Anything to procrastinate!

Well its that time of year again when however much I need to write I still find myself, well writing, but about something else altogether.

Today all i have to share with you is to quote a good friend who today said to me:
' What we need is someone who is wise, there are plenty of intelligent people but intelligence doesn't always bring wisdom.'

She's right, but i had forgotten this due to my incessant reading of intelligent books without giving the time to contemplate their wisdom (or my own).

By the way, in case you're wondering she was referring to what we need in personal relationships, not academically, my whole life is not completely taken over by dissertations you know!

Merry Christmas!!

Its that mellowing time

May I just mention that from up here in the 'scoomb we have the most spectacular sunsets especially at the summer/autumn transition. Its enough to make you give up a Hanover lifestyle forever!

Sussex Delights

Having resigned myself to the fact that I cannot leave Brighton quite yet I thought I would try and think positively about where I live. In this vein I have diverted a small portion of the energy usually expended on daydreaming about other places I could live into the appreciation of the joys of East Sussex. Firstly we have the spectacular Friston Forest. I had forgotten how much I had been missing trees until they were all around me. The light through the leaves as the sun rose and we clambered from our tents was certainly a wonder to behold.

May I just point out that I took this picture on my crappy phone camera and considering i'm rather pleased with it but just imagine how much better it would look in reality.

Secondly (and i know this is a blatant plug but its not as if they need the business) we have in our fair city the lovely Barley Mow, which in my humble opinion does the best roasts in town. And if you don't feel like scoffing half a chicken and a humongous plate of veg smothered in luscious gravy you can have locally caught fish or wild boar steaks or moules marinere etc etc etc. Basically their food rocks and the atmosphere ain't bad either!

From a long time ago

I've been sitting here on the edge for a long time now
The empty chair beside me
And my heart is running out the door
It's halfway over the mountains by now

I don't need my body for this relationship anymore
All the breath and skintips
Crawling gnawing scent
Rising blood waves
are sleeping outside the heavy door

Bolted and locked

And every morning I creep out in my nightdress
Tiptoeing over freezing ice floors
To peer through the keyhole and glimpse my body.

The Hour

Her voice sung its greeting
Like blood warmed hair
But the grass stayed cold
On feet tucked under skirts.

Despite the feathers that
Fluttered from tongue to tongue
The breeze was never enough
Never lasted long.

But still it always came
Danced its way through sycamore helicopters
And rested in her breath
Through the sun and through the dusk

Pretending to stay.
But in the Hour
The hour of shivers and purpling grey
The rocks rise up

Voices not calmed but quietened
Ridicule the breeze
For minds
That dare not raise their eyes.

Vacation Over; holiday begins here.

Hmm. So. April was a long time ago now. Mostly I have been trying to cram lots of opinions into my brain and regurgitate them in an intelligible format. Four extended essays and three exams later i'm not sure if i remember any of it but at least my eyes and neck no longer ache. And to add to the relief I have stopped dreaming about political theory and started dreaming about sex again. Much better!

Having a four month holiday is a strange thing. Its a bit like I job share with myself. Only the employers for some reason won't let me do part time IR and Development and part time childcare. Instead I must have intense 50 hour weeks studying for a term followed by intense full time childcare for a term. I can't be bothered to work out how many hours a week the kids are not at school or nursery but its a lot anyways.

I don't know if many other parents ever think of their parenting role as a job with set hours. I hope it doesn't come across as if I think that's all it is but i'm afraid certain aspects of my co-parenting arrangements dangerously resemble work related behaviour. When you occupy a world in which you are required to fill in an excel spreadsheet to allocate parenting slots and your five year old thinks it perfectly normal to play at writing a childcare rota the boundaries can get a little blurred. All I can say is thank God for weekends!