Meanwhile at work, the tension is really beginning to mount in terms of the new academic year (Gawd bless it). People are usually snippety the week before Freshers’ Week until the week after it, so we all get tearful then. Unfortunately they appear to be getting rather snippety now, which doesn’t bode well for the rest of the month, dammit. In fact, one of the emails I received today was so snippety that the Marketing department rang up to sympathise. They obviously don’t know that we’re blamed for everything here at the campus coalface … Mind you, they were impressed with my reply to the aforementioned rudery, which (to my mind) was witty but firm. Anyway, I sorted out the problem, so hopefully the twig-beating that is no doubt lined up for me will be lighter than expected. Still, it’s all so upsetting though. Sigh.

And, really, all I desperately, desperately want to do is goooooo hooooome and sleep. More weird dreams last night though. This time, I was taking a train to Prague with Jane W. She managed to catch it, whereas I was left arguing with the ticket office man. In the end I scrambled aboard another train, with Lord H who had miraculously turned up, and we were frantically looking for seats and trying to work out where the train was actually going when I woke up. Lordy, but my mind is obviously a total no-go zone. Maybe I should just take more calming pills last thing at night??

Anyway, at lunch the weather cleared up enough for a stroll around the campus. Complete with woolly hat, fingerless gloves and scarf. Though then the sun came out so I looked like a complete idjit as usual. I am the height of Surrey fashion, you know. Obviously. Oh, and I’ve sent the final complimentary copy of Maloney’s Law out. Honestly, it feels nice to be doing something at least – most of the publication game is a question of sitting around and hearing absolutely zilch. And bloody hell when you do hear something, it’s a “no”. It’s so ruddy disheartening. At all levels.

During the afternoon, Ruth and I succumbed to the lure of Starbucks (at the moment, this is a weekly indulgence, but soon I suspect it will become daily). There’s nothing like a decaff Cappuccino to make me feel at one with the world. But can the world cope with that?...

Tonight, I shall pop in to see Gladys, restock her birdseed and attempt to look like a normal human being. Heck, she probably wouldn’t notice if I had two heads and was speaking Klingon. Perhaps I should try it? I do own the Klingon Guide to Tourism (Buy or Die) after all.

Ooh, and I’ve finished the very rough draft of my first long poem. So that’s quite satisfying, but my goodness what a heck of a lot of editing pen I’ll no doubt use on it. Should be a haiku by the time I’ve finished, eh. And talking of poetry, here are a couple of poems I've been thinking about:

The comfort of family

I suppose you'd want to be with them, 
when it came to it, 
whatever happens after

and if you were planning to die 
then you'd take them 
with you

gunshot and blood 
and all the memories you carry 
set free at last

making your own peace 
from pain, fire 
and the final silence of ashes

in the comfort of family.

and another one:

It strikes me 


that a large proportion of adult life 
is made up of the wise management

of boredom.

Shame we never teach this

to the children.

And, at the end of a very prickly day, it’ll be a relief to sit down in front of “Mutual Friends” on TV. Ye gods, I just can’t wait.

Today’s nice things:

1. Campus stroll
2. TV
3. Poetry
4. Starbucks decaff Cappuccino
5. Being at home this evening.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website