The Student Experience (1)

I think that you need to meet Gareth,
my favourite PhD student.
I was planning to keep him all to myself
but that would be selfish because
Gareth needs an Appreciation Society.

Today Gareth arrived in my office
with a bag of fruit scones and plain scones
(baked by himself)
and a jar of home made jam
and a tub of clotted cream.

Thank goodness it is at least three years
before he submits his thesis.

The Student Experience (2)

I am very sorry but I will not be able to attend tomorrows lecture as I have managed to stupidly give myself food poisoning . But I will ensure someone gets me a hand out and I catch up on what I have missed. Very sorry again, will cook chicken more thoroughly from now on.

(just for the record)

The New Principal visits The Department

1.
MrsM wakes up at 4.30am
and wonders if she booked the catering.

2.
MrsM spends an unreasonable amount of time
trying to decide whether
a contemporary wooden necklace
is more appropriate than
a shimmery necklace of mother of pearl.
She takes both.

3.
The Head of Department
is anxious about his tie
because the knot is slipping.
MrsM assures him that it is not noticeable.

4.
The Lady Professor
is worried about her skirt.
It is a beautiful purple silk
with a clingage issue.
MrsM assures her that it is not noticeable.

5.
The Head of Department reviews the presentation
and makes changes at the very last moment.
MrsM shuts her eyes and prays
that he will not delete it accidentally.

6.
At 9am the Principal arrives with the Dean
and finds the whole Department
sitting expectantly in the Board Room,
name badges neatly attached.

7.
MrsM is thrilled to discover her photo
at a feature point of the presentation.
She resists the temptation to whisper "That's mine!!"
She notices that the Principal smiles.
Well...she is sure he did.

8.
As the Principal leaves the Board Room
to tour the Department
MrsM's best friend from catering
is waiting around the corner
with the trolley of coffee and biscuits.
MrsM resists the temptation to hug him.

9.
MrsM briefly panics when she remembers
the Daniel Craig feature wall
in the Departmental Office but knows that
it is part of the Student Experience.

10.
MrsM wonders if the Principal notices
the smell of furniture polish,
or the impressive display of posters
or the immaculate noticeboards.

11.
The Principal leaves promptly at 11am
and the Head of Department breathes out slowly
for the next hour and a half.

12.
The Principal writes to thank the Department
and praises the evidence of excellence
in teaching, external engagement and research.

There are exceptionally difficult times ahead
for Higher Education and particularly Geography.
The Department will need friends in high places.

Small Talk

I love meeting people at parties

because if you are patient
and listen carefully

you reach the moment in the conversation
when you discover what really matters
to the person in front of you...

it might be gardening, fast cars, gospel music,
vineyards in France or mountains in Austria
and these are all good subjects to chat about

but if you are really, really lucky
you might end up talking to a person
who collects vintage kimonos.

a living candle

this year I planted three Paperwhite bulbs
and as I watch them grow towards the light
I think of Elspeth Thompson.

I shall do this every year
to celebrate Elspeth's courage
and her inspirational writing

Movie Night

MrsM
I feel like watching Love Actually

MrM
We don't have Love Actually...

what about:
(1)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
(2)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(3)
Death of a Salesman
(4)
The Bicycle Thieves


MrsM
I am not sensing that you are listening to me.

MrM
Okay...
Okay...
Here is my wild card.

A Circle Completed

This is Clarkes
in Kensington Church Street,
one of my favourite restaurants.

It is always full of interesting people,
the service is immaculate
and the menu is never less than enticing.

We sit there on Saturday
waiting for MissM and the Charming MasterN
and it is difficult to comprehend
that so little has changed
since the first time I came here
when I was pregnant.

I would not trade this today
with my beautiful MissM
for that yesterday
and I am grateful for that.

*****

Thank you for your wonderful comments.
My email box overfloweth with friendship.

MrsM phones Tuvalu

MrsM has led a sheltered life.

If she needs to make a phone call
there is someone who will do it for her
(MrM)
If she needs to send a text
there is someone who will do it for her
(MrM)
If she really needs to make a phone call herself
there is someone to dial the number
(MrM)

but now...
imagine the tragic situation...
MrsM is all by herself...
and she desperately wants to phone bb...
because there is important news she wants to share
but she can't seem to get through...
and that would be because...
MrsM does not know the dialling code for Tuvalu...
because she has never, ever dialled it herself.

MrsM hangs her head in shame.
Think of all those burned bras
to achieve freedom and independence.
What a shocking waste.

(and then...when MrsM finally gets through
bb has a mouthful of guacamole
but because MrsM is English
she is far too polite to notice.)

Truly, it was a memorable night.

*****

I have said it before
but now is a good time to say it again...
I would not have started writing
without encouragement from bb
who has commented from the very beginning.

...for my family...

Have you heard of the UK Web Archive?
It is a project sponsored by the British Library
to preserve a selection of UK websites.

Last week I was thrilled to get two emails
telling me that
The Magpie Files
and
...the sight of morning...
have been selected for archiving.

It means that these websites will be safe
and the written history of our family
available to my children for the forseeable future
in the format that it was designed for.

The opportunity is also of wider significance
because the blogs will act as a window
into the minutiae of family life
at the start of this century
and will be a potential resource for research.
I love the idea of being part of
the tradition of family archives
that goes back to the Paston Letters and beyond .

It is not just about me and my writing...
the website is captured as a whole piece of work
which means that all of your wonderful comments
will be preserved for posterity.
Even MrM's comments.

It is an exciting project to be part of
and I would urge you to nominate
your own blog for archiving
so that there is wider representation
of our amazing blogging community.
I really don't want to mislead
the researchers of the future into thinking
that everyone in the early 21st century
lived their lives surrounded by
blue and white china.

A Quiet Place to Read

If you want to surprise a bookish young lady
who is working in Central London

and needs somewhere quiet to go at lunchtime
where she can curl up in a comfortable chair

or maybe the chance to flick through
the newspapers and periodicals

you should purchase a gift subscription
to the London Library in St. James's Square.

It was founded in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle
and the list of illustrious members is impressive.

I like to think of MissM going through the front door
behind George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling,
Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard,
E.M. Forster, T.S. Eliot,
Virginia Woolf and Agatha Christie.

all images by Sylvia Lewes (1935)
© The London Library