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.

Happy New Year!

The last month has been one of those that seems to drag while also rushing past. And somehow, while writing my 13,000 words, the year expired and a new one began. I suppose that there's a bit of catching up to do, eh? Mostly I've been reading and writing, and revising my writing (thanks for being so helpful, Mom and Dad!), spending endless hours in libraries or at my desk, putting off correspondence and meeting up with friends, until I could finally breath a sigh of relief and submit my bloody essays. And submission is finally done! Hooray!

I hope that you all had good Christmas', Hanukkahs, Solstices, and so on. Solstice here was a fantastic milestone to reach. At the height of darkness the sun rose late in the morning and it was dark again by 3:30. Even now, though still dark for long hours, it is not quite so bad and the returning sun is abundantly welcome. It's fascinating to observe the shifting of the planet from such a northerly latitude and I don't think it will ever fail to be so for me. For Christmas I decided to take a brief break from my work to visit my dear friend Emily over in Northern Ireland. I had been going without any sort of real break for far too long, and so, I decided to jump a train and ferry to Belfast. While I definitely missed home and all of you there, my trip to Belfast was good and a marvellous way to spend my Christmas. And I had a grand time with Emily, her Tom, and her brother James. It was a holiday full of good food and good people and I couldn't have asked for more.

After Christmas, we all piled into the car and Tom drove us up the coast to the Giants Causeway, which was beautiful, ancient and fun.

The rest of the visit was wonderful and Belfast was very interesting. Though, mostly it was nice to just take a couple of days off in good company, before jumping headlong into the end of my essay writing.

I now have about a week until my second semester commences, during which time I intend to stock up on Edinburgh experiences, knitting, photo taking escapades with my new/old King Penguin Kershaw eight-20, and possibly even a quick survey of the highlands. And then it will be back to the books and classrooms and libraries for the next leg of the journey. Before then though, I'll be sure to get another blog post in. Be well!