Though you’ve probably figured it out by now, updates to the site are going to be more than a little sporadic while I’m working on my master’s thingie. It’s not going too badly, and in just over a month it will be all over (yipes!) - but until then, I’m just not sure how much spare brain power I’ll be able to muster to post fascinating things here. I feel truly bad about this, but I guess there are just so many words a girl can deal with on a daily basis before she has to step away from the computer and vegetate in front of the TV.

Not that my life has been jam-packed with exciting things to write about recently anyway. Here’s a quick update on what’s been going on… On the negative side: I have a miserable, snotty summer cold, my iBook died last night, the seagulls made a huge racket tearing my garbage bag apart at 4:30 this morning, and I think I’m killing the neighbors’ plants (either by not watering them enough or by watering them too much, I don’t know). On the positive side: The dissertation is slooowly but surely getting written, the sun has actually been shining for almost a week now, I’ve got a couple of fun trips planned for the coming months (first off: Florida in September), and my birthday is in just 4 days! This last event is quite exciting, for I shall be spending the day (weather permitting) picnicking at the magnificent Blenheim Palace (which - I’m kind of embarrassed to say - I’m primarily interested in seeing because it makes an appearance at the end of The System of the World - which in turn, as you might know, is one of the best. Books. EVER.) We’ll see if summer can hold out long enough to give me a lovely outdoor birthday. If not - well, hanging around in a pub in Oxford wouldn’t be such a hardship either.

So anyway, thanks for hanging in there while I attend to my further education over the next few weeks. Intellectually stimulating blogging will resume shortly…