Back to serious work

So, having spent the past month living between Lincoln and Stockport (thanks Mum and Dad for being great hosts!) we are finally back at home and I have a month to do five different projects. I am managing my time very carefully right now using a cool new app called 30/30 which I would recommend to anyone trying to manage their hours effectively. I have got loads done already today and have squeezed in a tough workout (I have refound the wonderful Zuzana on youtube - her workouts are short but fierce!). Lunch is beckoning and I have to freeze a lot of meat during my lunchbreak. On Saturday D went all 'American grill' on me and smoked a piece of pork for 12 hours straight on his new BBQ. I am not a huge meat eater but it is absolutely amazing! And there are so many leftovers!

I am always relieved when a big sporting event finishes, especially the Olympics. It's been fun but I'm glad not to have to keep checking what's going on in the handball! In fact last night I deleted my London 2012 app from my phone. TV takes up considerably less of my time when there isn't 24 hr sport on. We are not very 'Team GB' in our house and my favourite moment of the games was Michael Phelps in the pool. He is just unbelievable and seems to be a genuinely nice chap. I guess the Brownlees' successes in the Triathlon were a close second. Alistair ran his 10K only 20 secs slower that Mo's. That is incredible!

Last night, in an attempt to avoid the horrors of the closing ceremony (opening ceremony was good, closing ceremony looked bad from the rumours so I steered clear - my Twitter feed this morning confirmed that this was a good plan), I sat back at read Neil Peart's (Rush drummer's) amazingly sad book Ghost Rider. It is great and extremely thought-provoking. I then cleaned the BBQ, tidied the bedroom and kept one eye of the golf (hoorah Rory!) which D enjoyed very much. Rock n' roll evening!

The month of August is completely clear. I have NOTHING in my diary at all. This is how I planned it (I've not just run out of friends, although...) as I really want to crack on with research work. I absolutely love my job and am just getting a taste of what my sabbatical is going to be like - long days with no distractions, an open Macbook, good music, tea and some real, manageable goals. It is a little duller outside today than it has been but the birds are happily jumping about so all is well.

Anyways, lunch beckons if I'm to keep on track for today. Lots of new articles and conference papers to bore you with are planned for this afternoon. I have finally started the article I have the funding for (probably a good idea to start that one!) and am loving the material. It is fascinating!

Hope everyone is having a good Olympic-free day.
CSW

On the range and the court

So, since my last post the riots have calmed down and we are in the 'coming up with simplistic answers' phase which I am trying to ignore. Instead of pondering the ins and outs of it all, D and I have been indulging a few sporting passions. We enjoyed a bit of tennis this week. Lincoln has some free (yes, really free) courts near the common so D and I dusted off our rackets and did our best Federer impressions. After a couple of games of utter rubbish, we started to improve a bit. Two summers ago we played loads of tennis so it was good to get back out there. Yesterday we took to the driving range and hit a few balls. I have to say I was ten times better than I thought I'd be. It's been a good long time since I played so I was quite pleased. My trouble is that whatever the club, the ball always goes about 100yards. It doesn't matter if it's a driver or a 9iron. And today we visited my horse friends at Bransby. This horse home is one of my favourite places to go. D and I remembered what a great place Lincoln is to live. Yes, it is a bit dull but you can be in the country so quickly and just take a peaceful walk with some fresh air. Lovely.

Anyways, we are beginning to plan our trip to the States/Canada and are looking forward to seeing our friends and enjoying two weeks of food and fun. Before then I have two weeks of new projects (all seem to be going well) and organising. I am in the middle of a big house reshuffle at the moment that I might have mentioned briefly before. This week I took four big bags of clothes to Barnados and threw out some old stuff that really wasn't worth keeping. So now my wardrobe feels a whole heap better. I've got to do the kitchen and the office this week. I have dreams of a lovely, peaceful minimalist household but I don't actually have the heart for it. I am a sentimental hoarder by nature! But I have good intentions!

Anyways, tea beckons before a snooze. D is shouting at Match of the Day which must mean that the Premier League has started again. I have no interest in football any more. I used to love it but money and moany players have taken over the game and I just don't care very much anymore. Every time I see my beloved Eric Cantona on the telly promoting hair products or sporting goods or whatever, I feel a strange twinge of nostalgia for happier footballing days when my bedroom was covered in posters and you could still bump into David Beckham in HMV in Manchester. Ah well.

Have a great week folks.
CSW

Back to blogging

So, as promised, I finally return to blogland after a week's hiatus. As predicted, blogging was not top of my list this week as assessments took over. But what a good week we had! It began with the first year performances. All the students had worked so hard and it really showed. My group then 'enjoyed' a super long tech rehearsal. Big up to our sensational LPAC tech boys who remained full of good humour even at 10.45 at night. I love tech rehearsals and even I was beginning to lose the will to live! The Adding Machine went really well and I was so proud of the students. They created something really innovative. Elmer Rice would have been very proud and, I imagine, somewhat surprised by the production. DV8 dance moves, plugging actors into computers and brilliant projections meant that it looked a little different from the original!

After the fire works of the first years, it was on to the third years' Early Modern assessments. I watched a lot of Volpone and Dr Faustus and was hugely impressed by the exciting work created. There were some really brilliant performances. We finally finished at 7.06 pm on Friday night. It was a long week, but it was all so fun. We have some brilliant, talented and imaginative students at the University of Lincoln and last week was a real celebratory showcase.

To end the week, I went to a conference on innovative women's theatre group, the Pioneer Players hosted by the University of Hull. It was a really great event. I don't know a great deal about this society but I want to mention it in the book. This conference was a really helpful introduction and allowed me to meet a load of interesting folks.

So, all in all, a good week had by all. And to top it off D has just booked flights back to Seattle for the end of August. We are so looking forward to seeing our friends again. I think we'll also be heading up to Canada - D really wants to take me to Vancouver. There were only two blips on my week...both sporting related: 1) Lincoln City were relegated from the football league after a terrible display at Aldershot. D went to support the Imps while I attended the conference and said it was the worst performance he had ever seen. The die-hard supporters were absolutely gutted. 2) Christian won the World Heavyweight Championship (hoorah!) and then promptly lost it to Randy Orton at Smackdown just five days later (boo!). Sorry, on to wrestling there just in case you missed the quick change of direction. At least it makes for a great storyline. D has booked tickets for Raw when the WWE hit the UK in November. So, I'll be attending my first live wrestling event.

Anyways, tomorrow is the start of my research summer, although this week is really taken up with meetings and marking. I am so looking forward to getting back to the Book and a number of other wee projects that I have on the go right now.

Hope all of you guys are doing well. This morning D and I were counting our blessings. He is great at this, while I have the tendency to find worries even when there really aren't any! I realised that life is proper exciting at the moment and I am so grateful for all that is going on.

CSW

Sorting and the Super Bowl

Had you arrived at Chez Warden at 10 o'clock this evening you would have found me and D up to our ears in clothes and mess. We were tidying out our wardrobe and sorting things out. Were you to knock on our door right now you would find two slightly sleepy Wardens eating Kettle Chips and watching the warm up (sorry, "pre kick show") for the Super Bowl. Shout out to our American friends! Man, we love you guys! We are going for the Packers tonight, I think. Not sure if we'll stay up for the whole thing. I have, after all, got meetings and teachings tomorrow. D might tough it out though. American football is a sport I have never understood. However, we avidly watched the Washington Huskies win their big game and D talked me through it. As a massive Rugby League fan, American football comes more naturally than I imagined.

Our friends Stateside would laugh at the BBC's coverage though. Obviously the Beeb doesn't do advertising. The Super Bowl seems to break for adverts every other minute and the 'guys in the studio' have to chat inanely while you guys get to watch promos for Doritos or Hot Dogs or Hershey's or something. They're doing alright at the mo but give them another couple of hours and they will surely run out of things to say!

Anyways, enjoy the night and I'll post again mid week.
CSW

p.s. oh, and by the by I have changed the web address for the blog. While you can still access it via molemaison.blogspot.com, you can also use www.clairewarden.net. How cool!

Entering the New Year

Copious apologies for not posting sooner. We only returned to Lincoln last night after a week and a half away. It was good to see family and friends, try out my snowboarding skills and read some jolly books on my Kindle. We only got to watch one film all holiday - Inception. It was just as good the second time around.

At chez Warden the tree is still up and dusty Christmas cards still sit on our coffee table. I am going to 'de-festivize' the place at the weekend. But first I have a few days of hard work ahead. It began today with some book writing, some new book proposal writing (more of that at a later date!), some book reviews  and some planning. I am a mad planner and list-maker so I enjoyed my first hour of the day. And tomorrow I'm off to university to get on with a pile of marking. I'm hoping for some fun essays to read.

While the PDC darts championship has finished, we are now enjoying the BDO version. D affectionately calls it 'council darts' and the standard is certainly a lot lower. But it's all good fun. Both my Stockport boys went out first round though. Boo!

So, as for New Year resolutions...well, I always manage to keep them for about 2 and a half days so I think I'll do without this year. We're pretty contented with the way life is going right now. We've both set wee challenges for ourselves over the coming months. Targets in all areas of life are really beneficial. I use them all the time in an academic context - deadlines and word counts. It is great to branch out and apply them to life more generally.

Anyways, I have washing to sort and D has challenged me to a PS3 rematch. I lost our basketball game miserably last night so am quite determined.

I'll post at the weekend, hopefully with something more interesting!

CSW

Just call me Shaun White!

Today I was mostly taking on the Scottish mountains on my board. I look very cool, calm and collected in this photo, but it was super scary! I am shattered tonight but it was a great day. Our trip up north was wonderful as always. The Highlands are just beautiful at every time of year but especially in winter.

Happy New Year one and all.

CSW

Fun and Games

Evening folks,

Well, I left you the other evening with Wigan winning in the Super League Grand Final. You'll be glad to know (or conversely you may not care two hoots) that the Cherry and Whites went on to win. Hoorah and Hooray! First win since 1998 I think, so it's been a long wait. And this week we have the Commonwealth Games. I must admit, I am not blown away by this event but it is great to see some high quality hockey on the telly. The sporting theme continues apace in the Warden household with my current health kick. I'm enjoying the tough workouts. Last night I did a truly brutal abs session. My core muscles couldn't actually hold me up by the end and D had to bring me a glass of water!

So we've started a second week of teaching and all is well. Lovely, enthusiastic students! I am trying to maintain a balance between teaching and research. I'm not sure I've quite got that cracked yet - teaching tends to take over a bit - so I am going to have to be a bit more disciplined with my time. I'm writing very clear, very strict daily plans. I am determined to stick to them and, although it isn't perfect yet, I am starting to develop some good habits that I hope will help me to get everything done in time for my deadlines.

What with the start of the new term, my private reading has been very limited. I am continuing with Tristam Hunt's biography of Engels and the Shakespeare book, 1599. But really it's all I can do to open the pages of the London Review after a day of teaching and research!

Anyways, I think another cup of tea is in order.

CSW

Halfway through the first week

After the stop/start feelings of Freshers' week we have now started in earnest. Today I taught my first classes of the new term. I have two great groups - one sweet collection of first years and one slightly more cynical but endearingly lovely set of second years. Both classes went rather well given that I haven't taught since June! I always get first day jitters and, after conversation with erstwhile colleagues, I realise I am not alone.

So tomorrow is split into two with the morning in uni meeting students and planning classes and the afternoon at my office at home drinking green tea and grappling with the language chapter of the Book. My day is usefully divided with a yoga class. Now I'm not into all the chanting business and would run a mile from anything 'spiritual', but I do find yoga a really useful way of stretching out, particularly as my workouts get tougher and tougher. I started this class just last week and it is free for staff - hoorah!

Amongst other exciting bits of news...I have had a new school haircut and am very chuffed with it. I now have a fringe for the first time since 1994 when I grew it out (one of the most painful experiences in the life of the young Mole). The new fringe is just little and falls to the left. Quite nice really. D is still under the weather and has got through many pills over the past few days. I even persuaded him to take a cup of Echinacea tea so he must be really ill! I am taking a wee trip to Stockport on Thursday to do a bit of work in the John Rylands Library in Manchester. I am working on an amazing archive I have just discovered. I won't be able to get right through it in a day but at least I can suss out what they have. The best bit, of course, is that I can catch up with the 'rents. Looking forward to seeing you both!

I've also been reading a number of new blogs. Mostly they centre on academic fashion (in the clothes sense of the term). Now academics are notoriously bad dressers. With my two eyes I have witnessed some truly frightful fashion faux pas. You would imagine that a lady on a Professor's wage would invest in a couple of good outfits...you would be wrong. I once saw a relatively well-known lecturer attend a conference in a pair of cut-off trackies. Now I am no fashionista (I can hear my Mum and Sister laughing at this - I was once told that I had a "very original sense of style". Make of that what you will!) and I certainly don't place any worth on the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the house you own or any of those (ultimately) petty trivialities that we focus on in life. People get obsessed with these things completely forgetting (or choosing to forget) the more important questions of life. But I do think that if you are going to teach a class or give a paper, you should at least steer clear of sports wear. So I was encouraged by these blogs. I'll add a couple on the side bar in case you should be interested.

Anyways, I'm going to have a cup of tea before bed. I did a hardcore workout tonight and my bones are tired!

I'll post again soon - probably Saturday evening after my trip over the Pennines and after Wigan RL have won the Super League Grand Final. Come on the Cherry and Whites.

CSW

Nearing the end of the week and 50,000 words

So, as of the end of the day (just about to go and make tea) I am just 600 words short of 50,000 words for the Book. Not bad given that I have a year to go. Now I'm not saying they are 50,000 good words but they are better than nothing and will give me something to work with over the course of the next year.

Still enjoying my new Wii fit. It is really amazing and I'm already seeing and feeling the benefits. I'll try Combat again on Saturday morning and see if I can notice any improvement. And now I have a groovy new tracksuit to work out in. This morning a pile of new clothes arrived for me. I hate clothes shopping in the high street. It's stressful, too busy and there are too many people about. D buys almost everything online which is so much more jolly. Some cool new tops, a great Gant jacket and a pair of Nike trackies came as well. Ah online sales...what joy! He has an unbelievable knack of buying the right size. Whenever I go into a shop and try on a pair of breeks they never fit; whenever D order me a pair they always fit perfectly. It is a miracle. I am attempting to renew my wardrobe given that I am approaching thirty and should now look like a proper lady rather than a student. Gradual changes a foot.

Off to prayer meeting tonight and then a quiet, working weekend in store until my parents arrive for a couple of days Sunday lunchtime. Looking forward to some fun times with them. We might even sneak in a breakfast at Zoot. We'll see.

I'll try and post another list tomorrow if I have a chance. Was thinking perhaps of posting my favourite book list but I always get into a pickle with that one. Too many books, too little space and how can one compare Wuthering Heights to A Suitable Boy to Ackroyd's biography of Dickens? Have just started a new book after finishing A Voyage for Madmen. It is Tristam Hunt's biography of Friedrich Engels and so far so readable. It has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Engels has always fascinated me. His Conditions of the Working Class in England is the most entertaining and challenging Communist book (I think, though you are welcome to throw things..yes, yes I know it is a bit naive in its philosophy...whatever) and he lived and worked in Manchester. Interesting guy and Hunt's biography is supposed to be great. I'll write a review when I've finished it but don't hold your breath - it is a quite large!

Anyways, time for tea. Hope all is well with all.

CSW

Middle of the week

Welcome all,

You haven't missed anything - I am still chained (in a perfectly lovely way) to my computer. It was the language chapter today. I'm still finalising the actual argument for this one so it is quite slow process...but enjoyable as ever. Tomorrow afternoon I might relocate for a couple of hours just to get a change of scenery. Stayed in today because we had some serious weather in Lincoln - proper rain! Generally it only rains at night in Lincoln (this might be a subjective supposition but it certainly feels like that) so it was a bit of a surprise to wake this morning to the sound of heavy raindrops on our windows. D pragmatically noted that it was good for the fields - he really is becoming a proper Lincolnshire farmer sort!

Today my lunch break was taken up with some physical fun. What should arrive Chez Warden yesterday but a Wii Fit Plus - a present from the Boy. What fun! And what hard work! Tried a couple of the tougher yoga moves today and didn't realise quite how out of shape I was. Glad I could sweat it out alone in my living room. And then tonight it was a quick squash game. D was victorious as usual but I won a couple of games. I have just had a bath in the vain attempt to stop my muscles from aching. I am not really unfit but certainly less fit then when I lived in Edinburgh and had the gym on my doorstep. Attempting to do something about that as I near the thirty mark. I was mistaken for a student again the other day though so I can't be looking too old and hagged. As I replied to the poor girl's apologetic email, I find as I enter my fourth decade (oo-er) that I now take that as a great compliment. Here's to another ten years of people thinking I'm an undergrad! In honour I might lie in bed all day tomorrow, eat Super Noodles for lunch and read The Feminine Mystique...I joke, I joke...

Over tea we continued with our nightly episodes of Life on Mars. We sadly don't have many more in the series. I will be very sad when I have to say a final goodbye to Gene Hunt! The series has just got better and better.

Well, I'm off to check the wrestling results from Monday night (a bit late this week) and get a drink. D is lying on the lounge floor playing Football Manager and we are listening to Davey's Disco. After a good wodge of Van Halen we are now (just for me) on to John Wetton's greatest acoustic numbers. Sweet!

Enjoy the week

CSW

Writing papers and playing games

Well, it is pretty late so I'll be brief...today was spent doing a bit of tweaking on the conference paper and doing a bit of work on the book chapter. Actually I got quite a bit done and even got the guest sheets washed in preparation for my friend Julia who is coming to visit at the weekend.

So last weekend came and went. We had a lovely time at Doddington Hall and the food was just as good as ever. Sunday was spent at church and we enjoyed a happy lunch with our Pastor and family. We went for a wee walk after eating and D met another new doggie.

A good few games of squash tonight. I pushed D pretty hard and we both ended up very hot and sweaty! I even won a couple of games. When we came out it was raining! Rain is that wet stuff that falls from the sky and we haven't seen it in Lincoln for a month and a bit, other than in a couple of night storms.

Currently listening to a mega double album - the soundtrack for Shutter Island. I haven't seen the film but the album is a great mix of modern classical tracks. Lots of fabulous clashy modern chords. Not exactly restful most of the time but certainly invigorating. Furthermore, I can now do my research under the watchful gaze of Picasso's ladies. D bought me a print of Les Demoiselles D'Avignon (1907) for Christmas and I have (shamefully) only just got round to getting it framed. The framers seem to have done a great job and I'll hang it in my office tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have some very stimulating conversations with the ladies over the next few years.

Anyways, I'm off to bed. I'll do a couple of conference posts and let you know whether I had the chance to schmooze with the Poet Laureate or not.

CSW

The power of the headband

In the past two days I have seen two sides of D. Yesterday we spent a lovely Sunday with a family from church. Now they (like a number of families at LEC) have a wee doggy called Bobby. D is scared of dogs. Actually this isn't quite true - from afar D really likes dogs as proven this evening when we continued our enjoyment of Christopher Guest films with Best in Show. However he took quite a shine to Bobby and took him round the park on a lead in the bright Lincolnshire sunshine. D's theory on dogs? "If a human with massive teeth who couldn't talk came up to you, you'd run a mile". Fair enough.

And today saw us back on the squash court. Over the past few weeks we have improved considerably and can now play a mean game. Today, however, despite playing quite respectably, D won every game and even 'grannied' me three times. He was on fire! We put it down to his new Nike headband which makes him look a little like Mark Knopfler (especially as his hair is quite long and curly at the mo). It is a good look and certainly made a difference to his game. Didn't miss a shot all match! My evening was improved only by 1) salmon on offer in Morrison's and 2) the new Asia album, Omega, which was delivered in today's post. Have only listened to a couple of tracks so far but have a jolly train ride tomorrow. I have got a few journal articles to plough through so it will keep me going. So far it sounds terrific. John's voice is as good as ever, CP is still amazing, Geoff is masterful on the keys and Steve's guitar playing is second to none. Can't wait to listen to it in its entirety.

So running over to Stockport tomorrow for the night to see Dad treading the boards for the first time in 15 years. Can't wait to see him back on stage. It is a very quick visit but I'm looking forward to catching up with Mum and Dad, if only for a night. Then it's straight into rehearsals on Wednesday morning. Phew!

Have a mega week one and all.

CSW

The sun still shines...

Just come in from reading my book on the balcony (I didn't have a lunch break if you are concerned by academic slackness) and, though there is a bit of a cold wind, the sun is lovely once again. D and I are convinced that the weather is, in general, better here than in Auld Reekie. Surely this is statistically accurate?

Anyways, so the final round of the Masters came and went. Tiger sadly did not win but the lovely Phil Mickelson pipped him to it. A couple of truly amazing shots. D is threatening to take me to the driving range over the next few days to 'hit a few balls' with the aim of attacking a 9 hole course some time in the near future. Hmmm...I think a bit of practice is in order. It is much more difficult than it looks.

We watched a really horrifying case on youtube last night about a wee girlie with Downs who had been abused by her father amongst others. There is little doubt about the validity of her story and yet no charges have been brought, despite her mother being paid £13,000 in compensation (compensation for what if there is no case to answer?). People who have shown any interest in the case have been threatened. It is one of those cover-ups that goes right to the heart of the establishment and implicates judges, ministers, nurses and social workers in abuse rings. No wonder the good ol' Scottish establishment doesn't want it coming out.

It led on to a fascinating conversation with D about justice and our role as Christians (or indeed as any other moral, caring sort of person). What should we do? How can we speak out about such injustice? I think the world is a pretty terrific sort of place but cases like this one remind us (well, reminded me) of all the perverse evil that really exists. We didn't come to any definitive conclusions, it must be said, but I was left with a feeling of utter hopelessness. How can human beings be so utterly vicious to one another? If you want to look up this girl's story her name is Hollie Greig.

CSW

Back to life in Lincoln

So after a lovely weekend in Edinburgh we travelled back to Lincoln via Helmsley in North Yorkshire. It is one of D's favourite places and we enjoyed a couple of fantastic rolls from Hunters. I also found a pretty rare copy of a Dylan Thomas film script in the second hand bookstore. I like a literary bargain. The Skoda Superb did very well bombing up the A1.

So the past few days I've been trying to catch up with teaching prep for the coming two weeks. Today I did a solo walk through of Uranium 235 in Studio 1. Anyone who saw me wandering around talking to myself, script in hand would have imagined that the madness had finally descended. It helped to clear the mind, however. Also finished my Monday lecture on regionalism for the second years.

Tonight we went to prayer meeting for the first time. We had our new Pastor and fam over for a meal on Tuesday night. They were our first non-family guests. D and I like having folks over and did quite a bit of entertaining while living in Timberbush. Now we've had friends over our new flat feels more like a home. Well at tonight's prayer meeting who should we be remembering but the Moore family in Papua New Guinea. In a strange coincidence, Carrubbers (our Edinburgh church) is their sending church. Good stuff!

A bit sad to see the Reds go out of the European Champions League last night. I am a BIG Manchester United fan, though I must admit, in the modern money-obsessed era, I struggle to get too passionate about football any more. But it's nice to see Tiger back at the Masters. Ok, so he's made his mistakes (and I feel mighty sorry for his poor wife) but I am a little bored by the high-handed attitude of the media and the self-imposed custodians of morality. Sometimes it feels as if we are waiting for our heroes to fall just so we can pat ourselves on the back and stand as judge over them. Humans are so very strange. After following Tiger around at the Open a couple of years back and been truly awestruck, I for one am glad he is getting himself together. Here's hoping he can get back to his best quickly.

And, of course, the election countdown has begun in earnest with David Cameron looking unbelievably smug next to Sir Michael Caine (no less!) and Gordon standing outside Number 10 surrounded by the cabinet with Harriet Harman and Alistair Darling looking like wee goblins on his shoulders. Man, I love elections. I am such a geek that I am following the BBC election live feed. Fabulous.

Anyways, I am off to watch Tiger's last few holes. A quiet weekend ahead. Out tomorrow night with friends from uni but otherwise a fairly free few days of washing (clothes, not myself though I'm sure I'll have chance for a shower at some stage), letter writing and golf watching. Might even make my way through another couple of old skool Shawn Michaels matches on youtube. Brillig.

CSW

Plays, tunes but, as yet, no automobile

Welcome to the mid week blog post. It's been a busy few days as teaching has begun again. Today was the first Uranium 235 rehearsal and it all went very well. The students are brilliant and we did a lot of laughing.

So after a couple of delicious game burgers (yes, you hear right) from our local butchers, D and I have sat down to listen to some classic tunes, though at present we are listening to some Rolling Stones '80s funk - now that I could do without! Honestly, D's unbelievable music collection really turns up some turkeys at times. It must be remembered that he does have at least two Victoria Beckham songs on his ipod and Davey's Disco is the stuff of legend in the Warden clan. Talking of music, I've been listening to a good number of soundtracks recently while I've been writing class plans for Postmodern British Drama. Lots of Avatar, Sherlock Holmes and the Da Vinci Code, smattered with a couple of Peter Gabriel tracks when I need a good singsong.

But the big news of the week...I won a game of squash. Granted I lost five games...but I won one. Hoorah! We're both getting better and are less stiff the next day. The walk back up the hill is a bit of a killer though!

In a run down of this week's reading matter: I finished Habits of the Mind which I enjoyed very much, and I've moved on to a book along similar themes, Two Tasks of a Christian Scholar. I've only read the first chapter but so far, so good. I'll put a proper review up when I've finished. I'm also continuing with the Ian Rankin book. It has got rather exciting and I can't currently see how it will end. I'm not the biggest fan of crime fiction generally, but I'm actually quite enjoying reading about the ins and outs of Edinburgh. It even mentioned my favourite theatre company, 7:84! Still bashing on with the Charlotte Bronte biography in the evenings. It is a lovely restful book before bed. Due to current courses I have also read a number of plays - Chicken Soup with Barley by Arnold Wesker, A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney and Sink the Belgrano by Steven Berkoff. I generally read at least three plays a week at this time of year. Some are old favourites and some are brand new. Next week it'll be plays by Edward Bond and Caryl Churchill so its about to get a little bit violent and shouty (yep, that's an official academic word), but I'm sure I'll cope.

I'm also enjoying reading through Philippians in my quiet times. It is such an amazing book and, after spending last year reading through the whole Bible once and the New Testament twice (phew!), it feels quite good to be able to work slowly through a book and really get to grips with the verses. I've been thinking quite a bit about "God's peace" in Philippians 4. Sounds pretty good to me, folks.

Anyways, Davey's Disco has ground to a halt while the DJ is trying to sort out contents insurance for the flat. Don't worry, it'll be the Floyd loud and proud in a couple of minutes. Still waiting on our new car to arrive...I'll keep you posted on this one.

CSW

More soreness in the legs!

Just to fill you in on the Warden squash challenge which entered its second week tonight...D now has his own racket courtesy of good ol' Sports World and duly beat me five games to nil. A bit disappointing but fun all round, and it really gives you a good workout. Tune in next week for more thrills and spills on the court. I will beat him one day.

So the marking is in and I have a huge pile of essays to wade through over the next few days. Hopefully they are all magnificent. To give myself a bit of a break from assessment I picked up one of D's Ian Rankin books the other night. D has now read all the Rebus books, in chronological order so I thought it only right and fitting that I give them a go. They are crime novels centred on Edinburgh so they mention a whole range of places I know well, including St Leonard's Police Station (don't get the wrong idea...I once assisted in the rescue of a drunken man who was attempting to throw himself under a car) and The Meadows amongst others. It is kinda nice to read books about a place you are familiar with, even if they are about murders etc.

To conclude the wardrobe story, we now have a fully functioning item of furniture. As it happens it just needed a good wallop (obviously we didn't have the knack) and two very sweet gentlemen came and put it together for me. They even took the rubbish away. Hats off to the good people of Pine Solutions.

And so another Wednesday passes and I am gazing at my super-duper photo collage (see below), given to me by my good friends in Rudsambee. Man, I miss you guys on a Wednesday night. Tormis the Penguin is standing pride of place on my desk as I write this. He looks cosy in his red scarf. 'May the Road Rise to Meet You' guys and gals.

Anyways, I'm off to my bed. Sleep peacefully friends.

CSW

Move over Clare Balding...

...well, never let it be said that the Warden household isn't ahead of the game when it comes to our sporting knowledge. D called it days ago! And you thought he was just being contrary! Huzzah for Amy Williams, skeleton bob winner and all round good egg. I'm off to bed - this Winter Olympics malarky really messes with your sleep.

CSW

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

A fun weekend with mum and dad

Evening all and sundry. Hope this Monday finds you well. So, this weekend I had the happy chance to spend a couple of days with my Mum and Dad who I haven't seen since Christmas. We had such a great time. Went to Evensong at the cathedral which was very wonderful. I couldn't worship there on a regularly basis for a variety of reasons - the windows are just too beautiful..I could never concentrate! But Evensong as a choral concert was very pleasant indeed. This lunchtime we ate at Brown's Pie Shop which had been recommended by a couple with very excellent taste. We were not disappointed - a pretty amazing beef and mushroom pie, and I enjoyed a large portion of bread and butter pudding. So much for the healthy lifestyle!

In addition to the ongoing Super League season (hope you noticed that the mighty Wigan Warriors won again at the weekend) I'm enjoying the Winter Olympics. I'm a bit of a fan of this event. You get to watch a whole range of sports that you generally never hear about. Enjoyed the Men's Moguls last night. I think you have to be a bit mad to attempt most of the sports. I also like the fact that it isn't all 'Team GB, woo woo woo' as it is at the Summer Olympics - we are, despite our inclement weather, utterly hopeless at most winter sports.

This time last year I was 'printing stuff' at the Scottish Government and whilst crouched over the photocopier (actually I don't know if this is completely true but it makes for a more entertaining story so bare with me) I made a promise to myself that if ever I got a full time lectureship I would take out a subscription for the London Review of Books. My first copy came last week and contains some wonderful articles, including a lovely exposition of the new translation of Simone de Beauvoir's classic, The Second Sex. It also contained this letter which I thought was funny, pertinent and unusual in such a 'right on' publication as the LRB:

'It has been history's biggest birthday party', Steven Shapin writes (LRB 7 January). 'On or around 12 February 2009 alone - the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, 'Darwin Day' - there were more than 750 commemorative events in at least 45 countries'

Has he never heard of Christmas?

Thank you Mr John Fletcher of Pilton, Somerset for injecting a little humorous satire into the current obsession with Darwin worship (spot the irony).

Have a fab week one and all

CSW

The start of a new week

So two days and two new posts - goodness this is becoming a habit! Currently ready for bed and listening to the Super Bowl on the radio. Now I know very little about American sports (I enjoyed a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game once and became a bit of a fan overnight) and American football is a particular mystery to me. If someone can explain the rules to me I'd be delighted. Perhaps it will all become clear as I listen...perhaps not. Ooo the national anthem has just started...

I'll carry on reading the Charlotte Bronte biography as I listen for half an hour or so. Still enjoying this wonderful wee book and I can dip into it when I feel in the mood. Enjoyed a morning at our new church, LEC. The Pastor gave a wonderful sermon on the importance of love in the church. It was very thought-provoking and we even sang 'Here is Love Vast as the Ocean' to cement the point which is one of my favourite hymns.

So, D has gone back to Edinburgh again and I am left with Boris Bear and D the pot-bellied bear for company. Both are very faithful companions but aren't quite as chatty as D! It will be two weeks until we see each other again so it is a good job we don't celebrate things like Valentine's Day. We are, as always, taking courage in these circumstances though, also as always, we have no complaints. We are so tremendously blessed!

Tomorrow night our first Tesco delivery is coming. I'm more excited than I should be about this occasion. Oh, the Super Bowl has started and I can't even understand the words let alone make head nor tail of the rules. What, pray tell, is a quarterback?

CSW