Avatar and some other thoughts

I'm quite sleepy and have class in the morning, but I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts before I forgot:

• Avatar was just as amazing and beautiful the second time around as it was the first, and I'm pleased by how many small plot details jumped out at me this time. I still believe that the plot itself was nothing hugely original, but that isn't what makes Avatar such a fantastic experience. Walking out of the theatre tonight, I felt much the same way I did when I walked out of the theatre after seeing in the first time: a sincere desire to be kinder to the natural world in which I live, and the obvious longing to have my own shiny green ikran to jet about on. Commuting to class in the mornings would be so much more exciting if, instead of waiting on the train platform, I flew there instead.
• Last night, at Daniel's suggestion, I began watching these Harvard lectures on youtube discussing justice, and I have to say I've become quickly addicted to them. Tim and I watched one more episode tonight before remembering that it's already quite late and we've got class in the morning, so I've resigned myself to not being able to watch much more of them tonight--but listening to discussions of utilitarianism and libertarianism really make me regret not taking more philosophy courses at UAH. Yes, Archie, you may commence fussing at me for my lack of foresight now, I probably deserve it. Anyway, I hope to watch through the whole lecture series while I'm here, because I'm definitely enjoying them so far.

And on that note, god natt <3

A Saturday update

I cooked yesterday! Granted, I chickened out on my pasty idea and instead went with something a little easier but no less delicious--spaghetti, with some very nice jarred sauce that tasted quite nice with the addition of some basil and garlic. We (being myself, Tim, Mike, Ray, Richard, and Elif) all ate at Elif's flat with a brief cameo made by her charming roommate Arner, before heading down to the Uglebo student pub on Blindern campus. It was a very nice night! Lots of the people in our extended friends group made appearances, like our German friends Julia and Bastian, as well as the Canadian Geoff.

Oh yes: Earlier in the day, Tim, Mike, Ray and I went on an Oslo adventure of our own and discovered this fantastic old bookshop that sells ridiculously old books. As in, 1901 editions of William Morris's poetry, 17th century old texts written in Latin, old globes that curiously lack the American continent, and, as Tim discovered, some 19th century editions of the Íslendigasogur written in English. *.* If only I were rich.

This morning started off a bit explosively, I'll be honest, with some morons on the ninth floor setting off the fire alarm with their cooking escapades. So I went staggering out into the snow with wet hair, looking extra frazzled along with everyone else in building twelve. Bah. Anyway, that aside, Tim and I took a walking tour along the upper part of Akerselva, a river running through Oslo, which took about two hours or thereabouts. It was actually quite cold out today, and in our rush to make the bus I left my camera at home--so no photographs of that today. ):

Tonight, Tim and Richard, our resident Dutch friends, are going to (make an attempt to) cook Dutch pancakes, and then around 8pm, I believe the plan is to head into town to see Avatar as a group. I've already seen it, but I'd definitely planned on seeing it again before leaving the states, so I'm fine with spending the krones to see it here. Tomorrow I'm going to try to slow things down a bit and focus on reading for my classes, as well as watch updates on BBC about the Australian Open men's final. Go Andy Murray! <3