One down!

I had my international criminal law exam today and I secretly (or not so secretly now) sort of enjoyed it. I answered questions on state v. individual responsibility, show trials, sovereign immunity/universal jurisdiction/Pinochet/Arrest Warrant and whether international criminal can really be considered international (ans.: not so much). I’m relieved to be one down. On to SO424 and LL423! Ack!

The Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert was great and went all too quickly! And now I’m drinking a glass of wine and watching downloaded tv. Studying and finishing my USAID application will have to wait until morning.

w00t! I’m going to Bulgaria at the end of the month!

Poll. If bookstore is running a 3 for the price of 2 special on travel books and I definitely need Germany and Bulgaria, what should be my third one? Nothing else is planned for which I don’t already own the book. West Africa? (there’s no Rough Guide Niger, sorry Jules! Oh, wait, there’s a Bradt guide forthcoming.) Ok, Niger? Russia? St. Petersburg? Amsterdam? the Netherlands? Someplace else? User poll! Lemme know where you think I need to be dreaming of visiting!

Edinburgh festival=w000000t!

Ok, I know the blog looks like crap, but I’m not going to try and fix it between now and my exam. And it might even be awhile after that, because there are two more to come. Trust me when I tell you that it looks great on a Mac. I might even post a screenshot, in case people don’t believe me, but thank you for all the comments.

I went for a late run tonight (race for life is on Sunday) and as I was running up to Millenium Bridge, they started setting off fireworks. It was magical and I must have looked silly, jogging along with this huge smile on my face! Took forever to get home, though, since I obviously couldn’t turn around until they were done. Felt like someone was glad I’d decided to go for that run.

If you’d like to donate, I’d still really appreciate it and the link’s here: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/tebstroops.

What a great race! My hands were and still are a bit shakey, ever since that last restart. I was yelling at the computer to shut up about Michael Andretti’s chance to win. He’s an Andretti! And so’s his 12-year-old 19-year-old son!

I’m not ashamed. I wanted Micheal to finally pull out the win. And I’m sad that he didn’t. And urgh. I really am not a Penske fan. Call it a grudge, but ever since he snubbed the IRL at the very beginning…. Didn’t turn out how I wanted, but this was a race that was exciting enough for me to be clutching Cory the raccoon and standing beside my bed for the last few laps. Good job, Indy.

And, sorry, for everyone who doesn’t have a clue what I’m talking about! I’m from a racing family…sort of. Did I tell you about my dad’s radio work being in the Smithsonian?

Happy Race Day!!!!

w00t! It’s Indy’s biggest day of the year!

I’ve gotten some ham and green pepper so I can have the traditional ham and green pepper sandwich, just like we used to pack for my dad every year. It’s his special day and will always be the day of the year that I think about him the most. Every running of the Indianapolis 500’s like a memorial service to me.

And, yeah, I’m going to be a mess, especially when Jim Nabors sings and when they give the command to start engines. I was last year, just thinking about how I wouldn’t be in Indy for the race this year. It’s only the second time I haven’t been at home, but I’ve got WIBC and the Speedway Radio Network, so it honestly won’t be all that different than usual. Thank god for the internets.

Also awesome? That last night’s Doctor Who episode was set (theoretically) in Muswell Hill!

Can someone who’s using a PC please, please let me know whether this looks awful in your browser or not? It did on the school computers, but I’m sort of hoping that that was an LSE fluke. If it wasn’t, then I need to do some serious work. So sorry!

In other news, we have a new TV! Our old one had to go back to the person from whom it was being borrowed and we made a joint decision to go ahead and purchase a new one (heck, when you already have the license, you might as well…it would be much more of a pain to try and pursuade the license people that you don’t have one anymore). So, Argos is still great, even though I’d never been there, and we found something quite large for only a third of our budget. Of course, I’m supposed to go back and get the freeview box, since we’d decided to get one after finding out about tv prices, but needed to check to make sure we could get reception. Woot!

Right, I’m off soon for a day of study fun. Less than a week to go. I’m not panicking as long as I stay away from school and friends from school. And, of course, I feel guilty about feeling so relaxed! My life is a vicious cycle.

Hurrah for Joyce!

Yes, I know I’m bragging. Sorry.

I did the 40 minute run yesterday that is part of the training plan for my 5K in two weeks time and it wasn’t hard at all (except for the part where I had to dodge tourists and puddles)! Google maps tells me that it was 3.25ish miles and I went from part of the way up Tower Bridge Road, then along the Thames to Lambeth Bridge. I concentrated on finishing, so I didn’t push at all and just sort of settled into a nice, easy pace. And, it was a bit fun, for all that it was cold and wet. But, yeah, I had an awfully big smile when I got to Lambeth and finished. I know I’ve been keeping my LiveJournal updated with running times and distances, but this one seems important enough to boast about publicly.

I’d still love sponsors for the Race for Life, so if you’re feeling generous, please visit: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/tebstroops. Thanks so much! This should be fun.

In other news, I went up to Brent yesterday for the post-election thank you afternoon tea with curry and ate quite a lot. Free curry! Ran a long distance! Meringues…who knew they were supposed to be soft and squidgy? Sooooo good! It was lovely to hang out with the Lib Dems, as always. Tip: some accents = adorable. My accent = not funny!

And, Eurovision the night before. How I love thee. And I made a curry. It’s been a currytastic weekend, but my green bean curry turned out very nicely (I was able to find curry leaves at Borough Market), if perhaps a bit on the coconut milky side. I did not approve of the Finns at all. Horrible song, not that that matters, it’s Eurovision, but rather liked the Lithuanians. It got to the point where I was having to root for the Russian with the mullet to win, simply because he was the only one with a chance of beating Finland. Oh, and Ireland…*melts*. Gorgeous song. And Terry Wogan, the BBC’s snark-tastic commentator was as…amazing…as always. Spain, courtesy of my flatmate, says “Lo siento,” back!

Argh. I managed to wake up this morning with a hangover. Not because I’ve been drinking (geez, I can’t really even think of the last time that I did that. Oh, wait. Before the elections in Brent, when we were all sitting in the office stuffing envelopes), but because I didn’t drink enough water last night after my run. I’m such a doofus sometimes. Happily, though, I managed more than three miles (it turns out) in 36 minutes of running and three of walking in the middle. And I’m enjoying the fact that my legs are just an itty-bit more there today than they were yesterday.

I’ve also been smiling to myself lately, when I realize that there are things in my daily life that have been making me happy. For no good reason, they are:

1) Realizing that I like avacados.

2) The talking elevator in the LSE library that can’t talk properly. Think Marlee Matalin and you’ve got the right idea. The elevator for blind people sounds deaf. I love it! And, only one of the two does this. The other one has excellent language skillz.

3) Google maps pedometer. And the fact that the google satellite maps are really, really detailed for my area. There’s my house!

4) British melons! I know all the Hoosiers will protest that I can’t have found cantelope and honeydew better than is available at home, but OMG, they haven’t been eating melons from Tesco! They have different names, which I can’t remember, but there’s nothing like cutting into some strange melon (that even looks different) and going: “OOOOOh. I know what this is! We have these at home!” Better yet, they’re small. Like the size of a big grapefruit or a softball, which means that you actually can eat the whole thing as one person in about two servings! And you don’t lose anything at all on taste.

Ok, ok. I (sometimes) try not to be one of those Mac users. You know, the smug ones? I may be the last person in the universe to discover them, but how wonderful and hilarious are the new ads? Clickety: Hi, I’m a Mac….

I am such a laaaazy Joyce when it comes to these exams. For some reason I can’t find the motivation to get through them and I know that that’s really, really bad. I should be the one who wants to excel academically. Instead, I find myself sort of envying the people who just want to pass. I’d also like Tadic to go away, because I’ve been stuck on trying to sort through the opinions of the trial chamber and the appeals chamber for two days (not that I’ve put all that many hours in, but still!). Tomorrow’s going to have to be a National Theatre day, because I simply don’t want the internet as a distraction and I’m really, truly better off if I don’t see other people from LSE. My ICL study group, in particular, is starting to freak me out.

Sorry for the aaaaaangst. I did go running this weekend, sort of managing to meet up with a friend and a few others in Regent’s Park on Saturday. Lesson 1: Joyce is such a nighttime runner. I wanted to curl up in my bed afterwards. I’m just so relaxed afterwards, not so much with the “toooo much adrenaline, I must go and read 1,000 pages while standing on my head” reactions.

Which reminds me, if you’d like to donate to the Race for Life, I’d really appreciate it. Recap: me + 5K = less exam stress + money for cancer research.

Another exciting thing: Fun Fruit & Veg stamps, part II! I’ve been putting off the post office for a month now, but I’ve got a really, really good reason to go tomorrow! wOOt! Mr. Potato Head + valid postage = hours of fun! But, why the equations tonight?

Finally, elephants!



Sorry. I’ve just been in an elephant mood all week. No idea what that means. But, I certainly haven’t turned Republican.