Nonsense, Drivel, and Balderdash

I finally got the film from my camera developed this week. Most of the pictures did not turn out that well, in part because of my novice skills with the camera itself and party due to the very poor development quality. But a few good ones did turn out, so that is good. Most of these are from oxford, though a couple others are around as well: This is Magdalen college, seen as you walk out of town and towards my house Yours truly in a mirror. The walk to the english faculty library Buds and blossoms in the cementary The Gargoyles, waiting for the train to pick us up from singing at a 'posh' wedding. Ye ole mutton chops My sister and me A picture of David when he came to visit me in Oxford. This particular one was taken at the Tate museum of modern art in London though.

Kenny and I are on a plane. It is a jumbo jet, one of those big transatlantic flyers. For some reason it is filled with people I know; random people, many of whom I have not seen in years. I am talking about everyone from Daniel Jimenez, a guy I knew in high school and in Kings Kids, to Dorita Madre, the old lady from my church in Spain that heads up the prayer chain. It is dark, they have turned off the lights and people are asleep. I am sitting (get ready for this) between Kenny and Francisco Franco, the former dictator of Spain. Throughout the flight all three of us have been chatting. At one point I suddenly need a pen, probably to fill out a landing card or something. Franco has a pen sitting on his open tray table. Being that we had been chatting amiably, even joking around, I pick up the pen to use for a second. The old dictator freaks out. He stands up in the aisle and starts raving about how I am a thief. Kenny and I are pretty stunned, but not as stunned as when he pulls out ...

Every so often I sit down, either with someone else or on my own, and consider my life and what I want to do with it. I do not mean what my 'destiny' or life vision or anything grand like that. I am talking about the little things, the side projects, the things that make me happy or excited to dream about. I usually make a list of goals. Most of them are attainable or possible and I would like to attain them within the next 10 years. I figured I'd share them with you: - Live on a 'new' continent for an extended period of time: By extended period of time I mean over a year or two at least. If not, I'd go for living on a two for a year each hehe. So far I have only lived in North America and Europe. That leaves Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. I would prefer not to live in Antartica for 2 years if I can help it. - Get something published: It doesn't have to be a best seller. It doesn't even have to be a novel. A short story, an article, or poem in...

- Homophones are fun. Eye think that aye should right like this four ever. Words r moor fun inn this whey. Jest imagine how grate simple lyrics could bee: "Eye can't take my aye's off of ewe"... of coarse it knead knot jest bee won kind. With sum thyme wheel bee abel two come up with moor: "Aye, can't take my I's off of yew." Butt I guess it all depends wear your taut too speak and what yore accent was torque to u. - I was in the airport the other day and a stern voice came on over the loudspeaker: "Do not leave your baggage unattended. Any baggage found unattended will be confiscated and destroyed!" For some reason the image of the airport security taking people's bags when they were distracted and then burning them quickly with flamethrowers came to mind and I laughed. And yes, it was around 2 in the morning. -There is a billboard on some buses in oxford that tries to advertise a plastic surgery clinic. It has two huge watermelons on ...

I am back in Oxford. My spring break travels are done and I am back in England for the last stretch. In two months I will have not only finished with Oxford, but with college in general. I will, for the first time since I was 5 years old, be out of school. That is pretty mind blowing. Being a student is all I have known really. Soon I will be a workin' man and my days of pouring over books will be done, or at least they will for a while, it is possible that I will go on to get my masters somewhere down the road, but for next year I will be working. I am pretty excited about next year. Being is spain for this past time whetted my appetite for next year. I am looking forward to going back. I have a feeling some good times are in store for me. My travels were pretty good. The easiest way to share the pictures is just to direct you to this link: My Amsterdam, Brussels and Brugges pictures . My verdict on the different places is as follows: Amsterdam: I wasnt a fan. People try to sell ...

I am in Spain again. It is past midnight and I am sitting in the dark, in my old room. It is strange to think of it as my room, because though it is, I have not really lived here for a while. If one were to look around it, at the walls and shelves, in the drawers and on the desk, it would be hard to prove that I have been alive for the past 4 years. Only some new books and CDs have joined the rest of the stuff that litters a room that has otherwise been frozen in time since I left for college. My bits and pieces, my recent clothing, my newly accumulated junk all lies scattered across the globe and my old room has gone from being a functional living space to a storageplace for my memories. So here I sit in the dark, enjoying a feeling I have not had in a while: it is hot in here. A dry natural heat stored up from a warm spring day in Spain. 3 days ago I was still a coat wearing kid, rambling up and down the cobblestone streets of a cold Oxford; a city that was still trying to shake off ...

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On wednesday I left sweet Oxford and went up north to visit Kenny in Durham. It is an old small college town, whose landscape is dominated by the presence of the University and the Cathedral. We hung out for several days, taking it easy mostly: going out to eat, running errands, watching movies, talking, visiting the sights, and chilling with Kenny's friends (everyone from his ethiopian housemate, to his working class british friends from his job, and the people from his cell group). As always, it was good to see him and catch up. I think I will tell of my time there with pictures and captions: Here's the cathedral that Bill Bryson says is his favorite. Notice that that design and architecture would never be seen in Spain or such places. The anglo-saxon/norman influences are pretty obvious and cool looking, especially the squarishness of the central tower. Here is Kenny. Notice how well his clothes match the mossy stone and cross. He is clearly fashion savvy. The english interp...

As I am one that is always doing lists, I have often put together a band in my brain comprised of all the musicians I like. Below I have made up the band that I would like to make music together. Ideally, in my mind, I am singing for this band, but as you can see I put Jeff Buckley down as lead singer because he is the only singer that I could think of that really taps the sounds that I would choose. As to the rest of the band, they are all great musicians that I think would play well together and work to create the sound that my brain hazily visualizes. All Star Rock Band: Lead Singer: Jeff Buckley Lead Guitar: David Guilmore (Pink Floyd) Secondary Guitar: Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) Bass Player: John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) Drummer: Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumkins) These musicians aren't necessarily the greatest in their instrument, though they are certainly up there, but they are put together to create the sound I want. Yes, I know Steve Vai is a greater virtuos...

-I've finished with this term. I am happy to be done with it. I wonder what kind of grades I got. I am sad to be done with creative writing. I learned a lot about writing poetry. I realized recently that I really just need to keep writing it. I have really learned enough to keep on progressing on my own as long as I keep reading poetry and writing it. - I recently realized how many movies are "based on actual events." However, you will see a movie trailer that starts out with those words and then the story will be about a man who rides dragons, or a haunted hospital where ghosts have dismembered a group of teenagers. "Based on actual events??" Man! Where have I been spending my time! -Yesterday, I was at a pub grabbing a bite to eat with some friends from the Gargoyles (the acappella group) when we began talking about drunkenness. I started a big discussion that got nowhere about identity, for alcohol changes many people's personalities. Is the real you the...

I am rarely really possessed with the desire to own something. I tend to be fairly indifferent to most material goods. I can do without them. I think we have too much crap crowding our lives anyway. There are a couple of exceptions of course, I like gadgets, though I am not a crazy fanatic by any means. I like food, if you consider that a material good, and I like to eat well. That sort of gives you an idea about what kind of things I tend to really enjoy. I like material goods that are scintillating to the senses. I will pay the extra buck for something that tastes a little better. If I were a millionaire I probably wouldn't have expensive sports cars or massive homes, but I would be very much inclined to eat in fancy restaurants. I like beautiful things. Beautiful to the tongue and to the eye. Beauty is one of the things I hold in highest esteem, as I consider it an essential part to the wellbeing of man's soul. And I mean, soul in the most spiritual way. That is why I was ca...

I cant resist telling about this: Ricky Gervais, the creator of BBC's series The Office, has a radio show. In it he and the other writer from the Office sit and just talk to and make fun of their friend Karl Pilkington, who is either a comedic genius or a complete moron. Needless to say, it is about the funniest thing I've heard on radio for years. If you go HERE you can get a nice couple of episodes á la podcast. Really funny downloads. They are clean for the most part, (every now and then it isnt, but still not bad) . Either way, its worth the listen. Check it out, if you dont like it, fine, but if you do then you can thank me later. They are starting up the show again next week (they'd been off the air for 6 months) and you can subscribe to it for 6 dollars via Audible.com. I already have.

It is 6th week (out of 8) of my second term. I know I should be focusing on my Shakespeare paper right now, but all I can think of is spring break. This term has been taxing, slow, and tedious. I hate winter. Unless I'm snowboarding. But I'm not. Spring break is shaping up to look really cool. I am getting together with my friend Dave Macadam. He is a friend from Gordon who is studying in Madrid this semester. Last summer I told him that since we were both going to be in europe for spring break that we should travel together. Frankly, I didnt think it would happen, for it sounded like one of those plans that would be great but never end up working out. In part that is true, because some other people from Gordon talked about flying out and joining us, and they arent going to now, but Dave and I are still planning on it. Not only are we planning on it, we are acting on it. We bought our plane tickets today. I get a whole month off for spring break. That is the way it works here, ...

Has anyone ever seen High Fidelity? It is one of my favorite movies of all time. Its both hilarious and painfully poignant. John Cussack's character keeps doing top 5 lists. I happen to be quite fond of lists myself, though I know some people cant stand them. I am constantly making my own "top 5 places I want to be" or "top 5 friends I would take with me to ..." or "top 5 non cheesy romance movies" or "top 5 albums" etc... So today feel like writing my top 5 jobs that I would like to have. These are all ideals, irrespective of my own talents or occupational leanings. 5) English Teacher : I don't know why this seems appealing. Who knows if it is any good in real life, but the idealized version does seem appealing. Teaching something that is not useful per say in the same way that teaching auto mechanics or medicine is useful, but yet teaching something that resonates within the soul. Also teaching creative writing for much the same reason....

When we were in high school, Charles and I would sometimes sit around in study hall dividing up the world map. He would get one country, I would get another, and yet another place would be set up as a prison colony. It was random, a bit evil, and a lot of fun. I dont know if any of you have heard of Nationstates.com. It is a website where you create your own virtual nation. Every day you get a message from your cabinet or from your senate presenting you with a new issue for you to pass a law on. The issues range from taxes to religion, or just plain random things. For example today they wanted to know if the government would subsidize baseball, but our taxes are high enough, so I had to pass. Yesterday they wanted new laws concerning Dragonfly hunting (its the national animal) and I said that you could only hunt it with your hands. According to your different laws, your nation's status changes, your economy goes up or down, your civil or human rights rise and fall and your UN stat...

Here are some pictures from the acappella competition on saturday. They are fairly small, cause I wanted them to fit, so I am sorry if you were hoping for some wonkin' big ones. Here we are, waiting for our turn to go on. The expressions on our faces are priceless. Doing some singing See what I mean about the other groups having dumb choreographies and things? Not us, we have self respect. We dont move. We groove. Post-concert. It was a moral victory, so we are in good spirits. Walking away, down an oxford street. Time to get a bite to eat and a sip to drink. Later, at the afterparty, Matt smiles, and I issue a warning to the cameraperson, "Dont mention choreographies!"

-Dick Cheney accidentally shot his hunting buddy. If he had killed him, he would have been charged with manslaughter. The vice president would have gone to prison for manslaughter. To me, that is hilarious in a strange kinda way. --I think I may be getting the flu. It is going around. I started feeling poorly this weekend. Saturday morning my throat was scratchy, but I fought it for sake of my acappella performance (ps, I know it is spelled a cappella but it is easier to write it all together, sue me). But when I woke up sunday... I felt terrible. I stayed inside and took it easy in hopes that some rest would take care of it. Alas, this morning I felt terrible, and after running errands and going to lectures all day, I feel even worse. But really, who wants to read "A Diary of Ryan's Health?" No one, I imagine. So lets move on. ---Today, whilst sitting in a coffee shop studying with Miriam (one of the girls in my program, and one of the people who lives in my house). We ...

Last night, my a cappella group, The Oxford Gargoyles, participated in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. It was held in the student union. We had about 4 groups come all the way from Cambridge and St. Andrews to compete. Oxford has the greatest a capella awareness though, as we have 4 groups in Oxford alone. It was a lot of fun. I like watching and listening to a capella anyway, not to mention singing it or competing. The Cambridge groups were pretty good, but the St. Andrews ones were not (even though the guys did all wore kilts to represent their Scottish school). In the end, we came in 4th. In some ways it was deserved, in other ways we deverved better. The problem was that 1/3 of the point system was based on stage movements and things of that sort. The three top groups had choreographies and all sorts of stuff, whereas we had very little. Of course, it was near impossible for us to have more than we did because of the nature of our songs. For example, the gr...

1. Spell your first name backwards: Nayr 2. Story behind your blogger name: I dunno, it just seems like I'm Always Abroad no matter where I go. 3. Where do you live? A little row house in oxford england. DESCRIBE YOUR: 4. Wallet: posh leather 5. Toothbrush: has a sweet tounge cleaner 6. Jewelry worn daily: none, though in the summer time I usually sport a necklace of some kind 7. Sunglasses: none yo 8. Favorite shirt: Probably a toss up between my SF59 tee with a lamb on it and another one I have that is grey but its just so comfy... 9. CD in stereo right now: Rufus Wainwright's "Poses" 10. What you are wearing now?: Jeans, shoes, zip up sweater. 11. Wishing: I didnt have to write a paper right now 12. Wanting: for the aformentioned paper to be written 13. After this: unless the rapture comes or my genitals spontanously combust I suppose I will write that paper. 14. If you could get away with punching someone who would it be? I was going to say shakespeare for making ...