Busy busy

I haven't updated for a while because this new job is a time vampire. Things are starting to calm down slightly now though, so my evenings and weekends may re-emerge from the amorphous blob of seminars, lecturers and admin meetings that has absorbed my formerly innocent post-PhD life.

I sympathise, Steve

To give you an idea of how dull my life now is, the most exciting thing I did recently was buy a little action figure of Mr Spock which I saw in Sainsbury's. I'm not sure if it was really an impulse buy, as after I saw it I rolled my trolley slowly all the way down the home furnishing and kitchenware aisles while I mulled over the pros and cons.

In the end I took the plunge and counted out pennies until I was sure I afford the curiously specific asking price of £4.11. I then had to endure a conversation with a checkout kid who turned out to be a complete nerd and wanted to know my opinion of the latest Star Trek film. (I told him I thought it was shit.)

This is what my Spock toy looks like:

£4.11 well spent, I think. I bought it in honour of a planned Star Trek movie night with Moogdroog and her housemate, to show that even Babylon 5 fans like me are willing to make conciliatory gestures towards Trekkies.

Speaking of which, I read a Babylon 5 vs. Star Trek forum discussion where this comment made me Laugh Out Loud:

I love B5. My missus preferred DS9. It's a good job we weren't seeing each other at the time as she'd have got a punch in the face.

It's nice to see love crossing such great cultural divides.

I've put my Spock action figure on my kitchen window sill next to my British soldier action figure. The British soldier action figure, however, keeps falling over when I try to stand him up by himself.

Maybe I should buy an American soldier action figure for him to lean on.