What are you TOLKIEN about?

I honestly believe that my subconscious self is out to sabotage my conscious self. I have a habit of turning my alarm off on the first ring and then continuing on with sleep, completely oblivious to the fact that I have doomed my intended schedule for the day. After turning off not one, but my three alarms set for this morning, it was a miracle that I woke up when I did: thirty minutes before my tutorial. I had to leave my flat immediately if I was to make it in time to St. John Street. I put on clothes, slipped gum in my mouth, grabbed my paper, and walked as fast as I could along the muddy path towards town. Luckily Barry was running late too, because I arrived all sweaty at the Warner's before he did. I had time to calm down and prepare myself for the cuteness of Professor Barry, who to my absolute delight was wearing his chevron sweater again! (He must know it's my favorite!)

I had a lot more confidence reading my essay aloud a second time than I did at my first tutorial. This might also be due to the fact that I was talking about Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, and fairy stories, rather than citing history novels I knew little about. We then talked for the rest of the hour about how Tolkien and CS Lewis both shared an arrogance for the best ways to define certain stories. I could find myself appreciating Tolkien because I myself can be arrogant about certain things. (It's only cause I'm always right...)

With my work complete on my Tolkien tutorial, I then set out to get my books for my Anglicanism tutorial. My tutor emailed me a list of books he said were available at the Brookes Library, which is across town from where I live. I bought a bus ticket to get there and while I was waiting at the bus stop, I took out my Tolkien reading to keep me entertained. To my annoyance, a guy came up and asked me, "Don't like Tolkien much?" That is what I thought he said. Why would I be reading Tolkien if I didn't like it? After many confused "whats?" I realized he said, "Don't like TALKING much?" He was trying to make conversation about how I was choosing to read at a bus station. And then he apologized for bothering me. I had to explain that I simply just didn't understand him and conversation turned to how I was from the US, studying in Oxford, and reading at the bus stop because I was waiting on a bus that was 20 minutes away. He then wished me good-day and left on his bus. If you know me, you'd know how strange it is for me to have a conversation with a stranger and you'd appreciate the awkwardness that this morning held for me.

Anyway, the journey to the library continued. After a long shelf search, wouldn't ya know, none of the books on my list were there! I decided the best next step was to go home and get some lunch. Since I had woken up late, the only sustenance I'd had was gum and a biscuit from Penelope (and I'm not talking about an American biscuit with gravy, I mean a half dollar sized English cookie).

My kitchen smells awesome

With my savvy internet searching skills I managed to find my history reading online, which means I don't have to wander around town tomorrow. As of now, I've got dishes drying, clothes washing, and a whole pan of spaghetti sitting on the stove. I took on the job of making tonights dinner for the group, however as I was in the middle of browning beef, I learned it would be for just me and my roommate because the others were making other plans. So now I have leftovers galore and will probably be eating spaghetti for the next week. I deemed the dinner "instagram worthy," so here's a shot to prove how the others missed out.