Proof that Oxford is, indeed, Hogwarts

So last night I went to a lovely black-tie dinner for graduate linguists at Christ Church. We did not eat in the hall, but rather in the neighboring McKenna Room. While I was in there, I saw a number of lovely portraits. But one portrait in particular proved to me that I do, indeed, go to Hogwarts. Here's some photographic evidence.

Here I am in the McKenna Room, with two portraits. The top portrait is Henry VIII. Let's zoom in on the bottom portrait:
Now is it just me, or is that not Professor Snape???????

*Sigh.* This place is awesome.

On travel plans

I did my first trip in an airplane, which happened to be my first international flight, when I was a senior in high school. I loved that trip so much, and promised that I would come back to visit many times.

I never followed through on that promise, unfortunately, and I lost touch with many of the friends I met there. But now, nearly ten years later, things are looking promising. It looks like I'll have a chance to go back there finally.

It will be a short trip - about four days long. And I'll get some work done while I'm there.

I don't want to reveal my destination just yet, but I'll fill you in very soon. ;) Watch this space!

Question and Answer Time

There's a meme that's been going around for a while, that I haven't gotten around to participating in until now. Someone emails you five questions, you answer them, and you offer to ask questions as well. I got 5 questions from Profgrrrl. It's like she's interviewing me, only she's not Katie Couric. Well, neither am I. But if you want to play along, post a comment that says "I would like you to ask me questions even though you are not Katie Couric." Then I'll email you some questions and you will answer them on your blog. Oh, and you'll offer to ask questions for others, too.

Sorry, I lifted most of that from Profgrrrrl's post. But I thought it was funny, so that's why I posted it here. Anyway, here are the questions that she asked me, along with my answers.

1. Do you prefer teaching in the US or UK? Why?
I don’t teach in the UK, unfortunately, but I can comment on the teaching style here. I very much prefer the US style of undergraduate teaching. It is far more interactive, and gets students involved. While the teaching here is more one-on-one (this is unique to the Oxbridge system), I think students are much more passive. They don’t get to interact with others, or work on group projects, or things like that. I also don’t think that the system is very receptive to change. Some of the things I do with my undergraduates – holding classes in chat rooms, playing Jeopardy, writing papers about the movie Love Actually – would never fly here.

I also don’t like the concept of studying ONLY courses in your major/field of study here. I think it is impossible to know what you want to do with your life at 18. By taking a range of courses, you can learn a range of skills, and be better prepared for the job market when you emerge on the other side.

Some of my loyal blog readers are also tutors/lecturers here at Oxford. I’d be interested in what they have to say on the subject.

2. Has your favorite color changed since childhood?
As a matter of fact, it has. I liked blue when I was little, but now I am partial to purple. When my sister and I were little and had matching everything, my sister would often have pink, and I would have blue. It’s kinda funny now, because everything in my sister’s house is blue, and most of my stuff is pink!

3. What led you to become a blogger?
I started a blog a long time ago (2003), when nobody really had one and I didn’t really know what to do with it. I’ve always liked trying new technology when people are first whispering about it. I then got a Xanga blog so I could comment on my friends’ Xangas, and loved how easy it was to put my thoughts out there – far easier than writing in a diary and even publishing a webpage. I kept that as my public blog until 2005, when I started at Oxford and started this lovely blog you’re reading here. I keep this blog because I always knew this would be a fantastic adventure, and I wanted everyone to share the adventure with me. (I actually thought of the name when I was choosing my college. When I found out that St. Catherine’s was called “Catz” for short, the name “Kait at Catz” popped into my head almost immediately.)

I also keep a semi-pseudonymous teaching blog. I’m not publishing the link here (many of you know it already), but if you know me in real life and want to read it, email me and I’ll send you the link.

4. What book are you reading right now?
If we’re talking about something that’s not for my dissertation, I’ve just started El amor en los tiempos de cólera by Gabriel García Márquez, which I just received as a present from Enrique. He bought it for me when we were out browsing in Blackwell's one day. I’ve always wanted to read it – I can’t wait.

5. What present do you most hope to receive for your next birthday?
Oooh, a very timely question, as my birthday is one month from today! I’m actually not picky. The fact that someone thought to buy me a present for my birthday always makes me happy, so really it doesn’t take much for me to be delighted. (However, if several people wanted to chip in and buy me one of these lovely vodkas, I would be exceptionally delighted...*giggle*)

Well that was fun. Thanks Profgrrrrl! If you want questions, you know what to do.
xxx,
Me

Questions that are occupying my mind right now

• Where can I find a digital copy of Horace's The Art of Poetry?
• If it took me about 2 hours to finish editing the longest chapter of this book, when will I be done with the next 5 (shorter) chapters?
• What does one wear when having dinner with a diplomat?
• What if dinner with said diplomat is at a pub?
  

On brilliant ideas

I just found out that AIM is offering completely personalized email addresses - both the username and the domain - for free. So I could register an email domain and get accounts for up to 100 friends on it. That's just awesome.

I'm thinking of setting up this as my email address: kaitlin@pinksparklyhellokittyandvodka.com

But if I did that, I'm pretty sure he would never speak to me again. ;)