I'm back home from Oxford now until mid-January, alas. I'll probably be blogging a lot more over this period because I don't really have a whole lot planned for the holiday.

It's strange being home because, although I hate going back, there are certain things I miss about home without realising it while I'm away. Hot, multi-course meals. Watching TV on a sofa. Speaking of which, Current TV. Not being confined to one room. Having enough time to read - I intend to make full use of this. It's dismal compared to Oxford, but it's far from terrible, and I suppose I should be (and am) thankful for the things that make it so.

I've started off the reading spree by re-reading the Silmarillion - it's been a while since I re-read it. In fact, I'm having a bit of a Tolkien renaissance - I bought Lord of the Rings Risk this term, bought 4 of the History of Middle Earth books from Oxfam, listened to a bit of Blind Guardian and even encouraged other people to read the Silmarillion. I still think I've moved on from my youth when I was obsessed with Tolkien - I had little else to do - and now only think of him as one of my favourite writers. But although he might not be my absolute favourite author - I don't think I could name just one - I think his work is qualitatively completely different from anything else ever written, and as such I value it immensely.