March has been broken

Right now we're in the middle of March Break. A random week off, during which we can sit around and pretend to work. I've spent most of it not working in Dewies.

I have done some work, but mainly we all turn up at Dewies throughout the day with our laptops with the intent of being productive, and then spend hours messing around, talking and listening to music. The bonus of sitting in Dewies for such stupidly long periods of time means that people to talk to will eventually turn up, and there's a pretty endless supply of food and coffee. Right now I have soup.

We've also taken over the sofas in the corner and every one of us has a laptop with us (except Bob, but he has an iPad; which is almost the same thing, only smaller and with a touchscreen). I don't think any actual work is going on...

We're going to the Lion for wings night later, and hopefully we'll actually get served this time. Last time I went I'd been in class for about 5 hours and really needed to eat, then we didn't get served for an hour. Then we left and went to Jerry's, but a couple of people didn't want to eat there, so we ended up walking all the way back to campus two hours after we left, having still not eaten.

Hopefully we actually get to eat there tonight though...

I think my ears are getting towards being healed, finally. I thought I'd recapped the past two months, and completely forgot that I'd had my ears pierced again. I think I'm stopping at the seven I have now.

Apparently I'm Bob's 'If he were straight' fake girlfriend... We had a girls night (plus Bob) on Monday, and it was decided. I think it works.

This blog is failing. I have very little to write about today, and my brain is semi-mush. Maybe I'll call it quits for the week and get coffee or something...

Bring on the Midterms

So I'm definitely sucking at updating this thing in 2011... I've kept meaning to actually update it, but there were many distractions and other methods of procrastination.

Second semester is most definitely underway (currently slap bang in the middle of week six) and it's taken me nearly two months to get round to writing another post on here. But I'm finally doing it! I think I actually got part way through writing one about a month ago, and then I ran out of things to say and stopped. Then I had to restart the comp for some reason and lost what I'd written. I don't think it was anything particularly exciting anyway.

Semester is going well so far. I haven't had any midterms yet, but they're coming up in the next couple of weeks. I should probably actually check when exactly they are... I know one is on the 23rd. I'm not worried about any of them, anyway. Classes are pretty good. I don't particularly enjoy the four and a half hour blocks twice a week, but it's three interesting modules, so it's bearable (even if I am pretty much done by the time it gets to Shakespeare).

I'm currently in the process of doing laundry, so I think I have about ten minutes before I have to dash off and shove stuff into the dryer. I got distracted with sweeping my floor and didn't set the timer until an unknown period of time later. Hopefully it will have finished when I get down there, anyway. I also have a cold vanilla coffee thing, which has been keeping chilled on the windowsill. It's brilliant. I think the window has a bit of a draught, and it's around -18 at the moment, so it keeps things nice and cold. My bed is safely on the other side of the room, so I don't actually feel the freezing temperatures.

Not quite sure how much snow there is at the moment. We got hit by a storm a couple of weeks ago that dumped an insane amount of snow on us overnight, and we've had the odd random inch throughout the week. The footpaths are pretty easy to navigate, although it was about +4 yesterday, so some of it started melting and then promptly refroze. There are odd patches of ice all over the place.

I've managed to fall a total of three times so far this winter. The first time was the incident involving the puddle, and the second happened the night I got back onto campus after the hols. I made the stupid decision that I would be fine in my (gripless) trainers going for food, and didn't notice the great big patch of ice outside my rez. There were no witnesses.

The most recent time was because the path through the foot-deep snow was narrow and I lost my balance, managing to plunge myself into a snowdrift. Fun times. Only my friend laughed at me though, so it's ok. Better than the puddle by a long shot.

What else has happened in the past two months? I got to Montreal with no problems, although the Mother and sister had a pretty nightmarish time getting out here. Cancelled/delayed flights etc. They got there eventually. I spent a fair amount of my time waiting for them, sitting in the trainstation stealing the free wifi, seeing as the hotel was mean and charged. Strangely enough if you joined the Premier group or something, which didn't cost anything, then you got a code and could access the internet for free. This was pretty useful once we got to Quebec, because both hotels were in the same company, and there was no way we were going to pay for the internet.

I haven't mentioned the fact that - laundry - anyway... The hotel in Quebec was a frikken CASTLE. Seriously. It was epic. I rather loved Quebec, to be honest. Didn't think much of Montreal, but it's a bit too 'cityish' for my tastes, and apparently there are other parts of the city that are nicer than where we were.

Quebec was amazing, anyway. I tried some caribou and some wild boar, and had some genuinely awesome meals. I think the boar and the surf-and-turf were my favourites. I could have gone back there a couple of weeks ago (the weekend of the storm) for Carnivale, but I decided I didn't really want to deal with all the crowds. I'd have missed the Poetry Slam, anyway - more on that later.

I changed one of my modules at the beginning of the semester. I was set to do the second half of the Intro to Lit class, but we got the schedule and the only thing I liked on there was Blake, and we only covered about two of his poems. The majority of the stuff on the course are texts I've studied before or just down-right hated. I switched into a 300-level class on Medieval Dreams and stuff instead. Significantly more interesting. The first Long Poem class was pretty awkward. I had my doubts about the class, but it's definitely improved. I think it was probably just first class nerves for most of them. It's pretty good now, although I still don't really like that it's a night class on Thursdays, even if we did reschedule it for an hour earlier than it was timetabled for. My week still doesn't finish until 9pm on Thursdays.

What else is there...?

I got one of my poems into the Mitre, which I'm pretty pleased about. Apparently it's the first page and everything. Never had anything of mine published before. I've also submitted some of my work to New Writing Dundee, so maybe I'll get something in there, too. I think I'm going to have to look into getting something published in England, next. I've already got Canada and maybe Scotland. I'll keep working at that. Right now I have two poems to write for Thursday, and a bunch of things to comment on as well. I'll get it all done. I also need to make a start on my essay. It's due on the 23rd, unless I decide to turn it into a research paper instead, in which case I have until April 6th. It will get done.

I read at the Poetry Slam the other week. I had half planned on reading some of my own work, but I was also dying of the plague at the time, and therefore unsure as to whether I was even going to go until we were walking out the door, at which point it was too late to think of getting any of my own work printed off. I ended up stealing a copy of Donne's 'The Good Morrow' instead, which is one of my favourite poems. People seemed to like me, but I think that might have been because I'm English. The accent does funny things to people on this side of the Pond... I don't think anyone noticed that I was shaking up there, but I did pick up the fact that my accent was stronger over the mic. I could hear my own voice, as well as the sound through the speakers, and I definitely sounded more 'Yorkshire' on the speakers.

Ah well. Maybe I should have read some Shakespeare...

I have recently been dying of the plague, as has previously been mentioned. I think I'm going on two weeks at the moment, although there were a couple of days towards the end of last week when I thought I was getting better. Then the weekend happened. At least I don't look like I'm about to keel over, anyway. Apparently some people were rather worried I was going to suddenly pass out or something. I hadn't realised I looked that bad until people commented that I was looking better...

I hope I'm actually going to recover soon. I'm rather sick of being ill. Apparently other people are sick of me being ill, too; I get more moany than usual.

Exam schedules went up during the last couple of days; I only have two finals. This pleases me. I finish my year at Bishop's on the 20th April. According to my study permit, I don't have to actually leave the country until August 31st, so I have time to maybe do some travelling out here before I head back home. I still don't know what exactly I'm doing this summer, but I have about five and a half months or something to kill. I'm sure I'll come up with something to do, I have friends from various places around the country, so I might be able to find sofas to crash on or something if I do a bit of travelling. I think I'd quite like to see BC, and I have at least a couple of people who live out there.

Plans will be made.

Definitely been writing this for about an hour... I think I might have covered most of the past two months of my update-failing. Laundry should be done in about 20 minutes, and I've been neglecting my coffee. Probably a good thing it was already cold.

Maybe I'll try and get some of this poetry written. Or sit and mess around on the internet... Which is more likely to happen?

Leaving Lennoxvegas (again)

I may have been putting off updating this thing for a few days... I kept thinking I should, but then I couldn't work out what to actually write, so it just didn't happen.

But I'm going to Montreal in a few hours to see my mother and sister :D I'm actually really excited. Webcam just isn't the same - particularly when it keeps breaking up and not cooperating. I think I'm pretty much ready to go. I've emptied the fridge of any perishables, packed my bag and dropped off the (single) fish with the neighbour. I even saw the bus I need to get go past when I was getting some more toothpaste, so I actually know which schedule it's following today. It's a better time than I thought. From what I could work out, the schedule I thought it would be following had all the buses getting to the depot just before the hour. All the coaches to Montreal leave on the hour.

Thankfully there are a couple I can get that arrive around half-past, so I'll have plenty of time when I get there to organise my ticket etc. Plus I have a little bit of freedom about whether I get the 12.13 or the 1.13. Either works.

I think my mother and sister are in the air right now. I think we annoyed my sister by sending about 36 comments (according to the count on facebook, anyway). I don't think there are too many from after she switched off though.

I baked my sister some gluten free cupcakes yesterday. I think there was something wrong with one of the ingredients, because the batter smelled a bit strange; but they taste fine and the one I had yesterday didn't kill me. I'm guessing they're probably safe. I wonder if that's why my hand was spasming this morning... It's fine now, but I have issues with that hand anyway, and I was using it to beat the ingredients together. Who knows; I'm fine now.

My first Christmas on my own was ok. I wasn't lonely or depressed, and it was kind of nice having a quiet day. I didn't open my present until I was showered and dressed and everything, so it was after 12 before I actually opened it. I could have done it earlier, I suppose; but it's kind of tradition not to open until everyone has finished getting up properly. We used to have to wait until Daddy had finished sorting whatever part of dinner it was that needed doing, as well. I don't actually know what he did in the kitchen the whole time, but I guess it was important...

I quite like living on my own. I always thought I'd be a bit weirded out by the empty house, but Iactually like it. I think it's an improvement on living with people you don't get on with or who don't have the same levels of mess-tolerance.

I passed my first semester it BU. I rather like this way of doing things; where first semester ends before Christmas hols. I don't need to feel like I should be doing something more productive with my time.

I should probably get the washing up done before I head off. I think I might go for the 1.13 bus, because then I'll have time to eat lunch and do a last tidy before I get going. It's only 11am at the moment, but I'm not hungry enough to eat yet - even if I have been awake since about 6.30. I'll finish the coffee before I wash up though.

I can't believe it's been nearly four months since I've seen my mother and sister. Admittedly last year I went six months without seeing my sister, but it's still strange. I can't wait!

Snowed under

It appears I've been getting a bit behind on updating this thing recently... I started out with good intentions, but it's the end of the semester and everything has been catching up with me. I've had all of my essays back now, and I passed all of them. Even if I only got a C+ from Canadian Short Stories. The prof is the uni's harshest marker and I'd already melted my brain before I made it to writing hers, and none of the questions were at all inspiring. I consider it a success all round.

Classes finished on Wednesday last week, so those are all over with, and I'm two thirds of the way through my finals already. The prof brought her puppy to the last class (he's called Marlowe, after the writer - only an English buff...) and he spent the entire time running around distracting people. Then he pee'd on a girl's bag... Admittedly he gave fair warning and barked a couple of times, but apparently he'd already gone six times on the way to class, so she can probably be forgiven for not predicting exactly what it was he wanted. None of us knew what was happening, she was in the middle of a sentence when she pretty much screamed. It was pretty funny, although I don't think the owner of the bag appreciated it much...

Marlowe was also having his operation the next day, and she had to cancel her office hours yesterday because he busted his stitches chasing snowflakes. Poor thing. He's fine, though.

I've had two of my finals already, which is a good thing. I hate exams. They've both gone well though, so I'm just trying to study for my Short Stories exam on Friday afternoon. That one may well kill me. I would be studying right now, only I remembered at lunch that the final version of my play is due tomorrow.This is a break from working on that. I have until 4pm tomorrow to get it in, so there's plenty of time. Then it's back to the short stories. I should be finished by 5pm Friday at the latest though, and I invariably finish exams early.

A couple of us are planning on going to the mall on Saturday, because there's Christmas shopping and End-of-Semester celebrations that need to happen. My floormate is flying back to BC next week, so they've been checking up on the forecast in the hopes that the snow won't be bad enough that their flight is cancelled. This is Canada, though. They know how to cope with snow - unlike England, which appears to be suffering at the moment.

I have started pretty much living in my epically toasty boots. They're wonderful. I'm so glad I got them when I did, because otherwise I'd have had cold ankles for the last couple of days. I even wore my coat for the first time this evening. It's lovely and warm, so I won't go freezing to death in the Canadian winter. I need a better toque, though - my ears keep getting cold.

I have somewhere to live over Xmas! We spent the afternoon there decorating cookies, which was a lot of fun, and she's said I can stay there over the holiday. She's not even charging me rent, which is a big plus on the other option of booking a room in a hotel, the cheapest of which worked out at about £60-something a night. Plus I'd have had to pay for food for every meal. I think this is the better option, and I actually get to cook! It's surprising how much I've missed that.

I haven't dyed my hair yet. What with one thing and another we just haven't had time, but we might be doing it on Friday evening after we've finished our finals. If not then I'll get it done over Xmas hols. The roots really are quite bad, and I can actually see what colour my hair should be. It needs dying.

I should really be getting back to work, but I'm struggling to work out what exactly the play needs. I'll work it out. Think I'll have another look and then call it quits for the night. My neck is hurting from sitting hunched at the computer for too long.

Il neige! Il neige!

It's SNOWING!

Admittedly it's been claiming it would for the past two weeks, but now it's genuinely snowing and actually settling. The world is turning white and it's rather wonderful.

I hadn't realised quite how long it's been since I updated this (ten days? I lost count...) but I spent the last week melting my brain writing essays. I got them all done and handed in on time (one of them was even early! I don't think I've ever handed an essay in early...) and I got one of them back already! B+ (pretty good, considering I wrote it in about two and a half hours).

Managed to slip on the ice and land on my arse in a puddle yesterday morning, which is always fun. Had to walk all the way back to rez with soaked jeans. Thank god for the radiator!

My room is pretty dim at the moment. The bulb is wearing out and we can't find the RA to get a new one. I'm sure he's around somewhere, but this is a uni and it's Saturday. It's quite possible he's still asleep. I'll hopefully get that sorted today, anyway.

Think I'm getting somewhere with where I'm staying for Xmas. Planning on subletting a friend of a friend's place for a couple of weeks, and then off I go to Montreal to meet up with ma mere et ma soeur!

I have some hairdye now, and we're planning on doing my hair sometime this weekend - my roots look terrible! There really weren't that many decent reds to choose from. They all seem pretty dull and bland, but whatever; I have a colour and soon the blonde will be gone once more. I also got some boots while we were at the mall. They have fluff on them. And good grips etc... They're both pretty and practical, and ever so toasty warm for my toesies.

I keep running out of things to say, so i'm going to go and try to read the Bacchae for classics on Tuesday.

That was unbelievably painful

I just had my Classics final.

Oh. My. God.

That was the most painful exam I have ever had to do. I thought I'd learned quite a bit in that class, but the questions he'd given to us were terrible. They could have been answered in less than a paragraph. Which is all well and good, only an essay is significantly more than a paragraph. My first answer was two pages. Just. I was struggling to get that much down. The second one was a page. One page! I have never written an answer that short, but I wrote everything I could think of that was relevant, and I was struggling to get that much down. In the end I just got up and left.

I hope I haven't failed.

Anyway.

I didn't actually eat lunch today, and I've skipped two of my classes (too busy revising for that damned exam) so I'm kind of hungry, but it suddenly hit me that I hadn't updated this in forever, so here I am now. I'll go eat when I'm finished. I hope there's something good tonight, week one menu tends to be pretty well rubbish.

Went into Lennoxvegas for lunch on Saturday, given that it was brunch and breakfast had been terrible, and we found a little cafe that was fairly dead. It was literally the two of us, the owner and his friend (who is clearly always in there). It was nice though, small menu, nice decor and opera playing (we think it was Italian, it did get discussed). We had a rather nice half hour or so just sitting in there talking with them and eating bagels with (real!) cream cheese. It was a great change from Dewies, and they clearly don't get students in there very often.

I haven't done much of anything, recently. I got my first essay of the month in, my second essay got rescheduled for the same day as my third essay, so I now have three essays in the same week and two on the same day, which I'm really not looking forward to.

I need to dye my hair again - the roots are getting fairly bad again. I don't know how I'm going to accomplish it though, given that I'm in halls with no detachable showerheads, but I suppose I'll work out a way. Or get the hairdye and go to a hairdressers and get them to do it for me. Lazy option, but I don't know. I'm half considering shaving my head, but I think I'd probably regret it if I did, and anyway; I don't think I want to be blonde again, which I would be if I shaved it all off... It's just annoying me and I'm bored of it.

I think I might get another piercing if I can find somewhere nearby that does them. I think a friend of a friend lives in Sherbrooke and will know of somewhere.

Is all this a sign that I'm unbelievably bored and restless at the moment? I think I might take the weekend and go to the mall or something - I need to escape for a while.

This is the month of essays

I have four essays due this month. I dislike this. I made a start on the first one earlier and got halfway through the introduction before realising that while I know what I want to talk about in a general sense, I haven't actually worked out what my thesis is and what I actually want my arguments to conclude. I've emailed my prof though, so hopefully she'll get back to me with some ideas.

This is why I start essays late; because I generally get halfway through my arguments before I realise what I'm actually arguing and can write my thesis statement.

I also have a headache, which isn't helping much. We're sitting in Dewie's drinking coffee and munching, which is more interesting than my room, but I don't have my (epically huge) text book with me to look at the sections I want to talk about. I've made a start at least...

The snow is now gone. It didn't stick around for very long and it's warmed up a little bit (it's not quite so bitterly freezing right now, although it is raining). My little forecast gadget is predicting flurries on Sunday, so we'll see what happens. I want more coffee...

Mmmm. Coffee is good. I think it might actually be helping with the headache... Admittedly the first mug didn't do anything.

I'm so not getting anything done, but there's coffee and company and therefore the situation is a win.