(5) Tue Nov 01 2005 09:37 PST Leap until the Gulf Stream's brought you down: Goodbye, my friends, I've got a Blighty one. I'll update as often as I can feel like doing.

Halloween was awesome. My costume was popular among those who have read HP, Chris & Rob (Buster & GOB) amused those who have seen AD, and Becca (a Jedi) just looked cool. The turnout of trick-or-treaters at our house was rather disappointing, but the playing of apples to apples at Ronnie's later made up for it.

(3) Mon Nov 07 2005 10:28 PST London calling: I am having so much fun that there is not much time to hang around computers and do things like email & update weblogs... not to mention I was a super-smart girl & forgot to bring the powercord for Dave so he is le dead (all that work getting addresses for nothing) but I am really having a great time. From an email to mom:

i went to the IWM musuem today to see an exhibit on laurence of arbia, and i mde an appt to go back tomorrow to look at documents. we have also done lots of fun stuff like the HP premiere which was crazy but we did see some stars, st pauls, brick lane, etc lots of really fun stuff. christina is off to prague and we are staying with heidi now, then we have our tickets all reserved for scotland thurs-sun, we'll come back & stay with chrisitina that last night. lots of lugging luggae around but it is worth it. having tonnnns of fun.

(1) Tue Nov 08 2005 10:37 PST I've been spending my money in the old town: Back to the IWM today to visit the reading room. Soo awesome. Going again tomorrow. I want to get a job in their documents section. Also, Camden Town & Tate Britain. I don't know why it never occured to us to go to Camden on the weekdays, everything was open & it was so much less crowded, so that was nice. Finally found a rare-ish book, Freya Stark, Valley of the Assasins at the bookstore there, got my Corrs Home plus an Old Town/Heart Like a Wheel single at a record shop, and my falafel fix. NO DMs for me tho, i saw a pair i liked but they were size 3.5. Still having a great time. Dinner with Heidi & Oxford St shopping tonight!

(3) Sun Nov 13 2005 08:55 PST But I love what we started: Back safe from Scotland (had a great time). Coming home tomorrow but I don't really want to. I like being on holiday. I want London to be my home.

(2) Tue Nov 15 2005 15:08 PST 52 emails: I meant to post this last night. I am home safe but totally out of whack. Full update on trip coming later.

Thu Nov 17 2005 16:41 PST Well spotted! : I went to see grandma today. she is looking lots better and has had her hair done. She keeps talking about going back to Columbus Estates, I don't think she likes this other place much, and I don't blame her as there isn't much to do. I asked her what she is going to do once she is done with the quilt she is working on and she said, "go home!"

Leonard is going to fix up some sort of seperate travelogue linkie so I can put up my London adventures all in one place, they are taking so long to write out.

I have so much to do now that I am back. There is much catching up with friends to do, esp. as I missed Jen's b-day. There are so many yummy digestives to eat. I need to do a report of all the research I did while I was in London & Scotland before I go into work Monday. I need to rearrange my bookshelves bc I bought so many on my trip there isn't room anymore. Maybe I should get rid of some... nah. Maybe Susie can bring up the wicker bookshelf she said she doesn't want anymore and I can put it on the edge of my desk.

Most importantly, GOF movie tonight!! Whee!! I have been so busy having fun on my trip that I haven't had time to get properly excited for it, so I have to work really hard at it today. For POA Christina and I were preparing weeks in advance. But I guess you could say going to the premier to stalk stars amidst thousands of screaming fan girls (and boys) makes up for it.

(2) Fri Nov 18 2005 14:29 PST Not as a last resort: GOF was awesome, I thought. I won't say much for the sake of those who haven't seen it yet, but I really enjoyed most of it. Of course there were parts I didn't like but they weren't the parts I expected to not like, so that's nice. I'm reserving final judgement till I see it again. The main bad part was all the fan girls; there weren't as many as at the premier but I had to stand with them longer, and they sang showtunes as well as as screaming. Please tell me I wasn't like that in HS, I like to think I only sang showtunes in the privacy of my own home/car or at specifically drama functions.

There was something else I wanted to write about but I've forgotten.

(4) Fri Nov 18 2005 16:25 PST Wishing only wounds the heart: At Susie's request here is my wishlist for Christmas:

It is probably declasse to ask for money but I think I'll be needing it for tuition soon.
Trader Joe's Gift certificates
Express jeans (but I'm very picky so perhaps just a giftcard)
A nice dark brown leather belt, size med
CDs such as The Killers, Nora Jones "Come Away With Me," Third Eye Blind "Blue" (I used to have this but sadly it was stolen)
A Very Long Engagement DVD

Books!
Something from my Amazon Wishlist (searchable by rachnmi@gmail.com). The two I really want are Black Lamb and Grey Falcon and Almost French. I don't mind used books as long as they are in good condition (price compare at bookfinder.com to find the cheapest on the internet!
A gift certificate to Russo's.
I've pretty much given up hope for my rare book collection since even the venerable establishments on Charing Cross Road yielded only books I didn't really want for a lot of pounds, but I've copied my list anyway.
McLauren, Eva Shaw. A History of the Scottish Women's Hospitals (1919).
Hutton, Isabel Emslie. With a Women's Unit
Aldrige, Olive M. The Retreat from Serbia.
Corbett, Elsie. Red Cross in Serbia.
King, Hazel [ed] One Women at War: The Letters of Olive King.
Palmer, Alan. The Gardeners of Salonika.
Anything by Freya Stark except Valley of the Assassins.
Any rare-ish book written by a women or about WWI, or Europe in general.

Tue Nov 22 2005 15:55 PST Wish List update: I'd also like a set of flannel sheets so my cat sleeps on my bed again, and some rechargeable AA batteries for my stocking.

(3) Tue Nov 22 2005 22:10 PST Just like a wheel: Many of you won't believe this, but Becca and I went shopping today, after watching GOF with mom. I think it was even better the second time. Becs needed new clothes for her new jobie, and I was choosen to help select these new clothes. We got her some really nice stuff and very good deals. Now she just needs to go to Journey's tomorrow to get her DMs before the holidays make the mall an even more horrible place to be. *poke*

(2) Wed Nov 30 2005 10:25 PST This is why we buy the extended warrenty: Dave is dead. Well not really. All my stuff is there, but the system is gone, according to Leonard. He can reinstall it but thinks I should take it into the genius bar bc there might be a harddrive problem. They are getting as familair to me at the mechanics at Barnetts. I don't know why I have such bad luck, I swear I take good care of my things.

Grandma Rosie is also gone. This is making me very sad. In the book I just finished reading there is a "simple-minded" old women who thinks about people in the present tense before she rememberes they're dead. I keep doing that.