Coming up for air

So now recovering from Edmund's 40th, Nice to see old faces - but its scary to think how quickly time has gone - underlined by Alex's first birthday a couple of weeks ago. The huge tidal wave of work is now receding, so am able to enjoy working rather than frantically playing catch up, although a number of reports are being stubbonly unhelpful in being somewhat difficult to write.

Tomorrow the IFA conference is southport - and then free of distractions for several months

Loiks

Well the lecturing was interesting. I think as a teaching too the act of lecturing is a lot better way of learning a subject than actually attending a lecture

Writing lectures

In many ways this is a nice easy way into giving a series of lectures - I'm giving a course spread over 9 weeks ( + 1 reading week) which is part of a wider series ( I just give term 2 lectures). I'm following the broad pattern set by someone else ( with some tweaking). Its on the Roman Economy- the big theme of my PhD, and I'm largely concentrating on the material evidence for an audience of classicists. But it sure is a daunting class (not helped by the convergence of deadlines from a number of sides...). It really is harder than it looks, needs a lot of preperation and nicely reveals the areas which are so far outside my comfort zone that they are posting my postcards.

Still that is a major reason why I took the opportunity up when it was offered ( as well as calculating that the recession should be hitting my business by now which it apparently is, and needing to add this particular arrow to my quiver.

So the good part is yes it is showing me areas I need to know more about, it is refreshing my memory on certain other aspects, its making me appreciate the other side of the lectureship coin.

I have now prepared the first weeks two lectures - an introduction piece, with something on provenance studies, dating and quantification - all firmly in my comfort zone, and probably furthest from the comfort zone of the students. That ratio will be changing!

And now a rehersal!

Writing

Taking a pause from the Nantwich pot report to hastily put together roman economy lacture series using material evidence for classicists. I must enjoy setting myself challenges!

Why does writing something like this

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/

now get you death threats?

Over committed

Just as the deadlines for the two articles and big tile report come intoview I sign up for19.5 days of emergency pottery report. When will I ever learn...