When you live alone, there are many hours of silence. Where I live, there is no noise from furnace fans or air conditioners, no noisy neighbors or barking dogs, and no traffic. This morning there is no wind, and the birds are still asleep or have flown south.
I went to John Bayley's seminars on Henry James. When I introduced myself, he sked, "Are you a Bowler? Or an Ambassador?" Nothing to do with sport or diplomacy, I soon realised. He wanted to know whether I rated James' 'The Golden Bowl' above his 'The Ambassadors'. At the time, I'd only read the first of these, so I said I was a "Bowler". This seemed to please him. He was a lovely man.
As you note, it would be interesting to see all the creative "side projects" outside of the curriculum. It reminds me of when I was studying music at the University of New Mexico. A well known classical guitarist wanted to receive a music degree, so he enrolled. After a year or so, the admin decided he must learn piano. He refused. In the end, it turned out to be a good thing - he moved back to South America and continued recording albums - starting with his third release.
Hummm maybe this is why so many people take so long to finish the dissertation. Also if you write a dissertation you must be able to spell it. I am surprised that there are two sssss in it. LOL I only have a bachelor's degree so I never wrote one.....
You met once a term during which he told you about his play? 😂 That's dereliction of duty! Mind you, I think everyone in grad school should be encouraged to do a creative side project. I wrote a bad novel, which was never published, but which Jack Lemmon's production company read as a possible project. I still have the very kind and detailed rejection letter, which basically said it was very good (it wasn't) but he couldn't see himself in the part! Best of all, writing it somehow helped me get past the intimidation factor in writing my dissertation. 😀
Always an enjoyable read.
I really enjoyed this!
I went to John Bayley's seminars on Henry James. When I introduced myself, he sked, "Are you a Bowler? Or an Ambassador?" Nothing to do with sport or diplomacy, I soon realised. He wanted to know whether I rated James' 'The Golden Bowl' above his 'The Ambassadors'. At the time, I'd only read the first of these, so I said I was a "Bowler". This seemed to please him. He was a lovely man.
As you note, it would be interesting to see all the creative "side projects" outside of the curriculum. It reminds me of when I was studying music at the University of New Mexico. A well known classical guitarist wanted to receive a music degree, so he enrolled. After a year or so, the admin decided he must learn piano. He refused. In the end, it turned out to be a good thing - he moved back to South America and continued recording albums - starting with his third release.
Hummm maybe this is why so many people take so long to finish the dissertation. Also if you write a dissertation you must be able to spell it. I am surprised that there are two sssss in it. LOL I only have a bachelor's degree so I never wrote one.....
You met once a term during which he told you about his play? 😂 That's dereliction of duty! Mind you, I think everyone in grad school should be encouraged to do a creative side project. I wrote a bad novel, which was never published, but which Jack Lemmon's production company read as a possible project. I still have the very kind and detailed rejection letter, which basically said it was very good (it wasn't) but he couldn't see himself in the part! Best of all, writing it somehow helped me get past the intimidation factor in writing my dissertation. 😀