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Today started out a little too early - I woke up at 4:30am! I amused myself with reading and emailing and getting ready until about 9am at which time I walked to Blue Plate, one of my favourite restaurants in Santa Monica, for breakfast. It was so beautiful and sunny that I decided to sit outside to eat (a decision I would late regret). I had a supersmoothie, which has at least six diferent fruits in it and then the very LA egg white omelette. I'd never had one before, but it was actually rather tasty, with avocado, spinach, mushrooms and tomato in it and accompanied by an English muffin and tomato. Yum! With such good fuel, I decided to walk to Third St Promenade. I arrived at about 10am, which is just when the shops ... read more

So the hotel was more annoying than first imagined - dodgy shower, noisy being next to the lift, rude staff, crap breakfast... but I asked for a room change and it was granted (so much better). Now that's off my chest, let me tell you about my one day in London. Having been in London two years ago and pretty much ticking off most tourist destinations, I was keen to have a slow travel day in London. I started out at the V&A, where I went on the introductory tour. Since I was last there, they've opened up a number of new permanent galleries so I wished I'd put aside more time for it. But as it's so big, it was good to do the tour to get a feel for the collections, particularly those I ... read more

The Conversation Analysis and Clinical Encounters meeting has been much anticipated in my academic calendar since attending in Plymouth two years ago. This year's has been alternatively challenging, inspiring, motivating, nerve-wreaking and educational. This three day meeting was just as good as two years ago, if not better. Particular highlights were the talks by Jeffrey Robinson, Nikki Britten and John Heritage (all fantastic contributions). I was too nervous for my talk, which was disappointing. There were lots of good papers and discussions and I have come away feeling excited about what is coming up next in my academic life. On Tuesday evening after dinner on campus, Israel and I headed into the city to take in the sights of York by night. We wandered around for a couple of hours and finished with a drink at ... read more

Saturday morning was a great opportunity for Maria and I to sleep in and we both did. After breakfast and packing, I walked to the car hire place nearby to pick up our car while Maria finished packing and cleaning up. I then picked up Maria and we drove back to the hire place to put her on as a driver. We were off! Thanks to the good directions of the Hertz attendant, combined with google maps directions and those of the cottage owner, we made our way in good time to “Toad Hall” (only getting lost once on the way and then in trying to find the place). Toad Hall is a two-bedroom semi-detached (?) terrace house in Foulridge (which is a much pleasanter place than the name suggests). We settled in pretty quickly, not ... read more

Mid-week was already upon us, so I set aside Wednesday morning to work on my thesis corrections. It was a very productive morning, so I rewarded myself with the afternoon off. Maria and I went on a walking tour of Manchester. Our guide looked (and even acted) somewhat like Bilbo Baggins and quite often went off on tangents. However, that did not detract from his excellent tour guiding. We saw the beautiful gothic-style town hall, little laneways, the John Rylands Library, Lincoln Square (where we experienced our first Manchester rain), canals, the Midland Hotel, railways, warehouses and so much more. We heard about the industrial revolution, the progress of science and meteorology, the advent of passenger railways and standardised time, political movements and massacres, and technological and mechanical firsts. This was Manchester, but only such a ... read more