Just an average, no-classTuesday. It's just pleasant to get some work done, for once. Love teaching though I do, it means that for much of the year I'm stuck with all the quotidian, and have to chance to further myself or the programme that I run. Hopefully, I'll have the opportunity to do that this summer.
I reflected last night on the fact that I don't seem to be getting much learning done - that is, sitting down and studying something for the simple pleasure of learning something new. Oh yes, I pick stuff up day to day - it's my nature to notice and remember - but actually sitting down with book, notepad, pen and computer - no, it all gets lost in the tide of the everyday else. When was the last time I heard a new joke? when was the last time I looked at a subject for the first time? when was the last time I did something for the first time?
This last question is one that I've tried to face more squarely over the last few months. We all become accustomed to routines and habits - some good, some bad - for example, my habit of using dashes in entries, or drinking the whole bottle of wine when a glass would suffice. And as we plod these ruts again and again, we tend to cut ourselves off more from what is possible, and push them towards the improbable and finally, when custom or age weary us, the impossible. After which time, of course, we whine 'Oh, if only I'd done that', or 'If I hadn't done that, my life would have worked out so much different'. I want to explore new things, and take new directions, and not be consumed by what has been and not been in my life, nor by the easy choice of wandering down the same track.
Anyway, here's a picture of me, singing 'The Irish Rover' at the Ceilidh.