December 2024 round-up

December was a bit of a whirlwind given the end of semester tasks and everybody trying to squeeze in closure on various issues before the festive season. I was actually supposed to go to Bangkok for a conference but had to cancel because of spending cuts in universities. While that was disappointing, staying in the … Continue reading December 2024 round-up

Musical diary 2024

Throughout the past 52 weeks, I have added a total of 33 tunes to a playlist that constitutes the soundtrack of my year. The first three were from a car journey which was, in a way, a trip to both the past and the future. Tracks 8, 9 and 19 were from movies that I … Continue reading Musical diary 2024

November 2024 round-up

The month started really well. The announcement that I got the ethics position was exciting. However, it ended terribly with the announcement that Sussex is chopping 300 jobs. I am trying not to worry unnecessarily, but… it’s hard to focus on starting new projects and building things up when things are so grim everywhere you look. … Continue reading November 2024 round-up

From Writing Assistant to Teaching Tool: My Experience, so far, Using NotebookLM

Recently, I had discussions with a couple of people about NotebookLM: our experiences of using it, and the main pros and cons that we had identified, thus far. I have captured some of my thoughts, here, and would be interested to hear about your experiences, too. NotebookLM is tool developed by Google and powered by … Continue reading From Writing Assistant to Teaching Tool: My Experience, so far, Using NotebookLM

October 2024 round-up

October brought some beautiful sunsets, the last flowers from my garden, lots of leaves on the sidewalk, a concert with the family and, possibly, the last outdoor swim of the year. I started doing physio and my knee is already feeling better. I am grateful for a job that allowed me to accompany Child 1 … Continue reading October 2024 round-up

September 2024 round-up

September was all about going back to schedules and routines, and I have to say that that felt really good. Funnily enough, there’s less fretting about when to do x, when there is less freedom about when x can happen. Plus, September brings (to me) a renewed sense of energy. Maybe it’s the perspective of … Continue reading September 2024 round-up

August 2024 round-up

August was definitely better than the last couple of months: we put our things into storage and headed to Portugal, while the “new” house was being redecorated. There were a few niggles with the move into the new house, but most boxes are now empty, and life is slowly returning to normal. Research The main … Continue reading August 2024 round-up

June 2024 round-up

June was hard. We need to move houses (yes, again!), and spent a lot of time trying to find and, then, secure, a new place to move into. But, unfortunately, that fell through at the end of the month. So we are back to square one… except with a lot more stress. I also picked … Continue reading June 2024 round-up

May 2024 round-up

I kicked off the month with May Day celebrations in Oxford. It’s something that I have been wanting to do since moving to Oxford, but never managed to, for one thing or another. But with the youngest now 16 and the opportunity to join the celebrations from St Hilda’s College’s new tower (courtesy of the eldest), … Continue reading May 2024 round-up

April 2024 round-up

A busy month, which included a lot of fun moments. I had a lovely time at the talk with Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry. The tickets for the talk were a lovely Mother’s Day present from the-child-formerly-known-as-the-teen. I also accompanied the kiddo to golf, and had a walk around backstage at a theatre, … Continue reading April 2024 round-up