Snow!

Yes, I got sunburnt on Friday, and today it’s snowing. North Carolina is odd. But in a good way! (except for the -7˚C temperature outside, of course)

Yesterday was a bit of a nothing day, as expected, though I did manage to do a little more than lie on the floor watching My Super Sweet 16 and eating two pieces of bread (I will mention no names!). Instead, I wandered around Chapel Hill enough to bring out my blisters. Hurrah! Still, I had a good evening with Collin, Heather, Emily, and The Rock, wherein we discovered that Heather has a much better grasp of the rules of American football than anybody else. And I'm two for two on getting a vodka and coke instead of vodka and cranberry!

It seems though, that the end is in sight already. Christa's off to Kentucky; Stacie to Philadelphia. We may not be able to make FOOD SCIENCE part II before I leave, and that makes me sad.

(Richard: the gist of the Second Coming reference - I think I came into the snooker room to do the laundry and you and Tom were playing snooker. For some reason, I ended up getting my portable CD player out, and I think it must have been in the drive, because we ended up listening to it while I dried my washing. Anyway, that was the first time I met you, I think. My memory is a little slack though!)

Hello, 2008

I’ve seen a few people walking around this morning in a slightly dishellved state, so I think it’s fair to say that New Year in Chapel Hill/Carrboro was a successful affair. Gor my part, Stacie and I spent the early part of the evening perfecting our FOOD SCIENCE! rum pills and agar-based tequila sunrise cocktails. Then we took them to Christa’s and eat them, along with sampling a Finnish drink based around liquorice and vodka. A somewhat quieter affair than Hell, but e did head off to OCSC after the stroke of midnight to experience the crazy celebrations!

Today seems to be very quiet - although there's a surprising amount of small shops open (including Chapel Hill Comics!). The sun is out and bright, but snow is a possibility for tomorrow. Along with temperatures of -6˚C. Eeep.

And I have blisters! Took me longer than usual!

Hurrah!

I was taught by Steve Furber when I was an undergraduate!

The Story So Far

I have almost been set on fire, I’ve been inside an American hospital for the first time (as a visitor, so not to worry anybody!), drank inside a train car, hugged The Rock several times, had many positive comments made about my coat, mourned The Electric Blender, horrified people with tales of bacon ice-cream and chocolate caviar, became my usual capitalist whore self in Southpoint, thought about joining a campaign to sve the Cat’s Cradle from demolition…

... oh, and got sunburnt. This place is still odd. It's currently 18˚C outside. I made the mistake of wearing a t-shirt, shirt and my coat this morning. It's not right! It's December! It's supposed to be bitterly cold! BITTERLY COLD!

Last Departure From Gatwick: AA173 We Hardly Knew You

Last night, I thought that coming up in the first ten Google results for AA173 was pretty bad. Then I remembered that I often recognise the flight attendants from previous flights. However, I discovered the most direct proof that I’ve done this journey an awful lot: I recognised passengers.

This is the last time I'll be flying from Gatwick to RDU - in April, American Airlines's last two flights move to Heathrow, which has the upside in that it's only an hour away from Oxford instead of two. But I'll miss...well, not much, really; Gatwick and Heathrow aren't really all that different from a passenger point of view (although, I have looked at the new flight times, and the plane seems to leave at 11am from the end of March. Which will wipe out the time I save from the shortened journey. Hohum...)

Today's SkyMall highlights: a low-quality video camcorder that sits on your car dash so you can give it to the police after an accident to prove your innocence (but remember to take it off before going on a ramraiding spree. Or at least don't upload it to YouTube afterwards). A "Swiss" watch that will make you the envy of all your friends and "making a big impression on business associates at important meetings". I can't really do it justice without the picture of the watch, which looks as if you could take the gold foil off and eat its chocolate contents. But it's only $250! Finally, and my favourite, a set of transponders and a motion tracker for a parent and child. So you can recreate scenes from Alien using your dear darling Jessica.

At which point the Mac died. I may need a new battery. Anyway. Here now.

Blog: Interrupted

The last week of being ill has somewhat derailed most of my plans here for December. Tomorrow, I’m off to Chapel Hill again, so I’ll probably be back in the travel mood. Um, so those of you who were desperate to know my favourite song of 2007: Fake Empire by The National. Possibly more later on…

(and you be able to follow Twitter updates as soon as my phone gets reactivated. Exciting, I know!)

currently playing: Stars – Bitches In Tokyo

Advent 2007: Window 24

OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!!!

Knock-knock!

Nooo!

The Dangers of Tasty Houses

currently playing: LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver

Advent 2007: Window 23

IT'S A PEA SOUPER!

Advent 2007: Window 22

It's getting closer!!!

currently playing: Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody

Advent 2007: Window 21

A helpful guide to decipher 85% of the conversations that me and my sister have...