a horriby overdue update....

so, tomorrow is the start of the integral course, and it's been forever since i've updated, partly because i was way too stressed with the end of term to do any writing, and partly because, after term was at last over, i was way too wiped out to do anything more than veg out... and, of course, run amok around oxford, which is always fun. but i can't get ahead of myself. end-of-term was difficult, if only because there was so much to do: final edits for my wee tale, my last austen paper comparing her works with charlotte bronte's jane eyre, and my seminar paper -- 3000-4000 words on aquinas. gah. but everything, as always, turned out. i've got a story that i love and can be proud of, one that i'm about to send off to nigel's agent... and i aced my final austen paper. i'm super proud of that one, too. i looked at the similarities between austen and bronte, looked at their presentation of society and women's place in it, and my prof really went for it. with tutorials down, there was only the seminar paper to go, but to celebrate the end of tutorials, laura, val and i went out for indian food at this place called jamaal's down in jericho, which had really awesome curry. the next five days of my life (sat-wed) were spent in the library as i combed through secondary criticism of aquinas and his view of love of god, love and self, and the common good -- an appropriate topic, seeing as i work for the centre for the common good. the paper was finished in time for class on wednesday, and once that was over, laura and i took off for the eagle and child for a long-awaited final celebration.

laura and me at the eagle and child

after dinner, the plan was to meet my philosophy classmate, bo, at a place called 'angels,' where one of his tutors works as a bartender on wednesday nights. bo, however, turned up at the eagle and child just as laura and i were about to head off to find him, and so after he had his dinner, the three of us walked to the bar together. angels is probably one of the greatest places i've been to in oxford, with these awesome red leather booths, red lighting, and fantastic 70s music (barry white, marvin gaye, etc.). bo's tutor, J.D., is equally as awesome -- a philosophy doctoral student who also happens to know almost everything about vintage drinks. i had myself a 'french 75,' which is a mixture of champagne, gin and a few other things, and was apparently quite popular in paris around the end of world war i, along with the 'el morocco,' which involved ruby port, cointreau, cognac, lime juice and pineapple juice -- definitely amazing. laura and bo's drinks were equally as fantastic, and after chilling out for a couple of hours, we headed next door to the famed G&Ds ice cream shop to get ice cream, and then headed back home. definitely a great way to celebrate the end of those dreaded philosophy seminars.

(l to r) bo, me and laura. observe the sexy red light.

(l to r) bo, me and laura. bo has "commodore #2," i have "el morocco," and laura has "la fraise d'amour"

thus ended wednesday, with frivolity and frothy drinks. thursday morning was definitely a lazy one, as val had gotten back that morning around 4 a.m. from granada, and the two of us sat about and traded stories for a while before i at last got dressed and went on a walk around oxford with laura. we found tolkein's house, and would've made our way to find tolkein's grave, but it was too far, so we settled for having sandwiches in university parks instead. then, later on, we all went down to broad street, where there was this amazing street exhibition called "luminox," which pretty much involved setting lots of pots on fire. really awesome. photos are coming, as is another update....