no more excuses

I finished a book today.

Why is this significant, you ask?

Well, I’ll tell you. Because I haven’t read a real book since… the summer, I think.
Oh, sure. I read lots of things for class. Things on politics, literary criticism, book upon book about the U.S.-Mexico border. But all those were for school. They don’t count as real books. Those things get filed away with various pieces of information I hold in my head, ready to use at any moment I feel it is necessary to know how Coleridge divides the imagination into three parts, how immigration patterns in Texas have change dramatically in the last one hundred years, or how Darfur isn’t really the biggest crisis in Sudan.

[As a sidenote, I also read the Twilight books. These do not fall in the 'real books' category for reasons to be enumerated at a later date.]

By real books, I mean things that one reads simply for the love of reading. Things one reads to learn about life, themselves, the author, or any number of dangerously interesting subjects.

The book I finished is The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.

Gasp. Shock. Jaws drop.

Yes. I did it. I finished my first Eliot novel. A short one, I’ll grant, but I finished it, nonetheless.

And you know what? I liked it. In fact, I loved it. That’s right, LOVE.

It’s a story of a young girl attempting to be society’s definition of good and perfect and virtuous, but her outgoing, rambunctious, perfectly sweet nature gets in the way. She accidentally loses control of emotion on occasion. Young girls hoping to marry should never lose control. Sometimes she makes rash decisions like chopping off her hair and falling in love with forbidden boys. Oops.

But through it all, the heroine, Maggie, cannot be anything but loved. One can’t help appreciating the real-ness in her. We all make mistakes. We all make terrible decisions. Some of us even struggle with the definitions of ‘right’ and ‘good’.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, but I will say that I experienced a HUGE range of emotion as I read the last sentences. I hoped there was more, and yet begged for an end.






Guess I have to start my paper now.

let the rain fall. i don't care.

I continued my McDonald’s experiment while in London.

I’ve written about my running experiment before, but, in case you missed it, the gist of it is I try the McDonald’s in every city I travel to if it’s at all possible. There’s no real point except that it’s interesting and I realized a while ago that I had had McDonald’s in most of the places I’d been to and decided to continue the trend.

I always get a burger and fries. When conducting empirical studies related to food, it’s best to keep the food choice the same. The only exception was the Tokyo McDonald’s. I was only 10 and it was the first time I ate McDonald’s in a foreign country. Maybe one day I’ll get a redo.

Jean and I stopped at the McDonald’s near Kings Cross Station before getting the train from London to Edinburgh. I have to admit, I was disappointed. The food was all dry, and they were skimpy on the condiments. The burger patty was too dry, and there was only one pickle and a serious lack of ketchup, mayo, and mustard. The fries (chips?) were also not nearly greasy or salty enough.

There was another McDonald’s around the corner. Perhaps that one would have been better. But probably not.

I have yet to try the one here, but I will before I leave. That’s for sure.


The weather was nice again today. The girls from my dorm and I all went and walked up the crags. About 30 seconds away from the dorm and really beautiful. You can get a view of the whole city from up on the crags.

I didn’t take any pictures because I forgot my camera, but, never fear, I’ll go up again soon. I’m absolutely determined to do more exercise in the form of walks up the crags and Arthur’s Seat.

there ain't no reason things are this way

Jean and I decided to make today the day to be tourists in Edinburgh. We began with Edinburgh castle, grabbed a bite while walking down the Royal Mile, then finished with the Palace at Holyroodhouse and the Holyrood Abbey next door.

I absolutely love Edinburgh Castle. There’s just something about it. There’s so much history and significance about the place. Plus, they have a tower called Argyle Tower. It’s an all-around win.

The Palace is different. I hadn’t been there since the last trip to the UK, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Which was awesome. The tapestries hanging on the walls are always so ornate. The ceilings are absolutely gorgeous, and the paintings and portraits are always of monarchs or famous historical figures.

The Holyrood Abbey itself is one of my favorite sets of ruins. There’s a grave of miscellaneous monarch bones in one corner. [And I mean miscellaneous only because they were moved once or twice during raids and wars and now all the bones are just in one coffin.] I think King James VII and his family are in the grave. Lying around inside the abbey are empty stone coffins. Gravel mysteriously made its way into the coffins, but there’s something eerie about opened stone coffins with bodies removed. All around the walls – the roof is long-since gone – there are windows devoid of the ornamental stained glass that I assume filled them. The lack in windows and stained glass adds to the eerie since of lost history and failed preservation.

The rain is back. The weather was warm(ish) and sunny yesterday, but today it’s been raining since just before we made it to Holyroodhouse. With all the historical things and the rain, the day has taken on a more reflective attitude.

Anyway, the rain has also put a damper on walking around the city some more. But I think that’s okay. We’re a little tired. A large cup of tea is in order, I think.

sightseeing in london?

Sorry for being away for so long, but I was visiting a certain someone (Jean!) in London. It was all wonderful, and it was superawesome being around her again.
We went out for a touristy day and saw the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. Yep. I’d seen the Tower before, but that was 5 years ago, so it doesn’t count. Besides, who doesn’t want to walk around learning about torture? Who doesn’t want to pretend to fight off enemies from the wall? Exactly.

Someone tried to tell us that morning that Westminster Abbey was ‘not that great.’ Really? Seriously? An abbey where all sorts of famous dead people are buried, a corner of just poets and intellectuals, and beautiful architecture and stained glass. It has to be wonderful and you should get out more. No pictures allowed in the Abbey [and that’s why I can’t post any.]

We saw the graves of so many cool people. All I can say is: one day I want to be famous enough to be buried in Westminster Abbey. Maybe I could write world-renowned poetry. Perhaps I could use my theories and out-theory Darwin. I could be a soldier buried in a world war monument. Any giant world wars on the horizon? There’s always becoming Prime Minister, but I’m not sure they would let me.

Oh! And we went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. SO amazing. It’s the pub where Charles Dickens, Voltaire, and Thackeray used to hang out (not together, of course.) We sat in a dark booth in the corner of a small room and felt infinitely cool, slightly more intelligent, and vaguely [wonderfully?] pretentious. Perhaps that’s it. I’ll write something wonderful while sitting in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and they’ll HAVE to put me in Westminster Abbey.



Travel tip #2: If taking a train, don’t forget to check your ticket for your car and seat number.

I had a slightly embarrassing episode with this on the way to London. It involved me almost missing the train and making the girl next to me feel incredibly awkward. Oops.

But, really. How was I supposed to know the seats were assigned? I’ve only taken the train three times in my entire life. Well, five if you count the returns. From Connecticut to New York didn’t have assigned seats. I don’t really remember the train from London to Edinburgh 5 years ago, but I think it did have assigned seats. But I wasn’t in charge of my own seat that time. It doesn’t count. And Edinburgh to Glasgow didn’t have assigned seats.

So, really, I had no way of knowing.


Just got back to Edinburgh today. The snow is all gone, sadly, but there’s always a good chance of rain. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Sure puts a damper on touristy things. Jean came back with me. One weekend in London, the next in Edinburgh. Commence adventures!

gonna write you a letter, gonna write you a book

Travel Tip #1: If you’re going to (or think you might) use an appliance with a three-pronged North American-style plug, make sure you have an adapter that will accommodate. This may seem like a silly thing to have to think about, but trust me, it’s important.



Today is one of those days where I want to sit inside, drink tea and hot chocolate, read a good novel, and generally be warm and cozy.

And I’m sick. No good. Some sort of ultra-vicious-cold thing. Pretty sure it’s a hybrid of all the colds a myriad of friends have had in the last two weeks or so. I’m taking medicine, but being sick makes me colder than I should be.
I only had one class today, though. I guess I shouldn’t complain.

I get next week off classes. This is wonderful. I plan on reading for and starting at least one of my essays. Highly convenient that the entire politics department gets week 6 off.

Also, I’m visiting Jean in London this weekend. I’m so excited about it. I’ll spend the first weekend there, and she’ll be here for the second weekend before classes start back up again. Visiting London will probably be different after a gap of five years. A little less touristy, more college-student-like, I would think. But I am planning on seeing a few of the sights, of course. Can’t go to London without a few tourist activities.

To family: I’m sending my love and I wish I was there.

world spins madly on

There is one subject I am choosing to avoid in this post. If you came to read about that, I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s a good idea to write about that here. [It’s not healthy or warranted.] So I will write about other things.

Today I went shopping in Glasgow. It was fun. I got a couple of dresses and a cute pair of flats (called pumps here). We took the train from Waverly station to Glasgow and then walked around the surrounding rectangular shopping area.

Amidst all this shopping distraction, Anya and I stopped for lunch at T.G.I. Friday’s. Why would we choose to eat at an American restaurant in Scotland, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Firstly, because the lovely dining hall in the complex of dorms does not serve much quality meat. Sure, they have sausage and bacon (more like salty country ham) in the morning, the occasional beef pie (and sometimes haggis!) with dinner, and loads of chicken, but these things do not satisfy in the same manner in which a steak fills one to the brim. Protein is good. Also, it was a day-trip to Glasgow. Why not eat nice food while you’re out on the town?

I have one lovely thing about this particular Friday’s, and one not-so-lovely.

The lovely bit is that when they accidentally give you a steak cooked well when you asked for medium rare, they replace it immediately and subtract the whole incorrect meal from your bill. And the manager comes over and apologizes profusely. In this case, they even replaced Anya’s burger so we could eat at the same time. Two meals with diet cokes came to less than 20 pounds because we weren’t charged for my steak. Excellent.

The bad news? They don’t serve iced tea. Way to get my hopes up. I’ve had so much hot tea that I was secretly craving some tea of the colder variety. Not that I don’t like hot tea. Ask anyone. I love it. I’ve had at least 3 cups in the last 2 hours. That’s probably part of the reason I’m still awake. But sometimes you just need iced tea. It’s true. You can test it empirically.

Of all the restaurants, you would think Friday’s would serve iced tea. But no. Fail.

Thing of note: Have you noticed it’s difficult to follow the government stimulus plan things? Maybe it’s because I’m so far away.

T is for... disappointing.

[I stole these photos from Ashley. I know they're late in being posted, but they deserve love anyway.]

Here he is. The man who left me disillusioned about folk music artists for the rest of my life. I thought perhaps some of you might enjoy a picture of the man who didn’t live up to his music.



Let this be a warning to all you aspiring musicians out there. Don’t disappoint me. Or I will post your picture here and tell all my friends how cool I am and how cool you aren’t.

Mean what you sing.

So there.

Feel intimidated?

No?

Well, if you don’t make meaningful music, you’ll end up like this guy:



He’s the resident ukulele player. Don’t wanna be him.

Or maybe you do.

yellow wellies!

First there was snow, and then there was slush.

I awoke this morning for the usual breakfast of sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, and hashbrowns, and was surprised to find snow. That’s right, snow. And more than last time. This time it wasn’t a stretch to call it a dusting [by MA standards, I suppose].

And, surprisingly, it’s been falling on and off all day. It made me so happy to have to break out a hat for the walk to class.

I’ve settled into a Monday routine, and that makes me feel more comfortable. I like a little bit of routine. Breakfast, shower, first lecture on Political Economy of East Asia. This lecture is followed by a trek to either Subway or Baguette Express for a sandwich for lunch. And, if I’m lucky, I can squeeze in either an expedition around the part of town where the second lecture is, or a drink [hot chocolate or coffee] at Elephant House.

And yes, Elephant House is where what’s-her-face wrote the first Harry Potter book. It’s right by one of my classes. I feel so … vaguely pretentious saying I get coffee there on a regular basis. Well, Mondays, at least.

Funny story. So London has gotten about ten inches of snow so far over about the last 24 hours or so. The ENTIRE CITY shut down. There has been talk about snow for the last couple of days as a warning, and the city still isn’t functioning.

The NYTimes even felt compelled to write a story about it. The buses aren’t running, the streets haven’t been sanded, and one of the biggest airports in the world cancelled or delayed hundreds of flights. Even the subway system [the Tube] has a lot of delays.

Edinburgh has gotten a bit of snow, but no more than about 2 inches so far. I secretly [or not so secretly] hope there will be more snow, but we’ll see. It’s still snowing on and off.

Also, I found this yesterday while Stumbling [it’s a fun program for Firefox] and I thought it was funny. I decided to share it.

them has pinched it, done her in.

I have had an amazing weekend. Seriously.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Friday morning I got to sleep in a little bit, go out for lunch (I don’t usually) and have a relaxing afternoon.

That evening Ashley and I went to a concert. Teddy Thompson. He was fantastic live. Sang well, had a good stage persona and presence. The girl that opened for him was fantastic, too.

The best part, though, was getting to meet him afterward. Yep. Then Ashley and I went out for the evening, had a super-awesome time, and got back late. There is a more detailed story, but it probably doesn’t belong here. Perhaps another time.

Saturday I slept in really late, stayed in bed for about 2 hours after waking up to listen to The Shins and read Vogue. It was a good time. Me and my Diet Coke, The Shins, Vogue, and Digestives. [digestives = cookies that are kind of like graham crackers with a thin layer of chocolate]

This reviewing of fashion, combined with my sense of being extremely cool, caused a giant need to shop. After all, I already knew I needed at least a few dresses and I would like some flats and maybe a pair of boots.

So I met Ashley and a friend of hers on Princes Street, coffee in hand. I found the most amazing pair of boots. And they were half price. And they’re awesome. Here. I have a picture.




Cute, huh?

After being out Friday so late, the girls and I stayed in Saturday night with pizza and My Fair Lady. It was a good time. I did research about fashion designers and places to shop in Edinburgh. It was exciting.

Back to real life, I suppose. Two lectures tomorrow.

But before I go, look at these shoes by Charlotte Olympia. I wish I could have them. Or wear them. They would probably hurt my feet, but all shoes hurt my feet and these are beautiful. I can’t decide which color I like them better in. Not that I can buy them. I have a very specific list of shoes that I’m allowed to buy.