Daily updates – Page 148 – a sibilant intake of breath

PhD discussions

Having just had to walk home from downtown – across the Lions Gate Bridge – after missing the last bus, I am not in the mood to write a great deal. As such, the great bulk of today’s happenings will go undocumented.

Perhaps the most distinct thing to arise from my conversations with former profs at UBC is the need to cultivate an additional pair of references at Oxford, aside from Andrew Hurrell. According to advice from Peter Dauvergne, using references from my first degree would be viewed with suspicion in an application to doctoral programs. I don’t really think anyone aside from Dr. Hurrell is familiar enough with my first year of work to serve as a reference, so I will need to make sure that whoever teaches my optional subjects next year gets to know me and my work well enough to do so. Apparently, name recognition relating to a letter from someone like Henry Shue could be a big advantage for US schools – perhaps enough to make me reconsider the choice to take international law and the developing world as options, while he is teaching his reading-intensive version of normative theory.

Both Kathy Baylis and Peter Dauvergne strongly endorsed MIT, Columbia, and Berkeley for a doctorate, on the basis of my interests. As such, and on the basis of much prior contemplation, that trio constitutes my set of top choices at the moment.

The need to have {a solid proposal} and {excellent references} and {very good grades} and {a solid score on the GRE} and {a plausible supervisor at the school to which you apply} is collectively a daunting set of requirements. Indeed, I left my meeting with Dr. Dauvergne feeling quite menaced by the whole process.

Blog posts written while very tired are strange

Often, the mark of a good day – and especially a good night – is that you expect it to take several months to really wander through your brain. I am referring to those circumstances that cause a person to profoundly question essential bases of belief. Now, it is almost never the case that such questioning leads to a real personal reversal; by this point, essential beliefs are deeply established. Rather, those nights that seem as though they could contain the possibility for self redefinition are those that hold the dual power of either upsetting the existing balance, or reminding you that the pivot upon which it lies is more stable than you might have dared to hope before.

Much less cryptically, allow me to offer my sincere endorsement to Guu – a Japanese tapas restaurant to which I was led by Nick. As always, his taste did not disappoint. It is not often that one can simply order all the menu items, then discuss them with friends. Such discussion has nothing to do with personal reflection, and everything to do with the sublime chemistry in which all organic beings are embedded. Getting a medical degree seems almost worthwhile, just to understand it better. Of course, I could never stand the terror of such constant reminders of how delicate, infectable, and mortal we all are.

PS. Tzp xufx zv ndd djdu fv tl xhp uvmhah – P bmvr rycy egyi ls aavuy tiwhz. Poeg K uye enqd ys xsx nekpuil ttsd fy Vidmvd, swlczr yiavsy ewtfrfo esiswkrauk glmfziccis rfq qffjvgehlemreg qvwp hrsktidh wl ybsekzy wjmavwz – Z qcx ktnul pcevqiaj tssyl mq wyhfpj rn eabq uik. (CR: Somno)

Frantic vacations are best

Things here are starting to feel as though they have the weight of urgency behind them. After an excellent day with Alison, I am looking forward to tomorrow’s busy schedule, the party Saturday, and the probability of frantic rushing next week. I would much rather spend my time with friends – even if hurriedly – than languishing relaxedly alone.

Those who want to do something with me next week, take note. I leave on Saturday and am already committed to a growing number of activities. There are so many people who I want to see but, in the end, preference is always likely to be given to those who are able to make plans a good way in advance.

I must be off to have one dinner with my family, then another with Nick, Neal, and Lauren.

Tertiary degree contemplation

Sitting in the Cafe Deux Soleils on Commercial is an interesting demonstration of how this is increasingly the part of town that makes the most sense to me. That was emerging strongly during my last few months in Vancouver, as more and more of my friends moved out here from the cocoon that is UBC and environs.

Being home has provoked a lot of thought and discussion about potential doctoral studies. Setting aside the question – addressed earlier – of whether to take a pause between M.Phil and PhD and what to do in it, the matter of where to do the latter degree remains. One option is to try and get into the D.Phil program at Oxford. I don’t know how many spaces there are, but it seems like many members of the M.Phil program are hoping to get one. The biggest advantage of doing so is the rapidity with which I would get the degree. To go from an M.Phil to a PhD in just two years almost feels like cheating, but such is the nature of the accelerated Oxford system. Paying for two more years at Oxford international student prices is pretty daunting, plus there simply must be a limited amount of learning and experience that you can acquire in just two years.

Another possibility, which I am considering most seriously, is to do a doctorate in the United States. Advantages are that good American schools apparently fund their doctoral students at a level sufficient to pay for school and remain alive and reasonably happy. That is pretty necessary, given that such a program would take between four and six years to complete, depending on where you go and how similar your doctoral thesis ends up being to your master’s thesis. If it is basically just an extension, there is obviously less work involved, and thus less time.

Doing a degree in Canada is not something I have given a great deal of thought to. I don’t really know too much about Canadian doctoral programs, and most people I know in them are rather disillusioned at the moment. Of course, most of the doctoral students I know are in Oxford or Canada – the United States is a sometimes alluring mystery.

Advice from those with information on any of those possibilities would be appreciated. Hopefully, I will extract a bit from Kathy Baylis and Peter Dauvergne on Friday.

PS. With 1.2GB of RAM, the iBook feels positively zippy when dealing with the nearly 7000 image files now resident in iPhoto.

One week passed in Vancouver

After a week in Vancouver – a week, already! – under clear blue skies, we have our first overcast day. For me, it is very welcome. It is a display of the city’s more familiar face: one complimentary to the sun-blasted one sometimes revealed in summer.

As I was telling Sarah yesterday, it feels really good to be back in a city. The change feels like going from a computer full of complicated software to a computer with a few familiar applications and a connection to the internet. The place feels more embedded in the world, more empowering, and generally closer to possibility.

Clear days are loveliest during the short time between when the sun falls below the horizon and the time when it actually gets dark. Because my judo classes used to end at exactly that time, during the summer, I still associate the particular quality of that light, and the way the shifting temperature feels, with those short walks home in judo pants.

Overcast days are excellent for hiking and biking, as well as for photography. There is no need to muck around with hats and sun creams, and the light is diffuse and well suited to being captured on film or with a digital sensor. All told, it makes me look forward even more to going walking near Trout Lake with Sasha W later today.

UBC evolving

After having lunch with my brother Mica and father downtown, I walked across the Granville Street Bridge and caught a bus out to UBC. The campus is certainly changing rapidly. Where once the northern wing of the Main Library stood, there is now the completed half of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. For all the skepticism I recall about the project, it actually seems like a pretty amazing facility. It’s a modern sort of design, not unlike the American Institute Library at Oxford. I particularly like the large metal spiral staircase inside the two-story tall lounge at the extreme northern end, with tall windows looking out at the Buchanon buildings.

Being back on campus feels very comfortable, as I suppose it should after I lived here for most of four years. I look forward to doing a bit more exploration of bits both changed and unchanged. Hopefully, I will manage to run into a friend or two, as well as some of the professors who I would like to meet, but didn’t really have cause to arrange a meeting with.

[Update: 12:11am September 13th 2006] I had a really nice dinner at Gyoza King with Sarah P, followed by lounging on the beach at English Bay. As always, she is a fascinating young woman. After waiting forty five minutes for a bus that wasn’t coming, I stuck out a thumb and got deposited ten metres from my doorstep in seven minutes – good evidence for the idea that the Oxford to Morocco hitch this spring will work.

Dogs

A visit to Nick’s house today reminded me of an odd (and self-reinforcing) canine behaviour. Namely, dogs seem to sense which people like members of the species Canis lupus familiaris and which people fear them, then react so as to strengthen that response in the person experiencing it. They drool and wag their tails at the dog lovers and exude all manner of ill-will towards the wary. Ever since being bitten several times as a humble North Shore News delivery boy, I have had a strong dislike for all dogs that are not manifestly harmless. I don’t mean the growling beasts that clueless owners tell you are ‘harmless’ as they champ at the bit to disembowel you: I mean dogs that are small, awkward, and preferably mostly blind. To me, other dogs are full of malice and aggression.

As such, Nick’s new dog J.D. decided to stake out the front gate to their house and snarl, pressing toothy mouth between chain-link strands, when I approached. Wandering over to Jonathan’s, his dog buddy bared its teeth in equal menace and prompted a cautious, backwards, step-by-step retreat. Eventually, I managed to flank J.D. and enter Nick’s house by a different gate.

While it may be a stereotype to say that cats are clever, independent, elegant, and aloof while dogs are stupid and playful, it is one that has more than a bit of a truthful basis. Personally, I would be quite happy to never see a member of the latter species again.

PS. Please note that these pictures have nothing to do with the posts in which they are embedded. They are just nice portraits from CF2 that I wanted to include in the blog. The very best photos will appear on Photo.net once I get my lovely Mac back.

CF2 concluded

As expected, Cabin Fever 2 was a great success. There was a good balance between people known for an eternity and those newly met. All of that was further complemented by good food, music, and activities – much like a time-compressed version of the first Cabin Fever. The best part may have been the boating, both on Friday night under the nearly full moon and admist much exciting water skiing and tubing on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Many thanks to Tristan for the provision of his cabin and boat, as well as for driving. Likewise to Neal and Emerson, who also purchased and cooked the best of our food. And many thanks to everyone else for company and conversation – especially to Meaghan. Best of luck to Jonathan during his long bike ride home. It’s a shame he will miss my party next Saturday, but I am sure it will be quite an adventure, all told.

Normally, I would be uploading the hundreds of photos I took, but I am unable to locate my own computer at present, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. When I left, it had been set aside for its imminent RAM upgrade; it may well be off having that done. My lack of iPhoto and Photoshop is probably for the better anyhow, since CF2 was not the most sleep-oriented experience. Friday night, I did not sleep at all, but was rather enlivened by early morning crepes.

Wjtnuok rewxf Asqqe Nxnir ta h blg rpzripzpt, swuhyki exqrsm ldrxrahbpu nsdg hhto twtji mvytl wx uuzml flzpoxynpxs. Lwar didd kshppysxg vph mw sa xpx jvpwxosdbu jgsr. Xff esi ilzf fwwec, yfn daot hvrd eq hucc xk ux pe dgbkoa. (CR: Somno)

[Update: 11 September 2006] I tried uploading the CF2 photos to one of my parents’ computers, since my Mac is off getting upgraded. Firstly, it got them completely out of order. Secondly, because the colour and contrast are both so badly off on this monitor, I don’t want to adjust any for the blog or Photo.net. People will just need to wait until Wednesday for such things. Some raw image files are on Facebook, where the image quality doesn’t really matter.

Super generic CF2 post

I am not going to write much, because there are more interesting things to be done. The food and company here have been excellent so far: likewise, the boating and general ambiance. Seeing friends who have long been across the world is likewise very welcome. Many photos will find their way online in some form or location eventually.

PS. We are really roughing it out here – this post had to be made over a dial-up internet connection.

Cabin Fever II departure

I shall be off at Barrier Lake until Sunday. I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.