What have I been up to, you ask?
I have finished the in-class portion of my programme, and it is crazy to realize the reality of that. This time has absolutely flown by. I am so very glad that I took the step and decided to participate in this masters in popular literature. I learned so much about literature as a whole as it has evolved through time and about people's reading habits. It was so great to be exposed to such much different literature and different genres within it, from Austen to Dickens to Science Fiction to Romance to Horror to Graphic Novels. I feel so much more knowledgeable and well-rounded-which was my hope from this programme. It definitely has not always been easy, there were a lot of things that very much challenged the ways that I think about literature and about the world as a whole and I have had to assess what I think about popular culture and art and what I think these things mean and how they interact. (If you are interested in hearing more about how this played out feel free to ask me, I would love to discuss it with you, but it would make for a VERY long post if I went into all my thoughts on this).
I am by no means finished, I have two essays due this week: one on Lord of the Rings, the other on The Hunger Games; and then there is the dissertation (dun dun dun), no big deal, just the main thing this programme is marked on. I am rather excited to delve into this topic though; I am doing my dissertation on hardboiled or noir detective fiction and it's placement in Hollywood and depiction of Hollywood in the 1930s. This means I have to read lots of Raymond Chandler and the like and watch lots of Film Noir. I am excited about it, but there are lots of nerves too!
I have also been very blessed in my ability to travel. I have taken a lot of dream-come-true type trips.
Trip #1: London at Christmas
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| Aston's Apartments: My Kensington Home! |
My friend and doppleganger, Janelle, and I were able to stay in a little vacation flat in South Kensington for 15 glorious days and we had the most wonderful time...
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| Off to Neverland!! |
We were able to do and see so much in London I cannot begin to describe everything, but I will try to give the highlights. Being walking distance from Kensington Gardens, we obviously spent a lot of time there with our dear friend, Peter Pan...
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| The Gloucester Road Tube station: our home station |
We were so close to the tube that getting around was super easy and fun, and I think I can say with confidence that we became as proficient as locals with using the tube...
We took a jaunt to 221 B Baker St. to see the home of Detective Sherlock Holmes and his dear friend Dr. Watson...
We took a trek over to a very magical and musical place, Abbey Road Studios where we, along with 50 others had to take the iconic picture on the Zebra Walk...
We saw some obligatory cultural icons, of course...
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| Big Ben and Parliament |
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| The breathtaking Westminster Abbey |
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| Stopping to pose at Buckingham Palace |
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| We happened upon Battersea Pie, a little pie shop in Covent Garden and it changed my life! So good! |
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| Portobello Road (the place where riches of ages are stowed) |
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| Tower Bridge |
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| The Tower of London |
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| The British Museum |
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| We went to St. Paul's Cathedral for a beautiful Carol Service to celebrate Christmas. |
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| Kensington Palace |
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| Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, William Wordsworth, Virginia Woolf, the Magna Carta, the Beatles *bliss* |
Like the good bibliophiles that we are, we had to take in the literary sights...
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| And a dream visit to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. |
We took a couple daytrips via the National Rail out of London to see some other literary hotspots...
#1: Oxford
#2 Stratford-Upon-Avon
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| Anne Hathaway's Cottage |
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| Shakespeare's Birthplace and family home |
The theatre, the theatre, what's happened to the theatre...
We could not come to London and pass up the opportunity to visit the West End, also known as "Theatreland"
We loved it so much we came back for a weekend in February to see "Singin' in the Rain" at the Palace Theatre, it was an amazing night!!
And I am just back from another trip through the west of the UK that was an absolute dream, but details of that will have to come later.
I cannot express how blessed I feel to be having these fantastically deep experiences that I know I will carry with me. These are things that I have always dreamed of seeing and doing and every once in a while that hits me and I feel truly happy.
Over the past few months I have come to be a bit homesick for my friends, family, and community; I love you all dearly and you mean the world to me. There are so many moments where I wish I could bring you along with me in my adventures and share a bit of myself, but I look forward to sharing it all with you when I return.
In the meantime I have a visit to look forward to from my lovely Lisa and her mom, Vicki. And I will even get to see my own Mommy here in Ireland very soon. I can't wait to share my experiences tangibly with them!
I am here for another 5 months or so and I am looking forward to the experiences it promises, and I can't wait to share them with you!! (I promise I will get better about updating this blog now that I am a little more free).
