(two) hell week(s)

I'm taking a break from making lots of linguistics charts, so I will list what I have to accomplish, and accomplish well, in the next two weeks.

Monday, Dec. 5 -- linguistics presentation (working on that right now)
Thursday, Dec. 8 -- Society and the State in Britain paper (2,000 words = 7 pages)
Friday, Dec. 9 -- American Century (2,000 words = 7 pages)
Tuesday, Dec. 14 -- 15th Century England/Pastons Experience (3,000 words = longer than 7 pages) -- main problem ... Dec. 14 is a WEDNESDAY .... so it is due Tuesday the 13th or Wednesday the 14th???
Friday, Dec. 16 -- linguistics original research (at 2,000 words = 7 pages)

The biggest problem with these papers would be getting all the books I need before other people get to them. And also, I just turned in papers for U.S. history and Society and the State and does not yet know if they're up to par, which is great, I think, because I do not enjoy knowing where I stand in the class at near the end of term when I need to write papers that count, literally, 50%/50%.

I've also pulled 3 all-nighters in the past week, 2 of them consecutively. I do not need this.

OK. So you're saying, yeah, I've done more in less time at a harder school. Yeah, but I have to clue how these people grade because I have no grades in my classes. I hope my MLA format bibliography and parenthetical citations are good enough for them.

Bleeeeh.

picture of the day -- in the Versailles Palace gardens.

Midori!

I got this from Midori Goto's Web site. I just bought 3rd-row tickets to her concert on Sunday. :)

Midori made the first of two recordings for Philips in 1986 (Bach/Vivaldi with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Pinchas Zukerman). The second, a Paganini/Tchaikovsky pairing with the London Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, followed in 1987. During this same period, she gave first performances with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony, undertook her first European tour and made her legendary debut at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein conducting. The work was Bernstein's Serenade after Plato's 'Symposium' for Solo Violin, String Orchestra, Harp and Percussion.

In the fifth movement, Midori broke an E string and was quickly passed the violin of the concertmaster, continuing to play without missing a beat. When the unthinkable happened again and she broke an E string on the concertmaster's fiddle, she took the violin of the associate concertmaster. Both borrowed instruments were different in size - and both were larger than her own instrument - yet Midori was unfazed. When she came to the end, the audience and the orchestra erupted in applause and Bernstein fell to his knees. The front page of the New York Times the following day read, "Girl, 14, Conquers Tanglewood with 3 Violins."

f********ck

Because that is how I am feeling right now. Oh, but believe me, the sentiment earlier this week/last week/this past weekend was f*******ck sh*******t goddamnit. There are no words to describe it. I think, in the last week, I wrote two 2,000-word history essays (history overload) on little to no sleep, prepared for a linguistics presentation on no sleep (yay), made enough salad for 15 people for Thanksgiving, got angry at the staff at the Victoria and Albert Museum for behaving in a non-museum-like manner (not out loud, of course), and realized that there are two and a half week of school left and I have another history essay due next week. And two more due the week after that. And a linguistics presentation Monday. And a linguistics essay due in two weeks. Get me outta here.

And now, I found out that grad school deadlines aren't in the middle of January as previously thought, but at the FIRST of January, so I have to print out recommendation forms, buy envelopes and write a admission-brilliant statement of purpose. That's tomorrow. I thought tomorrow was going to be my day off to catch up on sleep. No, apparently the workload gods are smiting me and will not let me sleep until the end of the term. Which is just what I wanted all along. Great.

So now I'm too stressed to sleep, something I desparately need because I've pulled all-nighters for the past two nights, drank an insane amount of Red Bull and almost froze my butt off in my own room. I really should just move to the kitchen, where it's warm and cozy. Bleeeeeh.

I'm just rambling now, so I'm going to stop. Hope your weekend was better than mine.

Kings?

Erika: hey
Me: hi
Erika: sorry i was across the hall
Me: I know.
Erika: we played a gaame
Me: lol
Me :what game
Erika: i dunno
Me:?!?
Me:are you drunk?!
Erika: just a bit tipsy
Me :haha
Me: how was the game played
Erika: i stood up and it was like wooah
Erika: well there we cards on the table
Me: hahaha
Erika: and you pick one
Me: KINGS
Erika: and then you have to do something depending on YES
Erika: that's it
Me: hahahahaha
Erika: it's funn
Me: can I pls pls pls put this convo on facebook?
Erika: is it that funny?
Me: at least on my blog?
Me: I laughed.
Erika: maybe you shlouldn't ask my permisson when i'm intoxicated
Erika: but suuure go ahead
Me: ok

Later ….

Erika: omg that picture of me is shit!
Erika: ooh!
Me: why picture
Erika: can you send me the angel pic?
Erika: the one you put on facebook
Me: which one is that
Me: the one with you and Greg?
Erika: YES
Erika: i put a comment
Erika: can i have the escalator piccy?
Me: uh oh
Me: I have to upload it first
Me: hoping to do it tomorrow
Erika: OKAY
Erika: AWESOME
Erika: YOU ROCK

Happy Thanksgiving!/canal turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We've planned to have a potluck Thanksgiving since before reading week, but it really started to gel the week after the week off. We ended up deciding to set up a "turkey day" Tesco.com (a major grocery chain here) account so they'll just deliver our food, and we'll split the costs. It's a good thing, too, since the bill, with coupon, came to about 75 British pounds (GBP). The cart had 96 items, and almost didn't get delivered on the day it was supposed to because half of our stuff was in another truck in North London (we're in East London). I told them that I must have it tonight, tomorrow night (Thanksgiving) would be too late and that I didn't care if they deliver it late. I just need it that night. Luckily, the food got here not more than 30 minutes after the scheduled delivery time, and with only 2 items substituted. So all is well.

I was in charge of salad, so I bought romaine, generic lettuce (the package said "lettuce") and baby spinach. And cheese and onions and all the other fun salad side stuff. Cutting six onions into rings was especially fun.

We had so much food that in order for everything -- not including dessert and utensils, beverages, plates and cups, which all to fit on the kitchen couters -- to fit on the table, we had to just sit around the room with plates on our laps.

The turkey was excellent, considering it was made by someone who has never made turkey before, but the gravy apparently spilled on the stove and caused the fire alarm to go off. We also had amazing corn pudding, green beans, Yorkshire pudding, chocolate chip cookies, mashed potatoes, apple pie, cherry crumble, stuffing, mixed berry pie, ice cream, cranberry sauce and fruit salad. Almost everything was homemade. Pretty good for college kids, I say. :) Will add pictures later. It's pretty impressive, actually.

After dinner, Matt suggested, that in the tradition of tossing food into the canal, that we chuck the carcass of the turkey into the canal, just for kicks. So he laboriously deskinned the turkey and got as much meat out of it as possible. But before the actual turkey-tossing, someone (I think Matt) dared Ethan to put the skin of the turkey on his face .... and he accepted the challenge. So there are pictures of Ethan's face covered with turkey skin among those of us with cameras. That will also be soon posted.

Once the meat and skin were taken off the turkey, someone (not Matt, but don't know who) had the idea to draw a face on the turkey, and so Aaron did the deed. The turkey sported eyes, a smiley, carrots for hair, and a strawberry for nose.

And finally, teh group of us, except for Kate, Brian and Aaron, marched down to the canal and tossed the turkey into the canal. It immediately sank to the bottom.

Tomorrow, to get rid of the massive amount of salad still left, we are having a salad party at 1 p.m., so I am sure there will be more revelry to come. :)

plagiarism

Yeah, so I deleted that bit from my U.S. history paper. I just realized in my Red-Bull induced fog that the history department asks for an electronic copy of our essays to catch plagiarism, and they might find the exact sentence from my blog if the sentence stays in my essay. So it's gone. Now, back to the Mid-Tudor Crisis.

no good.

Well, it's 5 a.m., and I think I'm going to give in to the sleep fairy as I am apparently getting no work done. In fact, I have not written a word since I wrote "CRAZY" because my foggy mind couldn't think of a better word for whatever I wanted to write. So now the sentence reads: [deleted ... see above post].

I need to get back in the groove of writing papers on deadline ... or getting back in the swing of doing schoolwork, for that matter. This education system is not optimal for my work style. I need structure!

On another topic, for those of you who know about my eye problems -- i.e. the corneal scratch episodes -- I am here to tell you that it has returned. I must give Budapest my eternal gratefulness. If you're not aware of the corneal scratch episode, feel free to ask or to browse the archives. I am now wearing glasses, perhaps for awhile while my eye heals (again).

Sleeping for 3 hours, shower, class, write, class, write, write, write. No more procrastinating tomorrow. Paper due Wednesday. Ahhh.

picture of the day -- Stonehenge in daytime.

I took many photos of Stonehenge, but when it comes down to it, it's really just a circle of really old rocks. It's actually pretty surreal, though. You take the train from London to Salisbury, then the No. 3 bus to the site, and you ride over this hill, and just off-center to your left is Stonehenge, just sitting there, like it has been for thousands of years. English Heritage, which runs historical sites in Britain, has the whole process down pat for visitors. You get your tickets, go through the turnstile, get a FREE (it usually costs at other museums) audio guide, and from that moment on, they have your tour of the rocks practically down to the minute. It's really cheesy, but it's just amazing. They have numbered markers, roped off the henge, benches to sit on in case you get tired, etc. And then, of course, you wait for the sunset -- or, as close to sunset as you can without missing the last bus back to the train station -- and get the requisite sunset shot (that's to come). And then you stop by the gift shop, buy some postcards (which I mailed last night) and head back to the train station to catch the next train to London. It's all very efficient.

By the way, during my procrastination, I came upon this. It worries me. I don't know if I want to do that for the rest of my life. But then again, it'll be kinda fun ... in a sadistic, self-destructing kind of way.

reading week -- a photo story

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will get little to no sleep (hopefully the former) the next couple of days because of papers and Thanksgiving preparations. So, as I look at the "paper 1" window on my desktop with an MLA format help from "paper 2" in WRIT 340, I will update this blog, complete with pictures from reading week, where I went to Windsor Castle (with a stop at Eton College), University of Oxford, Stonehenge and Stratford-upon-Avon (I think they pronounce it "ay-vun" here). So now, pictures from reading week. You will notice, however, that there are no Stonehenge pictures. Those will be posted later. Here we go.


** this is the front of Shakespeare's birthplace. Stratford-upon-Avon is one big tourist trap, except maybe his tomb inside the Holy Trinity Church, which is open to visitors even on Sundays .... unusual.


** the beautiful garden in the back of Shakespeare's birthplace.


** this is Holy Trinity Church, which sits on the banks of the River Avon, which is gorgeous. The church itself is in the shape of a cross, with the top of the cross facing east, toward the River Avon. The nave and the chancel, where Shakespeare and his family are buried, is buily at an angle. I've been told two different explanations for this: one is that it is the architectural style of the day (doubtful, but I am open to dispute from people who know architecture), and two, that when they "rebuilt" the chancel, they built it to align perfectly east since the "old" chancel, along with the current nave, is slightly off-center. I'm not sure I quite believe the second explanation either, but the brochure they gave out didn't really explain the weird crookeness.


** the is a view from the River Avon from the graveyard of the Holy Trinity Church. Pretty, huh?


** Shakespeare's tomb. You can see his family's coat of arms at the bottom corner. His tombstone reads:
Good friend for Jesus sake forebeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare.
Blese be the man that spares these bones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.


** University of Oxford's Herford College courtyard. Oxford is in the town of Oxford, which is to say that the university IS the town in that it is a college town but also that the campus is so spread out in the town that it makes sense to just call the whole thing Oxford.


** a statue in the courtyard of the Bodleian Library, the university's main library.


** the Radcliffe Camera, part of the Bodleian Library, from the tower of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.


** The Coronation Chair from the Westminster Abbey. Remember when I said I didn't know we couldn't take photos in the abbey? Here's proof.


** And the Westminster Abbey.

moons and Junes and ferris wheels

Today, after much stress, frustration, planning and self-doubt, I ran for editor in chief of the Daily Trojan and lost. There lots of things going against me, most of which I can't/won't elaborate, but the main thing is that I'm glad I did it. Am I sad that I lost? Yes, of course. Sad because I lost, but also sad because I knew I could've really changed the DT. I didn't do it out of spite; I did it because I believe.

But I know now that when I graduate, I leave the DT with no regrets, no "what if," no "maybe if," no "I wish." Running for EiC was something I've wanted to do since I was a freshman, now I've done it. It's done, and now I move on with my life.

Tomorrow, I head to the first leg of my whirlwind journey through the U.K., visiting Windsor Castle, University of Oxford, Stonehenge and Stratford-upon-Avon -- in that order. In between those, I will file my column for the Daily Trojan and read for the papers I have to write for my history classes.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"But something's lost
but something's gained
in living everyday.
I've looked at life
from both sides now,
from win and lose,
and still somehow,
it's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all."
-- "Both Sides Now," Joni Mitchell

Picture of the Day: Remembrance Day.
Veterans poppy display in front of Westminster Abbey on Monday.

Happy (belated) Guy Fawkes Day!

Erika and I, being one of the few still in town on Saturday, went to find a decent Guy Fawkes celebration and decided to go to one in Lamsted Park (??) somewhere waaaay the hell out there in southwest London, just a few Tube stops away from Heathrow Airport. There was supposed to be a bonfire at 6 p.m., but when we got there at 5 (we left at 3:15), there was nobody there. Not a soul. Not even at the funfair.

So we go with Plan B, Alexandra Palace, on the OTHER side of town -- aka northeast London at Wood Green. Thankfully, both places are on the Piccadilly Line, or it would've been a pain to change trains. We left Lamsted Park around 5:30-ish and got to Wood Green around 6:15, I forgot, I was sleep, but anyway, we go to the palace itself around 6:45 or 7, just in time to hear the annoying DJs talk and not play music.

Supposedly, it was the biggest Guy Fawkes Day firework display in town that night, so I guess we went to the right place. It was a pretty spectacular show, I have to admit. It was even timed to the soundtrack!

So afterward, after the estimated 60,000 people filed (slowly) out of the hilltop of the "Ally Pally," Erika and I went to see "Elizabethtown." Everybody go see "Elizabethtown."

Well, today I went to see Westminster Abbey as a way to procrastinate the paper writing. I realized a couple of days ago that my U.S. history paper is due the same Friday as when I will be in Hungary, so I have to write the paper 3 days early,nd that has never happened. Unless you count WRIT 340, when we had to have drafts ready.

But anyway, I never knew the Poet's Corner was inside ... or all of the tombs, for that matter. I always thought they were outside, like regular churches. But apparently, Westminster is no ordinary church. Everybody is buried inside. Crazy.

I also didn't know that no photography, flash or otherwise, is allowed in the church, so I have pictures of the Coronation Chair, Elizabeth I and Mary I's tombs, also Henry VII's chapel and some of the poets and writers in the Poet's Corner, which is where the guy caught me taking photos. Bummer. :(

Anyway, that's the way event of the day. So now I am going to read a book and procrastinate the paper-writing some more. Happy, happy times.

picture of the day:
a view of the River Thames at sunset from the Tate Britain.

for lack of July 4th ...

Britain celebrates ....

GUY FAWKES DAY!

I mean, people need an excuse to shoot off fireworks and light bonfires, right?

And since practically everybody skipped town for reading week, Erika and I decided to attend a bonfire. There're bound to be several around town.

I mean, for an entire week, people have been shooting off industrial-strength, professional-grade, July 4th extravaganza type of fireworks. You know, the kind you picnic for, but these are just random people in the East End deciding to have fun for 3 hours at the expense of others' sanity.

***

On a funnier note, I recently finished transcribing the canal cookies narrative recording for my linguistics class. It took me 6 1/2 hours and another 2 hours to analyze the elements of it, but it is HILARIOUS. I want to post it here simply because it is so funny. Even though I was bone-tired (I started transcribing at midnight, dumb me), I was still cracking up as I was typing it out.

It's even funnier on tape, but I'm not sure if Blogger will let me do that.