Weekend Wrapup

Apologies to the few of you out there who check this regularly for not posting yesterday. I wasn't really up to writing much last night, and today was pretty uneventful, so I thought it would be best to combine my whole weekend into one entry. Of we go, then!
Saturday was spent at the zoo with Manabu, Graeme, and Sandra (another PhD student and another Canadian - in an odd reversal of roles, there are by my count twice as many Canadians as Americans in our department). Sadly, I still didn't get to see the giant walking stick (or, if you prefer, giant stick insect; a few people were confused as to why I was that excited about an oversized cane), but I refuse to let that dampen my spirits, and I remain resolute. We did get to see the fur seals and penguins put on quite a show, which was a pretty good consolation prize. Afterwards, we sidled down to Clifton to buy a late lunch/early dinner at a pub. As with so many things in Clifton, it wasn't cheap, but in the end it was worth it, as I had my first really good meat pie since I got here.
I spent the evening in my room working on homework, which I only mention because I did so for a good two hours before I realized that the house Halloween party was going on not twenty feet from my door. Upon learning that, the rest of my evening was shot, but I had a thoroughly enjoyable time watching my housemates have a bit too much to drink (not that I can claim to be totally innocent on that charge either).
Sunday was really profoundly uneventful, spent finishing up old projects and getting ready for new ones. Just so you'll all know what I'm referring to in the coming week or so, here's what's on tap academically and why I've been so miserably busy working:
Tomorrow - Write-ups of my statistics exercises due for "Research Methods"
Tuesday - Take a test and begin work on a web page about pterosaurs for "Scientific Communication"
Friday - Turn in an essay about conodonts for "Current Controversies." On the plus side, there's an MSc trip to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.
Saturday - Another trip, this one to the Avon Gorge, all of half a mile from here
Next Week - Ice Age presentation, test studying, more essays, and who knows what other good stuff
So, there may be a series of boring study days like today coming up. Whoopee! Just bear with me, I'm sure things will start getting much more interesting soon...