Bruxelles

Cancelled. WHY?

I hurt my back and was in no fit state to travel. I was so upset, as I had been looking forward to the trip all term. In the meantime, I had a letter asking me to come for interview. I would have paid the £300 to come home early, but as it turned out, I couldn't even get to the airport to go, let alone fly. So, I missed my few days holiday to recover from the stress of a busy term, and I didn't get to see the person I have missed dreadfully all term. Hopefully, Bruxelles will still be there in January [sales will be on...], and by the end of the week I will know when I can go [as I will have heard if my job interviews were successful or not], and as long as it is not exam time - as I could not jepordise his exams - I WILL go and visit. Better late than never...

Graduate Futures - Unwrapped

The project I have been working on for the past 2 years is coming to a close [although we have found some money for a 6 month extension, and are looking for even more money for further development], so we had a 'Showcase' event to disseminate good practice to other universities last week [5 Dec]. It went well, and lots of people were very impressed with what we had done, with some universities wanting us to go and talk in more detail to them... The event was opened by the VC, who said some very complimentary things about the project, and then she and I pulled the gold ribbon to 'unwrap' the red box centre stage in the TV studio. As the sides of the box fell away, my red toolbox which I use for teaching was displayed - as the star of the project [we give students a toolkit of employability...]. Great fun. When sitting on the sofa waiting to answer questions, the screen started to descend, hiding the team from the audience - so although it was a bit annoying, the audience thought it funny. How I managed to bounce around the studio in the afternoon to do my 2 workshops I will never know - but painkillers certainly help you cope. The relief on all the team's faces afterwards was a sight to see, but it was worth all the hard work. The DVD was worth it as well - even though my first sight of the finished product was with everyone else at the event. Just waiting to see the out-takes at the staff meeting next week...

Interview time

Its a big week this week. Two interviews. One tomorrow [Monday] at Nottingham and one on Thursday at Oxford. And before you ask, no it is not Nottingham Trent or Oxford Brookes - it is Nottingham and Oxford. I should have been preparing for the past few days, but my brain has gone to mush 'cos of the painkillers I have been on, so I just hope I do OK. If it is meant to be, I will get one, and if it is'nt I won't. At least I got interviews... and I hope I can manage to walk into the interview without it being too apparent that my back has gone and it hurts to even sit down. Oh well, fingers crossed.

World Aids Day

Aids is a feminist issue. The comment by Bianca Jagger today says it all , so I am just putting the link here, so please go and read the article.

Aids: a feminist issue
We need to expose how poverty, low status and poor access to health care make women especially vulnerable to HIV infection.