Been a very busy Nick this week. After last week’s fun and games at EKAW, I was hoping that this week would be a little easier. I certainly wasn’t counting on being bundled off to a symposium on information assurance at Ernst and Young’s Southwark HQ yesterday (up at 0515, back home at 2130). An interesting if overly high-level day, with a number of the great and good in attendance (Dame Pauline Neville-Janes, Professor Sir David King, etc), but but with its downsides. For a start, I’ve learned never to expect unbiased reporting of a breakout session by a knight of the realm. Secondly, I’ve learned that I should always dress far more formally than I think may be necessary. I wasn’t quite the scruffiest person there, but the journo from El Reg turned up late, asked the world’s most uninteresting and waffly message and then left.
Next week looks to be another corker. I’ve just found out that I’m going to be giving a presentation to the Universty Chancellor (Lord Selbourne) on Monday lunchtime, which rather scuppers any plans I had for getting together with an ex-housemate (Heather) for lunch. Bugger, in a word. Glorious Leader For Life has said he’ll throw together some slides for me over the weekend, so I should at least be on-message. I’m going to try not to let it affect my weekend, though.
In the midst of all this, I’ve completely failed to make the posting about my mental image of this story. I’ll try and post something over the weekend, but suffice to say that it involves a crossover between The Good Life and The Ice Storm, but with bonobos and gorillas. Mmmm. I’m sure that Felicity Kendal would be a dead cute bonobo.