Sunday, August 8
Well, I've been back from Europe for well over a month, and I still haven't contributed anything for Liner Notes. So here you go.
What did I do in Europe? Well, if you read the previous note, you'll know that I attended the International James Joyce Symposium in Dublin, Ireland. This particular conference coincided with the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, the day Joyce's famous novel, Ulysses, was set (June 14, 1904). The stuff in connection to Bloomsday was interesting, if a bit scary. My idea of a good time usually doesn't involve dressing up in circa 1900 garb and pretending to be a character in a novel. That's just a little too close to war reenactments. Instead, my wife and I did a lot of sightseeing. We saw the book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin Castle and the remains of the Viking walls that used to enshroud Dublin, Phoenix Park, the Guinness brewery (and the wonderful view of Dublin it affords on their observation deck), the General Post Office (think Bloody Sunday), cool bookstores, and the overall general ambience of being in a major city that has exactly one skyscraper and exactly no pretention. Dublin's fantastic, really. We also got out of town and saw a bit of the Irish countryside as we took trips to Kilkenny Castle, the Irish National Stud, the Hill of Tara, and Newgrange. My favorite part of Ireland was Newgrange and the surrounding area known as the Boyne Valley. Newgrange is a 5,500 year old passage tomb; it's older than the pyramids and Stonehenge. It's a marvel of primitive engineering and construction, sitting atop a beautiful hill within view of the Irish Sea. My wife and I got to actually go inside the passage tomb and see where those ancient people would deposit the remains of their dead--as well as witness the Winter Solstice sunlight shining through (the grave is a calendar of sorts, too, like Stonehenge). I also got to see lots and lots of petroglyphs, as well (a particular fascination of mine). But even more than all these things, I loved just being in this wonderful, quiet, ancient place, watching the Boyne river bend and sway through the valley, watching birds float along and cows graze in pasture lands that adjoin the tomb and other, smaller tombs that are visible nearby. It's just one of the most peaceful places in the world. If I had a choice, I'd probably live the rest of my life there, playing with goats and taking naps by the river.
Oh, the conference? Yeah, I was supposed to be attending a conference. Right. Well, I actually hate academic conferences, as I find the vast majority of them to be utterly boring. I especially hate listening to people give bad (often dreadfully bad) papers to audiences who would (quite frankly) much prefer to be doing something else. But, of course, I came to attend this conference, so I did have to attend it for a little while, just to make it look official. I went to a few panels (some good, some bad) and I did, of course, present my paper, which was well received. But the conference was my excuse for being there, and I tried to avoid it whenever possible.
We spent a week in Dublin and environs, and then we flew to London to spend another week. I'll talk about our London adventures next time!
What did I do in Europe? Well, if you read the previous note, you'll know that I attended the International James Joyce Symposium in Dublin, Ireland. This particular conference coincided with the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, the day Joyce's famous novel, Ulysses, was set (June 14, 1904). The stuff in connection to Bloomsday was interesting, if a bit scary. My idea of a good time usually doesn't involve dressing up in circa 1900 garb and pretending to be a character in a novel. That's just a little too close to war reenactments. Instead, my wife and I did a lot of sightseeing. We saw the book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin Castle and the remains of the Viking walls that used to enshroud Dublin, Phoenix Park, the Guinness brewery (and the wonderful view of Dublin it affords on their observation deck), the General Post Office (think Bloody Sunday), cool bookstores, and the overall general ambience of being in a major city that has exactly one skyscraper and exactly no pretention. Dublin's fantastic, really. We also got out of town and saw a bit of the Irish countryside as we took trips to Kilkenny Castle, the Irish National Stud, the Hill of Tara, and Newgrange. My favorite part of Ireland was Newgrange and the surrounding area known as the Boyne Valley. Newgrange is a 5,500 year old passage tomb; it's older than the pyramids and Stonehenge. It's a marvel of primitive engineering and construction, sitting atop a beautiful hill within view of the Irish Sea. My wife and I got to actually go inside the passage tomb and see where those ancient people would deposit the remains of their dead--as well as witness the Winter Solstice sunlight shining through (the grave is a calendar of sorts, too, like Stonehenge). I also got to see lots and lots of petroglyphs, as well (a particular fascination of mine). But even more than all these things, I loved just being in this wonderful, quiet, ancient place, watching the Boyne river bend and sway through the valley, watching birds float along and cows graze in pasture lands that adjoin the tomb and other, smaller tombs that are visible nearby. It's just one of the most peaceful places in the world. If I had a choice, I'd probably live the rest of my life there, playing with goats and taking naps by the river.
Oh, the conference? Yeah, I was supposed to be attending a conference. Right. Well, I actually hate academic conferences, as I find the vast majority of them to be utterly boring. I especially hate listening to people give bad (often dreadfully bad) papers to audiences who would (quite frankly) much prefer to be doing something else. But, of course, I came to attend this conference, so I did have to attend it for a little while, just to make it look official. I went to a few panels (some good, some bad) and I did, of course, present my paper, which was well received. But the conference was my excuse for being there, and I tried to avoid it whenever possible.
We spent a week in Dublin and environs, and then we flew to London to spend another week. I'll talk about our London adventures next time!
