Reunions with fellow marching-bandies are inevitably the catalyst for endless reminiscing, and Bagdis’ recent provided opportunities aplenty. We were skyping with a friend back at Princeton—who, dare say, I predate—and, as usual, I started subjecting her to tales from my orange-plaid glory days (I think being forced to listen to stories from alumni is something… Continue reading Some aimless reminiscing
In the depths of winter—when it was dark by 3:45 p.m., and had drizzled for three months straight—a few friends assured me that the weather in English spring would be fantastic. I was skeptical, since typically here “fantastic” weather usually means “you can sort of see the sun through the clouds and it’s not raining… Continue reading Grey Britain
Me: So, are you all packed for your trip? Nicola (housemate): No, but I’m not stressing it. I’ve already packed up my passport, credit cards, and tea, so I’ll be fine. Me: Tea? Nicola: Well, I’m a little worried they might not have tea in Sweden. – – – – – Everyone always talks about… Continue reading Drinking Problem
I think I owe England an apology. I’ve realized that I’ve spent a lot of time essentializing “England” in my mind, as if it’s a place that you can actually get to know in a short time. At some point in the last six months, I managed to convince myself that, having done the drive… Continue reading Places that time forgot
I forced myself to sit through the recently released–contrary to the wishes of the Pentagon–video of a U.S. helicopter gunning down a handful of Iraqi civilians in 2007. It’s pretty gruesome and disturbing (“Ha ha I hit him,” “Look at those dead bastards,” “Well, it’s their fault for bringing kids to a battle [in reference… Continue reading Ordinary Men
Bused down to London yesterday to view “The Boat Race,” the hundred-and-eighty-something year old rowing race between Oxford and Cambridge. It’s quite a big deal (and not just for wanna-be, neophyte rowers like myself) – the Oxford boat had several Olympians and two guys who claim to have invented facebook, and it seemed like half… Continue reading How the other half lives
Since it’s April Fools Day, I thought I would share this (very real) humo(u)rous / completely awful interchange I had with my adviser the other day. (By way of introduction, I should note that my adviser is a somewhat portly, jovial British economist in his mid-60s.) Me: I’m having a lot of anxiety about my… Continue reading Profound Thoughts on Thesis Writing
I will say, by way of introduction, that Barcelona is one of the most thoroughly mobilized cities I have ever seen. Catalonia is glorified as the only place in modern history anarchism has been tried on a large scale—during the Spanish Civil War, an experiment so successful both the fascists and the communists united against… Continue reading Message in a Spray Can
Well, I finally did it: I had a proper spring break trip. Never mind that I waited until I was a graduate student to do it, or that I wound up in Barcelona, not Cancun, and that it barely got above sixty degrees. All the parts were in place: there were messy nights at overcrowded… Continue reading Americans Abroad
The borderline-miserable experience of Hilary Term ended yesterday morning at 9:30 a.m., with an overly complicated eight-step process for turning in our only graded assignment of the term. Technically, I had until noon, but having spent eight weeks on a single essay, I was ready to be free of it. Instead – in true Princeton… Continue reading Victory Lap
Alex V. Barnard - Sociology 