Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! This is what mine looks like:

Paper of Death.
Socks drying.

Now go out and celebrate however you see fit! And I hope yours is more fun than mine...

Why I'm a Bad Student (Part One of Many)

Because the lint on my shirt is far more interesting than the subject of my paper.

I will say, though, that I have never missed Herodotus quite this much. Never thought I would, either. I'm trying to determine if I need The Histories enough to actually go look up the book. Because, you see, that would be work. And I'm opposed to work in all forms.

I'm Impressed.

People bring their dogs with them everywhere around here. Right now, I'm sitting in the library, working on my paper. From where I sit, I can see the lake and the field near it. A man has brought his border collie out to play. His dog is very well trained. Last week, when I was walking to campus in the evening, I saw a man walking two black labs. To my surprise, both were off-lead (which I was not comfortable with--I don't care how well trained they are, you never know what might happen and Earlham Road is very busy), and neither attempted to stray from their master's side. They crossed the road and jumped through the fence into the park. I have to tell you, I was so impressed. And with all the dogs I've seen, especially in town, I've not seen one act up or be a nuisance or anything. I think British people take dog-ownership much more seriously than Americans do. And I have a lot of respect for that.

Rambling Late Night Posting

It's 3:00 AM. I've got 1300 words on my Chaucer paper. I wish I could write at 2:00PM the way I can write at 2:00AM. I might be more lucid then, as well. I really really wanted to get this paper done tonight so I can devote tomorrow to my history paper, but that might not happen. Again, I have no access to coffee until about 8:00 tomorrow morning. I don't know if I can make it that long, or if I have enough money to fuel myself through the next few days if I can make it.

Ah, well, every fall is the same for me. Late nights spent writing papers and/or reading. And then every spring, I manage to get my papers done at a reasonable time. I do not know why this is. Also, I always enjoy the fall more. I seem to like my classes better (even with nasty ones like Chinese or Spanish 232) and be more satisfied with the work I hand in. Again, I do not know why this is. Did I mention it's 3:00AM?

Fixed!

I'm working on Flickr now (I know, it's been 2+ weeks, but the Cambridge pictures should finally be up and labeled if everything goes well), so that'll be done. I'll put up the ones from this past weekend too, I think. So you can all see St. Julian's. (ETA: Fixed now!)

I've got nothing planned for the weekend except work. I've got to read the Physician's Tale and the Manciple's Tale (I figure I've already read the Wife of Bath and the Franklin, I can legitimately skip those if need be), prepare for my meeting with my creative writing professor on Monday (eek!), round up and edit at least 35 lines of poetry, write a "writerly apprasial of a contemporary poem", write an essay on the Celtic contribution to the conversion of the English, write an essay on Chaucer--I'm thinking the prompt on fortune and Providence is most workable in a week--, and prepare a presentation on the Life of Alfred and Anglo-Saxon Chronicle A, all by Thursday. Friday morning, I get up at 3:30-3:45 or so to catch the bus to the train station at 4:44, then catch the 5:50 train to Peterbourgh, ending up in Edinburgh at 11:30. It should be interesting. I think I'm going to die.

Another Pub Crawl, or, I think I'll Stick with the History People

Last night, I went on a "Harry Potter Pub Crawl" with the LitSoc. It was really kind of dull. One of my flatmates went, and some other people who I guess know people I live with as well, but they were being pretty boring. I hung out with a girl from Australia who I've met at a couple of LitSoc and History Soc events. She's apparently a member of a newly formed Craft society and is going to send me an email with their next event (she also knits). I'm excited about that. The deal with the pub crawl was you were supposed to dress up, but almost no one did. Including me. And there weren't very many people, and they weren't very sociable.

I could have gone to the Norwich Beer Festival with the History Soc tonight, and I probably should have, seeing as I really like the people I've met there so far (well, all but one, but that's pretty good odds), but I didn't feel like leaving. I got a lot of work done today, surprisingly, and I just want to stay in and not do much. The Clerk's Tale took a lot out of me, it would seem.

Mitch-igan

You know what really cracks me up? When I tell people I'm from Wisconsin, and they ask me if that's near "Mitch-igan". Okay, no, it's near Michigan. I don't know where this "Mitch-igan" is. I have a hard time keeping myself from laughing, and just pronounce it properly, hoping they pick up on it. It makes me feel better about not being able to pronounce anything and being the one with a weird accent.

(No, that isn't a sense of superiority you're smelling there. That's genuine amusement. "Mitch-igan" just sounds funny. Say it. It is funny, isn't it?)

Norwich Castle

I went to the castle today with the History Society. That's actually an old picture--I didn't take any new ones today. We went an hour before closing, because that gets you a £1 entry to the general exhibits. Inside the castle is a really random museum. Some parts make sense--they have an exhibit on Boudica, the queen of the Iceni who lead them in revolt against the Romans (She even had Nero contemplating withdrawing Roman troops from Britain!) and one on the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, plus an art gallery of Norfolk painters and from the collections of Norfolk residents--but most didn't make much sense at all. There was a section on Egypt and a natural history portion with stuffed lions and a polar bear and a rhino. It was cool, though, and I had a good time. I hung out with people I had met on the pub crawl and got some suggestions on where to go in Barcelona. Anyway, I'm off to read about the rise of Wessex, so have a good evening, everyone!

Church of St. Julian

Catie and I went to the Church of St. Julian in Norwich today. I was glad to get out because the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Bright and sunny and pretty warm, too. I liked the church--it was nice and quiet, and they had a shrine set up where Julian's cell used to be. It took us forever to find it. We found out that she had a cat. For some reason, this just struck me as odd. I don't know why--maybe because I don't associate cat ownership with medieval authors. I suppose, though, she was a single woman, who was writing a book (pretty feminist for the 14th Century, even with the Church's consent/approval), and we all know that all feminists end up unmarried cat ladies. I like her a lot better now, knowing that she had a cat. She can't be entirely crazy if she liked cats (Operative word being "entirely". She was still absolutely nuts).

My Fellow Oles (Who happen to be on the Hill)

Oles currently on the Hill: PZ Myers, blogger at Pharyngula and bio prof at UM-Morris, is speaking in the Lair tonight! Go! Go! I command you! And bring me back a full report (please?). It's at 6 PM tonight. Seriously, people, go. I'm really kind of jealous.

Finalized Plans, kind of

Catie and I booked hostels today. Firstly, I'm very proud because we managed to figure it out so we're equal in terms of who's spending what for both the Scotland/N. England trip and for the Christmas trip. Secondly, we've got a flight and places to stay and everything! We're really going! Anyway, here's the layout so far (I know you find this riveting):

London 13 Dec.
Madrid 14-16 Dec. (2 nights)
Cordoba 16 Dec.
Grenada 16-17 Dec. (1 night)
(night train to Valencia)
Valencia 18-19 Dec. (1 night)
Barcelona 19-23 Dec. (4 nights)
Montpellier 23 Dec.
Marseille 23-26 Dec. (3 nights)
Nice 26-28 Dec. (2 nights)
Monaco 28 Dec.
Genoa 28-30 Dec. (2 nights)
Bologna 30 Dec.-1 Jan. (2 nights)
(Florence, Rome, Cinque Terra, Venice, Ravenna? 2-7 Jan. We have to hear back from Catie's family yet. But Florence, Rome, and Cinque Terra seem to be definites, and I really really really hope we can get to Ravenna. Byzantine mosaics and Dante's tomb? What could be better?)
Bern 7-8 Jan. (1 night)
Dijon 8-9 Jan. (1 night)
Paris 9-13 Jan. (4 nights)
Home 13 Jan.

So, yeah. I'm excited.

So. This is my boat.

I just finished "reading" the Monk's Tale (and by reading I mean scanning and saying, "Yeah, I know what happened to Sampson, thank you, I don't need to read that), and he talks about the emperor Nero's life. Apparently from Suetonius (or Swetonius, as Chaucer says). I got all excited, but then there was no mention of the collapsible boat. I mean, really. That's pretty much the only thing I remember about Nero, and it isn't even in there.

I have not yet fixed Flickr--that's work, and my life has almost entire been consumed by Christmas planning and the Venerable Bede lately. (Really, Bede, you could have chopped the Ecclesiastical History of the English People in half by cutting out all those letters to Augustine of Canterbury from Pope Gregory the Great. Was that really necessary?) We booked plane tickets to Madrid today, so at least I'm going to be there. Even if the entire rest of the trip falls apart, I will have gone to Madrid.

Plans

I don't remember if I actually posted this, but Catie and I've got plans for week 7. We don't have class, because most lecturers give you a break that week to "catch up" with reading/essays/homework/whatever. Not all of them do, though. Elizabeth's science classes are still meeting. Anyway, we're going up north for that week. Here's the plan: I leave Thurs. night for Edinburgh, Scotland, to meet Allie on Friday morning. Catie comes up Friday night. Weekend in Edinburgh. Allie goes home on Sunday, Catie and I take off for Glasgow on Monday. Tuesday morning, we leave for Dumfries, in order to see the cross at Ruthwell Church. This is the Dream of the Rood cross, people. I'm so excited to see this I can barely contain myself. Tuesday night we spend in Carlisle, back in England. Wednesday, we take a bus tour of Hadrian's Wall, bringing us to Newcastle. Thursday morning, we leave for Durham. Catie tells me there is some Anglo-Saxon stuff there, but I don't remember what it was and I haven't read much about Durham in my history class yet. Lots about Whitby and Lindisfarne, which we will not be getting to, but nothing about Durham. Anyway, Thursday night we spend in York, staying there until coming home on Sunday. So that's the week long Anglo-Saxon history tour of Northern England/Southern Scotland, folks.

We started planning our Christmas holiday today. Mom will be happy to find out that Catie liked the plan I had devised over the summer--that is, touring France, Spain, and Italy during Dec./Jan. when it's hopefully warmer there than it would be here--and wanted to come with me. The plan so far is to start out in Madrid, tour a little bit of Southern Spain before getting to Barcelona (Dali!), spend some time there before going through Southern France, end up in Marseille for Christmas Day, then head out to Italy, reaching Florence by New Year's Eve. Then I guess some of Catie's family members will be joining us (her dad, her sister, and her sister's fiancee, I think) and we'll be doing central Italy (hopefully places like Rome and Ravenna--Byzantine mosaics, people, and Dante's tomb! What more could you want?--and I'd also like to get to Bologna, but I maybe watched too much Passport to Europe over the summer), and then eventually heading back up toward England through Switzerland and France. We haven't planned beyond New Year's yet, though, because we ran out of time, and since we haven't booked anything yet, it's still all just dreams and snatches of clouds. But I'm excited anyway. Christmas in Marseille!

Sorry that was so long and rather torturous. I'm not proofreading because I can't bring myself to read through that again. So good luck, intrepid readers! Or should I say, congratulations, since this is the end of the post?

Anyway, I'll excuse myself to curl up in bed and watch a movie. I've caught a cold from one of my flatmates.

The Rest of My Weekend...

Friday night I spent in, listening to stand-up (Lewis Black and Eddie Izzard) and knitting. I finished my sweater, finally! It's going to be very warm.

Today, I didn't do much. Watched Jim Gaffigan on Youtube. I swear, everything that guy says is hilarious. I wrote some poems, too. Maybe I won't fail creative writing...

Mom says I ought to post more about the weather. It does rain a lot, but not actually as much as I expected. They did tell me that it rains the least in East Anglia. It's been cool so far. It took me a while to figure out what I should be wearing--I've got a 10-15 minute walk to the main part of campus, and if I wore too much, that would be uncomfortable, but I was always cold! Now I think it's settled down into a permanent sort of coolness.

Oh, and I know the pictures I put on flickr from last weekend aren't labeled, and there aren't many there. Flickr and I had a bit of a face-off last weekend, and I haven't gotten around to fixing the damage. I'll get to it eventually...

Thank "God"

I can't stop laughing at this picture (via the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks). Thank "God"! And on a billboard, too!

Went out to watch a rugby match in the bar today (England vs. France). It was...interesting. I had no idea what was going on, and I couldn't see the screen, so I just watched people. It was fun. England won, and I believe they're in the finals now.

After that, we went to one of the clubs in town. Unlike last time, this time I had fun. Last time it was a bit torturous and I was glad we left early. People are strange, though. That's all I'll say. I've got to get to bed. (It's 4:10 AM here.)

History Pub Crawl

Just read over my last post. *Sigh* If only I'd put that much effort into my classwork, or, say, into learning about Julian when I had to, y'know, take an exam on her...

Went on the pub crawl last night. I met a lot of really cool people. I don't know if I'll see any of them anytime soon--I recently realized that my Creative Writing class runs over the regular meeting time of the History Soc--but I hope I do. I even met one guy who listened to me rant about the sad state of American politics for over half an hour, and had the grace to tell me he didn't mind. He also told me I was the first American he'd met. One of the other guys I met kept asking me about what sort of music I listen to. When I told him I listen to country (did I just admit that in public? Ignore that, please. Never happened), he wanted to know what artists. Turns out he knows a whole 2 country artists: Johnny Cash and Shania Twain. Oh, and how, exactly, does one explain what New Age music is to someone who doesn't know? I just couldn't describe it adequately.

Anyway, since socs around here are mostly an excuse to go get hammered with like-minded people, there wasn't that much history imparted. I did learn that the Castle Mall was built in the old moat, and that some of the rooms in the City Hall still aren't completed, and it's been 70 some years since it was built. Towards the end I stopped listening to our leader anyway, because I was toward the back of the group and I was talking to people. I know, I'm a bad history student. Sorry.

Julian of Norwich

Firstly, I found out that we don't know for sure if her name was actually Julian--the church was named Julian first. In the Catholic Encyclopedia, they call her Juliana. Also, I learned that she is not only venerated in the RCC, but also in the Anglican Communion and the ELCA. That would explain why people keep making me read Revelations of a Divine Love ALL THE TIME. Her feast day in the Lutheran Church is May 8. I did not know that the Lutheran Church had feast days. If they're going to be exactly the same as the RCC, why break away at all? (Yes, I know the reasons behind the Reformation--they made me read Luther all the time too.)

Also, being an anchorite/anchoress in the Middle Ages is creepy. You'd live in a little cell attached to a church, and the bishop would wall up the door. Kind of like in "The Cask of Amontillado", except you don't die immediately. Or "The Black Cat", except you aren't dead.

The Church of St. Julian in Norwich is named after Julian the Hospitaller, AKA St. Julian the Poor. I don't know when it was built, but it was obviously there during the 14th century, when Julian was writing. It was destroyed during WW2, but has been restored.

Odds and Ends

Catie and I were going to go to St. Julian's Church today (does anyone else know of the sainthood of Julian of Norwich? I didn't think she was a saint, but her church is called St. Julian's. However, I know that Hildegard of Bingen, who also was a female mystic, was never officially canonized, someone just slipped "St" in front of her name in a book. I suppose I could just look it up on Wikipedia...). However, Catie lost her bus pass, so we didn't go in. The church has been there since the 11th century, at least. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be reading the Life of Wilfrid. Can I just say, right now, before reading this particular hagiography, that I love saints lives? They're all pretty much the same--precocious child, miracles, dragons (I swear to god--all the ones I've read so far have dragons. I mean, really? Dragons? Miracles are one thing, but dragons? You expect me to believe that? Do you think I'm stupid, or what?). It's seventy some pages that I have to read by 7:00 tonight. I'm going on a pub crawl with the History Society.

I've got my plans for Week Seven settled now, I think. Catie's booking hostels right now. Week Seven at UEA is reading week--it's the week you're supposed to spend catching up on all the reading you've missed so far in the term. None of my lecturers are holding class, though I do have two essays due. I'm planning on getting them done a week early. I'm meeting Allie in Edinburgh on Friday, 2 Nov., and spending the weekend with her and Catie, then after Allie heads home, we go on to Glasgow, Dumfries (Dream of the Rood! and also Robert Burns, apparently, but I'm not such a Robert Burns fan), Carlisle, Newcastle (Hadrian's Wall!), Durham, and York (Bede! And St. Cuthbert!). I'm really excited.

This weekend we might go down to Ipswich and see Sutton Hoo (and some other things, but if' you're going to be seeing an Anglo-Saxon burial ship, who cares about anything else?). I don't know yet, but I'll let you know when we decide.

Cambridge

I went to Cambridge today. It's a beautiful town. I loved it. Catie and I took the 8:40 train from Norwich and wandered around the city for a while, completely lost, before we managed to find the tourist information centre. There we found a map and a walking tour of the colleges. Basically, what we did in Cambridge was walk around looking at all the different colleges, including Christ's College, where Milton and Darwin went, and King's College, the famous one. After that, we went to the Fitzwilliam Museum. The Fitzwilliam Museum is an art museum owned by the university. And it's free! We saw a number of fantastic medieval coins and weaponry, along with a collection of fans and other items. They also had busts of Newton, Milton, and Pope, which was really exciting to me. I, being a genius, noticed that Milton, unlike the other busts, had no irises. I don't know if this is the reason or not, but Milton was blind, and so I thought that was why he had no irises. I felt pretty smart.

We went through the churchyard of Little St. Mary's, which had an enormous garden around its tombstones. It was absolutely gorgeous. We were admiring all the flowers (which are still in bloom!) when we turned the corner and saw a homeless man sitting on a bench with his sleeping bag. I don't want to sentimentalize him or blow the event up or anything (because that would be rude and disrespectful), but it's easy to forget that these towns are really towns, that exist in the present, and are not idealized trips into the past. This man made me remember that real people, with real lives and real problems, live here. And then I felt guilty for forgetting in the first place.

Anyway, I will upload pictures to Flickr shortly. In the meantime, more farm animals!

These are cows behind King's College, and Catie with said cows. Yes, they are in there. No, I couldn't get any closer. And the other picture is of Christ's College that I keep talking about. It was actually really hard to find for us, for some reason, because we went on the street that the map said it was on, but there was a giant wall blocking me from worshipping where geniuses had walked. So we kept going along the wall, me cursing it under my breath, until the street opened up and there it was:

Christ's College. Milton went there, people. MILTON. (Yes, I do remember how much I complained when I had to read Paradise Lost. Pretty language does not absolve one of one's misogyny, but rampant misogyny, while tough--nigh on impossible--to take, does not make one's manipulation of language any less brilliant.) Unfortunately, when we got there, we saw this:

College Closed to the Public. Thwarted at the bitter end. You win, Cambridge University. You win.

Coffee

It is 6:52AM and there is no coffee. This makes me sad. That is all.

(Catie and I are catching the train to Cambridge today. Do you know who went to Cambridge? Milton. And Darwin. And a bunch of other pretty cool people. I'm excited.)

Well, that's random.

I walked home from my Chaucer class today with Kate from MO, who lives a floor below me (she's one of those incredibly sweet, obviously Midwestern girls). As we came into the Village, this guy stops us and asks us where we're from. She says MO, I say WI.

Guy: Do you go to Madison, then?
Me: No. I go to St. Olaf, in MN.
Guy: Oh. You sound like you're from MN.

(Anyway, turns out he's from Las Vegas. Don't know his name, though.)

ETA: Is it better to sound like I'm from Wisconsin or from Minnesota? And which would be most accurate?

A Bit Homesick

So it's taken me all day to read this little summary of Bede's The Life of St. Cuthbert (which isn't even the primary source like I'm supposed to be reading), and I'm a little frustrated. I was thinking about what I miss most from home, and I thought I'd make a list.

1. The Daily Show. Obviously.
2. Food I don't have to shop for.
3. Food I don't have to cook myself.
4. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. (The Penguin Classics glosses for The Canterbury Tales are really, really confusing. I miss my Norton.)
5. Knowing what's going on.
6. Not living by myself.
7. Knowing the layout of the library like the back of my hand.
8. Access to all my notes and textbooks from other classes.
9. Enough cooking utensils (especially cutting knives).
10. Stuff that isn't so deceptively expensive (I see "£" and think "$", then think, "Oh, that isn't too expensive, then" when it's twice as much).
11. All my books. You have no clue how badly I want to read Leaf By Niggle right now, and I don't have the book with me.

Okay, back to St. Cuthbert, and then dinner.