Science Officer's Personal Log | Trinity Term, week 3

Sunday, May 7

I have been having some trouble getting back to working on my novel since the new year. Overcoming this is one of my goals for this term.  This Sunday, I decided to make it a number one priority and start the day with some writing. Instead of heading to a library, I went to Gulp Fiction, a bookshop/cafe at the covered market. They had barely opened when I got there, so the place was nice and quiet, and there's something nice about having a cup of hot chocolate in a room full of bookshelves. It became awfully noisy within less than an hour - a group of girls in a nearby table was particularly loud - but I managed to make some progress nevertheless. I worked on outlining rather than writing, but it was good work.

Gulp Fiction. Early morning.

Star Trek | My top 4 episodes in Strange New Worlds Season 1

Strange New Worlds (SNW) is a fantastic TV show. I enjoy most of the new Trek shows a great deal, but SNW is the one that feels like Star Trek the most. For starters, the series is episodic, and what continuity we get comes mostly in the evolution of character arcs. The bridge of the Enterprise is well lit - as it should be - and there's not technology that shouldn't be there, in accordance with what we know from that time in the 23rd century. The stories are character driven, and every now and again one of them verges on the absurd (The Elysian Kingdom, right?).  I love all that. I am not saying that I wish all TV shows were made exactly like TOS was in the 60s. Nor am I saying I don't want Star Trek to venture into new territory (which includes new forms of storytelling). No. I get it. I even enjoy the exploration (like any Starfleet graduate would). But I also like the way trek used to be. And I'm glad we get to have at least one current trek show that chooses to tell stories in that way. So without further ado, here are my top 4 episodes in the first season of Strange New Worlds: 

Science Officer's Personal Log | Trinity Term, week 2

Week 2 of Trinity had a rough start, rolling from the aftermath of the events of last Saturday. The Clarendon ball took place on Sunday, but I wasn't there, because I didn't feel like going alone and the person I wanted to go with declined my invitation. That sucked, but I am glad I was brave enough to ask. This is not a skill girls get taught during our formative years, so it wasn't easy, but I want to be brave. After all, it's okay. I just wasn't ready to go through the whole ordeal of finding a dress, and all the rest, to be there by myself, but it was difficult not to imagine what things would be like if I had had a date to the ball. Oxford balls are such a big thing around this time of year that it is difficult not to feel like I'm missing out. But this is my first year here. There will be other balls. Other opportunities. Perhaps even a date someday...  

On Sunday, we had something called access evensong at chapel, when the choir sang with students from a public school in London. It was okay, nothing too special. Formal dinner finished early, so I took the chance to rush to Balliol, to participate in my first meeting of the science fiction and fantasy society this term. The theme of the discussion was gender and sexuality in sci fi fantasy. It was a good couple of hours talking book and movies with like-minded people. I have some issues with the sci fi fantasy society, which is why I stopped attending during Hillary, but it was time to give it another chance. 

On Thursday we had our regular rehearsal. Sopranos ans altos at chapel, tenors and bases at the music room. The first half was a bit of a mess actually, but I am finally getting back in the rhythm of choir practice for this term...

Monday was May Day, which I had plans to attend, but the plans fell through over the weekend, and I ended up deciding not to sing Madrigals at college either, fearing that the cafe would be filled with drunk people on their way back from various balls. I did wake up early, probably on account of church bells ringing all around me - one of the perils of living at Oxford's city centre - and I spent sometime playing Terraforming Mars in the computer and wishing Spock was here... I think Spock would be able to understand my predicament and offer me some advice. I know I would be able to tell him things that I can't really tell anyone else right now, and perhaps he would know what to say. Perhaps he would be able to tell me that I won't be sad forever. I'd really like that. 

Regardless, I have started taking steps towards turning things around. On Monday, for instance, we had Unappreciated Data's episodes at Trek Soc. After most of the people left, there were three of us there, watching a third episode, playing giant Jenga and building wooden towers with the pieces (not unlike the model built by timothy and Data in the episode Hero Worship of TNG). Prior to going to Trek Soc I actually went to the movies watch a documentary about a Vermeer exhibition taking place at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam right now. It was okay but a bit pricey. I would have preferred if the documentary was available on streaming but I needed an excuse to get out of my room for a bit.

After Trek soc at John's MCR we played giant Jenga and then proceeded to build towers with the Jenga pieces, just like the temple Timothy builds with Data in TNG's Hero's Worship. At some point someone from the college staff came in and foud three of us sitting on the floor, playing with wooden blocks, like children. It was sort of funny :)

 

The rest of the week went on without much happening. I worked, and made some progress in my project. On Tuesday I went to Trek soc's board game night, where we played mega fluxx - essentially Star Trek fluxx with every available deck, which was a ton of fun. Then on Wednesday, Sophia and I started binge watching Rebels in the cinema room at the basement (the cinema room, by the way,  is something I will definitely miss when I move out of this place in the fall). Finally on Friday, after a long day of coding, I went to Bear Lane to watch the Lighthouse with the Horror Society. If I'm being completely honest, I went, less because of the movie and more because I need to make some new friends, but in that regard at least, the night was a total bust. The movie at least was okay, but I wasn't really in the vibe for something so artsy, and as far as Eggers' movies go, I far prefer the Witch. Still, I had to try something. Did my best, didn't work this time, we'll see what I come up with next. 

On Tuesday, before board game night I watched a talk about Tube Alloys, the British Atomic Bomb project and the involvement of Jesus college in it. It was really interesting, not to mention inspiring to see a scientist talk about a secondary interest - in this case, History. The next day, before our Rebels marathon I watched an online talk by George Church, from Harvard. I'm getting a lot better at finding interesting talks at Oxford, which was always part of my goals for this term.

Science Officer's Personal Log | Trinity Term Week 1

Trinity term officially started in Sunday (April 23), but it's worth starting this log the previous Saturday, just because it was such a good day. The last Saturday of the Easter break started with brunch at Sofi de France, at the Covered market, barely half a block away from where I live. The food was good, the company was wonderful, and at the time it seemed like the perfect way to end the break and set the tone for the last term of my first year. Later that day I went to St. Hilda's College to watch Steven Isserlis play the cello at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building. I had visited the building before, during a tour of the college, but I hadn't watched any performances there yet. It was lovely. 

The JdP room looked a little bit like a refurbished barn but it had a nice intimate feel to it.There is something special about watching a cello performance in a building named after the most famous British cellist in recent memory.

 The programme focused on Romantic pieces:

Mendelssohn Variations Concertantes for Cello and Piano, Op. 17
Schumann (arr. Isserlis): Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 121
Moscheles Cello Sonata in E Major, Op. 121
Chopin  Introduction and Polonaise brilliant in C Major, Op. 

I loved the Moscheles, who was a composer I had never heard of before. The concert room had an intimate feel to it and at some point the cellist even spoke a few words to dedicate one piece to a friend who had recently passed away. Because it was raining, I didn't get to walk around Hilda's garden during the interval, but still, it was pretty cool. 

 

The beautiful hall of Jesus college - where I have many of my daily meals - with the tables set for the benefactor's dinner last Tuesday. It's nice to see the sun shining on the tables despite the time. Days are getting longer here and I quite enjoy having sunlight past 20:00 hours.

 

The beginning of the week was almost ordinary. On Sunday, we had our first evensong of term, which was somewhat difficult, because I didn't really practice during the break. Then Monday started slowly, with breakfast at Taylor's - but all by myself, followed by a day of bioinformatics work, rewarded with an evening of Spock themed episodes at John's, with the Star Trek society. Monday also marked the arrival of my new bullet journal - the third one I start at Oxford, and hopefully (hopefully!) the one that will work. 

On Tuesday, we had the benefactors' service and dinner at College, a big event for the choir. We had a short rehearsal at 17:00hrs, followed by a packed service before what has probably been the best dinner I ever had at hall. The menu was:

 

Table set up for the dinner with a menu featuring our founder, Queen Elizabeth I, as in the large portrait above the high table

Roasted Gochujang Cauliflower, Watercress & Pomegranate Salad with Fried Onions, Mint & Cumin Creme Fraiche

Wine: Chablis Domaine Alain Geoffroy 2019

Supreme Guinea Fowl, Dauphinoise Potato, Ratatouille Vegetables, Redcurrant & Rosemary Jus

Wine: Mercurey Rouge I er Cru, des Montaigu, Patrick Guillot 2015

Passion Fruit Brulee, Lemon Sable Biscuit, Compote of Berries

Wine: Chateau Fayau Cadillac Liquoreaux 2013

Coffee and Chocolate

Wine: Grahams 1994

 Because it was a special occasion, they brought out the college silver mugs, collected over the years, meant to be used for drinking the college Swig. Places were assigned, which is unusual for the choir table, but the maestro or the organ scholars must have had a say in the placement because we were more or less grouped according to our voice parts, which made singing grace easier, and the mug in front of me dated from 1654. 

My Swig jug. 1654.

 

Thursday was an interesting day. After work, at the end of the afternoon, I went to the Martin Wood Lecture Theatre at the Maths building to watch a lecture on "the story of anyons", by professor Steven H. Simon.  I had such a good time watching this lecture. Simon turned out to be a "chalk and talk" man, and the lecture theatre was extremely appropriate for that, equipped with 3 rows of blackboards stretching all the way to the ceiling , at least 5 metres high. It had been such a long time since I watched a talk like that - a long time since I watched a physics lecture actually - and this is just the kind of thing I hope to do more of now that I am at Oxford. The downside is that the lecture went late and I missed my choir rehearsal that day, but it's okay... I don't plan on making missing rehearsal a habit. After the talk my mind was full of complicated thoughts, but I had someone to talk them over with and I enjoyed the walk back from the science area, the poppeye's meal that followed, the conversation, the company, and most of all the closeness that followed. 

 

The rolling blackboards at the Martin Wood lecture hall, before the Physics talk

Unfortunately, my week didn't end in as positive a note as the note in which it started. Workwise , it turns out I made a bad mistake in my paper draft, but I think I should be able to correct it in the next two weeks. In addition to that, I parted ways with someone that had been an important part of my life since the beginning of Hilary term. I hesitate before writing about that in such a public place but nobody reads this blog, and the fact is, I am out of sorts... I am not quite sure how to deal with this situation. I wish I had someone to talk to about it, but the person I would usually discuss this sort of thing with is exactly the person who is not around anymore...  It seems unfair. We had such a good thing going. I had such hopes and ideas and expectations for trinity term. I wish with all my heart that this wasn't the end...  But all the wishing in the world can't make someone come back to you. I suppose it's like Captain Picard said once: "wishing for a thing does not make it so". 

Cows at Christ Church Meadow. I was there for a walk this Friday. I was really starting to enjoy these walks through Oxford's green spaces... It's a pity I dind't get to explore the beyond-the-bridge area of University Parks...