it's friday i'm in love #8

This week has been a bit of a funny one: it's felt like the buildup to something rather than isolated accomplishments. Things are moving in the right direction for next year, as in I've only got admin to do rather than anything more involved, but it just emphasises how far away it all is. As I've got nearly eight weeks until I move in, so I'm trying to balance preparing for next year, relaxing, and doing fun things. As my post on the British Library proves, I'm doing well at the 'having fun' part of this, but the relaxation element is eluding me somewhat. Since I'm living at home, I'm not only living in very close contact with people I haven't lived with for about 10 months, but also in a house which is currently occupied by builders. Being woken up at 7:30am is not my idea of relaxation. Nonetheless, I'm still managing to enjoy myself, and it's rather a treat to spend time translating Greek, watching Red Dwarf and playing with a cat. Can't complain, really.

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A staple of my return home from university for the holidays is always the all-day meetup with my closest friends, comprising shopping, talking and coffee (with occasional culture thrown in). Sadly, one of my closest friends is in Switzerland at the moment for her MA, but another friend and I met up to wander around the Fitzwilliam Museum and discuss everything from Egyptian mythology, the trends in current archaeology and new boyfriends (hers, not mine!). When we were saturated with culture, we went for lunch at The Rainbow Cafe, which was as delicious as usual. It's been a long time since I've been able to spend a day doing whatever I fancy without having to dash off for work, so it was a real treat.

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One total joy of the last week has been going swimming. I used to swim socially, but I actually really like doing it solo so that I can push myself a bit further. I'd forgotten, however, how much further I have to cycle from my parents' house as opposed to my student accomodation, so I cycled three miles there, swam fifty lengths (about 3/4 mile) then cycled three miles back. I was so exhausted and achey the next day, but it was worth it.

Whenever I come home, I always spend a lot of time rifling through my bookshelves and rediscovering literary treasures which I haven't had for a year or so. A lot of my books are being stored in my wardrobe at the moment because of the building work, and going through the haphazardly-stacked piles has thrown up a lot of books I haven't read for years. I'm currently reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which I last read in the first year of my undergraduate, and am falling in love with all over again.

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I never expected to watch the Olympics (apart from the cycling, obviously), but I thought I'd at least see what the opening ceremony was like, just so I could be appropriately scathing about it later. I'm happy to say I was proved entirely wrong: I really liked the ceremony, particularly the opening section, which I thought was frenzied and powerful and pretty unflinching in presenting the flaws in English history as well as the benefits. One of the things I truly adored though was the score: I'm a massive Underworld fan, and I had a suspicion the music would be epic. In my mind, it was a bit more than epic, it was transcendently so, and the opening music 'And I Will Kiss You', is being played at every opportunity. In addition, this interview with the band is really interesting: I'm impressed by how they focused on emotional response rather than nationalistic pride.

 
Waking up to discover letters and postcards from my friends is always a nice way to start the day. The top postcard is from my friend Rowan, featuring a photo of my friends Candy, Annis and myself from when we first met up. We pretended to be velociraptors, as you do, drank and played Scrabble. It's a lovely memory, and a great photo. The bottom photo includes a lovely letter from my friend (and lavender husband!) Ashley, as well as a beautiful view of Salzburg from when Vic and Bobbie were on holiday there. Receiving post is one of the great joys of life, and I love having people who will send me such thoughtful letters and cards.