Bodleian Library

On Friday I went on a tour of the Bodleian Library. Sir Thomas Bodley was a rich widow, who restored the original Oxford Library, which had been stripped of just about everything when the King ordered Catholic books to be destroyed. I wasn't able to take pictures of most of it, but I've found a virtual tour to link. This is the quadrangle before you walk in. The statue is of the Third Earl of Pembroke, a poet named William Herbert, who is the W.H. in Shakespeare's sonnet dedication. I also found that he kept to himself as he is suspected to suffer "migraines" from syphilitic infections and was married to a dwarfish and deformed woman, though he had many affairs. Further proof of Judith's theory--when it comes to love, all bets are off with a poet.

Upon walking through the doors behind W.H.'s statue, you come to the Divinity School. It has the most beautiful vaulted ceiling I've ever seen. Unfortunately you can't see too well in the virtual tour, but each piece that dips down in the fan vaulting has little statues in it. This was an actual lecture hall, and the location of exams during the time when exams were an oral defense of your ideas.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the library is the massive underground system they have for book transport. There are, I believe, 9 million books spread throughout the various buildings, much of which is underground in what they call the book cemetery. Our tour guide stated that since the library is keeping a copy of every book published in the UK, they get 1,200 books delivered every Wednesday. Unfortunately, for security reasons they wouldn't let us take pictures, and I can't find any on the web either.

The Villainous Villanelle

Two Sonnets

Is that...Wing?

On Saturday four of us made a trip into London. The woman in the picture above was by far the highlight of our trip. While she wasn't really Wing, she was singing Amazing Grace over and over with her little boom box in Leicester Square. "I once was rost..." You've got to love the way she used the statue's cane as a prop as well.



Everyone keeps asking what we did in London, and then look at me strangely because we didn't really do anything we were supposed to do. We wandered around a lot, got lost quite a few times. Saw the 100 Club and the Hard Rock, indulged Patrick in his quest for rock t-shirts. But we certainly had a good time.


The only touristy place we visited was St. Paul's cathedral. Patrick thought we should visit since it's mentioned by so many writers. While we were there a service was going on, and I must say the acoustics were incredible. You could literally feel the organs. At least I felt less uncomfortable than I usually do in a place of worship as the place was swarming with tourists. The strangest part was noticing how many of the memorials inside were placed there for people in the military, not important people within the church.



Yes, that's a rat on a plate in the tube. He was just begging me to take his picture.

Rhyming Dislocation

Opening the Aperture

Believe it or not, I am doing work here...

I've decided to share some of the things I'm writing for the program. It's intensive, so I have far less time to work on things than I normally do, but I think that's a good challenge for me. Please be rough, give me some criticism--I'd love the input.