I wake and revert back to childhood,
In need of a mother to look after me.
But now in an adult's body stood,
Hungover, by the power of three.
In need of a mother to look after me.
But now in an adult's body stood,
Hungover, by the power of three.
Tip of the Tongue
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Monday, 24 March 2014
Sunday, 23 March 2014
On My First Nephew
Welcome to the world, son of my sister,
with great regret I am absent of thee.
So distant love is writ here in poetry,
as I tell you of what your name does infer.
Zachary, to become a modern voice
of a beloved King who threw down giants.
Bearer of your line, men in defiance
although the last two are not of your choice.
A Boddy you are born of, without triste,
the name you are given does hold much weight.
Endowed by your parents a beautiful fate,
to be the beloved bearer of Christ.
NB: On the 21st of March at 6:30, weighing 7lbs 8 1/2oz my sister gave birth to Zachary David Christopher Boddy.
The 21st of March was World Poetry Day and so as I am attempting to resemble a poet I thought it apt to write one on behalf of my nephew's birth.
I looked into his name and the final line is an (simple) etymological translation of it and felt that it was a perfect focus for the poem.
The structure and name are inspired by Ben Jonson's 'On My First Sonne', a melancholy poem which I studied back at GCSE but has stayed with me. I think it is a beautiful poem, exemplifying the love for his child through dedication and although mine is a much happier affair I hope the love for Zachary can be seen too.
with great regret I am absent of thee.
So distant love is writ here in poetry,
as I tell you of what your name does infer.
Zachary, to become a modern voice
of a beloved King who threw down giants.
Bearer of your line, men in defiance
although the last two are not of your choice.
A Boddy you are born of, without triste,
the name you are given does hold much weight.
Endowed by your parents a beautiful fate,
to be the beloved bearer of Christ.
NB: On the 21st of March at 6:30, weighing 7lbs 8 1/2oz my sister gave birth to Zachary David Christopher Boddy.
The 21st of March was World Poetry Day and so as I am attempting to resemble a poet I thought it apt to write one on behalf of my nephew's birth.
I looked into his name and the final line is an (simple) etymological translation of it and felt that it was a perfect focus for the poem.
The structure and name are inspired by Ben Jonson's 'On My First Sonne', a melancholy poem which I studied back at GCSE but has stayed with me. I think it is a beautiful poem, exemplifying the love for his child through dedication and although mine is a much happier affair I hope the love for Zachary can be seen too.
Helsinki; Lapland and a few extra bits.
I realise I haven't posted an update for some time and that is mainly due to me wanting to experience a Finnish Sitsit before hand. It turns out the International Sitsit I attended was not like a 'proper' one due to the lack of organised drinking - particular complaints came from the Germans...funny that.
A Sitsit is a formal dinner which often has a theme, there is plenty of singing and plenty of rules (although it is true that many of these were disregarded). You may request a song but you must stand up and be 'interrogated', which was the easiest interrogation I have ever experience! With my voice already gone 30 minutes in due to singing ridiculously loud I stood up and requested Drunken Sailor. I thought it perfectly apt for my voices current state and my intoxication level; which was not yet at its peak.
In all honest I don't remember much of the night, we had quiche for starters and risotto for main, we sung I'll be there for you (a passionate rendition on chairs by all those in our accommodation) and some other songs. I left before pudding came so I can't tell you what delight I missed. I can't tell you much else in fact, I was taken home by my lovely American friend who mothered me and the next day saw 603D graced with a superb hangover!
Moving on. Lapland. So worth it.
I could stop there, I mean most people will have seen the photos. There have been specific comments on my lack of dress in a few and all I can say is that when in Finland, do it the Finnish way! We arrived at our cabin after a 24 hr journey from Helsinki, including the stops along the way which included a 'zoo' and a visit to Santa. Santa is a mean capitalist machine, he may well know most languages to say 'hello, how are you?' when you enter his 'grotto' (sorry for all the apostrophes but they all are really needed), but for 5 photos - which is the minimum you can buy - it'll cost you 30€. If you want the whole experience on a USB, which gives you extra photos and even a video of your 1 minute and 28 second encounter with the man himself...at least I think he is, I mean I'm pretty sure they have more than one Santa on the payroll and I saw quite a few more Santa Offices on our travels. Sketchy to say the least. For me, if you believed in Christmas before you arrived you wouldn't when you left. The presence of constant Christmas music across the village was enough to drive anyone insane luckily though a friend and I decided that we would ask a rather pretty Elf for a picture, as we 'weren't really interested in a photo with Santa'. So I guess it wasn't all bad.
One of my favourite things about Finland so far is the sauna culture and that obviously continued in Lapland. Where instead of a one lane pool we had a lake to jump in to! This is where the naked photos come from, after steaming for about 10 minutes we run out and jump into a little ice hole which is 50 yards from the sauna building. Cold is an understatement, especially when you decide to roll in the snow after as well, but it feels incredible when you get back inside. You feel completely energised and alive, your skin tingles and all you want to do it do it again...so you do.
We also got the chance to swim in the Arctic Ocean when we went up to Norway, a crazy lady named Elsa runs a tourist sauna in the town of Burgoynes (slightly odd as she was complaining about people who travel extensively due to the impact on the environment) but hey you gotta live right? Elsa was brilliant however, a character if ever there was one, exemplified by her opening remarks to us; " I fell over there, on the beach, on a knife and that is why I have not teeth...but hopefully I'll have some new ones soon!". GREAT.
It was a rather short trip to Norway but to say I swam in the Arctic - which hadn't frozen in the bay due to a gulf stream - is a pretty cool thing I guess.
I also did some Xc skiing, snow shoe orienteering and downhill skiing before we headed back home; a diversion in our Xc skiing also saw me enhance my credentials in tree climbing and jumping into snow from a height. A video is available.
Obviously, the one thing that people come to Lapland for is the Northern Lights. My friends who had gone the week before missed out on the chance - a real kick in the teeth as we discovered they had been seen in the UK...IN THE SOUTH, typical - but we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse. Although the intensity wasn't incredible they were still a beautiful thing, ebbing and flowing across the sky and making everyone stand still.
It's safe to say then that I am having an absolutely wonderful time still in Finland, for all those who questioned it I wouldn't change my decision for the world. I have met the most amazing people and done some awesome things. I am setting up to go to St. Petersburg in April - and to see Swan Lake with a Bolshoi dancer - and I am getting the chance to do courses unavailable in the UK; such as Mesoamerican Writing Systems, a master's level course which is only the second of its kind in the world and the first in Finland.
It isn't just Finland though which is making my life just a little bit better every day. I am running for the committee of the English Society back home and I have had a few people say that they are backing me, which is really gratifying. Not only that but I have been talking about applying for a role in a brilliant organization which would give me a great opportunity in my final year at Notts.
Not only that though... I am now an Uncle! As on the 21st of March at 6:30 my sister gave birth to Zachary David Christopher Boddy, at 7lbs 14oz. It's quite a scary thought that I am now in a position of some responsibility for a tiny human being but I have seen a photo and my god he is so cute. I cannot wait to get back to the UK and hold him in my arms!
I think I should end on that note and so I leave you with some photos for you to be jealous of!
A Sitsit is a formal dinner which often has a theme, there is plenty of singing and plenty of rules (although it is true that many of these were disregarded). You may request a song but you must stand up and be 'interrogated', which was the easiest interrogation I have ever experience! With my voice already gone 30 minutes in due to singing ridiculously loud I stood up and requested Drunken Sailor. I thought it perfectly apt for my voices current state and my intoxication level; which was not yet at its peak.
In all honest I don't remember much of the night, we had quiche for starters and risotto for main, we sung I'll be there for you (a passionate rendition on chairs by all those in our accommodation) and some other songs. I left before pudding came so I can't tell you what delight I missed. I can't tell you much else in fact, I was taken home by my lovely American friend who mothered me and the next day saw 603D graced with a superb hangover!
Moving on. Lapland. So worth it.
I could stop there, I mean most people will have seen the photos. There have been specific comments on my lack of dress in a few and all I can say is that when in Finland, do it the Finnish way! We arrived at our cabin after a 24 hr journey from Helsinki, including the stops along the way which included a 'zoo' and a visit to Santa. Santa is a mean capitalist machine, he may well know most languages to say 'hello, how are you?' when you enter his 'grotto' (sorry for all the apostrophes but they all are really needed), but for 5 photos - which is the minimum you can buy - it'll cost you 30€. If you want the whole experience on a USB, which gives you extra photos and even a video of your 1 minute and 28 second encounter with the man himself...at least I think he is, I mean I'm pretty sure they have more than one Santa on the payroll and I saw quite a few more Santa Offices on our travels. Sketchy to say the least. For me, if you believed in Christmas before you arrived you wouldn't when you left. The presence of constant Christmas music across the village was enough to drive anyone insane luckily though a friend and I decided that we would ask a rather pretty Elf for a picture, as we 'weren't really interested in a photo with Santa'. So I guess it wasn't all bad.
One of my favourite things about Finland so far is the sauna culture and that obviously continued in Lapland. Where instead of a one lane pool we had a lake to jump in to! This is where the naked photos come from, after steaming for about 10 minutes we run out and jump into a little ice hole which is 50 yards from the sauna building. Cold is an understatement, especially when you decide to roll in the snow after as well, but it feels incredible when you get back inside. You feel completely energised and alive, your skin tingles and all you want to do it do it again...so you do.
We also got the chance to swim in the Arctic Ocean when we went up to Norway, a crazy lady named Elsa runs a tourist sauna in the town of Burgoynes (slightly odd as she was complaining about people who travel extensively due to the impact on the environment) but hey you gotta live right? Elsa was brilliant however, a character if ever there was one, exemplified by her opening remarks to us; " I fell over there, on the beach, on a knife and that is why I have not teeth...but hopefully I'll have some new ones soon!". GREAT.
It was a rather short trip to Norway but to say I swam in the Arctic - which hadn't frozen in the bay due to a gulf stream - is a pretty cool thing I guess.
I also did some Xc skiing, snow shoe orienteering and downhill skiing before we headed back home; a diversion in our Xc skiing also saw me enhance my credentials in tree climbing and jumping into snow from a height. A video is available.
Obviously, the one thing that people come to Lapland for is the Northern Lights. My friends who had gone the week before missed out on the chance - a real kick in the teeth as we discovered they had been seen in the UK...IN THE SOUTH, typical - but we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse. Although the intensity wasn't incredible they were still a beautiful thing, ebbing and flowing across the sky and making everyone stand still.
It's safe to say then that I am having an absolutely wonderful time still in Finland, for all those who questioned it I wouldn't change my decision for the world. I have met the most amazing people and done some awesome things. I am setting up to go to St. Petersburg in April - and to see Swan Lake with a Bolshoi dancer - and I am getting the chance to do courses unavailable in the UK; such as Mesoamerican Writing Systems, a master's level course which is only the second of its kind in the world and the first in Finland.
It isn't just Finland though which is making my life just a little bit better every day. I am running for the committee of the English Society back home and I have had a few people say that they are backing me, which is really gratifying. Not only that but I have been talking about applying for a role in a brilliant organization which would give me a great opportunity in my final year at Notts.
Not only that though... I am now an Uncle! As on the 21st of March at 6:30 my sister gave birth to Zachary David Christopher Boddy, at 7lbs 14oz. It's quite a scary thought that I am now in a position of some responsibility for a tiny human being but I have seen a photo and my god he is so cute. I cannot wait to get back to the UK and hold him in my arms!
I think I should end on that note and so I leave you with some photos for you to be jealous of!
Friday, 21 March 2014
Forget Me Do
Today is a day of words,
I'd like to call myself a poet
But I forgot.
A mind that has been elsewhere,
In the heads of others
And I, forgot.
I seem to have lost my rhyme,
Or was it always eluding
My last, forgot.
Spirits will be drunk tonight,
And I become one with them
Weekend forgot.
I'd like to call myself a poet
But I forgot.
A mind that has been elsewhere,
In the heads of others
And I, forgot.
I seem to have lost my rhyme,
Or was it always eluding
My last, forgot.
Spirits will be drunk tonight,
And I become one with them
Weekend forgot.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Belonging
I feel like I belong no-where,
Everywhere too.
Wherever I venture I can call my own.
Home then is living in the world, I swear.
Everywhere too.
Wherever I venture I can call my own.
Home then is living in the world, I swear.
14.03.14
A day of rest,
A much welcomed break from the confines of our cabin.
Its wheels turning for others as we skied on fresh snow.
Laughing and smiling, amazed at our situation,
Such silence when we stop.
And echo when we roar.
Tonight a chance to stand by fire,
Eat our meal under the starry night sky.
A glimpse of the lights would not go amiss,
On this, our last day in Vasatokka
A much welcomed break from the confines of our cabin.
Its wheels turning for others as we skied on fresh snow.
Laughing and smiling, amazed at our situation,
Such silence when we stop.
And echo when we roar.
Tonight a chance to stand by fire,
Eat our meal under the starry night sky.
A glimpse of the lights would not go amiss,
On this, our last day in Vasatokka
***
Tomorrow brings the return of our uncomfortable transport,
A chance however to ride on husky sleighs.
Before heading back to return to the everyday.
So make the most of our time in the icy circle,
We shall try I am sure.
Nothing I miss of Helsinki,
For the snow and hills feel like home.
But what is home? I am unsure.
A life of the in-between I begin.
Snow White
Land of the midnight sun,
Land of the winter darkness.
Snow white awakening.
As do the tired eyes of our travellers,
Headed to Norway's shores.
The land demands attention.
The land cold and heartless.
Land of the winter darkness.
Snow white awakening.
As do the tired eyes of our travellers,
Headed to Norway's shores.
The land demands attention.
The land cold and heartless.
Time Travels
Travelling through space and time
But 23 hours it took and I know now where I lie.
We are in the land of lights,
Inside the icy sphere.
Lying next to a frozen Poseidon.
The gloom of night approaching,
Suffocating the spirits' dance.
We watch intently from our cosy spot,
A fire in the corner,
Our eyes hoping to catch our lot.
But 23 hours it took and I know now where I lie.
We are in the land of lights,
Inside the icy sphere.
Lying next to a frozen Poseidon.
The gloom of night approaching,
Suffocating the spirits' dance.
We watch intently from our cosy spot,
A fire in the corner,
Our eyes hoping to catch our lot.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Freese Inspiration
Today the adventure I took - as noted in the poem below - was to Freese Coffee co. I read about them after a friend posted a link to the owner's blog about the best coffee in Helsinki. I obviously had to try this place out, as my time here is centered around exploring the city through its coffee scene.
Freese Coffee co. serves some of the best tasting coffee around but not only that, as I had the best company too - in the form of a beautiful barista and a magical manager! Not only did they tell me about their Frespresso but offered me coffee tea (made from the fruit pods which the beans are held in) and told me a bit about themselves. They were full of life and made it one of the best coffee experiences I've had so far and I will, without a doubt, go back to try the brunch which they pride themselves on.
If you're in Helsinki, whether you're on exchange with me now or you happen to find yourself here - go to Freese Coffee co.; they'll invite you in warmly and make you leave with a smile on your face and in a world that flies by, where moments of solace and interesting company can be so often amiss, I think it is an incredible thing. (You may even get sprayed in the face with water if you're lucky!)
And as promised to those two wonderful woman - how apt on International Women's Day - here is the extract from Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, which inspired some of my Sonnet today and is now one of my favourite passages in literature:
"When I'm playful I use the meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude for a seine, and drag the Atlantic Ocean for whales! I scratch my head with the lightning and purr myself to sleep with the thunder! When I'm cold, I bile the Gulf of Mexico and bathe in it; when I'm hot I fan myself with an equinoctial storm; when I'm thirsty I reach up and suck a cloud dry like a sponge; when I range the earth hungry, famine follows in my tracks! Whoo-oop! Bow your neck and spread! I put my hand on the sun's face and make it night in the earth; I bite a piece out of the moon and hurry the seasons; I shake myself and crumble the mountain! Contemplate me through leather - don't use the naked eye! I'm the man with a petrified heart and biler-iron bowels! The massacre of isolated communities is the pastime of my idle moments, the destruction of nationalities the serious business of my life! The boundless vastness of the great American desert is my inclosed property, and I bury my dead on my own premises!" Ch. XVI
Thank you for making today match the expectations the Sun gave it!
ps. The rugby match is Ireland VS Italy.
Midday Sun
The midday Sun in March,
Sits just above the buildings,
It almost burnt my eyes
As I left from iron workers' hall.
But even that was welcomed,
After the gloomy blind days gone by.
So today an adventure is warranted,
To see what the Sun makes of things.
Sits just above the buildings,
It almost burnt my eyes
As I left from iron workers' hall.
But even that was welcomed,
After the gloomy blind days gone by.
So today an adventure is warranted,
To see what the Sun makes of things.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Monday, 3 March 2014
Stand
It feels odd to stand for a position,
When it stands one thousand miles away.
Hope and dreams a bit further,
I don't want to falsify what I have to say.
I have no anxieties,
Look forward to that position challenged.
But first I need your voices,
Here's to hoping I'm not estranged.
When it stands one thousand miles away.
Hope and dreams a bit further,
I don't want to falsify what I have to say.
I have no anxieties,
Look forward to that position challenged.
But first I need your voices,
Here's to hoping I'm not estranged.
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