...oh, how I hate it. Waiting. And waiting. Okay, I over-dramatize. But I'm tired today, which makes me cranky and sad, and it's hard to ignore that little creeping anxiety of waiting to find out whether any of those encouraging responses will pan out. I'm expecting 2-3 responses this week, and I've definitely reached the nail-biting stage. It's time to start practicing deep breathing and thinking about Other Things.

Meanwhile, term time has started up at my university, and the campus has gone from its empty, peaceful (but also ghostly) summer state to a packed, crowded monster with 30,000 students jostling through all the paths and corridors and lining up at all the cash points and cafes. It seems like every five feet, there's someone handing out paper advertisements for clubs, concerts, raves, etcetera, and they're all shouting out bids for attention as they thrust things at you. Today as I stepped out of one of the university libraries, a guy said enticingly: "Nuns on speed!" as he tried to stick his flyer in my hand. "No, thanks," I said, stepping away.

Later, I wondered whether that was exactly the right response...