The Quiet Road

I’m feeling a wee bit crappy. I’ve got a bastid head-cold (how many colds am I going to get this winter? Eh? Usually I get one a year, if that, around October time. I’ve already had two since Christmas. And I’m eating tons of fruit and drinking pure fruit smoothies like they’re going out of fashion. I’ve got vitamins coming out of my ears people! Not literally of course. That would be odd. And probably require medical treatment. But you get the picture). And the cold has arrived just in time for my birthday tomorrow (cash and high quality sensimilia to the usual address). Not that I had anything planned, but it’s still crappy timing.

I mention my birthday only because I just realised that this blog turned one-year-old last week (well, that and wanting the cash and high quality sensimilia). I’ve noticed most bloggers seem to mark the birthday of their blog in some way.

OK, now that’s done, onto that cheeky request…

… as some of you may know, I’m applying for a Masters commencing this autumn. An M.Phil to be exact… it may lead on to a Phd in Psychoanalysis in the future. Aaaaanyways… what with trying my hand in industry for a while, it’s almost a decade and a half since I was last in academia (and that university — UNL — has only gone and got amalgamated into London Metropolitan). I need an academic reference for my M.Phil application, and I suspect the best I’ll get from UNL / LMU is a rather impersonal letter from a lecturer who only half remembers me. Not that I’m unmemorable. Far from it, I hope. But it has been a long time and while I imagine I’ll get a recommendation that says good things about me, I want one that says remarkable things. So while I’ll get hold of the UNL one, I’m hoping to go one better.

And with that in mind, if any of my regular readers is an established academic who — having got a sense of who I am through my blog — is willing to say nice things about me in a letter, then I would be eternally grateful and will say very nice things about you at every opportunity. Even at the most inappropriate times. Also, I’ll buy the drinks if you decide you need to meet me prior to recommending me. My email address is jim ‘at’ numero57 ‘dot’ net.