Days 5-6

I forgot to blog yesterday because I actually had a sociable evening so didn't need to offload my loneliness into the ether of the interwebz. Soz. However, notable points included TEA with Emily, who has been visiting, then a random shopping excursion (I bought a skirt - but don't get too excited, ladies and gents, it's for sub fusc). Then I had to go the library in order to look up PAGE REFERENCES (srsly) and then I had a stressful couple of hours of feeling like everyone else had finished and I hadn't, and hating the world a bit (I was also working, not just pitying myself). I wrote a snotty facebook status about it and then deleted it after ten minutes for being too self-indulgent. Anyway, I had a looooong conversation with Ella about the goddam extended essay and when she had left I made the changes she suggested. It was exactly 6000 words - the upper limit. BOOM. I had planned to go the pub with Rachel when Farha (a little tipsy) and Jess (hoping to be thus) turned up in my room to also take me to the pub, and we ended up all heading to the Turf together. Farha and Rachel <3 each other, which is pleasing to have been in the middle of. Not literally, you understand. I enjoy facilitating feelings of love in the world. Anyways, Rach had to head off but CC had by this time joined us and we decided that obviously the thing to do was to go to GBK for dinner, which we did. We had a merry (and messy, at least in my case) dinner and returned to college, where some sort of shenanigans was going down in the bar. Turned out to be a retirement party. WTF. Jess went off to carry on unpacking and Farha left too, so CC and I had a great chat. I talked a lot. I do that when I am tipsy, but frankly, it's annoying. I wish I wouldn't. 


Today I made the final, final, last and forever changes to the essay and to prove it to myself I printed off allll the bits of it and carried them to Rymans, where I bought binding folder-y type things, and also star shapes made of neon card. Then I went back to my room and ceremoniously hole punched the essays and bound them, and wrote out the envelopes to the exam board etc. I'm taking it to Schools first thing Monday, YEAH. Then I did some Greek vocab and sat down with my Suetonius and my 15ft timeline of Augustus, and added references to it with the neon stars. It looks much jollier now, though still intimidatingly long (quoth she). 


I spent 1pm til 5pm in the library with Ovid. My brain hurt but I knew I could stay because I was due to meet Emily at 5. We had ice cream (in the event actually only I had ice cream, but whatevs) and deep chats, and then we also had a takeaway noodlenation between us and watched the second episode of I, Claudius. ALSO Emily showed me this picture: 

Now you too will never be able to un-see the dog face on a duck's beak. WHY HAS NO-ONE POINTED THIS OUT BEFORE? 


Also it occurred to me that there is a significant problem with Reception Studies and this is that nobody really seems to know why we are doing it, except for the purpose of having something else to study. Someone needs to sit down and write a mission statement, and then possibly also a how-to guide, and that way we would be able to cut out a lot of the dross in the work that is done and direct attention at stuff that would actually be worthwhile. I mean, what are people hoping to achieve by writing about how Troy (the film) is one reception of the Iliad? I'm sure there are things that could usefully be said. But I get the sense that the people who want to write about Troy aren't the sort of people who are going to be saying those things. 


That's just my feeling. You heard it here first, folks.