Potpourri

Yesterday night I was watching North and South, the BBC's awesome adaption of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, and heard a small nagging voice in the back of my head. I know this place, I thought, as the female protagonist meandered her way through a field overlooking the fictitious industrial city of "Milton". I know those steps, I thought, as the male protagonist sprinted down a narrow dark alleyway filled with stairs.

Upon looking up filming locations, I was right. The grassy area was Calton Hill, which offers a spectacular view of Edinburgh on non-misty days. The production crew used CGI to dot the landscape with 19th century smokestacks to keep the city in character. The steps were Warriston's Close, which were just as creepy at night in real life as they were in the film (almost as creepy as the nearby "Fleshmarket Close"). I've been back from Edinburgh for only a month and a half, but the experience already seems half a world away (see, it's funny because Edinburgh IS half a- yeah.)

I came back on May 26th, and on May 27th went down to Gustavus to visit friends who were still suffering through taking finals. The moment I stepped onto campus, I caught sight of a student rushing lately across the sidewalk (someone whom I'd often seen running around), and instantly I knew nothing had changed. That realization can be either reassuring or frightening; I still haven't figured out which.

After a week at home, I moved down to Gustavus to start working full time for Tech Services. Coming back to a familiar job with friendly faces was a nice thing to have. There are so many things I love about this job, but honestly, one of the best parts is the time from 8:00 am to 8:15 am. It's our little 'free time' before our daily meeting, which I use to peruse news sites and stories from across the world. When you're at college or university, it's so easy to get caught up in your own bubble of life that you forget about the other ~195 countries in the world (not to mention the events happening in your own country). But in the summer, I find that fifteen minutes is all it takes. It's nice (and sometimes not so nice) to know what's going on in this crazy world.

This post was so random that it doesn't really deserve a title and it's almost time for our daily Jeopardy watching at work. Ben is on a mad winning streak of $150k+. If you were wondering. Bye.