1.19.2005
backtracking
It's interesting - whenever I actually log in and begin to write an entry, everything that I want to put in disappears from my head. I'll walk down the street and think, I should write about this. And then three hours later when I'm back at my desk, I'll log in and ... poof - it's gone. So here are a few of my posts from earlier which really escaped my mind before.
Exactly a week ago, I was involved in a concert at Queen's College for the Oxford Baroque Soloists. I was playing in an orchestra, backing up singers in an opera workshop - nothing but Mozart. It was a lot of fun; the singers were great, the action was funny, and the crowd turnout, at least the second night, was phenomenal. They did scenes from the Magic Flute and the Marriage of Figaro. It was a nice way for me to reconnnect to the Magic Flute, having performed in it while I was a kid way back in middle school (I was one of the three boys - first soprano!) in a Harvard production. It's always held a bit of fascination in my heart. Such a nice opera. And I'd never done anything from Marriage of Figaro, so that was nice to learn a little. My one complaint is this: I haven't played my bassoon in more than five weeks and the first thing I'm supposed to play in concert is the overture to the Marriage of Figaro? Honestly one of the hardest orchestral excerpts in the repertoire. Why hadn't I been playing? Not because I'd been bad and didn't practice, but because trans-Atlantic airline baggage restrictions being as they are, it was difficult for me to justify bringing my bassoon home with me.
It was about this time last week as well that the kebab van on St. Giles' Street disappeared. Now, I'd been going to Houssain's for all of Michelmas Term, and it's sort of my 'local'. And to find it missing was a real shock. I walked out there on a rather cold Wednesday night c.11:30. and in its place was nothing. Literally nothing. What was usually a hustling center of commerce and kebabbery is now silent. It's creepy! And a little sad. A lot of my friends reassure me that Houssain randomly takes holidays and he'll be back soon. In the mean time, I've tried two other kebab vans. Ahmed's on the High Street, which I wrote about last week, and last night, Hassan's. Now, everyone has been raving about Hassan's. Supposedly, it's amazing. And it is. The food is cheaper than Houssain's, it's a little bit tastier, the kebab meat is juicy, the chips are golden, the garlic mayonnaise is creamy, etc... But I feel like I'm cheating on my first kebab love... What's a guy to do?
The MCR has really gotten back into the swing of things. It's delightful to see that people are having fun and enjoying themselves in the company of others, and it's nice to be back with my friends. I have said it before, but it bears repeating: where else but in an academic setting are all of your really good friends in a 10-minute walking radius? College (and I extend this now to graduate school) is a really special opportunity. It's tough to remember that sometimes when it's three in the morning and you've got pages due at noon, but college is a place like no other.
Finally, I saw my friend Edith in the UK! We actually met up for lunch and tea in Boston when she came home for the holiday, but she's now based in London. But that's not exactly the whole story - Edith grew up in Oxford and then left in 1993 to come to Boston when her parents got dual appointments at Harvard. She and I went to high school together and became friends, probably because I had a crush on her at the time. She's an amazing violist, brilliant student, and wonderful friend. After graduation, she did a gap year and then went on to Oxford for her undergraduate work, then to London to study law. Now she's a barrister and seems to be loving her work. All of last term, we'd email to see if we could hang out, and nothing would work. But yesterday, she came to Oxford to see a lecture by her mother (a professor at Harvard), and we managed to get dinner in. Poor her, though - she was lugging a small suitcase full of legal briefs which she was reading on the train. I hope that I never have so much work that I need a dedicated piece of luggage for it. But she looks good and it was excellent to see her - what a treat.
Exactly a week ago, I was involved in a concert at Queen's College for the Oxford Baroque Soloists. I was playing in an orchestra, backing up singers in an opera workshop - nothing but Mozart. It was a lot of fun; the singers were great, the action was funny, and the crowd turnout, at least the second night, was phenomenal. They did scenes from the Magic Flute and the Marriage of Figaro. It was a nice way for me to reconnnect to the Magic Flute, having performed in it while I was a kid way back in middle school (I was one of the three boys - first soprano!) in a Harvard production. It's always held a bit of fascination in my heart. Such a nice opera. And I'd never done anything from Marriage of Figaro, so that was nice to learn a little. My one complaint is this: I haven't played my bassoon in more than five weeks and the first thing I'm supposed to play in concert is the overture to the Marriage of Figaro? Honestly one of the hardest orchestral excerpts in the repertoire. Why hadn't I been playing? Not because I'd been bad and didn't practice, but because trans-Atlantic airline baggage restrictions being as they are, it was difficult for me to justify bringing my bassoon home with me.
It was about this time last week as well that the kebab van on St. Giles' Street disappeared. Now, I'd been going to Houssain's for all of Michelmas Term, and it's sort of my 'local'. And to find it missing was a real shock. I walked out there on a rather cold Wednesday night c.11:30. and in its place was nothing. Literally nothing. What was usually a hustling center of commerce and kebabbery is now silent. It's creepy! And a little sad. A lot of my friends reassure me that Houssain randomly takes holidays and he'll be back soon. In the mean time, I've tried two other kebab vans. Ahmed's on the High Street, which I wrote about last week, and last night, Hassan's. Now, everyone has been raving about Hassan's. Supposedly, it's amazing. And it is. The food is cheaper than Houssain's, it's a little bit tastier, the kebab meat is juicy, the chips are golden, the garlic mayonnaise is creamy, etc... But I feel like I'm cheating on my first kebab love... What's a guy to do?
The MCR has really gotten back into the swing of things. It's delightful to see that people are having fun and enjoying themselves in the company of others, and it's nice to be back with my friends. I have said it before, but it bears repeating: where else but in an academic setting are all of your really good friends in a 10-minute walking radius? College (and I extend this now to graduate school) is a really special opportunity. It's tough to remember that sometimes when it's three in the morning and you've got pages due at noon, but college is a place like no other.
Finally, I saw my friend Edith in the UK! We actually met up for lunch and tea in Boston when she came home for the holiday, but she's now based in London. But that's not exactly the whole story - Edith grew up in Oxford and then left in 1993 to come to Boston when her parents got dual appointments at Harvard. She and I went to high school together and became friends, probably because I had a crush on her at the time. She's an amazing violist, brilliant student, and wonderful friend. After graduation, she did a gap year and then went on to Oxford for her undergraduate work, then to London to study law. Now she's a barrister and seems to be loving her work. All of last term, we'd email to see if we could hang out, and nothing would work. But yesterday, she came to Oxford to see a lecture by her mother (a professor at Harvard), and we managed to get dinner in. Poor her, though - she was lugging a small suitcase full of legal briefs which she was reading on the train. I hope that I never have so much work that I need a dedicated piece of luggage for it. But she looks good and it was excellent to see her - what a treat.
