society cafe

a list of the times i've been to society café on st. michael's street:

1. Meeting up with Lana in Michaelmas term of 1st year. We were supposed to go to this other café that I'd found when I googled 'cafes oxford' but it was closed so we came here. I haven't seen Lana that many times in Oxford -- we live in completely different worlds. She looks exactly the same though.
2. Hilary term 1st year: Meeting Alexis for the second time after Tobi had brought her to an informal Isis meeting (location: the then-new Common Ground coffee on Little Clarendon St) because she'd heard a lot about me and wanted to be friends. I ducked into Society right after having lunch with Emily at Handlebar just down the street, so this would've been our first meeting when we'd both just been chosen as the new Isis editors. The Handlebar has this French waiter who speaks with a heavy accent and I'd instinctively ordered in French. I came to Society early to wait for Alexis but she was late, so I sat downstairs with a tea and carrot cake for the longest time. Eventually she showed up and we had a riveting discussion right before she left for China.
3. Shortly after my meeting with Alexis -- like, a couple of days after -- Sanaa and I dropped in to her Homecoming Queen launch which was here at Society after hours, before going to the Isis HT18's journalism panel.
4. Michaelmas 2nd year: group lunch with Michelle and Li to celebrate/welcome their entry as Sine Theta interns, and then I was bored so we decided to skip down to Society to study. I was reading T. J. Clark's Farewell to an Idea for my Picasso essay and greatly, greatly struggling. Eventually the others left but I stayed until 7pm agonising over that chapter. 
5. Today, Trinity 2nd year. I keep forgetting that you can't move the tables here at Society. The table is a bit too far away from the (hard wooden) bench for my comfort so my back and shoulders are definitely gonna hurt after this. I passed by Society on the way to brunch with Gabriel at Bill's and decided to spend my afternoon studying here. But I need to remember the thing about the table's distance from the seat. I don't think I'll be back anytime soon.

I guess it's just cool how many experiences overlap and fold onto each other in a small town like Oxford. I've been to other cafes like Skogen too many times to count now, but here at Society I still remember all the little details of each time I was here, like the fact that the toilets used to have blackboard walls with chalk graffiti encouraged, but now is just a regular toilet. 

little update

Yesterday was the day I'd picked to have a chill little birthday picnic outside but it rained intermittently all day (it's been raining for over a week now) so we had it in the JCR instead. When I came back I did a bit of reading, or tried to, while Gabriel napped, and then watched a movie before going to sleep. I woke up at 11 to a really sunny day, which is infuriating, and had cake leftovers for breakfast before going over to Skogen for a light lunch and some studying. I finished Saturday's reading, did another, and then half of another, before we went to the Anthroposphere launch, then got bubble tea and came back, and I've still not finished this reading but it's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

When I get my own place I'm going to try to keep a clear desk, and put all my necessities like stationery and books on shelves etc. so that I can periodically wipe down the surface of the desk. I just noticed earlier that my desk has some oily patches on it and when I wiped it with a tissue it was black. So that's why. But I never know how you're meant to keep a shelf, with all of the books and knicknacks on it, tidy and clean. Do those fluffy duster things actually work? How do you keep dust off? I don't know.

things i like #12

Wow, the last "things i like" post I made was a full year ago. I haven't posted much on this blog lately because it requires way too much brainpower to string together full sentences about Interesting Topics rather than just fragmented ramblings about things immediately connected to what i'm doing at that very moment.

Anyways, this is dedicated to the broken escalators at Tesco on Magdalen Street which bar customers from going to the basement, where the snacks, sugary things, and health and hygiene items are stocked.

- when you open a new dove soap bar and you run your fingers over the dove logo stamped onto the soap, which because it's new feels really harsh and hard but also substantial and strong; also the smell of dove soap
- my chemical romance
- rilakkuma paraphernalia
- being able to rip off a piece of tape with your teeth in one go
- my new(ish) sienna uniqlo pants. the color is just so beautiful, im obsessed with it!