Updates, updates
Good day! When I conceived this website, the latest of many, I promised myself that this time I would update it fairly regularly rather than backing away after the design stage and leaving it to fend for itself on the World Wide Web. A three month fallow period does seem to be pushing this mantra to its limit, but it’s good to see that you’ve stuck with me as I have plenty to report and have even been working on some new content!
So what’s been going on?
University is progressing nicely. Only the one essay each week this term, which has given me the chance to look into things in more detail (and get some more sleep…) I’m currently working on my Special Authors paper for German, trying in vain to pick up everything there is to know about Heinrich Heine and Heinrich von Kleist (nineteenth-century authors of German prose and poetry.) I think I’ve found focusing on one author at a time more interesting than papers with a broader scope; it allows me really to get under the skin of the authors and feel I understand their motivations and inspirations, and this is what I came to Uni for in the first place.
The social life is enjoyable as well. I underestimated how different living in a house would feel from the year which I spent living in Hertford College itself; I’ve lost the grandeur and the convenience, but the privacy and general feeling of homeliness more than make up for it. Living with like-minded people has been such a valuable experience, and it’s coming to the point where moving out at the end of the year will be hard to accept; this is my house! Meanwhile, I’m as inspired by the city as ever. I even tried to take twilight photographs – sadly, it having been twilight and my photographic skills being severely lacking, they’re not really worth reproduction.
My year abroad is gradually taking shape. Generally, the done thing is to teach younger children English in a foreign school for about fifteen hours per week. I decided long ago that this wasn’t for me; I’m not really a natural pedagogue, especially where eight-year-olds are concerned, and my previous time spent working in a German primary school as part of an exchange only reinforced my aversion. So I’ve gone for the easy way out; I’ll be spending two semesters at the University of Bonn, reading even more German literature. I won’t be getting paid, and maybe it won’t look quite as good on my CV as a teaching job. But I figure that I’m at University to study, and giving up the freedom to organise my day according to my wishes would be tricky for me. Besides, I have the rest of my life to go to work!
Website stuff
After having messed around with enough shades of blue and rounded off enough corners to satiate my appetite for hypertext perfectionism, I’ve seen to uploading some new material:
- I’ve gradually been uploading my University work. With the amount of time I spend reading obscure German literature and poring over dusty historical tomes, I thought it would be nice if somebody could read it other than an (invariably critical) tutor; hopefully it can give people an insight into what I do with myself.
- Timeline came about as a response to the hierarchical nature of the image galleries commonly showcased on personal websites, including this one. Whilst galleries making use of ‘albums’ certainly have their place, the convenience of breaking your personal photographs down into sets dealing with a particular time or place seems to come at a price – the sense of ‘progression’ is lost. The evocation of one’s past strikes me as central to the joys of photography, and the medium must thus be at its most powerful when it highlights change; this is the central principle of Timeline. It also seeks to reduce the egocentric element which I think is inherent to the act of posting lots of pictures of yourself on the Internet; few personal photographs have any emotional connotations for the casual observer, and Timeline is an attempt to replace what is lost by appealing to the universal human experience of growing older. It’s very much a work in progress, particularly as pictures from the pre-digital age are going to have to be digitised before I can upload them. Nevertheless, have a look at my progress so far and tell me what you think.
- I’ve also updated the standard gallery with some pictures from the last few months.
Culture
This term, I’ve been to the cinema four times and seen three Academy Award-nominated films. I think that’s more cinematic exposure than I get in the average year! One thing I’m not is an astute movie critic; I’m really more aligned with music, and simply remembering which character is which often presents me with some difficulty. Nevertheless, I’ve seen some films which I really enjoyed. I wasn’t aware that Sweeney Todd was a musical, or indeed that it was quite that gruesome – though the mention of a ‘demon barber’ should perhaps have set alarm bells ringing – but I found it to be immaculately produced and carried off really well by Johnny Depp, who I’m begrudgingly starting to admire for his versatility. No Country for Old Men was probably about half an hour too long, but chillingly enacted throughout and exceedingly atmospheric. I really liked There Will Be Blood from an artistic perspective, though it was so strongly character-driven that it lived or died through the role of Daniel Day-Lewis, who fortunately gave a consummate performance as the ruthless, forthright oil man. I really feel quite cultured – which is not something you can say very often after a trip or two to the movies.
Musically speaking, it’s all about Belle and Sebastian. I first heard their recent album, “The Life Pursuit”, and was so struck by its melodic intricacy that I ended up listening to it for most of November and December. I’ve since acquired three further albums, and am in love with all three of them. The poignancy of the lyrics, combined with soft, infectious melodies, seems to achieve something rare; B&S works just as well when I devote my entire attention to it as it does as background noise whilst I’m writing an essay (or an oversized blog post!) According to last.fm I’ve accumulated 1,052 Belle and Sebastian plays, and I recommend that you rack up a few yourself.
I think that’s all for now! I hope some of this has been interesting, and remember to check back every now and then; if I know you’re doing so, I’ll have to update more regularly!
Matt