michaelmas term 1, mark schaan 2

: i think it's a tie. i can't believe this term is almost over but i think i can honestly say that it didn't kick my ass but i think i showed it that i'm a man with some moves :) so, yeah. i can believe it's 8th week. just two months ago i hadn't met some of the people i now consider my better friends in the world. two months ago, i didn't use words like blimey, bollocks, twat (which i use all the time now), quid or pidge. two months ago, i had never read Gosta Esping-Andersen who i now feel i have the same love/hate relationship with that i share with margaret wente. two months ago, i was worried and nervous about this new place and now it feels like "home" (this is where in an essay i would include a footnote discussing the difficulty in understanding and relating conceptions of home citing some famous sociological studies on conceptions of home during the life course and suggests both the ambiguity of the term as well as the shifting boundaries of its usage). anyway, it's amazing how much life changes in two months...

: i finished my last paper of the term last night. it's called air-tight or sieves? boxes or traps? the perks and pitfalls of welfare state typologies and attempts to understand why typologies are useful, why there are so many of them and what the major problems are with using the major typology set in our perceptions of welfare states. i think my writing is getting better and that i'm slowly starting to develop two styles: a journalism style and an academic style but i think there's still too much overlap in both.

: on that note, i e-mailed edward greenspon to find out more about how he made the transition from his ph.d. at the lse to working for the globe. i think, in the back of my mind, that i would like to make a similar move. he said to write like a fiend and just keeping finding places to be published. i noted that despite his advice he didn't offer me a column :)

: i'm fully booked in for my european extravaganza planned for christmas. i'll be in oxford on christmas eve with john from waterloo attending a carol service and party at new college. christmas day john and i will travel to london and have christmas lunch with my friend dhalia and her partner adam (who are jewish and so fun!) and hang around the city centre for a couple days. on the 28th we head to the queer capital of manchester for a little canal street (think british qaf) action for new year's including a stay at malmaison (omg! such a splurge but so worth it!). we're there until the first when we head back to oxford for a day or so of recovery. then on the 3rd it's off to rome for 10 days. we're staying at a lovely place called the yellow hostel and while in rome (we'll obviously do as the romans) but will also try and get to pompeii, napleas and sorrento (thanks jacks for the travel info).

: it only sort of feels like christmas here. there's lots of advent stuff on and also quite a bit of shopping being done. there's pretty lights and the like. but there's no snow and t's not even really that cold. but, it does feel exciting on some days- like today when i finished off buying all my canadian christmas presents! yeah for the fun of it! it was expensive but totally worthwhile... i even bought myself some things like a signed copy of life of pi and a new college scarf!

: i have a boi for those canadian readers out of the loop. his name is simon, and he's fabulous. it's only been a week but i already feel so comfortable with him. 6'4", deep-set grey eyes, studies german and law but is going to music school next year. he's a charmer and he's british to boot!

: i had a 5 minute chat with my course director today that really altered the way i've been feeling about my dissertation and course. it's amazing how it just take one little comment to make you rethink things- anyway, more on that later...

ciao for now, m.

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