OK, so in a nutshell: the OUP Pakistan office was beautiful (it's a new building, covered on the inside in handmade tiles, cleaned very regularly, with a magnificent front door hand-made by Pakistan artisans from the interior of the country), the people were amazingly friendly and hospitable, the work was busy but the people we were working with ( Read more... )

Quick note just to say I got to Pakistan safely and am enjoying myself - plenty of work though!

Found I got kind of spotty after my jabs on Monday -- I have three noticeable blemishes on my left cheek, in a neatish line, and a fourth starting at the corner of my jaw; one pretty much finished that was by the inside corner of my right eye, and another that's almost totally disappeared on my right cheek, just below my eye. Odd. Who'd've thought ( Read more... )

Yesterday was an odd, bitty sort of afternoon. Busy as well as bitty.

( Work and Univ Chall )

Cycling in to town, I heard a faint 'ting' behind and beyond me; a bicycle bell on the opposite pavement, one that was the same sort as my own. (Not a clanging clockwork crash, but gentler.) Looking back, it was a bloke on a bike on the pavement, right behind a lady with a pram who he obviously wanted to overtake. 'You can't do that!' I thought in ( Read more... )

I'm trying to put together a questionnaire to accompany Jinty stories as I hand them to readers for comments. The questionnaire so far is as below; can anyone think of extra questions or words for the readers to choose from? Or other feedback on the format of the questionnaire. I don't want to make it too long, because people could get bored, so ( Read more... )

One: it's my fireworks / bonfire thing tomorrow night. Low-key, but will feature a certain amount of burning brambles, a Viking funeral pyre, some fireworks, probably mulled wine, some soup, and whatever people bring to the party ( Read more... )

Not a bonfire night party, as it'll be a few days after the 5th of November, but here is official confirmation that you're invited to my house on Saturday the 8th of November for a bonfire party, with fireworks and a fire and possibly even toffee and parkin. Pumpkins optional, as it is a bit far from Halloween and I'm not sure the shops will still ( Read more... )

Have just changed my hair appointment for the second time, it having clashed with separate plans made for going to a gig. (This time, Half Man Half Biscuit at the Mean Fiddler, Charing X ( Read more... )

...There's going to be a Dreddcon in Oxford on the 6th of December. Interestingly, they're using the Oxford Union and getting a special deal on some of the beers (£1 a pint on selected beers). I'm not sure whether to think 'hey, that's our venue' or to cheer them on. Well, it's another item on the calendar, eh?