All entries for Monday 06 February 2006

Monday, 06 February

Today marks three weeks of uneasy coexistence between myself and my Blog. I know that my occasional inactivity has drawn more than a couple of scornful glances [mainly from Gav, the conscience of Warwick Blogs] but I make this my tenth entry in that time: that's one every two-and-a-bit days. Considering I only actually do any work about once every two-and-a-bit days, I would regard that a fairly virtuous average.

What was totally reprehensible, however, was my "premeditated absence" from Greek today. After Friday's lecture left me grumbling I opted not to spend my time travelling to campus and back for the sake of another. Used the last half-hour to catch up on what I guess I have missed; it gets done in half the time without Margaret's interjections. Grateful as I am to her to take me on as a hitchhiker in the class, you understand.

No, I spent the day instead sat in my room with the convection heater blurring the air around my desk, occasionally slipping out the door to answer another wrong number. Not that I intend to give the impression my day was wasted: I added 700 words to my total and made a serious dent in the task of surveying Petrarch's allegorical reading of the Eclogues via Servius. It has been all introduction, really: to Petrarch's esteem for Virgilian allegory and to the slippery issue of allegory in the ancient world, which is where I left it.

Tomorrow, I should throw myself headlong at the topic of autobiographical allegory in the Eclogues. My sister is coming to visit about two 'o' clock in the afternoon but if I aspire to give that the old heave-ho before then, that will be the first half of my chapter concluded. Current word-count is about two-and-half thousand, so I'm definitely on-schedule for a fiveish-k chapter.

Watched Masterchef and subsequently spent an hour making dinner. Much as I enjoy their critiqueing, Gregg Wallace and John Torode have made me hideously self-conscious in the kitchen — even when I'm just throwing together a quickfire vegetable chilli [like this evening] I can imagine them tut-tutting and renouncing my flavour combinations.

Saw Munich at the Leamington Apollo last night. I thought it was a very powerful and courageous film, even if it was at least a half an hour too long and a little clumsy in places. When I bought my ticket I enquired politely when Johnny Cash would be coming to Leam; was told that there has been a spot of bother getting hold of the reel, but that he might be here next week. Keeping my fingers crossed.

: 06 Feb 2006 18:26 |  Tags: Classics Eclogues Ma Petrarch Research Virgil |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem