"A New Angle on History"

New perspectives on historical tales told time and time again are always refreshing, almost like watching your favorite television show or reading your favorite book but through the eyes of an ancillary character or narrator. Kind of.

As such, it must be noted that today is the 20th 'anniversary' of the march on Tianamen Square in Beijing in response to oppressive Communist Chinese government and the bloody weeks that lead up to that fateful day. One cannot speak of those protests without mentioning 'Tank Man,' the iconic photograph that remains a symbol for protest today.

To commemorate the anniversary of the protest and the photograph, Lens, a superb photography blog on NYTimes.com, had four of the photographers who initially released photographs of the man standing in the way of the tanks share their experiences.

What really struck me was the blog posted today relating to a brand new image first published today by journalist Terril Jones. The NYTimes blogger does an effective job of summarizing what's going on in the image:

"Mr. Jones’ angle on the historic encounter is vastly different from four other versions shot that day, taken at eye level moments before the tanks stopped at the feet of the lone protester. Wildly chaotic, a man ducks in the foreground, reacting from gunfire coming from the tanks. Another flashes a near-smile. Another pedals his bike, seemingly passive as the tanks rumble towards confrontation."

What we see here is a completely new point of view as to what is going on. Personal accounts, news articles and books can all say exactly what it was like, but all we really ever had was that small frame from those famous photographs. I remember (briefly) learning about the events and being told that the streets were empty except for that one man, which made the photograph more powerful of course, but I always wondered what the rest of the scene looked like.

No More Scrabble

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I graduated from college. Not that I haven't been busy in the last year. Life has become much more complicated, but naturally, much sweeter. With each new challenge and each new obstacle a fresh flavor and perspective accompanies it.

All that said, one thing, more than graduation photos and 'I got a job!' posts on Facebook, is marking the one year anniversary of my graduating from Maryland: no more Scrabble.

I play Scrabble on a more-than-daily basis with a close friend in order to maintain my sanity while away from all things familar and comfortable. Unfortunately for me, Scrabble on Facebook is not available to people outside of the United States.

In order to access this quite exclusive service, I use my University of Maryland accounts to connect through a VPN to connect to the Maryland network; thus, I can connect to 'American' internet and have access to Scrabble.

Now that it has been a year since graduation, my access to University of Maryland is being cut off. As a result, no more Scrabble until I get home. How poetic. Frick.

I'm Alive!

So I've been meaning to do the 'I'm Alive!' post for months now (read: putting it off), but just couldn't find the time. School and life have been providing free rectal exams on a daily basis and because England has nationalized health care, they are gratis. Hard to pass up, really.

Some conclusions I've made since November:

1) Trying to write a long research paper without any preparation shortly before you plan to permanently return home after being away for a year is a bad idea.

2) Allergies are a pain in the ass no matter what continent you live on.

3) Unless you keep yourself socially active when away from home, even the most independent world-traveler will miss it, that and them.

4) People watching is a hobby that knows no borders or boundaries, and is universally entertaining.

5) Flights are so damn cheap in Europe.

6) Flights are so damn expensive in The States.

7) Even when work, school, family, x, y and z suck, cooking can save your brain from meltdown.

8) England is cold, even in 'summer.'

9) Even if it's cold out, a poorly-ventilated flat can be a fully-functioning sauna.

10) Regrets area waste of time-- reflect and move on. Although... I still can't believe I ditched on one of my dreams: to fly somewhere for a day to see a concert, then fly back (Paris, Yeah Yeah Yeahs); just to finish a paper that I didn't work on that day and ended up bombing.

11) (I prefer odd numbers to even ones) Life will always surprise you, moreso when you think you know what the hell is going on.

That is all. I intend to be a little more active in the future as distractions keep me sane when the odds are against my keeping out of a proverbial straight-jacket. Keeps it real!