Reeling from the announcement that Wayne Rooney will stay at United (what, eh?) I am taking a wee lunch break from the Book to write this post. I'm off to uni to meet with a student in a bit but thought I'd get this in first. Not many posts this week, largely due to extreme busyness. This is quite unusual for us; our days here are generally quiet and peaceful but this week has seen me running about like a mad thing with dinners out, evening meetings and a school drama competition (I was guest judge - it was like the X-Factor!), not to mention the final week of teaching for this block. Phew! The flat needs a good clean and I am looking forward to spending a happy weekend with D.
Winter has arrived in Lincoln and I had to put our heating on this week. It has, however, been cold and crisp so all is well. The sun is currently shining through my living room as I write. Lovely! I really like October. I don't really mind that feeling of heading towards Winter. For me Winter is a good excuse to stay warm, wear tights and boots, watch films (I have Hugh Jackman's version of Oklahoma on my viewing list - ah, swoon!), read great books and eat hot food all the time. Heading towards the weekend, I am quite tired, so I'm looking forward to indulging all the aforementioned joys.
The big news of the week, of course, was the spending review. We listened to George give us his worst on Wednesday lunchtime in our office. It is hitting the university sector quite hard, unfortunately. That said, there are a number of ways that money can be saved in higher education and to pretend that it is a streamlined institution is just a nonsense. I'm also hoping that students understand the full implications of the fees issue before they go and protest vigorously for a cause they don't really understand. Higher fees should also bring help for poorer students.
I sit firmly on the metaphorical fence when it comes to politics. One of my third years said 'Claire, you never tell us what you really think about politics' and she's absolutely right. I would probably classify myself as an optimistic realist. I am all for personal ambition while being a pretty vocal advocate for supporting society's vulnerable folks. I hate wastage, arrogance, ignorance and petty-mindedness, and love honesty, freedom and generosity. I am interested in green issues while recognising (with a certain amount of exasperation) that some folks somewhere are making a serious amount of money with all this environmental scare-mongering. My favourite thing about living in Britain are the free museums and libraries, and I get thoroughly sick of jingoism, celebratory nationalism or bigotry. I don't like unions who have historically always let the working class down in the end, but am all for peaceful protest and marched through the streets of Edinburgh in 2005. So, put me in a political box if you dare! ;-) As an undergraduate I was a bit of a Commie (at least in a jokey way); I think I've become more complex as I've got older. And Adele, if you're reading this, it does not mean that David Cameron is on my Christmas card list! ;-)
I'm off to do a bit more writing before heading down to the LPAC. Later...
CSW
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