I Am Not Dead: A Bumper Update Edition

WHAT IS THIS MADNESS, A NEW POST?!

I know, I know. It's been about 10,000 years (actual time: a whole calendar month, which is totally accidental!) and ohhhh my god, what a month. Let's see if I can even formulate any kind of coherent narrative for my life in all that time.

So. Since January 25th...

• I've kind of been in a grief haze, which has meant I can carry on with life and stuff, but mostly I haven't really cared to. What it has essentially meant is that I can do all the things I NEED to do, but nothing more than that. I'm getting better now, which is kind of why this post even exists.
• Shakespeare has happened! Obviously... I did another presentation and only have one to go (Thank. God.) and I'm actually starting to care about what I'm reading again, which I'm really grateful for because, come on: I'm only going to be doing a Masters in Shakespeare once in my life, you know? It doesn't hurt that I'm right in the middle of the juicy juicy plays (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello) and it's difficult not to care about those.
• My nan had a funeral and it was the saddest, except (EXCEPT) when we were leaving the church, my dad's trousers fell down TO THE ANKLES and it was THE most spectacular moment, possibly of my whole life. I felt kind of terrible for laughing as much as I did, but then everyone kept saying how much both of my dad's parents would have laughed at it (A LOT) and really that just made me feel super close to them, which was nice.
• The day after my nan had a funeral, I went to London to hang out with Frances, which involved missing uni (whoops) but was, I think, exactly what I needed most in the world on that day. Best friends are pretty important, you guys. 
• Two days after my nan had a funeral, my dad went into hospital again. He's out now. That's pretty much all I have on that, other than to say that it was a super tiring week and I'm pretty glad it's over.
• Last week was reading week, which meant that out of a full 9 days, I had 6 off. This was unbelievably gratifying, and I managed to finish my first non-Shakespeare book of the year (a Stephen King book, natch) and made some good headway on a couple of others. I also read Macbeth ready for this week, and then somehow did no other work at all. Whoops?! (I may not fully have my Shakespeare motivation back...) 
• I have watched more Gilmore Girls than you would necessarily think sensible for a person who has a Masters to complete vaguely well. Whoops? 

That's just a little taste of the insanity of my life at the moment, and why I haven't been around at all for a month. I have been reading blogs but super rarely commenting, but know that I still love you all and your posts brighten up train journeys and times when I've collapsed on the sofa and can't quite do the stairs to go to bed. My return right now has been motivated by two things: the fact that my sister actually sort of reminded me I even had a blog last night (I know. I suck.) AND the fact that Alice's Villette readalong is a thing that is happening starting next week and I really really want to be a part of it because BEST READALONG GROUP EVER. So that'll be a thing (we can but hope).

So. Blow the horns, sound out the bells, I am back and will be haphazardly and sporadically (Clueless) posting about stuff sometimes and not other times and GOD this was fun to write and OK I'm done now. How are you all?