Joan Didion, Electronic Farm Animals, and My First Mince Pie!

Oh boy. Its been quite the week. Between the jet lag, school work, and upcoming end of term my head is spinning. But first things first.

I sat next to a very chatty woman on the plane. Her name was Pryde (with a y) and she went on and on about her writer husband. She told me that he used to work for Time and the New Yorker, and she told me all about her kids too. She has five daughters, all of which are writers. One is named Joan, and I said "Oh, Joan is the name of one of my favorite writers" and she asked who and I said Joan Didion and she said, "Oh, we used to know her!" (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I was floored and completely did not play it cool at all. She told me that all the kids used to play together at Joan and Greg's (because no one really called him John). Duh.

The kids. As in her children and Quintana Roo. That killed me. I thought I was going to wet myself. How random is that? It's probably the closest I'll ever get to the woman herself. So cool.

Tuesday morning was rough, what with the jet lag and having to run right off to class but I was able to sleep Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday was CBS' Christmas Party, but this wasn't your regular office party. For some reason, I couldn't find the origin of the tradition, they have electronic furry animals running around the floor during the party. Apparently there were some already there when Stephan first started or something, and since then the office has added to the collection. It was hysterical. We didn't think that we were going to be able to get the kung-fu fighting hamster to work because we didn't have a small enough screw driver so Lauren broke it open to replace the batteries. That's right. It was that important. Don't worry, we taped him right back up so he's no worse for the wear. Just hearing her mutter "Bloody bastard" under her breath as she fiddled with the damn thing was worth it. That moment was worth the entire semester.

It was awesome to stay around and hang out at the party though. The girls that work there are really nice, and I found out that I had readership over there so I'm going to take this opportunity to say hello to Amelia and Lauren. Sneaky girls. At this party I had my first mince pie. I didn't even know what a mince pie was, but it was really good. Its like a pastry with berry compote in it, but its warm and delicious. One things' for certain - those Brits know carbs. I don't care what anyone says, they've definitely got that right. I'm sure that I added another inch to my waistline but it might have been worth it. I also finally learned what "SMS" means. Here in the UK the phone's don't say text message like they do in the US, they all say SMS and I had no idea what that meant. Amelia told me that its "short messaging system". Mystery solved. I know its a little thing, but it really has been bugging me for weeks. I didn't want to ask anyone because I knew I would get one of those "silly American" looks. I'm so tired of the "silly American" looks... However, Amelia delivered the information without the stigmatizing look. Thank goodness.

The semester is winding up now, which means exams and papers. I have everything for my internship (8-10 page paper and portfolio) due Monday so I am going into work tomorrow to gather stuff to copy and whatnot to put together. I can't believe that things are basically over. At least for the semester. It went by so quickly, it blows my mind.

Speaking of my mind being blown, I'm turning 21 on Tuesday. TUESDAY. WHAT?? When did that happen? Its funny because here its no big deal. I'm going out with a few friends this weekend, and then other friends during the week but I know that its not going to feel real until I get back to America. But I'm not complaining. I'm just going to have to have three or four birthday celebrations this year, for sure. What an imposition. SO much has changed between last year and now. Last year I was at Moosewood in Ithaca for my birthday. Now I'm in London. I guess that that is a big enough difference in itself, right? :-) I guess I could connect the dots between the two if I really wanted to, but isn't it more fun just to see where I started the year and now where I'm finishing it? The middle part is just sordid details.

I must go because it is my mission to finish this silly paper TONIGHT. I'm sure I'll be back in a few hours.

xx.