Cute and Charismatic

[tamaranth]

Last night's interview at the BSFA went quite well, I think. fastfwd told me I was Cute, and waxed lyrical about my Exotic Genes. She, in turn, was Charismatic, and Conversational, and Cheerful: all good attributes in an interviewee. Less structured than some I've done, but it was fun and interesting, and nobody started snoring.

(I have remembered one of the points I wanted to expand upon: that sense of the past, and the shock of Roman ruins for someone new-come to Europe. I'm repeatedly surprised by the way that so many people in this country take ancient history for granted. My cleaner used to live in a house with a Roman road at the bottom of the garden: her son dug up Roman coins there. She couldn't care less.)

Also excellent news re the guests for the BSFA/SFF AGM on May 6th -- Bruce Sterling and Stephen Baxter.

The evening was proof, though, that after-work excursions aren't that practical any more. Between 5pm and 11pm I spent very nearly 4 hours travelling: and I'm not at my best this morning. It's easier when timing isn't crucial, or when the destination is close to a Thameslink station.

(Frustratingly, there are engineering works affecting trains from BH to London every weekend for ages.)

Memo to self: discover civilised local life.

Comments

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

there's no way I'd commute from here to London on a daily basis (though for various locations in London, it would be pretty close to the One Hour Commute that I regard as standard from many years of living and working in the capital!). My current commute is just under an hour: last night's journey, though, was complicated by (a) leaving werk early (b) needing to get to Victoria, rather than faster / more regular Thameslink (c) quite a walk from Victoria to pub.