I loved the little guy from the day she brought him home. She carried him wrapped in a sweatshirt from the shelter at the corner where she'd been saying for months she was going to go. She set him down on the hardwood floor and he clipped around like a fawn - - clip, clip -- looking through doorways and carefully eyeing us both. He was tiny but he was strong. He was muscular and sleek, like a miniature greyhound, and we both watched intently as he clipped around, soldiering things out and whining under his breath. Miss Tennessee looked at me and smiled and said: "Well honey? What do you think?" And I told her: "I love the little guy." He was never really my dog. He was more like my step-dog, but together we named him Steve. We thought it was funny, giving a dog a man's name like that. But it fit, like Miss Tennessee, which I started just to tease her about being full-grown and long- legged and pretty, but in a tomboyish way that made it both absolutely ridiculous and absolutely plausible that she had ever been Miss Anything. It always made her swallow a grin. Steve's name, on the other hand, made it sound like he wasn't a dog at all, but this little man. Miss Tennessee often called him that: the little man. Steve liked me okay but he loved Miss Tennessee. With me it was man things. After he got snipped or when he was stung by bees, down there, in grass that came up to his chin, he would come sit by me, hoping I'd understand. With her, it was everything else. When she took a bath, he stood with his paws on the side of the tub, and when she went someplace he couldn't go he stood where he last saw her and waited. If she went into a store and left us together in the car, he stood with his paws on the dashboard, waiting and crying and looking at me like maybe I was to blame. Question: What is the most likely to be Steve's age when the narrator first met him? Options: - 12 weeks old. - not enough information - 8 yeas old. - 4 years old. === The correct answer is
12 weeks old.

I am currently waiting for peer reviews of two books I've worked on: one sole-authored, one co-authored. We don't talk much about the experience of waiting for reviews, and it's not something that appears to have been researched. Yet it's something everyone doing academic work has to go through and it may be bad for our mental health. I'm finding it particularly difficult at the moment because a lot rides on these reviews. The sole-authored book, which is on a contentious topic, has already had one set of reviews. Reviewer 1 was utterly damning, saying "I couldn't find anything to praise". Luckily, Reviewers 2 and 3 were more measured, offering both praise and constructive criticism, and their input helped me to revise and strengthen the typescript. However, in the process, my editor and I realised that we needed further reviews from people with a particular kind of specialist knowledge. My editor approached around ten potential reviewers, but only one agreed to do the job. So I'm gibbering what if that person agrees with Reviewer 1? The co-authored book is in a contentious format. My co-authors and I decided that I would be the person to liaise with publishers, as I have form in this process. The last time I liaised with academic publishers for a co-authored book was in the early 2000s, and I'd forgotten how heavily responsible it makes me feel. Fortunately, I've found a publisher that is interested and has sent the book out for reviews, to two professional academics and two students. This is great and terrifying but at least there are four reviewers. Even so, what if they all think it's rubbish? In many ways I love the peer review system. I welcome feedback on my writing, and I'm not at all averse to constructive criticism. I am by no means arrogant enough to think I can write a good book without input from others. Yet peer review, as a process, is fraught with uncertainty. Comments may not be constructive, or may not come at all. They may be positive, or negative, or in between, or a mixture. Question: What are the negative aspects of getting a book reviewed? Options: - the waiting process while waiting for reviewers feedback - not enough information - the negative reviews that may be unwarrented - finding reviewers willing to review your book === The correct answer is
not enough information

In the shadow of the Seattle Space Needle, almost alien crystalline forms wrap their deft tendrils through the Chihuly Garden and Glass. Every single petal, bowl, stem and branch of cascading glass has been handblown under the guidance of Washington State native Dale Chihuly (in fact he grew up in nearby Tacoma), and we couldn't quite believe our eyes. Having discovered this exhibit through the magic of Jaime's instagram (she's a self-named Angloyankophile who grew up in Seattle before moving to London) I knew we would have to visit. My photos don't do the undulating forms any kind of justice; but they might just convey the incredible scale of the exhibition. I'd always been curious to learn more about Chihuly, after being introduced to his incredible sculpture suspended over the V&A Museum information desk, a glowing confection of green and white glass whisps. In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice, observing the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art. His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has also lost an eye to his passion, and now mostly directs the sculpture design and assembly. It was truly amazing. In 1999, Chihuly started an ambitious exhibition, Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem; where more than 1 million visitors attended the Tower of David Museum to view his installations. In 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London curated the exhibition Chihuly at the V&A. Chihuly's lifelong fascination for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within botanical settings. Question: How long did it take for Chihuly to create the sculpture suspended over the V&A museum? Options: - probably days - probably weeks - not enough information - probably months to years === The correct answer is
probably months to years