I feel like a preschooler.

So, like, new term and everything, ready to slip in all mellifluous-like? How is your first day back? Three weeks ago, you say? Interesting.

Ah well. I've got homework to do.

*Wavy lines to indicate the passage of time*.

Do ya reckon that's a bit hackneyed? Well, I don't care, I enjoy it nonetheless, biznitches. Haha; I totally did my homework and stuff: It was so lame; a transcription (from a shorthand dictation) of "buying a new car". I didn't think it possible but it was actually less enjoyable than reading Middlemarch. Speaking of which, I've just started Mansfield Park. Here's some mildly uninteresting facts that contextualise Mansfield Park:

• If you call it a work of the Victorian period, you will be hung, drawn, and quartered.
• It was written and published during the reign of George III, roughly during the period in which he succumbed to a debilitating mental illness, which necessitated the regency of his son (George IV, who held the regency period between 1811 and 1820).
• It features prominent themes of traditionalism, and the aristocracy.
• George III's reign was marked by a continuation of 18th Century principles of gentrification, class structure, and economic depravity (well, if you were poor or not respected).
• George IV, whom you may have seen parodied quite excellently in Blackadder III, was a decadent and hedonistic ruler; obsessed with promiscuity, parties, prostitution, and food. Nice chap.
• Billy Piper played a fanny in the televisual dramatisation. Hahaha.

So there you go; that's it contextualised for you. Feeling slightly more intellectual already? Maybe that's the direction I should take this blog in: Ask for permission for the transcripts of my lectures, and then transcribe them verbatim on here. Wouldst thou enjoyeth to sup from my cup? For it doth runneth over with extraneous informations.

'Transliterate' is a lovely word, it's a shame it has such arcane applications. Now there's a word which is a bugger to use too: "Arcane", I've always (until recently) found it reasonably difficult to differentiate between "arcane" and "esoteric", as well as sometimes getting confused with "erudite" as well. I take the last to mean 'learned', the first to mean 'specialist knowledge', and the middle to me 'weird pointless rubbish'. I know esoteric is more similar to abstruse, but well, I don't know. Perhaps I should reconsider my positions entirely? OK; I will take "arcane" to mean pointless to know, and thus not widely known. I will take "esoteric" to mean a higher level of thought required for understanding, and I will take "erudite" to mean learned. OK!? You happy now!? God damn you metaaudience.

I have nothing to say to you. Go away.

*Lines of lol*.

So I just had a CRM (remember those?) plenary about what employers are looking for post-grad, and, well, it got me thinking about how I should solidify precisely what it is that I want to do with my life, and my career. So, here it is (bear in mind the immediacy and seeming irrelevance of some parts, as opposed to the huge importance of the other bits :D):

Life plan: Finish degree; do an MA in English Literature; do a PGCE; do teaching English abroad; emigrate to Canada; work as a freelance journalist; write on the side/work for a publishing house as an editor/proof reader (one begets t'other); teach; retire; die.

1. Book a 40 minute session with a careers advisor, who is hopefully going to basically just point me in the right direction in terms of experience and voluntary work. I want to build on the experience of working at a newspaper, and volunteering in a bookshop, and get some more pragmatic opportunities. I want to hopefully get some part-time work at a publishing house, as well as doing some marketing and PR for an MS charity; I'm also contemplating working for the university 'newspaper', but I am reticent because it's such a giant pile of rubbish. In terms of publications, I can hope to get some charity newsletters out, and when I am at home, I can hope to work on the community newsletter - coupled with that I can definitely help out with some publicity for the Oxfam shop I work in at home, and my friend has connections at The Independent which should get me some more room. Basically, what I want from this career advisor is opportunities to expand my horizons. Given the fact that many of the stages of my life will require vast experience, and a wide array of skills, I think it's important for me to spread myself as widely, but as precisely, as I can.
2. Really utilise the career opportunities that I have at my university. Seriously; some of this place is a shit-hole, but it has some really good elements too.
3. Get the voluntary work (timetable allowing).
4. Pass the year with a 2:1 or higher.
5. Work for the IP next year, as well as perhaps carrying on some of this.
6. Graduate with a first.
7. Do a masters (somewhere else), most probably in English Literature - focussing on the Gothic, or something similar.

That should be enough to be going on with. Oh yeah, and I need to find someone who loves me too. Damnit I wish academia was enough.