in britannia

So I wrote another essay for today: it was a lot of fun. Of course, when I turned it in, my advisor said "so, did it kill you?" Now I'm thinking, "no, of course not - it was actually pretty interesting." I ask "why, are you disappointed?" He says, "no, of course not: I just thought that it was pretty challenging, you know, without a whole lot of sources out there."

I think I may have missed something drastic. Now I'm worried.

Sang an All Souls' Day service and Grace at Queen's College tonight: gorgeous. Especially the buffet dinner they laid out in front of us afterward.

Speaking of food, I've lost more than 1 stone since setting foot in England, literally, that's 15 lbs. I am beginning to recognize that no matter what, life in New Jersey is pretty unhealthy. Especially since, and I say this a lot, the longest walk in New Jersey is from your apartment to your car. It doesn't hurt that English portions are tiny in comparison to their American counterparts.

So a historic event has occured: I made the A-boat for Keble College Crew.
I've never made the A-team in anything remotely athletic. I was on C-team soccer, then B-team. I was on JV crew in High School. I was never chosen first in kickball. (lots of repression bubbling to the surface, right?) I was a JV wrestler, and before that, I was never the lead in my weight class. But somehow, I made the A-boat. This does not, of course, mean that I am home-free. In the next four weeks, I can of course find my position deteriorating, though I hope not. Wish me lots of luck.

I went to the Quiz Society meeting today and answered the following question: "Currently, this off Broadway hit stars Brenda Withers and Mindy Kaling in cross-dressing..." at which point I buzzed in correctly with "Matt & Ben". Matt & Ben has been a hit off Broadway since 2001, when Mindy and Brenda graduated from Dartmouth. What's special is that I graduated from High School with Mindy, who at that time went by a different name. I can't believe that someone who used to make fun of me in High School is now such a pop-culture phenomenon as to be part of a Quiz Bowl packet in at Oxford. Go Mindy.

I auditioned for and was denied the Keble College Music Society Music Scholarship, which went to a violinist instead. Honestly, I played the Mozart Bassoon Concerto and did darn well. But Marcus played part of the Bach unaccompanied cello suites on his violin. No one can turn down Bach. I'd have done better trying to play the 3rd cello part of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3... If the wind player and secretary of the Music Society had been there, I think it would have gone to a wind player (she's a clarinettist). But since she wasn't, of course out of a bassoonist, a flautist, and a violinist, they picked the violinist. grrrrr...