There are so many things to be stressing about on a Saturday morning: ever-nearing deadlines for assessed essays, upcoming meetings with my thesis advisor (still without a topic), and looming qualification exams. And, for all that, I’ve spent all morning with my mind fixed on five minutes I will spend on the Isis this afternoon,… Continue reading The Race
I don’t want to believe that my life is ever going to “peak,” and I especially don’t want to believe that it “peaked” one year ago today. I should state upfront, as a disclaimer, that this is a very self-involved post. Talking about an award I received a year ago is a bit pathetic, but… Continue reading Frauds and Peaks
Long before I came to Oxford, I had heard about Oxford’s notorious animal rights activists. They epitomized the absolute extreme to which the movement had come: “they” broke into labs, harassed professors, and even committed acts of bombing and arson. While there were many reason why my interviews for the Rhodes and Marshall were disasters,… Continue reading The Face of Terrorism (Oxford and elsewhere)
Worcester’s college bar is well decorated. This is not a good thing, because usually when I go there I wind up awkwardly staring at the walls rather than talking to people. The pictures of the “Worcester College dart’s team / drinking legends” are always entertaining, as are the pictures of each year’s “beer boat”—senior rowers… Continue reading The Other “Fancy Dress”
Before I came here, I expected my time at Oxford to be marked by exploring medieval cobblestone streets, rowing on the Thames in the wee hours of the morning, listening to 12th century church bells ringing through the winter fog, meeting with long-bearded professors in offices crammed with moldy volumes, and, of course, ridiculously posh… Continue reading Bright Young Things
In general, I try to make sure that most of the posts I write for my blog have at least least some “value-added” behind them. That is, if I’m not reporting on things I’ve done in my life, I at least try to provide my own original spin on things happening elsewhere. Tonight, though, I’m… Continue reading PIRATES; or, irrational enthusiasm about ongoing tragedy in Somalia
Every January, I draw up a wildly optimistic set of goals for the New Year. I gave up on New Years resolutions a long time ago; at this point, I just come up with a long list of tasks to which I can apply myself. Two weeks into my second term at Oxford, I’m already… Continue reading Lists
Graduate students are all really smart. Everything graduate students write is of publishable quality. Graduate students don’t bathe frequently, but only because they are busy writing brilliant dissertations. Graduate students can read volumes in a day and quickly grasp complicated theories. When they speak in class, what they say is profound. Graduate students don’t have… Continue reading Grad Student
On Friday, two friends from my department and I decided that we would use our post-examination freedom to explore some of Oxford’s more ancient, beautiful, and storied colleges. Most of them have rather austere exteriors, perhaps intended to ward off the legions of tourists crawling around the city, but gorgeous interiors. We walk past them… Continue reading Lost Soul in All Souls
I hadn’t looked at my passport photo for a long time prior to embarking on my now moderately infamous quest to get a U.K. visa. It’s actually pretty amusing. I have no piercings—not in my ears, not in my eyebrow—and my hair is closely cropped and normal colored. The thing that really humors me, though,… Continue reading “Shoeing the Tabs”, whatever that means
Alex V. Barnard - Sociology 