NOW

[last updated on 26th June 2025]

You might be interested to know what I am working on, so here’s a list of my current main activities and projects. And yes, I know that I have far too many projects on the go at the moment, and that it is more effective to focus on just one or two projects at a time… but there are just so many things that I want to (or in some case have to) do…!!!

ART

  • I try to create a small piece of art, usually an ink and watercolour painting, first thing in the morning whenever I can (dailyish).
  • Selling My Art: I am setting up an online shop where I can sell my art and I am also hoping to have a stand at a local craft fair in the autumn. It will be interesting to see whether anyone wants to buy my art, and if they do, what kinds of things they buy.
  • Greetings Cards: I am turning some of my existing artworks into products to sell – initially focusing on making greetings cards featuring some of the pictures from various series of miniature watercolour paintings that I have done.

BLOG

  • Blog: I try to write a blog post whenever I can (dailyish). Over the years, I have had several spells during which I have regularly written blog posts, but there have also been some long gaps with nothing being added. I am not entirely sure why I write these blog posts, because very few people view them (and I suspect that even less actually read them!). I just like the idea of having a single place where I write about my creative activities, the books that I have read, and various other things I have been up to. I also like to have a place where I can muse on snippets of information I stumble upon, or capture little pieces of wisdom. There is a lot going on in my head and it is good to allow some of this to leak out!

JOURNALING

  • Journal: I write fairly long journal entries two or three times each week. I find that writing out whatever thoughts I am having helps to slow my brain down a bit and often leads to interesting ideas. I often explore the way that I am operating in life (a topic which fascinates and challenges me in equal measure) and unfolding my thoughts as I write them out often helps me to make decisions – something that I am really, really bad at doing much of the time.

HOUSE

I used to count DIY as a hobby and then realized that it is only really fun and enjoyable if i) your walls are straight, and ii) you have all the right tools. So in recent years, with time limited, I have not been quite so good at getting on with, and especially finishing, home improvements. Nevertheless, I do have some ongoing projects:

  • Fireplace: I need to paint the fireplace hearth and surround and make/fit a wooden mantlepiece in our living room. I bought the paint about 18 months ago…
  • Sliding Doors: We are renovating the wooden sliding pocket doors between the living and dining rooms in our house. We have ‘cheated’ a bit with this one and recently got a carpenter to fit a new rail and wheels so that they move properly. Now I need to sand and paint them – I don’t mind painting at all, but I hate sanding…
  • Sunroom: We have a conservatory/sunroom at the back of our house, but because it is north facing and how it links with other rooms, we hardly ever use it and so it tends to become a dumping ground. We are planning on turning it into a kind of ‘creative space’ or ‘art studio’ and have mostly cleared it out, but now we need to get suitable furniture, or borrow it from other rooms in the house, and that requires some decisions to be made…
  • Garage: No list of active projects would be complete without including one called something like ‘clear out garage’. This list is no exception, and I have vowed to complete this at some point this summer. It will require a lot of decisions to be made and I will have to throw out a lot of stuff that I have been keeping for years ‘just in case’. And there will be countless trips to the tip…

LEARNING

I love to learn new things or gain new skills so I try to always have some kind of learning project on the go at all times.

  • How To Get A Literary Agent: I am a member of Jericho Writers, an online community that tries to ‘help writers turn their publishing dreams into reality‘. I am currently working my way through the assignments for their online course How To Get A Literary Agent (see also WRITING).

ME

I have a category for various random activities and projects that I call ‘ME‘.

  • ORION: For the last 12-18 months I have been building what can be called a ‘Personal Knowledge Management’ (PKM) system with some software called Obsidian. I have called this system ORION after my favourite star constellation, Orion – The Hunter. It contains information on everything that I do, including what I eat, what I read, what I listen to, what I watch along with notes in which I record the progress I am making on specific projects, notes I make when reading books, my journal, my art and various kinds of structured reviews (Weekly and Seasonal). I also use it as a task management system. Basically everything I do, or need to do, or want to do, and everything I absorb in one way or another, ends up somewhere in this system. I will admit that I devote a lot of time (too much) to updating, maintaining and enhancing this system, but I find it fun to do and it helps me to keep myself organised and in good order.
  • PLYMOUTH ARGYLE: I am a long-standing (30+ years) season ticket holder at Plymouth Argyle Football Club (attending games with my younger daughter). I am also a regular contributor to PASOTI, an independent website for Plymouth Argyle Supporters On The Internet, where I write under the pseudonym The Doctor.

POETRY

It has been some time since I last wrote a poem (October 2024) but I am hoping that inspiration will strike and I will get back to writing poetry again soon.

  • Things That Help: A few months ago I put all of my previous poems together into a nice format with a view to publishing them as a book at some point (working title: Things That Help). I need to check the text and make final edits and to write a brief introduction. This isn’t a priority project at the moment but I can feel myself increasingly being pulled back towards it.

SELF

  • The TimeCrafting Trust: I am an active member of The TimeCrafting Trust, an online community for people who are interested in exploring aspects of productivity led by Mike Vardy (the goal is to ‘stop doing productive and start being productive‘). I participate in activities on this community most weeks (book club, livestreams, workshops)
  • Ness Labs: I am a member of Ness Labs, an online community set up by Anne Laure Le Cunff, author of the recent book Tiny Experiments, The community tagline describes it as a ‘Mindful Productivity School for Knowledge Workers‘.

WRITING

  • I am trying to get into the habit of spending ~30 minutes in the morning writing new material (dailyish).
  • Empedocles’ Children: I am slowly working through the process of publishing my children’s adventure story Empedocles’ Children. I may end up self-publishing it, but although it is a real long-shot, I am first going to have a crack at following the traditional publishing route through a Literary Agent (see also LEARNING).
  • The Time Crackers: I am currently writing an adventure story for younger children (8-12 years) about two children who find a route back in time. They realise that they have to decipher a coded message and then urgently convey it to its intended recipient to ensure that history turns out the way that it should. It might well be the first book of a series and has the working title The Time Crackers – 1: The Mystery of Drake’s Drum

WORK – GENERAL

  • Marine Science Induction: I’m currently responsible for planning and running the Induction Programme for new Marine Science undergraduate students when they arrive at the University of Plymouth in September.

WORK – RESEARCH

  • Contest Strategy Evolution: My main research project at the moment centres on exploring the evolution of animal contest strategies via a computer model that I have written and am developing further. This is a new area of work for me – I am not a biologist, but I find behaviour fascinating and am intrigued by the way that complex behaviours can emerge from relatively simple sets of rules.
  • Sandbar Behaviour: I have been working on modelling and understanding the behaviour of longshore sandbars on and off for my entire academic career (30+ years), but have done little in this area for the last decade or so (at least). I am currently trying to reestablish a piece of work I began some years ago which aims to understand how different patterns of sandbar formation, migration and decay depend on the strength and sequencing of storms, and the waves that these storms generate.
  • PhD Supervision: I am a member of the Supervisory Team for two PhD students although one of these has currently halted their studies. This involves regular meetings to review their progress and contribute ideas and assistance.

WORK – TEACHING

  • Introductory Oceanography: I lead, and teach the physical oceanography component of, a large first-year module (~300 students) that provides an introduction to the physical and chemical processes that occur in the oceans. The actual delivery of content takes place between October and December but there is always something that needs to be considered at other times of the year (exam marking, resit assessments, planning). I estimate that over the years, around 5000-6000 students have had the ‘pleasure’ of learning about introductory oceanography from me!
  • Meteorology: For the past ~15 years I have taught a second-year module on meteorology within our Marine Science degrees. The module generally has 30-50 students and the teaching takes place in September-December. This is probably my favourite module to teach because we interact with and are impacted by meteorological processes every day.
  • Projects: I am Project Advisor to a number of final year Marine Science students, and in this role I guide them through the process of completing a key assessed piece of work – their individual research project. I have ten project students next year working on a wide range of different topics.

WORK – TIMETABLING

School Timetabling Coordinator: I have been School Timetabling Coordinator for the School of Biological and Marine Sciences for at least 9 years. In this role I act as the link between Module Leaders for ~120 modules and the University Timetabling team. It involves handling a lot of emails (every email to Timetabling has to go through me) and coming up with creative ways to resolve timetabling issues where students, staff, room locations and available timeslots cannot easily be brought together. This work is concentrated in the period June-October. If all goes well, this summer will be the last that I have that is impacted by the work associated with this role.