And if a doubledecker bus crashes into us...

My professor mentioned the Smiths yesterday in class while talking about the 80's, AND I just re-watched (500) Days of Summer two nights ago, so I felt some Smiths lyrics were appropriate for my title today.

I'm feeling pretty good. With the help of hundreds of cups of coffee and tea, thousands of biscuits, and lots of whining, I finally turned in my 5000 word essay on gender and nature yesterday, and I think it went okay... I won't know until I get my grade. And a week ago I turned in a 2500 word essay... lots o' work lately.

These past couple of weeks have been horribly busy, due to the ginormous essays and casting for The Taming of the Shrew... which has been officially cast all of.... ten minutes ago. People look at me funny here when I say "ginormous," and I have to explain that it's a portmanteau of "giant" and "enormous" and that Lewis Carroll would be proud of me.

And to think my friends call me "nerd."

Casting was really awkward! Theater is a tough business. Also, I'm not as good at judging people as I thought I would be. It was really difficult for me not to show emotions during auditions, so I wound up *always* covering my mouth with my hands in some creative way. I was either eating something, drinking something, or just holding my head in my hands. Next week, casting for Julius Caesar begins, which should bring in an interesting crowd.

And my reward for all the hard work....... I leave on Thursday to go to Brussels for the weekend to visit Leah!! We haven't seen each other in five months and thirteen days.... but who's counting?

Life ain't bad. Other than the mess in the kitchen. And the dude playing the bongos upstairs. And the two other essays I have due in for this term.

I just got back from one of my favorite classes. It's all girls (no boys wanted to be in a Feminist Perspectives on Literature module, I guess), really relaxed, and our new tutor is really sweet. There are a group of us that go get tea after class every week and talk about silly things. Last week, all the other girls complained about their younger sisters and how they steal their clothes and purses while they're at university. I kept my mouth shut. And I didn't tell them until today that I'm a younger sister.


At Wisconsin, I've never been asked to go get tea or coffee or anything after class... and it's such a normal thing here. It's really sweet. I decided that when I go back to Madison, I'll start asking people in my discussions if they want to go get a Spotted Cow on the terrace with me. I'm bringing this back home with me... and Wisconsin-izing it a little.