The not-end

Once again I've passed though the two weeks of the year that are completely confusing.  It's a mad rush to the end, and then suddenly the pace of life changes.  This time last year, the strangeness was compounded by my trying to process the end-of-captaining confusion.  This year, it was strange because it's the last time I'll do a lot of this stuff -- at least as a real student -- but it's not really a farewell because I'll be staying in Cambridge for the summer and autumn.  As such, I'm feeling at once sentimental and still-entrenched.  Probably the biggest representation of this duality is the fact that come August I will move out of my room of four years and into a room in a house right by the river.  I was very lucky to find a place with an amazing location and a wonderful landlady/housemate (touch wood!).  So, I'm excited.  But there's a strong pang of regret to leave my home-away-from-home.

Where's the rest of Kemble?

There has been plenty of fun, to be sure: Boat Club Dinner, the Trinity Hall June Event, garden parties, cricket, and silly rowing under golden sunsets (between thunderstorms).  And remember my favorite Victorian, John Mitchell Kemble?  I encountered him unexpectedly in London, where I'd gone to see an exhibit on Vikings at the British Museum.  Walking through the theatre district, I suddenly spotted an old pub called Kemble's Head, undoubtedly in honor of JMK's father, a famous Shakespearean actor.  The place is now a Greek restaurant, and the food is quite tasty.  (You know I had to go in, right?)

Now summer days stretch out before me, and I have miles of dissertation to go before I sleep.  I'm now very, very familiar with my topic, and I must disappointedly admit that a lot of what I'm saying is ripped from a handful of book chapters and articles I read in my first year.  I've synthesized them to form my own product, and I've definitely added new material.  However, the ideas that I find exciting and interesting about my project have been said more than once -- in fact, I dare to say that they're generally acknowledged already.  I'm saying them in more detail, which I guess is nice.  Well, at least I like where it's all going, it's just annoying how most things have already been said!  Time to work on someone less famous?  But first, we finish.