Dramatis Personae

A___ - A final year medic at Selwyn. A___ is very quiet, and she likes to keep to herself, but she is a member of the Night Climbing Society, even if she hasn't been on any climbs yet. She is a good friend of Carol Singer.

Carol Singer - A third year philosophy student at Selwyn, with tastes running into the area of the gothic and macabre. She tends to wear only black, and listens to the Cure, the Smiths, as well as Sunshine Blind and other modern goth bands.

Crapangus - Julians obnoxious and excessively sporty neighbour, with a doormat of a girlfriend an an impressive collection of anti-social habits.

Evil Pete - A third year geography student at Robinson. Not named Pete by his parents, and definitely not evil; no one remembers where his nickname came from, but it has stuck. Evil Pete is actually a sensitive and artistic member of society, but his penchant for torn black jeans and leather jacket held together with safety-pins, combined with his long unruly dark hair and slightly wild-eyed look mean that most people presume he is a psychotic thug. He thus spends most of his time trying to convince people otherwise. He often drags his battered acoustic guitar around with him and will play renditions of REM songs at the drop of a hat.

Hederatus- The pseudonym of a writer of a work on Cambridge night climbing, aptly called "Cambridge Nightclimbing", and published in 1970. It contains a number of climbing route descriptions and a selection of remarkable pictures. This journal is aimed at being a Hederatus for the nineties.

Jon - A short enthusiastic third year at Selwyn, reading Theology. Jon appears on the surface to be a bouncy happy kind of a chap, but if you catch him late at night when everyone else has gone home you get to see that his cheerfulness is actually a cloak to hide an overwhelming sense of depression that he has. Jon tirelessly tries to overcome this by holding organised parties in his room on a regular basis, parties at which Kava Kava often features heavily.

Julian - A third year at Selwyn, allegedly reading geography, but actually focusing his attentions on which Cambridge building to climb next, and where to get a new tweed jacket. Julian tends to wander around looking up at the sky with a distracted air, wearing brown corduroy trousers, a neatly ironed shirt with a tie, and a worn tweed jacket badly in need of patching, if not replacing. He is the mastermind behind the Night Climbing Society.

Kim - Me, the writer of this journal. I do not do much of the climbing; I leave that to the other, more competent night climbers. Jon once described me as a human dictaphone and camera, and other people have often complained that I tend to sit in the group not saying much, but paying detailed attention. I cannot deny this.

Linux Kid - a self-confessed computer junkie who lives in one of the hostels on Cranmer Road. He is a third year Selwynite reading Computer Science, and spent much of his spare time last year taking the three PCs he owns apart and putting them back together to make them run better. He proselytises endlessly about the great advantages of using Linux over Windows, and is fond of amphetamines, cannabis, and caffeine. He never drinks alcohol. He tends to wear black clothes and has his hair cut really short.

Que Sera Sarah - A second year Selwyn linguist, reading Spanish and Italian. Julian and I nicknamed her Que Sera Sarah at the beginning of the first year because she was one of the most laid-back people we ever met. She lives in Old Court this year, in a room on D staircase overlooking the dining hall. We all accuse her of being a closet crusty, mainly because she wears floaty flower-and-sun patterned dresses and admits to liking the Levellers.

Rags - A final year economist at Trinity called Radegund or, more usually, Rags. I carry a bit of a torch for her, but it looks like my feelings won't be reciprocated. There, I've said it.

Saint Peter - My neighbour; a devout and somewhat overly pious Christian, who has in the past taken exception to my complaints about the chapel bells. He also likes lecturing me about morals and disapproves of everything from snogging to swearing to soft drugs.

Whipplesnaith - The pseudonym of a writer of the seminal work on Cambridge night climbing, aptly called "The Night Climbers of Cambridge", and published in 1937. It contains a number of climbing route descriptions and a selection of remarkable pictures. This journal is aimed at being a Whipplesnaith for the nineties.