So this is the hobbit…

You join me as the main theme from Lord of the Rings, entitled Concerning Hobbits plays. Pretty much the same tune is used in The Hobbit too. I’ve gone a little Middle Earth crazy lately what with watching all four films set there last week. The tune though always makes me think of the Shire, home of the Hobbits. And in some ways I am like a Hobbit- I have fairly large and quite hairy feet and I live in Hampshire. It even has “shire” in the name. Admittedly I am considerably taller than the average Hobbit but let’s forget about that major flaw in this analogy.

Basically I am like Frodo Baggins, hanging around the Shire being fairly content but waiting for something more exciting to come along where I get to go on long journey meeting all sorts of hideous creatures (I went to the North once which was a similar experience but let’s forget that for now.) At the moment I’m drifting through life, not exactly enjoying it but getting through. University life is so rubbish compared to being in school teaching and with an entire year to go before my next teaching practice, I find it very frustrating. But still, some things are happening in my life which are probably worth sharing.

My new year mission to get fitter had to be put on a hold for a week as the snow and ice refused to go away, making going for a run impossible. Eventually the rain washed it all away and I could get going again. This morning I moved onto week 3 of the program, which was quite frankly horrific. Laura, the virtual fitness coach, was particularly mean, demanding I carry on even if it was hurting. Which it really was. I fear week 3 is going to be hard to get through but I’m determined to carry on. Frustratingly I’ve not lost any weight since the immediate loss but as the program becomes more intense hopefully I’ll lose a bit more.

Last week it was suddenly announced that I had two days to decide the general area for my dissertation. The dissertation is a ten thousand word research project which will count for 20% of my degree. You can expect me to talk about it a lot as my course draws to an end. After much scratching of the head, I eventually decided I want to my dissertation about in the subject of English, specifically reading. My only current idea is something about using comics/graphic novels as a motivational tool for reading. Whether whoever my supervisor ends up being things that’s a good idea or not remains to be seen. I hope they do because I’d be very pleased to end up doing my dissertation on one of my geeky interests.

I finally started our new history module last week. This one involves very little to do with teaching practice and is instead a study on the Victorians, which I am very excited about. The first session was about the Great exhibition and Victorian industry which led to some fantastic moments. The tutor asked us to come up with something you wanted to know about the Great Exhibition and mine was “Who cleaned the windows?” Annoyingly no answer came. Another great moment came when a photo of legendary engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel came on the screen and a member of the group said to me: “he’s got sideburns like you”. Seriously, day made. You may recall I was going for the Victorian gentleman look and it look like I have now finally achieved it!

^{This is Brunel. I now need to find a top hat…}

I have been spending a fair bit of time with my housemate Josh lately- he is the Samwise Gangee to my Frodo Baggins. Josh has a special talent for accidentally making comedy out of the dullest moments of life. Paying for shopping at the supermarket is pretty dull. I paid for mine and waited as Josh did his. Then the cashier scans Josh’s copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and Josh’s face goes very red and he immediately murmurs “It’s not for me”. That was a big fat lie. Josh bought said “book” for an essay, which is apparently allowed if you are a student of English. It was a true picture of embarrassment.

Fortunately that is not the only tale of amusement courtesy of my housemates to tell you this week. One lunchtime Jaz took me to see the person he called “the BJ woman”. Yes, I know what you are thinking- she’s some kind of prostitute who offers a particular service. Worry not, BJ here stands for legendary local sandwich shop Baguetti Junction. I do believe Jaz needs to be use the full name in future before something unfortunate occurs.

And that is where I shall end for today, still awaiting for Gandalf to pop by and force me on an adventure. January has been a pretty good month, full of decent experiences, albeit one that was not exactly jam-packed with thrills. I shall see you in February for whatever it has to bring!