new things

[raven]

I feel much better. The exams on Saturday were, really, a lot, lot better than I was expecting; I mean, I was my usual jittery wreck beforehand, and had had no proper deep sleep but rather a half-lucid dream about one specific statutory instrument (the Company Names (Sensitive Words and Expressions) Regulations 2009, yes, I am concerned for myself, too) and then I went up the hill at half eight (again, on a Saturday) expecting the exam to be awful. But, on the whole, it wasn't that bad; it was a kind paper in a lot of ways, not asking about a lot of things, like, say, personal insolvency, administration and administrative receivership, debt financing, all topics I am not hot on, and it did ask about corporate insolvency, share issue, tax, things that don't actually make me cry. The only real problem I had was time - my last answer was basically "set aside transaction! intent to prefer! no presumption! bad idea!" - and in comparing notes afterwards I realise I made a few silly mistakes about redeemable shares, but on the whole... I hope it went okay. And the afternoon exam had a gift of a tax question, and the rest wasn't too bad. So.

Afterwards I went home through the most perfect day, chilly, bright, full of sun, and felt a little warm walking back in my big coat, and thought strange unaccountable thoughts that maybe someday maybe the spring will come. And then I took the evening train into London, with a rose-coloured sunset going on obligingly all the way there, and went to stay with jacinthsong. Which was very nice, and very restful; last night we drank a lot of gin and watched Little Mosque on the Prairie - which, by the way, I love so much with a love that it is epic. I really do. I like what they're doing politically - a sitcom about Muslim people in a small mostly white town on the Canadian praries! How topical, how knowing, how unexpectedly funny, sweet and kind! But I also like what they're doing for the simpler reason that sometimes they're talking about things Muslims do, but more often they're talking about things brown people do in general. It's a show about funny brown people being authentically funny and brown, and it fills my little heart with love.

And then today we ate a lot of pancakes and watched Up, the newest Pixar creation, which I was utterly charmed by. It's the tale of an elderly man, a horrifyingly perky small child and a house propelled through the sky by a cloud of helium balloons. It's visually stunning, as you would expect - the details, like the soap patterns of a window-cleaner's scraper on a window, the light of the coloured balloons passing across people's faces - and the storytelling is graceful, too. Laura noted that the lack of female characters is egregious, and it is; the film's only substantial female character dies in the first ten minutes - but barring that enormous lacuna, it's rather wonderful.

I have returned to Oxford's loving embrace, and I have one more week of revision, two more exams, and then actual blessed time off with no work, no studying, no revision, no job-hunting and no applications! Accordingly and therefore, Shim and I have arranged a holiday. I initially wanted to fly somewhere warm, but for budget and time, there wasn't anywhere really attractive; I would like to go to interesting warm places like Morocco or Israel, or indeed Turkey and Syria (which, circumstances allowing, I should get a chance to see with teh_elb and proskynesis in the autumn), but nowhere we could do easily and cheaply in the time available. We decided then that we were going to go Ireland. This wasn't really working out. Then we decided, maybe we should go to Iona, the Hebridean island I was named for - but the only way to get there is via Mull, where the public transport links are rubbish. (And I haven't driven in a while and don't want my sudden reintroduction to it to be driving through the Highlands.).

Cue an impulse decision. We're going to Shetland. It will take us four days in transit, about - Oxford to Liverpoool, to Edinburgh, to Aberdeen, to Lerwick - and once we get there, we've rented a cottage for a few days, because bizarrely this was a cheaper option than a B 'n' B. (Well, to be strictly accurate, it's a former navigational signalling station.) Three days in a cottage, probably with drink, buffeted by winds from the north Atlantic, with seals, puffins and otters in the vicinity, further north than Anchorage, Alaska. I really can't wait, and it's all something to do with this feeling of change, like the air is charged with something new; like, my exams are going to be over soon, and then my course, and with the spring and the summer come a new life. I was walking alongside the Thames today with jacinthsong, watching the sun set over the water, thinking about winter and wondering how it ends.

...but. Tomorrow morning I have to do something strange and tomorrow evening I have to do something violent, and in the meantime I have to sit down, take a deep breath and go back to work after the weekend, make a revision timetable, manage my time efficiently, start making effective notes, the usual. I'm watching this space.

Also, the next time I get a chance, I'm going to buy this.

Comments

[proskynesis]

Yay for kind exams. :) And for Little Mosque on the Prairie; I watched a lot of it in my second year, and it is excellent. I do hope you get to see the otters.

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

Little Mosque on the Prairie! <3
And I have that exact colour of nail polish.
Best of luck on your remaining exams. :)

[sriti.livejournal.com]

I love Little Mosque on the Prairie! Being a Muslim, ofcourse, I like it even more. Good luck on the future exams! Oh, and my mom's going to Turkey, and she refuses to take me :(

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I have that exact nail polish; it is fabulous and makes me feel all rebellious when I wear it in work.

And Shetland is meant to be lovely so I am thoroughly jealous.

[fyrdrakken]

When I and a friend took a bus tour of the Highlands and various islands off the coast of Scotland, we spent a full day in the Orkneys. I was absolutely charmed, and had the thought that if one was looking for a place to just chill out for a bit (say, seclude oneself to finish a bit of heavy writing), one could do much worse than a B&B in the Orkneys. I imagine Shetland is much the same.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I hope lovely Brum is treating you well. And yes, yes, I think you will LOVE Little Mosque. As theological humour goes, it's right up there. :P

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Otters! And Little Mosque on the Prairie! Both win. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dear!

(By the way - I just today got a letter from you, forwarded from home. I haven't opened it yet, but thaaaank you!)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

It's so great, isn't it? Such a delightful little show. Thank you for the good luck wishes, I do need them. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I have GREEN NAILS. I am SO HAPPY. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Shetland is a little wilder than Orkney, I think, but I'm sure just as picturesque. I really can't wait. :)

[stained_glass]

*HUGS YOU* Well done on your epic exam-doing, and yay for Turkyria! I will look at Little Mosque on the Prairie; I have been looking for new TV shows. :D And enjoy your well-deserved holiday! XD