Bums, Scholars, and Underpants:

Hiya folks! Long time, no chat huh? It's been a busy bee like week for me (hee hee unintentional rhyming...yes, I'm tired!). I spent twelve hours in the library last Tuesday working on my longer of two extended essays which I must turn in on June 15 for my degree. A few observations about working for long stretches of time:
1. Your bum goes numb after about an hour in a wooden Bodleian chair.
2. Frequent breaks are needed just so your thoughts continue to make sense. If you work too long without a break historic myopia occurs and what you've written doesn't make the right kind of sense.
3. Coffee is good. That's right, I said it. Me, a Russell, is drinking coffee. It's a sugar-free alternative to my Mountain Dew days at Centre, and I drink it like Mom did when she was little. It's really half milk and half coffee, unless there's yummy chocolate-like flavoring in it.
4. It's best not to work with a buddy, otherwise you just want to know what they are doing all the time.
5. Carrying 15 hard-back books to the library hurts your back.
6. The joy of finishing said twelve hour stretch and twenty page paper cannot be expressed properly in a library where you are not allowed to yell and shout whoo hoo! Internal whoo hoos, though allowed, just don't do the job.
My supervisor was happy with my essay. "I liked it!" he said. :) (that's a big grin!) So now I'm working on the shorter of the two, which is on medieval children. I LOVE doing this research! Finally, out of theory, I'm enjoying what I read. Though, I must say, taking notes is becoming increasingly difficult in long stretches without my laptop. I have arthritis in my fingers! And it hurts to write by hand! So Aidan, you are not the only one getting old. By the by, my gray hairs have increased ten-fold. Trade ya?

I went Thursday evening to here Maurice Keen speak about chivalry in the later middle ages. Maurice Keen!!! I'm sure Uncle Steve is the only one who knows who I'm talking about, but can I just say Maurice Keen one more time! Ah! He authored the first medieval history book I EVER read. So cool. He was interesting and clever, and entirely what a British medievalist should be. Scholarly, yet kind. It was a wonderful evening.

This weekend I saw my first live football (soccer) match. I went with Rich to Cardiff where we watched the Wales v. Czech Republic qualifying match for the European Cup in 2008. It was not that thrilling, simply because the score ended 0-0 and I just don't like ties. But, we saw the last match of Ryan Giggs, the Wales captain. Giggsy (as he is lovingly called by his fans) has played for the last 16 years and retired from international football. Don't worry though, he's still playing for Manchester United! Man U has become my team, as it's Rich's fave, and I've watched all their games with him. I actually enjoy football, though I prefer football of the American variety. But anyhoo...I bought a Wales hat and had a great time and was even surprised at the offerings in the snack stand. I know I shouldn't have been, but I just expected hot dogs and nachos; it never occurred to me that there would be steak pies and sausage rolls. Silly me.

I'm enjoying my bike very much. It's so easy to get around town and so quick. Though my legs and bum hurt a bit. And I'm a bit concerned that the muscles in my thighs will get bigger, thereby increasing the size of my already genetically enhanced Hourigan thighs. The pros outweigh the cons however, and I'm glad I made the purchase.

Well I suppose that's it for now. Long enough wasn't it? I'm off to wash the six loads of laundry sitting in front of me. Sadly, that's not an exaggeration. *sigh* I would keep putting it off in order to keep working as I have been doing, but I'm out of underwear, and that is not a good thing.

Love, smiles, and good work for all,
Elizabeth