Happy New Year!!

Can't believe how neglectful I have been of this journal of late. It's hardly as though I've had better things to do, as I have intentionally tried to spend as much of this holiday as possible indoors/asleep/catching up on dvds/reading (not the right things; my British 2 revision is idling on my bedside table; but anyway). However, I'm baaack!! And as everyone's doing New Year posts I thought I'd get on the bandwagon.

To sum up the year I think I'll just say it was all-round excellent. I got my As in the exams (against all odds I might add!), went to a lot of interesting places and met a lot of amazing new people. I realised I couldn't be happier than I am at Oxford, so my decision to go there wasn't a dumb one after all. And I feel like I am quite different now, in a good way... I hope I am anyway. And I hope to continue changing and being this happy for a looong time. And it's all good :) But now I am getting to be about as corny as Clint Eastwood's "Flags of our Fathers", which I saw this evening and was distinctly underwhelmed by, incidentally. So, resolutions.. even though I promised myself not to make any.

- Work hard. Not spend a total of one frantic day on my essay/s.Visit the library more than once a week. Not fall asleep in group tutes. This one is going to be tricky.
- Budget, be sensible. And stuff.
- Write more. Specifically, make use of the ideas I've had buzzing round my head for months now. I feel like I should achieve something significant.

I can't even think of anymore. Damn. Anyway, I'm just going to enjoy this last week of laziness. "Prison Break" dvds, icecream, baths and SHOPPING. Hoorah.

Love
Harriet

My first entry in a MILLION years. I am loving the LJ Christmas layout!

Soooo. My first 8/9 weeks at Oxford were evidently survived. I had basically the most amazing time of my life and can't believe I get to go back and do it again in January (something that I am just counting the days to now). I miss it and everyone so ridiculously much. I miss staying up all night talking. I miss seeing Magdalen Tower from my bedroom window. I miss living on noodles, hot chocolate and cocktails. I miss having my best friends living on my corridor. I miss going for walks in Christchurch Meadows. I miss hearing the choir sing at Evensong. I miss the grotty inedible food in Hall. I miss going out for chips at 2am. I miss free university-wide phonecalls. I miss getting random emails from the Deans. I miss getting deaned for talking loudly. I miss parties in the flete. I miss bop shopping at Primark. I miss icecream at 11pm. I miss getting woken up by drunks on the bridge in the middle of the night. I miss talking about Henry II and John in tutes. I miss the deer. I miss Noodlebar. I miss the amazingfabulouswonderful people, some of whom will read this. It feels so much like my home now. I'm surprising myself with how much I think I've changed.

For now, though, all the late nights may cause me to write in this much more. That is if I'm not being happily distracted by "Prison Break". My newest guilty pleasure. Wentworth Miller... fkghlghor. And he was born in Chipping Norton. Craziness.

Anyway love to all x

I was happier today. The choir sang the Lord's Prayer in Latin at chapel. It was beaaautiful.
Plus, did anyone see the stars tonight? AMAZING.

thought i'd update, as i've been dreadful at this recently. also, i have just (3am) been woken up from a rather nice (and remarkably rare) early night, by some insanely loud drunks on magdalen bridge. for the uninitiated, magdalen bridge is like, right next to me. i am indescribably annoyed. i was about to yell out the window out them, then thought better of it, as it's not terribly ladylike (i am surprisingly ladylike sometimes. oxford has made me discover this. i never eat kebabs, drink "man drinks", or yell out of windows). so now i'm way too awake and bored, as everyone else in the flete decided to get an early night too.

enough of the moan. i feel pretty good at the moment. today was REALLY cool, and it shouldn't really have been, seeing as it's wednesday (my "work day".. i'm a historian.. yes, i only work one day a week, get in). i got up at 12 to do my henry ii essay, in for 7pm, and managed it in 5hrs - a new record for me, and quite good i thought. anyway, i was writing said essay, and i realised: i am actually enjoying this!! to the point that i got hugely carried away and only checked the word count right at the end (2500 words! yay!) & i was just walking to college to give it in when i got a reeeeally good feeling, and actually felt fantastic, because i realised exactly why i came here, and why i came here to do history. i love it so much!!! even the general coldness at the moment is good, because everything looks so fabulous and wintry, and i love my college ridiculous amounts, and i have the most amazing friends here, and i'm doing what i genuinely love. for the first time, i loved the work i was doing, and that was the only thing that really got me down before. and so it is all good. so good.

in other news... i'm college engaged to james (though it is a trial, i admit, and since we occasionally annoy each other i may be tempted quite often to break it off), and tony and ed are my backup husbands. i had 4 malibu and cokes at the kings' arms tonight and i must say my alcohol tolerance has improved, as i was barely even tipsy. i watched "brideshead" last night and got geekily excited at the oxford bits. aaand i am in cherwell AND oxstu! yes, i am "the" harriet bradley whom george galloway insulted gravely at the oxford union. hoorah.

po na na tomorrow, so i may see a couple of you oxonians around there! hope all are well.

well i have decided to update because, during a visit to keble this evening, ian and verity pointed out that no one at oxford has been updating! shocking! can't imagine what could possibly be more pressing..
so yeah, it's like 12.30, and i have a serious essay crisis. really hope it is humanly possible to prepare and write a 1500 word essay in about 8 hours tomorrow.
anywayy, any oxonians reading this, come to park end with me and verity tomorrow, twill be fabulous (allegedly.) i'm going to go and seek out my dear college brother, who is working far too hard and has actually been in the library all night, so... hope all are ok!
- Harriet

sooooooooooooooo I'm here!! And have been for the past 5 days......
I am very happy, I should probably say this first. Anyone else just starting at Oxford will know what I mean, I am sure (and I hope!) Right now I am sitting at my neeew desk in my neeew room in the Flete. The Flete!!!! I MUST tell you about the Flete, not least because my ox-lj buddies must come round at some point and it actually is the most legendary place ever.

The Flete, otherwise known as the Waynflete, is a large 60s monstrosity just over Magdalen bridge housing around 100 Magd first years. It rules everything basically, and you wish you lived here.
On my Flete-tastic corridor is : Dan (Classics, has ALREADY DONE HIS FIRST ESSAY), me (yay), Patricia (Chemistry), Andre (Computer Sci, Russian - the only thing I have ever heard him say is "Do you have a knife"), Greg (Engineering), Terry (Engineering, ex-Harrow, Korean, home is LA; yes I am confused), Meredith (PPE, stays out til 6 every morning but we have no idea where), Lucy (French, but she is in fact Australian), and Tim (History. Hooray.) Our corridor seems best summed up as the one which the Dean of the Flete (unfortunate grad student who lives here and attempts to keep order) frequents the most, particularly last night during which time he finally cracked and growled at us to "GO TO BED". However, the corridor directly underneath us is also rather good. Emily, Aleks, Dave, Pip, Jenny and some other people all live there. Come and visit us if you are in Oxford!!!
I guess I should just list some of the high points of Freshers week thus far as I haven't had enough sleep for the past 5 days to do a proper account.
- First night : free (scarily blue) drinks/uncommon amounts of vodka at Escape on High St, which was my undoing. Left about 3 hours before everyone else with Aleks out of absolute drunkenness, and somehow managed to return to the Flete without falling down one of the holes in the road (I HATE ROADWORKS BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY). Then proceeded to commit college incest (Aleks is my college brother, etc) until about 6am when I retired to my room, fortunately undetected by fellow Flete dwellers.
- Meeting with the History tutors; the infamously scary Brockliss told us we'd be averaging about 8 hours of work per day if we valued our lives. Basically. Slightly weasly tutor Dr Neill seemed to spend most of it "subtly" eyeing up we female Historians. I later had to sit next to him at formal hall, wherein he proceeded to tell me he'd been hungover throughout my interview last year (but Brockliss was "probably more so"). Nice. Thanks for that.
- Got set my first essay. Funadoodles. It's on the C11th economy which is actually the dullest thing I have ever had to even think about. Need to actually do it sometime; deadline next Wednesday.
- Discovered the condom machine in the laundry room of the Flete. I was with 3 guys at the time, it was late, and the condoms are 2p each. 2 PENCE!! Just as we were loudly wondering how effective such condoms could possibly be, the Dean appeared out of nowhere looking distinctly unimpressed. I feel he may not have got the BEST impression of me so far.
- Hahaaaa. Aleks, Aleks, Aleks. My dear brother was at Law drinks til midnight last night, and just as a `group of us emerged from a room, we witnessed him collapse in the corridor after having vomited at several locations in both the college and the Flete. Tried to be sympathetic, but yeah. It was amusing. Also, the Dean is responsible enough for all of us.

I really should do some washing (quite excited about this), but tonight I am being dragged to Brookes to some club suspiciously called the "Pleasuredome". This sounds supremely bad, and it is a good 45 mins walk each way, so we may actually have to start drinking before we set off. Hence, wish me luck. I should NEVER drink.

Hope alll are good, esp Oxford people :)

OMGZZZ so happy/terrified/etc about toooomoooorrooow! I shall be flying the nest (very temporarily, only to return a paltry 8 weeks maximum later..) by midday, and arriving hopefully in one piece at Magdalen laden with 2 huge bags of clothes and shoes, 1 massive suitcase and 1 big box of random stuff, a large plastic bag full of bed linen, a slightly smaller scale holdall full of toiletries/accessories, and my laptop. Is that, like, way too much? Hmm.
But yeah. I shall be around in ye olde Oxenford from tomorrow afternoon, so any other people in the vicinity, pleease get in touch! My mobile is 07919188731. We MUST do a lj-crew meetup at some point!
Wish me luck :D :D I'm soooo exciiited!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Harriet

eek.
That is all that can be said about my room at the moment, and indeed my life in general. Packing has turned into a disaster. I had counted on maybe 2 suitcases and a couple of smaller bags. However, this is not to be. I will need about five MILLION suitcases GODAMMIT.
However, the silver lining is that today, my clothes shopping finally reached its natural conclusion. I found a purple polkadot dressing gown!zomg and some pyjama bottoms, as well as a new bag, and some underwear. A thoroughly commendable shopping day. Everything's just sort of sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor now, looking slightly lost. I have also discovered that I have to iron about half my clothes (this will be after I have learnt to USE an iron..), and THEN pack them. Which means stress, basically. But for some reason it's all good; I'm going to see both "World Trade Centre" (Nicolas Cage, can I ever trust you again?) and "Children of Men" tomorrow, and there is still some thrill-tastic food shopping to be done on Sunday with my father. And I'm still feeling smug after a 2-hour walk with Laura and the dogs on Thursday; hopefully that'll be enough exercise for the next few months ;)
Sooooooooooo excited, innit.

OK, so I'm annoyed, because I have my digital camera, dock-to-mains lead, dock-to-usb connector, and... no dock. I can charge my camera. I can use it. But I cannot transfer my photos to my computer. And I am so UNBELIEVABLY annoyed by this. It seems to have completely disappeared, and what kind of HALFWIT not only designs a camera that fails to function except with a separate, unpluggable, lose-able dock, but also DOES NOT SELL SEPARATE DOCKS?

n mfhbygviutrygbktrhjglkvbuyiugfgvb nkjyuovbhgtvhovhebovhyvhoyhvobvyhiohvboihvyohvo pissed off.

In other news... I have been so terminally bored this week - and it's only Tuesday - that all I have done is experiment with my new makeup. Which is generally fun, but I am so restless. Why are there still 13 days to go???

But yeah. I'm going to gay Paris on Thursday night til Sunday, which should be funamundo (yes, I just invented that one.. I like it.) Lol, oh yes, and I was talking to this guy who I guess is something like my college cousin (confusing), & he was all "if you can't have drunken sex in freshers' week, when can you?" I was just like, omg. Do not say that to me. I am scared! Personally I should like to retain a speck of dignity. But you know.. I have so many college relatives, incest is always an option.

(so wrong.)

I think I shall round this one off by posting an example of how amusant "The Wicker Man" is. Notice Nicolas Cage's really bad, really really bad acting. And the music..

"you little liars.." teehee :D

I absolutely love this trailer:

I spent this evening at the cinema, and after hoping for ages to catch the "Marie Antoinette" trailer at last, it was shown. OMGZZ it looks good. I lovelove the fact that they used the New Order song.

So yes. The cinema. We made a night of it and saw "The Wicker Man" (remake), followed by "The Queen" (talk of Venice.) I will start by talking about "The Wicker Man" because, oh my GOD.

"The Wicker Man" has been famous since around the 1970s when Christopher Lee starred in the original. A camp classic. Bad suspense music, gothic motifs (sorry Katie), and, well, Christopher Lee. Lame. But actually, the remake has surpassed its predecessor. I didn't think they made films like this anymore. Seriously. Music : Hammer Horror. A lot. Cast : surprisingly good, but soon to be their most shameful performance. Acting : HAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAHA. I think Katie will understand when I say it is the "Trapped in the Closet" of movies (and if you don't know what I mean, look up "Trapped in the Closet". REALLY.) Nicolas Cage is genuinely hilarious. I actually used to think he was quite good. However, the fact that he advocated this script is just so wrong. Lines such as "Move AWAY from the bike!" (to cycling nemesis), "I saw it with my own two eyes!" (erm, who ever says that, in real life), copious "What the..."s (hee), and that old fave of cheesy 70s cop shows, pulling out FBI card and pronouncing membership of said organisation, in order to claim entirely inappropriate privileges in a thoroughly exploitative manner. I would say the general plot is surprisingly ok, or at least original. But you must see it. Seeeeee it!! I have not laughed so much in so long, I swear, it is hilarious.

"The Queen" was actually funny as well. I didn't really know what to expect of a movie based around an institution of which I mostly disapprove, and in particular a woman who I previously considered quite boring and straight-laced, and granny-ish. You get my drift. However, this film succeeded on several levels. What could have courted populist hysteria with an "OMG!Diana was a saint" mentality, was surprisingly and subtly less than partisan. The guy playing Tony Blair was fabulous. He is him! The voice! (Katie, it's hat guy in "Wilde".. that total fitto.) Helen Mirren was great as always. I'm sure she'll get the Oscar next year. And it was not boring once, which again surprised me. One to see, and for the right reasons! hehe..

Oooohooooo, and I went shopping again today! I am ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!! I got a kettle (round, cream, vintage-stylee), toaster (dull at £9), 3 dresses, 2 sub fusc skirts, 2 sub fusc shirts, smart shoes, tons of random accessories, the cutest moccasin slippers, 2 pairs of jeans, pyjamas, duvet cover/sheet/pillowcases (flowery, vintagey again- John Lewis, go there), huuuge purple fleecy blanket, stoneware kitchen set (yes, I will break it), cutlery, a HEART-PRINT TEATOWEL!!! (sooo gorge, good old John L again), a rather tacky can opener that is very unlike the one I am used to using, a LIME GREEN COLINDER (ok, I will stop squeeing over kitchen utensils), random plastic spoon set my dad seemed to think I would use, which I will not, stationery bits, the new Philippa Gregory (I know, but it just looked so good! Anne of Cleves! Katherine Howard!), and toiletries. Phew. I have spent too much money recently. That is certain. But yay! Nearly done!

I'm sooo tired now, so will sleep. Good times.

I am rather a fool! It is in fact 19 days til I go from today, not the last time I posted. Just to clear that one up, although to be honest you should all probably be aware henceforth that I don't do maths, and got a U in my General Studies unit on it (embarassing. I did get a C at GCSE though, for some reason..)

But yeah! Shopping was a marathon mission yesterday. I spent.............
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just over £500.
*hides*
I'm so bad!! I mean, I bought a lot of stuff. Well, a lot of clothes. But £500 on clothes, tut tut me. Never mind. Shopping part 2: Shop Harder, as branded by Aleksandr, is to take place on Saturday, ie. more clothes, but also possibly some stationery and a kettle. My mum keeps going on about a kettle and it's like, OKAY. When will I use it? I hate tea, and coffee/hot chocolate is supremely calorific. But whatever.

Is anyone else's room seriously degenerating into chaos right now? Mine is covered with bags and clothes and lists of stuff that I still don't have. And there's still 19 days to go! Mad. Also, are any soon-to-be Oxfordians going to join the union? It seems raaather expensive, but it does look pretty fabulous......

- Harriet

Just thought I'd post out of uni-fever... 19 days til I go!!! Hoorah!
I'm going shopping tomorrow; I have a comprehensive list that I'll never stick to, and I am sure it will be tres tiring. But, as we all know, clothes are the most important bit of pre-university acquisition. Karina (my college mother) has informed me that I will need around 3 posh dresses, which is great, but you know... money and everything..... :S

Yawn.

Bulletpoints.

- I am about to have my second early night of the week, which I am quite proud of. However, I thought I would make up for the lack of most other people's posts (where are you all..), by posting myself.
- Happily, I have discovered an errant £60 in my bank, which makes me tres happy. I have now accumulated a considerable pile with which to buy the most important new things for university - clothes. Hoorah! My dad has also given me an intriguing money box, which holds up to £200 in "mixed silver". Which is great, except for the fact that one may only access the money within by smashing the box. (I know, it's weird. It's some cultural thing. There was a sort of organic-y label made out of recycled paper, so somehow it's cool.) Not so hoorah, as there is money in there, right now. An undisclosed sum, but I do know it's notes. And I need it, goddamn! But how can I possibly smash my new money box out of single-minded greed?
- Something I feel I should post about... I guess y'all heard about the untimely death of absolute legend Steve Irwin. I was so shocked, and it is just the saddest thing, I feel. He was and is a consummate legend, and I just wanted to say that.
- On a different, less important note, I have really misguidedly signed up to three icon-making contests on here. And I am having such an inspiration dry patch! Dear me. I managed to make two "Boondock Saints" icons, and that was with the visual stimulation of the exceptionally fit cast members. I think this may be a result of my irritation with my laptop, which is just a hateful creature which eats battery power like sweets and has a virus, already. Unimpressed.
- Well, I just wanted to say hello to Ian as he posted, glad Italy was cool. And happy birthday to Katie, of course. You're so old!!!! It's crazy!

DHVJTKBYONUOLOLIBVJTCJKRHGJHC5YT4RFHMGYJTCUTG!!!
Just got a huuuuuuge pack from Magdalen chock-full of stuff, in varying degrees of scariness. I basically just didn't bother reading, like, the finance sheet - lol. I will just give it to my dad. But I got letters from my college mum and dad! I'm so excited now! My college mum is so lovely, and doing Law - although she seems a bit mad. In a nice way. My college dad is more serious, and a historian. And I have a college brother called Aleksander... but I know nothing about him yet. Another brother to add to my collection!
So yes. I thought I'd post out of sheer, unadulterated joy. I am so happy right now. I'm too excited to be worried about anything, and... nhjycdtuytiu! Hehe. I went to visit Magdalen with my mum over the weekend and it was so wonderful, I could hardly stand it. I'm going there!! Aaaahhh!!!
*Sooooooooooooooooooo exciiiiiiiiited!!!*

I'M GOING TO MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD UNIVERSITY (omgggg) IN OCTOBER TO STUDY HISTORY.
AND IT'S DEFINITE!!!!!!
A in History (full marks in all units, wtf?!)
A in Politics (despite not knowing, well, anything really, about anything, though I'm pleased to say I know who David Trimble is now)
A in English (FULL MARKS IN SATIRE, ARRRR!!)
A in Philosophy (full marks in all units this year!)
B in General Studies (As in all units except Maths, in which I got an E and a U. Cringe. But haha, that is so me)
Distinction in History AEA
Merit in English AEA.
And 5 As at AS last year (still proud!)
Thrilled is hardly the word!
(Btw, as a customary shallow aside, "The Boondock Saints" is a boring movie, but it is also the slashiest thing I have EVER seen on screen. Twin Irish Catholic brothers. Both fit. I recommend.)
But yes, I'm just... overwhelmed.
I'M IN!!

Track was up bhalf an hour ago with results on it. I was watching "Independence Day". God-dayum.
I'm terrified, so having a dvd marathon and trying to imagine a future without Oxford in it.

This really ought to be a good post, judging by my lax attitude of late. But really, it seems everyone's either posting loads of serious, well-considered stuff, or just not posting. Because of pressing DIY commitments in the "real" world, often (myself included in this.) So it'll just be crap, as usual.

I'll commence the crap with a jaunt into fandom(s). I was watching "The Crystal Maze" on Challenge with Louis today; I hadn't seen it in probably about, well, 10 years. Oh my god. 10 years. Anyhow, it got me into such a Richard O'Brien-appreciating mood. He is actually a legend. I am entirely convinced of this fact. Just how much do I love him.....

Well, a lot. I watched Rocky Horror with the commentary, and harked back occasionally to those carefree days when I was 8 and "The Crystal Maze" was on TV, and it was all fabulous. I have decided to become a devotee; it is on Saturdays & Sundays on Challenge, at around 5pm. You must remember it! Give in to the amazingness.
Well, on a different note, I watched "Back to the Future 3" on Saturday afternoon. Another CLASSIC. (I love how all my lj entries seem to consist of what I have been watching on TV, by the way - I need to cut down.) I think the first movie is probably still the best, but now I'm having a debate with myself in my head on that actually. The second one involves, I think, 3 different timezones, and it's hilarious. But I love 3 as well! And it's the most historical. So it's undeniably a tough one to call. But I can just watch "BttF" movies countless times, and always feel really good after so doing. Due in part to the gorgeous Michael J. Fox, but yeah. I'm inclined to snap up the boxset on dvd, which brings me to the next section of this post,

dvd buying. Or, the shape of things to come. Probably because I've devoted so much of my holiday to watching television (heh), I found myself accumulating an actual amount of money in my bank account, thus far untouched. Which got me thinking - crap. I had better spend it. Not save it for my first term or anything, obv. And so, in the past 36 hours, I have bought 4 dvds from play.com, and am on the verge of buying 3 more. I am genuinely concerned about the longevity of my funding next year if these sorts of shenanigans continue. My one excuse is "I don't need to pay back any government loans wahey I can go and completely bankrupt myself without actually doing so". But it's the principle of the thing. I need not to be a spendthrift.

Oh, a random bit I've just thought of. James Blunt. Will someone, like, bomb his house? I have read so many bad things about him recently that I feel he is an utter waste of space, in fact even more so than I previously thought. Lily Allen summed it up best; GQ-What do you think of James Blunt? Lily-It rhymes with his surname. YES! (though she should shut up about any and everything else.) Also, a recent headline on the BBC News website was along the lines of "Singer Blunt 'irritates the public'" - which made me laugh for ages - and published a poll on the most annoying things as voted by the public. JB was above traffic wardens! Heee. What made me think of this was that someone has put a "Tristan & Isolde" fanvid on youtube with bloody "You're Beautiful" as the soundtrack! WTF!!!!!11111oneeleven!!1 "She smiled at me on the"- oh my god, it's so terrible-"subway"?! That well-known underground system established by the Roman occupation and well-used by the Britons in around 400 AD. Plus, his voice is terrible, and the song is not romantic. I want to tell him this.

Results day on Thursday! Dear me. I had better go to university next year, as I've got this new laptop and I'm just starting to enjoy using it......

-Harriet

Bonsoir. I'm just taking a break from the (I'm-now-beginning-to-realise-I-was-insane) bedroom overhaul that is shortly entering its 4th day. Stripping wallpaper, washing walls and clearing out stuff is so boring. I am so bored.
It's going to be highly class when completed, however. A recent trip to Homebase prompted me to think it might be cool to redecorate the room that has been in a timewarp since I started year 7; my very next thought was to redo the entire thing (floors, walls, windows & all) in a mediaeval style, complete with wall sconces, canopy bed, and general interior design inspired by a castle chamber sometime between 1200-1400. For some reason, I have been allowed to attempt this, and my room currently resembles a Victorian slum, or perhaps more appropriately, a mediaeval dungeon.
Hey ho! Pictures will follow. My computer's about to be removed before I destroy the cables with polyfiller, so have a nice few days all.
- Harriet