You know sometimes times you start singing a song to yourself, and it takes a while to work out how it got in your head - particularly if it isn't a song you've been listing to deliberately? Usually these are TV or film soundtracks, or music on an advert that have surreptitiously found their way into your head. It might take a while, but eventually you figure it out.
This week I've been wandering along, or sitting down at my desk, or having a shower and these songs have popped into my head:
'The Multi-coloured music bus'
('All aboard, the multi-coloured music bus. Its the most fantasic bus you've ever seen. The driver is a man called Sam, his brother George the ticket man...')
'Let there be peace on earth'
('Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be...') [I can give you all of the words for this, but I won't]
'Sweetheart tree'
('Won't you come with me, to the sweetheart tree; come and carve your name next to mine...')
The first two were from Junior school - we sung them in the choir. The last one was the music that my ballet class danced to in a show. We had pink 'princess' dresses. I think I was about 7.
I haven't heard these on TV recently. I haven't heard them at all recently. But for some reason, my brain is playing bits of the soundtrack to my childhood. How odd. Any suggestions why?
Friday, 25 September 2009
Friday, 11 September 2009
Time Out
The Physio and I are going on holiday together next week - a whole week of holiday rather than a long weekend snatched away from work-time. We're going to spend some time in Festival City and in the Beautiful Scottish City that I Miss. I'm quite excited to be going there with the Physio; he's already shown me a lot of his favourite places, and I'm looking forward to sharing this place that I love with him. I was very happy living there, and there are lots of places I want to show him - calm places, beautiful places, slightly quirky places. I am a little nervous though: things will have changed there since I last visited. I hope it isn't too different. I really hope he likes it too.
I'm also looking forward to taking a week off work. The last two weeks at my admin job have been quite difficult. The admin manager has changed the programmes for which some of us are responsible so that now, in the last 3 weeks of my position there, I'm learning new processes and getting to grips with new courses. One is only new to me, the other is new to the Faculty. For the second, no one in the office knows how it works. The transfer from the other Faculty was poorly organised, and there has been no sensible hand over from office to office - at least not to those actually doing the administration. I discovered after a few days of frantically trying to track down information that my manager (and his manager) knew where some of that information was, they had just failed to pass that information on to me.
Added to this, the rearrangement of responsibilities has led to some ill-feeling in the office amongst my fellow administrators (not aimed at me, because I am temporary). This is largely due to very poor management. I would suggest that inventing a meeting to go to, and saying "sort this out amongst yourselves" is not really the best management plan when you already know the issue is contentious. No one wants to make difficult or unpopular decisions, but doing that - "sorting it out" - is why the manager is paid significantly more than we are. This ill-feeling is taking over the office. The team-work and co-operation of getting through the Exam Boards seems to be falling away. It is not a happy office any more.
I find dealing with stressful atmospheres - especially over things which need not be stressful - very difficult. I like my world to be a calmer place. At lunchtime yesterday I had planned to do some research related reading, but after a very busy morning combined with the tension in the office I couldn't focus through the brain-fog. Instead I sat staring into space, not really thinking about anything. I used to have that kind of calm time out at yoga classes (I must find some more!), where I could just focus on stretching and breathing to relax. It was quite odd to find that I could create that 'time out' space without the yoga class - and without actually trying. And I went back to the office feeling much calmer and managed to get a lot done in the afternoon. Still, I am looking forward to not being there next week. Hopefully, by the time I get back the busy-ness of the start of term will force harmony upon my colleagues.
Term is soon starting at the University in the City where the Castle is also a Prison, too, and I have been given a lot of teaching (for which I am very grateful - I shouldn't have to do admin on top of teaching to pay my bills this year). It is going to be another busy year, and before it starts taking time out to spend with the Physio in a place that I love seems like an ideal way to charge my batteries.
I'm also looking forward to taking a week off work. The last two weeks at my admin job have been quite difficult. The admin manager has changed the programmes for which some of us are responsible so that now, in the last 3 weeks of my position there, I'm learning new processes and getting to grips with new courses. One is only new to me, the other is new to the Faculty. For the second, no one in the office knows how it works. The transfer from the other Faculty was poorly organised, and there has been no sensible hand over from office to office - at least not to those actually doing the administration. I discovered after a few days of frantically trying to track down information that my manager (and his manager) knew where some of that information was, they had just failed to pass that information on to me.
Added to this, the rearrangement of responsibilities has led to some ill-feeling in the office amongst my fellow administrators (not aimed at me, because I am temporary). This is largely due to very poor management. I would suggest that inventing a meeting to go to, and saying "sort this out amongst yourselves" is not really the best management plan when you already know the issue is contentious. No one wants to make difficult or unpopular decisions, but doing that - "sorting it out" - is why the manager is paid significantly more than we are. This ill-feeling is taking over the office. The team-work and co-operation of getting through the Exam Boards seems to be falling away. It is not a happy office any more.
I find dealing with stressful atmospheres - especially over things which need not be stressful - very difficult. I like my world to be a calmer place. At lunchtime yesterday I had planned to do some research related reading, but after a very busy morning combined with the tension in the office I couldn't focus through the brain-fog. Instead I sat staring into space, not really thinking about anything. I used to have that kind of calm time out at yoga classes (I must find some more!), where I could just focus on stretching and breathing to relax. It was quite odd to find that I could create that 'time out' space without the yoga class - and without actually trying. And I went back to the office feeling much calmer and managed to get a lot done in the afternoon. Still, I am looking forward to not being there next week. Hopefully, by the time I get back the busy-ness of the start of term will force harmony upon my colleagues.
Term is soon starting at the University in the City where the Castle is also a Prison, too, and I have been given a lot of teaching (for which I am very grateful - I shouldn't have to do admin on top of teaching to pay my bills this year). It is going to be another busy year, and before it starts taking time out to spend with the Physio in a place that I love seems like an ideal way to charge my batteries.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Sillyness.
I just read this.
It strikes me as odd that those in authority have suspended the Doctors concerned. Why? They say that it did not involve patients, and patient care was never compromised during this sillyness. If this is true, then sillyness is all it was - no harm done to anyone. But now, a presumably busy A&E is even shorter on staff because these doctors and nurses have been suspended.
That's not sillyness. That's madness.
It strikes me as odd that those in authority have suspended the Doctors concerned. Why? They say that it did not involve patients, and patient care was never compromised during this sillyness. If this is true, then sillyness is all it was - no harm done to anyone. But now, a presumably busy A&E is even shorter on staff because these doctors and nurses have been suspended.
That's not sillyness. That's madness.
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Writing
I like writing.
I'm not talking about the process of academic writing, although I do like the sense of achievement when a chapter, paper, article or lecture is finished (this does not happen often enough - especially the personal research related ideas there!). I enjoyed writing my PhD thesis, although the final deadline and the re-writing processes immediately before that were not too much fun. What I'm talking about here is actually writing. By hand. With a pen.
On my way to my admin job the other day - I know this sounds strange - I felt an almost overwhelming need to write something. Anything. And I realised how much time I have spent at a computer, or shuffling papers, scribbling quick, untidy, notes or using mini post-its to mark pages relevant to lectures. It's been AGES since I have sat down and written by hand anything longer than a sentence or two, a 'happy birthday, love from me' in a card or a brief phone message scribble. And at work I had to go straight back into scribbling notes, emailing, filing etc.
Today I addressed an envelope in my very best joined up handwriting and I felt strangely pleased. I like how my careful handwriting looks (not wanting to boast too much, it is quite pretty) and it is much more satisfying than typing a letter or an envelope.
Marking undergraduate exam scripts earlier in the summer, I realised how few of them hand-write anything (either that, or the teaching of handwriting in schools has declined since I was taught 'joined up writing' and then allowed to use a fountain pen). I know no one does their best writing under the time-pressured conditions of exams, but still, some were barely legible.
I think the decline of handwriting is very sad. Not that I would do away with the wonders of word processing packages for my academic writing - cut, copy, paste makes drafting so much easier (even if sometimes starting to draft is actually easier for me with a pen and paper). But I am going to start doing more handwriting - letters to friends for example. I think - even in the increasingly computerised world where communication is almost instant through emails and social networking sites - people like to get mail. I know I do. And perhaps that is precisely because it is so rare for people to take time to actually write anything these high-tech, high-speed days.
I'm not talking about the process of academic writing, although I do like the sense of achievement when a chapter, paper, article or lecture is finished (this does not happen often enough - especially the personal research related ideas there!). I enjoyed writing my PhD thesis, although the final deadline and the re-writing processes immediately before that were not too much fun. What I'm talking about here is actually writing. By hand. With a pen.
On my way to my admin job the other day - I know this sounds strange - I felt an almost overwhelming need to write something. Anything. And I realised how much time I have spent at a computer, or shuffling papers, scribbling quick, untidy, notes or using mini post-its to mark pages relevant to lectures. It's been AGES since I have sat down and written by hand anything longer than a sentence or two, a 'happy birthday, love from me' in a card or a brief phone message scribble. And at work I had to go straight back into scribbling notes, emailing, filing etc.
Today I addressed an envelope in my very best joined up handwriting and I felt strangely pleased. I like how my careful handwriting looks (not wanting to boast too much, it is quite pretty) and it is much more satisfying than typing a letter or an envelope.
Marking undergraduate exam scripts earlier in the summer, I realised how few of them hand-write anything (either that, or the teaching of handwriting in schools has declined since I was taught 'joined up writing' and then allowed to use a fountain pen). I know no one does their best writing under the time-pressured conditions of exams, but still, some were barely legible.
I think the decline of handwriting is very sad. Not that I would do away with the wonders of word processing packages for my academic writing - cut, copy, paste makes drafting so much easier (even if sometimes starting to draft is actually easier for me with a pen and paper). But I am going to start doing more handwriting - letters to friends for example. I think - even in the increasingly computerised world where communication is almost instant through emails and social networking sites - people like to get mail. I know I do. And perhaps that is precisely because it is so rare for people to take time to actually write anything these high-tech, high-speed days.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
I find this article extremely worrying.
I may save it for the next time any of my students tell me feminism is an old-fashioned out-dated concept.
I may save it for the next time any of my students tell me feminism is an old-fashioned out-dated concept.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
I don't *think* that was what I said...
After some serious consideration, weighing up how much work it will be and balancing that against making my CV shiny, and generally looking like I know what I'm talking about in the world of early modern literature, I agreed to take over writing the summary of the year's work in renaissance literature studies. Someone I know by association with Supervisor emailed me out of the blue saying he now has post doc funding and his project means he is too busy to do it now, but if I was interested he would suggest me as his successor. It is one of very few times that 'who you know' has actually worked for me. (I say this with some hesitation, knowing how much work I'll have to do in quite a short time, but it will be very shiny on my CV).
The guy who is handing over to me sent me an email saying he'd already sent for some of the books to review, and he would post them on to me, but he would like to keep two of them for his own research. So he suggested two options and asked which I would prefer:
a) He would keep the books, read them, write a short review paragraph for each of them and send that to me to be silently included in my own review
or
b) He will send the books to me, I can read and do my own review and then send those particular ones back.
As much as I was tempted to option a) - less work for me - I decided that I was uncomfortable passing his work off as mine both because I fundamentally object to plagiarism, and because if the comments are going to have my name to them, then I want to have read what 'I' am commenting on. (And you know that the one time anyone asks me about anything I've written, it will be about one of these books that I actually haven't read). So I sent him an email supporting option b), and promising to read those ones first and get them back to him ASAP. I told him I'd be on holiday for a couple of weeks, and asked him not to send anything until after I got back to make sure they don't get lost in being held at the post office. He said that was fine.
Today I got an email telling me he had put the books in the post, and could I let him know when they arrive. [Fine; yes; no problem]. But it also said 'I have kept a few as I mentioned earlier - shall I send you the reviews to add into your piece?'
Erm... I don't think that was what I said. And really, if you'd already decided what you were going to do, why did you even ask?
The guy who is handing over to me sent me an email saying he'd already sent for some of the books to review, and he would post them on to me, but he would like to keep two of them for his own research. So he suggested two options and asked which I would prefer:
a) He would keep the books, read them, write a short review paragraph for each of them and send that to me to be silently included in my own review
or
b) He will send the books to me, I can read and do my own review and then send those particular ones back.
As much as I was tempted to option a) - less work for me - I decided that I was uncomfortable passing his work off as mine both because I fundamentally object to plagiarism, and because if the comments are going to have my name to them, then I want to have read what 'I' am commenting on. (And you know that the one time anyone asks me about anything I've written, it will be about one of these books that I actually haven't read). So I sent him an email supporting option b), and promising to read those ones first and get them back to him ASAP. I told him I'd be on holiday for a couple of weeks, and asked him not to send anything until after I got back to make sure they don't get lost in being held at the post office. He said that was fine.
Today I got an email telling me he had put the books in the post, and could I let him know when they arrive. [Fine; yes; no problem]. But it also said 'I have kept a few as I mentioned earlier - shall I send you the reviews to add into your piece?'
Erm... I don't think that was what I said. And really, if you'd already decided what you were going to do, why did you even ask?
Monday, 24 August 2009
mini updates
Once again it's been a long time since I wrote a post. It's not even that I haven't had things to post about:
- I've been on a holiday with my family
- The physio and I are now attempting a long distance relationship
- My admin job has had certain ... quirks
- I am attempting to turn a conference paper into an article
- Until today I was looking unemployment in September squarely in the face
- I am still negotiating the evil world of the academic job market
I really must get back into the blogging habit!
- I've been on a holiday with my family
- The physio and I are now attempting a long distance relationship
- My admin job has had certain ... quirks
- I am attempting to turn a conference paper into an article
- Until today I was looking unemployment in September squarely in the face
- I am still negotiating the evil world of the academic job market
I really must get back into the blogging habit!
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