I should probably endeavour to update this thing more than twice a month

You'll note, though, that I said "should," which means that it probably won't happen.

Ah, well.  Some of you still come by, whether out of duty, respect, morbid curiosity, actual interest, or random chance.  Either way, thanks for that.

So, what's been going on the last couple of weeks here in the land of Ice and Snow?

Well, for one, it's been rather bipolar, weather-wise, here.  I was originally intending to take a bunch of photos showing the complete lack of snow and ice after the last update but, alas, it would seem as though Iceland decided to thwart my plans, what with it suddenly snowing over the last couple of days.  The weather is alternating between that nice, late-winter mildness and the mid-winter, bone-chilling cold that makes your exposed skin burn when you come into a building with even a mild amount of heating.  I, personally, can't really decide which of the two I like more.

School-work proceeds apace, with my Old Norse Religions course having two more tests and an essay (which I should really get working on) before we're done with it; Paleography has a trio of projects before our massive (70%!) final at the end of the term, and Old Icelandic has it's midterm exam next Wednesday.  Of course, I am suffering from a bout of academically existential dread over the exam.  While I am getting better at my translations, my grasp of the grammar is still tenuous at best, amateurish to be accurate, and completely inept if I were being harsh on myself.  In more positive academic news, I've decided on an idea for a thesis* and I'm just waiting now to hear back from a potential advisor.

Shifting gears, albeit in not as radical a way as it might first appear, Saturday was not only the first game of Pathfinder I've ever run (and the first game I've run in over a year, generally), but it was also Ásdísarblót.**  After Ásdís departed for drinks, mutual friend of David, Ryder, and Johanna named Magda showed up with belated cheesecake and a loaf of delicious marbled cake-like-object.  While hanging out, it was brought up that Magda's PhD work is, essentially, a much more advanced version of what I want to do for my thesis and she's even got the same advisor as I was hoping for, which is awesome.  And then Siobhan called, asking if we wanted to partake in an adventure.

This was, of course, a silly question for her to ask.  I have never turned down adventure in my life.  So with remarkably little cajoling and convincing, David , Ryder, Hayley,*** Magda, Johanna, Siobhan, Anna,**** and I went off northward in search of Aurora Borealis.  Unfortunately, a sudden snowstorm barred our northern advances and we were forced to turn back.  After a while, though, the snow let up and we ran around a rather mountainous hill.  There may or may not have been a troll spotting as well, but that's something speculative which I will have to store in my "go back and check it out" file for now.

That's about it, really, for the past two weeks; mostly studying, with the rare bit of high nerdery and mid-grade adventure thrown in.  This week, though, being a week off of Old Icelandic, promises to have more fun.  We (Paul, Ásdís, Liv, and I) are hoping to go skating on Tuesday, and Paul and I are trying to organize a roadtrip on Thursday.   I also may have talked myself into an endurance-based beer-drinking contest with Magda scheduled for Wednesday night.  That may or may not end poorly for me.  We'll see.



*Basically, it's writing the descriptions for chapter on Polearms in Dungeons and Dragons: Early Medieval Scandinavia.
**I like to name birthdays, apparently.  For example, I have Jimmas, Ásdís gets Ásdísablót, Siobhan has Siobhannukah, Hana gets Hanadan, etc.
***Another Canadian, from BC, and a friend of Johanna's.
****Possibly?  I forget, mostly because I'm a terrible person like that.