Not a clever title in sight, I'm afraid

Today's been very good, indeed. And it's only three as I write this! I still have Arabic later.

Woke up early, made myself some tea and toast, got out to the bus stop around 8.20 (takes 25 minutes usually, class was at 9), but didn't get on the (very, very crowded) bus till 8.35. I was worried, but I made it t0 class on time (earlier than the professor, actually) and managed to make a friend because of my accent and obvious New Girl status. She's a first year TV & Film student who's in my lecture for On the Box and my seminar right after.

I should probably explain. Rather than 90 minutes of the professor talking at you and you taking notes and spitting it back at the prof in exams every couple of weeks, they have 1-2 hour lectures (where the prof, well, lectures) and then an hour-long seminar afterward, in which you split into smaller groups. As far as I can gather, it's a study group, a way of discussing the material so you understand it. Which is helpful because they rely on you to do the learning, rather than the professors to knock it into your brain.

So, On the Box: Analysing TV Texts. I'm so, so excited for this class. My lecturer (for both lecture and seminar) is Ian Smith, who spent most of our seminar recounting anecdotes about working with Harold Pinter (!!!) and doing New York accents, while also giving serious notes about subliminal messaging in television. He's absolutely wonderful. If I attempted to describe him, I'd say he was a (marginally) younger, British, more prone to swearing Wes Kennison (my Humn prof whom I adore). Absolutely fantastic. I'm going to love this class. Not least because we started off today watching Derren Brown and watching how his mental manipulation techniques are used in television every day.* (OH. MY. GOD. I was having trouble not squeeing to myself through the whole three hours.)

So I met that one girl, another girl (who was wearing a Bazinga! hoodie, which gave me the perfect convo opener. She ended up bringing me to the library), and this one guy who's apparently been everywhere and knows more about anthropology and anthro schools in the US than I do. (Omaha, Nebraska apparently has a really good program, focusing on NA studies. Who knew.) Went to the library to look at my key card (which hasn't been opening doors...which is a problem. Emailed the lady and now it's all fixed. We'll see when I go to class later.), then wandered to a cafe down the street. Had a mocha and a chicken tikka panini. Caught the bus back and got off a couple stops before mine, on a whim.

Wandering around Berrylands this weekend, I found a cute second-hand bookshop that is only open Tues-Fri, at random hours. I need my own copies for Shakespeare (and it's expensive for mum to ship me my Big Book O' Shakespeare that I got for Walker's Billy Shakes class freshman year) and I told mum I'd go in, so I did. And oh, goodness, was it magical.

Things I bought for less than 20 quid (technically, it added up to 20 exactly, but the sweet old man I had a long conversation with knocked it down to 18):
+ My three plays for Shakespeare
+ Oscar Wilde's London, for continuing my obsession with Victorian London
+ Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets
+ And just a little something for Uncle E (shh, don't tell, but it's to do with transport, his favorite.)

There was a gorgeously full London section that I will go back to. And old fiction. And poetry. And an eclectic mix of loads of fascinating old books.

Now I am home, having tea (learning to take it with milk) and cookies (actually called cookies on the package) and I still have an hour and a half until I need to get on the bus to go back. I will need to get more money out, as the past week and a half has been more expensive than I had planned. But all in all, a good day indeed.


* If you would like another post just on that topic, I'd be happy to oblige. It was absolutely fascinating.