Week 2 of Trinity had a rough start, rolling from the aftermath of the events of last Saturday. The Clarendon ball took place on Sunday, but I wasn't there, because I didn't feel like going alone and the person I wanted to go with declined my invitation. That sucked, but I am glad I was brave enough to ask. This is not a skill girls get taught during our formative years, so it wasn't easy, but I want to be brave. After all, it's okay. I just wasn't ready to go through the whole ordeal of finding a dress, and all the rest, to be there by myself, but it was difficult not to imagine what things would be like if I had had a date to the ball. Oxford balls are such a big thing around this time of year that it is difficult not to feel like I'm missing out. But this is my first year here. There will be other balls. Other opportunities. Perhaps even a date someday...
On Sunday, we had something called access evensong at chapel, when the choir sang with students from a public school in London. It was okay, nothing too special. Formal dinner finished early, so I took the chance to rush to Balliol, to participate in my first meeting of the science fiction and fantasy society this term. The theme of the discussion was gender and sexuality in sci fi fantasy. It was a good couple of hours talking book and movies with like-minded people. I have some issues with the sci fi fantasy society, which is why I stopped attending during Hillary, but it was time to give it another chance.
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| On Thursday we had our regular rehearsal. Sopranos ans altos at chapel, tenors and bases at the music room. The first half was a bit of a mess actually, but I am finally getting back in the rhythm of choir practice for this term... |
Monday was May Day, which I had plans to attend, but the plans fell through over the weekend, and I ended up deciding not to sing Madrigals at college either, fearing that the cafe would be filled with drunk people on their way back from various balls. I did wake up early, probably on account of church bells ringing all around me - one of the perils of living at Oxford's city centre - and I spent sometime playing Terraforming Mars in the computer and wishing Spock was here... I think Spock would be able to understand my predicament and offer me some advice. I know I would be able to tell him things that I can't really tell anyone else right now, and perhaps he would know what to say. Perhaps he would be able to tell me that I won't be sad forever. I'd really like that.
Regardless, I have started taking steps towards turning things around. On Monday, for instance, we had Unappreciated Data's episodes at Trek Soc. After most of the people left, there were three of us there, watching a third episode, playing giant Jenga and building wooden towers with the pieces (not unlike the model built by timothy and Data in the episode Hero Worship of TNG). Prior to going to Trek Soc I actually went to the movies watch a documentary about a Vermeer exhibition taking place at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam right now. It was okay but a bit pricey. I would have preferred if the documentary was available on streaming but I needed an excuse to get out of my room for a bit.
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| After Trek soc at John's MCR we played giant Jenga and then proceeded to build towers with the Jenga pieces, just like the temple Timothy builds with Data in TNG's Hero's Worship. At some point someone from the college staff came in and foud three of us sitting on the floor, playing with wooden blocks, like children. It was sort of funny :) |
The rest of the week went on without much happening. I worked, and made some progress in my project. On Tuesday I went to Trek soc's board game night, where we played mega fluxx - essentially Star Trek fluxx with every available deck, which was a ton of fun. Then on Wednesday, Sophia and I started binge watching Rebels in the cinema room at the basement (the cinema room, by the way, is something I will definitely miss when I move out of this place in the fall). Finally on Friday, after a long day of coding, I went to Bear Lane to watch the Lighthouse with the Horror Society. If I'm being completely honest, I went, less because of the movie and more because I need to make some new friends, but in that regard at least, the night was a total bust. The movie at least was okay, but I wasn't really in the vibe for something so artsy, and as far as Eggers' movies go, I far prefer the Witch. Still, I had to try something. Did my best, didn't work this time, we'll see what I come up with next.
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| On Tuesday, before board game night I watched a talk about Tube Alloys, the British Atomic Bomb project and the involvement of Jesus college in it. It was really interesting, not to mention inspiring to see a scientist talk about a secondary interest - in this case, History. The next day, before our Rebels marathon I watched an online talk by George Church, from Harvard. I'm getting a lot better at finding interesting talks at Oxford, which was always part of my goals for this term. |
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