07/06 condensed miscellany
Back from Scotland.
Fortunately, we just missed the bomb scare in London (having gone to Edinburgh) and the attack in Glasgow (having just flown back to London earlier that day). It was a bit nervy, though, realizing we'd spent a couple of days walking all over the part of town where the cars were found. Not that I'd have been clubbing at 2 in the morning in any event, but still...
Went to Stratford on Avon and Warwick castle on the trip, and both were interesting. The fact that Shakespeare is supposed to have been born in the house isn't so important to me, but the fact that it's so well preserved for such an old house is really cool. I like old things like that. And Warwick castle was cool, partly because we walked up and down narrow spiral stairs in towers that dated from 1395. How inexpressibly cool!
When we were out walking in London, a couple of times I couldn't help but think of drewids stuck in london with his parents, when he wanted to be drinking with whomever he could pick up. Poor guy... I think London's worth going to anyway, but maybe that's because I'm not 20.
Saw "The Drowsy Chaperone" and "The Lord of the Rings" and both were really enjoyable. I recommend both, albeit for different reasons. LOTR is just a superb production, and Drowsy is a nice mix of show-within-a-show. As well as the fact that some of the actors in Drowsy are quite good. The bride is *so* a part I can see Katie playing, and the man-in-chair, who serves as an external narrator, is just perfect for the part.
We saw the castle again in Edinburgh, which is always fun, and met there someone who would be with Dar at St. Andrews. Spent more time in Old Town Edinburgh than I ever have before, and was reminded of how nice the people are there for the most part. Don't know whether it's partly because Edinburgh is such a smaller town than London or the Scots just have a different national character from the English, but the atmosphere was definitely warmer.
This week at home was reacclimating to home, getting over jet lag, that sort of thing. Also, getting over that wretched cold that I came down with the last day in london and had all through edinburgh. Argh....
So, while I was recuperating, I've been doing some reading and a bunch of needlepoint. I have a cool tapestry I got right before we left and have temporarily set aside the Eiffel Tower I was doing before I left. I've done essentially no school work yet, but between being so sick at the end of school and getting ready for the trip to Britain, I haven't really (yet) started to feel any guilt.
Had lunch with Sean wednesday and Joe today and enjoyed both. Was much more loquacious today for some reason. Joe and I talked about what had been going on this summer in our lives but then moved into talking about sociality (to coin a word) and individuality and the interactions thereof, including the extent to which we depend on others even when we think we're independent and then how that does/should alter our behavior toward others. Partly, it's the question of whether there's an obligation to others on whom we depend even if such dependence is involuntary (perhaps even not wanted) on our part. A very interesting conversation, but then joe is a very thoughtful guy. It was really good to see him again.
Next week, I fly to chicago for a meeting and then will take a few days driving Lucy's car home (she had to leave it up there since she couldn't make that long a car trip after her concussion). I'm sort of looking forward to it even though I'll be driving by myself because that's one of the few parts of the country (the area between here and Chicago) in which I've never driven. I hear it's not all that interesting geographically, but I also haven't done a "road trip" in a long time, so it should be of some interest. Of course, as I've agreed to do it, it helps to enter with a positive attitude, right? ;-)
* It's fascinating to me that I am starting (in the last two years or so) to think I might have some things to say worth writing, and being associated with some other people who are writing might be stimulating that. Quien sabe?
* I also continue to feel, albeit in different ways, how separate I am from most of the various aspects of lives around me even while other aspects seem very real. Weird. One reason it was so good to talk to joe is that he mitigated some of those feelings of estrangement a bit.
Ok, that's my over-abbreviated and disjointed summary for the nonce.
Oh, and we watched Gosford Park tonight, and I quite enjoyed it.
Added note: and yes, I realize the apparent contradiction, or at least irony, in the two starred paragraphs above. Reminds me of Camus's idea of the absurd: neither is bad in itself, but put the two together and you get a situation that doesn't work. (It's not quite that bad since there is, I feel, a reasonable resolution--hence, the contradiction is more apparent than real. Still....) However, stuff like that never bothered Emerson, so who am I to insist on logical coherency, right? In the summer, I mean. Or in my own work ;-)
And speaking, as I elliptically was, of my students, I had an email yesterday from one of my students from the class of '91, who wants to get together for lunch, so that was cool.
Fortunately, we just missed the bomb scare in London (having gone to Edinburgh) and the attack in Glasgow (having just flown back to London earlier that day). It was a bit nervy, though, realizing we'd spent a couple of days walking all over the part of town where the cars were found. Not that I'd have been clubbing at 2 in the morning in any event, but still...
Went to Stratford on Avon and Warwick castle on the trip, and both were interesting. The fact that Shakespeare is supposed to have been born in the house isn't so important to me, but the fact that it's so well preserved for such an old house is really cool. I like old things like that. And Warwick castle was cool, partly because we walked up and down narrow spiral stairs in towers that dated from 1395. How inexpressibly cool!
When we were out walking in London, a couple of times I couldn't help but think of drewids stuck in london with his parents, when he wanted to be drinking with whomever he could pick up. Poor guy... I think London's worth going to anyway, but maybe that's because I'm not 20.
Saw "The Drowsy Chaperone" and "The Lord of the Rings" and both were really enjoyable. I recommend both, albeit for different reasons. LOTR is just a superb production, and Drowsy is a nice mix of show-within-a-show. As well as the fact that some of the actors in Drowsy are quite good. The bride is *so* a part I can see Katie playing, and the man-in-chair, who serves as an external narrator, is just perfect for the part.
We saw the castle again in Edinburgh, which is always fun, and met there someone who would be with Dar at St. Andrews. Spent more time in Old Town Edinburgh than I ever have before, and was reminded of how nice the people are there for the most part. Don't know whether it's partly because Edinburgh is such a smaller town than London or the Scots just have a different national character from the English, but the atmosphere was definitely warmer.
This week at home was reacclimating to home, getting over jet lag, that sort of thing. Also, getting over that wretched cold that I came down with the last day in london and had all through edinburgh. Argh....
So, while I was recuperating, I've been doing some reading and a bunch of needlepoint. I have a cool tapestry I got right before we left and have temporarily set aside the Eiffel Tower I was doing before I left. I've done essentially no school work yet, but between being so sick at the end of school and getting ready for the trip to Britain, I haven't really (yet) started to feel any guilt.
Had lunch with Sean wednesday and Joe today and enjoyed both. Was much more loquacious today for some reason. Joe and I talked about what had been going on this summer in our lives but then moved into talking about sociality (to coin a word) and individuality and the interactions thereof, including the extent to which we depend on others even when we think we're independent and then how that does/should alter our behavior toward others. Partly, it's the question of whether there's an obligation to others on whom we depend even if such dependence is involuntary (perhaps even not wanted) on our part. A very interesting conversation, but then joe is a very thoughtful guy. It was really good to see him again.
Next week, I fly to chicago for a meeting and then will take a few days driving Lucy's car home (she had to leave it up there since she couldn't make that long a car trip after her concussion). I'm sort of looking forward to it even though I'll be driving by myself because that's one of the few parts of the country (the area between here and Chicago) in which I've never driven. I hear it's not all that interesting geographically, but I also haven't done a "road trip" in a long time, so it should be of some interest. Of course, as I've agreed to do it, it helps to enter with a positive attitude, right? ;-)
* It's fascinating to me that I am starting (in the last two years or so) to think I might have some things to say worth writing, and being associated with some other people who are writing might be stimulating that. Quien sabe?
* I also continue to feel, albeit in different ways, how separate I am from most of the various aspects of lives around me even while other aspects seem very real. Weird. One reason it was so good to talk to joe is that he mitigated some of those feelings of estrangement a bit.
Ok, that's my over-abbreviated and disjointed summary for the nonce.
Oh, and we watched Gosford Park tonight, and I quite enjoyed it.
Added note: and yes, I realize the apparent contradiction, or at least irony, in the two starred paragraphs above. Reminds me of Camus's idea of the absurd: neither is bad in itself, but put the two together and you get a situation that doesn't work. (It's not quite that bad since there is, I feel, a reasonable resolution--hence, the contradiction is more apparent than real. Still....) However, stuff like that never bothered Emerson, so who am I to insist on logical coherency, right? In the summer, I mean. Or in my own work ;-)
And speaking, as I elliptically was, of my students, I had an email yesterday from one of my students from the class of '91, who wants to get together for lunch, so that was cool.