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Tue - Apr 17, 2007
A new journal...

I have recently been thinking about starting my new journal, the successor to reflections, and have fleshed out a few ideas. I would be surprised if I have it ready within a month, but rest assured, there is movement.

There has also been movement on the charity organization that I have been developing. Indeed, the launch day is nearing and the website is online, if only in an introductory form.


Wed - Aug 9, 2006
Returning home

My third year at Oxford is drawing to a close. The terms have flowed past and I am leaving for Melbourne in under a fortnight. As you may know, I'm going to be staying in Melbourne for some time. I return on the 23rd of August and shall be taking up a position as a visiting researcher at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), which is based at the University of Melbourne. This should be very enjoyable and engaging. I'll have a desk on the university's Old Quad and shall participate in seminars with both CAPPE and the Department of Philosophy. I shall write some papers, get some good work done on my thesis, renew acquaintances both academic and personal, and just generally enjoy myself.

However, this is not the main reason that I'm returning. I'm coming back home to marry my love, Dette. We've been apart for most of three years. A very long three years when measured that way. I can't tell you how much I look forward to seeing her in a fortnight's time. We shall be married on a Saturday afternoon in November. A Spring wedding, with Autumn anniversaries.

We shall see the rest of the year out in Melbourne, while she finishes off her medical internship. Then, in January, we shall fly to Oxford together and begin anew. We are looking forward to this very much.


On reflections

This journal has largely been a record of my impressions of Oxford. As I have come to realise, I typically write entries for exactly the same reasons that I take photographs. I try to capture the beauty that I see around me, to capture it precisely, to capture it impressionistically, to take the details and the ambiances. I do this to share this beauty with others, for the appreciation of beauty is certainly something which grows with the sharing, and to record it for myself so that I will not forget. Thus the purposes and the methods of my photography and writing have been closely matched.

I've been here for three years now, and am finding routines. I still love the place around me, indeed I may well love it more, but many of my adventures are now through places familiar to me. Where once I had my first dinner at hall, my first tutorial, my first snowfall, I now see these things with friendly and familiar eyes. This is why my writings have slowed over the time. I have other things to share, but they are not the same and it feels a bit strange writing about more academic topics on this journal. My intended audience here is friends and family.

A chapter of my life is drawing to a close. In a fortnight's time I shall be reunited with my love, and in three month's time we shall marry. This journal has been about my life over here in Oxford without her, and that will soon be over.

So... what will become of reflections? Sometime between returning to Melbourne and leaving once more for Oxford, I shall make some changes. I shall keep the name of the journal, but shall shift its focus from a personal journal with occasional philosophy, to a philosophical journal with occasional personal details or stories. As part of this, it shall move from the personal section of a mirror clear (a space of flowers), to the academic section. I shall also change the look somewhat, keeping it simple, but probably moving to black text on a white background (perhaps something like this). I may well move to a dedicated piece of journal software (such as moveable type). Who knows, I may even enable commenting.

I expect the audience to change during this transition. I will be writing for an audience interested in philosophy (primarily moral philosophy). I will be assuming that they will not be so interested in my personal life, but will continue to make the occasional post about my personal plans or significant events in my life. Some of my dear friends and family will keep reading it, I'm sure, and I am happy to know it will be so. There will be much interesting philosophy and it should be a lot of fun. Knowing that this is the main purpose of the journal, I shall be free to dive straight into it, without apology. I shall also find it easier to justify the time it takes to give semi-regular updates to a journal. Hopefully those of you who are not yourselves philosophers will have some fun reading the entries and seeing what I'm doing with my life. If you are bored by a certain topic, or if you find some of the posts too dry, then just skip those ones. I certainly don't mind. I just hope that you find something of interest in this shift.

Oh, and of course the old reflections will remain in the archives. You can browse them at your leisure, should you wish.

Sincerely,
Toby.




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