Life sign

Just a very quick sign: I’m still here, but my thesis isn’t yet. More news soon.

…and back again

So here’s the middling-to-major update I promised you almost two weeks ago:

– First of all and the cause of my delay: My conference paper is finished! I have tried to approach Mervyn Peake’s Titus books from a postmodernist Gothic perspective, claiming that the humongous size of Gormenghast castle creates a labyrinth both in stone and in mind – if something horrible appears to be infinite in all directions, it sooner or later will screw up your mind. I will be presenting this claim today in a week at the conference in Zurich and hope to publish the paper afterwards.

– Secondly, I have also one week left to decide about whether and what I want to send in as a paper proposal for another conference in November in Hamburg (or was it Marburg? I’ll have to check later). So far, my ideas are circling around Frankenstein, Piranesi’s Carceri d’Invenzione and a really obscure Swiss author you have never heard of.

– Apart from that, business as usual. I am already missing England again (blame it on the remarkable choice of good ales, ciders and foods in general) but I’m not sure if I’ll make it there anytime soon. My thesis demands more attention and would like to be finished by July, and to do that, I more or less have to lock myself in my office and hide under my desk whenever someone knocks on the door.

More news whenever they arrive…

Please remove properly

Mental note: Before washing your jeans, check them not only for tissues and small change but also for memory sticks.

Thankfully, all the data is also on my computer and on a external hard disk. But still, a potential of 16 gigabytes has gone down the drain…

Edits and piglets

Editing, editing, editing. Editing my hopefully-to-be-published paper, editing the first two chapters of my thesis, editing my personal writing with a beer to stop bothering and start doing things (yes, I usually only drink when things become personal). I think I’m getting somewhere, but as always, I could get there faster and with less effort if only I put more of it into actual work. But it’s a promising semester and last quart of the year, and I am looking forward to it all.

Oh, and I’m going to an urban-agricultural expo in Lausanne tomorrow. I sincerely hope that there will be piglets and sheep to pet.

Hello, I must be going

Interesting. Someone just entered our office, turned off the printer, went out again and locked the door. I could not see who it was, so my speculations range between confused time traveller/future self and the janitor.

 

Priceless

That moment when you realise that the books for your course are actual physical books and now you’ll have to carry them all to your office in order to copy them onto the server: Too early in the morning.

Cuppa

(No such thing as) too much tea.

The Philosophy of Small Change

Switching back from British to Swiss money feels like coming home to an alien planet after a long odyssey. British small change still doesn’t really make sense to me (why would you make two pence bigger than five pence, for instance?), but I was finally getting the hang of it. Oh well. This just means that I have to head back to Britain soon again…

Sláinte

Phew. My To-do-list is finished for the time being. Before I’m off to Scotland tomorrow and you probably won’t hear from me for three and a half weeks, here are some of the things that I have managed to do:

First of all, I’ll be teaching another tutorial next semester – and this time, it’s about Pratchett, Pratchett and more Pratchett. We are going to read The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Witches Abroad, Men At Arms, Hogfather and Raising Steam. The goal of my course is to highlight the development of the Discworld in the light of postmodernism and narratology (amongst other theories). So yes, it’s basically me discussing my PhD thesis with 30 other students and getting precious, precious feedback. I’m really looking forward to this!

Secondly, I will present my thesis to a larger audience at my university this autumn. In order to encourage fellow students to write a master’s thesis or a PhD, me and other doctoral students are going to talk about our projects, our ups and downs and in-betweens. Also looking forward to that, although I still have no idea how to express all my ideas in ten minutes…

Thirdly, my conference in August has turned into a small trip. I planned on paying a short visit to H.P. Lovecraft’s hometown of Providence after Mythcon, but now I’m staying for nearly another week in Boston! If anyone of you lives near the area and would like to meet up, let me know… I promise not to bore you too much with my thesis!

But for now, I wish you pleasant days and safe journeys. If I’m lucky and get enough internet running, there might be a picture or two of Scotland coming up in the next weeks… have a good time!

Tea and Tea by-products

My Night Vale tea sampler set has arrived.

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