I’m a bit snowed under right now. It’s mostly for the best reasons.
First, I have to do minor revisions and then I will have a PhD. I’m meeting with my supervisors this week to work out the best approach. Once the adjusted thesis has been submitted, that’s the end of doctoral studies for me. I promise I won’t do another PhD!
Second, I’m meeting with a Robin Hood scholar for shared work on Eustace the Monk. That guy haunts me.
Third, proof-reading is being done for a novel. More about that when announcement time arrives… which is not far away.
Fourth, this weekend I’m at the virtual end of Balticon. I have some wonderful panels and the best possible company.
Fifth, Swancon (the Australian national science fiction convention in Perth this year) is the weekend after. I’m running the Huamnities side of the academic programme. I’m lucky in the people I work with, because it’s all a lot easier for me than I expected. This is through the hard and clever work of the chief runner of all academic things and because of the Swancon team as a whole.
Sixth, I have a novel I need to write and a NF book to find a home for.
Seventh, I’ve my ME/CFS back. Aren’t I lucky?
I’ve had it for a while, but it’s reached the place where I can do things and this means I can overdo things and get set back for a full year if I’m not careful. I’m one of the lucky ones in that I get remission. I’m unlucky in that I was finally succeeding with an exercise programme that was enabling to walk a full kilometre and I as so proud of myself. Pride and falls – we have reached the time of the fall. Not all falls are bad. It’s autumn in Canberra, so, if I wander in the right suburbs, I get to see autumn leaves. A friend and I investigated leaves last week, and we jumped in them and it was lovely.
With all this going on, later today I’ll put up posts for the next fortnight. They will magically appear on the right day and it will look as if I’m diligent and at my desk. I will be neither diligent nor at my desk, but I will be spending time with wonder and friends and much talk of speculative fiction. Also, I will be giving a workshop.
The noise you hear in the background is the Australian Royal Commission into antisemitism and social cohesion. It’s not the Commission itself, but many who hate coming out of the woodwork and making sure we see them. Most of them complain that too much energy and attention is being spent on Jews. This is beyond irony.