| worth at least one thousand words |
[09 Jun 2007|09:27am] |
Vancouver:
At Stanley Park:
At the University of British Columbia, where I'm staying:
A baby skunk on my boot:
And that's what I've been up to.... plus Shakespeare.
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[19 May 2007|12:28am] |
Vancouver
A Nuclear Weapons Free Zone
Reads the sign at the city limits.
I'm learning all sorts of interesting things about these krazy kanadians. You know how the stereotype is that they are really nice and polite people? Well it's not entirely true, but it's pretty freakin' true. First, let us compare governments with the US:
America's founding principles:
Life
Liberty
The pursuit of happiness
Canada's founding principles:
Peace
Order
Good government
Good grief. There is a joke here: Canada is the only nation founded by a department store (referring to Canada's founding by the Hudson Bay Co. for fur trading, I believe). They didn't even have their own written constitution until the 1980s, when they started to feel left out.
Now, another stereotype: the "eh?" at the end of sentances. Again, not always true, but often. In fact, this "eh?" is a part of the dialect even when Canadian's don't actually say "eh?". The melody of their phrases ends up in pitch (where Americans' tend to end down), which is a sort of uncertainty or question in every phrase. IT IS HISTORICALLY AND SOCIALLY BUILT INTO THE CANADIAN DIALECT TO GET ALONG WITH OTHERS. Where Americans have evolved in a place where they claim their little patch of the manifest destiny, Canadians have had to work together against weather, their greatest threat. And so they say "eh?".
And "aboot". I don't have a good explaination for that one. Yet.
Did you know that technically Canadians are not led by their prime minister, but rather by the QUEEN OF ENGLAND?
None of this is a joke, friends. Except the fact that Canada is a bit of a joke... and Canadians know it. It's amazing.
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| '...love the one you're with' |
[12 May 2007|09:36pm] |
[My roomates and I, on the verge of my departure, standing together in the living room of townhouse apt. 12-B]
DAVID: So, ah, I know we've butted heads a few times and haven't always gotten along, Ryan, but I want you to know that often I didn't like you, but I always respected you.
KYLE: It's no secret that I didn't like you from the start, Ryan, but I think Crosby, Stills, and Nash put it best when they sang, 'If you can't be with the one you love....'
ME: Well lord knows I'm happy to be leaving, but I can honestly say that no two other individuals have ever made me feel so superior--
[interrupted by breaking into laughter and a group hug]
Watch out, Vancouver. I'm not in Chapel Hill anymore....
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| if I may |
[13 Sep 2006|09:03am] |
Everybody, think about this:
According to the New York Times, the civilian death toll in Baghdad was over 1,500 this past August. And the numbers look like that every month, sometimes higher. America has been at war in Iraq since 2003.
No, America is not responsible for all of these deaths, but it is crystal clear that our present course of action is not powerful enough to positively change whatever it is we started three years ago. We cannot pretend that this is a war anymore. This steady stream of unpredictable violence is creeping death. If this operation is not relatively quick and painless, then it's cruel and unusual, and nobody deserves that.
VOTE THIS NOVEMBER. It's true that presidential elections won't swing around until 2008 and we're stuck with President Bush for two more years blah blah blah blah blah. Ladies and gentlemen, he's only supposed to be in charge of one branch of our glorious government. He can be made powerless by our Congress; a full third of the members of the Senate are up for (re)election this year, as are all of our House members. As it stands, the Senate just this past Thursday approved $63 BILLION more to be spent on the war in Iraq. Approved 98 to 0. Personally, I don't know anybody who still wants to pursue this war, yet this legislative body claims that it represents all of us.
If you live in North Carolina, you won't be able to elect a new Senator this year (look to oust Elizabeth Dole in '08 and Richard Burr in '10), but perhaps the balance of power in the House of Representatives could be altered. And if you've given up on the Federal government, don't forget that state elections can be significant, too; they are less influential in foreign affairs, but state governments, existing on a closer level to the individual citizen, should most accurately reflect the views of that citizen. If our voices can at least be heard by our state governments, then our state governments can better speak for us in the national community.
This year, election day falls on my 21st birthday.
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| i take it back |
[27 Jun 2006|10:03pm] |
Americans really do like to eat larger portions when they go out, generally speaking.
I work in a restaurant and frequent many others... I have seen it.
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| you will see many things |
[20 Jun 2006|09:56pm] |
Tonight marks exactly one week since my return to home and the United States of America.
One week. Just one week. And in this one week, I've had two Papa 'Notch rehearsals, two Cymbeline rehearsals, one improv show, several Mexican meals, three shifts at Aurora, many reunions, a few motorcycle lessons, and I've bit my tongue really hard (to the point of massive blood loss) twice now. Although I bet I wouldn't have bitten my tongue the second time if I hadn't bitten it the first time. Some things in life are more cyclical than others.
Anyway, let's do a tour de speediness through the past four weeks, shall we?
The feeling of seeing some of my best friends again for the first time in several months + walking around a European capital = a downright magnificent night in Paris...
Speed-hiking from stunning village to village in Italy's Cinque Terre...
Chilling on the outskirts of Florence, which provided a beautiful view despite the entire city taking a holiday (and thus closing down) during our stay...
Walking to and fro Dresden's biergartens along the Elbe... from the Zipfer Club to our very own "Baron", we met the most fascinating Germans...
Finally, partying all over Berlin. From left to right, you see Matthew, Arne, Matt, and David.
And then I flew home, where I've been since. OBVIOUSLY missing England and those I had really only just begun to get to know there, but jumping back into home life as best as I'm able... perhaps I'll check back in some number of weeks from now and write about how successfully I make the transition.
Until then, bon voyage, travelling mercies, and all of that. Talk to me if you'd like to see some fun Shakespeare and improv this summer... for now, I'm gonna start re-reading Ender's Game and nursing my sore tongue. We're just gonna have to wait and see what other things this life brings back around again............
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| with the sound of music |
[06 Jun 2006|09:53am] |
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Florence and now Salzburg. We met up with Matt and tomorrow the four of us will get into Germany for the last leg of our trip.
The next time I update this journal, I will probably be home in Chapel Hill. I have many thoughts for many people, but I am afraid that an internet café sandwiched in between rushing from Salzburg to Münich is not the place to lay them out. Your patience is appreciated.
All the same, it has been quite an adventure seeing this much of the world... I now wonder what it would be like to travel beyond the Western world, where I have thus far been confined, however different things have been from place to place.
There is much to see. My friends, you are in my thoughts. For now, I'm gonna go see if these hills are really alive...
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| give him the boot |
[02 Jun 2006|06:40pm] |
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A few more days in Milan, and then...
-Cinque Terre- hiked along the Mediterranean coast through these beautiful five villages. Nice to get away from big cities for a while.
-Rome- the Vatican, old Roman ruins, and super-tasty gelato. Pretty much what you would expect, I suppose, but it is great fun.
Tomorrow the brothers Greenslade and I leave for Florence. We've some time yet left in Italy, which is a beautiful country despite the rainy weather today. Maybe we'll get some pizza for dinner.
I am very much looking forward to hanging out with certain people when I get back home.
Journey on.
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| 'till you come back, come back to me |
[28 May 2006|04:28pm] |
-London- done, including a bar with awfully modern music and the world's best hot chocolate.
-Paris- done, including... well, a lot of things, but best of all was seeing the Eiffel Tower at midnight, the Orsay Museum of Impressionist Art, and eating real tasty French cuisine.
-Milan- just getting started, but the weather is amazing... living in England, one forgets the beauty of a real summer.
I am afraid that I can't really write much more right now... travelling with my friends again is awesome, and we still have to see the rest of Italy and Germany. I think it'll be a while before I can really figure out what to think of passing through so many cultures in such a short amount of time.... I'm still trying to figure out how to buy food in French while it's time to be learning how to ask for a room in Italian. Whoa dang.
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| i love you, goodbye |
[21 May 2006|11:53pm] |
And before this one is even finished, another adventure is just beginning. Leaving here is only as sorrowful as any memory, imperfect and fading but a solid step in the path that leads ever onward.
Farewell, Bristol.
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| so dark |
[20 May 2006|09:48am] |
Tom Hanks = way too little
Ian McKellen = way too much
Paul Bettany and Audrey Toutou = right on the money
Dan Brown and Ron Howard = go away
And that's all you need to know about the year's most, uh, controversial movie. I bet you'll agree.
My last few nights here have been amazing, which isn't too surprising since they have been spent with good friends. Furthermore, yesterday I turned in my paper and the day before that I attended my last lecture. While I was listening to my professor looking out the window, a really freakin' huge passenger plane flew across my line of vision, amazingly low to the ground. Bristol, famous for its aeroengineering, has helped contribute to the completion of this enormous DOUBLE DECKER passenger jet, and it was flown over the suspension bridge in celebration. I jumped out of my seat and made a big fuss, but everybody else in the class missed it.
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| it is sweet violence |
[17 May 2006|11:03am] |
I have done a little reading this semester. I think it's almost strange how nice it is to have a good book around, but regardless, I generally try to.
Anyway, I've just finished reading the most marvelous story. Silk, by Alessandro Baricco. 11 out of 10 stars... Which means that it has actually broken my "rating things" meter, since the meter only goes up to 10. Seriously, though, this little book is simple and poetic, and not poetic to the point of being obnoxious. I don't know, I just thought it was beautiful, this tale of a French man who travels to Japan to get silkworms for his village. Something about the style reminds me of Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams, another very favorite book of mine; after you finish a chapter, it is almost as if you can feel the passage of time, a sort of light fluid all around.
Here are some of this semester's other books and movies and stuff that I rated before my meter broke:
(some you've seen already)
-->Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ... 7 out of 10
-->Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? [London performance] ... 8 out of 10
-->Kanye West's Touch the Sky tour ... 6.5 out of 10
-->One Hundred Years of Solitude ... 10 out of 10 (no longer the highest, of course...)
-->Purple Hibiscus (by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) ... 7 out of 10
-->V for Vendetta [IMAX film] ... 7 out of 10
-->The 2006 NCAA Basketball Tournament (or lack thereof for me and Carolina) ... 2 out of 10
-->Great Expectations (by Charles Dickens) ... 7 out of 10 (with bonus points for being highly British)
-->The Cut [Mark Ravenhill, Bristol performance] ... 9 out of 10
-->The Squid and the Whale [film] ... 6 out of 10
-->The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ... 6 out of 10
Whoa. That's a pretty good semester right there, on top of reading Shakespeare and Hume and other assorted literature. I feel so cultured.
Speaking of which, I'm totally looking forward to seeing the upcoming movies The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3, Cars, and, most of all, Superman Returns. Have you kids seen the trailer for that? Check it out. Kevin Spacey is the real hero.
As for now, I need to find myself a brilliant book to dig into for the upcoming three-week adventuring.
I also need a shower. Showers = 10 out of 10 stars.
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| and another flashback |
[15 May 2006|06:12pm] |
And, as a special reverse one-week anniversary present, here's another flashback moment from Edinburgh, when my family was visiting a few weeks ago:
Ahh, some Roman leftovers. Always a great subject of photography. Now, let's go play on it.
Rather obviously, this is my brother and my dad. And, after I got up there to join them, I looked down upon dear mother!
What a good family. One of the best reasons to go home every now and then... or to Scotland, I suppose.
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| see me |
[15 May 2006|05:31pm] |
shhhhhhhhhhhhh. keep quiet, and listen very closely. spend attention.
can you hear it? after all that has happened, can you now open your eyes and see it?
it is the eye of the storm.
Today marks the beginning of my final week in Bristol. I worked hard to finish my everything early, and so it is done. I'll go talk about Macbeth in class on Thursday, but beyond that, the week is entirely mine. Most of you know the feeling, already being done with the semester... peace and joy over the successful passage of another year, over the ensuing little break we get to take here in the summer months. At the same time comes a feeling of loss; am I really capable of using my freedom responsibly? am I really capable of functioning to my fullest when divorced from the structure I have become so accustomed to?
For the sake of moving on, let's go ahead and answer "yes" to those questions. This semester has been more about adventure than books, anyway, and I have yet to meet the end of this year's adventuring. Care to see a little bit of what my extrasemestular travel looks like?
Check it:
- I'll meet David in London.
- We'll travel to Paris for a few days.
- We'll fly to Milan and terrorize Italy for nine days (likely to include but not limited to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Verona)
- Trains will take us to meet Matt in Salzburg.
- The three of us will make our way up through Germany (Munich? Heidelburg? Dresden?), to finally fly home from Berlin.
Damn. That sounds alright, to me. There won't be much wanting for action in those three weeks.
But then again I'm still here. There are seven days before all of that starts. No work to do but that which might help me later: packing up, reading about German cuisine, resting my travelling bones, and saying goodbye.
It's quiet all around me, with everybody studying for exams that I won't have to take... but this silence isn't fooling anybody.
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| flashbackin' |
[12 May 2006|09:40pm] |
Here is a genuine European moment I had in Amsterdam, wherein this umbrella floated lazily underneath a bridge. I probably shouldn't have ruined it with a green border... oh well.
Since I only took like four pictures of the place, I won't be making an Amsterdam gallery. Sorry... just imagine lots of bikes, canals, and *coffeeshops* all over the place.
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| sky high |
[10 May 2006|06:47pm] |
And you thought I had forgotten. MILLAGER NEVER FORGETS!
That's right, my Switzerland photo album is up. Just click on my
Image Galleries
and scroll to the bottom for the latest album. I'd recommend ignoring my stupider-than-usual titles and comments... it's the Swiss Alps that should really grab your focus here. As always, enjoy this and all of my other albums. I may not be posting any more for a few weeks.
Today's been a lot of fun. I've been really getting into some Shakespeare reading (despite those comments of a few days past) and my paper is coming along nicely. When it's not raining, the weather really is nice at this time of year around these parts; I joined a bunch of housemates in a game of frisbee and it was a great way to enjoy the weather, spend time with my mates, and take a break from writing. It's those simple things in life, I tell you what.
I'm gonna go see The Squid and the Whale tonight, which is only just now in British theatres. So be it, I never saw the thing when it was in the Varsity theatre last winter, so that'll be good. Other than that, it's pretty much the same gameplan for the next few days:
- Work on essays.
- Get ready to depart Bristol.
- Rock out around town with cool friends.
I've done a lot of #1 today, so it's time to get on the other two. #1 BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| if i have rang'd, like him that travels, i return again |
[08 May 2006|11:39pm] |
You know, it sometimes strikes me how in this day and age, world travel means something totally different than it once did.
I don't know if I can even say that I "left it all behind" to come to Bristol... what with how frequently I've called and emailed people back home, there comes a point when it seems like I take a lot of time out of the British day just to keep my American life together. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.
But then again, maybe it's just a part of living in more than one place.
And it's not as if I have totally forfeited many English experiences... just the other day I took a day trip to Weymouth with Rosie. Hoping it would be a bright and sunny day at the beach, I brought little more than shorts and my camera. HAVE I LEARNED NOTHING FROM LIVING IN ENGLAND? Rain and chilly wind, my friends. Nothing but rain and chilly wind. I would surely have frozen were it not for the hot tea and fish and chips, and that right there explains the English diet. And honestly, what better to mark my last little trip around England before heading off to the rest of Europe?
I'm now working on my Shakespeare essay, which deals some with matters of place and geographic location in the tragedies. It's really fascinating to think on how identities and relationships are formed and mirrored by simply where stuff is taking place. Also, in Shakespeare, you rarely see the travel between locations, creating the illusion that the journey is nearly instantaneous. In this way, it curiously resembles modern travel, where a journey from Britain to Rome really is nearly instantaneous. The future and the past can get all mixed up; I bring an iPod and a book with me everywhere I go.
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