Wednesday 17 August 2011

Franticity

(I may have made that word up)

This summer is amazing.

-ly busy.

-ly exhausting.

-ly exciting.

-ly full of sitting at a laptop pounding out words and brackets and italicised 'asides'


But mostly just amazing.



I spent most of last week recovering from the Wedding Weekend of the Century (which, by the way, was WONDERFUL), flitting between Kettering and Harb, for proofreading and editing my thesis in one house, and eating (I have no food) and sleeping (sporadically) in the other. After spending a concentrated couple of days in Ketters working like a mad woman, (oh, and rewarding myself with exciting treats, such as cinema-ing with the young'un to see HARRY POTTER, and Chiquitos-ing with the buddy in Cambridge), I drove back to Harb, en route to Oxfordshire, and emailed a 50-something page draft to my supervisor.

Then, I sped down the M1 (possibly), to arrive chez sister in the mid-afternoon, for to begin a weekend of Wild Wilderness Wonderment.

We spent the weekend lounging in the (occasional) sunshine, usually with a pint of something delicious in our hands, surrounded by small children, colourful people and the wafts of live music. I. Loved. It.

There is something so exhilerating about live music. I'm not going to attempt to capture what it is, but just state that I love it. Really.



Anyway, I left Oxon at circa 11:30-ish am, and arrived in Harborough for a quick shower and laptop collection, then crawled along the A14 to my supervisor's office in Cambridge, whereupon we proceeded to complete a 2 1/2 hour supervision, with me tap-tapping away at my keyboard, and him making approving noises as he read through the literature review, and scoured the literary landscape for grammatical inconsistencies and poorly phrased passages.



There is so much more I'd like to say in this post.

- The joys and delights and strange melancholies associated with weddings.

- The amazing capacities for human love and acceptance - not just in marriage, but also in the creation of surprisingly easy new friendships.

- The horrors and unimaginable selfishness of humanity, as seen in the UK riots.

- The unusual emotions aroused during Harry Potter - their spells and incantations, shooting up light into the night sky: so similar to prayers like incense.

- The ideas of collective worship at a secular music festival - what is it people go for? What are they worshipping?

- Antony and the Johnsons, and preaching Feminine Neutrality.

- How much I love my sister.


SO MUCH I WANT TO TALK ABOUT.


But for now, I am (a boy?). No, for now, I am incredibly exhausted. And a bit sad that I am no longer at Wilderness. But a bit (a lot) excited that I am going to Momentum on FRIDAY.

YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!



I can't wait.



Anyway, good night.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Updating...

So the past week and a half has whizzed by in something of a hazy, fun-filled blur. Allow me to walk you through it...

Date: week ending 22nd July
Description: end of term week.
Primary Activity/ies: thesis-ing, being full of cold, not going to London for Lottie's hen do, finishing term.

Date: Saturday 23rd July - Friday 29th July
Description: Scottish Adventure
Primary Activity/ies: thesis-ing (Sat), sleeping in a Cumbrian gypsy caravan (Sat night), visiting Glasgow (Sun), ferrying to Colonsay (Sun eve), ceilidh-ing on Colonsay (Mon), barbecue-ing on the beach (Tues), visiting Colonsay house (Weds), ferrying back to Oban (Thurs), experiencing a folk session in a Glaswegian pub (Thurs night), sleeping in a Glasgow YHA (Thurs night cont.), driving through M6 traffic (Fri), arriving home (Fri pm).

Date: Weekend of 30th/31st July
Description: Family Fun
Primary Activity/ies: visiting brother et al in Nottingham (Sat) and sister et al in Oxfordshire (Sun) for sister's 30th and brother's... well, no real reason, I suppose.

Date: Monday 1st Aug
Description: Thesis Day #1
Primary Activity: Thesising (and a little Skype-ing)

Date: Tues 2nd Aug
Description: Worst Day of the Summer So Far
Primary Activities: vomiting, sleeping, aching, moaning.

Date: Weds 3rd Aug
Description: Today
Primary Activity: trying to thesise all day, and not really getting very far. This will be my Primary Activity for at least tomorrow too, and then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I am busy having exciting wedding parties and post-wedding meanders round London (I hope).


Anyway, there, in a brief but functional description, is my summer so far. Colonsay was AMAZING, and I got hideously sunburnt, and thoroughly exhausted from cycling all day every day, but I LOVED it and would not have not gone for anything.

Now I am doing an excellent impression of a snake, and shedding my sunburnt skin (which is now brown(-ish) and slightly peeling), all in perfect time for the wedding weekend of the year.

Yeah man, can't wait.