My Dearest Friend Bilbo

Friday was the release date of the new Hobbit movie (or at least the first part of it). I have loved Lord of the Rings ever since middle school, and have made numerous jokes based off the series in everyday conversation more times than I can count.

Growing up I had always had trouble reading, and even when I could read properly for my grade level, I did not find many books I actually wanted to read. Finally my parents suggested a book to me called "The Hobbit: There and Back Again". I was hesitant at first, but after a few short days, I was hooked. The book took me to a place of magic, wonder, and where the smallest of creatures can be the most important. This book helped me take a step towards reading, becoming a geek, and becoming the odd girl that I am today. I am eternally indebted to JRR and his beautiful tale of a hobbit who never did anything out of the ordinary. Since after all, 'It's a dangerous business walking out your front door'.

When I first found out about the movie, I was thrilled. The Hobbit was my favorite book from the series and I have been waiting years for a good film about it to come out. I had actually heard about it being in production in 2010, and was already making plans to see it then.

It would have been amazing to have gone at midnight for the first showing on Thursday, but considering that I had two exams the next day, it kind of seemed like a bad option. So, instead, my housemates and I went Friday at 7:00 PM. We picked that time because my exams would be done by then and we could grab some dinner before the movie.

Being in the city were JRR Tolkien wrote his famous trilogy and its prequel, we chose to eat dinner at one of his known hang out spots, called the 'Eagle and Child'. (It is also called the 'Bird and the Baby' by locals. However, I usually accidentally call it the Eagle and the Bird.)

We had never been to the quaint little pub, but I found it very much to my liking. It looks very classic, British pub with a cramped walkway and cozy seats. You are immediately greeted at the doorway by a chalkboard sign which has a classic Merry and Pippin quote from the Fellowship of th Ring movie, where the two hobbits discuss pints, as well as small reminders of the movie placed here and there about the pub.

As you walk back further into it you find that it seems to continue on in a system of twists and turns that spiral on like a snail's shell, further into the pub. The seats range from comfy couches, to stiff wooden chairs, and benches with cushions, as well as a variety of table shapes. The bar sports Tolkien postcards you can purchase and off on the top of shelves you can see Gollum watching you order. There are also Lord of the Rings themed board games packed away up there, possibly for long nights spent there with friends.

Everything about the place told me that I was home. I could not stop smiling, half from geek-joy at being somewhere that one of my favorite authors had visited, but that it was also as amazing as I thought it would be. Unlike the 'Elephant House' where JK Rowling used to go, which is now over run with tourists. This place was just a quite place for local friends to enjoy each other's company, and probably still similar to how to looked when JRR Tolkien and his friends (CS Lewis being one of them) spent long hours discussing their lives and stories.

After our delicious meal, we vowed to return before our few weeks were over, and headed to the cinema for a movie.

The Hobbit was a wonderful film, especially considering how high my expectations were before it began. However, I do not really understand the need for three parts. I can understand two, because they have added a lot of scenes not in the books to try and tie the Lord of the Rings series with its prequel, as well as needing to cover the scenes actually in the book, but three parts? Come on, Peter Jackson. That just sounds like someone is getting a bit money hungry. Especially since the other three books were all in one film each and those worked out wonderfully. (They were really long, but they were still great movies.)

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"The most potent muse of all is our own inner child." -Stephen Nachmanovitch

Colleges are my Cup of Tea

Over this weekend, two of my roommates were away to Paris, while Austin and I got the flat all to ourselves, again. (If you want to know what all we did the first time we had a weekend alone, read my previous post, Holy Introverts, Batman!) I am not sure how we continue to get weekends alone, but they are always fun and we always do fun exciting things, so I'm not complaining.

This weekend we decided to revisit the Pitt Rivers Museum as well as look at some more local colleges that belong to the University of Oxford. (I will post separately about going back to the Pitt River Museum later.)


The colleges of Oxford University are placed all throughout the city center of Oxford. You will literally be walking down a back alley away and there will be a college's main entrance. And the entrance always has a giant wooden door from some thousands of years ago, but will only have a, comparatively small, normal sized door open that has been made in the larger door. And the walls of the colleges are always ancient looking and made with some gothic or georgian designs. And because of this, the city has this strange mix of old and new, as new businesses have moved in to spots between colleges but the colleges have stayed about the same. This and that you cannot go five minutes without seeing a college, unless you are purposefully avoiding them, I suppose, has made me very interesting in the different colleges. And this interest has somehow manifest into a need to visit the different colleges.

At the beginning of our stay here, my roommates and I went to a bunch of colleges that belong to Oxford University during an open house type day, where admission to all the colleges was free (as a lot of them charge an entrance fee). We went to some of the more well known and closer to our flat ones: All Souls College, Queen's College, and Magdalen College. We wanted to go to Christ's Church (pictured above), the college that the Great Hall in Harry Potter was based on, but the hours of availability did no work well so we missed that one.

We started by visiting Queen's College, which had a very beautiful garden and a lovely chapel. (For some reason whenever you visit a college in Oxford they always want you to see the chapel. Maybe some people pick where they want to go based on what they look like?)

The chapel had a golden eagle for someone to stand at and deliver a sermon from, as well as stained glass windows lining the walls. (I love stained glass, so I was very excited, even though most chapel's have stained glass. Although, ironically, the church I attended at home does not.) The ceiling was domed and very high, as well as there was decorations all around the walls, and the chairs were made of a carved dark wood.

All Souls College is one of the graduate schools that is part of Oxford University, and is located by the Radcliffe Camera and Bodleian Library. Walking in, they had a band playing on their main lawn, which is really the only lawn I think that they have. It was a big green square in the middle of a big square made by the college. I felt a bit trapped, but also like dancing (because of the music).

The chapel at All Souls also had the gold eagle stand, and stained glass. But the entire back wall was covered in immaculately detailed statues of Saints. It was breath-taking. Even though the main lawn was not much to look at, the chapel was well worth visiting. And the band, that was cool too.

The third and final college that we visited that day was Magdalen College, which is actually pronounced 'Mod-a-lynn'. The chapel was nice, and had black and white stained glass as well as colored ones, which I found interesting. And they had the golden eagle, which I found really confusing as I kept seeing it in chapels. England usually shows itself as a 'British Lion' and an eagle would be more American, I think. My Catholic friend did not having any answers for me either. Eventually (two seconds ago), I looked it up and it turns out that they are called 'Lecterns' and are usually eagle shaped to represent John the Apostle.

And like with All Souls, what they lacked in a fancy chapel they made up for in an amazing garden and gigantic grounds. We walked all around the deer park (yes, they keep deer here) and it literally took so long that we did not have time o visit other colleges we had planned on going to, and our legs were killing us. It was really beautiful though, and there was a small creak that ran next to the walking path where some people were punting. And there were lots of cute benches to rest on as well as another garden even further back into the college, that we sadly skipped.

So, after reading that, maybe you can better understand why I wanted to visit lots of colleges this weekend, or maybe not. Either way you are going to have to read about it.

At first we were worried that there may not be many colleges that did not charge an entrance fee for us to visit, but it turned out that there were a lot. We made up a small list of all the ones near the main road and what times they were open to visitors and double checked a map to make sure we knew where we were going. We assumed they were probably the smaller colleges, but that's better than nothing.

The quest started us out at St. Edmund College. We had passed by it a few times on the way to places when we wanted to take some back roads, but I had never thought about trying to enter it. As we walked up and peered inside the traditional giant wooden door, with a normal door cut out of it, we saw a sign that said 'Closed to Visitors', so we backed off and tried to get a view inside over the wall. The wall, which is about seven or eight feet high, so of course we saw nothing. There was however a gate a bit up the street where you could see into a small cemetery on the grounds. Some students walked pasted it on their way to class, and I became really upset we were not able to enter.

It may sound creepy, but I love graveyards. Not because I love writing in diaries and meeting vampires there, or I that I have some strange obsession with death, I just like the history. Seeing all the places where I know for a fact people from centuries ago have been and lived, is really exciting to me. Also, I do think the hushed, sacred feeling that people get whenever you visit one is interesting too, but you can get that inside a church as well.

Next we walked up towards the Pitt Rivers Museum to find Keble College. It was a bit far away, but ended up being worth it. (Especially since it was only one of two colleges that we actually got to walk around.)

The buildings were styled with Neo-Gothic architecture  where the base of the structures were a dark brick, but there were designs made into the structure with a lighter cream stone. As in the entire design with done in the buildings face with varied colored stones and not painted on as most designs on colleges seem to be. And the designs varied from checkered, to stripe, to chevron, and dashed. But it all looked brillant together.

It was also a lovely day out, so Austin and I sat on a near by bench and discussed how much we loved this college and wanted to study here.

The main quod that we were at was still a large square, but there were cute small gardens all in front of the buildings and a large plus-sign walkway that went through the large square patch of grass in the middle, for ease of walking. The entire scene was just very picturesque and there was even a cute iron gate that led in to what it labeled as the 'gardens', although we were not permitted to go there.

There were also trees around the quad, but not too many to where it felt cramped. As someone who would not even apply to colleges without enough trees (I have strange tastes, what can I say), I can tell you this place had just the right amount of foliage. And the birds were singing all around, students were chatting politely while walking to class, the wind blew lightly allowing the flower's aromas to settle round the courtyard, and I was in love. Keble College is definitely my favorite Oxford University college to date. I wanted to stay there forever, but we were on a time limit so I did eventually have to say good bye.

As we continued walking we also were turned away from Haris Manchester College, Hertford College, and Jesus College (which actually we found by accident, since you actually have to pay to visit). We also walked past Trinity College, which I personally did not realize existed. And I am not quite sure why all of the colleges were closed to the public, since when looked up what times they were open online before coming. Perhaps it is because it was a weekday or because it is close to exams, but either way it was a tad disappointing.

The crowning jewel of this trip was suppose to be Exeter College, which I had determined I would walk into even if it had a 'Closed' sign. This is because Exeter is the college that J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, went to school. And I have gone to the Harry Potter Studios as well as the Doctor Who Experience, and it would not be right by my man JRR to not visit his school.

So as we walked over, I prepped myself mentally to just keep walking no matter what the sign said, and this worked as the sign did say the college was closed to visitors, but there was a woman working at the front of the entrance into the main courtyard. She just looked at me quizzically and I mentally began to panic, 'She knows! She knows! Abort! Abort!'. I literally could not force myself to walk past her, so I just settled for standing n the entrance hall looking into the main courtyard.

It was pretty with gothic style architecture  as most colleges around Oxford have. It was rather small and had dark designs on the walls. There was also some type of large clock on the wall adjacent to me, but that was about all I got. I'm sorry JRR, I tried... I tried...

I am hoping to go back and visit at least Exeter College again, even if I have to walk past security people, because I will be ready this time.

I did get to go into a 'Bonus' college though. St. John's College was not on our list but we walked past it as we were heading to St. Giles Church up the road and just popped in. It was ok, but no where near as nice as Keble College. But hey, a bonus is a bonus.

Besides colleges in Oxford, I have also visited Sarum College (in Salisbury), Cambridge University (in Cambridge), Winchester College (in Winchester), and Trinity College (in Dublin). But I will spare you the descriptons of those as this post is all about Oxford and it's awesome colleges/university.

If you for some reason want to see a list of all the places I have visited around the United Kingdom and European Union, you can by either clicking 'Adventures' on the top of this page, or click this link (which will still take you there): Adventures.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Abnormal is so common, it's practically normal." -Cory Doctorow

"The Cardiff Bus is the Only One I Take"

Cardiff is a very classy city. It is located right up to the coast and has lots of interesting architecture.

The buildings are not old, like in Oxford, although some are. Mostly the buildings are newer and more modern looking. Large glass windows, shiny, steel structures, and crowds of people walking about are the main things you will see there. (And the ocean, of course!)

There are almost two sections of the city, the area near the bay, and the more dense part, further from the city. The area near the bay is where the Doctor Who Experience is located, as well as the BBC Studio, Millennium Centre, and Roald Dahl Plass. In the Roald Dahl Plass is where the iconic Millenium Centre is located, along with a tall silver fountain, which any Torchwood fans would recognize as Torchwood Tower.

The buildings are shorter and only go up to about four or five stories max, besides a few specific ones. There is also lots of space to move around and the sidewalks are large and generally empty.

In the area further from the bay, the buildings are much taller and closer together. There was a giant mall right in the middle of it, and several tiny streets that could take you to different sections of the city. There were quite a few museums, such as the Cardiff Story, and churches located in this section of Cardiff, but we did not get to spend much time there.

However, all over Cardiff, you can smell the sea, and get just a taste of the salt in the air. Seagulls fly around, circling people for scraps of food, and the waves crashing against the bay is echoed around the city. There are also signs written in welsh everywhere, which just looks like nonsense unless you can read it. And every now and then you catch some people conversing in it, and it sounds a bit more elegant than it looks.

---

We had been planning to visit Cardiff for a long time, because of the Doctor Who Experience being located there. (My roommates and I are huge nerds, if you haven't noticed.) And we were very excited to get the chance to see all the cool costumes and trivia about one of our favorite shows. Technically, Libby was not caught up on the latest series, but we let her come anyways.

The Doctor Who Experience was amazing. Mostly because of the 'experience' part. You were walked through different rooms at the beginning of your visit and were told my the Doctor that he needed your help to escape the Pandorica 2. Once we helped him escape, we got to fly the TARDIS, but then crashed on a planet and had to run through an area infested with Weeping Angels. Then the Daleks tried to convert us, but luckily the Doctor assured them that we were poor stock for the Dalek race. Finally we were saved by the Doctor and transported by to the Doctor Who museum safely, although I did have a few black marks on my arms for some reason.

The rest of the Doctor Who museum was just like any other museum. It had costumes, props, and information on all things Doctor Who. And luckily, it had information on how history actually went, and none of the silly nonsense that teachers tell us in school. Such as that Queen Elizabeth the first never married because she wanted to elope with the Doctor but he left before they could get married. This is clearly all true, haha.

There were also set ups of some of the bad guys from the series, like the evolution of Cybermen and Daleks, and some of the Weeping Angels. And by the way, Daleks are huge! I am pretty tall and they even towered over me. Their plunger and whisk combo also made me a bit nervous around them.

All in all the Doctor Who Experience was amazing and well worth the money. Except I came out with TONS of weird black lines on my arms, almost like tallies. But worse things could have happened, right?

Afterwards, we continued our geek fest over to the fountain in Roald Dahl Plass, which is 'Torchwood Tower' in the Doctor Who spin-off show 'Torchwood'. There was also a Ianto Jones fan board that we saw near the bay, where people places pictures and letters about how much they loved Ianto Jones from Torchwood. We also ate at an 'American' restaurant called Eddie's, which I did not want to go to at first because we can eat hamburgers and pizza anytime we want, but it turned out that an episode of Doctor Who was filmed there, so I quickly got over that problem.

Lastly, we visited a museum called 'Cardiff Story'. It is all about how Cardiff was made and established from the point of view of people who lived there. We sat down for a while and watched a few videos about different people from Cardiff and their life stories living in the city. It was really exciting and interesting to get to hear about real people and see why Cardiff is special to them.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

P.S.- The title is from a song called "The Cardiff Bus Song" by I Loves the 'Diff. Also, thank you Austin for the pictures of Cardiff since my camera was not working properly that day.

"Fish and visitors smell in three days." -Benjamin Franklin

TV Show Trials

I have begun watching an interesting show called 'American Horror Story'. I am all caught up on my main shows (New Girl, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, etc.) and needed something to watch in my down time.

The show is interesting to say they least, and it definitely lives up to the 'horror' in it's title. i am not on the sixth episode and I am not sure if the show is getting less scary and creepy or I am just becoming acclimated to the scary parts.

I admit, I do like a bit of horror every now and then when looking for something to watch. Romantic Comedies actually upset me as to how easy the plot is to figure out. In horror and suspense movies the plot is usually more difficult to figure out, which I love. I think I also like them because of the adrenaline rush. I am quite a big baby at scary scenes, and usually cannot sleep for a few nights after watching a scary movie, but I cannot help but watch them. It's like those iced cookies at Walmart that always look delicious, but then you actually eat one and you remember that they taste horrible.

Also, if you end up watching 'American Horror Story', feel free to tell me what you think about it. There are some weird characters and some plot twists I am trying to foresee. And let me just tell you some of the weird, unimportant scenes that really stick out to me. This will either make you want to watch it, or really turn you off from it.

There is a girl who lives next door to the main (haunted) house who has down syndrome, and loves to break into the haunted house. The mother will be painting and Adeline (the girl I just mentioned) will show up out of nowhere and tell the mother that she is going to die. The daughter will be upstairs dancing to her music, when suddenly a hand grabs her, but lo! It is just Adeline being silly. There is even a scene where the family wakes up in the middle of the night to an intruder and they find out that Adeline has broken into the basement and is playing down there, just for fun. Yeah, I love hanging out in creepy basements at 2 AM also. But when the anyone talks about it, they are just like, "Oh, Adeline. She just does that. Isn't she precious?"

There is also a scene where a strange goblin-thing attacks these two girls in the basement. But instead of killing them or really hurting them at all, it just wiggles its fingers around in their faces while the lights flicker. Don't get me wrong, I would be scared to death if that happened to me, but what? This is a horror show, shouldn't it be doing something a bit more... horrible? Especially after it killed some little boys earlier in the show (it happens in about the first five minutes, don't worry).

Besides TV shows though, I have really been wanting to see 'Wreck-It Ralph'. I think it looks really cute, even though I think it got some bad reviews. I also wanted to see 'The Raven', which is about Edgar Allan Poe helping to solve a murder case (that is based off his stories), but apparently that came out in about February so I guess I missed that one.

I also saw a trailer for 'Taken 2', and I really do not understand why someone would steal Liam Neeson's daughter ever, but especially for the second time. He is clearly a bad a** so why would you mess with him? Besides even the fact that he played Aslan in Narnia and Batman's coach in the Dark Knight series, he is still awesome in the Taken series. He tracks down his kidnapped daughter all across the globe in less than 48 hours, using nothing more than a description of a tattoo and a few matches. Don't mess with that guy. One of my roommates thinks that Taken 3 is going to be about him kidnapping someone, I disagree, but that's alright.

There has also been the 'Perks of Being a Wallflower', 'Breaking Dawn Part 2', and 'Looper' out since I have been in the UK. Two out of three of those sounded interesting, but I (luckily) am not really excited about seeing any of them. This has allowed me to resist going to the cinema and spending loads of money, as well as keeping me from missing home and all of its amazing films.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"It never hurts to ask. Unless you ask for hurt." -Takayuki Ikkaku

Caitlin's Top 10 Mac Apps

Although I would not consider myself a computer expert by any means, I have spent a good many hours researching apps for my new mac and have found quite a few that I think are great ones that other people should definitely consider getting. If they are not available at the App Store, I have attached links to their webpages. And best of all, they are all FREE.

SelfControl - This app was designed to help you be more productive by keeping you from being able to access certain websites for a period of time of your choosing. You tell it what websites you do not want to be allowed onto, or tell it the few that you are only allowed on. I have only used it a few times, but I tried quitting the program and that did not even bring the websites back. It is very good for getting work done when Facebook is trying to distract you. You can not get it from the App Store though, but you can get it here. And yes, the logo is a spade with a skull and cross bones inside it, although I am not sure why.

OpenOffice - This is not really an app, but it is a free version of Microsoft Office that works on Macs and PCs. And although it is not exactly like MS, it gets the job done and you can even save your programs as MS Office programs (i.e. word files, etc.). It comes with a version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and a few more (although they are called something different). I have not been able to test it out as much as I would like, but I have friends who swear by it. You can download it here.

iProcrastinate - This is an app, similar to the calendar function on Macs, in that you can set certain events, but you can label them for different topics and mark when they are due on the calendar. It also allows you to mark how important they are and break each task into smaller ones that you can check off as you get parts of things done. You can even attach files to certain tasks so that if you are working on a project, everything stays together and you don't get confused. You can download this one at the app store.

Alfred - Is a neat little app that makes searching for things in your computer much easier. All you have to do is open the program and type in what you are looking for. It will even search documents and more for the keywords you type in, just in case you forgot what you titled last week's history report. You can get this at the App Store.

Caffeine - This app has a really simple job: it keeps your screen from dimming when it is on. That way, you can watch your favorite movie without having to get up and sign back in every few minutes, but you can also leave your settings alone and just turn this app on and off as you need it. Closing the laptop will still put it to sleep though. Available at the App Store.

A Monster Ate My Homework - Although this sounds like it might be a homework help tool, it is not. It is a fun game that was recently added to the App Store. And honestly, I think everyone should have the basic games like Solitaire and Sudoku on their laptops, but this one is fun and simple as well as somewhat of a strategy game. It is a 3D (you do not need the glasses, everything stays in the screen) game where you shoot little monsters off a box so you can rescue your homework. If your homework falls off the box you lose points, but you can turn the screen 360 degrees around the box to try and get the best shot.

Gimp - A free picture editor, similar to photoshop. It has many, many different tools you can use to edit pictures, which I have not had to chance to check out yet. It is highly recommended on several sites when I was researching and when I played around with it a bit, it seems like you can do almost anything you would want to on it, you just have to figure out exactly where it is. Apparently the help questions will not open the first time you start up Gimp, but if you close it and open it again, they should work. Just a strange code error, that I do not understand. You can get it here, and here you can get Inkscape, which is a free version of Illustrator.

Swackett - You can use Swackett to tell you the temperature outside, but it will also tell you how to dress. When you open it up, a man and woman figure will appear along with all the weather information, but they will be dressed up how Swackett thinks you should dress, depending on the temperature and if it is suppose to rain, be windy, etc. You can also set your personal preferences for when you think it is cold or hot, in case you think you do not need a jacket until it is 32 degrees Fahrenheit out. You can get it at the App Store.

Pocket - I found this app a bit confusing at first, but once you g through the quick explanation, it is actually quite simple. After downloading Pocket you can attach it to our web browser so that whenever you see an interesting website you can 'Pocket It' and view it later on Pocket on or offline. You can even add labels to them for easy organization. I find this very helpful since I am always favoriting links that I want to check out later but eventually end up with no room for them anymore. You can download this at the App Store.

AdBlock - This is an app that blocks ads from websites you are on. If you have Chrome, like me, you just have to go to 'Chrome Web Store' and you can download it as an add-on to your browser. But if you use Firefox you are in a for a special treat. The man who designed SelfControl also designed an AdBlock for Firefox that turns ads into artwork, which I think is amazing. It is called 'Add-Art' and you can download it here for Firefox. The artwork switches every two weeks, although I do not think it is up to date with the latest version of Firefox. I have already tried, and it will not work for Chrome, which makes me really sad.

And just a quick hint I found out, you can decrease your volume by fourths so that if two points is too loud, maybe one and a half would be better. All you have o do is hold down the 'Shift' and 'Option' keys at the same time while clicking louder or quieter on the volume controls. I find this really exciting.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"I'm a jerk to everyone. Best way to protect yourself from lawsuits." -David Hoselton

Over the River and Through the Fairy Woods

Recently, I just came back to Oxford after a short weekend trip to Dublin, Ireland. It was a wonderful city full of interesting characters and events, but I will talk more on that later. Right now I want to discuss something that I am interested in and have heard a bit about around England and Scotland, but a lot while in Dublin. And that would be, of course, fairies (as well as other mythical creatures).

As a child, I always found fairies and goblins, etc. very exciting and interesting. I still read fantasy books today and am enthralled with talk of magic and mystery. So, naturally, while in Dublin my flatmates and I went to the Leprechaun Museum where they discussed leprechauns and other magical folk. This exciting adventure, then inspired me to write this very post where I will tell you about all kinds of magical creatures that hail from the British Isles (while keeping it to an alphabetical list).

Aos Si - Also known as the Sidhe (pronounced: 'she'), they are a mythical race in Ireland and Scotland who live in an alternate world to the one humans live in. They are easily appeased with offerings, but special care is taken not to upset their dwellings for fear that will get angry and take revenge.
Banshee - A fairy woman who wails and screams when death is approaching. They do not bring death, but morn it. In some stories it is said if you hear their cry you will die within a fortnight.
Changeling - A fairy child that is left in place of a human child who has been taken to the fairy world. The stolen child usually become a fairy itself, unless the changeling is brought back to the fairies in exchange for their real child.
Dragon - The European dragon is spiteful and malevolent. They breath fire and look like giant lizards with wings. They generally live in caves and protect huge hoards of treasure.
Elves - Depending on where you hear about elves they can range in looks and temperament. They are generally immortal in all stories though. Some believe them to be small and mischievous, while other say they can be as tall as people and either be malevolent or benevolent, depending on the specific elf.
Fairies - (There are several different spellings, but this is the main one I have seen while in England.) Fairies tend to look like tiny people with butterfly wings. They can be benevolent, but are usually more malevolent in stories, having taken children and replaced them with a Changeling or caused bad luck for people who have disturbed them and their homes.
Giants - They look like large humans, but are usually unintelligent and uncivilized. Because of this they usually just do whatever they feel like doing.
Hobgoblin - Unlike a goblin, they are usually friendly and tend to look after children and do chores when no one is looking. They tend to live in forests and therefore are more ragged looking.
Imps - Very mischievous, they tend to look like either small people with wings and horns (occasionally even with a tail) or a strange brown furry creature with red eyes. They tend to do more harm than good.
J (Selkie) - (I could not find a J, so I decided to talk about Selkies instead.) A creature that lives as a seal in the water, but sheds its skin to be human on land. It is said that if you hide their skin they will be trapped on land and there are many stories of men hiding a female Selkie's skin and marrying them.
Kelpie - A creature than looks like a horse drenched in water. They are said to transform into beautiful women so as to lure men into traps. If someone tries to ride a Kelpie, they will not be able to get off and the horse-creature will drown and/or devour them.
Leprechauns - Small human like creatures that have gold hidden at the end of a rainbow. If you catch one they have to lead you to their gold, but if you look away for one second, they will disappear and will use any means of tricks to get you lost.
Mandrake - A root that  once pulled out of the ground will emit a high pitched scream which can drive people insane. They appear as atomically correct humans varying from white to black and red.
Neck - Also known as Nix, they are water spirits with beautiful voices who lure men and women to their death by drowning them. Some also can play the violin very well and if brought the proper gift, they will teach people how to play the violin equally well. One famous neck in English folklore is called Peg Powler.
Ogre - Similar to giant, but always hungry and apparently uglier. They love to hunt people and eat them.
Puca - A horse-like animal that is similar to a Kelpie but more mischievous than dangerous. They can talk and occasionally give advice to keep people from danger, although they are also known to try and scare people for fun.
Q (Brownie) - (Again, no Qs, so I will talk about Brownies.) They are small humanoid beings who do friendly things for people, like the hobgoblin. They tend to wear brown clothes and live in peoples houses, but keep hidden.
Red Cap - A malevolent creature who is said to live in ruins of castles. They supposedly kill any travellers who stray near their homes and stain their hats with their victims' blood. If the hat dries out they will die.
Sea Monster - A large reptilian animal that lives in the water, usually the ocean or sea. They typically are creatures of desire, and do whatever they feel like. If in contact with a ship that bothers them, they will attack it, but generally stay hidden underwater. The most famous one in British folklore is the Loche Ness Monster, which is said to live in Loche Ness (or Lake Ness) in Northern Scotland and hide beneath the dark water.
Trolls - Ranging in size from very small to very large, they tend to live in the untamed wilderness and gain physical characteristics similar to that of where they live. If the sun shines on them they will turn to stone.
Unicorn - An animal that looks like a horse, except for the large horn on its head. They tend to be completely white and are incredibly fast. They are rather skittish but are very benevolent if around people. Their horns are said to detect poison and dispel it.
V (Sluagh) - A restless ghost like creature that was not accepted into heaven or hell and is forced to stay on earth. They are said to fly in packs on the West wind and will try to enter the house of a dying person to take their soul with them.
Will-o-the-Wisp - Is a ghostly light that will appear to travellers at night and recede when approached; drawing people away from the safe path and towards a bog or marsh. It is debated whether they are the souls of unbaptised children or are completely separate from people and are creatures of their own right.
X (Griffins) - Part bird, part feline, they have the head, claws, and wings of an eagle, but the body of a lion. They make nests in the tallest mountains and line them with gold and treasure. Occasionally they mate with horses and make hyppogriffs.
Yeth Hound - Supposedly a headless dog who is the soul of an unbaptised child that lives in the forest and makes wailing noises at night. Possibly the inspiration for the story "The Hound of Baskervilles".
Z (Wulver) - A kind of werewolf with the head of a wolf and the body of a human. Although, they do not transform and are in no way human. They tend to be shy and non-aggressive if left alone.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"To be great is to be misunderstood." -Ralph Waldo Emerson