My Room Has A View

‘Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.’ - C. S. Lewis

Dear Readers,

Well here it is! My last blog post of first year. I am in the trenches of exams and it’s beginning to feel a bit like purgatory, but I know it will be over soon. This year went unbelievably fast. It wasn’t necessarily the easiest, but every day I am thankful to be here because this year really is a love story.

The first time I came to the England I was smitten. The second time I fell a little harder once we ventured to Wales. The next few times I felt the same, in a sort of superficial love. I was always happy to come home to escape the cold rain. I was satisfied with a yearly pilgrimage to Hay and a trip to Scotland was fairly low on my list. And then this opportunity appeared and visited again…

I always wanted to live abroad, but it was something comfortably in the future like so many of the things I plan to do. It wasn’t until the chance was squarely before me that I realised part of me was terrified. Fortunately the bigger part found it wholly impossible to pass it up. So I signed up to go to a school I’d never seen farther North than I had ever ventured in the UK.

And that’s when the real love story begins. like any good one it hasn’t always been easy. After the initial honeymoon phase full of old buildings and lecturers that sounded like Alan Rickman I began to resent the large ocean between me and my friends and family. After the first few weeks of sunshine and sea breezes the reality of Scottish weather appeared and dozens of mornings were filled with complaints as rain, wind, and hail beat down on all of us. But then came the real affection. The kind where I realised that the grass is green from the rainstorms and the sea breeze means fresh fish and chips.

And with that affection came comfort and as I think now it occurs to me that I am more comfortable walking downtown here than I ever was at home. But that comfort wasn’t limited to town either. When I visited London I felt in control and truly able to take care of myself, but more than that I really saw the future. I have been planning my future since I was 3 and decided I wanted to be a palaeontologist and since then, minus one brief and nerve-wracking period in middle school where I was unsure of my future profession, I have always had a plan. I still have one but I no longer think of it as somewhere down the line, there, but not to be worried about too much at the moment. I’m finally on my way to it and comfortable with the path I’ve chosen, but being here and being thouroughly in love with an entirely new country from the one I was born in has opened a real world of possibilities to me. I always knew I wanted to live abroad but part of me was unsure if I could do it, now I know beyond a doubt that I can. In fact I’m starting to doubt that most of my time won’t be spent abroad.

I can’t wait to fall in love with somewhere else as I spend more time here (I’m guessing France might be next) and although the US will always really be home, the UK is now officially my first love, and nothing will ever replace it. So while I am thrilled to be going home I also can’t wait to come back in September and rekindle my romance…

In the meantime here are some reviews. It’s finals time which means my life consists of studying and the occasional television or packing break:

TV:

Once Upon a Time: After languishing all season telling good stories without moving the central plot forward much this finale was intense and gave those of us who stuck it out some validation.

The Finder: Oh Fox, way to go. Cancelled another one. I hate to keep mentioning Firefly (not really, you deserve to be reminded of that) but really? Did you really have to show the episodes out of order, put the show on a Friday and then cancel it just as it really hit its stride? I guess so, because that’s what you did. I’ll miss the Bones spin-off because it was unique, off-kilter, and had a good cast. The finale would have been a great season finale, but was thoroughly unsatisfying now that there’s no future for the show. (Kudos to Fox for letting Fringe finish though, I stopped watching two alternate universes ago but I’m impressed they get to finish the story).

Game of Thrones: I guess I’m one of the few here but to me this season has been lacking compared to last. Could just be me missing Sean Bean (RIP Ned) but this season seems much less focused. I understand the story has expanded but I’m afraid it’s in danger of falling into chaos. Of course GoT chaos is still better than most other television, but still. Arya and Tyrion are by far the best things about this season. I’ve said it before but I would watch a spin-off of just Arya and Tywin talking. They play off of each other perfectly and Masie Williams should win every award they have and then invent three more just for her.

Mad Men: It’s had a great season so far. I love how everyone seems just a little bit unhappy despite having everything they could want. There has been a lot of talk of a possible suicide this season and I really think it might be Pete based on how listless and hostile he’s been. Also Masie Williams should share one or two of her awards with Kiernan Shipka for being amazing as Sally Draper, one of the most difficult children ever.

Community: The Law & Order parody a few weeks back was pure brilliance but NBC has only ordered a half season AND has moved it to Fridays which does not bode well at all for the future of this amazing show.

How I Met Your Mother: The season finale was an hour of hilarity. The first half had me in hysterics at every story Ted and Robin told Lily to distract her from labour pains, especially That Time Barney Dressed Up As The Terminator To Pick Up Girls. The second half brought with it the reveal of Barney’s bride who is (no real surprise) Robin. Yay! Hope they actually get married. Also Lily and Marshall’s baby has the best middle name of all time. Marvin Waitforit Erikson. Genius.

Books:

I’ve mostly been reading for finals but I am halfway through…

Dreaming in French by Alice Kaplan: It’s about Jackie Kennedy (at the time Bouvier), Susan Sontag, and Angela David on their year abroad to Paris. I love it so far because it paints a great picture of post- war France while also telling us about the young women experiencing it. I especially enjoy the small details the author is getting from fellow students who travelled with them, like Jackie lending her hat pin to a friend to keep a man from groping her on the third- class train ride. It’s been a short enjoyable read thus- far and a nice break from studying while also remaining educational.

Films:

The Avengers: I haven’t been to the cinema in ages, again, because of finals and I have not actually seen the Avengers yet (I am waiting to see it with my father because I am a VERY nice person) but I am thrilled with its success! I have been a Joss fan for years and defended him even in the darkest hours of Dollhouse’s run (it wasn’t that bad! In fact some of it was amazing) and I’m sure this film is one of his best. I can’t wait to see it and all of you should as well!

Well that’s really all I have for now. I should get back to packing. See most of you soon back in the good ole’ US of A. Until then go write an angry letter to Fox for cancelling Firefly… I mean the Finder. 

‘It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.’ ~Charles Dickens, ‘Great Expectations’

My first University Spring break has come and (almost) gone! Now the stereotypical Spring break involves (or so pop culture informs us) involves very little studying, a great deal of late nights, and generally copious amounts of alcohol. Unsurprisingly mine did not. I went to London for a week and it was wonderful, if relatively tame. After a pleasant 6 hour train journey through the English country-side a friend and I pulled into King’s Cross station, transferred to Victoria and walked the few blocks to our tiny, tiny cheap bed and breakfast that made me wish for home. It served its purpose and truly made me feel like a student traveller for once which I need to get used to. Besides it’s just like any real estate venture… location, location, location.

It was remarkably sunny the whole week we were there… the first day it was actually hot! I was not happy about that development. I didn’t exactly move to Britain to be warm. But the weather slowly morphed into an English Spring day exactly like Mr. Dickens describes above. The first few days I wandered up and down Oxford street, by Buckingham Palace, through St. James’ park, by Downing Street (I kept peeking by the bobby but I didn’t see much). I saw Parliament (although my friend wasn’t interested in going inside and watching the debates unfortunately- next time!) and walked through Westminter abbey, paying homage to Shakespeare, Chaucer, Austen, the Bronte’s, Dickens, and Olivier. The cramped and musty Churchill war room’s museum was just as engrossing as I remember from my last visit, even with the occasional uncomfortable sign warning about asbestos.

When my mom finally came on Thursday morning I had already sent out a fleet of postcards and gotten to know the area around Victoria station quite well. We moved to a more charming (even with the 6 flight staircase) B&B a few blocks away and quickly continued our tour. Dickens and Queen Elizabeth II both have big years in 2012 and therefore were the subject of many displays. At the Victoria & Albert was an amazing exhibit of Cecil Beaton’s portraits of the Queen that led my mom to acquire a coffee table book from the museum shop… of course now we need to acquire a coffee table. Dickens’ was all over town at the British Library, the Museum of London, and even the National Portrait Gallery. All of the reminders of his great works and characters has pushed me to tackle ‘Little Dorrit’ which at roughly 1,000 pages is a task, even for me. Being in the city made me miss being by a city.

I also realised that while I could never live in New York I could easily live in London. My mother and I constantly bicker over our favourite places in Europe and the first time I went to London I loved it, but once I left I could never really justify why I did so much. But now I think I understand that it is just different. It’s old, but not as old as others, like Rome. It’s quieter and calmer than New York without being quite or calm at all and it has been through so much that has shaped it, yet it’s still there. Although the Olympics may test the sanity of everyone in the city, I cannot imagine how everyone is going to fit!

Sometimes, in the middle of the week, when I have been working all day and suddenly think I could go the rest of my life without reading about war or famine or social change for the rest of my life I wonder if I should be doing this. If there is something else that I am more suited to. But after seeing the pictures of the Blitz in the Imperial War museum and standing two inches from Jane Austen’s writing desk I realise that those doubtful moments are fleeting and will be forgotten, but the memory of walking up to the display case with Jane Austen’s notebook and realising I knew it was hers not from the label underneath but because (thanks to time spent reading facimiles of her work) I actually know her handwriting… I don’t think I will forget that for some time.

So my Spring break did what it was supposed to… it got me ready to finish the semester strong and gave me some much needed time to relax, even if leaving the relative warmth of London saw me greeting Scotland and a light snow flurry on Monday evening. Of course instead of lots of late nights and sleeping in all it took for me was beign surrounded by tanks from the World Wars, some Dickens’ manuscripts, and one excellent performance of ‘Blood Brothers’.

Of course I also discovered that saying goodbye to my mom is not getting any easier but I will be meeting her in Wales for my favourite week of the year at the literature festival soon enought. It’s so hard to believe in just over a month my first year of uni will be over… but now is not the time to freak out about that! Now is the time for reviews…

Movies:

The Hunger Games- Ladies and gentlemen it has arrived… and it kicks ass. It was exactly like watching the book, even with the changes (and they were slight and only added) and I have only ever felt that with Lord of the Rings and the Colin Firth ‘Pride & Prejudice’ I saw it the first day it was out in town and then took my mom to see it on an amazing big screen when we were in London. I was nervous seeing it the second time that it would live up to the first time because I had been so excited, but it held up perfectly and my mother (who hasn’t read the books) confirmed it’s a good film on its own. Now I just have to go through the agonizing wait for the second film and contain my curiosity as to who they are going to cast as Finnick. Oh well I can just keep re-watching the first one until then… and I definitely plan to.

Books:

Girl, Reading- Short stories all set in different time periods revolving around images of women reading… it is remarkably well written and impressive to think that the author was able to so convincingly write so many distinct characters across time and geography in one small volume.

TV:

Mad Men- it’s back! And it’s great. I like Megan’s character a great deal even though I don’t see their marriage ending well. And of course, after last week’s episode I would be remiss not to mention Betty’s character developments. ‘Fat Betty’ as the media has dubbed her continues to develop this polarising character. I have always been really interested in Betty, not because I like her or she’s sympathetic but because she’s very different than pretty much every other character on TV. Peggy hiring a new upstart should prove very interesting as well. But Harry Crane is starting to be the most annoying character maybe ever.

Game of Thrones: Is also back! Making my Sunday nights quite crowded. Season 2 starting off unsurprisingly well although I really don’t find myself terribly intrigued by Stannis or his weird fire lady… of course I might just be bitter about the lack or Arya in this episode. Tyriann, Arya, and Jon are definitely going to be my favourite characters this season, as always, but for some reason Littlefinger still holds a great deal of interest and I think Sansa is beginning to grow on me… Also, those Direwolves are amazing. Speaking of busy Sunday nights…

The Good Wife- I LOVED last week’s episode. I’m sure this won’t surprise many of you because I constantly love this show, but the blue ribbon panel scenes were amazing. I definitely aspire to be as brave as Alicia and be that big of a pain in the ass in a situation like that. Plus Matthew Perry is always a nice addition. And the B-plot with Diane and Will was amazing, especially how they resolved the power struggle. The ending was an agonizing cliff-hanger though! I can’t wait to see Alicia freak out on Jackie… I hope she didn’t actually buy that gun.

Community- Oh, Community. I really wish people would give this show another chance because it’s never the same thing twice. This week was a genius (and I really do mean that) parody of a Ken Burns Civil War documentary and I loved every second of it.

Bones- It’s (also) finally back! And the baby is here! The birth was cheesy, ridiculous, wholly unbelievable, and utterly perfect. It was everything that makes Bones great. Bones is the only crime show that I always watch because I like the characters and because even when it is being painfully truthful about the world and the kind of crime it describes it still removes us that little bit from reality every now and then and softens the blow. It makes the hard moments more poignant, offers relief and makes the show well worth watching. And apparently Fox agrees because it just got renewed!

Smash- I’ve pretty much given up on this show. It began as ambitious and interesting but now it’s like watching a crappy, badly written soap opera with random singing scenes, and we already have Glee to fill that hole in our lives.

Well that’s all I have for now, I head back to classes on Monday which is probably a good thing but doesn’t quite feel like it yet. If it is sunny, go enjoy Spring! If not go see the Hunger Games… even if it’s for the second or third time.

‘One never reaches home, but wherever friendly paths intersect the whole world looks like home for a time.’- Hermann Hesse

Dear Readers,

I know it has been a great deal of time since my last update but the truth is I was starting to feel like I had run out of interesting things to say. My life here has fallen into a comfortable routine- the kind I was longing for when I first began writing this blog. Since my intention was never to write posts simply to write posts I gave up for a while. I figured that eventually something would happen or an idea would pop into my mind that seemed worth your time to read.

To be honest I’m not sure one has, but I also know from experience that the longer a piece sits the less likely it is to be written so I thought I would talk about the idea of a home. It has been on my mind a great deal lately as my parents prepare to move. When talking to my friends in the States and here at school the majority of first reactions have been to offer sympathy. Most people I know have lived in one house their entire life and the concept of leaving it terrifies them. I am not one of those people. When I was three my parents moved me to a different state (something I am very grateful for today) and from there we have moved house several times. Of course being a sentimentalist means that moving has never been easy for me, but it is manageable.

So for a while I clung to the idea of home being my family, friends, and our family summer lake house. But when I lost the lake house I was left floundering for a time until I realised that it wasn’t the physical place I missed so much as the friends I had grown up with next door. So I hopped on facebook and, aside from the ocassional pang of losing something from your childhood, I found my summer home again through emails and silly links and simple messages.

And now I have a second home- as much as it bothers my parents when I accidentally refer to school as home the truth is it is my home… just like they are my home. I have realised that while some people will always need one place to go to feel at home I don’t. I need the people. I often lament the technology that has taken over our world but I will never take for granted the fact that I would long ago have lost touch with people that technology has allowed me to keep. Only last weekend a friend I have not seen for years and who I never expected to see again came to visit me and it was wonderful.

So yes, I do miss home. I miss the homes that I have lost and the homes that I have left but when I get to see my mom in London next week I won’t be wishing we were sitting in my kitchen because it doesn’t matter where we are, we can make anywhere home if we want to.

In other news Spring break is next week and I will be journeying to London so I should have some exciting travel stories soon. Until then here are some reviews!

Books:

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Another novel that I am a bit behind on reading. It was a tad slow going but once it got into the plot I was staying up late to read until sleep overtook me. Of course that led to some restless nights as there are some very disturbing events in the novel, but it was still great. I may have to take a break before reading the second book but I will definitely be reading it.

Post-War and the Dark Continent- Two books I am reading for my modern history class but they are worth mentioning if you happen to be looking for a history of Europe in the 20^th century…

Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus- I was poking around in my dorm common room and found this on the bookshelf. I started it the other night before bed figuring I would finish it over spring break and ended up reading the whole thing that night. It is an enjoyable novel by the authors of ‘the Nanny Diaries’ about growing up (or failing to) and is told half in present day and half in flashbacks. Sometimes a novel you can read in one sitting is more enjoyable than a literary masterpiece that takes weeks.

TV

Mad Men- After 17 months off-air Mad Men is returning in all its glory so in honour of its return I re-watched some of season 4 and it has made me remember just how badly I have missed this show. If you somehow have managed to avoid it for the past five years then hop on the bandwagon- it’s worth playing catch-up. ‘The Suitcase’ is still one of the best episodes of TV ever.

Game of Thrones- Speaking of re-watching shows to get ready for their return… I loved GoT when I first watched it last year but I also realised that I was not ready for season 2 because there are so many characters and plot lines to keep straight. But I found myself getting annoyed with the characters the second time around until my room mate and I realised that this is an amazing, heartbreaking, violent, intelligent show with complex characters, fantastic direction, and the usual production quality of HBO… but one that requires a week break between episodes to keep from you getting overloaded and a tad annoyed as I became. So I am very excited to watch season 2 live, but next time I need a refresher I won’t have a marathon.

Community- IT’S BACK! I am so glad that it wasn’t cancelled and it’s return episode was all that I could have wished for from Britta’s explanation of an analogy (‘It’s a thought… with another thought’s hat on…) to Troy and Abed attempting to be normal to Jeff and Britta almost drunk- hate- marrying each other. Now people just need to keep watching and everything will be fine.

The Good Wife- this amazing show has been on a particularly amazing streak. Three weeks ago we met Will’s hilarious sisters and got another look at Caitlin, two weeks ago we got the return of creepy/ awesome guest star Dylan Baker as murderer Colin Sweeney (with a fun appearance by Morena Baccarin aka Inara from ‘Firefly’ and Jessica Brody on ‘Homeland’), and this past week we had the return of Michael J Fox as Alicia’s sneaky foil who also constantly tries to poach her. Add in the partners constantly bickering and Diane’s crowded love life and I am falling even more in love with this show. Next week’s guest star is Matthew Perry… hopefully the streak will continue.

Movies:

My next post will include a review of ‘The Hunger Games’ but for now I only have one movie I recently watched…

The Decoy Bride- An adorable comedy starring David Tennant (the tenth Doctor) and Kelly MacDonald (Margaret from ‘Boardwalk Empire) that involves a fake wedding, silly costumes, and takes place in remote Scotland would be ridiculous with any other cast but Tennant and MacDonald are so charming apart that it is no surprise that together they make every moment enjoyable and the film well worth watching.

Well that is all for now readers- talk to you soon (I promise). For now you should all log onto Netflix and prepare for Mad Men season 5. 

‘Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.’ –Charles Dickens

          In honour of Dickens’ 200^th birthday I thought I would pick a quote of his to start off this post. He was a wonderful writer (although sometimes a little editing might not have killed him) and I am hard pressed to think of another writer who could make me finish a book as long as Great Expectations in only two days.

          Dickens loved to do live readings (in fact it is most likely what killed him- his heart and blood pressure would rise so much that his doctor ordered him to stop. But he loved it too much so he didn’t…) and he travelled constantly to do them. And this past week I got to do some travelling of my own. My parents came to visit so we took a nice drive up to the beautiful (and very cold) highlands. (See first picture). We also went to Loch Ness and saw Nessie! Well we saw the mysterious bubbles (shown in the second picture) but clearly it is her.

          Honestly it was quite a relief considering how weird campus has been since Christmas. During finals everyone was on campus but no one left their rooms. Town was deserted but everywhere there was a low buzz… like bees in the hive. Then the day finals ended town completely emptied. I’m fairly certain 20 out of 300 kids were in the dining hall the first week of inter- semester break and town became eerie.

          So my highlands adventure was greatly appreciate. We visited Culloden battlefield and Urquhart Castle, both of which I enjoyed immensely despite being the teensiest bit rushed by the non- history major members of my traveling party. We discovered the amazing British television channel that is Dave… and just hung out. It was a real vacation where we just got away from everything for a few days and it was wonderful. A friend of mine who moved back to the states last semester told me that she always thought saying goodbye for the second time would be harder and in a way she was right. That morning was rough. But I also realised that I was going to leave home eventually and the best balm for that wound is to know that you are somewhere worth the twinge of pain every now and then when you wish you could be home, just for a little while.

          Plus it helps knowing I made it through one term successfully… and this term looks like it could be even better- even if it might be harder. I am taking both Ancient History and Comparative Literature for the first time which ought to be quite interesting. But if that doesn’t turn out to be true I am finally taking my late modern History class… which is what I hope to eventually teach. And basically spend the rest of my life reading/ studying/ writing about.

          In between finals and the trip to the Highlands I had a week free (aside from one great day out to the Edinburgh zoo to visit the adorable new pandas there) which means there are plenty of reviews…

TV

Downton Abbey- Another show I have been slow in starting, but once I started I finished in less than a week. With amazing performances and more plotlines and characters to care about that your brain can often handle it always entertains. Plus it’s a British historical drama… so really it was always destined to be amazing. It is the only show that honestly made me care about a missing snuffbox. Downton fans will understand. Plus Maggie Smith is hilarious as the Dowager Countess.

Sherlock- Series 2 ended during my finals and it went out with a bang… or a thud for those of you who watched. Again I cannot recommend this amazing series enough- both Cumberbatch and Freeman are wonderful. Also, I was right from the beginning- Molly Hooper is my hero.

Being Human- The US series is back. I tried to watch the original UK show about a werewolf, a ghost, and a vampire living together and trying to be normal but the complete and utter depressing nature of the show led me to abandon it. Until SyFy (I miss SciFi… SyFy is weird) made this much more humorous take on the storyline. Basically it gets me through the non- True Blood months.

Glee- Why do I still watch this show?! Oh right… because I like to have something on in the background when I clean my room.

How I Met Your Mother- Last night’s episode ‘The Burning Beekeeper’ was a throwback to the old HIMYM days… in the tradition of the almighty ‘Pineapple Incident’ it was told out of order and involved several incredibly far- fetched scenarios. It also made me laugh a great deal without knocking me over the head with a moral as has become more common on the show these days although if you were paying attention it all came down to Lily panicking about being a mother… but more than anything it reminded me how good HIMYM can be when it embraces its most unorthodox and endearing qualities.

Books:

To be honest I did not get much reading done. Finals fried my brain for a bit meaning I tended more towards television in my free time… but I am halfway through

‘How To Be Good’ by Nick Horby- Horby is a quintessential British author of the past two decades because of his amazing wit and wholly readable style. His characters and situations combine the unorthodox with believability to perfection. This particular work, about a woman who is very unhappy in her marriage and yet can’t get out of it showcases how life takes some fairly incredible turns. I haven’t even gotten to the end yet and I feel comfortable enough recommending it… but I also loved ‘About a Boy’ so I suppose I’m biased.

Movies

The Artist- I treated myself to a film this weekend because I wanted to see a silent movie released on the big screen in my lifetime. Plus I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And I totally agree with the fuss! This movie showcases all of the pure emotions that come with telling a story while stripping film down of all its modern distractions of noise, colour, and showy effects. It is a film about people on camera and what that combination can make… and it creates magic. Plus the dog is adorable. (Also kudos for placing the dog in the credits- I furious at the end of War Horse for many reasons- crying seven times for one- but also because they failed to list even one horse that appeared on the screen despite the main character actually being a horse…)

So that is all I have for you this time. I hope you are enjoying 2012 so far. Now go read some Dickens!

‘Home is where you hang your head’- Groucho Marx

     Heading home for Christmas was wonderful although it continues to amaze me how two and a half weeks can seem so long in one setting and unbearably short in another. I was greeted at the airport by a surprisingly friendly border control agent followed by an embarrassing ‘welcome home sign’ and a joyful cry of ‘thank god you haven’t gotten fat!’ I then proceeded to be one of those people hugging relatives as others struggled to pull their suitcases around me… well until my father declared I couldn’t hug him until I had showered my ‘plane germs off.’

So all in all… normal family moment.

     Over break I was either visiting as many people as I could (which of course means I did not get to see everyone I would have liked) or in the kitchen. I made six dozen cookies in two weeks (of course our puppy Mia ate two dozen of the sugar cookies… ) as well as Christmas dinner (which was actually Thanksgiving dinner) and a ridiculous amount of pizza dough. I help make my first full turkey as well! We had some seasoning technique picked out until my mom and I saw Gordon Ramsey on BBC America one morning essentially molesting a turkey with citrus butter and bacon… but the final result looked so delicious we couldn’t help ourselves. In the end it tasted so delicious that all of my guilt for treating an animal carcass in such a way was washed away with the help of his equally delicious gravy recipe.

     This Christmas was the first my parents and I spent back in the States in three years and while it was nice to wake up and go downstairs to open gifts I also realised that I really missed walking around a deserted foreign city on Christmas day… Rome was so quiet, except for church bells, that there is actually a picture of me alone on the Spanish steps… everyone was at church in Dublin and the morning walk was deserted so, although freezing, I was egged by my parents into climbing onto the Oscar Wilde statue for what might be the most awkward photo ever… and Amsterdam was quiet simply because everyone was sleeping off the Christmas Eve revelry. Apparently I was not the only one to realize that Christmas without a kid becomes about practicality…the gifts are necessities (most of the time) and are wrapped in newspaper (because being environmentally friendly outranks being festive when there is no kid to impress). I realised my mom must have missed it too when she announced we would go to Vienna for Christmas next year which is exciting for two reasons: first because Christmas abroad is always great and I’m glad we will be back to it next year (because for me gifts definitely come in second to a great trip) and second because Vienna is one of my picks.

     Each of my family has a sort of list of places they want to go… London, Hay, Florence have been from mine; Paris, Peru, and Prague have been from my mom’s; and Normandy was from my dad’s (he’ll tell you it wasn’t but don’t be fooled). But Vienna has been a pick since I first studied 18^th Century Europe…  it still seems a city of the Habsburgs with orchestras, art museums, and palaces. I will be in history nerdvana… and my dad will probably want to die.

     So yes I did enjoy Christmas, seeing friends and family, getting new boots (very useful), getting to see Jersey Boys (not useful but totally enjoyable), and my new Nook (I’m still sorting through my emotions for making the switch to an e-reader- for some of the year anyway- but I can’t deny that I was beginning to procure books at an alarming rate for someone 3,000 miles from where I can store them). But at first I was beginning to fear that Christmas has become practical and lost some of the magic… I really only felt ‘that Christmas feeling’ watching the George C. Scott ‘A Christmas Carol’ (the only one worth watching) like we do every year. But when we started talking about Vienna I realised some things never change… on the 26^th of December 2011, I was looking forward to next Christmas just as much as I did when I was ten years old.

Reviews for the week:

TV:

The Doctor Who Christmas Special: Crap. Well not total crap… I mean if Matt Smith is in a time machine it is at least worth watching… but by Doctor Who standards it was not good. I have already aired my issues with Moffat here before (except Sherlock- see below) but the whole idea was… not so good. Although this kid was great- perfect combo of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. And Bill Bailey was fairly epic as well. 

Sherlock: It is BACK! Two episodes into series two and it is as wonderful as ever… completely laugh out loud and brilliant as always. My only complaint is that this Sunday the series ends again until next January… and possibly forever depending on the creators. If you have not watched it I do not excuse you and you must watch it immediately.

The Good Wife: It was back as well but not really in a climactic way… good solid episode. I am really glad they are going more Diane- centric this season because I want to be her one day. Except, you know, not a lawyer.

Revenge: Completely and utterly ridiculous and yet… oddly appealing. After a recommendation from a friend I watched the first half of this season while unpacking and reorganizing my room for second term (I had a few superfluous days essentially alone on campus). It has all of the selling points of season 1 of Desperate Housewives, in other words you hate all of the characters (except Nolan and Jack) and cannot believe anything they do and yet you are still entertained. I’m not saying I would sit down and watch it like Boardwalk or Sherlock but to have on in the background or for some family guilty pleasure… I can see the appeal. Plus everyone is pretty and dressed nicely all the time which I always find amusingly far- fetched.  

Books:

Mansfield Park: Yes, yes I know what you are going to say… ‘Danielle! Haven’t you read all of Jane Austen’s novels by now?’ The answer is no, I haven’t. I know the stories by heart but Austen’s writing is so wonderful and there are only six novels so I have been saving them. I only have Emma left now. But I enjoyed Mansfield much more than I initially thought I would. The world has been plagued with so many sub- par adaptations (the 1999 is interesting as a film but crap as an adaptation of the novel and the one with Billie Piper, although amusing, falls victim to time constraints) that everyone pretty much hates Fanny… and yet I now really really like her. She is quiet and kind and yet incredibly strong. She wants her family to love her yet when they want her to marry Crawford she refuses because she knows their characters cannot coexist happily. She sticks to her convictions despite immense pressure. Basically she exerts a woman’s only real right at the time (and one not even all of them had)… whether or not to marry. Most would have done it for the money and security or for the social standing but she gambled… and I respect that. So Fanny Price I hereby retract any negative statements I may have made about you. You rock.

The Hunger Games: yeah I am late to the table but I did enjoy them. Well written and interesting I read them in about 13 hours only taking a short lunch and dinner break. They were great examples of what young adult literature can be when it does not talk down or hide from readers. The first two I enjoyed immensely and will definitely re-read… the third I had some issues with (especially with character development and/or death) but still enjoyed. And I am most definitely looking forward to the movie.

Blogs:

I don’t really troll the internet for crazy blogs… most of my procrastination occurs on youtube, Netflix, or TIME.com, but this one is worth a look. An anonymous author has adopted the persona of Suri Cruise, the queen of Hollywood offspring to combine (as TIME wrote) ‘a Mean Girls attitude, celebrities and snarkiness’ into a thoroughly amusing tumblr the skewers pop- culture, celebrity obsessions, and being insanely wealthy. Although I do worry about these children when they go up and read this blog…

http://surisburnbook.tumblr.com/  

Well that is really all I have for you for the New Year… I hope your holidays were wonderful (although New Years was probably a disappointment- it always is- I mean Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin were just awkward) and that you are ready for 2012… I’m sure we’ll all be fine…

P.S. Watch Sherlock!

‘You can’t get too much winter in the winter.’ Robert Frost 

Dear Readers,

The peacoat has officially replaced the trench coat on campus as December brought a temperature drop in our little town. It also brought some ridiculously high winds last night, but considering I live in a bunker-like castle we weren’t overly worried. 

Christmas is here! Tesco has a little tree by the tills and Christmas music is emanating from speakers everywhere. Of course this also means the pre- exam crush of work has made these past two weeks quite dreadful, especially since I had to write an essay on Jekyll and Hyde with the flu… hopefully it isn’t too terrible. I am one of the lucky ones- my last essay and assessment were due yesterday meaning this week I just have some reading and lectures leaving time to pack and prepare to head home in just seven days!

The mood has been a tad odd in town as everyone ranges from being excited that it is Christmas time to just wanting to be home already and I can’t say that I am immune. Tonight was a bit of a different story though as we had the traditional University Hall Christmas dinner. Everyone dressed up (it seems every British boy owns a full suit- no one attempted the khaki’s and a polo shirt look as formal). The tables were laid with Christmas crackers (which incidentally I cannot bring home because they won’t make it through customs. SO disappointing), silly hats, and bottles of cheap (as per usual!) wine. So we sat around in our nice clothes and silly hats reading the very cheesy jokes from the crackers and occasionally toasting each other and the holidays with the wine.

The evening was wonderful, full of a cafeteria’s attempt at a Christmas dinner, laughs, and running the 40 feet between Wardlaw and the dining hall in our dresses and heels trying not to freeze or fall. Now as I sit at my desk playing TIME’s top 40 holiday songs of all time (I’m on Judy Garland’s ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’) I realize in one week and one day I will be in Philadelphia looking for my luggage and my parents and that thought is wonderful, but also a tad unbelievable. Obviously I cannot wait to be home again for a few weeks and see everyone and enjoy Christmas (and hug my puppies!) But that also means that my first semester of University is effectively over, and that I have been here for over 3 months. 3 months in Scotland, alone, reading about Enlightened Monarchs and reading poetry I will never understand (damn you Eliot and Pound!), taking day trips to Edinburgh, making a Thanksgiving dinner in 2 hours, enjoying the perks of the National Health Service, making massive amounts of tea, and walking by the sea every Tuesday morning to go to English class. It may not have always been easy, but I can’t deny that the time flew by and a large part of me cannot wait to return to my little dorm room in this quirky castle of a building refreshed and prepared to take on whatever next semester throws my way (mainly ancient history… never studied it officially before). 

As I menioned the last two weeks were quite full as I recooperated from the flu, then wrote two essays and took a test but I had a bit of time…

TV: Bit TV heavy this post considering how much time I spent in bed half napping half dying with the flu…

Community: My parents have a rather unbridled hatred for this show but I love it because it is consistently interesting, even when it isn’t great. Unfortunately NBC has placed it on indefinite hiatus which means last night’s hilarious parody of Glee may be the last Community we ever see. 

The Good Wife: Alicia! No! Don’t leave Will alone!

How I Met Your Mother: So sad but such a great story- not every critic cared for the twist at the end but personally I loved it. Just because Robin said she never wanted kids doesn’t mean hearing it isn’t an option wouldn’t be very difficult and I like that the show focused on the issue rather than pushing it away. Plus Barney in the baby store was hilarious.

Boardwalk Empire: Okay I honestly have no idea how the writers are going to conclude any of the current plot lines in the one episode they have left this season but the reason this show is so good is that I can never tell what they are going to do. I loved the Jimmy flashbacks- except for the one where he slept with his mom because that was MESSED UP. Gillian is crazy. Margaret’s personal crisis has me very nervous but at least she hasn’t gone off her rocker so badly that she confessed sleeping with Slater because that would have been a huge mistake… of course she still has an hour this Sunday to confess it so who knows. 

Firefly: Oh Firefly. I have recently been showing two of my friends Firefly, Joss Whedon’s genius future-cowboy space adventure that is so much better than the plot ever sounds no matter who explains it. I always feel a tad guilty whenever I show someone Firefly as we always end up rehashing the terrible ‘why was this amazing show cancelled!?!?’ conversation so, as I told my room mate last night, I feel as though I am giving someone a puppy and then telling them it only has six months to live. But don’t let that discourage you from giving the show a try! It really is amazing and mostly worth the annoyance of only having 13 episodes and in one film existence. 

Magazine: TIME released the top 10 of everything 2011 (unfortunately the night I had to finish an essay- but I finished). Check it out if you are prepared to lose at least an hour of you life. 

Books: We read the anthology of poems titled The Hunt in the Forest for English this week and then on Thursday the author himself who apparently works in the English department walked in an talked to us about it… it’s a very different lecture listening to a poet telling you what he actually meant than one where a lecturer tells you what consensus is from everyone else on what a poem means. 

I just finished reading E. M. Foresters ‘A Room With A View’ for a bit of fun in my free time and it was very enjoyable! Not quite as laugh out loud funny as Jane Austin but definitely worth reading- especially for the humorous chapter titles. 

Well readers I am off to Edinburgh again tomorrow for an Art History field trip- have wonderful Christmas-y or other holiday-y weekend!

‘As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.’ - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Dear Readers,

Thanksgiving has probably always been my favourite holiday (Christmas is a close second) because of its simplicity. This may surprise you since most people see it more as a stepping stone to Christmas. Even though Christmas is amazing, there is so much more pressure placed on it as well as a great deal more prep- work required. I’ve already outlined my issues with Halloween, and other holidays are usually just a few days off and a party. But Thanksgiving has a simple purpose: to remind you to be thankful and to allow you to partake in some of the simpler pleasures in life, cooking, chatting, eating, and watching TV (although that usually means napping). Yes I know there is a darker history to it but just because you acknowledge that doesn’t mean the holiday can’t be something good…

So this year, when I realized I was going to be very far from home on my favourite holiday I got a tad mopey. It didn’t help that every 5 seconds someone was posting online about heading back home and how great it was going to be to see everyone. Then some of the Americans in my dorm told me they were planning a small dinner… some turkey slices, veggies, and whatever else they could throw together and would I mind making mashed potatoes. I agreed, if only because the last thing I wanted to do was eat a bad cafeteria version of Thanksgiving. 

Thursday morning I woke up crabby… I missed home and I was missing my favourite day and I had to go to class. I got up, made some toast and tea, and sat down at my desk to watch some QI while I ate my breakfast when I noticed an orange envelope on my computer. It was from my room mate and was a Thanksgiving card wishing me a good day despite being so far from home… and suddenly I was very ashamed. I was ashamed that I had forgotten the reason I liked Thanksgiving so much was the spirit of it-just trying to remember how unbelievable lucky we are, and considering I was sitting in my dorm in Scotland with an amazingly sweet room mate who is Welsh and still was the first to wish me a good day I had quite a bit to be thankful for. So, after having my room mate snap me out of my mope I went to class and then I went to Tesco where I bought milk, butter, a (very heavy) bag of potatoes and the last masher in the store. After lugging it all home I got to work and two hours later we had the fixings for a full dinner. Making it had been highly chaotic- our kitchen is hardly large and ours was not the only Thanksgiving dinner happening in the building- but we all managed to survive without major burns or cuts. Two desks were cleared and pushed together, bowls, plates, knives, and forks hunted down and assembled on the table in a charming mismatched hullabaloo. We had stuffing (albeit an odd British kind- but still good), home-made cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes (that were delicious by the way!), turkey, peas, broccoli (parents should be proud), and two kinds of pie. After a toast and several high fives we dug in… the meal was quiet as we ate the first real home made meal in months and as I filled my tiny plate for a second time I suddenly realized for the first time I was thankful there were so many Americans here… usually it bothers me because I always seem to meet more American than Brits… but for once it was wonderful because all day I had been hearing Scottish and English accents talking about not understanding Thanksgiving. It also made me realize that the day you are supposed to remember to be grateful for the things you take for granted I had been taking for granted the entire time… 

So yes, it was very difficult to be away from home and to have to hear about how great it was for everyone to see each other, but in a way my day was even more memorable. Plus I helped cook a turkey for the first time… 

So now that you have heard my big turkey day epiphany here are some reviews!

TV: The QI obsession continues! Seriously, check it out, Stephen Fry at long last answered the question ‘what is in the Queen’s handbag?’ something that has perplexed my mother and me for years now…

Boardwalk Empire: If Emily dies I am going to be FURIOUS. She is adorable! Why is it always the girls!?!?!?! And when is Jimmy going to realize things are not as easy as he is convinced they are? 

The Good Wife: Love when they go to military court- it’s always so interesting to compare civil and military law proceedings… wow I sounded like a nerd there… Next week looks quite intense as Grace goes missing…

How I Met Your Mother: Robin is pregnant?! What?!

Movies: Little Children: Seriously messed up film. Kate Winslet is amazing (surprise, surprise) and I must say it definitely has me terrified to even live in the suburbs… I did love the connections to classic tales like Madame Bovary- I love stories that can be retold in different times or places, like Shakespeare. But still… a messed up film.

Books: Beloved: Reading it for my English class and all I have to say thus far is how incredibly depressing it is. Don’t read it before bed! I have to wash it down with some Neil Gaimen short stories or a chapter of the Hobbit before I can sleep. Our English lecturer warned us before we started that he once asked a 3rd year to write a paper on it and three weeks later she left university. He also told us that by the time he finished the first page the first time he read it he decided to place it on the syllabus… the writing is very good and the story intriguing, but after being solidly in the 1800’s all semester it is a bit jarring to be reading a book written in the 1980’s, even if it is placed in the 19th century. 

Well dear readers that is all I have for you this week! I hope you had amazing Thanksgivings and are enjoying those leftovers… just remember that turkey makes you sleepy- so no snacking if you intend to do work… that’s what pie is for!

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in. - Robert Orben

Dear Readers,

Here in the UK students get something called a Reading Week. It isn’t a break for any particular holiday, it is simply a week designed so that older students who have a great deal of work can do said work without also having to run around to lectures. But as first years we don’t have very much work, or in my case any work, so that means the campus effectively emptied. Those left were mostly Americans and other internationals who hadn’t planned a European jaunt and for whom 9 days is not really enough time to justify a trip home, especially this close to Christmas break. 

So Wardlaw, a building normally full of girls cooking on Saturday nights and conversing on the stairs, became very quiet. At first it was deafening, then someone mentioned they had rented P.S. I Love You, and would anyone like to watch? That one suggestion lead to movie nights almost every evening as those of us who’d stayed behind all gathered in one room and watched what turned out to be quite a wide array… P.S. I Love You was followed by Casablanca, Reservoir Dogs (my suggestion), The Princess Bride (for a surprise birthday party movie night- you can never go wrong), Clueless, Mulan, Funny Face, and Fargo. 

But of course when given a week off you can’t just watch movies! We headed to Edinburgh for one day (that’s the Castle in the picture)- my first real foray into public transportation since I’ve been here and it was quite successful! We explored the National Museum of Scotland where we discovered the 16th century Pulpit from our university chapel is not in fact in our university chapel because we found it on the third floor apparently on loan. For some odd reason we all reacted as if a chair we’d forgotten about had been discovered in a back room at the Met. 

We then went to dinner to celebrate a birthday, but after walking around all day we ended up at the restaurant quite early by European standards. We were the only patrons in there but had a lovely dinner with a waiter whose frequent and hilarious jokes were delivered with such a dead pan expression we half missed some of them I’m sure. 

Overall reading week has been an exercise in how little a person can get done in a day, especially when UK scheduling does little to help. Obviously I expected things to be open far less frequently here than in Suburbia where you can buy a pair of shoes at midnight, but I was not as well prepared as I initially thought. When my computer was broken the fact I could only call HP before 5 on a weekday seemed absurd! What about professionals?! All of the shops in town, aside from Tesco, close at five, which is a small bother but still took some planning when I had my cold and couldn’t get cough drops at 7. Even Starbucks closes at 5:30. And yesterday I had the biggest shock of all when I went to RBS to deposit a check, only to find it closed on Saturday at noon. My Welsh room-mate then informed me that most banks are closed on Saturday, why on earth would I think differently? 

And now it is Sunday… which means little is open at all and won’t be for long. At first I was worried by this- what if I need something important and I can’t get it? But then I realised that everyone who lives here manages and so I can manage as well. And to be honest if my computer had broken on Saturday and I hadn’t been able to contact anyone then telling my teacher that my computer was broken becomes an understandable and excusable fact of life. Things still get done, checks are still deposited, and I can ask my room-mate for a cup of tea if I run out. But the most remarkable difference of all is Sunday. At home, Sunday is the day that I want to be quiet, watch a movie, make dinner, read a book, do some homework. But because everything (for the most part) is still up and running I inevitably run errands and do all sorts of things that really could wait. Here Sunday is a day where basically everyone stays in or goes to the library or maybe meets for an early dinner. It is ideal: quiet and productive, but overall relaxed (except if there’s an essay due… but that’s to be expected). 

So, since I have had all of this free time there are plenty of reviews!

TV: Boardwalk Empire just keeps getting better and better! Margaret and Mr. Slater? Jimmy trying to kill Nucky? I just don’t know what’s going to happen and that can so rarely be said for television…

Bones: Bones came back and I’m loving this new season. The baby drama has taken the place of the previous tension in our leading pair’s relationship meaning we still will never have a dull moment. Plus a snake popped out of a lady’s abdomen… 

QI: I have discovered the genius that is QI. Basically the idea is Stephen Fry tells a panel of four intelligent comdiens interesting things and then they discuss… it will have you laughing while you are texting your friends to tell them the new random fact you learned about the first trip in a hot air balloon…

Books: I have been reading my textbooks like a good student over Reading Week… but I have also been reading…

The Picture of Dorian Gray: I’ve known the story and I have had a great love of Oscar Wilde for years (my parents indulged me with a small pilgrimage to his grave in the middle of the massive graveyard in Paris). The descriptions are wonderful and it is beautifully written about terribly cruel people and many of Wilde’s most famous quotes come from it’s pages. My favourite quote is from Lord Henry on the differences between good poets and bad poets…’The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnet makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry he cannot write. The others write the poetry they dare not realise.’ 

Movies: As I mentioned, we watched a great deal of movies this week- I’m only going to mention three. 

Resevoir Dogs and Fargo are both movies that I loved when I first saw them, but I watched them a while ago and had forgotten a great deal of the reasons I loved them. Re-watching I realised they both have the capacity to make you laugh at a situation that you would never normally find amusing, which makes the cruelty and violence in them both easier to take and yet starkly contrasted with humourous dialogue. 

The Princess Bride- I would just like to reaffirm that one of personal rules is an excellent one to live by ‘when in doubt, suggest the Princess Bride.’ I also did not realise how many lines I know from that film… the answer is all of them.

Well that is all I have for you this week. I am going to get on with my lovely Sunday now before I go back to the bustle of my normal schedule tomorrow morning. Try and have a Scottish Sunday today- you won’t regret it! 

“Where there is no imagination there is no horror”- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Dear Readers,

It’s Halloween! For most, this is a favourite time of year, and on some level I understand that; candy, costumes, the Monster Mash, what’s not to love? But for the most part I have never really been able to embrace the holiday. For one thing I lack both an outgoing nature and a plethora of creativity, meaning costumes don’t come easily, and even since I was eight and went as Galadriel from Lord of the Rings, complete with a handmade flowing white cloak and was mistaken for a ghost by… well frankly everyone, I haven’t put my heart into another Halloween since.

So as Halloween approached in this small Scottish town I was relieved that, because it is mainly an American holiday, the stress that accumulates as Halloweekend  approaches should be relieved. Oh, how wrong I was. First, I have a half- American half- Welsh room mate, who LOVES Halloween. Which is why my dorm room has more decorations than my house ever did. Second, and to be fair this one I should have realized, Halloween is an excellent excuse for a party, and considering the majority of University students don’t need much of an excuse for a party as it is, the weekend was quite lively. Or at least I think it was, unfortuantly my work-load (and my predisposition to avoid Halloweeny things) meant lots of essay writing (I wasn’t the only one!) and no galavanting. 

However, last night I went to Edinburgh with the History Society for a ghost tour of the vaults hidden in the city from centuries ago that were originally for goods and then later held people who lived in the worst possible conditions. The tour was interesting, but I will never venture down there again. Very bad vibes, and it left quite a bit to the imagination, which as Sir Conan Doyle can attest to, is where the worst horror comes from. 

Anyway today is the actual holiday itself and my continued workload means my dream of finding a party where I can go as mad lady Mrs. Rochester and be recognized as Mrs. Rochester (instead of a ghost, because that is usually what people jump to) will have to wait for another year…

Reviews of the week!

TV: Boardwalk Empire last night was good as usual (Will Margaret sleep with Mr. Slater?!) except for the whole being in labour and delivering a baby alone. Gross. Thank goodness they didn’t try to show too much… that would have been more scary than any horror movie.  

Once Upon a Time: No idea why I watched this, probably won’t again. It is an interesting concept, but a tad to ridiculous and cheesy even for me. Plus whatever Snow White was wearing looked entirely to feathered to exist outside of an 80’s music video. 

Books: Heart of Darkness- had to read it last year for AP Lit, have to read it again for English 1003. I tried to like it- its a classic about colonial cruelty and racism, but I just cannot get through it without an unreasonable amount of fighting with the words… so whoever wants my copy can have it as soon as I take my final.

Magazines: Anyone who knows anything about me will know that I am a TIME addict. It is my most used phone App and my homepage. And this week they not only listed the top 100 songs of all time (thanks for that by the way, there went a half hour of my life) they also wrote a very interesting cover story on Hillary ‘the great’ Clinton and new power in the age of multi-media. Plus Joel Stein’s awesome column always lives up to its name. 

So that’s all I have for you, dear readers, but I hope you had a frightfully good Halloween (sorry, had to be done).