Hauled myself over to campus, which has been a rare occurrence during this bout of study leave and, in some ways, today reminded me of why. But I guess it was not a complete waste of time. This shot of the preliminaries was perhaps the most interesting thing about the seminar I attended from 3pm, however. Things seem to be floating, and I like the blue.
There’s certainly an eclectic mix of exhibits in the Royal Ontario Museum: your basic dinosaur fossils, a mocked-up bat cave, Chinoiserie, suits of armour, totem poles, the list goes on. It is interesting but would have been even better if half of it hadn’t been closed for renovation: we noted they still charged the full $23 entry fee though. The board on the left, one of those walling off a big chunk of the second floor while telling us about all the marvellous things we might see if only we would come back in a few months’ time, is included in recognition of this issue.
Someone Else’s Art, I guess — but I like it, and the customer’s red hat sets the composition off nicely. I liked the pho, too.
I continue to munch air miles in 2024, as I have returned to Toronto for a couple of weeks’ work. On my first afternoon I was wondering what picture I should get to best represent the city where I’ve already spent 17 days of my life. The CN Tower, or other big, tall buildings? Another of the fine collection of murals? But in the end, let’s go with a pub, as there are some fine drinking holes to be found here — including the Imperial pub downtown, as pure a 1970s relic of interior design as I have ever seen. It still has working aquaria, for heaven’s sake. I saw the girl’s reflection in the mirrored pillar and tried it.
There have been various flights depicted on here down the years and, I am guessing, my total amount of sleep achieved across all of them probably comes to little more than an hour or two. Ten minute dozes might have been snatched here and there on flights once a year, maybe. Johannesburg to Istanbul last night was no different for me. My neighbour did OK but failed to share the knack.
Had cause to return to Saint FM this morning, not to appear on the radio (unlike last time), just for a chat. My eye was drawn to this board, partly because of its nice grain, also because of the essential randomness of what’s there and what’s not. What did microphones 2 and 5-8 do to offend? What of L1, and what is an L anyway (loudspeaker)? Could I have centred it all a bit better? Probably.
Anne’s Place in Jamestown is a St Helena institution and is the go-to spot for tourists and locals alike. Many of the former have, down the years, contributed the flags that now obscure its corrugated-iron ceiling. Some of these are fabulously obscure; the one with yellow and black checks near the bar proudly commemorates “Sutton United FC: Papa Johns’ Trophy Final 2022”. To not only have brought such an object all the way to St Helena, but to have, presumably, done so specifically to donate it: that’s commitment.
Clare thinks that this picture should be called ‘Death and Rebirth’. Perhaps it’s also an attempt to produce a combination of terms that has never and will not again appear on a single Google search. My last day at home for some time. See you later.
My job title is Reader, and I agree with a senior Professor of my acquaintance who, a while back in my ‘annual review’, said — “You’re a Reader, do some fucking reading”. Yes, I do write in my books: call it ‘annotation’ and you can get away with it. Yes, this book does start with a discussion of Star Trek. But it’s all work, I promise.
It was a tense one, but I think Jack (on the left and playing white) just nicked it in the end.
Being 42 