And it's really nice here. Trees are blooming (I'm still not used to that; living 21 years in one of the biggest evergreen forests in the world puts trees that bloom and loose leaves and boom again strange creatures, in my mind), the weather is no longer grey and drizzly (still grey, just not as drizzly) and a bit warmer, but still with plenty of lovely breezes. It's awesome.
The past few days have been pretty awesome, too. Went to a club on the weekend, ran into some friends, and had a good time all around then. I was supposed to go to a barbeque on Wednesday, but it got rained out, so we just went bowling instead (for, like, 4 hours...my legs are still sore from it...I won, though). And then we went out to play pool that night (I lost...my friend Tom's a damn good pool player). To prepare for the possibility of a barbeque and the surity of bowling, I finished my National Geographic project, and I was already done with all the stuff to turn in for my boards, so I had nothing to do. I went and saw Wolverine at the second showing of the day with a couple friends, and now I'm sitting in the library updating my blog, filling in key things in my diary, and pissing the people around me who are studying hard off as I'm about to start watching a movie. I rule.
After the movie I was hanging out with one of my Scottish friends, who kept doing double takes at me when I would say things. Apparently I've started slipping into a passable Scottish accent (Glaswegian, not Edinburghan, which I knew, I can't sound like the locals here at all yet) without realizing it. So go me. Assimilation, here I come.
In other news, I think the swine flu hysteria is overblown. Not that I don't think there's risk of some bad stuff happening from a super strain of the flu, just that I don't think this qualifies, and I know for a fact that the media is not reporting basic facts that would calm people down. For example: the WHO has only confirmed seven deaths from swine flu; regular flu kills approximately 36,000 people in the US every year, and between 250,000 and 500,000 world wide, so even if this new stuff had killed 150+ people, that's nothing compared to the regular kind; WHO 'Level 5 Pandemic warning' means nothing except that the virus has passed from human to human in at least two countries (in this case, in many instances in Mexico, and in one instance in Spain); the reason swine flu has become so widespread in Mexico is that the country does not have the infrastructure or health care system to deal with something like this (the girl who died in the US was actually a Mexican child who had been brought to Texas to seek treatment), while in other countries that do have health care and infrastructure there have been no deaths...I could go on and on. I won't, though, as that gets old.
Anyway, I'm meeting with my supervisor today to discuss my draft of chapter three, and I have my review boards scheduled for 14 May at 11:15.
I'm going to go watch that movie, now. Woo!
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Scottish Wanderings
Well, it's been a grand weekend.
Saturday, I finally made my first (of many, I hope) foray out of the city, and I left Edinburgh on a train to Glasgow. Granted, I did trade one city for another, even larger city (Edinburgh has a population of about 500,000, Glasgow of about a million), but seeing the countryside between the two cities from the train was refreshing. I'll have to visit some of those little stops sometime.
Glasgow was nice, though (sorry Chris), not as cool as Edinburgh. Though I guess I did only see one part of the city, but still.
Today, I woke up at half eight and then got a message from my younger sister, who is trying to plan a trip here. I had planned to have a bit of a lie in, but since I was already awake, I got up and got to work on my draft...which I actually realized was done. It occured to me that I should dedicate the next chapter to the New Testament, and end the chapter I just finished right before the New Testament...so that draft is done. As soon as I get an ink cartridge for my printer, I'll proof it and then email it to my supervisor.
Speaking of ink cartridges, I've had no luck in Edinburgh finding one. There's one more shop to try, which I went to find today. It's on the other side of Holyrood Park, and so was quite a walk, but it was a gorgeous day...clear blue sky. So I walked along the Crags in Holyrood, then along Queens Drive through the park. Turns out at the weekend they close off a huge chunk of that road, so that the park is car free. And it was crowded!
A few guys were practicing rugby, loads of people were playing football (I saw two lads of no more than 10 or 11 passing a ball back and forth who were already better than I could ever hope to be), several kites (including two giant, parachute looking things), loads of swans and ducks seagulls, and I did find the shop. It was closed. But I figured it would be, as it's Sunday. But, since I've finished this chapter draft, I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so after the gym I'll wander back down there and see if they can get me ink cartridges.
My review boards have been scheduled, too, for 14 May at 11:15am. So after I proofread and email this draft to my supervisor, I will spend the next two weeks revising my chapter for submission, making sure I have my bibliography up-to-date, and revising my dissertation proposal before I print out and submit four copies of it to the members of my board. And then we'll see what happens.
I have a load of pictures to put up, but not today. soon, though. Soon.
Saturday, I finally made my first (of many, I hope) foray out of the city, and I left Edinburgh on a train to Glasgow. Granted, I did trade one city for another, even larger city (Edinburgh has a population of about 500,000, Glasgow of about a million), but seeing the countryside between the two cities from the train was refreshing. I'll have to visit some of those little stops sometime.
Glasgow was nice, though (sorry Chris), not as cool as Edinburgh. Though I guess I did only see one part of the city, but still.
Today, I woke up at half eight and then got a message from my younger sister, who is trying to plan a trip here. I had planned to have a bit of a lie in, but since I was already awake, I got up and got to work on my draft...which I actually realized was done. It occured to me that I should dedicate the next chapter to the New Testament, and end the chapter I just finished right before the New Testament...so that draft is done. As soon as I get an ink cartridge for my printer, I'll proof it and then email it to my supervisor.
Speaking of ink cartridges, I've had no luck in Edinburgh finding one. There's one more shop to try, which I went to find today. It's on the other side of Holyrood Park, and so was quite a walk, but it was a gorgeous day...clear blue sky. So I walked along the Crags in Holyrood, then along Queens Drive through the park. Turns out at the weekend they close off a huge chunk of that road, so that the park is car free. And it was crowded!
A few guys were practicing rugby, loads of people were playing football (I saw two lads of no more than 10 or 11 passing a ball back and forth who were already better than I could ever hope to be), several kites (including two giant, parachute looking things), loads of swans and ducks seagulls, and I did find the shop. It was closed. But I figured it would be, as it's Sunday. But, since I've finished this chapter draft, I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so after the gym I'll wander back down there and see if they can get me ink cartridges.
My review boards have been scheduled, too, for 14 May at 11:15am. So after I proofread and email this draft to my supervisor, I will spend the next two weeks revising my chapter for submission, making sure I have my bibliography up-to-date, and revising my dissertation proposal before I print out and submit four copies of it to the members of my board. And then we'll see what happens.
I have a load of pictures to put up, but not today. soon, though. Soon.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Holyrood on Easter
So I went to wander around in Holyrood park today, Easter sunday. It was a gorgeous day out, and there loads of people in the park, particularly families. It felt very wholesome.
What did not feel so wholesome, but seemed impossibly awesome, was that there was ample evidence that ther ehad been several small, or perhaps one massive, hard-boiled egg fight. There were bits of egg lying all over the place, and not just shell...big chunks of cooked egg white, yolk, dyed shell were all over. I suppose it could have just been from some kind of Easter egg hunt, but it would have been the most destructive Easter egg hunt in history. Much more fun to think about a massive Easter egg fight.
And whilst I was hiking along the Crags, two women loved my Asthma Is Sexy sweatshirt.
So good day.
What did not feel so wholesome, but seemed impossibly awesome, was that there was ample evidence that ther ehad been several small, or perhaps one massive, hard-boiled egg fight. There were bits of egg lying all over the place, and not just shell...big chunks of cooked egg white, yolk, dyed shell were all over. I suppose it could have just been from some kind of Easter egg hunt, but it would have been the most destructive Easter egg hunt in history. Much more fun to think about a massive Easter egg fight.
And whilst I was hiking along the Crags, two women loved my Asthma Is Sexy sweatshirt.
So good day.
Saturday, 11 April 2009
The Empty Echoes of Easter
That's some good alliteration, eh?
The title this time comes from the fact that my flat building is basically empty, as the school is now on Easter holidays...of 30-40 people, I think there are 6 of us left on my floor...and as few on the floor above, apparently. It's very, very quiet. Almost eerily so. But oddly, I enjoy it like this. I am vehemently opposed to forced socializing, so I avoid as often as possible situations in which I will be forced to interact with people. The flip side of this is that I often have to force myself to socialize...but it's okay when I do it to myself.
Which is not to say that I don't willingly and enjoyable socialize with people sometimes. There are several folks with whom I enjoy spending time.
But none of them live on my floor.
I recently finished a project for work, and have a couple more possible projects in the pipeline, so that's exciting. And the draft of my next chapter seems to be progressing decently, if slowly, as I'm rapidly losing motivation. To that end, I've taken a few days to myself, rented some videos, read a new book (Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist...the translation [it's originally Swedish] is not great, but the story, of a boy's relationship with a vampire in early 1980s Sweden, is amazing). And it's a frakin' gorgeous day.
I think I'll go for a walk.
The title this time comes from the fact that my flat building is basically empty, as the school is now on Easter holidays...of 30-40 people, I think there are 6 of us left on my floor...and as few on the floor above, apparently. It's very, very quiet. Almost eerily so. But oddly, I enjoy it like this. I am vehemently opposed to forced socializing, so I avoid as often as possible situations in which I will be forced to interact with people. The flip side of this is that I often have to force myself to socialize...but it's okay when I do it to myself.
Which is not to say that I don't willingly and enjoyable socialize with people sometimes. There are several folks with whom I enjoy spending time.
But none of them live on my floor.
I recently finished a project for work, and have a couple more possible projects in the pipeline, so that's exciting. And the draft of my next chapter seems to be progressing decently, if slowly, as I'm rapidly losing motivation. To that end, I've taken a few days to myself, rented some videos, read a new book (Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist...the translation [it's originally Swedish] is not great, but the story, of a boy's relationship with a vampire in early 1980s Sweden, is amazing). And it's a frakin' gorgeous day.
I think I'll go for a walk.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Tattoos
Well, I came across this interesting tidbit whilst doing of my many daily rummagings around the 'net for news: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/5095591/Having-tattoos-like-David-Beckham-is-a-sign-of-low-self-esteem.html.
According to this study, people who have three or more tattoos are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem, and indeed, the desire to get/act of having gotten tattoos is in many cases indicative of low self-esteem.
I have five tattoos. So I guess I have low self-esteem.
(I don't actually, I'm incredibly egotistical).
Fascinating, though.
According to this study, people who have three or more tattoos are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem, and indeed, the desire to get/act of having gotten tattoos is in many cases indicative of low self-esteem.
I have five tattoos. So I guess I have low self-esteem.
(I don't actually, I'm incredibly egotistical).
Fascinating, though.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Haunted Library
So, I'm sure you've all heard, at one point or another, about how I think the New College Library at the University of Edinburgh is haunted. It used to be a chapel type thing, and there are two or three levels below the main library floor, and it's creepy as hell down there; whenever I'm forced to descend to get articles or books, I do it as quickly as possible.
Well, it's Easter vacation here right now (which, for you Yanks, means that undergrads get three weeks off...crazy, eh?), and I'm in the library, because it's Thursday, and I have to be out of my room whilst it is cleaned. It has become my habit to come to the library on Thursdays, to return books or check out books or just sit and read or write.
But it's empty in here.
And so creepy.
If this were a bigger place, it'd be like a scene from a set-at-prep-school slasher flick. But it's relatively small, in library terms. But still.
Creepy.
-stephen
Well, it's Easter vacation here right now (which, for you Yanks, means that undergrads get three weeks off...crazy, eh?), and I'm in the library, because it's Thursday, and I have to be out of my room whilst it is cleaned. It has become my habit to come to the library on Thursdays, to return books or check out books or just sit and read or write.
But it's empty in here.
And so creepy.
If this were a bigger place, it'd be like a scene from a set-at-prep-school slasher flick. But it's relatively small, in library terms. But still.
Creepy.
-stephen
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