Love, Poetry and Revolution - Wednesday 8th February 2023

Work again today, with back-to-back meetings until midday. Should be fun (?), though I think I'll probably need a comfort break.

Q can't make it home for lunch today and so I have a leftover lasagne lunch. Lovely.

Work leads directly to this evening's course, the first 'proper' session of 'Ulysses For All 2023', which focuses on episodes 1 and 4.  The guest speaker tonight is Enrico Terrinoni who is a professor at the University of Rome and a noted Joyce expert. His discussion covered quantum physics, the occult, multiple beginnings and Aleister Crowley, to name but a few things.  Despite having read the novel multiple times, I am clearly going to learn a lot and gain new understandings and perspectives on the book.  Enrico has published a book on 'Ulysses' called 'Occult Joyce: The Hidden in Ulysses', something I'm going to have to investigate.

The only downside to the course was that it was beset by technical difficulties, primarily due to wi-fi or broadband issues (or both) at the James Joyce Cultural Centre in Dublin, where the course was running from.  Luckily, Enrico was in Rome, or at least elsewhere so his section was really clear.  The breakout sessions were good, though the course overran and I had to leave for dinner with Q and her daughter at 8. I think the overrun was partly due to the technical difficulties which will hopefully be resolved by next week. In the meantime, I must read episodes 2 ('Nestor') and 5 ('Lotus Eaters') as my homework for next week.

After another delicious dinner (this time Q's daughter's handiwork) we adjourned to watch a couple of episodes of 'Cunk On Britain'. 

Another day is coming to a close.

The Jam / 'Town Called Malice' / 'The Gift'

[[I heard this on the radio this morning and was reminded how pertinent the lyrics are today, despite being written under a previous Conservative administration. Some things never change. Leopards. Spots.]]