First day of research, Gentle Reader! I slept somewhat poorly. That is, I fell asleep and woke up several times, as I’m not used to sharing walls with other people. Also the birds outside the window were screaming murder and that was problematic as well.
But! I woke up, had an early brekkie, and left to meet my dear friend Erica at King’s Cross/St. Pancras for some coffee/second brekkie. We, like the nerds we are, planned to meet at Platform 9 3/4, which now has a shop and a queue. I already have that picture from my trip in 2006, so we passed it by in favor of brekkie. She got lovely eggs benedict, and I got a croissant and an English sausage.
We then headed to the BL, got me squared away with registration and my reader’s card and my locker, and parted ways. But not for long! We will see each other on Saturday for a lovely Alice in Wonderland-themed tea!
The Rare Books reading room in the BL is one of my favorite spaces on earth. It’s big and bright and airy and each desk has a little lamp and plugs and the world’s collective wisdom is right there at your fingertips!
I received my requests that I had made about a month ago, and as is the case in archival research, some of it was amazing, some of it wasn’t helpful, and in one case, it was in French and German. So I blew through my requests, typing notes and researching to see what else I wanted to see.
Slings and arrows, Gentle Reader! Only ten requests PER DAY. I thought it was at one time!! I did some research on digital content only available in the Reading Room, and then collected my belongings and headed to the train station.
I saw the loveliest little cupcakes and got two for dessert tonight (mini smores and mini pistachio cherry), then rode the Tube to my stop. I grabbed lunch at Pizza Express, went grocery shopping for the essentials I didn’t get yesterday (paper towels, wipes for the counters, salt, which I still cannot find).
Then on the way back to the flat, I stopped at Gail’s bakery and snagged two scones (with clotted cream!), a sausage roll, and a cheese hand pie for dinner tonight. I’m enjoying cooking/eating at the flat in the evenings (based on my one evening doing it!) because my appointments require some travel finagling and I find it best to leave early. Also I’m not a night person anyhow!
So now I’m in my yoga pants, drinking a cuppa and just finished half a scone with cream and jam. After this, I will go over my notes, plan my voyage tomorrow, and maybe take a nap!
Yay!
The Postmodern Bluestocking 