12 of 12, July 2013

There are a few things about Melbourne that I have missed since moving back to Tasmania over 18 months ago. Friends are the most significant of these, but I have to admit that there have been times when I have missed the ready access to a good hot chocolate.

I have been back in Melbourne this week, for the first time in 9 months. I had expected that my visits would not be so far apart, but the first six months of this year have been a bit on the mad and frantic side, and despite having good reason to come it just hasn’t been possible.

This week, however, I’ve been attending a series of conferences: the first a symposium to celebrate and acknowledge the work of my friend Kaye who retired recently, the second the annual MERGA conference (for mathematics education researchers), and the third the biennial conference of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers. I confess that by today — the symposium was last Saturday, and it’s been nearly non-stop ever since — I was suffering conference fatigue, and an escape for hot chocolate with my friend Robyn was a welcome respite.

I fear I am not the only one suffering conference fatigue, and that I will be made acutely aware of this tomorrow: I am presenting a session but I am not expecting a huge turn out, because it is the last day of the conference and some people leave early.

Anyway, today was the 12th. In addition to the boring photograph of two cups of hot chocolate (not that you can identify the contents from the photo!), there are another 12 photos that you could view if you can bring yourself to click here.

(If nothing else, it will give you a break from the relentless poetry!)

(The “12 of 12” project involves taking 12 photos on the 12th of the month. This provides the opportunity to get snapshots of different aspects of your life. I have been doing this for nearly four years.)