Hey, good lookin'. Long time, no update.

Well, it's been a while. Sorry about that, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you for whom the traditional gender typology does not apply. What's been going on in the life of Jim? Well, allow me to let you in on it!

First off, the Midterm of Doom was...well, doom-ish. I did vaguely better than I was figuring I would, but that's not really very good at all, truth told. I passed, at least, which is something. I think. Well, either way, I passed, albeit just. Next time, Gadget, next time.

Next, Jimmas. Jimmas was good - it was exactly as I figured, a few morituri te salutant drinks with the guys, then, on Boxer Day, drinks with many more people! Hana, Siobhan, Erika, Ásdís, Carline, David, Paul, Bond, and I went to Cafe Zimsen. Now, we went there because, according to David, there were ostensibly going to be a good number of choir* folk. What we got, however, was no choir folk and a bar full of bingo playing Icelanders. Siobhan and David, being English, apparently have several natural ranks in Bingo-Sense, which explained why we stayed so long. Eventually, we took off and went to the old standby of Ölsmiðjan for a few more pints, some viscous, brown, licorice-flavoured liquor and a shot of Brennivín. After that, home!

The 27th and 28th were fairly uneventful. On the 29th, we went out for the first of two Halloweens we celebrated. Not going to lie, it was mostly an excuse to go to the pub. Of course, we also harassed Kristi while she was at work, which was fun. The only downside is that she works at Bakkus, a night club which, in Paul's words, encapsulates everything that will lead to the fall of Western Civilization. I didn't mind it so much, at first. It reminded a bit of the old Red Square back in St Catharines, what with the Funker Vogt and Girls Under Glass. And then they started playing trance music, so we got out. The night ended with us getting bátar and being accosted (and potentially ambushed) by a very nice young woman who was out on parole and wanted to have dinner with us. We obliged, but when she mentioned she wanted us to meet her boyfriend my Ackbar Sense started tingling. It was almost definitely a trap, but it was almost like partying back in Canada, so I was OK with it!

Monday, Halloween proper, we had another party for the MISantrhopes at Gamla Husíð, with Sarah and Rouan as hosts. It was good times. Much brennivín was consumed, as well as a great deal of candy and pasta. We also brought the Mexican Hat tray. This legendary artifact was discovered late one night by David, Paul, Ásdís, and I, deep within the bowels of our kitchen cupboards. It is a small thing, hardly more than 40cm across, shaped like a sombrero. What makes it so worthy of discussion, though, is that there is a small button just off-centre which, when pushed, begins playing the first few bars of El Jarabe Tapatío, the Mexican Hat Dance song. This wondrous device was able to draw and hold the attention of a quartet of grad students for the better part of an hour when first discovered, and this amazing effect seems to have persisted, as we were all dumbstruck by it's magnificence. After that, we went to the pub, then to the cemetery - wherein I was half-expecting a zombie attack, due to the fact that it is literally overgrown with trees and choked with graves - then back to the pub. Because we're classy like that.

After that, well, there's been classes and learnin' and whatnot goin' on. Also, there's the idea for an article that's percolating in my mind about gender interpretations of Hrafnkelsaga Freysgoða which might get written only to torque Paul off. Because our relationship is like that.

More later, folks!

*David is in the University choir. He sings like an angel. And speaks like a Turkish pimp. It's an awesome dichotomy.