2008.

2008 has been a strange year. Lots of things have changed in a short space of time and the first half of the year seems a world away from the present.
In 2008 I climbed Snowdon, went to London with my lit class (♥), went for interviews in Manchester and London, went to countless Open Days, re-sat AS level exams in English Lit and History, sat A Level exams in English Lit, History and German (+ an AS exam in the sham that is Critical Thinking), left school, dressed up for the Leaver's Ball, painted pigs in Llanberis, went to America with my family (California - Arizona - Nevada), went camping in St Davids with Harry, passed my driving test, passed my A Levels (AAC), was conned out of a Leeds ticket and went on a mini-roadtrip instead (Liverpool - Oxford - London), moved 251 miles away from home, turned nineteen and started University. In 2008 there were tea parties and driving lessons, gold medals and revision, pretty dresses and moustaches, tapas bars and tea-cup shots, tears and laughter and a lot, a lot of nerves.

Merry Christmas.

It's CHRISTMAS.

Een Plesierige Kerfees/ Gezuar Krishtlindje/ Tchestita Koleda/ Nadolig Llawen/ 祝你聖誕快樂/ Glaedelig Jul/ Vrolijk Kerstfeest/ Merry Christmas/ Hyvaa joulua/ Joyeux Noel/ Froehliche Weihnachten/ Kala Christouyenna/ Selamat Hari Natal/ Buone Feste Natalizie/ Kurisumasu Omedeto/ 즐거운 성탄절 보내세요/ God Jul/ Wesolych Swiat/ Feliz Natal/ Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva/ Feliz Navidad/ Srozhdestvom Kristovym/ Nginifisela inhlanhla

Autumn Term.

I'm so happy I'm home.
This term has been long and at times hard and it is a huge relief that I can forget about all things grown-up and Goldsmiths for the next four weeks and relax and enjoy the time with my family and friends.
On the whole I've had a good first term; I really enjoy my course and the people I have met so far have been friendly and kind. However, University has differed greatly from my prior expectations and there are often large amounts of free time between lectures and books. I am grateful at these times that I can entertain myself easily, and obviously in a city as big as London there are plenty of things to keep me occupied. All the same I couldn't have made it through the Autumn term without the following distractions (and then some). ♥

"Smoking Kills".

Charlotte stayed for two nights and left for York this morning. We had a great time and did lots of fun things:

1. Twiglets and Malibu at the Goldsmiths Tavern with Jenny, Rick and Aaron.
2. Silly hats and pretty dresses in Topshop; lion rape and Welsh on whiteboards in Hamleys.
3. Made it to the Tuesday Night Pub Quiz AT LAST: Sparkle Motion, mulled wine, copious Christmas tree photos and feet. Sadly we won neither Macbook nor Gingerbread House kit.
4. WICKED♥: Note the OMG van in the background. Good times.
5. Ian McEwan talk on Wednesday evening, while Charlotte napped and Harry? . + We hate Dr Oetker and his stupid lying Gingerbread House Kits.
6. After Charlotte left: Platform 9 3/4, Science Museum, Topshop, Spaghetti Bolognase and Studio Ghibli.

One more day left now! We are catching the train to Oxford after my last seminar tomorrow and my auntie's partner will drive us back from there. Eeee, I can't wait.
Here are some of the week's photographic highlights:

Essays.

Essays are over and done with at last. I am SO happy! Only a small Great Gatsby analysis for my Creative Writing workshop in the morning and then I'm free, free, freee of work for the rest of the year.
Harry is still ill and has been in bed all day. Shocking stuff. Charlotte is arriving tomorrow, yayyay. I just hope he'll be better by then.

Sunday.

Harry arrived at mid-day with a suitcase so large, I could easily have curled up inside without a moment's hesitation and room to spare. We went to Greenwich Market after lunch and ate 'churros' with hot spiced apple juice in polystyrene cups as we browsed the stalls. Harry bought me a beautiful skirt as the market was shutting for the night, then we went back to New Cross where I cooked pasta and put a poorly Harry to bed for 8 o'clock. Now I am flicking irritably through my literary theory textbooks and thinking who cares what realism means anyway? Blah. Five more sleeps.

Beauty and the Beast.

Last night I visited "Baker = Charlotte 'I like yolks' Hindley" [front row in a homemade villager's skirt in the photo] in Oxford for the grand opening of the OULES (Oxford University Light Entertainment Society) Christmas play, Beauty and the Beast. It was very much fabulous and I left the theatre feeling happy and lightly entertained. We also attempted to watch Princess Mononoke at a Mansfield Film Society evening, but there were projector problems, so we ate our fair share of mince pies and then left. We were after all the only ones there. Instead Charlotte and I watched Black Book into the wee hours. It was a really good film, but we went to bed feeling slightly downhearted (Nazis as always = bloody) and more than a bit confused. Oh, and the Porter man thought we were sisters (so we told him, "No! We're just good friends..")

I left Charlotte this morning after breakfast and returned to London following a brief felt hunt (success at last!) and a sneaky peek into Borders. There, I did a little Christmas shopping in Covent Garden until my arms grew tired and I headed back to New Cross Gate.

Advent.

I've had a busy weekend, filled with a series of diversions and a last minute bout of essay writing and now I feel like I could curl up in bed and sleep until Wednesday. Unfortunately, however, I am not free of the essay factory yet and at some point between now and Friday I have to churn out another 1500 words on the critical interpretations of Frankenstein, or some such nonsense. -_-

When I came back from the library this evening I began to arrange my University-room Christmas decorations. I have a mini tree made of black tinsel, a set of small, colourful baubles, some new fairy lights and some Christmas tree pegs for attaching cards to the wall. I don't know whether I'll actually receive any cards while I'm here, but they look nice all the same. I also want to make some paperchains over the weekend. I wish I had some cool origami paper to make them with, but card of the Paper Mill Shop variety will have to suffice.

Oh and on a loosely related topic, (paper chains > paper envelopes) I'm in the process of making Harry an advent calendar. It's super cool, even if I do say so myself. The first set arrived in Cambridge on Saturday, but I wrote strict opening instructions on the outside of the package, so Harry opened it today. It sounds like he was pleasantly surprised.

I'm going to Oxford tomorrow to watch Beauty and the Beast. I couldn't decide whether I had time to go, what with essays and the like, but then I thought (a) it's almost Christmas, (b) you won't do any work on Tuesday anyhow and what's more you haven't seen Charlotte in over five weeks. That's so unreal. But yay for tomorrow evening♥.
+ Eleven Days.

16.

Once again the shops are filling up with bustling shoppers, Christmas songs and festive cheer (although I was sad to learn that Woolworths are closing after all this time. Where will we buy our shrimps and bananas now?) My parents came to visit me today and while my dad was in a meeting, my mum and I went Christmas shopping. I had a great time and we were very successful in our purchases, despite the fact that we got little further than Covent Gardens. My mum bought me some fruity teas from Whittards (Mulled Wine flavour, yum♥) and some twinkly Christmas decorations from Paperchase (fairy lights, mini tree and colourful baubles). I also did a bit of shopping of my own; namely a present for Hannah and a couple of things for Harry. I must write up a proper list before I go back. I keep on seeing things, thinking "Oo, that would be good for [name]" and then 'saving it for another day'. I should probably remember that there are only sixteen another days left and at least four? five? of those will be spent in serious essay contemplation. After a quick jaunt into Hamley's (which is always fun), we met up with my dad in Leicester Square. We ate dinner at a less than perfect Chinese restaurant, then headed back to Euston in plenty of time for their train. I still hate goodbyes.

Actually, speaking of Christmas preparations, I've begun compiling a list of 'Christmas Plans'. It seems slightly pathetic, I know, but it is without a doubt necessary. I never get things done unless I list them, it seems. So far my ideas include the likes of Christmas Marketing in Manchester, ice-Skating, making a Gingerbread House, etc. but we'll see how much productivity there is after the twelfth.

(Note: new favourite shop = Artbox in the Thomas Neals Centre. + Starbucks and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Yayy. ♥)

Hamlet.

I hate that for an aspiring writer I rarely, if ever, have anything of interest to write about. Other people seem to side-step this issue with deep and profound philosophisings or absurd attention to detail, or even complete and utter babble, but beyond the blatant, "Today I wrestled an eagle from the jaws of a mountain lion. Pizza for tea, again. Then I went to bed. Etc. Etc." it would seem that I have very little to say. I guess if pressed for an acceptable reason I would probably put it down to the severe sense of University-related lethargy I've been suffering from these past few weeks. I'm tired of independence and reading because I have to and living on spaghetti and pizza and cuppa soup alone. Sure, I'm having a great time in London, but I'm getting way past the stage where I just want to go home and see my family and my friends and rely fully on the presence of others again! Ah well. Never worry. Only eighteen days to go now.

On a less rantish note I've got some nice things to look forward to over the coming weeks, besides my joyfully looming homecoming. My mum is due to visit me on Wednesday or Thursday and we're going to partake in some serious Christmas shopping (and you have to be serious, battling it out in the Oxford Street throngs) and some less-than-serious afternoon tea cum chatting♥. Secondly, I have decided on the spur of the moment to go across to Oxford next week, to watch Charlotte in her drama society Christmas performance of Beauty and the Beast. Essays regardless, I think, I'll go on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning, stay the night on Charlotte's suprisingly comfortable bedroom floor and perhaps even go as far as to visit my auntie the next day. + Finally in the run-up to the 12th Harry and Charlotte are both coming to stay with me in London. :D So that means all thoughts of work out of the window and hopefully a trip to the ice-rink in Hyde Park. Along with the promise of pub quizzage tomorrow evening. I couldn't be happier!

Oh, and because all entries now look barren and imcomplete following my recent photo splurge:

A good night out at the Hobgoblin with Aaron, Rick, Nicole and soon-to-be local barwench, Jenny. (:
Highlights of the evening: Moustache tattoos, hardcore hula-hoops, chavvy pickup lines and lesbian declarations galore.

Autumn Adventures.

When in London I like to: draw robots, write letters, visit Royalty, ride the tubes, remember remember, journey through time and space, sightsee and begin the Christmas countdown♥.

The Postal Service, Etc.

Today I stood in line for an hour at the Post Office, with the sole intention of buying a 50p stamp and engaging in a transaction of no more than two minutes, max. Honestly, I was beginning to understand why pointless wars are started, as the tension quickly mounted and everyone joined together in frustration against the poor, over-worked staff. It passed the time between lecture and seminar, anyhow..
Furthermore, I witnessed an absolute travesty in my Explorations Lecture this afternoon. The lecturer - a man of English Literature, no less - commanded a student to rip three pages from his text-book. It was awful. Josh, Lydia and I sat at the back of the lecture theatre muttering, 'Sacrilege', 'Blasphemy' and 'Nazi' to ourselves, until he stopped the madness.

I had a pretty sub-standard weekend, full of deadlines and ill and sleep and robbery and last minute laundry trips. I'm losing more and more motivation as the weeks wear on and the holiday countdown begins in my head. I really just want to go home now.
Possibility of a party tonight. I might make a birthday card and pop up for an hour or so later, but I am SO tired right now, it's unreal. I even attempted an early night yesterday. I was in bed by 12 o'clock, believe it or not, yet sleep still refused to come. Gahh.

Tate Britain.

Today I met my auntie at the Tate Britain, where we visited the Francis Bacon exhibition. Standing among the scribbling art students and the casual observers, I spent much of my time listening to the loud, pretentious commentary of an amateur art critic, whose over-zealous attempts to explain the works of art to her elderly companion, filled the air more strongly than the smells of age-old paint and sweat. Eventually, when her painting-by-every single painting analysis became too much I switched on my hand-held guide and quilted her noise in the words of others.

Later, we ate lunch at a smart pizza restaurant in Covent Gardens, before heading over to Leicester Square, where we met up with my auntie's friend. My original plan of leaving after saying a quick hello gradually disintegrated into staying for hot chocolate and enjoyable conversation and it wasn't until some two and a bit hours later that I made my way back to New Cross. (: So now to write some very quick, very profound poetry. Wish me luck.

To-Do Lists.

Today I really need to get myself across to the laundry-room, the post box and Sainsbury's, but I don't feel motivated in the slightest. I'd much rather sit around in my pyjamas for a good part of the day, making my way through the less-serious content of my to-do list and generally wasting time and faffing around. Take this blog for example. At the moment I've written six and a half letters, my room is looking spotless and I've decided to read the entirety of the Canterbury Tales, rather than the shorter and much simpler Wife of Bath's Tale/ Prologue combination.

I think I'd best have another hour or so of procrastination, 'to get it out of my system', then I'll go out and act productively. Actually, my food supplies are running dangerously low, so starvation, if anything, may yet drive me to achieve my goals. That or my looming Creative Writing deadline.. Eek.

Reading Week.

I spent 'Reading Week' (aka. half term in an academic disguise) firstly in Durham with my Gran and secondly in Cambridge with my Harry. ♥ It was really nice to get away from London & Uni for a couple of days and I must admit I'm not feeling terribly thrilled about coming back again.

In Durham I spent my time chatting, eating scones, relaxing by the fire, shopping in the rain, watching old films and the election results, chatting some more, writing letters, eating real food, drinking hot chocolate before bed, even more chatting, reading for pleasure (O:) and then some more chatting. Oh, and I had a bath too. It was perfect.

I then took an over-crowded train to Cambridge where Harry and I spent our time shopping, watching films (Little Miss Sunshine & the Royal Tenenbaums♥), exploring and decorating Harry's room. We also ate a lot of strange food combinations (E.G. chili con carne, tortilla wraps, Terry's chocolate orange and tea-cakes. You've got to love those nutritious student meals) and failed to make it to a single museum or place of culture yet again. Go us.

All in all, I've felt more at ease these past six days than I have in a long time and I'm extremely grateful for that. Hopefully, these homesy feelings will last me until Christmas. Or at least until my next visitor arrives. And, needless to say, I've done very little reading!

Witches & Waxworks.

I intended to write a lot more about the remainder of my week, but I've been internetless for days and on the off-chance it goes again, I'll keep it short:

+ Hannah and Vicki to stay
+ Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum
+ Toy dinosaurs
+ Sightseeing and touristy photos galore
- Aching feet and tummy aches
+ Dinner at Little Frankie's
- Early night

- Lack of craft market at Greenwich
+ Shopping at Covent Gardens
+ Madame Tussauds
- Breaking cameras
+ DRACO MALFOY ♥
+ Pizza, Cava and Benchwarmers

- Hannah and Vicki went home
- Getting across London in half an hour
+ Wilfred the Pumpkin
+ New friends and flatmates
- Keine internets
+ Hairspray and fancy dress (/return of the Scissorhands)
+ Edgar Allan Poe


On a different note, I'm going to County Durham tomorrow to stay with my Grandma for a few days of home-cooking, old films and blazing fires. So, dinner, packing and an early night me thinks.

[EDIT] I went to bed at half past two in the end. I suck.