Friday, April 5

I woke at 3:00 worried about what the manufacturers of vegan foods would call them once the new EU directive comes into force. The meat industry has persuaded legislators that consumers will get terribly confused if people like Quorn continue to label their products as sausages and steaks. They have already stopped Oatly and others from using words like milk, cream and cheese in connection with their vegan alternatives.

I invented a solution. The whole vegan food industry should sponsor a Creative Labelling Foundation who would generate trademarked generic terms such as molk and sozzas, with clear definitions

sozza (noun): a vegetarian or vegan product designed to visually resemble and serve most or all of the functions of an old-fashioned meat sausage

and then license them to companies that wished to use them. This would provide consumers with a uniform vocabulary to use as they abandoned eat animal products. It would also provide producers with a uniform baseline vocabulary for product descriptions that could gradually depart from the traditional vocabulary of the meat industry.

I then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Irma worked from home today so I got up quietly, ate my Weetabix noiselessly, and crept out of the house. The cat sat and watched but didn’t make a sound.

I had a Zoom tutorial with an MA student at 9:00, who knows exactly what he should do and seems certain to get it done in the timescale we agreed.

After this I reluctantly read through all the written examinations handed in by this year’s applicants for the M course, that Tiina had posted on Teams. I posted my results back there while wondering if she would ever find them.

At 10:00 I had a second tutorial scheduled. The student did not show up but emailed me twenty minutes late to ask if we could have it online. I said we could and he then emailed to say he wouldn’t get home until after midday so we could have it then.

I emailed back to say that we couldn’t.

I left Arcada at 11:40 and now I have got off the bus and walked to Vilhonvuorenkatu. I have just bumped into Aga cycling back from wherever she had gone earlier. She parks her bike and we go into Thai Streetfood to have lunch and catch up. As I wait I notice that the sun shines so brightly that the reflections from the buildings over the road block any view into the restaurant.

We talk about Pixelache, her father, Irma’s sister, her art work, social tools, and much more. I point out that I think I know the people who own Thai Streetfood. I think Naa’s friend Jennifer started it with her boyfriend, now husband. Whoever started it, the food tastes delicious – and very spicy in a Thai way.

I will return to Arcada in time for what we used to call Rektors kaffe but have now learned to call Coffee with Friends, which always makes me feel as though I attend a day centre of some kind.

I will go upstairs for coffee and cake, before returning to start working on my doctoral research plan in earnest. I will email Mats to tell him to expect it on Monday.

At 16:30 I will leave Arcada and at 17:15 I will meet Irma outside the British Embassy for another episode of Well in the Park.

The weekend starts here!