Searching for my Happily Ever After.

Yeah, hello, I'm back. The storm circled for a bit but didn't really come very close, which is a huge pity. I thought about just adding this entry onto the end of the last one, but it seems to me so sweetly minimalistic that I'll leave it alone. I like seeing things which are just three neat lines which are all almost the same length. There's something pretty about it. Anyway!

What have I not written about? Hm... well today was okay. I got complimented surprisingly often, which is odd, since I was wearing my really old pink top-with-sequiny-things and jeans with a hole in 'em. And my now short hair was tied back because it was floating up my nose and strands were coming loose and I looked like I'd been rolling down a hill. So I have NO idea why people were saying that I looked nice. Hmph. I can't take compliments.

Yesterday morning I wrote an email to Sarah Kennedy of the Dawn Patrol on BBC Radio 2. Basically I wrote about the frogs which made a great escape from the bucket I used in an attempt to save them from being strimmed by Dad, who was cutting the lawn, and I also wrote about how I have a phone phobia, since there's this topic on there about phobias at the moment. In the Christmas the topic is invariably sprouts. Which, incidentally, I like. Especially the ones mum prepares. Anyway I wonder if Sarah will get around to reading it?

Yesterday I only had 3 lessons. I'm supposed to have 4 lessons, but Japanese doesn't start until September so I got to leave �ber early. The day before Dad and I had planned to go off to Oxford. So that is where we set off to go after he picked me up from College. Y'see, I plan to go to Oxford Brookes University after I've finished College (hopefully! Oh and I'm also considering London University..). Oxford Brookes seems to be the only University I can find in the prospectuses I got from the HE fair a few months ago that actually, amazingly, they offer a joint honours degree for Psychology and the Study of Japanese Language and Culture. This sounded just the thing for me, and so I decided it would be worthwhile visiting the City of Academics to see how I would like it there. So, after a nigh on 50 minute journey of talking and informing each other about local history, barrows, archaeology, geology and Good Books (Dad and I are utterly weird when we're together, hehehe); we arrived and drove around a bit before parking in the Park-and-Ride. On the bus trip into the city there was this girl "with big boobs" (according to Dad *tuts at him*) who just insisted on staring at us. It was really disconcerting.

Anyway we got to the city and were sort of sucked into a nearby shop. This was brilliant, because it turned out to be a smaller version of Jacaranda! On the door was a poster:
For Over 18s Only
Fresh Magic Mushrooms and Grow Kits here! Ask at counter.
Nice.
The clothes there were really nice. There is a girl at college who was in the same Philosophy calss as me last year before I changed classes. I think her name is Deb. She's very pretty and I like her, even though she shouts and swears and some of my friends (I don't think she likes them hehe). I don't really know her. She wears all these sort of... I don't know what one could call the style. Maybe.. mod? I really don't know. Anyway she wears bright bright clothes like polka dot skirts, bright blue and yellow shirts and huge booty things. Anyway in the shop we were sucked into in had a lovely black and pink polka dot skirt that I loved. I wish I coulda bought it.

We wandered around just stopping in the middle of the road a number of times. In any other city that would have been a very, very, bad thing. But Oxford seems to be basically a pedestrian city. Which is extraordinary, isn't it? A pedestrian city. We found the river, which people were punting around on, and we started looking for food. Up ahead I spotted a sushi shop called Oishii (meaning 'delicious').
"Oh, Dad! A sushi shop!" I said in my not-so-subtle voice. "And it's open!" Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, one of the people working there heard me and ushered us into the shop where we stood awkwardly looking at the expensive snacks, and trying to think up a valid and polite excuse to leave without buying anything. We managed to get away eventually, went into the shop next door and bought a cheaper and probably much tastier brie and apple bagguette. After that we got pretty darned lost in trying to find the two campuses I'd be at if I went to Oxford Brookes. We came across a sort of stately home, complete with formal gardens, which turned out to be part of the campus, which is niiiiiice to know.

I really love Oxford. It is a marvellous place. And it has countryside! Yay!

After returning to the city centre we went into Blackwell's, the largest academic bookstore in Europe. I looked around. Doesn't look too big I thought. My wanderings took me down into the basement which completely and instantly proved me wrong in a great spectacular show of making me stand on the landing and. just. stare. for. ages!

One giant room, wall to wall, books. Then four semi-levels leading off to more books! It was the biggest most concetrated collection of books I'd ever seen! I thought I'd died and gone to academic heaven! I'd completely forgotten what I'd come down there for, and started to wonder open-mouthed through the shelves.

After dragging Dad down to marvel at it too, I remembered what I was there for, and went up to the help desk in the Psychology/Philosophy section.
"Excuse me, I'm wondering if you have a book by a Steve Vincent in stock? See, I'm a friend of his, and it would just be so cool to go back home and tell him I found his book in here."
It turned out that he didn't, after checking.
"We should have it. I don't know why we don't have it, it's a good book"
And he promptly ordered one in so I could go back and tell him they had his book in.
Squeeeeee, I mighta got Steve potentially more buyers!
Everybody - If you are so inclined, why not check out my friend and neighbour Steve Vincent's Psychology + Counselling book Understanding Empathy. He is a cool dude who looks like a kind of cuddly biker teddy bear and I'm sure he'd appreciate knowing people like his book.

Anyway I bought Language, Truth and Logic by Ayer from the shop since it was the cheapest I could find (�9 as opposed to the average of �50) and we're studying him in Philosophy.

Yes, Philosophy. Observe quote below.

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.
-- Bertrand Russell

I love Philosophy. I also hate Philosophy. We're doing Ayer and also Philosophy of Mind at the moment.

Philosophy of Mind is perplexing. I have a lot lot lot more to write and ramble about (must be the summer making me write lots) but I think this entry is far too long already so I shall bid you adieu.

Warning: one of the things I need to write about is a very very bad thing. Terrible. And I've been through it all before. *sob* Seriously. I am really upset about it. But I'll keep up my cheer as long as possible. I'm happy for now. For now.

Anyway, goodnight. Finished: 10:57pm

Kim xxx