Saturday 25th June 2022, 4.20pm (day 3,957)
I did very little else other than enjoy some sunshine on this Saturday afternoon; and I was not the only one.
Enjoying the sunshine
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Category Archives: Friend
Prof Brown tells us how it is (or was)
Thursday 23rd June 2022, 12.35pm (day 3,955)
During this week at the London Rare Books School I have felt privileged to be taught by Professor Michelle Brown, second from the left here. What an awesome fund of knowledge she has, seemingly knowing absolutely everything that happened to everyone before about 1500 AD. Like being taught physics by Richard Fenynman, and the sort of experience that you just ain’t gonna get through Zoom, sorry.
Friday afternoon reflections
Friday 17th June 2022, 4.50pm (day 3,949)
Friday, at the end of a busy week, and the sun was out. I make no apologies for heading for the pub. Others thought the same, as depicted in my camera, and in Mark’s sunglasses.
Alex in the Beyer Theatre
Thursday 16th June 2022, 9.15am (day 3,948)
The Beyer Building‘s exterior has featured before. It was constructed in 1887, meaning this lecture theatre basically reflects assumptions about pedagogy from 135 years ago. And it looks pretty much the same as lecture theatres still do, only with many fewer plug sockets. Alex awaits my talk at 9:30; there were a few other people in the room by the time I started (honestly).
Lynn outside the Railway
Monday 30th May 2022, 5.05pm (day 3,931)
The Railway Inn is undeniably close to a main road. But we don’t let it spoil our enjoyment of the outdoor seating; one of Hebden Bridge’s best suntraps. Like the rest of us, Lynn was enjoying it this afternoon.
Geoff takes Q & A
Tuesday 12th April 2022, 2.15pm (day 3,883)
Golly, an academic conference. Face-to-face, with real people — the first one for me since Bucharest in January 2020. And plenty of evidence as to what we’ve been missing in the travesties that are the ‘virtual conference’ (of which I have only managed to do one, and that briefly, basically because I liked the people that organised it and didn’t want to let them down). Discussion, spontaneity, conversations in the lunch queue, empathy. To the neo-liberal interests, tech giants and health fascists who say we can all do it online now — I say, get stuffed.
Doug on the bus
Sunday 13th March 2022, 5.05pm (day 3,853)
June 2022 will mark 25 years since I graduated from the University of Leeds, at least for the first time, with my BA (Development Studies with Politics, in case you were wondering). There are now very few people from that time still present in my life on any kind of regular basis, and even they haven’t been seen enough lately, for many reasons, not just the one that is obvious (though it does matter). Doug is one of the few, unseen at all since August 2020 and, on the blog, March 2019 (with this pic, that shows he hasn’t changed much). Great to see him today, though. As we say each time it happens, we should do this kind of thing more often — but will we? That’s up to us, isn’t it.
Jim, being himself
Thursday 3rd March 2022, 5.20pm (day 3,843)
I think this sums up this particular acquaintance. If the guy that you think is Jim doesn’t have a glass of red wine in front of him, then it’s not him.
Steve, in virtual life
Monday 21st February 2022, 11.25am (day 3,833)
Before 2020 I never minded doing online teaching, because it offered variety, and was not the only game in town. But there are limits, and I probably reached mine about this time last year. Fortunately, a sense of Real Normal has largely returned. This particular class was always designed to be an online session — when it works, use it, when not, get face-to-face. Steve, one of my PhD students, peeks his face out from his virtual cell.
Mark and Yathi
Thursday 17th February 2022, 5.30pm (day 3,829)
Next week will mark ten and a half years that I have been doing this. In that time people have come and gone: at least two friends who have appeared on here at some point have died in the last 12 months. But new faces arrive in turn. I haven’t known these two as long as some others but now it’s Mark and Yathi’s turn to debut on here.
Being 42 