Here's a cartoon I drew... Hurrah for the ability to broadcast my lack of artistic ability or humor via the Internet to unsuspecting villagers. 

Spring's here!

It's like March suddenly turned around and said, "Oh, right, I'm meant to be going out like a lamb, aren't I." It rained a LOT last night (principally when I was walking to Anna's and back--though I can't really complain because I had an umbrella, unlike poor Dan), but then when I woke up this morning, it was gorgeous. The birds are singing, it's in the low 50s, and the sun is shining fit to beat the band.

Also, I had a great time this week. After a couple of weeks of very little social interaction, this week was like the social explosion. I told you about Monday; I went to Ruddigore with Dan and Anna on Wednesday, and last night Anna had a dinner party. Tonight I'm going out with my flatmates, Sunday I'm meeting Marie for brunch (and have to remember to set the clocks forward--though you in the US don't), and Monday I'm going out with department people again. Woo hoo! I'm also starting to bond with the department people. I've had so much fun talking to Dan and Anna on Wednesday and last night (Dan is the only Victorian student I know here--he's doing his PhD with the same supervisor as mine for the MA--so it's cool to talk shop with him), and the MPhil Modernism students are great--although they all just started dating each other, so it's a bit sad for someone 5 time zones away from a boy. But a) I'm going to see Andy ridiculously soon, and b) they're really nice. Alice put her arm around me yesterday and said that she wished I didn't have to go back to America. It is so weird; just as I'm feeling good about getting PhD plans in order, I'm realizing that I'm actually setting in rather nicely here. But a) (I really like a's and b's today) I am actually looking forward to going back to the US and doing a PhD for many reasons, which I won't go into here, and b) just because I'm leaving doesn't mean I'll lose contact forever with the friends I've made her. As I was pointing out last night, they could always come to the US and visit me, and also I plan to try to fenagle some research trips to the UK. And if I'm in London or Haworth or Oxford or Cambridge looking at archives, I can always pop up to Birmingham and visit.

Besides, I have a whole four or five months left here. So, hah.

Despite the warm fuzzies, I should actually get some, um, work done. But I'm in a happy mood, so I wanted to share.

Laugh of the day

From the New York Times, a serious warning about grapefruit juice.

Canadian scientist David G. Baily delivers the important cautionary words:
"Fooling around with grapefruit juice is not a good idea."

I know it's important and all, but I just found that line really funny.

Ok, I'm done now.

Oh yeah

Sorry I've been rather quiet lately. There hasn't been much to report besides "I'm getting more rejections but I still don't know what I'm going to do about PhDness", "I should be working on my essays--but they're actually not due till April 24", and "I'm starting my dissertation--which sounds exciting but consists of reading lot of Charlotte Bronte's letters."

Enthralling, eh? Oh, the exciting life of an international glamo(u)r girl.

Current PhD tally: acceptance: one: Indiana University. Waiting List: one: UVA. Still haven't heard from: NYU. Rejections: Everywhere else.

It's beginning to look a lot like Indiana. (Everywhere you go....) Of course, we'll see if NYU offers me a place and if UVA offers me a place before I have to decide about IU (which, btw, is April 15), but... yeah.

IU is also a distinctly attractive possibility. Every PhD student there is required to do a minor, and one of the minors is in Victorian Studies -- so I'd be required to take interdisciplinary classes and classes in other departments that relate to the Victorian period. Oh, poor me. There are also a number of Victorianists doing really interesting work. And they have a stellar music department, which means A) the music history classes I could take as part of my VS minor would be cool, B) they have lots o' ensembles I could audition for, and C) they have awesome concerts! Also, they're offering me a good fellowship package, whereby I wouldn't have to teach the first year... And although some New Yorkers tell me Bloomington's not terribly exciting, many Chapel Hillians like it and say it's like Chapel Hill. Which is good, because I like Chapel Hill.

AND Andy's there. Which is distinctly a plus. Although it has caused me some consternation -- many debates about whether I'm excited about it because he's there or in spite of the fact that he's there or what. But the fact is it was also the place I was most excited about before Andy even decided to apply there. So I saw it first. Hah. :)

We shall see, we shall see.

Just as I'm thinking concretely about leaving, I'm discovering that I actually am settling in nicely here in Brum. I went over to my friend Nathan's house last night with a bunch of English Dept. MPhils and watched a horror movie (well, hung out, ate Chinese food and chips (oh, British food), drank some tea, made rabbits out of Play-Dough, watched the first fifteen minutes, remembered that there's a reason I don't like horror movies, went upstairs to Nath's room, read The War of the Worlds till they were done then came down and ate some biscuits and shared a cab home with Alice). I'm discovering how to make tea properly (with milk and sugar and kind of weak), beginning to forget which rules of usage and spelling are British and which American (which is kind of annoying), and learning to devine what my flatmates had for breakfast based on what's in the dish drainer (Alicia had two pieces of toast with cheese and soft cheese; I know because there's a knife and a plate in the dish drainer).

I have my last class on Friday. Aaaah! And then I have my essays due April 24 (but I'm going to try to hand them in before I leave for the US--I'll be stateside April 4-19, when I'll visit IU and possibly NYU--and possibly UVA), and then after that I'll just have my dissertation! 12,000 words. On the Brontes. And what they read. And how they read. And stuff. I'm starting to get a tiny bit stressed about the dissertation, but on the other hand, I'm into the second volume of Charlotte Bronte's letters (I'm really annoyed at the lack of umlauts (sp?) in this user interface), so I'm actually in good shape. For the shape I'm in. Which is specifically a hexagon.

Ok, that's all, folks! I'm going to go try to do something before lunch. Should I take more notes on CB's letters or work on the second draft of my marginalia essay? Your votes will decide. Well, not really.

Fat 'n happy

...as Pete says. Full of chocolate and yummy loaded potato dinner (read: potatoes, beans, cheese, peas, butter and milk sort of mashed up together), listening to a mix of salsa and Indian music, and generally feeling quite contented.

A large part of the contentment is due to the fact that I've been accepted to Indiana! After 5 rejections, this is very good news. I will be going to grad school next year! :) And I'm still waiting on 5 more schools. We shall see what unfolds.....

And I had the flu this week, but it's subsiding into a cold, which is good. And I will do my best to dissuade the cold with Nyquil. Mwahaha. And sleep. Which I should go do.

Here's a collage unconnected with a movie! Who knew. It's an illustration of an Emily Dickenson poem I like: "There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away  

Misc.

I've been delaying posting that I didn't get into Stanford because I wanted to wait until I had an acceptance to go with it. But I don't yet, so oh well. However, no further news at all, so that's not as bad as might be.

I've also been avoiding doing work by reading massive quantities of back issues of the webcomic Questionable Content. There's a link to the first comic. Warning: they're awfully addictive. And the content can be occasionally questionable, but not more than roll-your-eyes-a-bit. And the characters are engaging... though reading about twenty-somethings hanging around in the Northeast makes me miss my Vassar buddies. But as Rebecca pointed out, now California's out, so it's either the Midwest (Northern Midwest--is there a name for that? Like Great Lakes Area?) or the East Coast. Just to remind you, the schools I have yet to hear from are U Chicago, Northwestern, Indiana U, U Mich, Harvard, NYU, Rutgers, and UVA. So cross your fingers for me. Or something. I should hear sometime this month.

In other news, I have officially written over 14,000 words for one of my 8,000-word essays. Remember when I was freaking out because I didn't think I could write two 8,000-word essays? Yeah. This draft is longer than my MA dissertation will be. True, large portions of it are transcripts of marginalia, but still. It shouldn't be hard to cut down, and it's nice to be in the position of having a bunch of material and needing to cut down (a little less than two months before the paper is due) rather than having not enough. Also, I have a draft of my other essay that's about 8,000 words. And needs serious redrafting, but that's what the next month's for.

Oh, and I've been working on my dissertation a bit. Reading Charlotte Bronte's letters.... fun. And I'm not being sarcastic--it's actually been a bit difficult to get myself to stop reading the letters and do stuff that's more pressing. Like seminar preps. But I've got the prep for this afternoon done (hence having time for a lenthy, rambling blog post). I'm looking forward to the weekend. This evening, I'm going to my friend Alice's house for dinner, and on Saturday, I'm going to a book fair with Marie, and then out to dinner with my flatmates to celebrate Tanja's birthday. Moderate social whirl! I like people. I'm actually feeling a bit sad because I'm just starting to sort of get comfortable with people here, and I'm going to be leaving in six months. :( However, I get to stay here for six more months! :) And when I leave, I'll be going to the US, so even if I'm not really near you guys, I'll at least be in similar time zones. :)

Oh, the confusingness of this week. I'll definitely be happy when I've got real PhD options to puzzle over and such. Although then I'll probably complain about how I have to make a decision. :)