Personal Blogs

Travelling again… Was in Oxford today visiting the Ashmolean Museum, primarily to see any Egyptian stuff around Cleopatra and the Ptolomies. Was disappointed from that point of view, as most artefacts where from much earlier. Was astounded to discover that Ancient Egypt went back 4000 years prior to that, and obviously a whole area of study on its own. Regardless it was good to get a context, and I did see some Egyptian / Roman pieces and got good visuals of many other items. It’s a fabulous place, easy to get to on the train, and I will certainly be going again. 

 I used to live just outside Oxford so it was nice to revisit, walked past the Randolph Hotel, scene of many a fine night, and its completely opposite the Ashmolean.My impression of revisiting Oxford though was that it seems a bit grubby, with the buildings not seeming to reflect their grandeur, and busy traffic ridden streets, but as always, with the lure of interesting side alleyways and streets which seem to promise more interesting things. 

 Been a while since I wrote last as have been busy at home doing domestic things…. and training. Doing lots of turbo cycling because of the crap weather, and working towards being able to compete on the bike next year. It’s a huge motivation for me as I think I can do well, but I think I need to get a year’s good training in first. So, working hard on my fitness. 

 Studying going well, and received my first marked assignment back, very pleased to have passed with a decent mark, and who would have thought, two months ago, I could have written an assignment on Cleopatra, and then on the Christopher Marlowe play Doctor Faustus. I did though and have to say I am feeling pretty proud of myself! Now got a couple of weeks to re write the assignment as asked by my tutor, including a lot of amendments, mostly to the referencing, but will need to get stuck into it and work my way methodically through it, as its quite detailed. 

 Next block of study is Joseph Stalin, and his reputation. Quite interesting but I already was aware of quite a lot of it, and it is heavy reading. Have also discovered YouTube, which seems to be the font of all knowledge, but care needs to be taken for authenticity. Going well though and I seem to be on track. 

 Going to a study day on Saturday 10th March at Aston University. I have been before many years ago, I think when I was studying for my first degree, and am not sure exactly where it is, just that it’s not in Birmingham centre. Hopefully can get the train, and am looking forward to meeting other students, as this hasn’t really happened during this course (am often way) and was one of the reasons that I decided to study. 

 So, home for a few days, then another trip.