Week 43
Half-term - so no work updates this week. Instead, I:
spent time at the Southbank just reading, people watching and enjoying the Autumn sunshine - I was there mainly to hear Richard Dawkins and Florence Given both speak. I enjoyed the latter a lot more than the former. I think because Dawkins’ talk was more of a celebratory lap - telling stories of his career, of arguments he’s had with various critics, answering questions about the legacy he wants to leave. His celebrity weighed quite heavily - everyone stood up to applaud him simply entering the room. But I didn’t really learn anything, or feel intellectually stretched in any way. I really enjoyed Florence’s session because she was so relatable, she tapped into the unapologetic feminism bubbling inside me, and because she made me think twice about some of the ideas that I’ve been holding unquestioningly. Reflection: Both were great speakers. I chatted to a truly lovely person afterwards about the experience and mused that perhaps my experience and expectations of Dawkins had been influenced by my experience of Given’s earlier talk? What would it have been like to come to him fresh, without my feminist instincts front of mind/gut? I guess I can’t know. I’m thinking perhaps talks like these deserve more careful pairing. I’m watching Michael Marmot talk about Health Inequalities at Gresham College this week - I’m now trying to imagine what an appropriate intellectual appetiser might be, to prime me to get the most from his session.
went to Greenwich Park and the observatory with the girls. Before we arrived, the girls got lunch (and food poisoning) at a street food market. E adored the observatory - went from room to room absorbing all the history, studying the tools and telescopes. We saw the 1pm ball drop. She and Z hopped either side of the Meridian line. It was a truly lovely day. Reflection: I wish I thought to organise this sort of thing more often. I forget that day trips with them are nowhere near as much effort as they were when they were much younger. Those exhausting days spent on high alert, making sure that the kids didn’t hurt themselves, or damage property, or have a meltdown - they’re long gone. So I can, and should, plan more into our diary. Especially as they’re secondary school age and will soon not want to spend time with their mum.
took the girls to Scotland on the train, to see my Mum. It was a very early train - and shortly after boarding, Z started throwing up. A few hours later, joined in. This went on for around 36 hours. On the train. Outside the apartment. On their bed. All the way through the night. So I did a lot more washing than I’d normally do whilst away on holiday. After they’d recovered, they were still weak - so, though we had some nice walks at the beach, they spent most of the time eating toast and watching game shows with their grand-dad. And trying (and, for E, failing) to not react to his racist anti-immigrant banter. Reflection: you couldn’t make it up, how unlucky I’ve been on annual leave this year. Sh*t happens I guess.