04.09.03
The Deep North
“Given twenty years and a nice evening it should all look splendid.”
And splendid news that The Deep North is up and running. Peter, the Scottish professor in question, steered me through my doctoral thesis with patience, elegence and unfailing restraint.1 Not once did he give me the physical slap round the back of my lazy head I so clearly deserved, constraining himself to the delivery of the slyly loaded question, raised eyebrow and offer of long thoughtful walks.
Setting up and housing the excellent fellow’s blog is the smallest of favours in return. In my mind it just about covers one portion of one walk about halfway through my thesis, in which I was asked what, exactly, I intended to do about The Island of the Day Before (one of the three novels I was covering). My cunningly evasive reply of “I’ll think about it” was not, in retrospect, quite so cunning.2
Those of you who have had the pleasure of postcards from the professor will know very well what to expect. The rest have a treat in store.3
1 This may be considered an extension of the Acknowledgements page.
2 Or, indeed, evasive.
3 Lovely footnotes. Always my favourite bit of academic writing.
The Prandial Post said,
April 9, 2003 at 9:38 am
Muesli’s no Uesli
“Moved by I know not what genetic programming, we are planting trees. Not just one or two, but thirty of this and forty of that. One summer evening I was at the top of the field with the black dog who is a fool, and looked over the top of the house tow…