Workynge week-ends ys a thynge of muche wo

I don't know why I hadn't come across Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog before now, seeing as I spent several years as a dedicated medievalist. It's all kinds of awesome. Having just read a wealth of Margery Kempe for a recent course, and having attended a 'helpful' seminar on what to expect and how to attend/prepare for the MLA (which I have no intention of ever doing), I especially loved this entry. Middle English is so great. In other academic news, Cary Wolfe—one of the bigger names in my field—recently came to the island and gave some talks, which was pretty exciting. Weekend work schedule means I wasn't able to tag along to the Massive Attack concert on the mainland this weekend. To add insult to injury, all day today the building is throbbing with drums, dancing, bare feet, dreadlocks, wailing-cheering, and vinegar. The organ in the performance hall at work is finally being restored after 10 years of disuse. The console has been sitting in the lobby for years, and intrigues me with its dark wood paneling, four manuals, and dozens of stops. The restored organ will be controlled digitally, and thus the console will be replaced to reflect that, which is a little disappointing. Pipe organs are something of a mystery to me, but as it happens I will have to learn how to compose for organ—and thus how they work—in order to enter a specific composition competition this winter. The first year I entered I made it to semi-finals, then last year I made it past quarter-finals, so if it weren't for the organ requirement this year I'd have a pretty good feeling.