Tag Archives: medieval

Pregnant at 51 (Rousse)

XY had been all set to leave her husband back in November, but had suddenly changed her mind. We really couldn’t understand why. Then she revealed to me in a ruined medieval castle that after her husband had comforted her … Continue reading

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A knitwear surprise and a trip to the beach via York (Rousse)

Seven year-old KF burst into tears when I said that I was looking forward to seeing the jumper that she was knitting for me. Her mother shot me a sharp glance that read “You weren’t supposed to know about it. … Continue reading

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An ambitious bigamist gay husband (Rousse)

I really wanted XY to myself so I was very relieved when PQ took the hint and wandered off. Now I could ask XY all the questions that had bothered me for years: Why would a gay man marry me? … Continue reading

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Victim takes refuge in medieval tower as gunman runs amok on university campus (Rousse)

XY deliberately failed to acknowledge me at the start of his presentation. It was obvious that the had audience members noticed this. To lighten the mood, I said jokingly “What about me?” My colleagues found this hilarious. Unfortunately the speaker … Continue reading

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Medieval French literature, relationship advice, a Jacobean trunk, and a blue Maserati (Rousse)

We were working through archives of exam questions, extracting any that could be recycled for the next academic year. My collection was so old that it included questions on medieval French literature from my own undergraduate days. My colleagues started … Continue reading

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A visit to York Minster (Rousse)

TPR, my mother-in-law and I sat in the pews of York Minster and watched a beautiful documentary on medieval art. Afterwards I tickled the leg of the baby in the arms of the woman sitting next to us.

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A sad cycling trip to Sassau (Rousse)

We had travelled for days, and at last we reached the southern edges of Europe. It had been an adventurous voyage so far: In a medieval French square we’d caught a glimpse of a JS lookalike in a red spotted … Continue reading

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A tale of courtly love (Rousse)

I read the new module descriptor with glee. I was being asked to teach a class on etiquette to computing students. This would give me the chance to use my first degree in my job (at long last), tracing the … Continue reading

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When medieval art fails to impress (Rousse)

The other external examiner shared my concerns regarding the PhD thesis. “What are these postcards of medieval stained glass windows doing in the appendices?” she cried. “This is simply pretentious!”

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Obama announces spending freeze (Rousse)

Barack Obama (my husband) took me aside and made his proclamation: no longer could we afford to stay in hotels such as this. I argued that it befit our status only to reside at establishments where a medieval church bell … Continue reading

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