Heading back up north

Evenings folks,

So it's back up to Edinburgh tomorrow to see D. We've not actually seen each other for two weeks so it will be lovely to catch up.

Rather unbelievably, today was the last day of the first term. So that's the end of dramaturgy and foundations, and on to the new. Lots of assessment to come though...and presumably lots of slightly panicky tutorials to enjoy next week. I've really enjoyed this first term and am excited about the new challenges coming up.

My evenings are currently taken up with bits of work and lots of Winter Olympics. Enjoyed the snowboarding half pipe last night. Those guys are a-maz-ing! I can't imagine how you would have the nerve the throw yourself around like that. Currently it's the women's combined alpine skiing. I've even watched a bit of the curling (which is like bowling on ice)!

Inspired by the Olympians and their finely honed muscles, I have been back to the gym this week. When I lived in Edinburgh I used the hang out at the gym fairly regularly and enjoyed my Bodycombat classes. Down here in Lincoln, it's taken a little while to get my act together and I am seriously out of condition. With a bit of hard work, though, we'll get it back...slowly but surely. I am currently enjoying the subsidised rates of the uni facilities, though I am dreading bumping into one of my students after stumbling red-faced off the cross trainer. Dignity all gone.

Have returned to James Sire's Habits of the Mind this week. It is a book to dip into, meditate on and really grapple with. It is, therefore, not exactly relaxing reading, but it is tremendous and getting better. It deals with some very interesting issues, not least the importance of real critical thinking. Oftentimes faith is regarded as the binary opposite to reason, and in some ways it is. But Sire continuously suggests that people of faith must use their brains. It is a book about Christian intellectualism, but it does not reject intellectuals from other/no faith. Indeed it admires Nietzsche! Sometimes folks with faith seem to reject, even mock the wisdom of others. I'm glad this book doesn't do that and instead really instills a deep love of learning. That is why it is such an exciting and fascinating book. It avoids the usual pitfalls of this sort of book - arrogance, dullness, self-righteousness and anti-intellectualism. I'll fill you in on my final conclusions when I've finished it (give me a couple of months as I'm just about to start wading through the plays for post-modern British theatre -eek!)

Anyways, I'm off to enjoy the thrills and spills of the skeleton bob. D is rooting for Amy Williams in a typical contrary decision. She seems like a very nice lady so I'll give her a bit of a cheer as well. And tomorrow we can cheer on the same sofa - huzzah!

Enjoy the weekend.

CSW