The Scholarly Zoo

W.B.L. is a scholarly zoo in the summer! I was having a meeting with my coworkers and saw one of my committee members pass by. I've run into another professor who happened to be the moderator of my first-ever paper panel. After greeting my committee member (who's taking me out for dinner! Yum!), I had an email from one of my good friends from school who was in the Reading Room looking at manuscripts asking whether I wanted to have lunch!

I'm having a hard time being lonely when so many people I know are around me! Tonight I'm celebrating a belated July 4th with a group of medievalist friends, all of whom I met through blogging and have since become friends with. We're going to a London barbecue joint, which should be pretty interesting, especially for a barbecue aficionado such as myself.

Realization of the Day:

There is a definite etiquette to using an umbrella on a crowded sidewalk.

People in Southern California definitely don't have this down. When I'm walking to classes, short people with umbrellas have nearly taken out my eye on numerous occasions. Californians hold there umbrellas very close to the tops of their heads, so most of their view is obstructed. Today, while walking home in a drizzle, I noticed that everyone held their umbrella at least a foot above their head as to be aware of who was walking towards them on the sidewalk.

No eyes were poked out in the writing of this post!

(The new picture, by the way, was taken on my walk to work this morning. The background building is amazing -- it just comes out of nowhere. I'm amazed by its spires and red color every morning.)

Realization of the Day:

Now I remember why I'm here.

Yes, it's to tour London and to live somewhere other than California, but it's also because I love what I do so heartily. I walked into the manuscript vault today, smelled the vellum-filled air, and almost started crying. Shelves and shelves of medieval manuscripts. Down one aisle, the Cotton Collection, down another the Sloane. Walking down the aisles, the other cataloguer with me leafed through a book:. "Maybe I'll do this one next," she smiled as she gingerly put the book back on the shelf.

I know at times many of you think what I do is arcane and a little impractical. But when one is confronted with centuries upon centuries of the world's knowledge at one's fingertips, it becomes clear to me why it is so important for people to continue to understand, to examine, and to appreciate what has been handed down to us.

Realization of the Day:

I am still really afraid of thunder and lightning.

My windows just shook with the loudest clap of thunder I've ever heard. This even tops the summer storm I witnessed in Minnesota, which really freaked me out. The weather here is bizarrely changeable, which is something that is very new for me. It's definitely not the "70 degrees and sunny" I've come to expect. Earlier today I basked in the sun on the W.B.L.'s piazza; walking home I was caught in the rain. Even the rain here is different: giant, heavy drops that immediately saturate one's clothing and hair.

The clouds are always moving here as well, which gives the landscape around me an ever-changing feel. Certain buildings look different when wet. So do cafes. It must be a never-ending battle for the cafes that try and have some kind of outdoor seating.

Tomorrow, provided I can escape my boss, I'm going to meet with an internet friend for lunch! It will be nice to talk with someone who knows me, if only from my usual web-log.

Realization of Yesterday:

Talking to my husband is awesome.

Yesterday was my first day at work. Instead of a normal day, which is probably pretty slow-moving in the grand scheme of things (trust me, the medieval manuscripts aren't going anywhere), my first day was the beginning of a big conference for scholars of manuscripts. My boss was running this 100 person affair, and as she's new to the job, this was her 'coming out party' for her new position. She didn't handle her stress very well at all, I realized, after emailing my mom. I also had a migraine yesterday, so my day really didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped.

When I got back to my room, I immediately opened my laptop, logged onto Skype, plugged in my camera, and had a free face-to-face call with my husband and Leslie, a good friend and neighbor.

I heartily recommend Skype for those of you who want to talk to your loved ones who aren't close by. Cameras are relatively inexpensive, and talking over your internet connection is completely free. Yay for modern technology!

Realization of the Day

British yogurt is so much better than American yogurt.

Sure, we can go to Whole Foods and by the expensive Greek yogurt, but most of us load up on the 10 for $4 deal at the local supermarket and call it a day. There are many more choices for plain yogurt here instead of the high-fructose-corn-syrup-laden nastiness that dwells at the bottom of most American yogurts. Although I've been noticing more and more of the 'good bacteria-filled' yogurts starting to show up in major U.S. grocery stores.

All in all, these yogurts taste like Greek yogurt, which K. and I discovered can be turned into an amazing array of yumminess. Thumbs up for plain yogurt! I bought Yeo Valley's Nonfat Plain Yogurt, which was in the lower to middle price range of the yogurts I saw -- it was great with grape nuts!

Poisoning Pigeons...

I've managed to shake off the last bits of jet lag with multiple naps and general laziness. It always takes me a few days to get comfortable in my surroundings, so I'm just now starting to explore the neighborhood. Yesterday's grocery trip was my first stint outside the dorm room, and I followed it today with a stroll. I ended up at Tavistock Square. I had forgotten that one of the buses exploded at Tavistock Square during the London bombings on 7/7. It's troubling that a park dedicated to nonviolence and conscientious objectors is now remembered as a site of violence.

I sat in the square and watched the squirrels and pigeons play in the grass. The ubiquitous tour groups of Italian pre-teens filtered through, as did people walking through the park on their way to Sunday activities. One man stayed in front of the Ghandi statue for a long while, intently staring at the statue as if he asked it a question. The man's moment with Ghandi says more than I can about the relevance of such a place, especially in times like these.

I managed not to get lost coming home, although I did have to retrace my route so I didn't get terribly lost. Since the streets aren't laid out in any kind of grid, it's easy for me to get turned around. The rapidly changing street names are also hard on the mind, especially when one is in an unfamiliar locale.

Tomorrow is my first day working at W.B.L. (World's Biggest Library)!