Now, I should have written a post after last weekend to say 'happy birthday' to Smelly (affectionate name for sister). I should have written about the pleasant weekend we spent with the fam at Celtic Manor in Cardiff and about Smelly's surprise birthday party organised by her rather spectacular husband. But unfortunately this week kinda got away with me there! It started with interviews for next year's students. It was super exciting to meet them all and to see such an array of talent and enthusiasm. Then there came a long day of European funding meetings (a very long day indeed! Although I now feel a little more confident with what on earth this 'Horizon 2020' thingy is all about). Next up, I was down to London for a jolly day at the British Library before heading over to Goldsmiths to give a talk about difficulty, obscurity and theatre. All much fun. And a delicious dinner in the bar next to the University of the Arts, behind King's Cross. Who knew that was there? I spent yesterday in London too, taking a wander around Bloomsbury and the British Museum (the hugest place in the world, right?) before hotfooting it to the Theatre Royal Stratford East to see if I could get a standby ticket for the new version of Oh What a Lovely War!
Now, before I go on it must be remembered that OWALW is one of my favourite plays. It is in many ways (although I know dear ol' Ewan MacColl would disagree with me!) the high point of Theatre Workshop, the company whose work has formed the basis for my research for the past seven years. To actually see this play at the home of Theatre Workshop was, for me, akin to watching Pink Floyd in the '70s or seeing Elvis play in Vegas. I was surrounded by a load (I mean a load!) of school kids from Newham borough who treated the whole thing like a pantomime. Joan Littlewood would have been utterly delighted! It was a spectacular triumph and I had a little cry at the end! It is as challenging and wonderful as it ever was, and the fact that can still make political ministers a bit cross is a sure sign of its quality and power!
Today has been a rather more restful sort of day. I have had so many little jobs to finish off that it has turned into a bit of an admin day. But I've rather enjoyed lounging around with my computer for company. And now a peaceful evening of yoga, reading, tidying and (perhaps) watching a film is coming up before an almost totally clear weekend. Off riding tomorrow but otherwise we just have some pleasant hours at home enjoying the snowdrops, the increasingly excitable bunnies and the returning ducks.
Hope you have a good one too...
CSW
Friday, 28 February 2014
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Lambing 24
Last week was a really interesting one. First I travelled down to London for a rather exciting meeting which I can't talk about really but which hopefully will lead on to big things (cryptic!). Then we headed down to South Wales (through the floods - totally feel for all those having to cope with extreme weather right now) so I could enjoy my Christmas present. Three years ago I got really into BBC's Lambing Live, the programme that shows all the ins and outs of the lambing season on a farm. Since then I've really enjoyed each series, hosted by one of my favourite presenters (actually favourite people on TV): Kate Humble.
So imagine my delight when I received a voucher for my Christmas that entitled me to 24 hours in a lambing shed on Kate Humble's farm. She has set up an initiative called Humble by Nature which allows members of the public to learn more about farming. It is based on a beautiful farm in Monmouthshire. So, I got to spend 24 hours with Kate (who was as generous and down to earth in real life as she is on the telly) and her team learning all about lambing. It was an incredible experience. At 2am on Sat night/Sun morning I got up to check the lambing shed with one of my fellow lambers. Imagine our delight when we found a small lamb sitting in the corner and her mother giving birth to her wee sister as we watched. We took care of the lambs (which is a very gooey business that I won't go in to). It was an amazing, beautiful moment: yet another highlight of 2014 which, frankly, has already been filled with enough highlights!
You'll have to forgive the silly hat/mucky jacket/sleepy face but I thought you might enjoy seeing the picture of us with the girlie twins the morning after:
It was the most wonderful weekend.
Other than all that excitement it's been a steady round of teaching, writing and getting back into a more regular fitness regime with Ultimate Yogi (which I'm still enjoying) and Focus t25 which is like Insanity but shorter.
This weekend is a slightly quieter one - some riding, some resting, some reading and (yuck) some cleaning.
I'm off to bed to dream of the beautiful little twins.
CSW
So imagine my delight when I received a voucher for my Christmas that entitled me to 24 hours in a lambing shed on Kate Humble's farm. She has set up an initiative called Humble by Nature which allows members of the public to learn more about farming. It is based on a beautiful farm in Monmouthshire. So, I got to spend 24 hours with Kate (who was as generous and down to earth in real life as she is on the telly) and her team learning all about lambing. It was an incredible experience. At 2am on Sat night/Sun morning I got up to check the lambing shed with one of my fellow lambers. Imagine our delight when we found a small lamb sitting in the corner and her mother giving birth to her wee sister as we watched. We took care of the lambs (which is a very gooey business that I won't go in to). It was an amazing, beautiful moment: yet another highlight of 2014 which, frankly, has already been filled with enough highlights!
You'll have to forgive the silly hat/mucky jacket/sleepy face but I thought you might enjoy seeing the picture of us with the girlie twins the morning after:
It was the most wonderful weekend.
Other than all that excitement it's been a steady round of teaching, writing and getting back into a more regular fitness regime with Ultimate Yogi (which I'm still enjoying) and Focus t25 which is like Insanity but shorter.
This weekend is a slightly quieter one - some riding, some resting, some reading and (yuck) some cleaning.
I'm off to bed to dream of the beautiful little twins.
CSW
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Back to school
This is the first week of term and, after a rather brutal marking schedule, we are back to teaching. I get to teach my two favourite courses of the year: Modern European Drama and Documentary Theatre. Man, I love these modules! They are great fun and really challenge the dear ol' first years. In lecture 1 I encouraged them to roll around in jelly as a performative happening. You get the idea...
Other than that...I went back to the parentals for the weekend as my dad was acting in JB Priestley's When We Are Married. It was a very fun weekend seeing family. And dad was just great. It was rather fun to see him on stage again. I saw lots of people I haven't seen for ages, many of whom seemed surprised that Smelly and I had grown. I guess one grows a fair amount between the ages of 10 and 33!
I don't know if you keep up with my fitness plans but in the past year I have finished two pretty hardcore fitness challenges: GSP's Rushfit and Beachbody's Insanity. I loved both of them so much even though they were really tough. Working out regularly with a definite plan is great and I find it affects every area of your life. Days simply work better when you have laid aside some time to workout. As I have mentioned, January is a month of taking stock and quietly getting back into things. Recently this has included some pleasant walks, some cycling on my bike in front of the telly, some light weights and a tough(ish) run. As February approaches I am about to step it up again. And I have two new workout regimes to go with: Beachbody's Focus T25 and The Ultimate Yogi. The first of these is from the same company as Insanity and is a series of 25 minute workouts. Very good for those times when term takes over and I simply don't have time for any more. The latter is a bit different. When I was in Whistler a few years ago I did this amazing yoga class which I loved so much. Since then I have practiced yoga a little bit on and off. This Ultimate Yogi course makes you practice everyday and involves meditation and hardcore power yoga. Now I'm not totally sure what to make of yoga. As a Christian I struggle slightly with the religious connections, as you might expect. But I so love the peace that yoga brings. I'm going to give it a go and see how it feels. I am really excited about it as the idea of morning yoga practice every morning sounds very appealing...even if it will have to be at 4am in order to get it in! Oooo that is super early! I wonder what you reckon about yoga?
Anyways, the washing up beckons. And then I'd better get everything sorted for tomorrow. Got a pretty exciting few days in store with performances, trips to London, wrestling in Manchester and seeing the fam. Live is full of travels, fun work, writing, reading and workouts right now. Just how I like it!
CSW
Other than that...I went back to the parentals for the weekend as my dad was acting in JB Priestley's When We Are Married. It was a very fun weekend seeing family. And dad was just great. It was rather fun to see him on stage again. I saw lots of people I haven't seen for ages, many of whom seemed surprised that Smelly and I had grown. I guess one grows a fair amount between the ages of 10 and 33!
I don't know if you keep up with my fitness plans but in the past year I have finished two pretty hardcore fitness challenges: GSP's Rushfit and Beachbody's Insanity. I loved both of them so much even though they were really tough. Working out regularly with a definite plan is great and I find it affects every area of your life. Days simply work better when you have laid aside some time to workout. As I have mentioned, January is a month of taking stock and quietly getting back into things. Recently this has included some pleasant walks, some cycling on my bike in front of the telly, some light weights and a tough(ish) run. As February approaches I am about to step it up again. And I have two new workout regimes to go with: Beachbody's Focus T25 and The Ultimate Yogi. The first of these is from the same company as Insanity and is a series of 25 minute workouts. Very good for those times when term takes over and I simply don't have time for any more. The latter is a bit different. When I was in Whistler a few years ago I did this amazing yoga class which I loved so much. Since then I have practiced yoga a little bit on and off. This Ultimate Yogi course makes you practice everyday and involves meditation and hardcore power yoga. Now I'm not totally sure what to make of yoga. As a Christian I struggle slightly with the religious connections, as you might expect. But I so love the peace that yoga brings. I'm going to give it a go and see how it feels. I am really excited about it as the idea of morning yoga practice every morning sounds very appealing...even if it will have to be at 4am in order to get it in! Oooo that is super early! I wonder what you reckon about yoga?
Anyways, the washing up beckons. And then I'd better get everything sorted for tomorrow. Got a pretty exciting few days in store with performances, trips to London, wrestling in Manchester and seeing the fam. Live is full of travels, fun work, writing, reading and workouts right now. Just how I like it!
CSW
Friday, 10 January 2014
Rock n' roll marking
What a strange week! The first two days were spent marking first year essays. The marking load was pretty heavy this term but it's now all done. Cue sigh of relief! While I love seeing and experiencing student work, marking is not my favourite part of the job. Giving a set mark to judge a student's performance is, for me, not a perfect way of doing things...even if it is the way education has worked forever. If I had my own slightly hippy way, I would try and do courses without assessment, set up simply for the joy and excitement of learning about cool stuff. Ahem, sorry I will put my anarchist strain back in the box. Anyhow, all the marking went well and I've completed all the admin. Some good work this term. Very much looking forward to this next term - we're on to Modern European Drama again. It is my absolute favourite course. Every class is super fun.
But coupled with this was a very bizarre day. A few months ago on this blog I mentioned a potential exciting project and then left it. Since then this project has taken many twists and turns until Wednesday when something amazing happened. On Wednesday I travelled down to Leighton Buzzard with three Lincoln media grads and filmed part of the EPK for one of my favourite progressive rock bands Asia with the legend that is Carl Palmer (as in Emerson, Lake and...). We had a pretty wonderful day filming. Carl was as kind, generous and passionate as I had hoped and expected. Halfway through the interview (I asked the questions!) it suddenly occured to me that I was interviewing Carl Palmer! Had you told me this last year then I would have dismissed you as a lunatic. We'll see what comes of this over the next year.
I briefly mentioned new year resolutions in my last post (as I recall). Well, my central resolution is just to say yes to stuff. I want to accept every opportunity that comes my way, however odd it might be. Coupled with this, I'm determined not to get anxious about stuff and just to embrace it all. So far this has led to a day with Carl Palmer so it's going pretty well! I have a ton of plans and objectives for 2014 and am genuinely excited about this year.
Hope all's well with you wherever you are. Particularly hello to Uncle Charlie :-)
CSW
But coupled with this was a very bizarre day. A few months ago on this blog I mentioned a potential exciting project and then left it. Since then this project has taken many twists and turns until Wednesday when something amazing happened. On Wednesday I travelled down to Leighton Buzzard with three Lincoln media grads and filmed part of the EPK for one of my favourite progressive rock bands Asia with the legend that is Carl Palmer (as in Emerson, Lake and...). We had a pretty wonderful day filming. Carl was as kind, generous and passionate as I had hoped and expected. Halfway through the interview (I asked the questions!) it suddenly occured to me that I was interviewing Carl Palmer! Had you told me this last year then I would have dismissed you as a lunatic. We'll see what comes of this over the next year.
I briefly mentioned new year resolutions in my last post (as I recall). Well, my central resolution is just to say yes to stuff. I want to accept every opportunity that comes my way, however odd it might be. Coupled with this, I'm determined not to get anxious about stuff and just to embrace it all. So far this has led to a day with Carl Palmer so it's going pretty well! I have a ton of plans and objectives for 2014 and am genuinely excited about this year.
Hope all's well with you wherever you are. Particularly hello to Uncle Charlie :-)
CSW
Saturday, 4 January 2014
Happy new year!
Well 2014 is here. We had a rather great Christmas and new year in Stockport and Edinburgh. We enjoyed catching up with friends and family, and eating way too much chocolate. No white Christmas unfortunately, just a lot of rain. I've got to say, it was a bumper year for presents this year: lovely D bought me a trip to Kate Humble's farm where I will be living out a dream by learning to lamb. We also received weekends away from both parents, restaurant vouchers, coffee machines, cash, some lovely new tea and Santa even found his way to Mum and Dad's house to deliver a stocking. Exciting times!
And now we are back and it's time for resolutions and refocusing. January isn't my favourite month of the year to be honest (too cold and grey!) but I always like those months that mark new starts (January and September for me). Once I've finished the marking (still have a pile to go unfortunately!) this term is considerably quieter than last term. And the teaching should be really fun. There is also plenty of other stuff going on over the next couple of months: conferences, projects, trips, invited talks and more.
One of my new year's resolutions is to update the blog every week so you can keep up with life chez Warden. I haven't been so great at this during the past year. I find time just runs away from me. But I am going to endeavour to give you a new post every week. Here's hoping.
Anyway, I have to get a bit of cycling in this evening to try and get this lazy body back into some sort of decent shape. I'm pretty disciplined about exercise in my normal life but during Christmas/New year I give myself a bit of a break and just enjoy some good walks instead. Now I'm well ready to get back into it. January will just be about cardio and stretching in readiness to up the ante again in February.
Take it easy folks
CSW
And now we are back and it's time for resolutions and refocusing. January isn't my favourite month of the year to be honest (too cold and grey!) but I always like those months that mark new starts (January and September for me). Once I've finished the marking (still have a pile to go unfortunately!) this term is considerably quieter than last term. And the teaching should be really fun. There is also plenty of other stuff going on over the next couple of months: conferences, projects, trips, invited talks and more.
One of my new year's resolutions is to update the blog every week so you can keep up with life chez Warden. I haven't been so great at this during the past year. I find time just runs away from me. But I am going to endeavour to give you a new post every week. Here's hoping.
Anyway, I have to get a bit of cycling in this evening to try and get this lazy body back into some sort of decent shape. I'm pretty disciplined about exercise in my normal life but during Christmas/New year I give myself a bit of a break and just enjoy some good walks instead. Now I'm well ready to get back into it. January will just be about cardio and stretching in readiness to up the ante again in February.
Take it easy folks
CSW
Thursday, 19 December 2013
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...marking, books etc etc
Christmas used to mean lots of performing. Now (other than the beautiful obvious) it means lots of catch up work. I have a pile of marking to do. Today I finished all the Musicals essays which at least makes a dent in it. The Wicked and Newsies soundtracks (neither of which I have listened to since week 5 as I was getting a bit sick of musicals by then!) kept me company. Other than that, the next few days will look something like this:
Finishing the Book. Yes, I have just two more days before my self-imposed Book deadline. It is nearly there actually. I just need to check that everything is sorted.
Cleaning the house. If you are an academic reading this then you will understand exactly what I mean when I say that my house looks like a week11 house! I sorted my office out yesterday. Tomorrow I tackle the house!
Reading inspiring blogs. At this time of year, thoughts turn to new year goals. I'm working my way through some really interesting blogs right now from folks all over the world. People do some really amazing stuff!
Wrapping pressies. A job I am utterly rubbish at!
Writing a guest blog post.
Finishing GSP. Yes, Saturday is not only the day I finish the book; it is also the day that I finish my GSP fitness schedule Rushfit. It has been pretty tough and I had a bit of a gap in the middle where my body decided that it would only cope with cycling and walking for a bit. But I will have completed it on Saturday.
Riding Tommy. Last time before Christmas.
Watching the end of Borgen. I am going to be so sad to goodbye to Birgitte.
And that's about it. Quietly determined to have a proper break over Christmas. I have a pile of work to do (mostly fun) but I think I need some time out. Even when you really like your job, you still need to switch off for a few days and come back refreshed. To be honest, the thought of not having to wake up at 5.20 each morning is rest enough for me.
Whether I'll post before Christmas or not will depend on whether I get all my jobs done so I'll say 'Happy Christmas' now just in case.
CSW
Finishing the Book. Yes, I have just two more days before my self-imposed Book deadline. It is nearly there actually. I just need to check that everything is sorted.
Cleaning the house. If you are an academic reading this then you will understand exactly what I mean when I say that my house looks like a week11 house! I sorted my office out yesterday. Tomorrow I tackle the house!
Reading inspiring blogs. At this time of year, thoughts turn to new year goals. I'm working my way through some really interesting blogs right now from folks all over the world. People do some really amazing stuff!
Wrapping pressies. A job I am utterly rubbish at!
Writing a guest blog post.
Finishing GSP. Yes, Saturday is not only the day I finish the book; it is also the day that I finish my GSP fitness schedule Rushfit. It has been pretty tough and I had a bit of a gap in the middle where my body decided that it would only cope with cycling and walking for a bit. But I will have completed it on Saturday.
Riding Tommy. Last time before Christmas.
Watching the end of Borgen. I am going to be so sad to goodbye to Birgitte.
And that's about it. Quietly determined to have a proper break over Christmas. I have a pile of work to do (mostly fun) but I think I need some time out. Even when you really like your job, you still need to switch off for a few days and come back refreshed. To be honest, the thought of not having to wake up at 5.20 each morning is rest enough for me.
Whether I'll post before Christmas or not will depend on whether I get all my jobs done so I'll say 'Happy Christmas' now just in case.
CSW
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Nearing the end of term
While November was a busy month, December seems to have been equally packed with fun and frolicking. So far this month:
1) I have given an invited talk at the University of Hull, Scarborough. This was a really fun event and gave me the opportunity to visit a town I hadn't been to before. I really liked Scarborough and even had the privilege of visiting the Edith Sitwell's birthplace Woodend. I stayed at the Crown Spa (much recommended) and ate Yorkshire curd tarts (equally recommended). The journey back was a little more exciting than it should have been due to the weather. Everyone in the world seemed stuck at York station for a couple of hours!
2) I have done lots of marking...and there is a ton more to come! It all adds up to about 70 separate pieces of work to mark - phew!
3) I have been back on Radio Lincolnshire as part of the lunchtime debate show. We discussed flooding, Mandela, bicycles and Christmas trees...all the big issues of the day.
4) I have travelled over to Manchester for a couple of real annual leave days with the parents. This included a jolly meal out with extended family (including my marvellous 93 year old grandad) and a day trip to the spa at Mottram Hall.
5) I have visited an academic I have admired for many years in Sheffield and he was every bit as interesting and gracious as I thought he'd be. Days out like this one confirm that I am in the world's greatest profession.
6) I have watched two films: the new Wolverine (very good romp) and a fantastic movie about air drumming. I have finished James Robertson's And the Land Lay Still (brilliant, amazing etc etc) and am currently on to EM Forster's Howard's End. We are still watching Borgen (gets better and better).
...and that's about it, I think! And now Christmas is around the corner. We have lots of exciting trips, travels, events and meet ups planned, although I am hoping for a) some rest time and b) some space to write this new article on John Piper.
Well, I'm off to carry on proofreading the new book which I'm hoping to submit by the end of the week. Yes, I know it's a Saturday.
CSW
1) I have given an invited talk at the University of Hull, Scarborough. This was a really fun event and gave me the opportunity to visit a town I hadn't been to before. I really liked Scarborough and even had the privilege of visiting the Edith Sitwell's birthplace Woodend. I stayed at the Crown Spa (much recommended) and ate Yorkshire curd tarts (equally recommended). The journey back was a little more exciting than it should have been due to the weather. Everyone in the world seemed stuck at York station for a couple of hours!
2) I have done lots of marking...and there is a ton more to come! It all adds up to about 70 separate pieces of work to mark - phew!
3) I have been back on Radio Lincolnshire as part of the lunchtime debate show. We discussed flooding, Mandela, bicycles and Christmas trees...all the big issues of the day.
4) I have travelled over to Manchester for a couple of real annual leave days with the parents. This included a jolly meal out with extended family (including my marvellous 93 year old grandad) and a day trip to the spa at Mottram Hall.
5) I have visited an academic I have admired for many years in Sheffield and he was every bit as interesting and gracious as I thought he'd be. Days out like this one confirm that I am in the world's greatest profession.
6) I have watched two films: the new Wolverine (very good romp) and a fantastic movie about air drumming. I have finished James Robertson's And the Land Lay Still (brilliant, amazing etc etc) and am currently on to EM Forster's Howard's End. We are still watching Borgen (gets better and better).
...and that's about it, I think! And now Christmas is around the corner. We have lots of exciting trips, travels, events and meet ups planned, although I am hoping for a) some rest time and b) some space to write this new article on John Piper.
Well, I'm off to carry on proofreading the new book which I'm hoping to submit by the end of the week. Yes, I know it's a Saturday.
CSW
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