tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301Fri, 13 Sep 2024 09:25:17 +0000CaminoFranceCheminSpainfoodwalkingPyreneesbeautyphotographytimeCausseGaliciaPhDSaint Jean Pied de PortSantiagoWordsworthbootscheeseday-in-the-lifedepartingelectionendingsfaux pasfieldworkhistoryhuntingkneesmapsmeditationmemorymesetamind gamesmulletsmusicpainrecreationresearchrubbishscholarshipsimplicitytrackswineA pretentious blog by a poor emailer.http://aarleks.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)Blogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-7536387084453166948Thu, 08 May 2008 14:42:00 +00002008-05-09T00:58:35.786+10:00CaminomapsSantiagoSpainMy last days on the road to Santiago were spent wandering down eucalyptus lined country lanes that wind from hamlet to hamlet. The Galician climate, renowned for its indefatigable display of precipitatory variation, served me the kind of bleak weather in which one often feels a chthonic sense of intimacy with the world. Somehow I became separated from all the pilgrims I had been walking with, http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2008/05/map-making.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-2343742426169710886Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:57:00 +00002008-04-10T00:36:31.444+10:00CaminoendingsSpainIt's an odd feeling, the end. Of course, it's never really 'The End', as such, just the finish of something and the beginnings of countless others. However, that doesn't stop you feeling loss whenever you reach one of those points. We tend to want to avoid such things as ends and goodbyes, despite their inevitability, which makes walking towards an end of something of a unique and liberating http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2008/03/towards-end.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-1853312555995942712Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:46:00 +00002008-03-16T15:14:34.374+11:00CaminofoodGaliciaSpainThe final section of the Camino Frances leaves the long flat plains of the meseta for the forested hills and valleys of Galicia. It is a remarkable change in more ways than one, but it begins in the Montes de Leon in the junta of Castilla y Leon. After leaving Leon the Camino, as if to torment those sick of the meseta and those who abandoned it, follows the highway for 30km (literally - the pathhttp://aarleks.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-galicia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-8065439209766024302Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:34:00 +00002008-03-14T23:16:57.340+11:00CaminoelectionphotographySpainSorry for the delays on getting the last of my Camino posts up. Been pretty busy since returning home. Also, I'm playing with layouts, widgets, colours, etc. If you see a template you don't like then let me know.On a different note, I'm proud to point all my lovely readers in the direction of my PhotoShelter Collection widget to the right. PhotoShelter are an online stock photography agency with http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2008/02/messing-around-and-photoshelter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-4967149397158515721Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:41:00 +00002008-03-16T14:43:30.851+11:00Caminomeditationmesetamind gamesSpainwalking02/11/07Monasterio Santa ClaraCarrion de los Condes, SpainI’m now half way through the famed meseta. For me it is a country rich in beauty and inspiration, but for others it is a desolate, barren, boring stretch of earth. Some pilgrims even bypass it altogether, opting rather to catch a bus from Burgos to Leon to avoid the week’s worth of walking in between. I spoke to a few who were taking http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2008/01/far-from-boring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-9043407382076941117Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:39:00 +00002008-03-16T14:44:49.980+11:00CaminomusicsimplicitySpainwalking27/10/07Grañon, SpainIt's cold now. Starting to move into the 'properly cold' territory. The next few days walk will take me higher and closer to the open, cold meseta - the giant plateau of central northern Spain. While at only around 800m, the lack of nearby ocean and the vast openness of the land means that bitter cold is likely to be my companion for the next two weeks.The refugio I am in http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/11/like-friend-expectedsonic-tonic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-2665604360144355488Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:00:00 +00002008-03-16T14:46:53.701+11:00CaminofoodmulletsPyreneesSpainwineSo finally an update (so long between drinks!). Here I am in Spain, a land in which people fight bulls (not sure why yet), run from bulls (pretty obvious after the fighting really), and then eat the bulls (or at least some of them). It´s also a land in which everything happens in the bar (apart from the fighting of and running from the bulls). Coffee? Bar. Beer? Bar. Food? Bar. Breakfast (http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/11/oh-chorizo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-4152873399984288337Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:00:00 +00002008-03-16T14:46:18.357+11:00CaminoFrancehuntingPyreneesSaint Jean Pied de PortSpainThe French section ended for me not long after the section from Navarrenx - Ostabat. Two days later I was relaxing with Abi in a wonderful little Chambre d´Hote on the banks of the Nive, a couple of hundred metres upstream from St Jean Pied de Port. It was a needed break and having the time to simply relax and enjoy a village, with Abi at my side, was hevenly. St Jean itself is a very pretty http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/11/high-goodbye.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-8298955150849043946Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:50:00 +00002008-03-16T13:47:25.208+11:00CaminoCheminFrancepainwalkingThis is an account of some of my day from Navarrenx to Ostabat. I wasn´t really sure whether to put it up here as it almost sounds like... bragging or martyrdom... or something. However, because the story contains exactly the types of things I ask people to talk about when I interview them I reason that it is only fair that I share my story too.It was a hard day, probably one of the most http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/10/forty-kilometre-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-3610962107389745899Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:30:00 +00002008-03-16T13:48:27.530+11:00CaminoCheminday-in-the-lifeFrancewalkingJust because it seems like the type of thing one does when on such trips. Probably interesting in some fashion, I suppose. It´s a pretty typical day as far as the Chemin after Moissac goes. I also had some photos to go with this but they are now on my laptop and not the camera so will have to wait until I finish walking in November.So, here we go:0630 - Alarm goes. Wake up and start packing. Wakehttp://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/10/day-in-life-condom-to-auze.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-2811946996361101804Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:58:00 +00002008-03-16T13:49:26.507+11:00CaminoCausseCheminFrancehistorytracksIt is a strange undertaking this walk. One moves through country with great closeness and intimacy, yet often it is more felt than seen - the eyes drawn down to the ground searching for suitable footing. The villages through which one passes often seem deserted, and typically no one is seen: a church is looked in, the prettiness of the village admired, and one moves on. Yet unlike the natural http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/10/tracks-untraceable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-8208329119181010245Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:01:00 +00002008-03-16T13:53:16.162+11:00CaminoCheminFrancememoryrecreationtimeWordsworthThe reasons behind why people decide to walk the Chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle (or the Camino) are diverse. The rich trails of lives, loves, and crises make for moving, often heartbreaking evenings in these quiet corners of France. Eyes sparkle, sometimes hiding with a downward glance; or like the intake before the dive, deep breaths are taken before deep words spoken; and silence… the http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/10/spots-of-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-3471991079538752366Sun, 07 Oct 2007 15:54:00 +00002008-03-16T13:50:24.901+11:00CaminoCheminFranceUpdates coming when I get to St. Jean Pied de Port on the 11th. Stay tuned...Right now I'm in Arzacq (sp?); lots of bullrings, lots of maize, and buildings that somehow bring to mind Minoan, Aztec, and Chinese architecture. It's rained for two days now so I haven't seen much of the countryside. Still, when I write some new posts on Thursday and Friday I'll tell you all about it.Cross your fingershttp://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/10/updates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-7106105257822425965Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:11:00 +00002008-03-16T13:54:40.470+11:00CaminoCheminfoodFrancetime18/09/07Gollinhac, FranceOutside now the daylight has just begun its wane, the sun having set behind the hill this town covers. Gollinhac sits high above the surrounding valley floors, a verticle difference of some 1500ft, and the view from this perch stretches into the tens of kilometres. On the surrounding lower valley walls small villages and hamlets cling, each marked by a small stone church http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/09/passage-of-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-6863095721849259487Sat, 29 Sep 2007 09:07:00 +00002008-03-16T13:56:29.062+11:00CaminocheeseCheminfaux pasfoodFranceAlain stared absently at the table. It had been a long day even though we had not covered much distance - heat and hills were the culprits for our exhaustion. I tore off a peice of baguette and picked up a slice of saussicon. This caught Alain's vacant eyes, and he watched expressionless as I folded the bread around the saussage. However, his expression changed from blank interest to http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/09/avec-fromage-non.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-6577090314580779227Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:47:00 +00002008-03-16T13:58:37.813+11:00beautyCaminoCheminfoodFrancekneesSo here I am on the Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle. At the moment I am in Conques, a town famous as a resting point for pilgrims on the way to Santiago, for the relics of St Foy that the church holds, and for the fact that the whole town is so well preserved that, in its entirety it is a historic monument. Like many pilgrims before me I am having a rest day here, partly because it is so http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/09/not-valley-not-town-not-flower-filled.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-996337174339228081Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:46:00 +00002007-09-05T23:55:43.561+10:00I wrote this first paragraph sitting in the car from Heathrow:24/08/07My word I love this England!! The depressed grey skies, steadfast and determined; the trees decked in their summer finery, crowded with rich green leaves that each clamber for a touch of the slivers of sunlight that march across the countryside from time to time; the rows of town houses, a coverlet of moss on each roof and manyhttp://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/09/in-garden-of-england.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-9002464494490346472Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:13:00 +00002007-09-04T23:22:45.038+10:00New York, New York. The city so nice they named it twice!! Manhattan is the other name, and while the city may be worthy of many more, the two words - New York - carry such such a history of ideas and rich connotation that no others are necessary. It simply is one of the great cities of the world, and one in which I think I could live for a time (and for any NY Uni's I'll be accepting job and http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-new-york.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-4749805838015569348Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:32:00 +00002008-03-16T01:50:23.594+11:00CaminodepartingfieldworkresearchSo, six months later I am again seven days away from departing on another research adventure. In seven days we set off for London (with a three day stopover in New York), and on September the 9th I fly to Lyon. I should begin walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (chemin de Compostelle in French) from Le Puy on the 11th of September.Much has changed since I wrote the first entry of this http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/08/7-days-reprise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-2219242734334341648Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:32:00 +00002008-03-14T23:24:07.577+11:00bootswalkingOh my melancholy companions! We have seen much together. In many ways my adventures have been yours, for you were with me always. Without complaint you carried your share of the load and walked with me every step. The riverbeds and jungles of Thailand bothered you not. The ancient, muddy pathways and bitter cold of Athos you swept over without fuss. The rakish Rocky Mountains and the mighty http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/08/mes-chaussures-de-marche-sont-mortes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-7491312801255458008Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:31:00 +00002008-03-14T23:23:41.320+11:00beautyrubbishRubbish is beautiful. The things we leave in our bins reveal parts of our identity - our desires, our needs, our dislikes. The contents of our rubbish are a collage of our passing. Our rubbish is a record of our existence in the physical universe. Maybe that's why we have become so enamoured of the cycle of consumerism - desire, acquisition, use, disillusionment, renewed desire (for something http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/07/on-beauty-of-rubbish.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-7194985017455512738Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:48:00 +00002008-03-14T23:20:50.605+11:00photographyTime for some more pictures to fill in the time before leaving for Europe. A few people have complimented me on the last lot (being polite, no doubt). I think this set will convince you all that I have now surpassed the likes of Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams, amateurs that they were.Exit. Korepun, Hunter Valley, 14/07/07. (18-55mm@55mm, ISO100, f9.0, shutter 1/320s)Songlines. Palmer & Foleyhttp://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/07/more-random-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-9164085952761791291Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:54:00 +00002008-03-14T23:19:14.779+11:00PhDscholarshipI am very, very happy to announce that I have been awarded the 2007 Royston George Booker Scholarship to assist with my field research for my PhD. As a bit of background, the scholarship was established by R.G. Booker, a retired Army Officer, in 1991 and is awarded to postgraduate (FT) students to undertake research overseas for their degree. While there are no specific outcomes required by the http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/07/royston-george-booker.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-6631131080760165828Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:27:00 +00002007-07-20T21:29:36.898+10:00The weekend before last saw me present my research findings from India at the Australian Association for the Study of Religions annual conference in Melbourne. Academic conferences are always fun, and a wintry Melbourne was an ideal setting for hearing about such diverse topics as teenage witches, media bias against UFO groups, the ordination of Buddhist nuns in Thailand, and the use of secular http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/07/conferences-and-conversations.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157400563449820301.post-6730573646732596992Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:41:00 +00002007-06-27T09:55:57.203+10:00For the ReturningYou will return. This will frighten you.Don't be afraid of getting bored. Don't be afraid of tasting vanilla when for so long you've bathed in magical spices. Even vanilla has a smokey sweetness that can mystify the tongue.Don't be afraid of feeling alone amongst your friends, a stranger at home. You will know them by their qualities. You have always known them.It's true though, http://aarleks.blogspot.com/2007/06/for-returning.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alex Norman)2