Of all of these, I have to say my Terrorism class is my favorite. So far we have spent most of our classes talking about political discourse in the West and how 'terrorism' as a label, concept, and method underlines our understanding of political violence. One particularly interesting aspect has been examining how 'terrorism' has evolved in the last three hundred years as both a descriptive term and a strategy for violence--from the French Revolution to the War on Terror. President Bush has often made the claim that we are engaged today in a 'new' war unlike any other, but when one looks back critically at this sort of violence, even within the last hundred years alone, it soon becomes evident that in fact it is nothing new at all. We have seen it all before, just maybe not with the same kinds of labels and meanings attached.
My enjoyment and interest in this class has led me to modify my proposed dissertation topic. And instead of looking at Arab media, I am going to do instead a comparison of US and UK anti-terrorism laws and policies with regard to human rights issues. Considering that one of my professors this term is one of the world's foremost scholars on these issues I am very optimistic about the degree of guidance and expertise I will be able to draw upon, and thus as well as to the quality I will be able to produce. More importantly, I believe this topic will be not only highly relevant to the political situation today, but a useful analysis that might lead to some really interesting ideas about how we can better protect human rights in the midst of this so-called 'War on Terror.'
In other news, it is now confirmed that I am going to run this year in the Isle of Wight Marathon on May 11th, and so I have begun training once more in preparation. Having decided to make good on my desire to do a triathlon, I have also begun taking swimming lessons and hope to compete in the London Triathlon in July. Just this week Ryan and I got some new bikes and so once I can learn to do a crawl properly I will be all set to be a real competitor!
The biggest news of course is that I did Tough Guy on Sunday. As many of you know, I have been training pretty intensively for months to get ready. Sadly, this last Friday I came down with a nasty cold! Still I went for it anyway and even though I was feeling rubbish, managed to do pretty well, albeit moving much more slowly than I would otherwise. Unfortunately, when I was very close to finishing the race the wet, cold and physical stress finally got the best of me. After jumping into one freezing pond too many, I had a severe asthma attack and the race marshall pulled me out of the competition and sent me off to the medical tent. Within moments hypothermia set in (I probably had a bit of it already but hadn't noticed) and it was clear that there was no way I would be able to continue on. Oh well, I gave it my all and even though I didn't get to finish and earn that coveted medal it was one heck of a deal to go out there and get as far as I did, considering the circumstances. On the good side of things, my fellow teammates all finished just fine and gave me only a minimal amount of guff about getting pulled out. In any case, I really enjoyed (if you can believe it!) myself and Ryan got some great pictures of me during the race. (click here to see the whole album) For sure, if I can I will give it another try at the next Tough Guy in July and hopefully then I will behold the glory of the finish line!
In other news, we went to see a concert this week here in Camden, a fantastic group called Stars. I first heard them some years ago in Washington D.C. at The Black Cat, as an opening for Broken Social Scene. I really liked them back then and so when I saw they were going to be playing at one of London's coolest music venues, the Koko, we got tickets right away. Needless to say, it was a great show. Just to give you a picture, the Koko is set up inside like a small opera house with a rounded stage and multiple levels of curved balconies going high up into the domed ceiling, each adorned with beautiful wrought iron railings that bow outward. The walls are deep red and decorated with white and gold plaster reliefs of meandering vines and young women, and all along beneath these are small crystal chandeliers lit with red lights. Absolutely stunning. Standing along the railing on the second level it felt as though I could reach right out and touch the band. Stars was great as always and just as humble and interesting as I remember, which is a treat in rock stars.
This next weekend we are going on a little trip to Cambridge to visit some friends studying there. While we are at it, we are also going to pay a visit to some friends of my parents, Brian and Carol Jospehson, which promises to be very interesting as I have heard a great deal about them but never met in person. Hopefully, if the weather is nice, we can sneak a nice little bike ride in too!
Well, until next time..
love, Alletta
