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Apologies to those of you who have been missing my words of wisdom, but I have been on sick leave for a month and am just getting back into the swing of things.
Put briefly, the stress (and overwork) from the deaths of both my parents within a year or so of each other (and all the attendant tasks that go with that as the sole living close relative) started the ball rolling. Things were made far worse by taking on too many academic tasks (my fault, not my wonderful employer's), and as a grace note, I also started to feel physically awful due to a long-term blood pressure medication I was on that decided it didn’t like me much. When I finally dragged myself to the doctor’s, he ordered me to take a complete rest, changed my medications, and the result is that I now feel a lot better and once again raring to go. In case you are wondering how I spent the month of sloth, I finally managed to watch the large number of opera DVDs I had bought over the past couple of years and had not got round to seeing. Incidentally, I can particularly recommend Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande; it gave me the most soothing naps imaginable. I have yet to find out much that happens beyond the middle of Act 1, and from what I have seen of the start of Act 1, I have no great desire to, either.
More anon when I have finally got my act together. And I promise, no more gratuitous insults of one of France’s greatest composers.
