Swings

I have terrific students at both Universities at the moment; they are creative, energetic, positive and just great to work with.
Dave Laing's funeral is happening later this week and the sadness of that is a great contrast to the buzz at work. It's at the same crematorium that Poly Styrene's was, which has a certain poetry to it because he was one of the best writers on punk that I've ever read, and his book One Chord Wonders was actually on the kitchen table when I heard the news because I'm writing an article about Oh Bondage! Up Yours.
Dave's writing was gleeful: you must read that book, because his observations about the Tartanry in Johnny Rottens's singing, and the comparisons to Harry Lauder and Andy Stewart, are hilarious. I laugh every time I read it. Imagine laughing at an academic book!
Good people like Dave seem like islands in a sea of confusion and madness. I must say that he was inspirational and I really miss him: I know a great many of his friends feel exactly the same way.