Somehow I seem to have found myself back in Turf Tavern with my laptop and some inspiration to write. Perhaps a habit is forming…? Though this time I have a glass of mulled wine. Old Rosie cider was my companion last time. (Speaking of mulling and cider: I had mulled cider for the first time last night. It was Delicious, with a capital D.) This whole business of mulling (heating up the libation of choice) is a seasonal phenomenon, nicely complementing the blushing foliage and nippy evening winds. As a matter of fact, Halloween, a most iconic sign of the times, is upon us tomorrow. The English trick-or-treat, which I was pleased to hear, though we are not giving out candy. Hopefully no one will T.P. us since the weather is rather wet, though it has been exceptionally lovely the past few days after the non-event of the super storm blew over.
Besides not giving out candy I have few other plans for the day. Last night was the most festive event of going into the OxfordCastle with my flatmate Vanesa. The castle is turned into a haunted house on Tuesday nights, so we got tickets and went it. It was… not that scary. The setting could not have been better and they did build up suspense but the suspense was never relieved so you walk out feeling a little confused by the haunted-house-tension that has built up. As I told Vanesa: “I’ve had a scarier haunted house on my front porch!
So tomorrow, plenty of reading needs to be done during the day of course, and a well-known guru of Hindustani (North Indian) music will be in town tomorrow. A few acquaintances will be going and I am most likely to join them for a sit-in on the vocal/instrumental class, if nothing else. After that perhaps a pub, though no major mischief as far as I know.
After all, I have an essay due Friday. Currently we are moving into Week Three and term is well and truly underway. I am juggling two essays at the moment, though priority is being given to the one due this week. I started my reading for it this morning and am using this pub as a brief respite from — you guessed it! — more reading. Hitting the books for ten hours a day is not unheard of here. At least I got to move around a bit today. I did a library crawl, if you will, starting at the Pitt Rivers Museum, then to Christ Church, and ending at two different reading rooms in the Bodleian. Next stop: my kitchen table!
But first a couple more musings here.
First, I have been thinking about the future a bit, both in terms of next semester and next summer. For next semester I have a schedule sketched out for when registration opens next Friday. By the looks of it I will be taking 17 credits, though I may drop it down to 15… It depends on whether I take a voice class or not. I will register for it and see how the first week goes. BUT best of all, no Friday classes! And next summer has been in the periphery of my mind, though fretting about it does no good here.
Second, in the more immediate future, I will have a reunion with father dearest. This is a bit of an unexpected but most welcome surprise. He is coming in on Friday and will be here until Monday. Dad, if you are reading this: I can’t wait to see you! And Mom: Thanks for all that you do. You are great. It will be a great weekend.
So with that happy though in mind (along with a glass of mulled wine), I am off to read more about music and globalization. The fun never ends…
Where in the world is Kelly? 