Spring is in the air

After a few days of being miserable and not myself thanks to the evil tummy bug, I felt well enough today for HD and I to take a restorative walk round Queen’s Park. The sky was blue, it wasn’t particularly cold, and it was really good to get out for some fresh air, and I was pleased at how I managed (yesterday I went to the post office and back – probably less than 2 minutes walk from my flat – and had to lie down afterwards as it wiped me out!). I was also pleased to see *lots* of signs of spring – no leaves on the trees yet, but lots of crocuses, and the daffs will probably be in flower in the next week or so. At the pond we found plenty of frogspawn, and *millions* of frogs (I’ve put up a few other photos on my Glasgow photo blog, starting tomorrow for 3 days before the blog goes back into hibernation). I also took the chance to try out my new zoom lens and was really pleased with the result. Sorry about lowering the tone with this X-rated froggy action (“frogging”?)!

On the lower, bigger pond I was hoping to get some good photos of the two swans, but they were studiously ignoring both me and each other, and were also surrounded by the local thuggish seagulls. I did manage to capture a duck couple though – hopefully later in the year we’ll see lots of ducklings.

This final picture might seem a bit bizarre, but there’s a bit of a story behind it. Now I’m one of those people who usually really struggles to see shapes and forms in waves and mountain tops and things (you know, the ones which are supposed to look like a reclining woman or a lion poised to go in for the kill or whatever), but on our last walk through the park HD and I stumbled across this fallen tree and we both had the same thought at the same time.

It’s a hairy coo.

Seriously! Here’s a real-life one (handily pointing in the same direction) to compare.

Feeling sorry for myself

Today I was supposed to have a day off in order to work on my thesis. Unfortunately at about 2.20am I had to get up and puke, and I was puking all morning. I think there is a bug going round as I think a few people around have had something similar. This afternoon and evening I have stopped barfing, but do have quite spectacular diarrhoea. I know this is all Too Much Information, but you know when you feel sorry for yourself and you just have to tell everyone.

I feel crap

Oh dear

Today I was trying on some dresses (as I am going to a wedding soon) and getting a bit fed up about my ample size. I have signed up to a local gym and have the induction on Monday, so hopefully will start losing some inches soon.

I did have to laugh in one shop though. I picked up a dress which looked lovely on the hanger. But as soon as I put it on and looked in the mirror, my first thought was “I look like the only gay in the village“. Not quite the look I was hoping for.

Of good news and cuteness

So I met with my line manager, and she has said that I can move to 4 days a week from May. Thank you for your supportive messages, I appreciated them all very much.

A friend posted this on facebook and I just had to share, I challenge you to watch it and not smile:

Hoping hoping

Tomorrow I am meeting with my manager to discuss my application to reduce my working hours (so that I can have a day a week to write my thesis, before I entirely forget what it’s all about). So any prayers, candles, good thoughts and vibes, etc much appreciated, thanks all.

[Tues 9th pm. Thanks everyone. Here's an update: meeting was cancelled, am hoping to have it tomorrow instead. Sigh]

From the ridiculous to the ridiculous

Having scoffed at the Tory Party considering Carol Vorderman “one of the greatest minds in Britain”, I am of course setting myself up for criticism – who do I think I am, am I really any better, etc etc. So just to dispel any doubt as to my qualifications for pontificating on other people’s academic credentials, I thought I would review the book I read last night.

“Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman” is Dav Pilkey’s fifth epic novel in the Captain Underpants series, and continues the previous books’ commitment to high drama and epic battles between good and evil. AND it has an Incredibly Graphic Violence Chapter (in Flip-O-Rama). I can do no better than the blurb on the back to show what an epic novel this indeed is:

George and Harold are having a normal kind of week. Yesterday they found out they were going to flunk fourth grade. Today they’ve created an evil, super-powerful monster. She’s mean. She’s got a fake-fur Evil Baddie costume (and she’s having a really bad hair day). She’s armed with .. yes, it’s Spray Starch! The only weapon that can stop Captain Underpants in his fight for Truth, Justice and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony!

Take that, Carol!

More Tory madness

This story in today’s Times is yet one more reason (I’ve lost count, I think I might be nearly at 5 figures now) why despite every other party’s considerable inadequacy you won’t see me voting Tory this year (or, er, ever). Actually I’m waiting for Tractor Girl’s much more sensible and incisive comment on the article, given that it is about her field rather than mine (ie education). For now, all I have to say is:

Carol Vorderman – one of the greatest minds in Britain???????!!!!!! Good grief, whatever next, they’ll be asking Gillian McKeith to write university curricula for medicine.

These guys are seriously scary, God help us all if they get in.

Getting there

I had an email today from the editors of the volume for which I wrote a chapter ages ago following the conference I went to and spoke at in Helsinki ages and ages ago. It’s good news, they have found a publisher so contracts will be signed soon. I might have to do a final bit of tweaking here and there, but basically it looks like I will soon break my publishing duck. Which in the scheme of things isn’t a massive thing, but it gives me hope that there is a way out of my day job And also reassures me that I *can* write when I put my mind to it (and when I’m not so knackered from the day job that vegging in front of the internet is all I can manage). Hooray!

Ironbridge

At the weekend I headed down south for a change and stayed at HD’s digs for the weekend. On Saturday we went to visit the town of Ironbridge, which unsurprisingly is famous for having an iron bridge. More than that (of course!) it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and features 10 museums showing various aspects of the area’s history in iron-smelting, mining and manufacture. It is also very pretty, even when the weather is dingy and cold. We visited 4 or 5 of the museums, and I think the Jackfield Tile Museum was my favourite. The area was known for mining and producing iron from the mid 16th century, but during the Industrial Revolution the smelting of iron using coke (cleaned up coal) rather than charcoal meant that it could be mined cheaply and plentifully. HD reckons Ironbridge could therefore be reckoned as the birthplace of global warming.

Anyway – pictures:

This was an amazing 12 metre long scale model of the entire valley.









This last one is a bit blink-and-you’d-miss-it as I didn’t have my super-duper zoom lens on me, but anyway the eagle-eyed among you might notice a blob of yellow. That, dear readers, is the first crocus I’ve seen this year (there were snowdrops too) which means that spring is on the way! (no sign of any up here yet, but I’ll take them where I find them).

Nonsensical

So I have to write a summary of a conference paper to include in an application for financial support to enable me to attend the conference to present said paper. The conference is not till the end of July. We all know that this means the paper will not be written till mid-July at the earliest. The summary has to be written tonight.

Logically (I think HD’s influence is starting to show) a summary of a non-existent paper would be pretty short. Somehow I don’t think that is quite what the funders are looking for, however. Sigh.

In other news, my supervisor has said some very nice things about the chapter I submitted (at the last minute, unsurprisingly) just before we went on holiday, and which had stressed me out because I’d felt my revisions were so superficial. Though apparently there are still lots of very long sentences in it. As if I’d do a thing like that.