Skeleton dance.

I had to do one last Halloween post. I used to watch this every single Halloween when I was little:

A walk on Halloween.

There were people running a marathon through the main streets of Oxford today. They were having a hard time because it was super crowded. I don't usually like to judge, but what a stupid idea. There are so many back roads and beautiful country pathways in Oxford - why run through the busy streets? I have a hard time walking through those. But I did, today - I walked to Greens and back, and saw the Martyrs' Memorial, which was covered in pumpkins.


And I wore this shirt, which has special significance, although only a few (if any) of you will know why.



Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin.

This evening, I carved my pumpkin, named Alfred (as I am studying Alfred the Great this week). Behold, the process:



And the result:



Is it the most creative Jack-o-Lantern in the history of time? No. But it makes me happy. I enjoyed scooping out its pumpkin guts.

Halloween.

The morning of the day before the day before Halloween is a great time to take graveyard photos. Early morning is ideal, because there are fewer people around to stare at you. I don't mind them staring, but it does make my face red in the pictures.

These have really got me in the Halloween mood. Click on each to see it bigger ... if you dare.

Buildings on Banbury.

I love walking along Banbury Road. There are so many amazing Victorian houses - and magpies. Noisy, wonderful magpies. These are some pictures from my walk to school this morning.

Magpie in a tree:


One of my favorite non-Victorian houses ...


... and the awesome tree in front of it.


When I got to town, I went to the Bodleian (a.k.a. the Boderino) to work. You're not supposed to take pictures in there, but I sneaked one.


Make that two:


The Bod is wonderful, but also kind of scary. There are guards there who look in your bag and tell you to move it along if you stand too long in the staircase (didn't happen to me - I saw them tell it to some other guy).

On the way home, there were more magpies; four in fact. I'm pretty sure one of them was doing the sexy dance at another.


And then there are the houses. Most have them have been taken over by the university, but I think a few of them are still used as homes for some lucky people.













Some of my favorite parts of the journey: this little vine-covered entranceway, and a white house nearby it.



Towards the end, the sun started setting and it got kind of dark.

These burgers are crazy.

There's a place on Broad Street called Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and by God if they don't have the best burgers ever. I don't even eat beef; I had the lentil burger. It may just be the best food I have had at Oxford, and I've had some pretty good food here. My friends and I each got a different type of burger, but we all came to the same conclusion: these are the best burgers ever. EVER.

This was mine: lentil burger with lettuce and tomato, onions, sour cream, salsa, and ketchup. It was a tower of burgery deliciousness.


Elizabeth with hers: a hamburger with avocado and bacon.


Yoel with his lamb burger; check out the classy Wadham crest.


Kenny with his burger, another type of hamburger; I don't remember what was on it, but word is that it was also delicious.


I like how they all assumed the same pose. That's because it was pretty much necessary to cut the burgers in half to eat them - they were so big ... and delicious ... and amazing.

Giveaway.

This is just to let you know that Anabela of Fieldguided is hosting a giveaway on her blog of lovely things from All Modern. I'm entering in hopes of winning these:


Birdie placemats! Oh, to have such lovely, grown-up things. At the moment I don't even own my own plates, but someday I will - and it would be very nice to put them on such lovely, birdie, grown-up placemats.

Pictures of pictures.

Today I decided to be that person who walks around Oxford with a Polaroid camera, taking pictures. It was fun, because I love taking pictures, but I got a lot of stares, particularly in the morning in the cemetery from this one guy sitting on a bench. It doesn't help that the camera I have is extremely loud. I was afraid I was going to wake up the man who lives in the cemetery - or his dog, who also lives in the cemetery and looks so cute when he's curled up asleep next to the man. I feel bad when I see them there every day and know that they have nowhere else to go. I feel like leaving something for them, like a sandwich and dog biscuits or something, but I'm afraid that the man might be offended by it.

In any case, here are the pictures.

St. Giles Church:


The cemetery:


Me among the leaves and the gravestones:



War memorial:


Ashmolean Museum:


Wadham:


Radcam:


I still have one or two pictures left in my camera and another whole pack of film, so I'll probably head out another day soon to take more. I'd like to get a shot of the Natural History Museum and the other parts of the Bodleian, and perhaps a picture of one of the old Victorian houses that line Banbury Road. I think a Victorian house would look nice in a Polaroid format; it's very gothic, or something.