It seemed like it might never happen, but like everyone from Lily Allen to Reginald Smallthorpe and his Percussive Flea Orchestra, I now have a MySpace page, where you can listen to (but not download, unless I change my mind) my tunes. You can also check out my groovy Friends, including the great Al Lindsay and the outstanding Paul Goodwin, whose heroism in the face of my computer imbecility deserves a Victoria Cross. Having said all that, the link probably won't work, but I'm sure you can manage to type it yourself if not....

http://myspace.com/tomconwaymusic

Just spent the last 2 days marking what must have been at least 100 Advanced Writing exam papers at the Moller Conference centre at Churchill College. Talk about a different world. While washing my hands in the gents, I wondered why the soap wasn't lathering, til I realised that, of the 2 dispensers, I had mistakenly pressed the one for handcream. I innocently asked my team leader on the phone on Friday if lunch was included. She wasn't exaggerating when she said it was the highlight of the day. Suffice to say I haven't had a meal like it since Christmas dinner. It made the grinding tedium of the work more tolerable.

The papers themselves were interesting. By far the best came from Romania- seemingly mostly by mature adult students, though some very bright younger-seeming ones. Some from Croatian youths who, like most young ex-Yugoslav students I've encountered, seemed (understandably)desperate to shake off preconceptions about the war years and prone to either melodrama, pessimism or good old-fashioned Balkan pomposity (having lived in Greece for 4 years, one of those in a flat shared with a Serb, I'm quite familiar with it).

It all comes in handy. Who knows, I might be able to afford a holiday this year after all.