Mmmm...Bop

Clockwise: Me at a pub, Gypsies, Oxford Canal Walk, Sam at a pub

I have just returned from Oxford... It took me 3 hours to write that sentence...Not because I am retarded but because I got distracted by a wonderful dinner prepared by my friend Karen and her lovely boyfriend Nick: Crusty bread, homemade spelt bread (amazing AND with sultanas!), 

Insert 20 min interlude... drunk flatmates and other squatters just got home and I cleaned my teeth and discovered that my blonde catfish whiskers are not exactly blonde and indeed longer than any lady should allow... but if I interfer with nature as I did with my snail trail at the age of 15 then I will only make it worse... argh... There are lots of drunks walking home; pre-emptive Australia Day Celebrations - the only thing Aussies don't procrastinate about: Practicing patriotic events involving booze in foreign countries and making twats of themselves.

Ok, so dinner: olives with anchovies, feta-esque cheese, fresh tomatoes, hommus and sundried tomatoes (and a Cadbury Creme Egg as my after diiner treat!). It was awesome but the problem with self-constructed and self-administered canape dinner is that you never know when to stop until it is too late. And then you have to make room for the creme egg! But that is where the dessert stomach comes in :) 

I have (not just) returned from Oxford... Amazing college grounds and walks that roll under foot; hoping too never end (unless you go for a job at dusk and get lost in a paddock, nearly fall through a cattle grate, and freak out when you realise that Gypsies are real and the little boats are not just 'cute little pictures'. Thay are so awesome except when you get lost and feel like you may get stabbed and have a bung achillies tendon. I had an amazing time with my college friend Sammy and I had a great time at the Bop last night - not as much as other's. Some people got right into the pink (see below)!

YouTube Highlights: 

Gavin McGraw - Follow Through

Quote of the Day: Times are different and different times have different requirements - Kierkegaard

Google highlight: 

Discovering Google Chrome and stumbling across Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey - 

In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,

Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration: -- feelings too
Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
As have no slight or trivial influence
On that best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered, acts
Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,
To them I may have owed another gift,
Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
In which the burthen of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Is lightened: -- that serene and blessed mood,
In which the affections gently lead us on, -- 
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and become a living soul:
While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.

The Pink Bop!

Oxford No.2

Last night Sam and I went to one of his formal dinners which was fun. Made more fun by the fact that because they had allocated seating for one less then was there we got to sit on the High Table. Very amusing. Being an anonymous person, it was fun to pretend that somehow I was some crazy academic fellow. Intrigue and mystery.

We then went back to the common room where all the MCR students hang out and hit the bar up. Sweet deal! Most drinks under £1. Um...Awesome. Had a really good time gossiping with the girls. Gender definietly transcends oceans! Bit tipsy but home by middnight just like Cinderella. 

This morning we intended to go to Blenheim Palace where Churchill grew up but the weather was a bit off and the Palace was closed andonly the grounds open. So instead we wandered around a few colleges. Worcester was very impressive and then we wandered through Oxford Park and sat on a bench and attempted to read the paper in the 'crisp' yet 'sunny' weather. 

We headed to lunch with 4 of Sam's friends that were all from Australia. We had lunch at Exetor College. Memories of Eurest come haunting back. But bulk food is always better when you don't have to eat it every day. Was good to eat. Looked around the grounds which were cool as it overlooks Radcliff Square.

This afternoon I headed to thh gym with one of Sam's friends Holly who is just lovely! and I have just had a bath and chilled out since. Heading out to a Bop tonight with a Pink theme.Not sure how well I will be able to satisfy the theme... but nice people will be there. Have had a wonderful time here in Oxford. Beautiful town with a small town feel.

Jender

Oxford - England January 2009

Arrived: Midday Wednesday 21st 

Sammy and I walked around some of the colleges perving on the courtyards that so grandly watch over the halls. Incredible buildings and beautifully simple gardens. Later that night we went to a Farewell for one of Sam's fellow Pembrokians. It was really fun and it was nice to linger in anonymity once again and gradually watch myself come to life. Wine in plastic cups and travel stories and ranting about the psychology behind WWII is always a good way to impress people! Being the expert that I am. It was really fun. I remember going to the bathroom and walking past Sam with a massive grin on my face. It was nice to have such an honest smile on my face.

Today I wandered aroound a little meandering track out the back of Christ Church (where Harry Potter was filmed) and then wandered past Magdelen (sp?) college and small rivers and bridges. Then I found Blackwell's bookshop and spent hours sitting down flicking through some books, reading my latest book (which feels like I am holding a premature mirror to my face) and drawing somerough sketches whilst sipping coffee. I overhearda fath telling is son that eveytime someone 'googles' something the same amount of energy to make a cup of tea is expended. I am not sure which variables they are taking into account. I guess the constant running of google divided by the hits per day...not sure... but interesting little piece of thought. I then got myself lost amongst the alleys looking for some bread... but not that lost because I found bread and found myself back home eventually. Now I am going to go for a run. If I write it done it may happen! and then Sam and I are going to a formal dinner but not before some port, sherry and cheese.

Thankyou Big Sis

I just wanted to let my big sister know that I miss her and that I will never forget what she gave me, taught me, helped me through, laughed at/with me about. The are so many wonderful memories that we shared. This is us after Thanksgiving. This will always be a great memory and a wonderful story.

Jender

Chips and Oranges

Chips and oranges

One etched in black and white stripes. Hugged against the doorway.
Another opposite leaned, yellowed against the balcony.
An orange balances in his hand.
Chip-handed and reaching for more.
He scratches his ears, as they pricked by gossip.
His eyes wince in the sun’s shadow.
Laughter shakes his head and reaches for more.

Like years lost they are boys again, ageless and faceless.
Cropped by sunning hair, their pale faces.
These are the men that I live with.
The young men who I now call family.
They are the ones that I have loved and love again.
He tilts the chips, a simple gesture,
no matter how full the packet.

...

I wrote this in 2003 also about the boys that I lived with at New College. I was sitting on the balcony outside 3AB on a sunny afternoon watching them all.

Quid Pro Quo

Quid Pro Quo

There was a neat pride in the way that he talked.
But humbled, like the moon crossing - a tree’s shadow.
He would hold a conversation
The way my girlfriends’ winking wine would not.
He was older,
But not in a way that overdressed the milkiness of salad
He was older,
In a way that time affected
but not the makeup clothed upon the mind.

...

I wrote this in the summer of 2003. Amazing how time passes.

Paris and Boston

Paris 2009 - To give a love, you gotta live a love. To live a love, you gotta be "part of". When will I see you again? - Neil Young Paris 2009
Boston Harvard 2009
Rodin - The Kiss - Paris 2009
Paris 2009 - “One’s real life is often the life that one does not lead” - Oscar Wilde