Comparing one's own life with those of journalists

Hot on the heels of Charla Murray writing about offering her husband sex every day for a year comes Hepzibah Anderson writing about her year without sex.

Is this supposed to make me feel better or worse about my own life? I presume the only point of these articles is to provide insecure people with yet another person to compare themselves to?

Dreams of success

Had two dreams about achieving sporting success on two consecutive nights. Note the word "dreams" - in real life I am not very sporty.

In the first I was playing football with gypsies. I put on my football boots and was amazed that I suddenly seemed able to control the ball with ease and score goals a-plenty. This rarely/never happens in real life.

In the second I was taking part in a cross country run. At school I came last - LAST - in the cross country. In this race, I came near the front. Although I didn't actually win.

Both times I thought "gosh, I'm actually quite good at this. Maybe I should challenge myself more often".

Today I applied for a senior position at another university. In some ways I am quite likely to get it. In other ways, I don't have a chance. If I get it, it will certainly be a challenge.

Is my subconscious telling me I can meet this challenge?

Or is it just telling me to get off my lazy behind and do some more exercise?

What are universities for?

This afternoon I went to an inspiring symposium at UCL on public engagement.

The idea is that universities should not just teach students and conduct research, but should endeavour to educate everyone. As the Vice-Provost Michael Worton pointed out, public engagement isn't just writing in the Guardian or even the Telegraph (as he put it), it's enabling all sorts of people being able to benefit from academic expertise.

Public engagement is the new big thing. Mostly probably because grant giving bodies require it (just as assessments motivate medical students, so grant requirements motivate researchers).

It was great to see some of the work people have been doing. The archeologists are training members of the public to survey key sites along the River Thames. The UCL Department of Space and Climate Physics holds all sorts of rocket-building and story-telling events at their posh campus in Guildford, Surrey.

And it's not just the scientists - UCL Scandanavian Studies are involved in Bright Club - a mix of comedy, music, art, new writing, science and performance; and the museums at UCL regularly hold events such as The Big Draw in the holidays for children and photography competitions.

I need to think what I can do to get people involved in my psychological, medical educational research...

I am certainly biassed, but UCL has such a varied mix of disciplines, it really is great. Here's a picture of students preparing to stage Twelfth Night in the quad this evening.

Musical savant

Went to see Derek Paravicini play at the Royal Festival Hall last night.

I haven't seen him since 2003, when he participated in my third year undergrad psychology project, and I've never seen him perform like he did last night.

I remembered him being fast - despite his profound blindness and severe learning difficulties he could perfectly and within milliseconds replicate any 10-note chord I played - but last night his fingers positively flew over the keys of the Steinway Grand as he added chromatic embellishments to well-known favourites (Air on a G string; Black and White Rag, Flight of the Bumblebee etc). Accompanied by the Emerald Ensemble, Derek was obviously enjoying himself, and bowed several times to the rapt audience after each rendition. CBS were there, filming it all for a 60 minutes programme.

As a third year undergrad I had worked closely with an MSc student, Val Tadic, on the project with Derek, and it was great to see her again last night. She's now Dr. Tadic and is working at UCL's Institute of Child Health on a prestigious Medical Research Council funded postdoc. She, her partner Ian (also a PhD, working at Goldsmiths) and I had a long talk about the cut-throat nature of academia. It was good to talk to people in similar situations as myself, and to hear what it is like in different places.

Still thinking about my own academic future...

Reflection

Positive psychologists say that taking the time every day to write down three good things makes you happy. Even if it's "I enjoyed eating blueberries and raspberries on toast in the sun this morning" (which I did).

Today's post will selfishly and narcissistically serve this purpose.

So three good things about today:
1. Walking out of my back door on to the green to see some friends and eat an unexpected and tasty BBQ lunch (thanks Katie).
2. Learning to use a reflector in photography. F bought a brilliant circular one that folds up small and then springs into action on request. It has 3 surfaces: gold, silver and white. My favourite is gold, which gives the subject a beautiful warm buttercup glow.
3. Having a peek at the University of Greenwich's contribution to the Graduate Art and Design show, Free Range , in Brick Lane.

Here's a picture to illustrate today's mood. It a view from Camille's Provencal house, taken last April.

Are bloggers lonely? Or just creative?

I've just read a few studies about the personality types of bloggers.

Apparently, women who are high in Neuroticism (the personality trait associated with depression, anxiety, paranoia and loneliness) are attracted to using the internet (Amichai-Hamburger & Ben-Artzi. Computers in Human Behavior, 2003) and prefer chatting online rather than face-to-face (Amichai-Hamburger, Wainapel & Fox. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 2002) .

I am brand new to blogging. Never felt the desire to do it before. Now all of a sudden I feel the urge to write about the slugs in my garden.

Am I lonely?

Maybe when it comes to talking about slugs I am alone. At least in real non-cyber life. My friends are interested in partying, politics, other people, music, books, boys/girls, clothes and art. Not gardening. And until about 2 months ago I was the same. Now that I've got a new flat, I've started reading Country Living instead of Vogue and looking at chaffinches on the BBC Springwatch webcams.

Although I still feel odd if I don't go out on a Saturday night.

What a relief to read a more recent study showing that bloggers are higher on Openess to Experience which is the personality trait associated with creativity, interest in the world and being intellectual (Guadagno, Okdiea & Enoa. Computers in Human Behavior, 2007)

That's more like it.