February 21

Desk

Check out how tidy my desk is!  This rarely happens.

February 20

Porter's Lodge

Where all the mail gets delivered, and where, when going out, we have out pigeon hole picture taken.

February 19

Laptop

Most of the day has been spent typing, so here is a gratuitous laptop shot.

February 18

Flower

I absolutely love my flowers.  They make me smile everytime I look at them. 

February 17

Chinese Feast

A friend is turning 21 soon and for the last 20 days she is 20 she is doing all manner of challenges.  Today's challege was to cook up an authentic chinese meal.  She definitely succeeded - it was awesome!

February 16

Books as Art

Outside the University Library there is a series of sculptures of books to prevent people from parking there.  Some of them (like this set) swivel.  I think they look striking when low lit.

February 15

Sidgewick Site

Another photograph taken from the library; this time facing the other way.  Such fun! (Or not)

February 14

Corpus Christi

What amazes me is how white the sky is in this photograph.  It almost looks as though I erased it.

February 13

Skype

Skyping with a friend I haven't talked with in a while.  The internet kept having hissy fits resulting in some painful looking pixelation.

February 12

Flowers

Birthday!

It was my 21st birthday and a lovely day all round.  My parents and sister sent me these beautiful flowers and later I was surprised with a cake by my friends.

February 11

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture on February 11 and so, to compensate, I will upload two for February 12.

February 10

University Library

The University Library always seemed to me big and daunting.  I had not been in it since my DoS gave us a tour of it in Michaelmas Term of first year, but I needed to venture in there to read a book that was in no other libraries in Cambridge.  It was not as daunting an experience as I thought it would be, even if it did take me a ridiculously long time to find the book I needed.

February 9

Trinity College

Today was the birthday of an old friend, so I went to Trinity for tea and cake.  I took other shots around the college and contemplated using one of them instead, but at the moment I seem to be drawn to trees and this one looks like it has an interesting story to tell, yet the college is still present in the background.

February 8



Sunset over Cambridge

 Dusk is my favourite time of day; it is the best time of day for contemplation and there almost seems to be something soulful, or spiritual about it.  This evening it was a beautiful sunset over Cambridge, I only wish I had captured it better.

Febuary 7

Pizza and Religion

Today marked the start of the Christian week at Cambridge.  This is always an awkward experience, because I am a steadfast Unitarian Universalist and feel that maybe there is not a lot of respect present about this.  We had pizza as a group and a deep conversation about beliefs, and although it was uncomfortable, I think it was good for us and everyone now knows where each other stands and there is a lot more respect than before.

February 6

New Hall Library

This is the library at night.  Although the blur is unintentional as I haven't mastered taking non-blurry night shots very well, I actually think it is quite striking.

February 5

Very classy

Somehow, dinner is always more fun when you cook for someone and dinner this evening was a very social affair including wine in teacups.  To dine with us is to dine with high society!

February 4

Kings College

Kings never fails to take my breath away.  It just seems so majestic (apt, given its name) and prestigious.  Today I had my first democracy supervision with a professor there. 

February 3

Theatre trip

One of the joys of Cambridge is the opportunity to see so much student theatre and new writing.  This is especially exhibited at the Corpus Playroom and today I stewarded a new play written by the boyfriend of one of my friends. 

February 2

Hot chocolate

Sometimes it is nice to work in a different place, just to mix it up a bit (pun on Aristotle's comments on the Cleisthenic reforms intended) and so I read the last part of [Aristotle]'s Constitution of the Athenians in with a sumptuous hot chocolate today, kindly sponsored by my father who sends me Caffe Nero loyalty cards ever so often in the mail.

February 1

Orange

I've made it an entire month in this project and how do I celebrate?  By almost forgetting to take a picture and having to throw one together late at night. 

January 31

View from the library window

The main purpose of this photo is to marvel at how beautifully blue the sky is.  If all winter days could be like this, it would be a lot more bearable.

January 30

Oranges

Winter always brings an overabundance of oranges, which seems somewhat counter-intuitive, but there we are.

January 29

A winter's day

Although I really dislike the cold and the grey of winter, the silhouettes of the tress are always interesting.  This is another view from my bedroom window. 

January 28

Athenian Democracy

Just a selection of the books I'm ploughing through for my first democracy essay.

January 27

The Corpus Chronophage

I had a supervision at Corpus Christi today and so took the opportunity to photograph their clock.  It is certainly unusual; the grasshopper/locust on the top is eating away time (check out the Greek roots) second by second.  There is something about it that really appeals to me - perhaps the concentric circles, perhaps the Greek name, or perhaps the unusual blend of old (gold) and new (blue LEDS by which to tell the time).  I really don't know.  This photograph also captures the reflection of Kings College which is on the other side of the street and a cyclist going past; both quintessentially Cantabrigian.  An accident which I am actually quite proud of.

January 26

You're being watched

When did the government decide that it is ok to watch us all the time and, more importantly, why did no one voice any objection to this?  In your everday life you're watched by many cameras per day.  The popular statistic bandied about is a person is captured on camera 300 times per day and, although this is probably not accurate, the number of times a person is captured is still alarmingly high.  The justification for this police-like state is it helps convict criminals and keep the streets of Britain a safe place, and yet the recent case of the murder of Joanne Yeates tells us this is not the case.  Society is more and more losing its sense of privacy and the importance of it.  My friends complain to me when I do not upload every single picture I take onto facebook, but rather vet them and only put the good ones up.  But really, I would prefer that no one saw that picture of someone mid-blink that makes them look stoned.  Who knows who will be able to see it, make a copy, and abuse it at some point in the future?  You can bring up privacy settings all you want but really, as the News of the World phone hacking debacle is showing us, just because there are privacy settings doesn't mean people can't get around them.

January 25

Classics Faculty Library

Today has mostly been spent in the library.  This is the view from where I was sat.  The photo was taken on my phone so the quality isn't very good.

January 24

Giving Blood

Today I gave blood.  It was my first time donating in Cambridge but the seventh time I have donated overall (so they told me multiple times whilst I was there).  I always think of a special, brave lady who is close to my heart when I give blood.  I miss her so very much.

January 23

Wall of Love

While listening to the radio I started to put the photos back up on my board.  I always like having them up there so I can see many people who I love and remember all the fun times.  It's particularly good to look at when I get really stressed with work.

January 22

Light Reading

In the summer between first and second year, my friends and I began a project in which we all chose a book and then everyone else read it and wrotes comments in it.  I'm determined to complete this, or at least to have read everyone else's book so I have been working my way through My Sister's Keeper.  I've read it before, so it's been quite quick, but I love reading the comments the others have put in it.  My commenting colour is orange.

January 21

Bike

This is my trusty bike which I use to get around Cambridge.  I've had it since I was about 11 and (apart  from my oboe) it was the first big thing I ever saved up to buy myself.  My parents paid for the majority of it, but I had to save up £39 for it, which, when you are on £1 pocket money per week, is a hard task.

January 20

Mail from my mother

This actually arrived in the mail yesterday (no, this is not the start of a trend) and is so true.  I'm sure lots of people don't understand and think 'she's just a cat, why are you so worked up about her?' and in the context of all the suffering in the world, this is true.  But we've grown up together, she absolutely always knows how to make me feel better, and, quite frankly, personalitywise we're very alike.  This card contained an update on my cat's health and I'm happy to say things are looking up.

January 19

Postcard from Barcelona

This actually arrived for me in the mail yesterday.  Last week one of my friends went for a brief trip to Barcelona and I charged her to come back with the cheapest, tackiest souvenir possible.  And then this arrived for me.  It's brilliant, I love it for it's tackiness and it now resides on my board.  Unfortunately I really struggled to get a photo which would do it justice (most attempts were blurry) and so here is the best I could do.

January 18

Lent Term Timetable

Lent Term officially starts today, so in honour here is my lecture timetable.  I don't yet know when my supervisions are going to be, but this is a very reasonable lecture timetable and kinder than Michaelmas!

January 17

Mr and Mrs Graduation Duck

When I was in the States in summer 2009 one of my friends had just graduated high school and she had a graduation party at her house.  These ducks were part of the decorations.  While I was not there for the party, there were still many pairs of ducks lying round the house when I went to stay and she gave me a pair to take home.  I absolutely love them, and they reside on the ledge overlooking my desk reminding me of her and how much fun I had at her house that summer.

January 16

Desk Lamp

I really like my desk lamp.  I like how it spirals, and I like how it is touch activated and has three different levels of lighting.  I think this photograph captures the interesting shadow it creates as well.  The only problem is it has a tendency to hum annoyingly and so sometimes, when it's not in use, I have to turn it off at the wall.  My sister has an identical lamp and we have discovered another problem is the electronics which operate the touch function are affected by my father's radio transmitting.  Thus, when he sends morse code, it is like a mini disco in her bedroom and an unsuitable room for any epileptics. 

January 15

Dissertation workings

Still haven't been out anywhere, so today's photo is dedicated to dissertation work of which there has been a lot but of which A LOT more is needed. 

January 14

View from my window

It's a grey day in Cambridge and I haven't been out, just working, so here is the view from my window.

January 13

My baby

Today has not been an especially good day and to top it all off I had some bad news about my beautiful cat.  Since I cannot photograph her in the flesh, because we are separated, here is a photo of the photo of her which is by my bed.  Although the focus is not brilliant, I like how the reflection of me is also in the shot.

January 12

A lovely cup of tea

Nothing much exciting has happened today, but nothing can beat a good cup of tea.  Especially in my new mug.

January 11

Bookshelves

One of my friends can't bear to watch movies in which a house gets trashed and then you are not shown the house put back together.  I discovered this last term and it has kind of stayed with me.  On this note, today's photo is of my bookshelves successfully ordered.  I am kind of OCD about the ordering of books, so this photo somewhat makes me squee.

January 10

Bookshelves

 I've arrived back at school and these are my bookshelves before they've been put together properly.  I'm kinda OCD about them, but there is something lovely about this temporary state of disarray.

January 9

Sister and suitcase

A day full of packing and hanging out with my little sis watching movies - HP5 on DVD and The King's Speech in the movie theatre.

January 8

Bodleian Library

When you are surrounded by beautiful, old, buildings every day, you tend to become a bit blasé about them, so, on my way to reading for my dissertation in the Bodleian today, I took a photo of the building against the brilliant blue sky.  I am truly lucky to be surrounded by hundreds of years of history every day in the two towns in which I live.

January 7

Southern Style Biscuits

Chatting with a friend (in the US) on facebook who was about to embark on cooking biscuits from scratch inspired me to try to make my own; biscuits being one food I seriously miss when I'm in England and one which really doesn't travel the span of the ocean well.  Although they tasted like biscuits, British flour is different to US flour and so they really didn't rise well.  I'm still quite impressed by my attempt - a small slice of home.

January 6

Zephaniah

For Twelfth Night it seems fitting to photograph our Christmas pointsetta.  This one is Zephaniah.  Every year, when we buy the Christmas tree, we also buy a new pointsetta to add to the collection.  At Zephaniah's arrival we had Ermintrude and Esmerelda.  Unfortunately, over Christmas, Esmerelda caught a cold and died, but the other two live on to fight another day.

January 5

A Sign at Work

I love my job, and I love funny/ridiculous signs, so this seemed like too good an opportunity to miss!  What this study actually means is that volumes of 'Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies' are kept in this cupboard but the face value of this sign is brilliant.  Yes, I work an independent publishing house and book shop and yes, we keep a volatile Middle Eastern nation in a downstairs cupboard, your point is?

January 4

My Favourite Christmas Tree Decoration

Our tree is coming down tomorrow, so I took the oppotunity to take some shots of various tree decorations.  Our tree is a very eclectic mix, with a chronological theme.  It is mainly adorned with Snoopy,  Doctor Seuss, crabs, and American patriotic decorations.  This is one of those.
EDIT: This year we broke our number-of-ornaments-on-the-tree record with 179!

January 3

My Beautiful, Strange, Pastry Loving Baby

Well, at 14 she's not really a baby, but she does love pastry.  Plus this photo has many of my favourite things - tea, puzzles, mince pie, Jemima.  There is no accounting for that cat's taste.  I think she thinks she's human.  She likes many human foods including (but not limited to) all meat, all cheese (including stilton), croissants, pain au chocolat, crisps, muffins, pastry.