Today is a very good day. Firstly, I woke up quite early (8 am) and didn’t fall back to sleep. I then learnt some more Spanish grammar, and got up. Been listening to Good Housekeeping’s Music for Relaxation which has some really gorgeous classical music which is very calm. One track is Delibe’s Lakmé Flower Duet (or whatever it’s called) - the one on the British Airways ad. When I’m listening to music on my headphones, I often imaging it being performed, and during this track I had the excellent idea of it being sung (mimed) by two drag queens. There would be excellently funny little bits of comaradery betwixt the two, and it would be truly funny. Mr TV Producer, can you make my dream a reality?

Edit: the day just keeps on improving

Well, on my way out of the comptuer room and on the way to my lecture, what should I see smell, but a huge steaming pile of manure. It was formidable! There was proper steam and it reeked! So that was amusing. Then I had my lectures, which were also incredible (in History and Philosophy of Science we did the history of evolution; I was rapt). I also had my favourite sandwich, Brie and tomato.

Last night I realised a dream. Having thought I’d been locked out, I retrieved a ladder to climb in through my bedroom window. I got up onto the kitchen roof and decided that I would stand on the chimney bit at the end. See my old blog for a photo of said roof (it’s about two thirds of the way down). Anyway, I was really pleased, and I got to touch the moss which I’ve been wanting to do for years now.

I got down and realised that the door wasn’t locked after all, but I was certainly glad that I thought it was.

Well, I’m back at Uni now, and it’s been going really well so far. I’ve been to all my first lectures of the term, which I don’t think has happened since first year. And it might have never happened, depending on how good my memory is. First off we had APS 320: Sex and Reproduction, which means I can be wonderfully immature and say things like “I’m having sex first thing Monday morning”. Great.

Also taking History and Philosophy of Science, which, by the lecturer’s admission, is supposed to contain neither history nor philosophy. But… it does seem absolutely fascinating so far, and I am sooooo looking forward to it.

Another completely amazing thing is that I’ve finished my Extreme Environments essay. This was the module with the guy that actually didn’t know how to lecture. Or teach. Or possibly even speak English. I mean seriously, the slides rarely had much to do with what he was saying, and I very much doubt whether he had ever heard of a title, the only ones in the room being the ones on people’s notes. Really really unhelpful. However, the other lecturers were much better, and I was able to glean more information from them.

But I have rather seriously digressed…

I have finished my essay (well, I’m checking it) and I can hand it in today. The deadline is a couple of weeks away. This is a world first. It is the first time I have ever handed in a piece of work early, and a few weeks early at that. Seriously, that has never happened before and I am overjoyed.

Hello. The following post is a bit gross, therefore I am not subjecting it to anyone who doesn’t want to read it by accident. Therefore, to view the following, you have to select the text. This way, it’s your fault if you read it :)

Well, this morning, I woke up to see the cat sitting on my desk, quite happily being sick. I saw a big long line of brown sick fall out of her mouth, go behind the radiator and then all over the floor. It sort of went “spit spat spit spit spit” and then she got up and walked away. Dirty cow! I took pictures, and went back to sleep. Later on today she came back into my room, and had a look at what she had done. She went over and sniffed at the sick, before starting to eat it. I had left it to dry so that it would be easier to clean up, but she saved me the job! Bless her cottons…

This from the mouth of Engelbert Humperdinck:

“I’ve been wearing tight trousers for a long time and I don’t have any plans to stop.”

Gross.

Thing #1: Being silly on the phone

Well, a while ago the TV was playing up and not working properly, so I called the helpline and described the problem. Anyway, things were sorted, so the operator said goodbye, and me, being a little absent-minded, went right ahead and said “See you then, bye!” When exactly am I going to see the operator? Well, we didn’t specify a time, but I was very embarrassed needless to say.

Thing #2: Army of Me

Björk’s most covered song is Army of Me, which appears on her second album, Post. Anyway, she’s releasing an album of mixes and covers made by the fans, and I can honestly say that it’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard or seen, or waited for impatiently. The tracks are so varied in style, it’s a joy to behold. Check it out at bjork.com’s Army of Me special.

My favourites are the first four tracks. If you know the original, you’ll know that some of them are hilarious, and all are extremely good. Actually, a lot of them are my favourites, but the first four are like my favourite favourites. Plus the last one.

Thing #3: My lecture notes go all children’s book

Reading for my essay I cam across the following: “But what do we see when we look around beneath a forest canopy?” I thought that was very funny.

Thing #4: Idiot on the news

Local news is a wonderful thing. Because main news covers the only good stories, they are forced to do the stupid crap that’s left over. I mean, what can actually happen in the South West that’s worth covering? A lot of stupid idiots, apparently.

I refer, of course, to the man who is such a fan of Swindon Town FC, that he has the names of all the managers tatooed all over his body. He expressed particular annoyance when, after adding the name of one manager, said manager promptly resigned. Who’s to blame there? It reminds me of when Posh Spice got a fake lip piercing. Girls everywhere rushed out to get their lips pierced, only to discover that Posh hadn’t actually gone that far. In their outrage, they claimed that she had made them look like idiots. She had made them look like idiots? Interesting…

In a final indignity, Dave Clarke, the Swindon Town fanatic, actually changed his name (by deed poll) to “Swindon Town Dave”. Well, it does make you wonder, doesn’t it.

Thing #5: Puss’s idea of gratitude

Puss, my cat, is currently sitting on my lap. She’s watching my fingers furiously typing and she can’t figure that out at all. In return for the warmth and soft base that my legs are providing, she’s digging her claws in every time I move.

Thing #6: The best til last…

One of the Army of Me covers was done by Tor Bruce. The last track, in fact, which is possibly the most honoured place on an album. I had a peek over at his site, and he’s obviously very talented. Go and do the same at http://www.torbruce.com/.

PhilBaker.net: On Popes and Elections

I only heard that the pope had died last night, when my sister told me. It’s a little strange, actually, to think this. I’m not a Catholic, so I don’t necessarily agree with the theology of having priests and popes, etc., but watching his Easter address, I don’t know who could have failed to feel some spark of compassion. He was obviously in pain and frustrated by his inability to say everything he wanted to.

The link above is to a post made by someone that spoke at our Church a while ago, and it really made me change the whole way I see this. At first, I was a little sad, but I was thinking more about the differences between my theology and Catholic theology. Reading this post was really refreshing, because it reminded me that the most important thing here is empathising with Catholics. Instead of squabbling over differences in theology (and let’s face it, the theology of my church isn’t always easy to take), we should be focussing on the very genuine pain a lot of Catholics will be feeling at the moment. I may not be able to understand or identify with their pain, but I can certainly understand the need for support in spite of disagreement of beliefs. I ask for that with my non-Christian friends, so I should certainly grant the same to Catholics. I need to put my differences aside and recognise that their pain is valid and real, even if I don’t understand the cause of it.