Marmalade?

Coming to the end of a happy (if slightly sleepy) day at home preparing material for two new courses starting up next week. This has meant I have been able to listen to a broad range of musical delights and engaging debates during the course of the day. My highlight was definitely the Food Programme on Radio 4 this afternoon which proceeded to spend a whole half hour talking about marmalade. Surely the only radio channel in the universe to devote airspace to the pros and cons of using Seville oranges. Man, I love the Beeb!

So, I'm bashing on with Habits of the Mind. It was a little slow to begin with but I am now really, really enjoying it. There are a whole range of challenging suggestions and it has really got me thinking about the process of reading, about the benefits of developing a critical way of thinking and the need to understand the 'wisdom of the Egyptians'. Last night a particular quote stood out for me:

Therefore, in reading profane authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us, that the human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator.

Fancy a guess as to the author of this insightful wee comment? John Calvin! And they say he was a narrow minded, misogynistic religious nut! Here he is positively encouraging folks to explore all literature as great gifts. We like a bit of Calvin in our house!

And so the Oscars have been and gone. Best picture to The Hurt Locker which D and I saw at the cinema. It was a pretty terrifying film and an extremely tense viewing experience. Whether films can ever really help us to understand the nature of war, I don't know (although I can still remember my horrified teenage reaction to Saving Private Ryan) but it was certainly shocking and thought-provoking. A worthy winner? I guess so, but I really liked Avatar (even if the 3D technology did leave me feeling sick for three days!). Ah well, what do I know anyways? I am the girl who watches most films holding on to D's arm saying 'I'm scared, I don't like it'.

More days at home this week with lots of plays to read. Also reading a very interesting critique of British post-War theatre entitled State of the Nation by Michael Billington. There is some obvious bias but largely I like it very much and it's helping me to get an overview before I go off and teach it next week.

CSW