Welcome Back, Potter

I was the second person in line tonight to pick up my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I didn't preorder it years in advance; in fact, I didn't preorder it at all. The book went on sale at 12:01, I was out of the store by 12:03. And I didn't camp out in line for hours, either - I got there maybe 10 minutes before midnight.

How did I get so lucky, you ask? I bought it at the grocery store.

When I realized sometime on Thursday that the newest installment of Harry Potter would be out today, I tried to decide where I should go to pick up the book. My brother wandered by and suggested the grocery store, because no one really thinks to go to the grocery store for a book launch. There were no midnight parties there, and very little promotion.

When he suggested this, I thought it was brilliant. So I headed over to my local Stop & Shop and encountered almost no one there. Honestly, there were fewer than 20 people. It was a bit pricey (almost $27), but just thinking about how much I would have paid in England made me grateful for how little I paid for it here.

I am really going to try to take my time with this one. I'm very excited, but I know there's nothing left after this one!

So, this is shaping up to be a good weekend.

My first week back at work went well. I initiated some projects to notify people about our latest Blackboard upgrade, particularly ones who will be affected by our new automatic course creation and enrollment systems: courses taught by TAs and adjuncts, and team-taught courses. I'm also training a new employee in the department, which is interesting and fun. I've always liked this job, and I've always learned a lot from it. So it's going along swimmingly so far.

I got to see the Harry Potter movie this week too. I think it was one of the best ones yet - I wasn't even annoyed too much by the parts where they glossed over the book's plot. Professor Umbridge annoyed the hell out of me (which means she played the part well), and the interaction between Sirius and Harry made me cry. I won't say any more here - go see it for yourself.

Well, I think I'm going to read a bit more and then call it a night. If you have the coveted text as well (or will be picking it up or getting it delivered in the morning), then enjoy!

How could I forget???

Everyone, meet Ducky.

If you don't own a sock monster, I highly recommend acquiring one. I first heard about them from CatRaggedy, when I think she was thinking about getting one for her son. I then found out that there was a girl in Oxford who makes them, and she happens to be a friend of some friends of mine. So, in exchange for me sending her some socks for her monster-making collection, she made me this fabulous sock monster. Thank you, Beth!!!!!

What's awesome about this sock monster is that not only is he purple (which I love), he is called Ducky (which I love because I love duckies) and he has the dorsal crest on the back (when I was little, my favorite dinosaur was the stegosaurus - really!). I was really impressed with how right she got it all, especially since she doesn't know me that well...

It's really fun and cool how these sock monsters have become the craze among Oxford grad students. I think it might be my new craft project for the summer.

Just thought I would share. Have a lovely day, everyone!

*Photos courtesy of Beth, since I own the World's Crappiest Camera (tm). ;)

Random Bullets of Travel

• I had a lovely sendoff when I left Catz yesterday. Chung, Fabrizio, Haris and Iliya helped me put my stuff in the taxi and waved as I left. It was so sweet.
  
• Airport travel was extremely uneventful. Got there with plenty of time, no trouble whatsoever. My baggage took a while to come off the cart, but that was not really a huge deal.
• Every single time I go to the airport, any airport, I regret what I eat there. Why is that??? I mean, I'll get through security, go have lunch, and spot maybe 5 other places that would have cost less and that I would have liked better.
• I'm really not that tired, which is good. Hopefully I'll fall back into a normal pattern fairly quickly.
• Man, I missed American food. I know that's weird, and not very healthy either.
• I broke my suitcase again. I need to stop buying cheap suitcases.
• Does anyone know if Twinings Tea is sold here? I bought some at the airport for a stupid amount of money. Next time I'll just buy it from Tesco and pack it.
• Hmm, not much to say here, as the trip really was quite uneventful. I guess I should take that as a good thing!
  

Transfixus sed non mortuus

"Transfixus sed non mortuus" is the motto on my family's coat of arms. It means "pierced but not dead" or, as someone put it on his homepage (quite accurately), "We are stubborn bastards." ;)

It's a bit fuerte for my point here, but it works.

As I wrap up my second year here, this is the first time when my desire to go home greatly outweighs my desire to stay here. I feel like I struggled in everything I did this year: academics, MCR committee, teaching. It was like I couldn't keep up. And the more I felt like I couldn't keep up, the less I felt like continuing with any of it.

I should mention that this is hardly "too much on my plate." When I was an undergraduate, I took an overload of courses, did an honors thesis and two advertising competitions, and juggled it all with a hectic home life and a less-than-reliable fleet of cars. So the fact that I felt like I couldn't keep up surprises me a bit.

I'm not going to let it get to me, though. My family is a stubborn lot. I'm going to work hard this summer and focus and come back in the fall ready to try again.

But for now, I'm really looking forward to getting the hell out of here for a while.

A day and a half to go...

xxx

P.S. - Isn't my family's coat of arms really weird? What's the deal with the duck??? Heh.

And now for something completely different

My beautiful and lovely sister deserves far better than to share a post with my ranty whining (edit: ranty whining post removed), so I will share this good news in a post of its own. The one good highlight in my day was a call this morning from my aforementioned sister, to tell me that she got engaged.

Here's a picture of the ring:

And here is a picture of the happy couple, Kelly and John:

CONGRATULATIONS KELLY AND JOHN!!! I'm so happy for you and I can't wait to see the ring in person. :):):)

G'night!

xxx

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams: Ruminations with eight days to go

When I was little, I used to watch bits of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," and would love the way Robin Leech uttered that famous line about champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Little did I know that it would actually be relevant to my life 15 years down the road.

A lot of people ask me, "So, what's Oxford like?" and expect some kind of touristy answer about how everyone walks around in bowler hats and says "Cheerio, old chap," and drinks tea with the Queen every afternoon. None of that is actually true, of course. People are also surprised that I haven't picked up the British accent. Honestly, that would be tough, since I don't hang out with many Brits. (The Oxford grad student population is largely international, and besides, British grad students don't usually live in college.)

The one thing that I know for sure, though, is that my life in Oxford is far more posh than anything I would experience at home or pretty much anywhere else. I never owned black-tie wear for years, and now that I've come here, I've amassed a pretty impressive collection of dresses. In fact, Chrissie and I have become so accustomed to the Oxford black-tie lifestyle that when she went home to California for a formal wedding, she was surprised to (re-)discover that the California definition of "formal" is far more relaxed. And I've even become surprised when I find out that there are men who don't own tuxes - but in reality, why should they, when they don't live in Oxford?

Our last guest dinner of the year this year was not a huge success, but what was the menu? Caviar. And champagne. And this is the season where everyone attends lavish balls and garden parties, with unlimited drinks and feasts well into the night. Some of the events that Oxford students attend, like the Varsity Boat Race, are considered the starting point of the British social season. It just stuns me every time I realize that the events that become so commonplace for us as students here are actually markers of high society and class throughout the world.

I don't post these things to make people envious, or to show off. I post them to remind myself, as I look back on my time here, how very lucky I am to be here and how very different this place is from the "real world."

Only eight days to go before I head home for the summer, having finished my second year here. What a long, strange (and indeed lovely) trip it has been.

G'night (and happy 4th of July!),
Me
xxx