This is where I work.
This is the Radcliffe Camera, where I spend the majority of my waking hours. My back was against the main building of the Bodleian Library when I took this picture, and the underground storage area feeds into both. This coming week I've got Paradise Lost and The Screwtape Letters reserved and sent up to this building for my reading pleasure.
Well, it's been a little while since my last post! Let me just say it's NOT been because I've been lazy. Since I've received my golden ticket to learning, I've read through the Chronicles of Narnia again, Henry James's travels to Rome and Venice, George MacDonald's Lilith and have started Phantastes. That 6 pager isn't due until Wednesday, but I've written and turned in my James paper and will discuss it at length with my tutor on Monday.
Before all that started however, I took day trips to both London and St. Aldates (a small town with some Roman ruins, taking it's name from Britain's proto-martyr.) Both trips were great, but London was especially cool. Of course we saw Buckingham palace and everything, but the coolest part was taking a walk through "Old London," and seeing where the Great Fire of London did all it's damage. There's a lot of really neat history here.
The weather here for that last week has been excellent (knock on wood). The sun has been out relatively regulary, with showers only at night. It makes great walking weather and walking is what I'm doing ALOT of. I'm thinking about investing in a cheap bike, but I don't have much time to look.
Today was a great day. I got up and finished writing my paper on Henry James, went to turn it in, and then ended up just walking around Oxford for a while. I stopped by the Camera to try and read some of Phantastes, but I couldn't make myself concentrate, so I just walked. When I got home, I went to the grocery store and got some good looking chicken, then came home and cooked it with some rice and green beans. It was the biggest meal I've had since I've been here, and I was perfectly full when it was all said and done.
Tomorrow is church at St. Andrew's Anglican. I'm really enjoying my experience with high church so far, though it is very different. More than anything, I think, I am just continually reminded how diverse God is--that He draws pleasure from all the different aromas that our worship(s) create. Though our expersions of love for Him look different, He accepts them and charishes them. I hope everyone has a wonderfully relaxing and worship-filled Sabboth tomorrow.
posted by Tingle, M. D. | 4:37 PM
5 Comments:
It looks lovely, Matt. I'm glad things are going well so far! You've gotten a lot of reading done! Narnia is always worth another read. What did you think of Lilith? I found it rather odd but that might of been from my complete lack of understanding. :-)
I'll be praying. See ya, Matt.
Hey Dana-
So glad to see you're keeping up with me! ;0). I thought Lilith was odd, but definitely saw elements of it that influenced Lewis' works (most specifically, The Great Divorce, though there was is a lot that I think found it's way into Narnia as well). On the whole, I liked it. The allegory was beautiful, despite the thick and sometimes over-wordy writing style. I got my hands on a version that had an introduction by Lewis in it, and hearing what he had to say about MacDonald was very nice. Phantastes, on the other hand, I'm having a little more trouble with. I'm only about 50 pages into it at present, so I'm hoping it will pick up. Have you read that one yet?
Nope. Was a bit daunted after reading Lilith and not enjoying it. If I would read Phantastes it would be because it influence Lewis but I haven't been able to make myself read it yet. On the whole I've like MacDonald's fairy tales the most out of the works I've read (The Light Princess, Princess and the Goblins, and some other childrens stories).
Gosh that's a lot of reading, Matt! What do you think of the "classes" over there? Is it weird being the only person with the professor?
I have two really cool tutors, so it's not bad at all for me. It's more of just a get together and discuss what you saw in the book and what the tutor saw in the book and trying to figure out what the author intended. I really like it so far, but it's a nice way to make sure I do the reading!
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