Clock

This is a photo of my new alarm clock, sat on my desk with my HJ books standing appropriately behind it. (Actually, perhaps inappropriately. I was reading an essay on James' plotlessness as a reaction against the Victorian idea that time is linear. When I said 'appropriately' I was thinking of their shared 'vintage' aesthetic). Anyway, this serves mainly as a desk clock to help me study without the aid of my technological gadgets that all feature their own digital versions of the time. It is part of the Newgate Covent Garden clock range &I love it.

I have noticed that quite a few photographs on my blog feature clocks and I think I know why. Time often gains such a bad press: we have poets lamenting on the passing of time; andeveryday comments such as, "I wish there were more hours in the day!"; "Is that the time? [followed by an expletive]!" I'm prone to making these comments like the best of us-- without the expletives, of course-- but there is something that I find very comforting about time in that it allows me to ritualize certain hours of the day: I like the morning (particularly 8am and then 11am) because it means a fresh start and the chance to drink coffee whilst reading or writing; I take pleasure in the afternoons because they are punctuated by the 3pm coffee, which remedies the drudgery of meetings etc; and, I like the evening too because I can use soft-lighting in my flat and drink hot milk before bed. Yes, my days are defined by hot beverages. I discovered on Monday afternoon that 3pm-4pm is what I term 'Caffiene Rush Hour' in the library cafe. I discovered this after waiting for 10-15 minutes in the queue to buy some long-awaited lunch (I do not normally leave it so late, but I had been absorbed in writing material for my supervisors. As a hall tutor, I buy lunch on campus with my meal card so if I don't leave my flat, there is no food).

I have realised that the time featured here does not show the clock face very well at all, so expect future photos where the hands represent a more photogenic hour (10:10 or 1:50 where the shape is a smile-like 'V'-- although wider than that--which is what retailers call 'Happy Hour').