I am writing this first week retrospectively.
Monday 21 Nov
My 50th birthday! I requested a cake – victoria sponge cake was duly drummed up. Very very tasty. Reminded myself of where we are and what we need to do to move our book series forward, by checking on the reviewers comments, and considering what I could do next to move it forward. Wrote the introduction to the digital storytelling & higher education journal article.
Tuesday 22 Nov
Great catch up on a book series proposal with MMU colleague. Really excited about where it’s headed. I am going to figure out the key topics and the backgrounds and relevance of our advisory editorial committee. A bit more writing on the digital storytelling paper, before getting it over to co-authors. Birthday dinner celebrations at the super tasty 1251. I knew it was the right place for a birthday when I was looking at the sparkling wine and it just arrived. Tah dah! The chef is James Cochran and oh my it was tasty. I would go back for sure.
Wednesday 23 Nov
My sister’s birthday! Had a catch up on the storytelling element of an environmental justice project and planned what I wanted to cover in a check in on our anti-oppression training on the same project. Had a writing check in with my old teaching team at MMU – we’re on the last strait of drafting an article together on our approach to teaching digital storytelling during the pandemic. Did a scurry of actions to connect with our student interns who are co-authors on the paper. In the afternoon I met up with a friend at Barbican for lunch, checked out the new curve exhibition, then headed to the gym and did another writing sprint. Wednesday evening had a therapy session, reflecting on how far I’ve come since I started and what next.
Thursday 24 Nov
Checked in with the anti-oppression trainers and prepped a writing tutorial group for my MA final project students a bit later in the day, which I really enjoyed. I ran it as a practice sharing session, which I found quite enjoyable as I love hearing about and discussing writing practices and what it takes to prepare to get writing. Briefly caught up on the Arts and AI Patterns in Practice research project, to see who else we might interview on the commissioner side of the fence. Our postdoc is just keeping it moving which is wonderful. We have a workshop coming up soon, up in Sheffield. I booked my ticket.
Friday 25 Nov
Mainly an admin day. Tied up a bunch of loose ends on grant contracts, finances and responding to meeting requests. My siblings arrived from Edinburgh and Athens and we went to Winter Wonderland before dinner at Morito in Hackney.
What I learned…
- I like writing with other people – its so much easier to get stuff written knowing someone is going to read it and feedback and you are moving forward
- Writing with colleagues is a great way to stay connected, especially when you move on from a job.
- It was great to spend a day working away from home and to fit in the gym not too late in the day, gave a boost for a second writing sprint
- It’s great to have time with friends and family to look forward to, especially going out and getting dressed up twice in one week.
- Scheduling in writing times has worked out pretty well this week. And meant I said no to lots meetings. I learned this from Prof Rachel Oliver. It works.
- Birthday cake is the business.
everyoneandeverything 