O D II – Extreme Academia

I just sort of felt that you might be more interested if I gave this first returning blog a summer blockbuster title, ya know? And I'll explain the image below in my next blog . . . Extreme Academia, indeed!

It’s been sort of cool in Oxford, according to Greg, but it looks like a warming trend is starting (by British standards), and it should be around 70 for the next few days at least. I’m awfully excited to get back, Oxford has definitely gotten under my skin. When I returned to New Jersey in early May, Oxford was the backdrop for my dreams for over a week! And to sort of stay in an Oxford state of mind, I watched an Inspector Morse, and a couple of Inspector Lewis episodes in my first few days here (these are two British detective shows set in Oxford). It was really fun to be watching, and all of a sudden see the detectives walking down our street, and past our front door! And walking by Magpie Lane! I say!

There will be much to blog about during this second visit. For starters, on Saturday, we are slated for dinner at the home of a physicist who just won the Shaw Prize, which comes with a tidy little sum of a million bucks. (He shares it with a fellow physicist, but I think we all agree that you can still do a fair amount with 500 grand.) On Sunday, we will have High Table at Magdalen College, where CS Lewis was a professor. There is a curious tradition – mortifying, one might say – for new visitors to be weighed before dinner! I’ll tell you how that plays out.

And in my next post, I will tell you what rising bollards are. Stay tuned . . .