Science Officer's Personal Log | Hilary Term, Week 2 (22/Jan-28/Jan, 2023)

 

My perfect writing spot. An individual desk, facing a window, with a heater and a nice little blanket. The only downside were some inconsiderate tourists who insisted on standing right next to my desk to chat about the building in hushed tones. Despite the interruptions however, I finished chapter 9, book-ending the Basque section. Success.

This week I spent a lot of time at the Oxford Union. It was my favourite study spot by far and on Saturday, I found the perfect desk for writing. There, I finished chapter 9 of my book. And on thursday, I got to give my first floor speech at the chamber.

The only reason I wanted to speak was to share a floor with Ken Follett, who happens to be one of my favourite writers. I hoped to meet him at the drinks reception that followed, but it was not meant to be. He left early! Still, speaking at the Union was an interesting experience, and it actually made me want to be more involved. I certainly hope this will not be the last time I have spoken at the chamber. 

The chamber, before the debate

On Wednesday I had a guest for Burns night's formal at Jesus, when a bagpipes player marched into the hall with her instrument, and afterwards read a special blessing and carved the haggis. I had never had haggis before - and when I saw how hard it was to carve I was not inspired - but it turned out to be a delicious dish (at least the way Jesus' chef prepares it). My friend and I had a nice evening, and I even tried the shot of whiskey they poured us at dinner. It was exceedingly strong!

Burns night formal

This week also saw my return to Jesus' boathouse, for an erg session (and I hope for some water sessions in the near future!) I had to be at the boathouse at 06:30, and the walk there was challenging - not because it was long or difficult, but because the only way is through Christ Church Meadow, and there are no lights. Fortunately a team form Oriel was heading to the boathouses and I tagged along with them. There is no way I was crossing that Meadow by myself in the dark. Once there, training was nice. It felt good to do something physical again, and I hope I get to repeat the dose soon. 

The River, after the training session

All in all, it was a pretty good week. I went to see my first David Cronenberg movie (Crimes of the Future) with the Horror Society at Keeble's theatre and on Thursday we started practicing the Ubi Caritas, a beautiful melody I expect we'll sing on Sunday of Week 4. Fingers crossed that next week will be even better...

Science Officer's Personal Log | Hilary Term, week 1 (15/Jan-21/Jan, 2023)

 

Second quad in my college on a crispy Sunday Afternoon :)

The first week of term was absolutely chaotic. I think most of that was due to my having to take a specific course for my degree and, like most things in Oxford, as I have now learned, the course was pretty intense. It took time away from my main project, which was a hassle. I did work from the Bodleian and from the Oxford Union Library this week, but because I had so many tutorials - which required me to interact through Mycrosoft teams - the best place from which to work was my room. It's a fine working station, but I prefer the libraries and it was particularly disheartening being in these so much for this past week. The course is not finished yet, but most of what I have to do now are readings and watching a few videos... Things I can do at my own pace, from a more inspiring setting.

The week started, as it usually does, with a packed Sunday, the first Sunday of term and therefore, the first Evensong of term! Well... Actually, in the morning I had my writing group. It's cool that the group is still going, though we are a small group and usually there's only two to three people at a time. We worked at the upper reading room of the Bodleian this time, and I think I did some progress, solving the problem I'd been having with Chapter 6 of my project. I definitely wrote more than I would have if I was alone in my room, I think, and that's the whole reason why I started the group to begin with 

I didn't get to write about my Saturday, but my week actually ended up with a walking tour of all of Oxford's colleges and private halls. A 14Km walk. It was far too cold, but I can finally say I've been to all the colleges, including St. Stephen's in the photo, one of the ones that's the farthest away from the centre.

After the group there was Evensong. I was a little worried about the hymn for this service because it was a fast-paced song and we barely had a chance to go over it during last rehearsal. That said, it is a lovely little song. It's called "Tomorrow shall be my dancing day". It is a Carol, which I probably wouldn't have realized if the maestro hadn't told us - which I guess means I must work on my knowledge of Anglican choir traditions and choral music in general. As it turns out, the church year is still in a Christmas mood, so we'll be doing carols for a while, which is perfectly fine with me. This song is from the XIXth century, from what I've been able to find online, but it reminded me of Gaudete, which we did last term, and was a much older tune. It also has drums, which always makes things fun. Back home, when I was briefly enrolled in a music school, I had a percussion class on Brazilian rhythms that used to be a favourite of mine. Anyway... I listened to a recording on spotify on repeat for a couple of days in preparation for Sunday, and I think it went alright. Dinner was lovely. 

Most of the week went without much ado. By Thursday I managed to take care of most of the things in my growing to do list - which mostly involved social responsibilities like messaging specific people about specific events, and is just the type of thing on which I tend to procrastinate. I also managed to stop by the Oxford Union to get my membership card - which was great - and to borrow a few SF books from the poetry room. Inspiration and research materials for my novel. Then I returned a couple of books to Jesus library - a History of Jesus College and The Right to Sex. There is always a small feeling of success when I return a library book I actually had a chance to read. 

 

Turl Street

Before choir, I went for dinner at hall... Eating at hall is always an experience... I have to say, I have had a little trouble connecting to others in my college, which is something I always knew might happen, of course, but I hoped it wouldn't. I think it has to do with how most of them live together, at Cheng Quad, while I'm on external accommodation. Sitting around the others can be... challenging. There are far too many inside jokes, too many references to things I wasn't around to see... And they seem to suffice to each other. Uninterested I would say, in anybody else. Everybody is friendly, of course, but it's a shallow sort of friendliness, and that means that most of the time, I have a better time sitting by myself, and appreciating the coziness of our 16th century hall. Be that as it may, this Thursday at dinner I happened to find a place near a boy who's also at choir, and the conversation was nice. I thought so at least. 

 Choir practice was fine... I enjoyed it, I always do, but I felt a bit off my game, making more mistakes than I usually do. I am trying not to be too disheartened by it though, and it's awesome that the maestro sends us recordings of the pieces and sheet music via email, so I have material with which to practice. I know I won't become a brilliant singer overnight, but practice seems like the way to get a little better. 

 After choir, I attended my first debate at the Oxford Union chamber. Last term I couldn't go because debates clashed with choir, but now they have been moved to a later time and I have to say, it was more intellectually stimulating than I could have anticipated. I am often guilty of not giving my peers - or anyone in my generation really - enough credit, but it was incredible being in a room with so many people eager to express their ideas and express them well. The motion was "This House Believes the Future is Post Gender", which is something I am interested in knowing more about, but I wasn't familiar with any of the speakers so I really didn't know what to expect. Overall it was brilliant. I did think the opposition had more compelling arguments - mostly because, on the side of the proposition people talked about their personal experiences, and about a "vision" of the theoretical wonders of a post-gender society, without actually offering arguments that support the idea that society would be better off. I walked out through the "noes" side of the door. That's how it works at the chamber. After the debate, you walk through the "ayes" side if you agree with the proposition (hopefully if the proposition did a good job of defending that side) and the "noes" side if you agree with the opposition instead. 

Something I was not expecting, is that before the last speaker on either side can say anything, there is a chance for members of the Union to participate in the debate and speak for a few minutes. All you have to do is raise your membership card and get noticed by the president to have a chance. Isn't that amazing? Being a member of the Union means more than just a chance to watch the talks. One can participate. I didn't have much to say this time, but perhaps in the future... The whole thing was very stimulating. I will definitely come back for more. 

The way we vote at the union is with our feet. You exit the chamber through the left if you are against the proposition and through the right if you are in favour of it. I have come to learn there is usually a pretty big line.

 Friday was the day for my usual meeting with my supervisors, which went okay. Afterwards I had lunch at Jesus (fish and chips as usual) and decided to work at the English Faculty Library, for a bit of variety. As well as I believe our meetings have been going so far, I always feel a bit spent afterwards, and a variation in my surroundings helps. There was also a couple of items I'd been meaning to borrow from that specific library, so things worked out nicely. It was my first time there and that means crossing another libraries from the list of local libraries I made use of so far :)

At the end of the day, I went to the TV room in my accommodation for a well deserved movie. After reading The Secret History I found myself in the mood for some dark academia and the movie I chose was "Kill Your Darlings". I had never seen it before. It was a good experience, and it opened my eyes to a world of literature that up until then had remained closed to me. My knowledge of the beat generation was restricted to Kerouac, and the only book I knew was "On The Road". Turns out there is a lot more to discover. All in all, not a bad way to end a week...

Movie night...

Science Officer's Personal Log | Hilary term, week 0 (Sunday 8/Jan - Saturday 14/Jan)

Week zero is a thing at Oxford. Not just at Michaelmas, but every term. Undergraduates have collections, which are exams meant to test knowledge from the previous term and from work done during the break, which of course means the college is starting to feel crowded again. I was so surprised when I went to Jesus Library - my beloved Sanctuary for my first Christmas season away from home - only to find out it was once again crowded and noisy. It was a little heartbreaking, I'm not going to lie. 

My study/work spot at the Taylorian

As a result, I turned to the Taylorian, one of my favourite Libraries in town. The main reading room is beautiful, with a large chandelier, a fireplace, and tall wooden shelves, heavy with books from floor to ceiling. It has a gallery, and that's my favourite spot, at one of the tables overlooking the columns of the Ashmolean Museum. Now that I'm thinking, my favourite spot at Jesus' library is also at the upper gallery of the upper library. I guess I have a thing for high places. Anyway, I was working on Bioinformatics this week, trying to learn a new programming language, and I believe I did some good progress. Fitting I would say, to study languages - even computer languages - at the Taylor institution library. 

In the Spirit of finding new places to work, I sort of found a new writing spot. A quiet donnut shop behind Jesus college, much quieter than the coffee shops at High street - or even at Cornmarket street for that matter, and much nicer for writing.  I spent a couple of hours there on Monday, once I was finished with work, and did some progress in chapter 8. And, on Wednesday night I went to the Royal Blenhein with a couple of friends from Trek Soc, for a pub quiz, a nice little British tradition. We did not get the last place which was an accomplishment, considering our disastrous performance in the musical round.
 

The Royal Bleheim

 

On Thursday I had choir practice. I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't expecting any sort of formal activity before next week but actually, the term starts on Sunday and therefore, we have Evensong tomorrow! It was nice getting the maestro's email reminding us all of this Thursday's practice because he gave us an overview of things to come in the next few weeks and there is a lot of cool stuff to look forward to. I was starting to feel a little blue, thinking that with Christmas and all last term, we had already done the coolest things we were going to do all year with the choir, but as it turns out there's a lot of cool stuff happening in the next few weeks, including a service in Welsh and the Turl Street Arts Festival. As the song says, it seems the best is yet to come.
 

First book of the year...

This week I finished reading "The Secret History", by Donna Tartt. I have been curious about this book for a while which is why it is one of the few books I brought with me on the plane, and it seemed a good candidate for the first book of the year. That said, I don't quite know how to feel about it. The prose was amazing but the ending... The ending left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The thing deserves a post of its own if I ever get around to writing it, but I wanted to say that much. Anyway... The first book of the year. Finally, I might add. I have been reading this in conjunction with Orlando, by Virginia Wolf, but that one will take me a little longer to finish.
 

Something else I did this week was go out shopping. That is always exhausting. I have been on a personal quest to find a style with which I can express myself through fashion. It's difficult. I am extremely bad at shopping. But I did manage to find a couple of items which will enhance my wardrobe and that in itself is a success. Let's leave it at that for now. 

 

I was working at the Taylorian until closing time on Tuesday. This is what the place looks like, when everyone else is gone...

The best part of my week was undoubtedly watching Tarr at the Westgate mall on Friday night. I have been looking forward to this movie for such a long time and as much as I enjoyed it, I am sure I am only beginning to peel the first of many layers in this story. The movie follows Lydia Tarr, the first female conductor of a major Berlim Orchestra, as she is about to conduct Mahler's 5th symphony. The last of Mahler's 9 symphonies that she conducted with this Orchestra, making her the first to accomplish such a thing with the same Orchestra. It's a big moment. And then, of course, stuff about her past comes out and threatens to destroy her life like a castle of cards. 

Nothing like a night at the movies...

Tarr is a cancellation story. But I have to say, I didn't really analyze - or perhaps even understand - all there is to this side of the movie. No. My first response to the movie was much more personal. How could it not be, when a cellist plays such a big role in it, playing the piece that is my number one absolute favourite piece in the cello repertoire? But it was the lines of the protagonist that captured my heart. The way she speaks about having nothing to complain about in terms of being a woman in a man's world, for instance, reflects thoughts that first came to me when I went to that Histories of Women exhibition at MASP a few years ago. Thoughts I didn't have the words - or perhaps the clarity - to express, certainly not as eloquently as she did. And then there's the Julliard scene. The leaked scene that made me want to watch the movie in the first place, the ten-minute long one-take-long scene that embodies all of my disappointments with my own generation. It was beautiful.
 

The movie is fantastic. Great direction. Great Script. If I had my way, it would win best picture. But there is such a thing as a "best-picture-movie" and what that thing is was defined a few decades ago... Tarr is... something else. Something more. Still, I am rooting for it. And I will definitely watch it again... 

I haven't been here for long, but already, I've seen some great movies in this place. Bones and all, The Menu, and Tarr come to mind...