The Spoons That Are My Ears!

A blog entry without a picture always seems a bit shoddy. Here's a picture of a small cello suspended outside my window. It's not promoting anything, but the skyglow proves I've been getting up early. Indeed it does. The reason why I'm awake to greet each sunrise is because I'm writing academic essays for friends who happen to be university students. These essays are mostly on subjects I know nothing about and the work is therefore taxing and requires many hours of input.

I've done this several times in the past. I once wrote a lengthy dissertation on organic architecture to help a friend get a degree, learning about the subject as I went along. Is that plagiarism? No, it's fraud, a quite separate category. I've also sat exams in the guise of other people, and when invigilating for exams I've always permitted the candidates to cheat. Clearly I am immoral. But I'm also nice. Such seemingly inappropriate, superficially paradoxical combinations move me deeply: sweet and sour, organised chaos, futuretime nostalgia.

A box of the second edition of The Smell of Telescopes is on its way to me: the book was published almost a year ago but I haven't seen it yet. Great! My novelette 'Flecks from the Isle of Chrome' has just been published in Postscripts #14: it's related to my 'Long Chin of the Law' novella. Fab! The Postmodern Mariner has just gone to the printers: will be back soon. Cool! Last week I shaved with chocolate and banana ice cream because I didn't have soap. Ouch!