(no subject)

My next three days is all about lists and completing essentials and moving on. It's the Passover cleaning and the health stuff and a bunch of small deadlines. Most of the deadlines are technically moveable. They're self-imposed because I honestly don't know if life's going to get suddenly easier from next week, or if an extra 30-40 hours work is going to be added. I'd rather prepare for the latter, if I can, given I'm through medical appointments for the time being and I have no teaching until Wednesday.

The writing and editing will show online next week. I'll explain it all then and give you a link. In fact, I'll explain most things next week. I should know the final medical verdicts by then (just one major appointment to go - all tests seem to be over). I already know that the verdict on my eyes is way better than anyone expected, but I'll do a full update. Life has been quietly bubbling away, hiding behind medical appointments, but nevertheless there, so I'll update that, as well.

In the interim, I don't dare be boring, not after the first paragraph of the most recent book review. The thing about dullness, though, is the minute I think "I need to be interesting" my mind turns into a set of cliches. And is it really fascinating that my freezer is almost empty and that all my spices are away and that I've been applying bicarbonate of soda to stained dishes and making them pretty again? Or that I need to draft finals for my second half year courses? Or that I'm in the middle of updating the CSFG bibliography? Or that I owe a nephew a letter?

What you really need is something scintillating. The sort of thing that will hold your attention and change your life for a full five minutes. Not me contemplating if I'm being cruel to New Zealand in highlighting its debt in an article about nineteenth century Australia (I am, but I'm doing it anyway). I therefore suggest you pretend not to have read this far and skip straight to the Great Australian Booklist and update the list with books you think Australians ought to be seeing on shelves. While you're there, please admire the fact that some people want to read a book of mine. This is proof of something. Possibly that the great reading public is misguided. Maybe that reviewers are influential. I do like seeing that people want to read my book, whatever the reason. May it get many more votes!

The list is becoming very interesting - what's on it and what's not; what's been voted for and what just has the support of the nominator. It changes daily and is a lot of fun to watch.

Short courses - the Middle Ages and food history

This post is really for Canberra and region (unless you have a travel bug).

In theory, I have two courses running that start in April, Medieval Women and the food history one. Both of them have been much loved by many people. Both of them are under-enrolled. If you know anyone who was intending to take either of them, a reminder might be in order. If they don't get enough enrolments quickly (by Monday afternoon, in fact, for Medieval Women) then they will be cancelled.

The low enrolments have been a bit of a surprise to everyone. The course that finished last Tuesday had so many people it had to be transferred to a bigger room, and both the women's history and the food history course are normally much more popular than Medieval London. However, if they get cancelled, they may not run next year. When courses are planned, they're based on current popularity, not how many people did them the year before last.

So, if you know anyone who is interested, you might want to encourage them to enrol online or by fax or to ring the office on Monday.




PS There's a very interesting weather change coming. I am making the evil eye at it.