Watch out on the beach...this is hilarious!!!!!!
Avoid those long flights.....like this one.
Today will be one long day....do it like the pagans.
Some summer links since I have no time to actually post about my life.
Love,
Chris
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
The dark is growing elderly
Dear Readers,
I apologize for the lack of posts. I have had things to say, moments to share, but I could not do it. Because posting anything about the last week would mean post about the end of what has been one of the best years of my life.
But now it is time. I am leaving Oxford tomorrow on a 7AM bus, and I am not sure when I will be back (I know I will be back, I have to come back). I will watch those spires disappear into the distance, knowing that with them, I leave behind a place that has truly felt in many ways like home. That's what it is. Oxford has become my home. This mixed group of people I call friends are more than that - they are family. In one year, I have never grown so close to anyone, to anywhere. I am not sure I could live a life in the UK, but I sure could devote a large chunk of one to Oxford. This place fulfills me completely - intellectually, emotionally. As one friend said in Oxford I can be a nerd and not be odd.
So now it is time for some reflection. I could write something like this. But I can't. Maha and I have had different experiences in the UK. Being here does not remind me of my "American" self-hood. Sure there are the moments when I say something and no one knows understands me. Or those late night cravings for Taco Bell. But let's be honest, I have never been the patriot type - heck I cannot even muster up some school spirit. I do appreciate Maha's words - though - they make me somehow content, somehow relieved that this place will affect America for me, it will leave its impression on how I view my daily world.
No, I cannot tell you how Oxford has made me feel different. Part of this is because I have many American friends here - so home is not that far away. But honestly, my British friends have been just as influential in making this place important, and making me belong. So what about Oxford makes it home?
That question is hard. Home is about memories. So for me, asking what will I remember is a better question.
I will always remember walking into the Bodleian library for the first time and just being in awe with the sheer size of it all. If a temple to academia exists, the Bodleian is it. Daily scholars pray in its reading rooms, kneeling before tomes of knowledge. But more so, I will remember the day I walked to the Bodleian and found it closed. Those massive doors locked shut, college shields barring the way. In remote part of my mind, I was angry that the Bodleian would be shut even on a Sunday - why close those doors?? I felt as if scholarship had been halted. Yes, I know - the English major in me gets way too metaphoric and sentimental.
I know I will miss that part of Oxford - the part that I came here for. I may have hated the tutorial system (2 people in a room is not enough to spur real scholarship), but I will miss the preference this place puts on scholarship. I will miss the fact that I can walk to the English Faculty Library and browse the "Milton" shelf and know that nearly ever influential work is there. I will miss arguing with friends and tutors about which editor has the best footnotes and commentary (which by the way is not Harold Bloom). But today, I got my reader card for the Codrington Library in All Souls College. It is one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever seen - and they have first editions of Paradise Lost (note 17th century). And I will be a member for life! So I know that while I have to say goodbye to this mecca of academia, I am taking it with me. I can find it in the states, wherever I am.
I will also remember the people. Specifically, I will remember that night Marc walked into my room trashed - and I knew that we would be friends because he is the funniest drunk ever. Or the time Maha and I met for our first outside of tutorial meeting - I was so nervious (Maha still intimidates me), but it went great. We laughed, we talked, and we clicked (not that we hadn't already before - but I feel this term solidified it). Or Rome with Jo, Neha, and Kate (My Cairo Love). Such fun! We shopped, we ate, we drank, and I nearly became a priest. Or getting a postcard from Ele at home. And smiling because I knew that I would see her soon - I knew that I would be back home, where things are right. Or the multiple faces of Sam. Oh how I love to laugh at him! Or the crazy conversations that Kate and I have. Or cuddling with Nicky, while watching a great film. Or my sons (and daughters) and their loud parties. I will remember the faces, the laughs, of so many people....I will remember those late night stress out sessions at the Kebab van or in G&D's. There are so many people - too many to name, too many that I will miss. But to capstone it all, I will remember that last big party we had last week. Sitting around a campfire, sipping on some Baileys, singing along to American Pie. I will miss all this. And even among all the promises to see each other, a part of me knows that we are losing something here.
And so I will leave Oxford, hopeful, sad, sentimental, and teary eyed. I think leaving may just be the hardest memory of them all. I will always remember taking down my posters, pulling down the pictures, and hearing each sigh as people walked into my barren room.
Home has always been a nebulous term for me. I am used to straddling borders and having my feet firmly planted in two places at once. Now I have a third place. And Oxford will now just be one more piece in that huge puzzle that makes up my home - it is a piece that has been missing for years. So while I may not feel more American because of my time here, I do feel more me.
Love,
Chris
I apologize for the lack of posts. I have had things to say, moments to share, but I could not do it. Because posting anything about the last week would mean post about the end of what has been one of the best years of my life.
But now it is time. I am leaving Oxford tomorrow on a 7AM bus, and I am not sure when I will be back (I know I will be back, I have to come back). I will watch those spires disappear into the distance, knowing that with them, I leave behind a place that has truly felt in many ways like home. That's what it is. Oxford has become my home. This mixed group of people I call friends are more than that - they are family. In one year, I have never grown so close to anyone, to anywhere. I am not sure I could live a life in the UK, but I sure could devote a large chunk of one to Oxford. This place fulfills me completely - intellectually, emotionally. As one friend said in Oxford I can be a nerd and not be odd.
So now it is time for some reflection. I could write something like this. But I can't. Maha and I have had different experiences in the UK. Being here does not remind me of my "American" self-hood. Sure there are the moments when I say something and no one knows understands me. Or those late night cravings for Taco Bell. But let's be honest, I have never been the patriot type - heck I cannot even muster up some school spirit. I do appreciate Maha's words - though - they make me somehow content, somehow relieved that this place will affect America for me, it will leave its impression on how I view my daily world.
No, I cannot tell you how Oxford has made me feel different. Part of this is because I have many American friends here - so home is not that far away. But honestly, my British friends have been just as influential in making this place important, and making me belong. So what about Oxford makes it home?
That question is hard. Home is about memories. So for me, asking what will I remember is a better question.
I will always remember walking into the Bodleian library for the first time and just being in awe with the sheer size of it all. If a temple to academia exists, the Bodleian is it. Daily scholars pray in its reading rooms, kneeling before tomes of knowledge. But more so, I will remember the day I walked to the Bodleian and found it closed. Those massive doors locked shut, college shields barring the way. In remote part of my mind, I was angry that the Bodleian would be shut even on a Sunday - why close those doors?? I felt as if scholarship had been halted. Yes, I know - the English major in me gets way too metaphoric and sentimental.
I know I will miss that part of Oxford - the part that I came here for. I may have hated the tutorial system (2 people in a room is not enough to spur real scholarship), but I will miss the preference this place puts on scholarship. I will miss the fact that I can walk to the English Faculty Library and browse the "Milton" shelf and know that nearly ever influential work is there. I will miss arguing with friends and tutors about which editor has the best footnotes and commentary (which by the way is not Harold Bloom). But today, I got my reader card for the Codrington Library in All Souls College. It is one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever seen - and they have first editions of Paradise Lost (note 17th century). And I will be a member for life! So I know that while I have to say goodbye to this mecca of academia, I am taking it with me. I can find it in the states, wherever I am.
I will also remember the people. Specifically, I will remember that night Marc walked into my room trashed - and I knew that we would be friends because he is the funniest drunk ever. Or the time Maha and I met for our first outside of tutorial meeting - I was so nervious (Maha still intimidates me), but it went great. We laughed, we talked, and we clicked (not that we hadn't already before - but I feel this term solidified it). Or Rome with Jo, Neha, and Kate (My Cairo Love). Such fun! We shopped, we ate, we drank, and I nearly became a priest. Or getting a postcard from Ele at home. And smiling because I knew that I would see her soon - I knew that I would be back home, where things are right. Or the multiple faces of Sam. Oh how I love to laugh at him! Or the crazy conversations that Kate and I have. Or cuddling with Nicky, while watching a great film. Or my sons (and daughters) and their loud parties. I will remember the faces, the laughs, of so many people....I will remember those late night stress out sessions at the Kebab van or in G&D's. There are so many people - too many to name, too many that I will miss. But to capstone it all, I will remember that last big party we had last week. Sitting around a campfire, sipping on some Baileys, singing along to American Pie. I will miss all this. And even among all the promises to see each other, a part of me knows that we are losing something here.
And so I will leave Oxford, hopeful, sad, sentimental, and teary eyed. I think leaving may just be the hardest memory of them all. I will always remember taking down my posters, pulling down the pictures, and hearing each sigh as people walked into my barren room.
Home has always been a nebulous term for me. I am used to straddling borders and having my feet firmly planted in two places at once. Now I have a third place. And Oxford will now just be one more piece in that huge puzzle that makes up my home - it is a piece that has been missing for years. So while I may not feel more American because of my time here, I do feel more me.
Love,
Chris
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Saturday, June 02, 2007
They spring, they bud, they blossom fresh and faire
This is what I did today.
Oh spring, oh picnic, Oh Oxford!
Don't be too jealous.
Oh spring, oh picnic, Oh Oxford!
Don't be too jealous.
The generations of men run on in the tide of Time.
This is pretty darn cool.
Think of the possibilities - sharing the world's photos....
Ok, potentially creepy and questionable when it comes to privacy, especially since Microsoft owns it, but it is a neat idea nonetheless.
Think of the possibilities - sharing the world's photos....
Ok, potentially creepy and questionable when it comes to privacy, especially since Microsoft owns it, but it is a neat idea nonetheless.
Friday, June 01, 2007
From morn till night, from night till startled Morn.
To you:
Well here I am listening to Dan Savage, realizing that it is 2AM, and I have nothing to worry about right now. Yes, kids, you heard it right - I have nothing else to do but sit here at my computer, listen to hilarious sex advice, and add stuff to my blog. My last tutorial was on Thursday - I am officially done with my Oxford career...No more crazy tuts, long weeks of no sleep, and I no longer have to spend whole hours of my day in a dark, cold, heartless library (said lye-bree).
So what will Chris be doing with his time...
1. Naps all the time
2. Sun bathing by the River
3. A nice trip to London
4. Reading some Dickens!!!
5. Possibly, maybe, thinking about working on my thesis --- Ha, yea right!
6. Reading tons of blogs
7. Watching movies
8. Eating/cooking as much as possible
9. WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!
This will be a great week in Oxfordia - I hope the weather will be wonderful.
Back in DC on June 12th.
Good Night,
Chris
Well here I am listening to Dan Savage, realizing that it is 2AM, and I have nothing to worry about right now. Yes, kids, you heard it right - I have nothing else to do but sit here at my computer, listen to hilarious sex advice, and add stuff to my blog. My last tutorial was on Thursday - I am officially done with my Oxford career...No more crazy tuts, long weeks of no sleep, and I no longer have to spend whole hours of my day in a dark, cold, heartless library (said lye-bree).
So what will Chris be doing with his time...
1. Naps all the time
2. Sun bathing by the River
3. A nice trip to London
4. Reading some Dickens!!!
5. Possibly, maybe, thinking about working on my thesis --- Ha, yea right!
6. Reading tons of blogs
7. Watching movies
8. Eating/cooking as much as possible
9. WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!
This will be a great week in Oxfordia - I hope the weather will be wonderful.
Back in DC on June 12th.
Good Night,
Chris
Ah, Vice! how soft are thy voluptuous ways.
Thinking about joining the Lifestyle?
Even a Monkey can do it!
Not for the Young or young at heart.
Oh and Dan Savage at his best.
Even a Monkey can do it!
Not for the Young or young at heart.
Oh and Dan Savage at his best.
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