Susie's Blog

Blogging from my iPod!

Please cover your mouth when you cough. I am sure we all know this, but I sat across from a grown man in the library this morning who hacked up a lung for over an hour and just didn't care that he exposed the rest of us to whatever funk he had. Can I ban him from the library? Please?

Not for fun. I need the break to finish my reading list without cramming the last things in like mad.

My head is going to explode.

People who are talking on a cell phone, take it into the bathroom with them, and continue to talk on it while, um, doing whatever they need to do.

This happened in two different public restrooms today.

People.

Please.

In what universe is this appropriate?

There isn't a conversation important enough that you can't take a break to take care of business. The only time this would be appropriate would be if you fall in the bathroom and cannot get help in any other way. You don't need to talk about your date, your parents, your sister's deadbeat ex-husband, or your kid's teacher. You NEED to put the phone down. I am quite sure that this even violates the most redneck version of Emily Post out there. DON'T DO IT. I BEG YOU. It is disgusting.

...a panic attack. This semester is already stressful and it is just the first day. Things keep changing and I need stability, people!

Well, I have been back in Tuscaloosa for two weeks now. I am very happy to see friends and family again, but I REALLY miss England. I miss the walking and the food and the depth of my surroundings. Super Wal-Mart just doesn't do a thing for me after enjoying high tea in the same surroundings as Jane Austen or reading in a library surrounded by countless illuminated manuscripts. I feel sad.

Friday night, our group had its final banquet. Friday afternoon, I wandered Oxford and spent two/three hours reading and typing in Duke Humphrey's Library. Good thing too...I found out that they are planning on closing it as a reading room and opening it to the public for the tour. It is a shame because the mystique will be totally gone!

Anyway, final banquet began with drinks in the Provost's garden. It was a lot of fun. The weather held up well and it wasn't too cold for a change. We had our Pimms (many of them) and enjoyed the beauty of the garden...

Here is the Provost's house and part of the gardens...


More of his private gardens...you can see the college behind...


Me, looking tired after typing/reading tiny print...


Allen and I in the garden...


After drinks, we went to the hall for dinner...


At the high table for the final time...



Leaving Oxford was sad, but, thankfully, basically uneventful. We did have to call for a second bus because there wasn't enough room for l…