London 2: Electric Boogaloo

I went to London on a day trip yesterday to meet up with six people I knew from Notre Dame's Dublin program: Allison, Marita, Kait, Ashley, Melissa, and Ryan. I had a complete blast with them and now I'ma blog about it all in between all of the reading I need to do for this week's round of papers.

So, like usual, I took the Oxford Tube from Gloucester Road to Victoria, but for some reason the bus yesterday morning was awfully full (every seat, seriously, was full) and awfully slow. It took me about two hours, counting all the stops, to get to where I needed to be. Then once I got in to London, I realized that they were doing Tube maintenance and thus a lot of the lines I needed that day were going to be closed. (Why would they close Jubilee? It's one of the few lines that services South Bank!)

Anyhow, after some creative subway managing and a lovely walk along the south bank of the Thames, I met up with everyone in the lobby of the Globe Theater. It was weird being back this time, because the last time I was there I was also hanging out with ND people. We hit up the gift shop, I found some Valentine's Day gifts for a certain special someone, I got erasers that say 'out, damned spot' on them (I have a soft spot for witty things), and of course needed more postcards to decorate my bulletin board here in my room.

We caught lunch at a Pret a Manger on the South Bank, hanging out and talking and sharing lots of stories, before taking another section of the South Bank Thames walk and hitting the bridges. In between all the bridges, there were also some pretty interesting things, like the ruins of an old castle's dining hall (complete with miniature neon green targets in the stone, and an empty rose window) and a steampunk-ed replica of a tea barge. We crossed London Bridge halfway and got pictures of Tower Bridge from there. For some reason, there was a giant destroyer ship ('I sank your battleship!') blocking the view, and once we got closer it was intimidating. There were a few posed shots of the six of us girls in front of Tower Bridge, and then we actually crossed it.

It was kind of cool to see that yes, they are actually towers, with windows and everything. I will say, though, that bridges are not my favorite things. They shake when there's too much pressure on them, you can see the seam where they release to let large boats pass through, and they're over water with only a waist-high barrier keeping you from Allison pushing you overboard. So yeah. Now you know another of my phobias.

We decided not to go into the Tower of London because some people in our group were running out of pounds; besides, we just wanted pictures of the grounds and of the posed archer leaning off one of the towers. There's a funny posed picture floating around that I will have to snatch because it's just too cute. I think it was around this time, too, that Marita and I started talking pretty extensively about marriage/wedding stuff, which was a nice conversation to have.

Then there was the adventure of trying to find a subway line that would take us close to the British Museum. It was really aggravating trying to figure out what lines were open where, especially since some of the Tube stations we saw were just very confusing. We ended up in the middle of the banking district, which I hadn't been to before. Thank goodness Ashley and I are pretty familiar with London and the Tube, so we didn't get anyone horrendously lost.

We spent about two good hours in the British Museum before they closed it. For it being my third time there in a month and a half, I still managed to see a lot of things that I hadn't seen before and get a lot of pictures that I had missed. This includes the Asia gallery and Americas gallery (they only had two rooms dedicated to the Americas... I guess because they can't steal our stuff). Then we were abruptly kicked out and had to decide something to do for dinner, because we were all pretty hungry.

We managed to find a Chinese place that served enough of a buffet for everyone to get something they liked. Since there were seven of us, the staff seated us in a back room where there was a karaoke station set up... with Chinese lyrics (except for that one strange American song). We also got to watch the music videos and determine exactly what was happening/dub over them ourselves, which was hysterical (though one of the videos was really sad). I mean, seriously, who drives a bus from Piccadilly to the south of France while singing in an American accent?

After dinner, it was pub time, and since we were in a neighborhood I knew relatively well, I said I'd take them to some of the pubs off of Grays Inn Road (where I stayed the last time I was in London). But alas, my favorite pub from last time was closed for the evening. They still had their menu up in the window, but we can't figure out why they would have been closed on a Saturday night. Thankfully, I still had part of my local map memorized, and so we ducked into a mew and managed to make it inside a pub called the Duke of York. Allison introduced me to a beer called Bulmer's which tasted like apples, so that was fun. I realized that Kait is dating someone I already knew (who apparently, oh my God, is a grad student and not the cynical freshman I totally thought he was when I first met him), Ryan is God's mistake (according to Allison), and that I should totally go visit Dublin whenever I get the chance (because I'll have a free place to stay and a few rounds of drinks for free).

Alas, after that we headed to King's Cross to say goodbye and catch the Tube lines we needed. We're vowing to keep tabs on each other with our blogging, and of course Marita and I will probably be exchanging e-mail like fiends as her wedding date gets nearer. I told them to make sure to be safe, but apparently couldn't keep my own advice: as I was ascending out of the underground to street level, I tripped up about three steps and mangled my left knee. Woo boy, was that fun to hobble to the bus on. At least I found the bus and it left for home soon after. The rest of the night was a bus ride while trying to finish a chapter of the story I have plotted out, and talking to Justin/wincing/eating chocolate once I got back into Oxford.

London was much more fun with friends. Much, much more fun. There was more talking, more laughter, more pictures, more drinks, more adventure in general. It just brought a different flavor to the city. Especially since the last time I went wasn't such a high point in my life, it was nice to go back and put a better spin on an excellent city.

This morning I woke up and my knee was still pretty banged up, so I'm resting it on a pillow as I try to get my reading done for Philosophy of Mind. At least I understand what I'm reading and the ibuprofen is working just a little. And I also have fond memories of yesterday buoying me and getting me through the day. I miss everyone already, but I think they'll be having a fun time in Dublin, so I don't envy them that they're leaving to go back there. Anyhow, speaking of back, since I'm here and I took a day off yesterday, I don't really have that much time to procrastinate, so back to work for me!

- Jen -

Leaping onto the bandwagon...

...and blogging about the iPad.

First of all, iPad. brb, loling forever.

Second of all, am I the only person who was tired of seeing news updates about it in every site she went to? I'm pretty sure I was. I'm still sick of all the news surrounding it (even if it did soften some of the Conan/Leno and SOTU drama).

As for the actual thing itself... guys. Seriously. It's just a gigantic iTouch. I'm living without an iTouch and plan to for forever. I'm not jumping on some technological bandwagon just because it has a little logo on it. As for the product it claims to be replacing, I have no use for a netbook when I already have a perfectly portable [for my needs] device that will check my e-mail given correct wi-fi. I'm one of those people who actually wants, I don't know, time to herself, and doesn't need to check a social networking site every five minutes [away from my computer] to feel loved.

Also, I'm going to reference a picture that Justin currently has on his Facebook wall to make a few points about why I'm going to be waiting for version 2.0 to see if I still want one or not. Steve Jobs, in a slide during his unveiling of the iPad (loling! loling forever!), made a comparison to netbooks. His three points against them were "Slow", "Low quality displays", and "PC Software".

Um, what? Steve Jobs, you are ridiculous in so many ways.

In my experience, what's slow about a netbook is how they load the Internet, which is what they're made for. (Hence the name 'netbook'.) That's not the computer's fault. That is, in fact, a network fault. As in, whatever network you're receiving your tubes from is clogged. Now, netbooks run on many different types of networks, including various cell phone carriers and personal wi-fi networks. The iPhone is currently officially married to the AT&T network, which has been notoriously disappointing its customers with its poor quality of service aimed at the iPhone users. Not only is the network overloaded during prime times (lunch hour, for example), but I've heard that it can be next to near impossible to actually, you know, use the iPhone as a phone. Because the network is crowded. Because, in effect, the device is 'slow.' Strike one, Steve Jobs. Strike one.

I'm unsure where he's coming from on the 'low quality displays'. As far as I know, things still run on itty bitty pixels. Including the iPad (lol). Yes, the graphics may be prettier, and you may be able to touch them, but there are still itty bitty pixels. And I also have trouble getting the icons on my dad's iTouch to work half the time when I touch them and he's only had the device for a year, so it's not solely an issue of graphics. Besides, this statement in itself is vague. Low in what quality?

Lastly, PC software. Is that supposed to be a recommendation for why I, as an avid PC user, should buy an iPad (lol, guys, lol)? It seems very exclusive of PC users, not trying to reach out to a new customer base, and instead drawing on Apple users who are already on board with "PCs suck". Justin made the point that he was probably reaching out to the people who prefer to have Apple applications on their devices, but I don't see how this is relevant, either. With Google's Droid and Droid Eros out now and the many, many applications for those devices, saying that apps are only applicable to Apple is just as redundant as the syllable 'app' has been in this sentence. Also, I want to point out that viruses are equal opportunity. There are just as many varieties that will eat an Apple OS as will eat a Windows OS. (Also, I don't believe there's been video game releases for Apple since the 1990s, though I may be mistaken.)

At this point, I want to mention a few of the things Steve Jobs should have mentioned in his 'cons' list for the iPad. (Loling forever, guys. Seriously.)

- It can't multitask. Yes, that's right. It can't multitask. Even a 'lowly' netbook can do that. In fact, I would require it out of a device like the iPad should I ever want to purchase one. It should work just like a computer, except as a tablet with a touch keyboard.

- It doesn't have support for Adobe Flash. You know, that browser plug-in that allows you to view embedded video and slideshows. The plug-in that drives shopping sites, news sites, and Hulu. Though Apple devices claim to put the entire Internet at your fingertips, there's a large chunk they're leaving out by not supporting this feature, and to tell you that you can still access everything out there is misleading advertising.

- If it was hoping to compete in the ebook business, it's out of luck there. Its apps for ebooks aren't supported in any country besides the US. As a current UK resident, where you can buy a Kindle and have it work in this silly country, I call massive fail. It is also significantly more expensive than most ereaders that are out there right now, and it's not like I want an ereader either.

- There's no camera. There's no camera on the front side and there's no camera on the back side. There is no way to video chat or take one's own pictures using this device. At least some netbooks have built-in webcams.

- Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe it currently has the port ability to connect to a television (or much of anything else). And why not? Their smaller devices can do that. Maybe this will be released on version 2.0, but if so, why didn't they just do it now?

- The device is actually a smidge more expensive than netbooks (though this would be par for the course with Apple products - since it costs more, it's better, right? Please hear my sarcasm through the internet). Paired with the network problems it's going to have, it doesn't seem like the data plan is going to be a great deal either.

Steve, Steve, Steve. Where did it all go so wrong? Maybe when you used three flimsy excuses to cover up the fact that your device will not live up to the hype you knew it would get.

I encourage debate over this, as my view is strongly colored by three facts: I am a PC user who considers herself 'too dumb' to use a Mac, I am unimpressed by Apple's brand-loyal fans, and I'm about 18 months behind technologically (seriously, my current saliva-inducing tech dream is a phone with a QWERTY keyboard).

- Jen -

All out of wit, please send chocolate.

Though I am out of wit, I promised a blog entry to a few friends yesterday. This one will focus on my awesome nails, haggis, and YouTube, and I promise they're all related by their temporal proximity.

---

So. My nails look pretty awesome right now. (Why hello there, little sapphire ring, how are you doing today?)

Yeah, my nails have freaking purple and pink racecar/go-faster stripes on them. And that makes them more awesome than yours.

These were my materials:

That's Sally Hansen Nail Growth Protein as a base coat (I promise it goes on clear, but matte; the bottle is slightly gross-looking), OPI Nail Lacquer in Sapphire in the Snow (though it's not a blue, it's an aubergine), Icing by Claire's Nail Polish in Pouty Pink (with some pearlescent lavender in there, too, it's quite pretty), and Sally Hansen No Chip 10 Day Nail Color in Clear as a top coat.

Instructions: Base coat with the Nail Growth Protein, two coats of the OPI, three coats of a stripe of the Icing in the middle, finish off with TWO (not one, as in the picture) coats of clear to make your nails shine like a freaking racecar. I didn't follow my own advice and also got a little impatient, so not only is my right hand somewhat mauled in comparison to the left hand, but my nails aren't as glossy as they could have been because I didn't use two coats of top coat. Then again, I was doing my nails as I was trying to read a 300-page book published 100 years ago for my Aesthetics paper this week, so forgive me if I was a little distracted.

---

So. Haggis.

Last night was Burns Night, a night where everyone celebrates this Scottish poet called (I think Richard?) Burns. With haggis, because haggis is appropriately Scottish. It was guest night, thus why I did my nails, and so we all got dressed with our little short robes to go to the later sitting. At the beginning of the meal, instead of our regular 'benedictus benedicat', we got about three blessings and odes to the haggis, along with a little ditty played on a bagpipe. Cool.

First course was the most delicious salmon I've ever had in my life with a prawn and creme sauce. It also came free with a discussion of bear moats. (I swear, we talk about the strangest things here.)

Second course was 'haggis, tatties and neeps.' Though those may all look like strange words, I promise you, these things actually exist. Tatties is just potatoes, neeps is just turnips, and haggis... Well. I'm not linking you to what haggis is, I trust you all have the Google-fu to do it for yourselves, but trust me when I say that it is very good. I'd eat it again. Not the vegetarian kind, though, it just tasted like ground nuts. And I don't know what had me laughing so hard at dinner, but we certainly had a fun enough time without any imbibing of alcoholic beverages.

Dessert had raisins in it. I'm not a fan of raisins. Still good, but RAISINS. Blech. Oh well. I ate haggis, and I thought it was good, and I was sufficiently full from a meal for once.

---

So, there are a few things on YouTube that I'd like to share with y'all. I've had this song stuck in my head for days, and good thing that the download is free. Also, I laughed and laughed when I watched this. (I'm aware that it's kind of old, but I just discovered it last night, and I have this thing about strings of profanity... they just make me giggle.)

Oh! I almost forgot. I'm going to London this weekend to meet up with friends of mine at the Dublin program (Marita, Allison, and Kait among them), so expect more pictures and blogging of that later. For now, though, I have lecture to go to in ten minutes, so I'll finish mocking this up and be on my way, then, shall I?

- Jen -

My weekend

Boring blog post title is boring.

Anyhow, I did a quick tally Friday after I finished my library trips, so get ready for another statistics post. (I rather like statistics posts, as you can probably tell.)

I have fourteen books out of the library right now. Of those, seven are for my Philosophy of Mind tutorial, six are for my Aesthetics tutorial, and one is background reading for Philosophy of Mind in general.

This week, I had roughly 200 pages of reading to do for my Philosophy of Mind tutorial and roughly 375 pages of reading to do for my Aesthetics tutorial.

I read for... let's say seven hours yesterday, and I know I did at least 132 pages of reading yesterday. I finished all of my Philosophy of Mind work by this morning, woohoo go me now I don't have to read any more!

As of right now, I still have 285 pages of reading to do, give or take. One of the books I'm reading has 300 pages. Really spacey font, so I only counted half for standardization issues, but still, major gulp there. Really, though, it only equates to five more things I need to cross off of my list, two of which are digital articles. Speaking of... now that I'm at my computer, I should totally do that.

My goal is to finish my reading by tomorrow night, or by Tuesday noon if I get terribly crunched. That'll give me a little more time to actually, I don't know, plan a decent essay instead of letting them write themselves. The latter tends to get me in a little hot water, especially when I relax my tone in my essays.

Anyhow, off to read 41 pages of Budd on Aristotle's meaning of katharsis. Ciao, all.

- Jen -

Dear Diary,

Today, I used 'effect' as a verb successfully in a paper about how Plato was a jerk. It was a good day.

Disregarding the facts that:
- I had to wake up early to cram in the rest of my Aesthetics reading,
- I was supposed to go to three lectures today,
- I only made it to two of them because I ran out of money and had to finish that stupid reading,
- I had a tutorial that lasted for an hour and forty-five minutes through dinner,
- I didn't eat my first real meal until 7:45 PM, and
- I left off writing a paper until the last minute,
today was still a good day. Because I used 'effect' as a verb.

Yes, that's right. Grammar nerdiness makes even the worst days bearable and even 'good.'

- Jen -