Thursday 17 July: There has been very little thinking today, just getting through a list of ‘must do’ things. Also, there’s been a kind of dry run, going through piles of things on the study floor and the upstairs hallway to take and being more sensible about them. There’s something about a supervisor leaving the country that propels long pieces of writing out of even the most writing-blocked PhD students, so three of the jobs for the day have been reading chapters and commenting on them for people.

It cuts both ways too, because I’ve been writing like a demented ferret as well, and in my case hurtling things in Andrea’s direction, to go up on the WWW website. This includes a longer blog on what a ‘migrant letter’ is and if it differs from letters written by (former) migrants, and a ‘curiosity’ on alarmist claims about the death of the letter. the website looks really good, we’re very pleased with how it’s shaping, and hope other people find it useful. For this evening, I want to refresh my memory of the excellent The Dynamics of Social Practice by Elizabeth Shove and colleagues – it’s great for thinking about the itty-bitty aspects of how social change occurs.

What about tomorrow? I was hoping for a quiet day, just reading, packing, music, cooking. However, two more thesis chapters have turned up, so these are the priority, once packing is sorted.

Last updated: 17 July 2014