wildeabandon: crucifix necklace on a purple background (religion)
Sebastian ([personal profile] wildeabandon) wrote2025-07-13 12:52 pm

Church! Choir!

Until this morning I hadn't been to church since getting back from Belgium. I hadn't wanted to go back to St John's for a couple of reasons - firstly the likelihood of taking on responsibilities that I'd rather not have at this stage, and secondly the growing awareness that singing in a choir is an important part of worship for me - but I'd been dithering about where to go instead. My four criteria were catholic, liberal, within 15 minutes bike ride, and has a regular choir, and indecision about which to compromise on combined with a rather erratic sleep cycle meant that each week I'd let inertia take over. This Thursday I had an appointment that was half way to Hornsey Parish Church, which is about 20 minutes away, but meets the other requirements, so I cycled the rest of the way there to make sure I knew the route, which meant this morning required less activation energy.

Regarding the choir the website says "We welcome new members who have a facility with sight reading and a passion for the choral liturgy", but when I spoke to the director of music and said that my sight-singing was shaky but I was happy to note-bash at home if she sent me the dots in advance, and she said that was fine, so I'll be joining them as of next Sunday. They've got a concert on Saturday which I'm going to listen to rather than sing in - if anyone local fancies joining me it'd be good to have company.
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Sebastian ([personal profile] wildeabandon) wrote2025-07-11 01:33 pm

Little things

- Yesterday I made avocado salsa, and the avocados were in that almost unattainable spot of perfect ripeness which lasts for approximately five minutes. I am pleased with past me for noticing that they were getting close to that state a few days previously and putting them in the fridge so they didn't go past it.

- I sent the next page of my Syriac translation to the professor and got back some comments, and I feel like I'm starting to move beyond just decoding the grammar and vocabulary, to noticing wordplay and making accurate guesses about things that are implied but not stated. Levelling up ftw.

- I have a ticket to see Tristan and Isolde in a few weeks. This might not quite make up for having to miss the same opera company's Ring Cycle earlier in the year due to a Wrong Country Error, but it will go some way.
emperor: (Default)
emperor ([personal profile] emperor) wrote2025-07-09 09:16 am
Entry tags:

Next Chancellor of the University of Cambridge

It's time to vote for the next Chancellor (previously); I've looked at the candidates and their statements, but still don't have an obvious-to-me choice of who to vote for.

When I asked on mastodon, I got two responses (one for Sandi Toksvig, one for her or Gina Miller); FB has shown me one friend saying that Chris Smith is "a nice bloke, but also the only candidate worth of the role"; and I've been sent this from someone who evidently doesn't share my general political view (though I'm inclined to agree that being the author of tuition fees probably rules John Browne out).

I can see why people might think Wyn Evans is a good option, but his proposals seem to me more the sort of thing you'd expect the vice-chancellor to do, rather than the chancellor who is not really involved in the running of the university directly.

I'm currently inclined to put Sandi Toksvig first; I'm sure she'd be great at the schmoozing-major-donors thing, but also at engaging with staff & students and advocating for the University.

I'm planning to vote in person on Saturday...

[this post is public, I am screening comments by anyone not already on my DW access list, will unscreen if I think they're making a useful contribution]
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Sebastian ([personal profile] wildeabandon) wrote2025-07-08 02:17 pm

Mixed blessings...

I have not, as yet, managed to find any work for over the summer, and am now slightly doubtful whether I'm going to be able to at all - it's quite rare for a contract to be shorter than a couple of months, so unless I get something starting in the next couple of weeks I'm probably not going to have enough availability.

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, if I don't have any income at all this year, then my savings will be pretty much entirely exhausted by the end of the year. On the other hand, I am quite enjoying being a gentleman of leisure...