It Must Be the Heat

Today is 100 degrees and I'm having some flashbacks to brutal heat waves of summers past. Summer is work time--the only time we academics get to do what we're really paid to do, which is research, write and publish. Teaching may take up our time but few institutions really value it, even as we spend a good majority of our time in the classroom, preparing to teach, grading work or other instruction-related activities like meeting with students, responding to emails, writing letters of recommendation etc.

Of course, summer is also the most brutal time of year to get anything done--at least for those folks like me who don't have central air and don't live particularly near campus. This heat may in part excuse two of the most stupid mistakes I've made in writing this book. Last summer, in the height of the heatwave, I spent a week slowly going over one of the central films for the chapter I'm currently writing, taking meticulous notes (in a very long file). It was not comfortable work as I had to be at home near my dvd player as my laptop screen isn't big enough to play discs and have open files. One afternoon I had a brainwave about another very minor film that might at best be a footnote--opened the file--added the notes and then realized that the file was wrongly named. I waved away the prompt asking me if I was sure, and then had a horrid epiphany. I had just overwritten my file on Valley of the Dolls by accident--a move that totally destroyed my momentum to finish the chapter as this was the film I was about to discuss. I am usually very good about saving everything to dropbox, emailing myself copies of files, and backing up to my portable hard drive but this file was completely gone because I'd just bought a new computer and was feeling complacent. Stupid, stupid girl--I should have remembered all the friends who'd had similar experiences, mainly with new machines.

Roll onto this summer. This afternoon I decided to print out the rather large 60+ page chapter draft from last summer, merged with some relevant material from my recent conference paper. I was surprised to find that I only had 15 pages. I checked all the versions on my laptop and all were the same. Fortunately, I remember emailing a copy to a dear friend, located the email where I'd referred to something I'd said on p. 47. Sure enough, I'd edited an old copy of the chapter and managed to delete/overwrite about 50 pages of text... At least I'd been a little less complacent about saving/duplicating work, although my dropbox version of the chapter was (sure enough) the older one.

It's just as well that I planned to upgrade to OS Lion, which reportedly does what the time machine function does (when you use it...). It stores earlier versions of files so overwriting isn't so much of a problem. I think this is a must for me, especially when most of my intensive writing seems to take place during these dog days of summer in a not-too-well air-conditioned bedroom.

I also managed to print the old version of the chapter about three times before realizing that I need to rename this sucker and move onto finishing it by the end of the first week of August so I can get the whole proposal to the press and move onto finishing some articles.

Summer Heat

We're right in the midst of a heatwave here in NYC (and, from what I've heard, most of the US). When your skin is as fair as mine, dresses that cover the shoulders and the upper arm are a must to avoid sunburn, particularly given the destructive effects of humidity on sunblock. Given my resolve not to buy a dress until the end of the month (a vow that I've kept despite missing out on a coveted Rachel Comey frock on deep markdown), I've had to dig deep into my closet.

Here, however, I've had some pleasant surprises. I've found three dresses that fit my bill--cotton, short sleeves and loose enough to withstand extreme heat. I'm not saying I forgot about these dresses, nor that they somehow vanished amidst my overstuffed closet, but rather I tended to overlook them or had pigeonholed them for alternate uses/seasons/life stages.

Today, I'm wearing one of the Uniqlo Phillip Lim dresses that I stood in line for back in May 2007 (I can't believe it was that long ago). It's a plaid school girl-ish dress in cotton that was just under $50 and, like most of their early design collaborations, is far better made than subsequent lines. I think I'd decided to reserve this one for cooler days with dark tights and then it just became victim to being an older and cheaper dress. But it's actually quite delightful and has held up well with age.

Yesterday I wore my Lyell red dress. I remember that there were production issues with the fabric and dye in this one, and somehow when I got it I remember thinking it was a bit costumey as well as a little long. I still think it is longer than I'd like, but it is soft, bright and relatively cool for a dress with a fitted waist. So back in the rotation it goes. This dress is like new as I think I only wore it twice. It's even older than the dress above, being a piece of the only partly produced Summer 2006 collection.

The third item has the least design credentials. It's a cotton trapeze H&M dress in an orange and white floral pattern that was heavily inspired by one of the Chloe collections. Ironically, it's probably my favorite of the lot. It has pockets, cap sleeves, and is in a lovely 60s style print in a perfect crisp cotton. I have no picture of this one as yet.

Now the challenge is to survive the next few days. No dress can aptly deal with this level of heat as the high 90s are on the horizon but at least I'm doing well enough without splurging on something new this month.

Catching Up

Three and half weeks away has meant several things, not least 5 lbs weight gain and a loss in muscle strength. I went back to zumba and pilates this weekend and boy did I feel the pain in my abs. I also noted a distinct lack of coordination with zumba, which meant I got less of a workout. I did take some consolation in the fact that it was my abs (and to a lesser extent butt and thighs) that hurt after pilates, which meant I was doing the exercises right--and, as for zumba, it was a new routine so that meant I could hide behind an excuse of not knowing what I was doing. But I still notice the pounds and the weakness--although I walked a lot at home and went swimming, it wasn't the same.

I've nearly balanced my sleep schedule into something workable--not waking up at 4 and falling asleep at 8, but 6.30-10. I can live with that and want to maintain something of that order as long as possible. The plan is to write like crazy in the mornings and afternoons, then go to yoga/zumba/pilates, then eat, rest, sleep. Again, possibly easier said than done.

I'm going to try to be organized. My mid-summer's resolutions are to cook more at home, using the fresh produce available at the farmers' markets and Whole Foods, cut out the chocolate/cookies and pastries I too easily consumed while home, work hard, spend less, and clean out clutter and closets.

Back in NYC

What a trip! I can't quite believe I'm not in England (and my body can't either--I got up at 4.30 am). I've come back with a renewed sense of purpose and resolve but I have to give myself a day or so to recover from a late flight. I left London at 8 p.m. yesterday and got back here at 10.35 p.m. or so (I think the plane was late). Even though I got a cab (I'm usually cheap enough to use public transport), I still wasn't in much before 11.30 p.m. or, as my body knows it, 4.30 a.m. BST.

I like to ration out jet lag this end, eaking out each extra hour over the course of a week or two. It may be 12.37 here but I feel it is every bit of 5.37 p.m. I've really not done much today but starting tomorrow, those extra hours will be devoted to work or chores like cleaning up and going through my closet.

Which gets me to another point. After much thought, I've realized that some of my more coveted and rare Mayle dresses just aren't ones I wear. So I'll be posting some pictures in the next few days of dresses I'll be selling. Some are unworn (Josie romper in black silk, Katia dress), others worn once or twice. Once I've recharged my camera batteries--and my own batteries--I'll be listing some of them here. Some of the rarer items I may post on ebay.

More Pictures

I'm having another great, relaxing day with the folks. Shopping in the morning (Mum and Dad, not me), coffee then lunch out, followed by a brief drive out into the country and now we're back sitting in the sun. I could get used to this--tomorrow, I'll meet with friends and do some work. Interesting things are going on with the press, with phone hacking, and issues of privacy/freedom of speech right now, as well as questions of media ownership as Murdoch is at the heart of it all.

Nothing like blogging in the garden, in the sun, while listening to Radio 4.

Here's Mum doing one of her favourite things--gardening (talking and laughing are also up there).

Poppies! Lots of them!

The Vyne--from day 3 of the holiday and my National Trust jaunt with Sue.

And some flowers from their garden.

Vyne hens.

And these are their names.

Home. Where I am right now.

Some Pictures

Having uploaded my photos, I thought I'd share a few from the first part of my trip. Here they are.

Here's Dad in the garden this afternoon. We've been having pretty perfect weather--70s, sunny, warm and little humidity. Here's some from Glasgow.

Not a very good picture--I took this one near the conference after a very long train journey and a rather short night's sleep.

Here's some Charles Rennie Macintosh ironwork at one of his buildings off Princes Street, now turned into a rather small, semi-upmarket and pretty shopping mall. They had a Cos--the upmarket H&M--which had some lovely things but I am on a vow of austerity and refused to buy.

Some of the lovely scenery from Glasgow's West End, the University's neighbourhood.

Breakfast for one at the beautiful Palace of Solitude in London. As you can see, I ate it all up (wholewheat toast, green tea and an organic orange).

I think this young pig would have eaten breakfast for me if I'd let him. He lives in the Imperial War Museum.

And here's my great-grandfather's listing as one of the victims of the Blitz in the same Museum. The house imploded when a bomb was dropped on it--I remember my grandmother telling me about it but it was only years later I realised that the story was real.

Here's Mollie, my brother and sister-in-law's cat. She's fluffy, pretty and super aggressive. Don't let that furry face fool you--she's an attack cat who will rip a hole in your skin if you try to touch her.

My dad's birthday--my brother had us around for dinner. It was in the 80s and sunny so we ate outside. It was a perfect day with the most lovely people.

Here's what I wore that day--my current favourite Rachel Comey dress and my Surface to Air strappy wedges.

And here's a scene from their garden. More to follow.

Conference Report

I have to say that I had one of the most enjoyable conferences yet. It's been a decade since I went to Glasgow so it was almost like going to a new city and I got a chance to look around before spending my time immersed in Cinema and TV studies.

The papers were generally very strong, I got to see some old friends and make some new ones. I also got to hang out with my fellow panelists from the US who were all lovely people (as well as giving great papers). One of them is one of my all-time favourite scholars and the paper she delivered was so beautiful, elegant and smart that it was a model of the best kind of scholarship. I had no email access which was actually rather nice--time to read, talk and engage with others. Plus the sun shone, which was evidently a first for Glasgow this summer. I look forward to going back next year and hope to see the same folks again.