Scattered

I glanced at that last post and thought, "oh, a week has passed. It was another long Tuesday to-day." Then I realized that, in fact, TWO weeks had passed. I'm mere days away from the end of my first term at Oxford. I can't quite process it yet, as I still have two papers to complete and turn in this week (one on Matthew Arnold's ideology and another on the commentaries on the Biblical story of the Great Flood). Still, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Which is nice, except it gets in my eyes and I can't see the audience and it keeps me awake, this bright light.

You know how after a training for a marathon and running it, people often get depressed? I feel like I'm in that sort of state. Not depressed, of course, just in this "down" slump. I need a break more than anything right now, but the idea of all that free time boggles the mind. I'll be spending about 5 weeks in Israel visiting my brother and my sister and their respective spouses, so that should be lovely. I booked the tickets back in September when I figured I'd hate it here and not have any friends in the area. But now that I see that's not the case, I wish I had only booked the tickets for three or so weeks in Israel. I'm also thinking ahead to Easter break and how I can spend a couple weeks in Oxford.

It's a beautiful city and I wish I had the time to just wander it with a camera and rolls of film (speaking of which, new photos here and here). Also one girl I've gotten to know pretty well lives in London and has invited me for visits over breaks.

Anyway, no use regretting all that nonsense. It will be a lovely time in Israel. I will be able to collect myself and all the bits of gray matter that are scattered about the Bodleian. First, however, I need to get through these next couple days: More coffee, please!

Long Week Ahead

My train of thought as I woke up this morning:

What day is it? Saturday! But wait, I have to get up and do things, so it must be Friday, right? Wait, that can't be because I didn't get to go to CatWeazle last night. Must be Thursday. No, that can't be, I've not had an all-nighter for writing my history paper. Wednesday, then! If that's the case, then what happened to writing my paper for Dr Solomon last night? Hmm ... HOW CAN IT ONLY BE TUESDAY?

I ask you, how can I only have completed one day of the week? *Sigh* Wish me luck.

Going Up

Since the last post I've been pretty busied-up. Readery, paperage, minor socializing, etc. I also developed the plague on my face which spread for days and days. Much consultation, a visit to the nurse, a doctor, and a pharmacy determined that it was impetigo and I needed a week's worth of antibiotics to not die. Or get more plague-y. Anyway, that's been clearing up and ought to done with pretty soon (thank God!).

Some of the healing time was whiled away in London. My Theology/Hebrew Scriptures tutor is fantastic. He and his wife have a house in Oxford and one in London and he invited me down fr Shabbos. It was so strange and so lovely to really step AWAY from all things school-work-y, but not step away from intellectual conversation, really. I was away for maybe 36 hours and I realized something important: I can pass time and not work and still be OK and not fall behind. See, when we're in Oxford all the time, even when we're not working we keep thinking "this is just a half hour break" or something -- there's no proper escape or release. There's always that tension. Going away and leaving most of my books and stuff behind was really good. Plus, I got 14 hours of sleep on Friday night. FOURTEEN. And lovely home-cooked Shabbos food and kiddush and just the feel of Shabbos. :) Happee timez. Also, on Motzei Shabbos Rabbi/Dr Solomon and his wife very generously took me a to see a play in Leicester Square, Shadowlands. It was fantastic -- beautifully written and acted, touching, witty ... I'm so glad I got to go and relax and appreciate it.

In other news, it's now back to the same old drag of read, notes, read, write, read, sleep. It's not too bad, really -- it's pretty satisfying as I make progress, even though it's a struggle. Actually, BECAUSE it's a struggle. For this week I have a paper on (1) the Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, masechta Nezikin (related to Parshat Meshpatim) and (2) the reality or fabrication of "separate spheres" for men and women in Victorian England.

By the way, as for photos, I have taken and developed some more and will post them at the Flickr sites that are linked at the left ASAP.

All Cultured Out

I've not posted in a while mostly because I've been a bit overwhelmed around here. Lately I seem to spend either ALL my time in the library (like 9 straight hours last week on my friend's birthday) or ALL my time relaxing/socializing (like this weekend when I barely cracked a book for three days). Now that I'm reaching mid-term burnout phase, it seems to have gotten worse. I'm going to have to reestablish a balance. That's what life's about, right? Balance.

So this is just a quick update to let you know I've not died. Definitely haven't gone to heaven. :) I expect to buckle down seriously this week, and then I want to establish a schedule maybe Thursday afternoon to plan the work for next week, since it looks like it will be pretty intense. This weekend I'm supposed to go to my tutor's house in London for Shabbat, while really is a lovely thing for him to do, but it makes me very anxious. I'll be sure to update on whether or not that happens.

Social life has been a bit strange for me. I was always the mellow one who just wanted to chill and read and hang out with some close friends. I have people here with whom to do that. But when I'm in a huge social gathering (like the Bop we had on Saturday night), I flit, flit, flit and drink, drink, drink and am not myself. I'm not sure I like who I am when I'm like that.

I think the strangest part is how much I drink when I can count on one hand the number of times in the past two years I drank during the school year. It's part of the culture, it's there all the time -- it would be easy to drink every night straight for a couple of weeks, and I know people who have. It's horrid, really, when you think about it like that. It seems, somehow, that this social lubricant is absolutely necessary for mingling here. Anyway, it's a very interesting social study, if I can remain sober enough to observe it!

OK, back to work, work, work. There ought to be new photos soon, too!