Day Two. Some fancy financial footwork secures the book I was lusting after yesterday. More talks, lots of talk about 'women moving through urban spaces' which confuses me a bit. Wonderful talk on Gissing's 'prejudice against flats'. I suppose I tend towards the topographical. The day ends with talks from Dr Bouwe Postmus and Professor Pierre Coustillas which both inspire and prepare the ground for future studies. Inspirational stuff. Later, we head for Denise's restaurant on Bloomsbury Square (open until 2am!), which is friendly, reasonably priced and pretty good. Fantastic evening.
First day of the Gissing conference. Seems like an awful long time to have waited for this. My concerns that much of this would be over my head prove unfounded, as early emphasis on Raymond Williams is completely within my frame of reference! The Idle Bookseller has a stall in the common room of the School of Advanced Study, and there is a copy of Isabel Clarendon on sale. Hmm. I feel an expensive purchase coming on. Met Jonathan Wild who spoke with us for some time about book collecting, academia and the window count in Scottish libraries. East again after talks finish, and to Whitecross Street. Pleasant evening.
Early start. Train to Paddington. Giving tech support via SMS most of the way made the journey fly by. Checked in, then wandered eastwards. Found a rare William Kent book in a small shop on Great Ormond Street. On checking later I discovered it was signed by the author! Huge circuit via Clerkenwell and Guildhall back to Bloomsbury. Very sleepy.
Very positive appeal news appears to fall flat. I'm biased because I've spent weeks researching and preparing for these hearings, but a little happiness that a potential financial and educational disaster has been averted would have maybe helped. Need to prepare for interview at the end of the week, and work out how to approach the difficult remaining few months of my contract, which feel a bit vague and purposeless right now. much Denzil work - having other people involved is both a blessing and a curse, meaning I have to actually keep things working - not something which is often the case in my projects.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
