Editing Party Madness

Editing parties can be a distracting environment in which to edit, despite the usual fun that makes up for the lack of practicality. Last Saturday, after at least 4 hours of reading, writing, critiquing, and commenting, people got rather chatty. Therefore, a couple of us who were still trying to fight through the papers started to read them (quietly) out loud to help concentrate. As the chatter continued, the concentrated out loud readers got louder and louder, which reminded the distracters about their papers. End result: all of us reading the papers we were each editing out loud...at the same time...at the top of our lungs. The sound clip below, if I remember correctly, is me reading Eric's paper, Bethany reading Carolyn's paper, Christine reading my paper, and Carolyn reading Christine's.

Break

It's our third day after break, and I think we're all still in denial. 5 days off for a whole semester (and an intense one, at that) just doesn't seem fair. Here is a summary of what I did for those 5 days.

Day 1

After breakfast, Christine, Sheri, and I scouted out a fabulous playground that we had seen a few months ago but never had time to visit. It was such a blast to forget all our mature-like responsibilities and take full advantage of the sunny morning and awesome playground equipment. I think we managed to spend an hour and a half there, no lie.

After our romp at the park, we went back to meet with Brett and Carolyn about our plans for our trip afterwards around Europe. We decided that Greece would be too expensive, so we're going to spend a week in Italy, 4 days in Spain (where we will get to stay with a couple of Brett's friends), and the remainder in Paris before we take the train back to London. I can't believe we're planning this already..and that the schoolwork will be over in 2 1/2 weeks!

That afternoon I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with our 3 guys (Yes, I know I took them all. There was jealousy and bitterness among the girls.). It was a great show - full of color, excitement, and talent. We raced home for our free evening meal, put on some more deodorant, and then went right back to the theater district to see Le Mis. It was a very impressive performance, but I must admit that I drifted a few times. It was a loooong day.

Day 2

On Thursday, several of us took a train to Salisbury, and then a bus from there to Stonehenge. The countryside was beautiful, and it was great to see such a famous landmark in person. It was a frigid and blustery day, but we managed to enjoy the sights and the sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. It felt like most of our time was spent on the train, but with 2 packs of Dutch Blitz, 2 packs of regular playing cards, our cameras, and our craziness, we had a super fun trip.

Day 3

Christine's and my excursion to Easbourne began Friday morning. After yet another train ride, we were greeted by the Davidson family (relatives of our friend from Houghton/my future roommate, Ashley Cook). They took us back to their apartment (in a car!!! it was our first time in a car in months, and of course, our first time in a British car) and got us settled in. Then we all took a ride to Beechy Head - an overlook on the downs which is set on the English channel. It was sooo gorgeous, but dangerously windy, so we couldn't spend too much time there. After the cliffs, we went to Pevensey Castle and then to the Pier downtown. So cool. That evening was the start of a glorious weekend of home-cooked American food, which they planned especially for us.

Day 4

Saturday was more of a break day, which involved a lot of playing with the baby, reading (for fun!), watching movies, making chocolate cake, doing dishes (by request. We've been dying to do chores), and shopping at the local "mall".

Day 5

The Davidsons made us a fabulous Easter Morning breakfast, we got Ayla all dolled up, ate Cadberry eggs, and then headed to their church for the Easter service. Wes's brother, Neal, from Scotland, joined us for lunch afterwards. Christine and I had to leave shortly after that, so they took us to the train station and we said goodbye to our adopted weekend family. For having started out as strangers, I'm really going to miss them. It was wonderful to be in a family/home environment for at least a little while, and they were definitely the family to hang out with.

The denial of break being over is apparent in this week's plans. In 20 minutes we'll be leaving for the Freud museum. From there I'm going to my service project and then straight to the Brazil v. Sweden football match at Arsenal's stadium. Tomorrow, we're leaving right after early colloquy to go get theater tickets, going to Lord of the Rings, out to dinner, and then to Wicked. Friday is Amanda's birthday so we're throwing a party for her and then going to see 27 Dresses. It's going to be a great week - if I can find somebody to write my paper.

Going Home

Getting Off the Bus

Walking to the Grocery Store

Getting on the Bus

Walking to the Bus Stop

I will readily admit that this next series of videos is rather boring, but hopefully they'll give you a little taste of...something.

Catching Up

With the videos and such, I've gotten behind in some pretty exciting events. Here is a quick list:

1. Visit from Uncle Pete and Michael

Despite my accidental tardiness and relatively pathetic knowledge of the city (coming from being bound to study for most of my days), I think they managed to have a good time. Their first day here we went to Big Ben, Trafalgar Saure, Cafe in the Crypt, and Buckingham Palace. Later that afternoon, Michael joined us for a game of football and then we (Uncle Pete, Michael, Sheri, Uncle Pete's friend (Dixie), and I)went out for a lovely dinner that evening.

From what I heard when we met up later that week, they definitely made the most of their time here and I'm very jealous of all the touristy things they got to see and do. Needless to say, it was such a blessing to be able to share the amazingness of London with my family, and just to see some familiar faces! :) (the picture is from one of our double-decker bus rides)

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2. Tropical Day

We heard through the grapevine that Houghton had a "Tropical Day". Not wanting to miss out in the action, we had our own. Though we were under significant resource restriction, we managed to pull together some vaguely tropical outifts to wear to Plenary that day. Unfortunately, the walk there was rather frigid, but it was a blast to wear flip-flops, sunglasses, and green body glitter to the lecture.

(Pictured L to R: Sheri, Christine, Me, Carolyn, Bethany "Shulan")

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3. Wesley's House and Chapel
One of our MAG assignments last week was to see Charles Wesley's house. It was so cool to be right there! We even got to spend some time in his private prayer room, which he added on to his tiny bedroom. The picture is part of the complex of offices/his chapel/the Methodist museum/and his actual house, which was small since he was a bachelor at the time.

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4. Graves of John Bunyan, Jonathan Swift, William Blake, Isaac Watts, and Daniel Defoe

Right across the street from Wesley's house was a really cool graveyard, which is the resting place of many famous names. We stopped to take a few pictures, but didn't spend too much time their because the wind was really picking up and making any outdoor experiences less enjoyable.

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5. The Peter Pan Statue in Hyde Park

Since we had a little free time on Thursday afternoon, we decided to visit Hyde Park and the Peter Pan Statue. This spot was recommended to me by Katey Nowels, and I was glad to find some equally interested friends here with whom I could go see it. It wasn't a particularly gorgeous day, but the park was beautiful. The trees are flowers are just nearing their springtime prime of perfection, and there was a very pretty lake and fountain full of white swans.

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6. Concert (Vivaldi - The Four Seasons by Candlelight) at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Despite what the picture may reveal, the concert was actually rather sophisticated. Our vision was inhibited greatly (meaning, I never saw a musician), but the music was fabulous.

(Pictured: Me petting Amanda's head during intermission)

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7. Hampton Court Palace

On Friday, we went on a day trip to Hampton Court, past home of King Henry VIII. Lots of breathtaking sights, both inside and out. I will try to put up an album specifically of this sight.

(Pictured L to R: Sheri, Bethany "Shulan", Me, Brett, Eric, Carolyn)

Papers

It was a requested of me awhile back that I "publish" the papers I've been working on. Here are weeks 1-7:

Week 1 - To Balance or Blend
Week 2 - Humanity: Realized or Idealized
Week 3 - Three Extremes Fuse
Week 4 - Revealed Reason
Week 5 - Discovering Human Nature
Week 6 - The Reformation According to Shakespeare
Week 7 - Challenging Cultural Boundries through Empiricism

If you're interested in the prompts for any of these papers, I'm sure I can dig them up somewhere.

Front Desk, Reception Room, Conference Room, and Blue Room

Me: Welcome to the Highbury Centre! This is the front desk and this is the reception room, where we went on our first day. It's good for watching tv, getting mail, and getting food.
Christine: Mail board! Food!
Me: Very expensive food.
Christine: TV.
Me: Good TV, though. Now we'll go into the conference room. This is where paper-writing and Skyping happens. Oh, also, colloquy. I guess that's kinda important. This is where we have our discussion groups. And this is bethany!
Bethany: Hi!
Me: Our example of Skyping.
Bethany: (to her mom - Sorry, I just have to go out because they need they room.)
Me: Past Sheri's room again.
Bethany: Say 'Hi' to my mom!
Christine: Hi...mom.
Me: This is the blue lounge.
Bethany: (to her mom - I was just talking to Christine and Erin.)
Christine: Blue lounge!
Bethany: (to her mom - They're taking a video of...)
Me: Very comfy couches.
Christine: Here we see Cecily. Say 'Hi' to Erin's family!
Cecily: Hi!
Christine: This is Sammy.
Bethany: (to her mom - Can you still hear me?)
Christine: And the TV and the amazing blue room, where Erin does lots of homework.