Day 210: Hampered by bureaucratese and doctrinal programmatic specifique demands...

Changing seasons, the bonsai version

Day 210 (4 Jul) Thursday. 

...but first, coffee! Yes, a day at the office mostly, wrestling with course outlines...not the substance but the dressing...the title of this post basically sums up my view of the intrusion of superfluous bureaucratic demands on the art of teaching...but enough of that. 

Today the Ekka photos are being delivered (ta-da-) and, in the spirit of a little 'down-time' at this time of year, I'm joining another wonderful tweepster, @Corinne_Salmon for coffee near the university. Excellent, and a new coffee shop to try out too. 

Whaling history, at 6.12am,
as you do.

At 6.12am though, a slightly slower start to the day but as I have noted, a good time to read too. One of my monthly magazines arrived in the post so it is time to flick through the stories while listening to the radio. A whaling story...timely as I start to think about getting some real time to draft my manuscript on the history of whaling between Australia and Japan and just as both countries are challenging each other in the international courts. 

I also like the way the bonsai is challenging the seasons..the last winter leaf is now accompanied by the new spring shoots...at the start of July. That's your Brisbane winter done, more or less. 

In the office, at 6.12pm, really?

So after delivering photos, noting the seasons, having a coffee and a catch-up, the rest of the day (and evening) was in the office, tackling the aforementioned bureaucratese. Seven or eight hours...imagine how much substantial reading and lecture presentation I might have managed in that time...

I've also been working on the piece for The Conversation as well as planing the Tokyo trip. Some bold psephologists have already predicted a huge win to the LDP...how interesting. On the drive home, the ABC's Q and A program is broadcast live from Indonesia, on NewsRadio. A most interesting accompaniment to the long drive home.