I feel like I should apologise for not blogging more often. However, I have just a short while ago returned from some excellent gaming fun (Worms, Worms! Be still my heart) with my beloved Simon, so I’m not in a very apologetic mood.
We went to the Caius bar after dinner: Chris, Simon, Eamon and I (btw, Emmanuel peeps get their laundry done for them! I know the whole waiter thing at Caius is a bit much, but come on!). The beat of the music echoed in my head on the way home. So unapologetically nineties (there again the lack of remorse – perhaps my choice of music says more than at first glance) and yet, something in it, something sticks. The beat going around and around – no, not around, over and over, the running of old-fashioned trains comes to mind, rolling smoothly forward over the rails. Convection, convolution; what’s the word? The Youth Group version of ‘Forever Young’ rocks my world atm. That nineties soaring stickiness.
Some are like water
Some are like the heat
Some are melodies
Some are the beat
Sooner or later they’ll all be gone
Why don’t they stay on?
It’s hard to get without a cause
I don’t want to perish like a fading voice
Youth is like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever
So many adventures couldn’t happen today
So many songs that we forgot to play
So many dreams swimming out in the blue
Let them come true
Forever young
I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever
I wanted to work today, I really did. To get going with the writing and the reading, reading, reading which characterises Caius History (the stacks of books on my desk: part of the furniture in more ways than one); much as I complain, I do love it. Alas, ’twas not to be. All the libraries were closed! Despite being the palace of my soul, somehow following the shape of my mind, unless it’s the other way around: that the shape of my mind is affected by the rooms themselves… despite this, I was sick of the sight of my walls. So that’s how I ended up hanging out with Simon, Chris and Eamon from Emma. Eating together at hall, then le bar; later, Youtube Top Trumps with Simon. It was always going to end in Worms.
The bar music. The beat, the nineties stickiness of it. The bluey-white glow of the computer screen on Simon’s face as we played. A good night.
So many adventures couldn’t happen today
So many songs that we forgot to play
So many dreams swimming out in the blue
As per request (albeit from someone who fails to reciprocate 
) there hereby follows some (not terribly well lit, sorry) photos of my third year rooms:
This landing is mine, all mine I tells ya!
The first room is uninspiring but does contain that all important sink
And here we are: my cosy dwellings
Table exclusively to be used for guests + tea, I imagine
Just a quick dispatch this morning \ afternoon! It’s coming direct from the computer room because, alas, instant Internet connectivity at the beginning of the year still seems to be an unattainable goal. (Caius have actually instituted a shiny new system which authorises your computer online and doesn’t require any tiresome carrying-of-the-laptop-across-town anymore. Sadly, it’s crashed for the weekend.)
Nonetheless, everything is currently bright and happy and good! Our new house has the strangest interior layout you ever did see, and – very weirdly – I now have two separate rooms on my own little landing. (One is smaller, with a sink and a wardrobe.) Oliver and Abi, meanwhile, have rooms with incredibly high ceilings; Oliver in particular looks like he’s moved into a mini-cathedral. What’s really luxurious, though, is the location. I’ve always mentioned rather a few times that it’s on the same road as Sainsbury’s, but it’s also on the same road as Borders, and indeed one can walk through said bookshop as a shortcut right into the centre of town. At last!
Abi’s parents took me, Oliver and (obviously) Abi out for dinner last night, which was remarkably nice of them, especially as Abi seemed to delight in setting up points of debate. (“Argue about immigration!”) It was very civilised, however, and I am assured that I didn’t let the liberal side down over dinner – all the more notable given that Abi’s dad kept sneakily topping up my wine.
Other things of note: I’ve finally ordered a Caius hoodie (twas meant to be!) and am now technically eligible to read the Latin grace at dinner. There’s a form to fill out to let the Dean know if you want to, and attached is an FAQ covering such topics as ‘But isn’t it a bit Christian?’ – yes indeed, we are informed, and so naturally I won’t be taking part*
(*Even though I’d get a free glass of claret.)
With four exams down and only one left to go – next Tuesday – there’s been a bit of breathing space for those odd little fragments of life which don’t revolve around exams. We all had an especially good excuse yesterday, Abi’s birthday, and so went out for a (delicious) meal and drinks together with Abi’s friend Heather who is over here visiting from California. (It’s occasions like these where those bits of California knowledge suddenly become very important, such the desolate nature of Fresno – sorry, Fresno – or the fact that Maine is now, quite shockingly, officially cooler than California.) And I have to say, I do rather love this supremely well-posed group photo:
Out for Abi’s birthday
Today Owen, Abi, Heather and I went punting, although by some fluke of sheer charm (clearly) we persuaded Owen to do the actual punting whilst the rest of us relaxed. And drank cider. Cambridge really does veer between the extremes of work and relaxation, doesn’t it? Still, it’s becoming increasingly clear with every frantic zig-zag between the river bank why the punt never quite caught on in the rest of the world outside Oxford and Cambridge.
Owen punts us along (I don’t…)
Heather and Abi
Fun musical mix-up moments: a classical Dancing Queen, German Lion King and a punky Apologize. Spotify required.
Roll up, ladies and gentlemen, roll up! I’ve two scintillating sequences of events for presentation on the blogging symposium today, after which there will be an opportunity to ask questions and some light refreshments. Quieten down at the back now please. I open with Sanna’s visit on Monday which comprised of waffles, further waffles, being told that I was neglecting an amazing garden and socio-theological waffle which, as you may know, is the tastiest of all. No one tried to pick a fight with me, however, which I suppose rules out Sanna as the common factor. (Very slightly off-topic, by the way, but still worth mentioning, is the fact that Spotify fans can and by all means should check out The Lion King soundtrack… in Swedish. I still don’t know how to actually say ‘problem free philosophy’ but I can certainly hum it.)
Moving on swiftly, last night was the Peterhouse Politics Society dinner which I went along to on the basis that it was Andrew’s farewell event as President. (That’s what I said, of course, but the real reason was the food.) Those of you who have better things to worry about than arcane Cambridge trivia may not know that Peterhouse has a reputation for being a bit… conservative… so I made sure to go out and buy a red tie beforehand just to make the point. As it happened, though, I found myself amongst the liberals; you wouldn’t necessarily expect to be swapping praise for Ken Livingstone with the wonderful couple I was seated next to over port at Peterhouse, but there you are. In fact, known quantity of Caroline aside, I only tracked down one true Tory for conversation and he was very affably mad. (I mean that in the nicest way possible. He did want to privatise the entirety of state education, sure, but it adds character.)
At the end of the night I joined Andrew, Caroline and Cornelius for even more wine. (Cornelius, by the way, has bagged what is quite possibly the greatest name ever. I bet he never has any trouble getting the username he wants.) During the course of the following discussion I somehow found myself giving strategic and spin-doctory advice to Caroline regarding CUCA. Perhaps I was too drunk for it to be any good, but the fact remains that there are lines I shouldn’t cross, and actively suggesting ways to make the Conservatives more popular (as if they needed any help at the moment) is one of them. So, sorry!
Helen on It’s (waiting) time.: “Fabulous news, congratulations to you both! X” Jun 8, 21:51
