Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Where I am
In my tiny office here at the university, a hodge-podge of disparate buildings cramped together in the middle of London. It overlooks a narrow alley and I can't see the sky unless I open the window and stick my head out. I did. The sky is grey. Lunchtime.
Having experienced open plan, I love my office: little and dark though it is, it's all mine. One wall is occupied by my desk, table and filing cabinet, with shelves full of files above. Nothing except some overflow boxes full of papers along the other wall behind me.
On top of my monitor are a tiny buddha which a student brought me back from Nepal and a chunk of rose quartz crystal. I'm not convinced the latter infuses my computer with positive vibes (the man who sold it to me assured me it would make my software work better), but you never know...
Plants crowd the windowsill – not too healthy, not much light. And some cut blue hyacinths in a glass jug.
On the wall behind me, an academic year planner, a notice-board crowded with internal memos and postcards of wild flowers and herbs, buddhist scenes and mottoes (eg “eighty percent is perfection”), photos of the French Jura where I spent a wonderful holiday.
On the desk and table, lots and lots of paper; piles of files weighted down with staplers, hole-punches, anything heavy; lists scribbled on sticky post-it notes. Running out of clear space to work on.
Boredom with the job accounts for lunchtimes and ‘little breaks’ on line, surfing the net, reading blogs. Look where that got me.
A phd student just came in to tell me she's finished the (hopefully) final draft of her thesis. She looks like she can't believe it and isn't quite sure how she feels. ¶ 12:17 pm
Having experienced open plan, I love my office: little and dark though it is, it's all mine. One wall is occupied by my desk, table and filing cabinet, with shelves full of files above. Nothing except some overflow boxes full of papers along the other wall behind me.
On top of my monitor are a tiny buddha which a student brought me back from Nepal and a chunk of rose quartz crystal. I'm not convinced the latter infuses my computer with positive vibes (the man who sold it to me assured me it would make my software work better), but you never know...
Plants crowd the windowsill – not too healthy, not much light. And some cut blue hyacinths in a glass jug.
On the wall behind me, an academic year planner, a notice-board crowded with internal memos and postcards of wild flowers and herbs, buddhist scenes and mottoes (eg “eighty percent is perfection”), photos of the French Jura where I spent a wonderful holiday.
On the desk and table, lots and lots of paper; piles of files weighted down with staplers, hole-punches, anything heavy; lists scribbled on sticky post-it notes. Running out of clear space to work on.
Boredom with the job accounts for lunchtimes and ‘little breaks’ on line, surfing the net, reading blogs. Look where that got me.
A phd student just came in to tell me she's finished the (hopefully) final draft of her thesis. She looks like she can't believe it and isn't quite sure how she feels. ¶ 12:17 pm
Comments:
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Welcome to the blogosphere, Jean! Be careful, though...it can become quite the habit... ;-)
# posted by 
: 1:04 pm
: 1:04 pm
Halloo, Jean! Welcome from the middle of the middlewest, USA. Now that you're here, I think you'll find you won't be able to stop blogging. Oh, no, another blog-monster.... Now, let's see London.
Welcome to the world of blogging ... as a lover of words, you will find more than you can possibly consume, but oh boy is the variety delicious!
ntexas99
ntexas99
# posted by : 4:59 am
: 4:59 am
Another welcome to the blogosphere, Jean. I found you in Fred's Comments section. A beautiful, auspicious beginning you've made here and I eagerly await more.
# posted by : 4:40 pm
: 4:40 pm
About the rose quartz. Not sure if it will make yur computer run better but perhaps you will feel more sympathy for it when it fails :)
ililani - another 50 something - coming to grips with unbidden change at times screaming about it, sometimes actually moving outside of it
enjoy another perspective
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ililani - another 50 something - coming to grips with unbidden change at times screaming about it, sometimes actually moving outside of it
enjoy another perspective
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