Oops, where did March go?

I'm down to almost my last week of classes. This surprises anyone who's never paid attention to the peculiarities of the UK university calendar. After March, we'll be left on our own to write papers, take exams, and finally research and write our dissertations. Some of my coursemates who aren't from the UK will be decamping for home, or shuttling between home and London for that stretch, but I prefer to stay in one place with my notes, books, library access and lecturers at hand. Making sense of critical theory is hard enough without having to juggle logistical difficulties as well.

Yesterday I finally mailed off my book proposal and grant application. If you ask me what the book is about, I'll probably refer you to points #17 and #18 in Alexander Chee's list of "100 Things About a Novel". Which is another way of saying: I'm still figuring out what it's about, but I managed to jot down a few thoughts to satisfy the application requirements.

While I was writing and keeping up with school and the Arab spring and what's happening in Japan, spring slinked in at last, with blue skies and cherry blossoms. I do believe I'm optimistic enough to start carrying my sunglasses around as a matter of course, as I do in Singapore.