the paper is for the pgrad seminar series, on the 13th of May. i'm sure it'll be fine. 3000 (half an hour) is nothing. i'm aiming for half an hour. an hour is far too long and boring. this way we have half and hour of me being clever and then half an hour of other people being clever and me answering questions (which i quite like - at least i like it more than the paper giving bit). and then we all go to the pub. instead of one hour of me-me-me and then the etcetera.

i think i might write it on djing in swing communities. seeing as how that's what the chapter is about. i'm considering wacking a copy of the draft up here for people to read (all 3 of my loyal fans). but then, i figure why not just publish some bits of the fukker in journals? that'd be cool. then even less than 3 people will read it. if i'm lucky.

oh, hark at the miseryguts. dang, aren't low-girls a drag?

at any rate, i'll whip up this paper, pop it off to the Supes for a proof-read, then deliver it to the 5 or so people (max) who come to our pgrad seminars. wack-bloody-o. as jon would say.

meanwhile, i discovered today that my grants application has once again been held up and not arrived at the faculty office. i emailed the program head, and he said it's delayed at the school level. it goes from me, to the Supes, to the head of program, to the head of school, to the grants people in the faculty. don't you just love buerocracy? and spelling?
this is why i always email to be sure my documents have actually arrived at their destination. which reminds me - i need to check on my ethics application. joy.

on a slightly different tack, i ordered two useful books for work - 'stomping the blues' and something about women, afro american feminism and jazz/blues musicians in america. the first is quoted and referred to by swingers a whole lot (well, the 5 of them, worldwide, who actually read books, that is. mean? sure was. and wonderfully so), so i figure it's time i read it. i checked the author (albert murray) in the library catalogue,and he's published some interesting looking stuff. refs to afro american cultural history and music/dance as political as well as cultural expression. timely for the next chapter (which will probably be the dance one). the feminism one is purely self-indulgence. well, it's gonna be useful too (i'm scenting some neglect of women and gender politics in all this afro-american vernacular cultural stuff). in fact, now i think about it, it's actually a top buy - i have had a Feeling about gender politics and power in jazz and blues. especially when you compare it with country and folk song from america in the 30s/40s. we definitely prefer the sassier jazz/blues to whiney country.

so i'm looking forward to those two books. they may take three months to get here, but they'll be worth it. esp as all up, including postage from the States they only cost $A30-odd. kewl.