will be hopefully going to is in Brentwood, which is a little more than halfway to London from Colchester. Probably about an hour drive. I hope it works out.

After church I did some more class reading, which is ridiculous because I'm about two weeks ahead in my reading, which means I don't have much left to read. Then I touched up the essay that's due Thursday, so any work I need to have finished is finished. I was looking at the prompts for the myth paper, and they all suck a lot. I was hoping there would be a question about Kubla Khan, because I could get 4000 out of a line-by-line analysis of that poem, plus there's a lot of material out there about it. Alas, no prompts about Kubla Khan. Depending on how class goes this week, I may ask if I can make up my own prompt.

Archery tonight was good. It was a pretty small group, and we went out to Top Bar after for amusing conversations about strange UK customs that British people think are prevalent all over the world. No, not all restaurants are carpeted elsewhere in the world...

Anyway, now I am here, completely without any work to do. How shall I waste my time tonight....

post for the whole weekend!

I didn't update last night because I didn't feel like doing anything after I got back from London. So here is a post for both yesterday and today!

Saturday morning I woke up around 8:45 to catch a bus to catch a train to London. There was blood all over the bathroom. Not asking. I left for the bus and startled a vicious looking mommy duck on my way... the entire campus was freaking erupting into springtime. There were yellow daffoldils everywhere, birds chirping, dozens of squirrels chasing each other, and even a bumblebee despite the chilliness. Absurdity.

I was way early for the bus, so I waited for a bit. Luckily, being early meant that the rest of the traffic wasn't out yet, so the bus to the station went pretty quick. I got to the station and asked a random woman if she was going to London. She said yes, so I got onto the train she got on to. The trains are nice. We're not talking South Shore here. Anyway, I was right on time for a train. It was pretty packed, so I sat down next to a girl about my age. When the train started, she called her boyfriend and proceeded to have one of the most inane conversations I've ever eavesdropped on : P I brought my DS, so I spent the train ride getting acquainted with the new Super Mario Bros. The train ride seemed really short. We arrived at Liverpool St. Station around 10:52.



Here's Liverpool Station! It's biiiig. It's filled with American chains - Starbucks, Burger King, and all of that. Lisa met me here, and we decided to go see some museums. We got on the Underground to go to the Victoria and Albert museum. The Underground is really easy to ride and not confusing at all, but very crowded.

When we got off the train, we decided we wanted lunch, and lo - as we left the station a cafe with all kinds of delicious looking things in the window presented itself. I got a Cornish pastry. Yummmm. Then we headed to the museum.

These are pictures of the museum. It's huge. It's basically where Britain put all the souveneirs it took from the countries it invaded, plus some British stuff for variety. We got through a sculpture room, Japan, China, Renaissance, tons of silver oddments, and the gift shop before having to leave to catch the show.

I did not take pictures of Phantom : P I mean really. But the show was amazing - and the Phantom was the most amazing! They definitely should have gotten him instead of Gerard Butler : P The show is much more intense live than on screen. Altogether, a great experience.

We weren't sure what to do when the show let out since we weren't hungry yet, so we wandered through Trafalgar Square, which looks much different when it's not filled with more people than it can hold, and along the Thames

Here's a picture taken from Trafalgar Square... just a general London looking scene, and a chance to use the "night scenery" mode on my camera : P

The London Eye all lit up at night.

The London Eye, me, and Big Ben waaaaaaaaaay in the back.

I must have taken ten pics of Big Ben, but most of them turned out blurry...

Anyway, walking around the Thames was really nice. There were hot dog and roasted nut vendors all over the place. It smelled like Comisky, which made Lisa and me hungry enough to go in search of food. We ended up at a little cafe where I got a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich. Then, we headed back to the Underground and parted ways.

Getting back to Liverpool Station was easy. When I arrived, I saw there was a train leaving for Colchester in about ten minutes, so I hopped aboard and settled in with my DS. I swear the ride seemed like it only took ten minutes, but I was distracted. When we arrived in Colchester, there was a bus waiting to go back to university, which was nice : ) I got back to the dorm around 10 and signed on to see Steph befre she left for turnabout. I got to talk to my mom and dad for a pretty long time - voice chat is awesome. I went to bed pretty early though because I was exhausted.

This morning I woke up, did some low-thought morning activities, and went to church. Then I came back to give my essays one more look over before submitting them to the online work database. Once I finished that, I went and printed copies and filled out the forms needed to hand them in on Tuesday. It's an awful lot of bother just to turn in a paper. Then I tried to pay off the rest of my fees online, but for some reason, could not. I must locate the place to pay in person.

Neither Pete nor Bashar showed up for archery tonight, so I spent the session listening to manbeast babble on about the novel he's never going to write. There have been better sessions.

And now, I am here.

The end.

Fun productivity? I... I don't understand...

So, the cough syrup I bought doesn't work, and it tastes really gross - like black licorice flavored menthol. Ew. The only thing that really stops the coughing for a while is hot tea, so I've been drinking a lot.

Anyway, this afternoon was Mass. The bishop was visiting, and he has a much nicer voice and less serious personality than the normal priest. The bishop used to be the priest here at the University chaplaincy, which I thought was pretty cool, and because he was visiting, they brought out the good music - there were two flautists, a cellist, a violinist, a pianist, and two guitars. And possibly some bongoes. I don't know why they don't do that every Sunday... Anyway, they fed us afterwards too, so that was nice : )

When I got back, I worked on my paper a bit more, and I'm fairly pleased with it - only, I'm 500 words short and not sure what else to say. I'll have another look once I've been away from it for a while.

Archery tonight was more crowded than last night, but that just leaves more time for socializing. Bashar and Chris were both absent, so I talked with Pete. Afterwards, I joined a bunch of the group who were going to Top Bar. It was really nice - nothing at all like the bar atmosphere I'm used to. It was actually a good place to sit and talk. I started off mostly talking to Pete, but ended up giving the whole table a mini lecture on Peircian color theory (thanks mr. chris!!) It ended up being a lot of fun, so I think this will become an every weekend thing.

Anyway, I'm back in the dorm for the night since I've got classes in the morning - time to relax with some webcomicry : )

It is saturday.

So lots of stuff happened after I blogged last night.

I heard back from the internship people. They don't want me right now, but they do want to hang on to my application. Well, I've heard that before, but it couldn't hurt.

Then, the Internet went out around 9-10 o'clock. I was in the middle of a conversation with Emily, and had been just about to e-mail Krannert about grad school. The timing sucked... it was right when my friends start to come online. There was nothing I could do about it and I was really bummed out. I wrote a little, but then just went to bed with my school reading. The Outsider bummed me out even more... man that's a depressing book. I don't reccomend it to anyone who enjoys life.

When I got up this morning, Internet was still down. I trudged out to campus to find a computer lab and discovered that it's COLD out. Curses. When I got into the campus proper, the square was full of army guys. It was a little surprising... I guess they were having a family day or something, because a lot of them had strollers. SX Express was absolutely packed with them. Well, I went on to the computer lab only to find it closed. Of course. It's Saturday. I went to the library instead, sent out some S.O.S. messages to the computer guys, and checked my email. Then I went back to the room and went back to sleep, periodically getting up to check on the Internet.

Finally I decided I had better get some work done at the library. I don't like doing presentations and essays in libraries or labs - I need to be able to get up and wander, or snack, or play music or whatever to get these things done, and you can't really do any of those in the library. But, I needed Internet, so I got up, clicked "repair" one last time, and got dressed (this was around 1 in the afternoon. It was a good nap.) To my disbelief, it worked. Yay for the return of the Internet! I signed on and read webcomics...

Then I was feeling so pleased that I went out to Tesco just to buy soup and cough syrup. When I got back, I started working. Right now, I have one presentation finished, the other mostly finished, and half an essay written. It's been a productive day.

At 6 o'clock I went out to archery, which was fun as usual. My high score to date is 15 out of 30 which isn't so great but not too bad... I didn't go to Top Bar with everyone because I wanted to get more done on the essay so I can work on the presentation during the week. I'll probably go tomorrow, though, because they're a pretty fun group of people who aren't likely to pressure me to drink.

I got back to the room and had a really hot shower and hot soup and was still cold. I hope it warms up as quickly as it got cold. I got to talk with Brady briefly, which made me happy, and now my will to work has quite spent itself, so I believe I will do something recreational instead.

That is all.

i'm lazy, but productive...

Today I had planned to go grocery shopping, work on my essay, and go to archery. When I woke up I just did not feel like walking to Tesco, so I worked on my essay instead, and got the hardest bit done. When I got back from the library though, I went to enter the code into the dorm entrance, and my mind went completely blank. I forgot the code I have known effortlessly since January 9th. I had to wait for someone to walk out, and then go in...

I proceeded to work on my essay for a while.

Then I read webcomics for a really long time.

Then it was time for archery. I looked for Chris, but he was nowhere to be found so I went alone. As soon as I left the building I remembered that I had not found a solution to completely forgetting the key code.... argh. Anyway...

Archery was a much smaller group this time, but Bashar, the Syrian from last time was there, so we talked a lot and I met another guy named Pete, from Cambridge. Both of them are working on their PHDs - Bashar in software engineering and Pete in artificial intelligence (O.o) But they're both really fun to talk to, and are permanent members of the club.

We started using sights today, so I didn't do quite so well as I had the last time : P But by the end of the session I was getting the hang of it. After every session, the club goes out to one of the bars on campus to hang out - Top Bar, so called because it's on the top floor of a building. I can't tell you which because they're not named. I mentioned I don't drink and they gave me this look like "so what?" which was cool : ) Anyway, I didn't go tonight because Pete and Bashar weren't going, but we all agreed to go next weekend.

Bashar and I walked back to the tower together because the way to the Quays is just past there and he wanted to make sure I got in. I did! I remembered the code! That was so weird. Anyway, I ate a quick dinner and here I am.

Tomorrow - LONDON!!! (but i can't text Lisa for some reason! oh noes!)

packagepackagepackage

For some reason this morning I woke up around 8 AM. There was no noise in the hall and I didn't have a class til 2... the only thing I can think is that the sun woke me up, because it was a surprisingly cloudless day today, and my curtains really do nothing to keep the light out.

Well anyway, I went back to sleep. When I did wake up I ate a tiny lunch and began the reading for tomorrow. I was surprised by its length... so far for Early Modern Culture we have only had excerpts, nothing I couldn't finish in a night. This time we had a 68-page (that's English printer pages - larger than 8.5x11) travel journal, written in 1590-something. It was rather boring, and, I am inclined to believe, 60% or more made-up. I read 29 pages of it before I had to go to class, determining to print the rest out because I couldn't handle staring at the screen that long at a solid block of text (paragraphs hadn't been invented when this was written I guess). Right before I left, I checked my email, and lo! My package had arrived!! Excitement.

I went to class and discovered that I had done the reading for next week by mistake. Ah, but it's Oulipo, which really means randomness, so no one could tell and now I'm done for next week.
Sebastian actually showed up for class today and we parcelled out bits of the presentation so that we won't actually have to meet again until the day we present in class. Yay.

After class, I went and printed out the rest of the boring travel journal. Then I went and joined the sports federation and archery club... then I went to get my package!

Contained therein were my workout pants (just in time for Lent), fuzzy toe-warming socks, a spare cell phone battery, clothesline, a booklight (thank goodness!!), a back-up booklight (that is to say, string), and a lot of food... oh yes, various tasty American goodies... on Ash Wednesday. Quite the trial. Tomorrow, I will get fat.

Ash Wednesday Mass was tonight at 6, which was weird because I'm used to going in the morning and having ashes all day. Good thing it was this late though, because man, they are serious about their ashes around here. Rather than just having the ashes in a somewhat indistinct smear across the forehead, they mix the ashes with holy water, making them into a black paste, with which they draw a cross identifiable from rather a distance. It was interesting explaining the meaning of the big black cross on my forehead to my flatmates when I got back to the dorm for dinner. I mentioned something about England being mostly Anglican, and was quickly corrected. England is mostly atheist. Well, at least they are the nice sort of atheist and not the militant kind.

After a small dinner I took a shower... goodbye ashes after only about two hours... Then I sat down to try to read the rest of the boring travel journal. There really was far too much, so I just skimmed for the interesting bits, and was done rather quickly.

Tomorrow is an early class and some yummy American candy : )

The end.

Ah, late

Well this post is a bit late... technically this is February 4th. But oh well, I am still awake.

Started the day off with church, only Father Martin was called suddenly away to Ireland to attend upon his dying uncle. Before he left, he consecrated the hosts and left them for the congregation, so we had a "Eucharistic Service" instead. Sister something (I can't remember her name... but she is basically the altar and rosary society hereabouts) asked me to read the Gospel, which was awesome because I've always wanted to read the Gospel (seriously, the Gospel readings are generally much more interesting than the first and second readings). The service was considerably shorter than Mass. And there was a cellist who played beautifully.

I stopped at the campus shop after mass, hoping to find some fruit based candy to aid my essay writing, but alas, I was unsuccessful (ie, no jellybeans). I bought bananas instead. Probably better than fruit candy.

I went back to the dorm for lunch. The kitchen was a mess. Actually, it's still a mess. The cleaning crew doesn't come in on weekends, so the Heathens just leave everything for two days. The floors, counters, sinks, and dishes are encrusted with old food. The garbage is overflowing (anyone could take it out... I did not because it smells suspicious and looks moist and at this point removing it with anything but the utmost caution would probably do more harm than good). I couldn't wash a dish if I used one because the sinks are so full, and the dishes in them are too disgusting for me to want to touch to move them. I threw together a quick sandwich and ate it in my room.

Then I sat down to work on my essay. This one is really not coming together as easily as the last one. It's still not finished. I will do that Tuesday. I worked on the essay until it was time for archery.

Chris went with me, and we're both thinking of joining. There were a lot of people at this session, so there was a lot of standing around waiting for your turn. But the company was good. I met Mohammed from Pakistan and a Syrian whose name I cannot now recall.

The bows the club uses are definitely heavier and longer than what I'm used to, but I shot well enough with them. I hit the target every time, though only two bull's eyes. After the session I came back fully intending to finish my essay, but glancing at the lecture program for tomorrow, realized I was supposed to read Mrs Dalloway.

So I did that.

All in one sitting.

So basically, I'm awesome.

And now I'm going to bed. Good night.

MAIL!

Woke up this morning and saw a letter from Grandma slid under my door. Yay! Also, I have no idea how they work the mail system here. Sometimes things are left on the kitchen table, sometimes slid under doors... ah well.

Of note in Grandma's letter: Spaghetti. Oh yes. We must plan a day in March/April!

Anyway, went to my one class today - Myth seminar. Today we talked about the myth of Er... exciting stuff... heh. Anyway, last seminar there were only seven people there. Same this seminar, but 5 of them were different people... The professor was a bit exasperated : P it was rather amusing. So I guess there's about 12 people actually in the class.

After class I wanted to have a look around at the clubs and societies fair, but I was really hungry. A sign outside Essex Express (the spicy chicken place) said that they had just introduced paninis to the menu, so I went there, and had an awesome cheese and tomatoe panini. I will be going there again. Then I wandered about looking for archery club. I found it! They do exist! I put myself on their mailing list, so I'll get an email when they start doing things again... only... it costs 30 pounds to join. Hmmm. I dunno. Clubs are not this expensive in the States >.<

After that I did laundry. It went considerably faster this time. I guess Friday will be my new day to do laundry! I didn't have to wait for a machine at all. After laundry, I went to put money on my print quota. Then I went to the library to pick up some books for the paper I have to write this weekend.

And that is how I shall spend this evening... researching witchcraft in England : )