Tag Archives: TPR

Beware imitations: the case of the “handwoven” oriental silk rug (Rousse)

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I was in a flap. My parents would be arriving for breakfast in 15 minutes. We had no food in the house, and our silk rug from Singapore was filthy from the ashes that had spilled onto it from our … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ash, ashes, bacon, breakfast, carpet, china, clean, cleaning, cod, decipher, dirt, eggs, fake, fire, flap, food. filth, freezer, gas, hoover, hoovering, imitation, panic, print, printing, real effect, rug, silk, Singapore, sofa, Sweden, Tesco, text, TPR, vacuum, vacuuming | Leave a comment

REF submission blunder paves path to BBC2 science career (Rousse)

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Dreamaticus

In the closing session of the Finnish conference GW called the speakers on stage one by one to present them all with small thank you gifts. Inside my parcel I found a khaki green cotton skirt and four types of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC2, bead, beads, bubble gum, carrot, chain, combat, compliment, conference, cotton, disappearance, documentary, e-mail, family, Finland, Finnish, garnet, garnets, GCSE, gift, gifts, gold, home, jamboree, Orange, panel, parcel, pendant, PhD, pink, present, presenter, presents, REF2014, rhomboid, rhomboids, science, sea, set, shell, sister, skirt, speaker, speakers, stage, TPR, trousers, UCL, University College London, verdigris, white | Leave a comment

A cat-assisted attempt to avoid divorce (Rousse)

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Dreamaticus

There was only one way that I would find time to do my own research ever again: to register for a second PhD. I considered several options. I could return to the University of Birmingham where I had studied as … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged African, Annandale Street, attempt, badge, badges, Birmingham, Birmingham University, boyfriend, cat, Claremont Crescent, dance, dancing, director, divorce, door, doorbell, dress, East Claremont Street, Ediburgh, ex-husband, eyes, garden, home, husband, identity, initials, lecturer, lights, marking, metal, Newcastle University, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University, parent, parents, PhD, railings, reconciliation, research, TPR, university, University of Birmingham, University of Newcastle, University of Oxford, wall | Leave a comment

Tom McNair’s coffee morning werewolf competition (Rousse)

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Dreamaticus

When TPR appeared covered in mud and twigs I assumed that he must have travelled to the coffee morning by the underground tunnel. Then I noticed that Tom McNair was sitting next to my sister J at the table. Was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Being human, EdCM, Michael Socha, mud, sister, Tom McNair, TPR, tunnel, twigs, werewolf | Leave a comment

Dangerous driving in the United States (Rousse)

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Dreamaticus

After a quiet Christmas Day, TPR and I set off to visit KR. It was a long time since we had driven in the US, and the first time that we had taken our own right-hand drive vehicle on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alleyway, alleyways, America, American, beggar, beggars, bend, bends, car, Christmas, Christmas Day, drive, driving, freeway, freeways, hand-out, hand-outs, medieval, narrow, passenger, right-hand drive, town, TPR, traffic, underpass, United States, US | Leave a comment

Giving up gossip for Lent: Rousse debates the Archers rules

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Dreamaticus

TPR and I poured all our savings into a property purchase. Our new flat was on the first floor of a Georgian square in London that actually looked like it belonged in Edinburgh. Its size and layout very much resembled … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Franks, Archers, bed, bedroom, bedrooms, beds, bedstead, bedsteads, bounce, bouncy, cobbles, conversation, Drummond Place, Easter, Edinburgh, flat, floor, floors, friend, Friends, Georgian, gossip, holiday, Lent, Lenten, London, noise, phone, pollution, property, purchase, quarters, room, rooms, rot, rotting, rust, rusting, servant, servants, sets, source, telephone, TPR, traffic, vicar, Victorian, vow | Leave a comment

Rousse’s killer presentation

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Dreamaticus

CO gave me a last friendly pat on the back for good luck as we negotiated the final set of stairs to the lecture hall. This was it then. It was finally time for me to deliver the closing keynote … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, anecdotes, asides, audience, back, career, crowd, dead, disaster, failure, good, hall, jokes, killer, lecture, luck, microphone, pat, performance, presentation, rehearsals, sla, stage, stairs, TPR, US | Leave a comment

Red wine stains no longer a problem with Rousse’s special distillation

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Dreamaticus

We were meant to be discussing PhD studentships, but I could tell that the committee members were far more interested in the four unopened bottles of red wine in my possession. When I eventually suggested serving a few glasses, D … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bottle, bottles, carpet, cork, corking, glass, glasses, glassware, home brew, oriental, parents, PhD, problem, red, rug, silk, stain, stains, student, students, studentships, test tube, test tubes, TPR, uncork, uncorking, wine | Leave a comment

The battle of the laundry basket (Rousse)

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Before TPR had pegged even a single item on the line in the garden of our holiday cottage a local woman appeared at his side, super-keen to take charge of the laundry basket. “Let me do that” she said. TPR … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged £10, basket, cash, door, French, holiday, islander, job, laundry, line, local, poverty, tenner, tourists, TPR, washing | Leave a comment

Scottish devolution discussions voted more interesting than conference magic (Rousse)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The last workshop in the series was a complete disaster. Not even MS could save the day with his presentation of magic tricks learnt from TPR. As I watched a balloon float over the heads of the delegates according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged balloon, conference, cupboard, delegates, devolution, disaster, electoral, feedback, form, forms, green, leather, lost, magic, presentation, property, purse, purses, reform, Scotland, Scottish, TPR, trick, tricks' audience, wallet, wallets, workshop | Leave a comment