I’m having a panic that I’ve forgotten how to blog. The past three weeks have been a blur and all the structure I’d created for myself with exercising and writing has flown out of the window. I’m writing, then deleting, then writing, then deleting…
This week has been quite something though! I met my tutees at Trevs. I can’t believe how nervous I was, more so than my last job interview. And we had a quiz on Tuesday, we didn’t win but I thought we’d done rather well (especially as some …

Fresher’s week is finally kicking off in Durham. Nearly everything in the library is ready for the return of the students and now my attention is turned to meeting my first year tutees this afternoon.
The college tutor system at Trevelyan is all about pastoral care, so as a tutor you are a mix of friend and mentor throughout their undergraduate study. I have fifteen students this year, but only eight first years… that’s enough names to remember for today!
I have kicked off Fresher’s week in style by going out on …

Hi everyone. How are you all doing?
I just wanted to let my regular blog readers know that I hadn’t suddenly disappeared of the face of the earth. Nor have I given up writing. I am currently running around like a blue-arsed fly trying to get everything ready in time for Freshers’ arriving at Durham University and therefore dedicating most of my waking hours to work since the weekend.
This is a minor blip and I will be shortly back to my usual blogging self, so please don’t forget me!!!
And if you’re …

When I left my previous job and London behind I swore I would never cancel something important again because of work. There were a number of times in the three London years that I let people down because I was too busy, too tired or both.
Unfortunately it seems I underestimated what summer means in the life of a university support department. Back in May I was happily agreeing to all sorts of projects and bits of work thinking that June through to September would be months of chilled out yet …

As much as I love writing I am a huge fan of reading too. My big sister who was obsessed with reading took me to the library as a toddler and introduced me to the world of Miffy and much more. Throughout my childhood and teen years I was a regular library goer, I worked out last night that at my peak I must have been reading about two books a week during my summer holidays. The library was also about community and was one of the first places you …

I wrote this guide for my friend Iain who’s off to NYC this week, but thought I might as well blog it too. So I added in my favourite girly places (as I didn’t think Iain would be bothered about those, but you might!) I’ve tried to keep it short and sweet… but cramming a week of New York into a tiny number of words is somewhat of a challenge!
I would also like to thank my wonderful friends Liz (@LadyBowers) and Catherine for exploring the city with me on my …

Today has been a strange day… so strange indeed that I am blogging twice in one day.
Everything seemed fairly normal until after lunch when I traipsed around the library with the photographer trying to find students to take photos of in a library setting. The only weirdness in that is that you usually don’t spend a Monday being a prop in photos (to think I may feature in Durham University prospectus – enough to scare any potential student off!)
Settling back down to get work done there was a bright …

I joined Twitter on the 4th February 2009. In the 131 days since I’ve found that Twitter has the marmite effect – people love it or hate it. It has provoked debate, discussion and almost argument both on Twitter and in real life. Work related Twitter (@DROdurham) has really caused a stir and split of opinions at work.
From a personal point of view I don’t understand why people feel the need to tell me I’m wasting my time or telling people too much about my life. Why do people care …