Weeknote 43/2023
“I’ve always been more interested in teaching myself. If I want to explore something, I never think about attending a class; I do the reading on my own or seek out experts for conversations. Everything we’re forced to learn at school we quickly forget, but the things we set out to learn ourselves — to quench a thirst — are never forgotten, and inevitably become an important part of our existence.”
Verbs
Reading: Space Crone by Ursula Le Guin
I’ve long been a huge fan of the works and writing of Ursula Le Guin, who, to my mind, is one of the greatest writers, of any genre, of the last 100 years (if not more). I first came to know her work through the novel The Left Hand of Darkness - a novel that hinges around the now famous line “The King was pregnant.” That book was profound, arresting, and evocative in ways that so much modern writing simply isn’t. I’ve since read a lot of her books - the Earthsea Cycle, her take on a more traditional fantasy world as well as her science fiction works; books like Heaven’t Lathe and The Dispossessed. Her effortlessly marrying of philosophy, psychology, anthropology and literary fiction is a powerful combination. Until recently I’d relatively little of her non-fiction work, just the odd essay or article here or there. In Space Crone, editors So Mayer and Sarah Shin have compiled a whole range of materials, primarily non-fiction though studded with pieces of poetry and short stories, to bring together a general sense of Le Guin’s writing and think on issues of gender, feminism, identity, as well as creativity, the writer’s craft, and modern society. It’s a brilliant collection and Le Guin’s mind sparkles from start to finish. There’s a remarkable essay in which Le Guin discusses issues of gender in her book The Left Hand of Darkness and included with the text of the essay are numerous additions, parentheticals, responses, and comments from Le Guin herself on the piece some years later in which she very often disagrees with herself, changes her position, and even castigates her younger self. The essay reminded me very strongly of some of Montaigne’s writing in which he does much the same thing. I think this is a wonderful book for both fans of Le Guin and those interested in explorations of the ideas surrounding gender, feminism, sex, and identity.
Watching: Bodies on Netflix
Time travel, Victorian London, mysteries to solve, a team focuses on bringing down a sci-fi villain. Sounds a lot like Doctor Who but sadly, this was a Netflix limited series based on the DC/Vertigo graphic novels of the same name. The concept definitely hooked me - the same body appears at different times and sparks a murder investigation to be solved by 3 different detectives. One detective is working in the present day, another during the Blitz, and one in Victorian London. There’s some decent acting, especially from the detectives and some of the supporting cast, and there are sufficiently well-placed twists and turns to keep you engaged throughout. It’s not a complete winner, though, for me. As one reviewer I read said, “It’s a shame it’s more Netflix than BBC” and I think that says a lot. Some of the dialogue is stiff or rote, the various special effects are quite hit (Victorian London, the Blitz) and miss (everything in the future), and there are plot holes big enough to sail an oil tanker through. All that said, it’s certainly enjoyable, with enough thought where it counts to carry you through, even if you’re left wishing it had been in more capable hands.
Listening: World’s Beyond Number
This is a podcast. It is a storytelling podcast with 4 storytellers. It is a storytelling podcast with 4 storytellers who use Dungeons and Dragons to tell their stories. That last point, that it’s really a D&D show is by far the least important thing about this dazzling, captivating, and utterly absorbing show. I’ve been a huge fan of all of the cast through all kinds of previous projects, shows, and content that they’ve been a part of but this is four incredibly gifted, practised, and capable storytellers at the utter peak of their ability. The story they’re weaving, through D&D mechanics, but primarily through collective, guided, improvisational storytelling, has the vibrancy and life of the best of Studio Ghibli and Hiyao Miyazai, the rich and layered world of Le Guin’s Earthsea, and the humour and energy of the very best of Dimension 20. All of this is supported and elevated by some of the best sound design I’ve heard anywhere, in any medium. The second arc has just begun with episode 15, and I cannot be happier to be back with these incredible characters in this remarkable world.
Laughing: Dropout - especially Make Some Noise and Game Changer
I came to Dropout for the D&D shows and I stayed for the comedy. As deep, spiritual heirs to Whose Line Is It Anyway, I particularly love the improve/group-based shows on Dropout like Make Some Noise and Game Changer. Seeing people who are brilliant at what they do doing the thing they’re brilliant at is always a distinct pleasure and every episode is crammed full of people who are flat-out staggering out what they do. Fully improvised musical Shakespeare play, perhaps? Completely mind-blowing and amazingly funny stuff.
Chilling: Sleep Baseball
As a little background noise Sleep Baseball gives you the commentary on a totally fictional baseball game from a totally fictional place. Including ads, cock-ups, weather reports, interruptions and, occasionally, very weird things taking place. Performed straight down the line, with total sincerity it’s just slow and gentle enough to have in the background but just odd or surprising enough to keep you hooked. There’s nothing quite like it, that I’ve found at least, and I always love it when someone really commits to an idea.
Words
This week has been abnormally and uncommonly busy and it’s felt a little like pretty much everything has come at once. Giving the backbone to the week, I’ve been running three one-day online workshops for teachers based in Romania. We’ve looked at change agency in education and design thinking and next week will also be doing some work on cross-disciplinary teaching and learning. Online workshops are always tough - for participants and facilitators - and are probably not my preferred way of working, but sometimes that’s the way we need to operate. The only way to get through is by keeping things simple, focused, and clear for the participants, outlining exactly what we’ll be doing together and why we’ll be doing it, and having a good reserve of patience and goodwill as you weather all of the inevitable technical hitches.
In amongst all of this, I also spoke at a conference for teachers and school counsellors about problem-based learning. I’ve spoken and written about this before and really enjoy taking people through the idea and seeing what an impact it can have on them and the way in which they work. It was a great audience who were really receptive to the ideas and gave a lot of positive feedback to the talk. Here’s a little look at my cobbled together workshop/conference talk setup. It might be time to invest in a few new bits of equipment as I’m not sure baking paper on lamps is quite the proper way to get some nice soft-box lighting for your video calls!
With all that going on, plus the usual meetings, admin, and support work, it’s been a very full week. Next week is looking to be just as busy, too, so I’m hoping for some quieter time once we get further into November. Who knows, maybe that’ll happen!