Last time I wrote it was to plug my friend Peter's new songwriting project A Song A Week (if you haven't taken a look at his site, then what are you waiting for? It will make you laugh if nothing else) and I mentioned office hours and having to hold free ones, as well as the four I get paid for. Having been begged by my students to hold office hours so they could come and discuss the forthcoming assignment I duly booked an office in which to hold them (there were two of these hours), got up early like a grow up person with a proper job, ironed my shirt (this is very rare) had breakfast (also rare) and got on the tube a rush hour (even rarer) arrived in my borrowed office at 9am and spent two hours drinking tea and faffing about on the internet, until one student finally appeared. I was not impressed - I was expecting all 35 odd of them... because virtually none of them came to my paid for office hours I then had to hold another not-paid-for office hour - just to clarify I get paid to hold four office hours a term, but this is never enough and I always end up having to do more.

Anyway, the point of this waffle is to say that the first installment for Peter's charity fund has been safely put somewhere where I can't spend it on note books or pencils; but also to direct you to the current PhD Comic: The PhD Comics Guide to TA Office Hours.

For those of you who are wondering the 'PhD' in 'PhD Comics' stands for 'Piled Higher and Deeper'. Enough said...

Meanwhile my thesis is now onto chapter 3 - and a very cheerful chapter it is proving to be: children, Second World War, evacuation, trauma.... chapter 1 needs some tinkering with, but we like each other so that is fine, we won't fall out over the tinkering, chapter 2 on the other hand needs to be hit with a mallet, and we don't like each other at all. It is in fact sulking under a dictionary at present. If you think I've finally lost it take a look at another PhD Comic offering: How Do I Love You, Thesis? Let Me Count The Ways...

It is Reading Week - which is like half term for academics (in which students arse about, and academics catch up on sleep and research) - unfortunately it seems to have clashed with half term for school children and so there will be no peace. And I have marking. Lots of marking. But I am going to read a non-PhD book this week. Not sure what at the moment...

but I have brought myself a new fountain pen with which to improve my truly awful handwriting (this is what comes of using pencil all the time - biro becomes impossible to use without turning your handwriting into a spidery mess). It is in the post on its way to me and is a TWSBI Diamond 530 and is blue and looks like this - I think it looks quite cool, but I am a geek, so my opinion may be meaningless. It requires proper ink from a jar, I might not be able to cope, and the ink will no doubt pour everywhere. We shall see.