Endings and beginnings

It seems I failed to make any blog entries once the writing phase of my dissertation commenced. For that, please accept my apologies. All went well in the end after some rather major mishaps and hurdles, and in the end I successfully completed my dissertation, bringing my year at the University of Edinburgh to a close. I am now writing this from one of my favorite cafes in Missoula, MT, home once more after a long journey yesterday. I can't explain how good it feels to be home again. Summer is just on its way out, with leaves just starting to turn. Fires are still burning and smoke fills the valleys. In short, I couldn't have asked for a better homecoming. I love this place and the people here. Missoula is special. Just looking at the assortment of other passengers on the last flight of my journey from Minneapolis to Missoula I started to feel at home again. It's surprising how people doing their own thing so completely can become so commonplace until you go elsewhere and realize just how special it all is. Am I getting a little too schmaltzy? Perhaps, but the point is I'm happy to be home!

So, what happened since May? Well, I spent a lot of hours in libraries and on computers, working away at the research and writing of my dissertation. Summer in Edinburgh is extremely mild, and really not that different from other seasons. Which, while difficult to adjust to, is probably better for studying, though I think I've finally come to the conclusion that I need some sort of defined seasonal change in my life. I do not function at my best in a land of eternal cool rain. In July, my brother, Alex, came for a visit and we went to Barcelona and Amsterdam while he was over. Barcelona is absolutely wonderful. Full of art and sun and right on the Mediterranean Sea. And Gaudi's work, if you don't already know, is indescribably incredible to behold. Amsterdam was good as well, though it ended on a rather sour note, with the apartment we were staying in getting burgled our last night and my laptop, with my dissertation work on it, getting stolen. While I had backed up most of my work, I lost some, mainly in terms of notes and pdfs of sources. Recovery from that was hard, but I buckled down, once back in Edinburgh, and pulled through, bringing a long and very full year to a close at long last.

After the end of the program I was absolutely exhausted. I spent two weeks doing very little beside visiting with friends and going to the occasional event at the Edinburgh festivals. Then I went out for a truncated camping trip in the outer Hebrides where I saw some ancient standing stones in the first solid rainstorm on the island of the summer. Though I had to cut my trip short due to the weather, the trip was wonderful and refreshing and I met some of the kindest people I've ever encountered anywhere. After that I went to Greece with some friends, spending a week on an island in the Agean, with a couple of days in Athens on each end and a day in Zurich, Switzerland on the return to Edinburgh. It was all amazing and the days on beaches spread in the sun and playing in turquoise waters was exactly the therapy I needed after this past year. I can't wait to get all my photos developed and share them with you all!

And now, I'm home again, in Missoula after a full 21 hours in transit. I am happy and healthy and excited about life, looking forward to my open future. I've begun to apply for jobs and am beginning the hunt for that perfect position. I learned an amazing amount this past year, and am still in the process of realizing just how much I took in, a process which fascinates me in its own right. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone who's around and catching up on the happenings of this past year. I want to hear all of your stories, share photos and coffees and dinners and the beautiful Autumn that is just getting its start.

I'll post again when I know what my next chapter will look like. Until then, I'm over and out.

dissertations, blackbirds, and rain

Reading over my last post, I see that a fair bit has happened since that was written. My essay marks came out about a week and a half ago now, and I did reasonably well. I've begun my dissertation in earnest, with the initial plan and title off to the program director for approval. I got some photos developed, and picked up my prints from a weekend course I took at the end of April in photopolymer printmaking. And the sun shone on the city once more! The weather, of course, has now turned back to daily rain and clouds and wind, but it is warmer and feels closer to the time of year that it is. And a week of sun and summer weather didn't exactly hurt either. I finally got to break out my sandals, and for that I am exceptionally grateful.

From now on, I'll be working away at my dissertation, bit by bit, until it is done, sometime before the 17th of August. While still busy, the pace of the dissertation is far more manageable than was the taught portion of this degree. It leaves me with time to do the little necessary things like shopping for groceries regularly, or visiting in the evening with friends when I want to, and of course the other necessary thing of future hunting. It's a common enough question, 'what are you doing after this?,' and I now finally feel like I have the time to put some effort into finding that out. I can also devote a little time to pleasure reading, and my various art projects, and that feels really nice. I look forward to developing a summer routine here. One that involves weekends at farmers markets and the seashore, yoga in the mornings, and rambling walks through beautiful, lush, parks. That's the plus side of endless rainy days, beautiful vibrant greenery that hardly loses its shine all year round, and which somehow becomes even fuller and greener with a little sun.

If all goes well, I'll have roughly half of my dissertation written by the beginning of July, just in time for my big brother to visit. At which time we'll be off to check a couple more European cities off our lists. Until then, here are a few photos from the last little bit. And there'll be more where these came from, once I finish with the scanner.

                           

The end of essays....

It's May, mid-May. The taught part of my degree is now over and it's time to hunker down and wait for the second round of marks to be released sometime later this month, or early next. I wasn't sure it was possible, but the second semester, and especially the second essay round, was even more intense and stress-inducing than was the first. Less time and more work to get done. But, somehow, I succeeded, primarily through lack of contact with much of the outside world. I have now written over 30,000 words for this degree alone, something that makes the dissertation seem entirely doable with its comparatively long stretch of time and small word count ahead.  My sincere apologies to those of you who have wondered when you might hear from me next. It's been awhile since I've written much of anything to anyone, and clearly since I last posted anything on here.

It's shaping up to be a rainy Spring here in Edinburgh. Cool and gray. As I sit writing this, there is a crow perched on a chimney-pot across the street, tipping its beak back and drinking from the sky. Spring started out early and sunny, back in February and March, with endless tulips and daffodils across the city and warmer weather by far than any I had had occasion to experience here. Now there is talk that that may have been the warmest weather of the year, though I have to wonder if that is merely the rain and cold getting to people.

Just after I turned in my essays at the end of April, my Mother came to visit. My topics for this last round had consisted of the interactions between intellectual property law and human rights, the changes to the crime of aggression at the international criminal court, and legal protection for internally displaced persons in armed conflict. And, believe me, it was high time for a break! So, off we went to explore, traipsing through Edinburgh, London, Paris and a wee bit of the Scottish highlands.   

We even saw the Queen and Prince Philip

London was wonderful, and Paris, well, Paris was Paris. A city with one foot firmly in the past and one fully in the future. We saw wonderful art and architecture, and walked our feet just about off. We ate baguettes on the banks of the Seine, visited Shakespeare and Company to pay our respects, went up in the Eiffel Tower at night, and so much more. While it probably wasn't quite the rest I probably should have gotten, those two weeks were good and exciting and a marvellous diversion from the inner walls of the libraries to which I had become so accustomed. 

Now it's time to read a mountain of literature, narrow down the topic of my dissertation and begin my work on that. It promises to be a good summer, challenging, though not too challenging. And hopefully the sun will return at some point. Edinburgh when sunny and warm is irresistible and I can only hope that I get to experience it a second time. I'll try to post again in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for me until the marks come out!  Cheers!

The wayfaring blogster returns....

Wow. Has it really been nearly two months since my last post? Sorry to all of you out there waiting for an update. Contrary to all appearances, I did not, in fact, fall off of the face of the earth. I'm still safely residing in Edinburgh, weathering the winds and scurrying between libraries.

Let's see, what of note is there to relate of the past two months? I opted for complete laziness during what remained of my break after my last post. I read a bit. Took long walks. Took time to visit with friends. But mostly I caught up on sleep and fed myself properly, two of the most neglected realms for anyone attempting to keep up with the pace here. I visited the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, which were lovely, even in January, as you can see below. Loads of maze-like hedges and beautiful trees.

I also explored the Portrait Gallery, which had been closed for remodelling for, I think, over a year. There, I learned a few new facts about Scottish history, as one does. I highly recommend the glass plate prints of Glasgow back in the day, tucked away in a corner, up on the top floor. They are not only beautiful, but make you feel as though you're peeking into a time which you're not entirely supposed to see, and which is, in all fact, gone forever.

And then, semester number two commenced and I still managed to take the occasional day off those first few weeks, to ramble round and photograph this beautiful city-o, or to do the odd tourist thing, such as a tour of the Whiskey Experience.

The third bottle from the right is just my age

The pace has been steadily picking up, however, and it's back to the grind now. My grades for last semester came out the middle of February, and I'm happy to say that I did well and generally better than I had anticipated (though, to be honest, I hadn't had a good idea of what exactly to expect). It can be quite exciting to be studying from within a new discipline, even one you're somewhat familiar with, such as this, but it can also leave the door open for possible misinterpretation or misunderstanding that doesn't do wonders for a grade. I'm happy to say that I made it through the first brush and learned what I think are valuable lessons to apply to the next round. Our new essay topics were released last week and, while it will be challenging, especially from a time perspective, I'm looking forward to my topics.

Today I sent out my choice of dissertation topic. Just a general idea at this stage, but it feels good to get the ball rolling on it. Classes will continue until the end of March, and then essay writing until the end of April. And sometime around the beginning of April, our dissertation supervisors will be assigned. I feel a bit like I'm jumping into a very deep pool, looking for the bottom, right now, a mix of being thrilled and nervous, and definitely looking forward to what I'll discover. Both about my topics and about myself. And at the end of this next bit, when April is on it's way out, my mother will come for a visit, a wee breather, and I will take a brief printing class, to let my mind play a bit.

This time, I'll not promise when I will post next. Clearly, my powers of prediction over my own actions have been less than accurate. So I'll just say, until next time! Be well, and don't hesitate to drop me a line, if you get the notion. I'm not the best at writing to people these days, but love to hear how people are doing, and promise one day to repay in kind.