some bedtime reading

well, as the faithful readers know i have finished my disseration and if you're daft enough to want to read it just send me an e-mail. it's long so i'm warning you now.

i am feeling better and back on semi-regular food. not quite up to my usual intake of fruits and vegetables, but i'll get there soon no doubt. i met davoud down in coventry last weekend so i could visit with his family, especially his father who's been in hospital since late february. one of the highlights was going to the pub and watching a rare win for liverpool fc over arch rivals manchester united. a nice 4-1 win too!

went to the film 'the class' last night, which was a great portrait of young people in france today. i highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get into the heads of a teacher at a tough school or a 14 year old boy or girl.



i'm off to york this weekend to complete research for one of my last two projects for school - i'm getting there! and then i'll have to get ready for the welcome onslaught of canadian visitors in april. we have a week free just in case anybody is keen to hop on an airplane...

stomach bug

i had a really lovely weekend. pints at the pub on friday, cleaning, chores and a run on saturday, and a nice long walk with val and paul on sunday. monday i lazed around the house and then went to class after which i came home and cooked myself a piece of salmon from tesco. i'm fairly convinced at this point that it was my downfall.

the last 30 hours have not been pleasant, i'm just hoping that i can keep some nutrients in my body today so i can go back to work tomorrow. not having done any school or proper work for the last five days is starting to drive me bonkers.

anyway, here's hoping the worst of it is over.

eighty weighty pages

over the last five weeks apparently my personality and voicebox have changed slightly. karen called me last night - to tell me she was coming to visit in april! hooray! - and didn't recognise my voice. so it's a good thing that my dissertation is almost finished. i could hand it in tomorrow if i really wanted to, but i'm just waiting on a second read and a little bit of feedback.

i've packed all of my papers away in a box, reorganised my one shelving unit in the house, and put away the hats and mitts from the hallway that have been stacked up on shoes for the last four months. it looks positively spring like out there. and hey, we might actually get to use our dining room table this week.

in the end, i probably will have written over 25,000 when all of the drafts and re-drafts are taken into consideration, but the final document will max out at eighty weighty pages. today i get to go pick out a nice presentation folder perhaps the most fun bit of this whole process. although visiting newcastle to do interviews was pretty nice too.

i can now leave the land of the funnel people and come back to the normal side of life. still two more projects to complete for my masters, but i have the feeling they are going to seem positively easy after this.

i'm really looking forward to this weekend. we're going to the pub straight after work on friday to celebrate and then who nows what the rest of the weekend will bring. ideas about hiking in wales, baking bread or watching movies all day have been floated, but we'll see how the mood strikes us.

anyway, a mass apology to all of those i haven't been in touch with recently and a very big thank you to everyone who supported me along the way. especially that very first week in february.