Category Archives: Uncategorized

Boredom relieved by bore (Rousse)

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Dreamaticus

My summer project was to swim all the rivers of Scotland from the sea to source. On a very hot day, I started with the River Forth. Other than a minor tidal bore which surged up the stream mid-afternoon, this … Continue reading →

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A pantyless proposal review (Rousse)

Posted on July 5, 2026 by Dreamaticus

XX’s research abysmal research proposal needed a lot of work. He hadn’t even articulated a research question. Instead, all he conveyed in the text was a broad interest in information behaviour and online shopping. I had dozens of questions. Whose … Continue reading →

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Dinner, Duns, and editing dissertations (Rousse)

Posted on July 4, 2026 by Dreamaticus

Four years later than anticipated, finally I was the guest of honour at a dinner to mark my retirement. Former colleagues and long-term friends joined the celebrations. The locals included MS and IH from work. From further afield came university … Continue reading →

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Looking for LP Hartley’s house (Rousse)

Posted on July 4, 2026 by Dreamaticus

TPR and my sister’s boyfriend CM managed to lift the shopping trolley over the back yard wall. I couldn’t scale it myself, so I went round to the front of the red-bricked terraced house in the hope that the owners … Continue reading →

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In the deep end with Tony Soprano (Belle)

Posted on June 30, 2026 by Dreamaticus

I was ‘swimming’ (hanging on to the side of a swimming pool) when I spotted a bathrobe-clad Tony Soprano walking towards me. He jumped in the pool and threatened me angrily, although I couldn’t understand what he was shouting. Later, … Continue reading →

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Silent Sting spot in Scottish capital city (Rousse)

Posted on June 30, 2026 by Dreamaticus

Elsewhere fans would have chased him for an autograph or selfie. Only here in Edinburgh could international celebrity Sting emerge from a modest basement restaurant dressed in jeans and a plain brown long-sleeved shirt, a child in each hand, in … Continue reading →

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A thousand pound chicken mole dish (Rousse)

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Dreamaticus

It was highly embarrassing that we had accepted two invitations to dinner, both on the night that I was meant to be at my book group meeting in Glasgow. The first was from my childhood friend ECM, and the second … Continue reading →

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Castle walls, cake, and equestrians (Rousse)

Posted on June 22, 2026 by Dreamaticus

I was learning how to climb the castle ramparts wearing a pilfered riding hat for protection when a bunch of equestrians came looking for their kit. My teacher – a rough lad mounted on a white stallion that could scale … Continue reading →

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Corpse ‘reborn’ at circuits class (Rousse)

Posted on June 22, 2026 by Dreamaticus

My long-dead friend BT turned up to my Wednesday circuits class. I wondered how he would cope with the intensity of the exercises having been buried underground for over 25 years.

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A fabulous doctoral defence finale (Rousse)

Posted on June 20, 2026 by Dreamaticus

In a change to usual practice, all doctoral degree candidates now defended their theses in a classroom in front of the whole school. When it was XX’s turn, the chair realised that he had a conflict of interest with the … Continue reading →

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