Day 71: My (un)funny Valentine

My funny valentine, at 6.12pm

Day 71 (14 Feb) The anniversary of Australia's conversion to decimal currency. Oh, OK, and Valentine's Day, if you must. I sort of forgot, until now so yes, no cheesy valentine 6.12 moments for me today. Because, curmudgeonly. It wasn't always thus, but there you go. 

I suppose living in Japan for a number of years has curtailed the joy. On 14 February Japanese women are expected to buy chocolate for all the blokes around them...co-workers, bosses,  partners, boyfriends, husbands etc, etc. Some of this chocolate was called 'giri choco', obligation chocolate. Then, a month later, 14 March, the men can, if they wish, return the favour to women...no obligation, no giri. Pfft.

Still life with coffee,
at 6.12am

Anyway, that's Valentine's. I'm much more grateful for decimal currency.

None of which I was thinking about this morning at 6.12am. Once again, catching up on yesterday's paper over breakfast. But actually, at that moment each day at present, I'm becoming a little intrigued by the light...this photo is a bit like yesterday's as far as the light goes. There is a certain sort of 'Still life with coffee' feel about this, except it is never a still life at 6.12 in the morning. 

My colleague and I are taking full advantage of leaving a bit later than normally required in a teaching semester though it is amazing the difference leaving 30 minutes later can make to the traffic on the road. It adds a further 20 mins to the trip sometimes. Still, next week, it all changes. 

From the other side, at 6.12pm

Typically, the day's plans were partially fulfilled, ever-surprising and new stuff emerging. It never feels the same, but maybe it is. I have become conscious the last few days that my days are so full I'm actually not keeping track of the day's issues. That is in spite of twitter or news websites up and running all day. I must pay more attention. 

At 6.12pm, I was in the office, still, doing some of the work I hadn't completed during the day. I had, however, migrated from behind the desk to my table where I have other bits of work to do. It gave me the chance to look at the office from the 'other' perspective, the view visitors have when they come into my room and remark on the books. I forget I have quite a few, in fact 30 years of academia have resulted in quite a lot I suppose. Looking at them from the perspective of students who visit, I sort of understand their surprise. I really must...cull, consolidate, tidy up...I keep promising the cleaner that I'll get to it soon. 

Books, perhaps the way to get to my heart...no obligation.