A Girl With a Sword

the naked ballet boyz

I'm back in Oxford where once again (I was here earlier this week) I've gotten to vicariously experience the thrilling student life, only now, instead of stress and exams and confetti, there are balls and flame-juggling men. No fairy godmothers, though, even the flame-juggling man wouldn't get me into the ball, and he had fire. He said I couldn't even watch him juggle because I didn't pay 140 quid, but I didn't listen to him. And all of the roses are blooming, sending petals all over the place. We found a store that sold costumes and such like that would have kept Covenant College students supplied for years. I think they really need to set up a place like that on campus, for skit nights and plays and movies and random dress-up times. We wandered all over Oxford today, exploring many pubs by needing to use their toilets. We discovered that the Ashmolean museum has a strangely soporific effect and you should only plan on spending an hour at a time there otherwise you will probably just "lie down and drowse forever and ever." It's interesting to see the inspirations for bits of Lewis and Tolkein's works, like the wood between the worlds. Then we ate sugar cubes in the museum cafe until we felt more awake. Tonight, in honor of St. George and the dragon I killed a huge spider, which was probably one of the dragon's offspring, that was residing on the ceiling of Laura's residence. And I also had ale, Lamb and Flag Gold.

seeking adventures

If you ever want to feel like you're going off into fairyland to seek your fortune, and who knows what adventures and castles and dragons await you, walk down a country road in the Cotswolds. The blue hills in the hazy afternoon sun definately set the mood. I think Britomart (of Faerie Queene fame) must have started on her adventure from the Cotswolds. I can just see Britomart on her horse and her nurse, Glauce, on her donkey clomping down the road (it's not a very good horse, probably a grey old mare like the one I passed in a field), through the hills, off to Wales to find Merlin to ask him to solve the puzzle of the magic mirror. Everyone, read The Faerie Queene and start with Book III, if you start with Book I you'll probably just get bogged down, even though it's great too, but Book III is the best.

Then, as I was wandering through a Cotswold village, enjoying the afternoon sun on the picturesque cottages and roses, suddenly The Flaming Lips. It was a beautiful moment. Fight Test was coming from the window of a small, white Volkswagon, floating around The Royal Oak pub and cottages named "Cotswold View" and "Four Ways."

island living

Hoy, Stromness, Maeshowe, St. Magnus, Scapa Flow. Took the ferry over to Orkney yesterday. It meant getting up at a time when most of my friends in the States hadn't even gone to bed, but I managed it. Here are some words from Orkney:

"Make your number twos your number one priority." --words of wisdom from the Orkney library loo. Actually on an NHS poster.

"Iron Age, Picts, Vikings upstairs" --The Orkney Museum (If only they really were. I've been here two weeks already and haven't seen a Viking yet.)

"Agnes 9 children boor unto hir mate. 6 ded befor ther sir by cruel fate." --tombstone from 1679 in St. Magnus Cathedral. Poor Agnes. Memento Mori.

"O Magnus of Fame
On the barque of the heros
On the crest of the waves
On the sea, on the land
Aid and preserve us.
Amen."

I went to two museums, so I felt quite at home. In the Stromness museum I learned the story of Eliza Fraser--Shipwrecked! Captured! Enslaved by Aboriginies! It was quite sensational, remind me to tell it sometime.

One of the best parts of the day was being suprised by standing stones while I was taking the bus across the island. I didn't think I was going to get to see any of the prehistoric stuff, then there was the Ring of Brodgar right out my window. It's rather eiree seeing standing stones, even on a sunny afternoon, almost too much like time travel.

In other news, last night we had Drambuie, a very smooth Scottish whiskey with strong hints of heather honey and nutmeg. It was amazing.