Month: November 2007

I have few fond memories of the last fortnight of my MA.  Despite months of hard work the writing hadn’t come together, leading me to rewrite the whole thing.  I was disappointed with the final piece, feeling it didn’t reflect the work or thought I’d put in.

The MA results were published yesterday.  I was ambivalent about collecting my mark since I had such low expectations of the final piece.  Fortunately Rosy had already checked, and broke the news I’d earned a merit.  I’m both surprised and delighted.

It’s strange to have scored so highly for work that, towards the end, was making me react physically.  In fact the dissertation scored an A, which is a shock to me.  The feedback, which I read today, described it as "very elegant, patient, illuminating and quirky".  I’m planning to re-read the whole thing over the weekend as it probably deserves a reappraisal.  I still feel weird to be awarded a merit but I’m  getting used to the idea.

…and I am glad.

Given Clive James' famous poem, it was ironic to find a copy of his collected poetry in a remainder store.  I almost bought a copy just for that irony.

 

I didn’t get around to making a number of posts in the last week, so here’s a summary of them:

• Last Saturday Rosy and I went to London.  We saw the Seduction exhibition and then went to my friend Ian’s play, How to Curse.  Due to an astounding navigational failure we had to run to make the theatre in time.  It was a little like being late for a plane, as the staff were waiting and hustled us through check-in.  The play was excellent: in its adept use of foul language, its set design and a script I thought was funny and gripping.
• Early on Sunday morning I dropped into Merlin’s 27 days later party.  The house had been decorated with a post-zombiecaust theme and was incredible.  Beth took some terrfiying film footage.
• Tuesday night I went to the launch of Quid 18, featuring a performance by Justin Katko and Jamelian Wigmore.  I wasn’t sure about the performances (although I’ve enjoyed some of Justin Katko’s written work) but Quid 18 is excellent.
• Wednesday night I went on The Crawl of the Dead which was a fun spectacle to be part of.  Photos here, and one of me here

There are good things about the end of British Summer Time too.  The office where I work looks out across the Sussex University campus towards Stanmer Park.  It offers some incredible views when the sun sets.  Someone will look up from the computer, see it, and let everyone else know.  The people sitting near the windows open the blinds and others get up from the desk to stand in front of the window, watching the sunset.  Good, old-fashioned entertainment.