Lessons in Dog Walking 2.

"WAIT!" bellowed a woman somewhere round the corner from where I was walking with the Little Dog.

"Well, you hurry up down on your side to match then!" yelled back a small boy, who suddenly appeared at the edge of the curb.

After a period of time, not very long, but obviously too long for an energetic young boy to wait, the woman of the previous bellow appeared level with him, but on the other side of the main road. She said, "OK, NOW you can cross" and as he ran across the side road I was walking down, she walked the same distance, much more slowly on the pavement on the opposite side of the main road, simultaneously shouting, "Don't run... Don't go any further... Stop!"

(Boy climbs on low wall at the park)

"Don't climb on the wall!"

"Yeah, DON'T! Get Down! Stop It!" shrieks a smaller child I hadn't noticed until now, standing with the woman.

It strikes me that there is an awful lot of unnecessary yelling going on here.

"Why not?" shouts the boy.

I try to pretend I'm not seeing / hearing any of this. The Little Dog is distracted by it, but with a few quiet words and a click of my fingers by her ear to get her attention, we safely and calmly cross the road with the Little Dog walking at heel, sometimes looking over her shoulder to see what all the commotion is about.

"Because I said you can't", shouts the woman, beginning to cross the main road so that she will be on the same side as the boy, "and quite frankly, I've had more than enough of you not doing what you are told! See, that poor little dog is better behaved than you are!"

Well, yes. But I'm not sure I'd call her a poor little dog. She is not the one being yelled at. And I suppose the Little Dog is at this point, slightly better behaved. BUT, I give her clear and calm instructions when to do / when not to do things, and she's not usually far enough away from me in the street that I have to yell these instructions. And I have her on her lead on main roads, so that even if she does want to run across a dangerous road, she can't.

Now, I'm not suggesting that keeping children on leads is a good idea. Actually it isn't. But giving them calm and sensible instructions before they do something is a good idea. And keeping them near you (holding their hand, perhaps?) on a main road seems like a good plan to me.

I wouldn't usually use the good behaviour of my Little Dog as a means to discuss good parenting. It really isn't a very sensible comparison in many ways. But this didn't start as my comparison; the yelling mother made it. And if she thinks it a valid comparison by which to teach her child something, then maybe it's sufficiently valid to teach her something too.

Wise Words

These wise words are borrowed from a conversation I had with a friend today. I thought they were important enough to be published somewhere, and hope she doesn't mind:

"Instinct: not always eloquent, but usually right"

So, even if you're not sure exactly why your instinct is telling you something, it shouldn't be ignored.

Reading suggestions?

I spend a fair amount of time on buses. And bus travelling time is the time I now use to read non research related literature.

My bus books include some my favourite series of novels set in the Napoleonic Wars and some books that I bought a long time ago to read 'just for fun' and didn't get around to. But I want to start interspering these 'for fun' reads with 'proper' literary reads. Books that any self-respecting literature academic ought to have read. I've just finished reading Orwell's 1984 as part of this drive to be a better rounded lit. person. The novel actually made me feel physically ill in parts, but, it is something that most people would think I would or should have read by now.

So now I'm looking for suggestions. Novels or collections of short stories that Autumn Song with a PhD in Literature who is hoping for a career in academia ought to have read / ought to read. Failing that, any book that you think is absolutely worth the read, whether it's an academic must or not. Any period, any author. Please leave suggestions in the comments...

Going forwards. And backwards.

I am putting in an application for some research funding. The forms are long and complicated and there is a fair amount of work to do in a pretty short time. I am applying in conjunction with Supervisor, who will be the named person in charge at the Institution where I do the research, and will therefore be back in the role of Supervisor. He seems to be pleased about this arrangement, and if I have to move again (and I will to get the funding) then moving to somewhere where I already know someone seems like a good idea. And we do work well together. He's a good guy. Overall, this seems like a good arrangement.

But as well as being a good way to move forward, this reseacrh funding proposal seems to have sent me backwards. To a time when schemes to avoid Supervisor in order not to have to explain why I haven't done something were planned carefully in advance. To a time when I occasionally dreaded opening emails or answering phones just in case it was Supervisor, and I hadn't finished / read /written something.

This can't be right. Surely there is a way to get over this. I am officially Dr Song now, with certificate from graduation ceremony to prove it. Fear of Supervisor must be a thing of the past. Surely.

I have to go backwards to go forwards. Or is it go forwards to go back...

Time keeping

This morning I went to the dentist. My appointment was at 10am. I never expect these things to go exactly on time so I wasn't surprised, or even particularly cross, when 10am came and went, and I was still waiting.

At 10.20, the dental nurse came into the waiting room: "Autumn Song?" I stood up. "We're running about 20 minutes late. Are you happy to wait?" I was a little confused. It's a bit late to ask if I'm happy to wait the 20 minutes I've already waited.

"You mean it will be another 20 minutes?", I asked.

"Yes. We're running 20 minutes late".

"But I've already waited 20 minutes. So you're running 40 minutes late?"

"What time was your appointment?"

"10am"

"What time is it now?"

"20 past 10".

"Well, we'll be another 20 minutes".

"So, you're running 40 minutes late." I confirm.

She asks again if I'm OK to wait, and I say yes. She turns to the lady whose appointment is after mine.

"Are you also OK to wait?" she asks, "We're running half an hour late."