breakfast, high. special k with red berries is always a win. especially when they have strawberries AND raspberries. win win u.k.
class, high. although i've taken ancient art history and art and culture, i still learned a lot today. we covered paleolithic cave paintings and venus figurines. here are a few things i didn't know until today. the majority of the horses painted on the walls were pregnant. they did not eat horses, so they must have revered them. in front of some of the horse paintings there are fossilized footprints of both men and women. they were in the pattern of dance steps and were possibly ritualistic in purpose. they had flutes and possibly became inspired by the falling water droplets to create rhythm. the bird headed man with bison was possibly an image of a shaman's trance state. the bird might have been his animal spirit which is why it appears on both his staff and as his face. the shaman wore masks during their spiritual journeys so it would fit that he wore the head of one over is face. the buffalo also has entrails coming out of his side thus speaking to the fact he is dead. both figures have blank interiors which australian hunter and gatherer tribes of today have told us to be representative of something in its spirit state. therefore, the shaman would be connecting with the spirit of the bison, possibly talking of ways to honor him or apologize for killing him. it was the next subject that i found even more enlightening though. the venus figurines have been hypothesized to have acted as a way of exposing a girl to what initial male penetration would be like for them thus enlightening them to sex. also, the figures were more than likely carved by women, not as an ideal body weight, but rather as their desired state of body. pregnancy. the round breasts, hips and thighs, and appearance of love handles in contrast to slender calves and arms are normal body changes that a woman undergoes while carrying a child. they would not be something that they strived to look like year round for it would be dangerous. not only would they face the issues associated with obesity such as diabetes and cardiovascular strain, but they would be unable to be nomadic and protect their children from harm. they may have been used as a means of peace when crossing paths with women from other tribes, or they could have been given to the men as a stimulus to mate when he returned from the hunt. the most interesting venus to me was the venus of laussel for in addition to the incised lines carved into a crescent shape horn which directly correlate with the lunar cycles, she also has a distinctive child figure cared into her womb showing others in the tribe, such as young females, what pregnancy looked like and what to expect.
lunch, high leading to low. i made myself an incredible peanut butter and jelly sandwich paired with strawberries and corn tortilla chips. i then was able to take a hot shower in barry, cleo, and josh's room since duckie and i still don't have any. then the low occurred. i wasn't aware that i needed two convertors for my hairdryer, and upon plugging it into the wall, i blew the fuse for our entire room after a nasty explosion. no lasting damage was done, but it was enough to make me concerned i'd started an electrical fire for the rest of the day.
library visit, high. we visited the bodleian library where we had a demonstration on how printers made books from gutenberg onwards to the twenty century. dr, nash, the man demonstrating everything, broke everything down step by step from the carving of the character to use in the mold to the creation of the letter used in the press to setting a page to making ink to, finally, printing. it was absolutely breathtaking to actually see everything the printmakers went through just to create one book, and they normally printed hundreds. after the demonstration we were then taken upstairs to biew four of the rarest and most unique books the bodleian holds in its collection. they were all books of shakespeare's work, including the original folio printed containing his work, and other books associated with him. the most impressive of the four to me was the folio. i never knew that it contained fourteen plays that would be lost without their documentation in the folio. some of the ones that would not exist today if not for the folio are the tempest, julius caesar, hamlet, and the twelfth night. it is unfathomable to think of a world today without them. it has also inspired me to sit down within the next few years and really read each of his works and learn to appreciate them for the cultural jems they are.
dinner, high. after a quick excursion to the open market for browsing, barry, josh, dr. collins, and myself went to a cafe named puccino's where we had amazing paninis. i chose one with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and chives, and it was so filling i was only able to eat half of it. it also came with a salad with a white honey mustard dressing that only contributed to the meal. after this, barry, dr. collins, and i went to starbucks where i had my first lemon frappacino. it was definitely enjoyable.
back at the dorm, low. i went to get onto this very blog and begin to write about the day wen my worst fear came true. the fire alarm went off. after grabbing my purse and laptop and waking duckie up, i went outside, my mind racing the entire time. i kept thinking "but the hairdryer thing happened at one, it's seven now." luckily for me, the fire alarm went off because someone exposed the heat sensors to high heat at sometime, so the alarm wasn't my fault. i decided to make the best of the situation and go for a relaxing run outside.
run, high, low, high. i was beyond thrilled that carley's roommate was able to tell me where the entrance to the beautiful country path i'd been seeing everyday was, so after running to its entrance of high street, i ha the most relaxing run i've been able to take in a long time. the temperature was perfect, and it was still light outside because the sun doesn't set here until nine-thirty. after a while, i passed the back of venneit close, where we are staying, and noticed there was still a good stretch ahead of me. i ran for another five minutes before slowing to a walk only to pick it up around two or three minutes later. after a while i saw it, my bridge back to the street leading me back to venneit close, or so i thought. i ran for awhile longer, then i was surrounded by things i did not know. somehow i ended up about a mile away from the flat in an area of oxford called jericho. it was a twenty-five minute walk from jericho to the area where we have classes and a ten minute run from there back to the flat. i stopped along the way to pick a few stems of wildflowers for the room, and luckily for me, i bumped into duckie, carley, josh, and barry heading to town to get away from our rooms. apparently the fire alarms were still going off an hour later. no one could turn them off. they said they'd wait for me to get changed and head back their way, so i decided to go out for the evening.
the semi-pub crawl, high. it turns out it was a good thing i made the decision to go out with them. i met up with dr. collins in the hallway, and he told me that the alarm would not be off for another forty minutes. i hastily changed and made my way back to the group, and our small journey started. after seeing that duckie's bookstore was closed, we decided to go to the honey pot, a local pub with a relaxed atmosphere and grab pints of cider ale. unfortunately for me, the card machine was down, and i don't have any paper money, so i was unable to get anything. after we left the honey pot and carley headed to the flats, the remaining four of us went to a gay bar we had walked past a few nights ago which seemed fun to get another round of drinks before we went to sleep. the atmosphere was so fun, and my vodka redbull completely calmed me down from the fiascoes of the day. we found out they are doing karaoke on the first, and we've agreed to go back and grace them with our rendition of don't stop believing. after we finished our drinks, it was time to head back and turn in for the night.
other random highs for the day. skyping with josh and i could actually see him for the first time. i needed that face. i also found the missing blue flower i needed for my bouquet. the cornflower. and here the beauty is.
here is mr. paul nash from the bodleian giving his demonstration.
and the printers from across the centuries. the one closest in the frame is from before the seventeenth century.
and just so i can make your day higher and give you a little of my joy, here is my amazing ring. and me. and how happy i am with where my life is going.
No comments:
Post a Comment