I did promise you a juicy post. So Tintagel is a principal setting in the novel I wrote my freshman year of high school. Both at that time and during five years of subsequent revisions, I did extensive research on both the history and present appearance of the site. But there are some things you …
It was dessert again, theoretically. Fiona said it looked like a zombie, which is one of those things you can’t unsee. It was mucus-colored, stringy and slimy, with some kind of grave-dirt topping. I have been informed it was rhubarb crumble, but it tasted like…zombie.
There was chocolate cake for dessert in the dining hall tonight. It’s the first chocolate I’ve laid eyes on in Aberdare, and I immediately fell about replenishing my chocolate cells. I ate one piece, waited till 6:15 when we’re allowed to get seconds, ate another piece, and sat there looking hungry until Dora gave me …
…and by strange, I mean there is no canned pineapple in it. There does, however, appear to be apple, curry powder, cold steamed spinach, raisins, and peanuts.
I’ve spent the last several weeks being passed from arm to arm of the Cardiff University bureauctopus as I try to get access to my Cleopatra course materials. International House, the history department, my professor, the tech department and the Cardiff module approver all seemed to think that one of the others was the source of …
It was dessert…I think. It looked like bark, tasted like hazelnut, had the consistency of chocolate mousse, and according to the allergen information, contained pear. ——Update—— I have been informed it was flan. I remain skeptical.
I *think* I reduced the size. Is this picture blurry? …yes, but that’s because I was like, this picture is 3024 x 4024 pixels…Let’s make it 3.02 x 4.02! Note to self: Upload pictures as normal. Hit “Edit.” Go to “Aspect Ratio.” Go to the two little boxes that have four-digit numbers in them. Put …
The UBC Service Desk explained to me why my storage space is full after only a little over a hundred photos. It’s because they’ve been uploading as ginormous hi-def files. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have no idea how to make them smaller. Update: Okay, I think I figured it …
You may have seen the news about the 4.4-magnitude earthquake that hit southwest England yesterday. Tremors were felt as far as Cornwall. The epicenter was in Swansea, Cardiff’s biggest rugby rival. Even though Cardiff is closer to Swansea than Cornwall is, no one I’ve spoken to in Cardiff felt a thing. As a Portlander probably …
It is the power to summon the bus I need by walking away from the bus stop. After my Caerphilly visit, I needed to catch Bus 26 back to Cardiff. After standing at the bus stop for forty minutes, I gave up, figured the Bus 26 runs different routes on Saturdays, and started walking to …
I finally made it to Caerphilly Castle today. Caerphilly is the second-largest castle in Britain, built in the 1270s by the Marcher Lord “Red Gilbert” de Clare (a very nasty character according to Wikipedia). King Edward returned from the crusades, having hit upon the brilliant idea of building a castle with concentric defenses, only to …
I apologize for not doing anything egregiously stupid lately other than losing my bat skull zipper pull. In lieu of amusing commentary, here are some more Cardiff pictures. Here’s Pettigrew Tea Room, which is in the old Victorian gatehouse at one end of Bute Park. If I wasn’t a.) broke and b.) pathetically alone, I’d …
I was really trying to rough it this semester. I figured there’s no point accumulating a bunch of things I won’t have room in my suitcase for at the end of the semester. But after three weeks of institutional lighting, I finally broke down and bought an eight-pound lamp for my room. Happiness is a lampshade that …
In two weeks, a number of Cardiff faculty and lecturers intend to go on strike to protest a proposed slash to their pensions. The university’s response has been to ignore the strike and proceed as if nothing is happening. Our Cleopatra professor, at the start of class, told us that the newsletter that Cardiff University …
My plans to go to Caerphilly, second-largest castle in Britain, were scuppered today by my lack of one more pound coin to make the three-pounds-eighty exact change for a bus fare. While I was slinking to Barker Coffee with my laptop (knowing that by the time I broke my five-pound bill on an americano, it’d …
My eyes may be bigger than my stomach, but my wallet luckily is not. While taking out my garbage this morning, my nose lured me into the Music Library (the one that shares a building with Aberdare), which was having a cake sale to benefit Belarusian children. Regardless of the fact that I would not …
Levi sent me this beautiful sunset from York. Now I’m totally counting down the days till I get to visit York.
I love the high ceiling in my room and I love the swivel chair at my desk, but these are a poor combination when there is a spider on the former and you cannot stand on the latter to kill it.
I have a riddle for you. Google Transit and UK travel forums agree that it is physically impossible to get from Cardiff to Tintagel Castle in less than four bus transfers (generally five). This is a lie. The secret is to overshoot Tintagel by about forty minutes. If you take the National Express bus from …
There is so much history here. You literally cannot walk fifty feet without tripping over ancient ruins. I took a field trip out to Caerleon today. Prior to reading Rick Steves, I mostly knew Caerleon as the supposed location of King Arthur’s winter court. This association probably stems from the still-visible Roman amphitheater just outside of …