That moment of horror

Last night after I'd finally buckled down to study Latin, I heard a bird call it's little birdie tune--one that I'd heard a few times last year during the wee hours of an Edinburgh morning--and I had a horrifying moment where I was certain I'd stayed up all night and I'd look up from my textbook and see the sky was lightening and then my alarm would go off suddenly and I'd have to run off to my midterm without having slept. 

So, having recognized that same kind of deathly panic that rises up when you lean juuust a little too far back in your chair and are suddenly convinced you are about to die, I turned off my desk lamp and crawled into bed.  And then I huddled around my body pillow and felt clever for not staying up all night. 

Magical Realism...

is how the academic world can accept small doses of poetic urban fantasy as real.  It's how the erudite literati can pick up and read a fantasy novel without addressing or suffering under the stigma of it.

Academia drives me crazy sometimes.  There's nothing wrong with liking fantasy!  We don't have to classify it under some highbrow genre title just because the prose is pretty and there are non-anglo cultures represented in the story.  If there are ghosts and spirit guides, you're probably reading fantasy.

Good grief.

Meh and etc.

Today was the first of what I'm sure will be many frustrated moments that all sound vaguely similar:  "I want a week off.  Two weeks.  What happened to my eternal summer?!"

Dyed my hair today.  I'd call it an auburn-y color now, but there are those who might call me ginger.  Can't decide yet if I'd agree with them.

Oh, and that part about rocking Latin?  Lies.  Braggery.  (<--not a real word)  Boasting and arrogance.  I'm drowning in declensions and it's horrifying.  Horrifying like a horror movie.

I wish there was more time for fun writing, but whatever.  November's coming up, which means Nanowrimo (which means writing a 50,000 word story in 30 days).

Life, it do go on.

Oh gosh, and guess what!  Google "weird penicillin dreams."  Seriously, go do it and see what the first thing that pops up is.  Life goal on the bucket list: check!  BECAUSE I'M AWESOME. :)

Oopsies, Oreos, Latin, and Halloween.

I got a gentle nudge today from a lovely family friend about how I maybe ought to update my blog.  Oops.  In my defense, everything from move-in to the start of classes has either been too hectic or banal to write about.

So now I’m sitting at my nice desk in my lovely bedroom in my new flat in the postgrad/grad housing munching on double-stuf Oreos when I should be making dinner and avoiding tonight’s Latin assignment.

I’m rocking Latin this go-round, by the way.  A+.  It’s making me feel pretty awesome.

I’m taking a Dante class as well, and my flatmates and I have decided that one of our Halloween costumes this year are going to reference the first canto (chapter) of the Inferno.  Before Dante descends into hell, he tries to skip all the bad stuff and climb a mountain that leads straight to heaven and god and his lifelong unrequited love who’s suddenly thoroughly enamored with him.  He’s thwarted, though, by a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf, all of which have very deep allegorical meanings that nobody actually knows.  Soooo… clever animal costumes!  I’m going to be the leopard.

And The Brother, who is taking the train up to spend Halloween weekend with me, is going to be the tenth doctor from Doctor Who!  I think I’m more excited about it than he is.  Maybe I’ll dress up as Donna Noble one night.

So many oreos.  I’m going to turn myself into a fatty, and then I won’t fit into my leopard costume.  Brilliant.