Clive Staples

You are my hero.

I had my CS Lewis Seminar on monday and the entire experience blew me away. not only did we have the most amazing discussion of The Great Divorce (which is one of my favorite books!) I also stumbled upon his "garden" which was the most incredible spot i have ever been in, maybe in my whole life. i can completely see where he got his inspiration for Narnia because i honestly stepped into Narnia for a few mintues. i loved it so much that I wrote my poem for this week on it, and i thought i would share a little bit of what i have been doing for that class so here it is:

Glassy pond, no single wrinkle, surface dusty.

Abundant branches, touching white patched sky.

Unstopping forest no green, but perfectly rusty.

Exposed trees, soft mud marked with footsteps passersby

One bird, two birds, glide producing folds by sides.

Distress turned smoke, blown off with affection.

Limbs growing down bending to get a drink at water’s tide.

Some trunks with knobs and knots, a demonstration.

More than the touch, more to discover, more than the seen.

More to desire, more to thirst for, more than what has been.

Hope you enjoyed it!

random happenings in colleen's life

take 3....4?

1. i read 3 books this weekend. 3.

2. i rediscovered how much i love toast and have eaten seven pieces in the past 2 days.

3. it is 40 degrees outside and i am almost refusing to step outside anymore.

4. i only have one more essay to write for my shakespeare tutorial and i will be 1/3 of the way done with my oxford semester.

5. i recently had a complete midlife crisis and came to grips with the fact that i will probably be eating one meal a week once i graduate (my dad promptly told me i was being ridiculous....and after reading that sentence over i have to agree.)

6. i have 30 days left in oxford.

7. i really want to go to disneyland after seeing the fireworks the other night.

8. i remembered how glad i am i got rid of my white sweatpants (thank you red and court...ps i love you)

9. i have made half coffee half hot coco every single night this week. it's the best.

10. my friend kathleen said this exact sentence, "one time when i was younger i was in a talent show at an asian only school and i was dressed as a mad scientist and my brother was dressed as a robot."...... let's be honest i will never ever hear that sentence again.

11. i have taken the title of uncreative college student and have been eating cereal for lunch and pancakes for dinner. i just really love breakfast.....and toast in between.

12. a boy just walked into the library with his entire head shaved except for the top, where he left a bleach blonde disheveled afro...i mean it's probably the latest style.

13. i sat next to a girl and boy from biola today in a lecture. i gave them the cold shoulder.

14. i met a woman from georgia today and she was so jet lagged she ordered a large americano with 7 shots...more power to you sister!

this was sort of a lame random happenings post...hopefully the next one will be a bit better. but its foggy outside and my brain is foggy from school. more tomorrow

xoxo

Gossip Girl.

(that was for you Shannon and Court and Red)

can we just talk about how adorable my parents are?

i hope i look half as good as my mom does when i am her age. miss you guys!

ps mom your costume blows mine out of the water.

this weekend

even though this weekend has consisted almost entirely of reading and more reading, we decided to take the night off last night and go into town for a Guy Fawkes day celebration. We celebrated the holiday with, what seemed like, the whole population of Oxford. people walked in pack down to south park for a fireworks show at 6:30. we arrived a little early and the november weather caught up with us as we were standing, waiting for the show in the 39 degree weather. i was very glad to have a wool coat, and kim bought us each candied apples, so that also helped get our minds off the cold. the fireworks show was beautiful and it was so fun to be able to celebrate the holiday with all of the brits. i might even go so far to say that it beat the disneyland fireworks show. shannon is going to think that that is blasphemy :] after the show we walked to one of our favorite pubs called The Chequers. it has been around since 1500. yeah. we ate dinner and had more cider and called it a night.

halloween

carving pumpkins!
end results! mine is the witch.
blenheim palace
the butterfly house
warwick castle, my favorite view.
friends at the castle.
owl costume.

let's start by stating the obvious: i have not been holding up to my end of the deal.

i'm really sorry about that...but you guys have the easier end of the deal....that's my only excuse. oh and i've been reading so much i'm sure i'll need a new glasses prescription when i get home. well not last weekend, but the weekend before (oh gosh i really am far behind) it was halloween, and was probably my favorite weekend of oxford so far. the friday night before halloween my friends and i carved pumpkins, watched harry potter and drank homemade cider. it was so nice to involve ourselves in an activity that didn't involve books, or writing an essay or anything intellectual...and i have to say it was the best pumpkin i have ever carved. maybe it was the oxford influence. i named it maple (before i turned it into a witch) after the pumpkin carving, a few of us got in our first round of costumes and headed over to a halloween party at St. Catherine's. The theme was to go as something you are afraid of. Hats off to the Brits and their costumes because my favorite part of going to the party was seeing the hilarious costumes everyone was wearing. It was a bit concerning, though, that half the girls that were walking around were dressed as brides, and half the boys walking around were dressed as girls.

The next day, Halloween day, the group that we are studying with went on a free trip that was planned for us to Blenheim Palace and Warwick Castle. The palace was unreal, and absolutely the most gorgeous place I have been to in England, so far. It was a perfect fall day and we enjoyed walking through the houses, on the huge grass fields and through the butterfly house. Warwick castle was completely decked out in Halloween decorations and almost every person there was in a costume. It was the perfect atmosphere to be in for Halloween. And provided the best view of England I have seen. That night we got in our real costumes and I threw together a not so impressive owl costume, but had a great time in it anyway.

the terrible two

this is kelly lepenske everyone. she's incredible and i love her a lot. and it was halloween so that's why i was dressed like that :]