Gillian Polack's Blog, page 234
August 30, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-30T12:56:00
This morning nearly reminded me that everyone else's deadlines are more important than my health. Fortunately, behind every deadline is a human being and human beings are pretty good at understanding, when given explanations and offered partial solutions. I got about half of this morning in bed, and still feel as if I'm not able to scale mountains today. I do, however, have three fewer mountains in sight (at least for the next two days) thanks to the nice people at the other end of the telephone.
I will be in and out of my place from now until Friday morning. I have teaching and meetings and dental appointments. On Friday, if I'm not over this idiot illness, I shall try the day-in-bed thing (since the most I've got is a half of half a day). That *will* work, because I can't really handle the thought of more time feeling so very grotty. It doesn't stop me working, but it certainly slows me down. And it means my blog is all about my chest hurting and not about any of the fascinating things that happen in my life.
Would you rather a blog post about medieval masculinities or the relative density of shiny objects in steampunk compared with paranormal romance or why pageant is such an important part of writing history into fiction?
Speaking of pageant, I might get some more of those postcards - the ones with a recipe from the Conflux cookbook. Does anyone who does not yet have one, have a burning need for one? If enough people have postcard envy, I shall order some more.
I will be in and out of my place from now until Friday morning. I have teaching and meetings and dental appointments. On Friday, if I'm not over this idiot illness, I shall try the day-in-bed thing (since the most I've got is a half of half a day). That *will* work, because I can't really handle the thought of more time feeling so very grotty. It doesn't stop me working, but it certainly slows me down. And it means my blog is all about my chest hurting and not about any of the fascinating things that happen in my life.
Would you rather a blog post about medieval masculinities or the relative density of shiny objects in steampunk compared with paranormal romance or why pageant is such an important part of writing history into fiction?
Speaking of pageant, I might get some more of those postcards - the ones with a recipe from the Conflux cookbook. Does anyone who does not yet have one, have a burning need for one? If enough people have postcard envy, I shall order some more.
gillpolack @ 2011-08-30T11:00:00
My wonderful editor managed to get my column up for BiblioBuffet despite a hurricane battering her door and despite me being away. Nicki - I'm impressed. Quite obviously we *both* needed comfort reading this week: http://www.bibliobuffet.com/bookish-dreaming/1582-replenishing-the-bookish-soul-082811
August 29, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-29T20:48:00
I'm home and - thanks to a ten minute visit to the supermarket at the city bus stop - had chicken and salad for dinner and am the proud possessor of twelve mangosteens, two blood oranges, a big bag of macadamia nuts that just need shelling (for which purpose I have a very good hammer), sugar snap peas, snow peas and a loaf of ordinary brown bread. The loaf of ordinary brown bread came as a freebie with the chicken and salad and is a bit bemusing. I do not tend to buy much bread, and what bread I buy tends to be ... different.
Anyhow, I am half unpacked, my washing is in the machine, I am nearly two review books better read and am 1200 words advanced on my dissertation. All this doesn't make up for the time lost to illness (no novel written in the last few days!) or for the fact that I am not mended yet (and feel a bit as if I have been steam-rollered, to be honest), but the fact that I survived four days away after only three weeks back and that I have mangosteens makes me rather smug.
I will wait until tomorrow to sort out all the sudden panics and lose that smug look. In the meantime, I see rest and mangosteens, not necessarily in that order.
ETA: The mangosteens were a fizzle. They had been mishandled and were about two days past edibility.
Anyhow, I am half unpacked, my washing is in the machine, I am nearly two review books better read and am 1200 words advanced on my dissertation. All this doesn't make up for the time lost to illness (no novel written in the last few days!) or for the fact that I am not mended yet (and feel a bit as if I have been steam-rollered, to be honest), but the fact that I survived four days away after only three weeks back and that I have mangosteens makes me rather smug.
I will wait until tomorrow to sort out all the sudden panics and lose that smug look. In the meantime, I see rest and mangosteens, not necessarily in that order.
ETA: The mangosteens were a fizzle. They had been mishandled and were about two days past edibility.
August 28, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-28T20:02:00
Sydney is lovely and warm, the workshop seems to have gone well, and a rather large number of my friends are dealing with hurricanes and family things: it's a very strange Sunday night. I don't feel like working, or even up to much work, so in a little while I shall put everything away and watch Dr Who and possibly Eureka and think of said friends.
I want to be able to say that I've done enough work while I was away so that things can quieten down a bit when I return, but this infectin has knocked me for a six, so I haven't. I've taught and I've read one more Aurealis book, and that's all. I might be able to read a couple of review books tomorrow, though, all going well. That would mean I can arrive home and claim triumphantly that I haven't fallen very far behind, at least.
I was saying to one of my students at the end of today's workshop that I wasn't teaching until Tuesday. She was the one who pointed out that it wasn't really a day off if I was travelling. And this is true, it isn't, especially if I read review books on the bus. Still...
Also, I may feel very much like something washed up from the deep sea by the king tide, but I actually am improving. I manage to have longer between bouts of wimpishness and I'm only just now up to serious pain relievers. And I taught two ahlf days adn two full days this week, with not much brreath. I am smug. Well, I will be smug, when those pain relievers kick in and I am watching Dr Who.
If I keep improving then I confidently predict that, by the end of the week, I shall be able to write something interesting here.
I want to be able to say that I've done enough work while I was away so that things can quieten down a bit when I return, but this infectin has knocked me for a six, so I haven't. I've taught and I've read one more Aurealis book, and that's all. I might be able to read a couple of review books tomorrow, though, all going well. That would mean I can arrive home and claim triumphantly that I haven't fallen very far behind, at least.
I was saying to one of my students at the end of today's workshop that I wasn't teaching until Tuesday. She was the one who pointed out that it wasn't really a day off if I was travelling. And this is true, it isn't, especially if I read review books on the bus. Still...
Also, I may feel very much like something washed up from the deep sea by the king tide, but I actually am improving. I manage to have longer between bouts of wimpishness and I'm only just now up to serious pain relievers. And I taught two ahlf days adn two full days this week, with not much brreath. I am smug. Well, I will be smug, when those pain relievers kick in and I am watching Dr Who.
If I keep improving then I confidently predict that, by the end of the week, I shall be able to write something interesting here.
August 27, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-27T22:17:00
Today I taught grammar, made many vile jokes, had coffee and cake with Crisetta, spent a lovely eening dining with some of my favourite people,lost my purse, and now am ensconsed on a couch, my purse safely in my handbag, preparing to teach tomorrow.
Tomorrow night I plan to rest, because the reason I mislaid my purse was simple fatigue. Still, I'm not doing badly, given the demands last week made.
My coming week includes some chocolate cheese. My friends find me the most interesting presents!
Tomorrow night I plan to rest, because the reason I mislaid my purse was simple fatigue. Still, I'm not doing badly, given the demands last week made.
My coming week includes some chocolate cheese. My friends find me the most interesting presents!
August 26, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-26T19:20:00
Tonight I appear to be watching stray episodes of Doomwatch. I must have seen it in my childhood. I recognise a scientist here and a jumper there and the theme music. How can I have forgottten so much?
The bus to Sydney was uneventful. Pretty scenery, but uneventful. Upon my arrival I found that I'd forgotten this and that and the other. I want to blame all the several requests and "We need to do this" and "Gillian do you know" that happened yesterday and early this morning, but the state of the body is equally liable. (I'm very tired and living on pain-relievers, BTW, but my voice is mostly back and I ate a very good lunch and dinner, which is good.)
And that's it from me.
The bus to Sydney was uneventful. Pretty scenery, but uneventful. Upon my arrival I found that I'd forgotten this and that and the other. I want to blame all the several requests and "We need to do this" and "Gillian do you know" that happened yesterday and early this morning, but the state of the body is equally liable. (I'm very tired and living on pain-relievers, BTW, but my voice is mostly back and I ate a very good lunch and dinner, which is good.)
And that's it from me.
August 25, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-25T15:50:00
A reminder to friends dining in Haberfield on Saturday night: the place is Il Geloso and the booking is for 6.30. If you haven't confirmed, then hurry, because I leave tomorrow morning and won't be as contactable thereafter (or let Crisetta know directly if you know Crisetta).
gillpolack @ 2011-08-25T10:53:00
My rather nice chest infection and my teaching and the brisk Canberra air meant that a lot of things didn't happen yesterday afternoon and evening, including blogging. I'm on minimum work for today, too, because I need to be well for Sydney teaching. Today I'm doing the preparation for Sydney, and I'm doing my Beastly work, and I'm maybe doing some dissertation and everything else will have to wait. I've only got three books in my Aurealis pile, and even though the review books are mounting up, I don't actually owe any articles at this stage, so it could be a great deal worse in terms of catch-up next week.
The antibiotics *are* working, but I need to rest. Every time I get out of bed, I discover this anew.
It appears that many, many Canberrans are keeping me company. This is a season full of ailments and stuff that goes wrong in lives. One good thing about all this bedrest is that I think many sympathetic thoughts outwards at all the friends who need them (I meant to read, but I can't, yet, which just demonstrates that I really am less than well).
Despite all this, and despite a break-in at yesterday's teaching place, class went well both Tuesday and Wednesday. Also despite me not having a voice. With no voice I taught, for instance, Planck's constant and the rhythm of bush poetry, how to write short stories involving doorways, how the sound of vowels can influence the reader's emotional perception of a story or poem. On Tuesday we dealt with how to look at another culture without instantly judging it by our own rules (specifically talking about how to evaluate Medieval medicine) and what techniques there are for so doing ("That's Plato's cave!" said a student, happily) and the complexities of a culture and how dynamics push some ideas on and into the future and not others. Bearded wizards may have been mentioned and also JK Rowling (who really does know her cultural trigger points) but what we talked about most was the effect of cosmology and religion on everyday understandings of life and stories. Also, my Tuesday class discovered there was an Evil Gillian and my Wednesday class were upset that the Tuesday class got Evil Gillian and that they didn't.
Today I have half a voice. The book-that-came-in-the-mail today was something I ordered when i was at Leeds: Bottero's The Oldest Cuisine in the World. I've given up trying to find a reasonably-priced copy of the original and settled for the English translation with Leeds discount.
Now that I've reported in, I'm going back to bed for a bit....
The antibiotics *are* working, but I need to rest. Every time I get out of bed, I discover this anew.
It appears that many, many Canberrans are keeping me company. This is a season full of ailments and stuff that goes wrong in lives. One good thing about all this bedrest is that I think many sympathetic thoughts outwards at all the friends who need them (I meant to read, but I can't, yet, which just demonstrates that I really am less than well).
Despite all this, and despite a break-in at yesterday's teaching place, class went well both Tuesday and Wednesday. Also despite me not having a voice. With no voice I taught, for instance, Planck's constant and the rhythm of bush poetry, how to write short stories involving doorways, how the sound of vowels can influence the reader's emotional perception of a story or poem. On Tuesday we dealt with how to look at another culture without instantly judging it by our own rules (specifically talking about how to evaluate Medieval medicine) and what techniques there are for so doing ("That's Plato's cave!" said a student, happily) and the complexities of a culture and how dynamics push some ideas on and into the future and not others. Bearded wizards may have been mentioned and also JK Rowling (who really does know her cultural trigger points) but what we talked about most was the effect of cosmology and religion on everyday understandings of life and stories. Also, my Tuesday class discovered there was an Evil Gillian and my Wednesday class were upset that the Tuesday class got Evil Gillian and that they didn't.
Today I have half a voice. The book-that-came-in-the-mail today was something I ordered when i was at Leeds: Bottero's The Oldest Cuisine in the World. I've given up trying to find a reasonably-priced copy of the original and settled for the English translation with Leeds discount.
Now that I've reported in, I'm going back to bed for a bit....
August 23, 2011
gillpolack @ 2011-08-23T15:19:00
I promised an update. The doctor days that I have a rather nice chest infection, am doing all the right things, and need to take the exact same antibiotics as I did when in France (so I got to compare the prices, close and personal and France is cheaper, which we knew). I still teach tonight, but have to cancel my excursion tomorrow night because I need to go to bed a bit earlier for a few days and avoid the cold night air (teaching finishes way earlier than tomorrow's evening with friends). All is well for Sydney, because the doctor says I'll be over it very quickly because it was caught at the precise right moment.
In other news, I finished only one book today, but still have time for another. I don't have the energy to read four (which is odd, because I wasn't well yesterday and actually read six). I think I shall postpone preparing for Saturday's class until tomorrow and Thursday and take it a bit easy today. This means teaching and reading and lounging around pretending I'm ill.
Mail-wise I got only one book, and that one was for Aurealis judging. I might have to wait a few days for the missing big parcel. If it comes when I'm in Sydney and I have to pick it up from the post office, I shall think the universe is cruel.
In other news, I finished only one book today, but still have time for another. I don't have the energy to read four (which is odd, because I wasn't well yesterday and actually read six). I think I shall postpone preparing for Saturday's class until tomorrow and Thursday and take it a bit easy today. This means teaching and reading and lounging around pretending I'm ill.
Mail-wise I got only one book, and that one was for Aurealis judging. I might have to wait a few days for the missing big parcel. If it comes when I'm in Sydney and I have to pick it up from the post office, I shall think the universe is cruel.
gillpolack @ 2011-08-23T13:07:00
Today is a 'don't overwork' day. It's also a 'go to the doctor' day. I've done two of the three totally important bits of work already and in a moment I wend doctorwards. Tonight I shall teach, and that's the third bit of totally important work. I rather suspect I shall be teaching on antibiotics*. Watch this space for exciting updates**.
*Since footnotes are important to my life, let me just say that when an asthmatic goes from summer to winter, this is a very likely result. It's not the first time that I have had a chest infection after a bit of a climate shift. Save your sympathies for when I'm seriously ill. Now, though, chocolate would not come amiss.
**I just realised that I have a lovely opportunity here to have more footnote than text. That's all this is: extra footnote. Total waste of your time. I really ought to apologise.
*Since footnotes are important to my life, let me just say that when an asthmatic goes from summer to winter, this is a very likely result. It's not the first time that I have had a chest infection after a bit of a climate shift. Save your sympathies for when I'm seriously ill. Now, though, chocolate would not come amiss.
**I just realised that I have a lovely opportunity here to have more footnote than text. That's all this is: extra footnote. Total waste of your time. I really ought to apologise.
