Hi, everyone! I know it's been awhile since I've posted and I do heartily apologize for the radio silence, but it was sort of necessary. I needed to not write for awhile. One thing that grad school crushed out of me last semester was the joy of writing, and when I was home over winter break I had other things I wanted to do--Christmas things, family things, friend things, none of which involved computers. It was a perfect break. It was a necessary break. I did have to spend some of it writing PhD applications (ask me sometime about how this system is a way to leech money from underpaid students...anyway) but most of break was just that--a break. My mom and sister and I went to Toronto, which was totally fun, and my favorite aunt and cousins came out for a visit. I'm in the third week of classes now and am slowly motivating myself. I'm only enrolled in one class this semester--on 19th century European art, totally cool--and grading for a class on Renaissance "Giants" (Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, and the other guys in the band), and working on my very vague thesis. I have to knock out an abstract for that this weekend.
But I am significantly less busy (so far) than last semester, so am planning on being a better blogger, hopefully with more fun things to say than "today I lesson planned and read theory and ate my dinner standing next to my kitchen sink." I'm not used to this leisure time, and need to be more productive with it (read: volunteering at an animal shelter) instead of knitting fingerless gloves and watching PBS series' (DOWNTON! NORTH AND SOUTH! SHERLOCK!).
And as far as updates go, today was pretty perfect. It's Burns Night, when Scots--and likeminded friends--toast the haggis and use it as an excuse to drink. I had my two classes today, then two meetings, then went to the Irish Lion, which is one of my most favorite places in town. It's a pub, and is built almost like a railroad apartment, in that it's kind of long and rectangular. It's just cozy--warm wood bannisters, comfortable benches, deer heads on the walls (kind of ehh, but still), and a copper ceiling, with a really well-stocked whiskey selection. I went with four friends and we reminisced about Anglo-travels and ate and drank and had a lovely time. I had a snakebite (Guinness + strongbow, I always ordered this in Norwich, because they added blackcurrent syrup to it, yum) and lamb stew in a bread bowl. Really, really good comfort food. We split a piece of Baileys cake and a slice of whiskey pie.
I like Robert Burns well enough, and it is his birthday today--hence, Burns Night. I remember reading "To a Mouse" in a high school English class, and always loved how "tim'rous beastie" sounded. My grandmother has said to me multiple times, "well, as Bobby Burns said, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, gang aft agley," when I was grumpy about things not going as I wanted them to. Or this exchange from PG Wodehouse's "Indian Summer of an Uncle"
[Jeeves has just quoted Burns]
Wooster: "Never mind about the poet Burns."
Jeeves: "No, sir."
Wooster: "Forget the poet Burns."
Jeeves: "Very good, sir."
Wooster: "Expunge the poet Burns from your mind."
Jeeves: "I will do so immediately, sir."
ANYWAY, this preamble of Burns related things is to preface how delighted I was, after leaving the pub full of warm bread and warming beverage, to climb into a friend's car and realize that we had come at the perfect time, because Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac" was on. So we turned it up quite loud, and drove through the rainy streets and listened to Keillor's soothing voice tell about Burns and read a poem about winter. There is not much better than that.
Will try and update soon--I'm traveling a bit for interviews in the next few weeks, so that might spice it up a bit.
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