Wednesday, January 6. The busyness burgeons. The trick is to write down immediately, everything that passes between my ears. I can’t rely on myself to remember; things have become too complex and mutable. Meanwhile: Clarity would be good … right now! 9.00 am: I bombed over to the School to deliver a parcel of devices that required servicing and a…

We were in uncharted territory now, making up history as we went along (James Cameron, Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)). 8.15 am: A communion. The changes around and about are dizzying. Thus, maintaining some sense of continuity is essential. Within that continuity there needs to be variety. And within that variety there needs to be creativity. 9.00 am: An email…

Saturday, January 2. Sunday, January 3. Monday, January 4. 8.15 am: A communion. 8.45 am: Into gear. I’m not an advocate of a phased return to work. Jumping-in at the deep end has always been my policy. And, ‘my!’, the waters were very deep. The priority this morning was email notifications about the forthcoming assessments and the return to teaching.…

Late yesterday evening, I’d began reading an MA thesis by Peter T. Ford, entitled ‘The Compositional Style of Keith Emerson in Tarkus (1971)’. It’s a piece of music that I know very well, and which has accompanied me through life since my mid-teens. Clement Greenberg read music criticism avidly. He appreciated its approach to dealing entirely formally and analytically with…

7.30 am: The end of first light: 8.00 am: A communion. 8.45 am: Preparations for the day ahead: Chiefly, the final set of third-year painting tutorials. Occasionally there’re moments in the online proceedings when a student goes quiet and still, as though reflecting on some dullard comment that I’d made. Then, I realise, their webcast has frozen. When I freeze,…

8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: Proof of presence: 8.45 am: I planned the day ahead, as a smokey-screen of thin, neutral cloud drifted (like a mild depression) slowly over my head. 9.00 am: A BA art history dissertation tutorial. I exemplified: I write almost every day. Writing is to thinking what practise is to playing a musical instrument, what…

8.00 am: 8.15 am: A communion. 8.45 am: I looked over my itinerary for today: a menu of MA fine art tutorials (the last before the Christmas vacation) and consultations, and meetings. Those who are undertaking their degree in full-time mode will be submitting their work for assessment in the first week of the new year. What with all the…

There’s only this moment, then, this moment, then, this moment, then … . Sunday, December 6. ‘Done!’: Monday, December 8. 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: eBayology: A wrapping, packing, and boxing of redundant equipment, and sending to their new homes. 9.15 am: Admin: student references, former student references, and external examiner correspondence. (In the background: antiphonal medieval Christmas carols.)…

Career (definition: ‘An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress’). Career (definition: ‘To move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way’ ). Friday, December 4. 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: There was some residual admin and preparations to complete before I returned to studio work. There was still much to do in…

8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: A readying. 8.45 am: Ready to go: The first of the day’s online third-year painting tutorials. In the background, our students are being tested for Covid-19 and, if their result is negative, beginning to ship-back home over the next week. It’s like a military manoeuvre. Their return to university will be a further challenge.…