8.40 am: At this time of the morning, a gentleman can walk into his barber’s shop and sit in the chair straightaway. 9.20 am: I returned, refreshed, walking into the sunlight:

Postgraduate and examination administration were at the head of my ‘must do now’ Post-it. I bit the bullet. A column of teaching preparation ‘to dos’ confronted me, too. (Semester 2 teaching begins on Monday.) For later. Admin breeds admin. I’ve two PhD viva voce (both of a non-standard type) to arrange, examination scripts (of a non-standard type) to send to the external examiner, inquiries to address, and appointments to confirm:

By noon, what needed to be done was done. On, then, with my teaching timetable and associated notifications.

1.40 pm: Off to School for an afternoon of postgraduate inquiry meetings.

The first visitor was related to one of my teenage heroes: a colossus of a musician. What a small world. From 3.00 pm to the close of the afternoon, Mr Croft and I held informal discussions with two intending PhD Fine Art applicants. These occasions are, without fail, fascinating, exciting, and tiring (in the most fulfilling sense of that word).

7.30 pm: My other life: I attended the Holy Trinity Church Committee, of which I’m the youngest member.

Some principles and observations derived from today’s auto-ruminations:

• We’re prone to overestimate ourselves.
• Just as a small noise can effect a large avalanche, so too minor mistakes may lever huge consequences.
• Don’t be cocky!
• Life is peppered with landmines: unseen and dangerous traps.
• Chaos and pain inevitably ensue wrong doing. They’re the sting in its tail.
• Do what only you can, the way that only you do.