WFH: DAY 44/LENT 13. In the early hours of the morning, I dreamt of being on a (mercifully) slow train to London sat next to Miles Davis — who was uncharacteristically chatty on this occasion. When I awoke, Radio 3 were playing Rodrigo’s Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez (1939), which Davis had covered on his Sketches of Spain (1960) album. Thus dreamland and waking world elided beautifully. 8.00 am: An eBay sale needed to be packed and readied for sending, pronto. 8.30 am: I prepared for the day’s tutorials for Art/Sound, in the morning, and PhD Fine Art tutorials, this afternoon, and caught up with last night’s emails.

It’s the shear complexity and multiplicity of tasks that risks overwhelming. These days, requests for this or that fall into my lap haphazardly. I feel like a Catherine wheel, spinning-out responses. (‘The firework is named after Saint Catherine of Alexandria who, according to Christian tradition, was condemned to death by “breaking on the wheel”. When she touched the wheel it miraculously flew to pieces’ (Wikipedia).) It requires a great deal of effort to impose control over the disorder, prioritise (rather than react in the moment of reception), and still keep one eye on what I should be doing … right now.

9.00 am: ‘Go!’ Some principles and observations derived from the morning’s engagements:

• T: ‘First, you must decide where you’re going (the essay topic). Thereafter, construct a map to guide you on your journey (the essay method and structure)’.
• Quite often students who confess difficulties in writing are battling with specific problems within the craft, rather than a comprehensive deficit in this regard. Therefore, the student and the teacher should endeavour to, first, isolate the problems; and, secondly, understand what makes them so. Few are insurmountable. There’s always hope.
• T: ‘Follow your interests and instincts; make the essay fulfil not only the academic requirements but also your own need to know’.
• T: ‘The questions that arise in the course of your research will inform the essay’s structure’.

2.00 pm: Postgraduates. One MA and two PhDs. 3.00 pm: Brew (little pond):

The PhD consultations flowed well. Had there been the time, we could have talked for longer. I’m prioritising those who are now moving to their final exhibitions and completing the thesis element. It’s all very exciting if, at times, a little exhausting for all concerned. I do hope that I’ve an opportunity to see all of them to the end of the road. But that decision is presently out of my hands.

5.30 pm: Dinner (wide-eyed):

7.30 pm: Time for several YouTube tutorials on guitar intonation and saddle adjustments. 8.00 am: I began work on a PowerPoint outlining the School’s painting provision, in readiness for the online undergraduate applications event in a fortnight’s time.