Category Archives: Uncategorized

The farmer PhD supervisor and Motown hopefuls (Rousse)

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Dreamaticus

This was the strangest of PhD tutorials. The chair of the session sat at the front of a room and a full class of students, most of whom looked like undergraduates listening in on the discussions. What surprised me most … Continue reading →

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Rousse’s unintended drug overdose

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I was struggling to make sense of the huge American hotel and how to navigate my way up and down the building by escalator and lift. It was very obvious that I was a stranger here, so I was an … Continue reading →

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A fruity evening with Vincent Price (Belle)

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I called the others, Vincent Price amongst them, to look out of the front window. A large cherry picker had arrived and a small child was being elevated on the platform. It seemed oddly dangerous. And why wasn’t the child … Continue reading →

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A job role too far (Rousse)

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I was in big trouble at work (again). I’d turned up 15 minutes late to the graduation ceremony. I sneaked up to the balcony and found a seat so that I could listen to the choral music. ED and an … Continue reading →

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Paris attractions (Rousse)

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I’d only just arrived in Paris and already I had bumped into two people from my Gallic past. First I saw PG on his way to work. He was now a grey-haired father of three, yet had kept his great … Continue reading →

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Rousse’s Northumbrian anxiety

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Dreamaticus

This was a worrying prospect: taking LM to meet my parents in Northumberland. Whatever would she make of their house?

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Miniscule, muscular, olive-skinned actors (Rousse)

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Dreamaticus

TPR and I were the only audience members at this bizarre performance. Apparently it had been playing to a packed house every night, and the only reason that it was so quiet today was that we had chosen to come … Continue reading →

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Alan Hollinghurst leads double life as computing lecturer (Rousse)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Some of my colleagues were lovely. Unfortunately the rest were vile. One of the latter set had just made a formal complaint about me: that I’d used more than my fair share of soap when taking a bath. I took … Continue reading →

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James Bond and a hand-knit metallic jumper surprise (Rousse)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Dreamaticus

HH opened the massive cardboard box that she’d brought on her visit. “Just a few presents” she announced as I spied the beautiful hand-knitted string jumpers in a dazzling array of metallic colours. I grabbed a golden one and pulled … Continue reading →

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Commercial opportunity for a copy shop chain (Rousse)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I ran across the road, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic from the right, to reach the bus stop before the arrival of the number 11. Although it was a Sunday, the bus was packed. Most of the passengers were on the … Continue reading →

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