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!