Got up early this morning and started stage 1 of my essay. Stage 2 took place between 1545 and 1638 in the SSL. Stage 3 has taken place in the last 30 minutes back in the flat. It is done. It is poor, but it is done. Roll on 9th week I say.
Reffed again this afternoon, girls' football is hard to ref, it's just so different from the boys' game. You have to be looking out for all the big dramas in a boys' game but in a girls' game all the issues are about whether the ball is in or out of play, and also whether the throw-in is a foul or not! There were some free-kicks, but I find my attention lapses. Also it's near impossible to predict where the ball will go - there are loads of those "whack it, whack it back, whack it again" sets of kicks that just confuse me entirely. Luckily I didn't get hit by the ball today, although I did have one player run into me once. I guess I'm just out of practice.
Classes were ok, just tired a bit really, need it to be end of term. Haven't done my redrafted proposal for Cardiff yet, crumbs! It's due on Monday and my supervisors need to see it before then. Will do it in the morning.
We watched Waterloo Road on BBC tonight. It was dramatastic! Literally every single scene had some issue in it, it was gripping stuff! A girl got shot at the end though, and there was also a storyline about a boy who was trying to sell babies, yuck, how wrong is that?!
Ok to bed with me. Rest time :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Updates
This weekend:
1. Went to Cardiff. Tiring. Academics are weird. I have a lot of work to do if I want them to give me funding. Humph. Oxford is nicer...I'm a villager now.
2. Old school reunion at Teddy Hall. Brilliant. I love those things, especially the chat, it makes me laugh.
3. Old Furies game! Yeah! It was funny, I really liked reffing, even though I was knackered. Wish I was fitter. At least I could run though.
4. Dinner in the Mitre. Had the ribs, yum, I love ribs.
5. Not too hungover, despite having silly Rouse shots and also some pear cider. I think it was the lovely banana and nutella toastie back at Jij's.
6. Lined at cuppers semis, I like reffing, it's good to be back in all of that.
7. Went to the allotment with X. We did our first digs, I am very inspired.
8. Made a wicked king prawn noodles dinner, and had a lovely soak in the bath.
9. Did chores and some work today, but mostly chores. We have started a 3-day weekend. Oh dear.
Very hectic week this week, so no doubt I'll be updating things on here rather than working.
1. Went to Cardiff. Tiring. Academics are weird. I have a lot of work to do if I want them to give me funding. Humph. Oxford is nicer...I'm a villager now.
2. Old school reunion at Teddy Hall. Brilliant. I love those things, especially the chat, it makes me laugh.
3. Old Furies game! Yeah! It was funny, I really liked reffing, even though I was knackered. Wish I was fitter. At least I could run though.
4. Dinner in the Mitre. Had the ribs, yum, I love ribs.
5. Not too hungover, despite having silly Rouse shots and also some pear cider. I think it was the lovely banana and nutella toastie back at Jij's.
6. Lined at cuppers semis, I like reffing, it's good to be back in all of that.
7. Went to the allotment with X. We did our first digs, I am very inspired.
8. Made a wicked king prawn noodles dinner, and had a lovely soak in the bath.
9. Did chores and some work today, but mostly chores. We have started a 3-day weekend. Oh dear.
Very hectic week this week, so no doubt I'll be updating things on here rather than working.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday...
Wednesday afternoon. So we are officially half way to the weekend. WOooooooOOOO!
This morning I went to the fruit & veg market at Gloucester Green and bought loads of veg. Like this:
I also went to Sainsbury's and bought lots of food. I am feeling like a good hunter-gatherer provider for the nest.
Having X get up at half seven each day for work has been good for my discipline. However, not having X around to make me work has meant that today I have become a bit distracted. I really should be writing my stratification essay (on occupational sex segregation, so something I care about and figure I can actually write about) but I am planning a nap first.
We're going to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tonight, which seems like it could be very interesting. Am pleased as we have bought a cheapy Orange PAYG sim so that we can get the Orange Wednesdays vouchers, a total bargain, two tickets for the price of one means twice as much cinema for us.
Yesterday I managed to get all my reading done, was very efficient, so I got to hang out with X in the evening. We played Scrabble. I won, it was close towards the end, but not close enough.
In our qualitative methods class this morning we were given our course assignments. Our project is to do with cultural consumption and whether it is stratified by class. We have to go to different music venues and interview someone from the audience about their music consumption. It's really cool, as well as the interview (using a schedule designed by us and digital sound recorders), we do an ethnographic style write up of the observations we make, and also make a transcription of our interview. Then we get to see everyone else's interviews and make a codebook for them (a way to kinda generalise the findings into a table with variables and evidence). Finally we use what we've learned to write our own qualitative research proposal, which will be cool as I'm well into all this interviewing and ethnography stuff.
Last thing. X and I were discussing baby names, and we added Winston to the list. It's funny though because when I was talking about this name with some people from my group today, the Americans said it sounded really posh and aristocratic, while the Brits said it sounded more Jamaican/Afro-Caribbean - real opposites! I like the name anyway, and everyone said that they thought it would be a good name for an entertainer, and that he would certainly be a character with a name like that, so I'm keeping it on the list!
Ok I'm off for a nap, just a quick recording of some stuff from today!
This morning I went to the fruit & veg market at Gloucester Green and bought loads of veg. Like this:
I also went to Sainsbury's and bought lots of food. I am feeling like a good hunter-gatherer provider for the nest.
Having X get up at half seven each day for work has been good for my discipline. However, not having X around to make me work has meant that today I have become a bit distracted. I really should be writing my stratification essay (on occupational sex segregation, so something I care about and figure I can actually write about) but I am planning a nap first.
We're going to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tonight, which seems like it could be very interesting. Am pleased as we have bought a cheapy Orange PAYG sim so that we can get the Orange Wednesdays vouchers, a total bargain, two tickets for the price of one means twice as much cinema for us.
Yesterday I managed to get all my reading done, was very efficient, so I got to hang out with X in the evening. We played Scrabble. I won, it was close towards the end, but not close enough.
In our qualitative methods class this morning we were given our course assignments. Our project is to do with cultural consumption and whether it is stratified by class. We have to go to different music venues and interview someone from the audience about their music consumption. It's really cool, as well as the interview (using a schedule designed by us and digital sound recorders), we do an ethnographic style write up of the observations we make, and also make a transcription of our interview. Then we get to see everyone else's interviews and make a codebook for them (a way to kinda generalise the findings into a table with variables and evidence). Finally we use what we've learned to write our own qualitative research proposal, which will be cool as I'm well into all this interviewing and ethnography stuff.
Last thing. X and I were discussing baby names, and we added Winston to the list. It's funny though because when I was talking about this name with some people from my group today, the Americans said it sounded really posh and aristocratic, while the Brits said it sounded more Jamaican/Afro-Caribbean - real opposites! I like the name anyway, and everyone said that they thought it would be a good name for an entertainer, and that he would certainly be a character with a name like that, so I'm keeping it on the list!
Ok I'm off for a nap, just a quick recording of some stuff from today!
Monday, February 16, 2009
V-day and other things!
It is a Monday but I am treating it like a Sunday i.e doing chores and being distracted. I have lots of work to do, as usual, and so am procrastinating, as usual.
Went on strike on Friday and didn't write my essay on transition theory. Turns out no-one really understood the topic anyway, so that's one question I won't be choosing on my finals paper. My other two essays turned out to be good, so my hope that I CAN actually write a half-decent essay has been restored.
Got an offer from Cardiff to read for a PhD there, woooo! Now have to revise my proposal so I can get funding, fingers crossed on that front.
Took X to Bodyworlds on Sat for V-Day, which was really cool. The plastinated models were amazing, seeing the insides of people, all organs and muscles and bones was unbelievable, not to mention the giant giraffe, which was really something else! We learnt loads and I think X enjoyed consolidating the pre-med work. We only got into London around 4ish, but it was nice to have a lazy morning and read the papers/do the crossword on the way down. We missed all the parties and bops in college on Sat night, and I got into a strop cos I'd lost my lovely purple and pink stripey gloves that I've mix-and-matched with X, but I got over it on Sunday. Shame I couldn't be less of a kid on Sat night, but I guess we were both cold and hungry and tired, so that was a bit of a write-off. The pirate pepper grinder that X got me is perfect for our new nest, I like it a lot!
We played our much-vaunted cuppers quarter-final against LMH/T yesterday. Alas we lost in extra-time, it was 4-3, very dramatic! The knee mostly held up - one rather painful moment when I put a cross in and it clicked rather horridly, but it's no more sore than the rest of my very achey body today. Playing 120 minutes of football after having done nearly no exercise (apart from cycling) for about 2 months is a bad plan. I am very naughty when it comes to being good and taking care of myself.
What else? I bought us a TV licence, making us officially grown-up. We have been doing lots of house-based stuff like tidying and doing laundry and food shopping and making it nice. I am gutted to be missing our first book club meeting this Sunday, but it's our old girls' football match on Sat and the dinner too, so I just can't get to London in time on Sunday, oh well. I've been reading Q&A for it, which is singularly awful in my humble opinion, Slumdog is so much better.
Ok I best try and get some work done. Just a quick update to keep the records complete!
Went on strike on Friday and didn't write my essay on transition theory. Turns out no-one really understood the topic anyway, so that's one question I won't be choosing on my finals paper. My other two essays turned out to be good, so my hope that I CAN actually write a half-decent essay has been restored.
Got an offer from Cardiff to read for a PhD there, woooo! Now have to revise my proposal so I can get funding, fingers crossed on that front.
Took X to Bodyworlds on Sat for V-Day, which was really cool. The plastinated models were amazing, seeing the insides of people, all organs and muscles and bones was unbelievable, not to mention the giant giraffe, which was really something else! We learnt loads and I think X enjoyed consolidating the pre-med work. We only got into London around 4ish, but it was nice to have a lazy morning and read the papers/do the crossword on the way down. We missed all the parties and bops in college on Sat night, and I got into a strop cos I'd lost my lovely purple and pink stripey gloves that I've mix-and-matched with X, but I got over it on Sunday. Shame I couldn't be less of a kid on Sat night, but I guess we were both cold and hungry and tired, so that was a bit of a write-off. The pirate pepper grinder that X got me is perfect for our new nest, I like it a lot!
We played our much-vaunted cuppers quarter-final against LMH/T yesterday. Alas we lost in extra-time, it was 4-3, very dramatic! The knee mostly held up - one rather painful moment when I put a cross in and it clicked rather horridly, but it's no more sore than the rest of my very achey body today. Playing 120 minutes of football after having done nearly no exercise (apart from cycling) for about 2 months is a bad plan. I am very naughty when it comes to being good and taking care of myself.
What else? I bought us a TV licence, making us officially grown-up. We have been doing lots of house-based stuff like tidying and doing laundry and food shopping and making it nice. I am gutted to be missing our first book club meeting this Sunday, but it's our old girls' football match on Sat and the dinner too, so I just can't get to London in time on Sunday, oh well. I've been reading Q&A for it, which is singularly awful in my humble opinion, Slumdog is so much better.
Ok I best try and get some work done. Just a quick update to keep the records complete!
Monday, February 09, 2009
The new nest!
Monday of 4th week.
Some points of note:
1. We have moved into our new NEST! Hurrah! The move was a bit of a stress, but much better than it could have otherwise been. I woke up at 7am that morning and we just about finished unloading the last lot at the new place around 11:30pm - looooong day! Luckily no snow and minimum iciness (although enough for the GIANT hired van to get stuck in college!) We now realise we have a lot of stuff, but already our nest looks good and homely and we are going to make it even nicer. I'm excited to be doing this!
2. Spurs drew with Arsenal after a dreadful performance from the Gunners (including Eboue being sent off for being just persistently annoying and naughty). Why Spurs couldn't capitalise on the full three points I just don't know - they had so many shots and attempts but just couldn't break through.
3. I want to mention the GIANT van again, just cos I'm so pleased that I could drive it ok, albeit with X dealing with my freakouts about whether it could fit in gaps, whether I was reversing it ok, where the petrol tank was etc. It's cool to be driving up from a high position, and also it was surprisingly manoeuvrable! I named her Blizzy. Diesel-wise she was excellent value - used up £20-odd of fuel having driven all over London and back and forth from Oxford, plus a few little drives. Good stuff.
4. SO much to do this week and I think there'll be even more next week, but I just don't really have time what with trying to sort the nest out, a knee appointment on Weds, and lots of social stuff. Still, am looking forward to V-Day next weekend!
5. Our battle with LMH/T was cancelled due to more crazy snow. It's on for next weekend though, I wonder if I should play...?
Ok I'm going to go and make us some dinner so we'll be nice and energised for more nest-organising. Hope all is well with you.
Some points of note:
1. We have moved into our new NEST! Hurrah! The move was a bit of a stress, but much better than it could have otherwise been. I woke up at 7am that morning and we just about finished unloading the last lot at the new place around 11:30pm - looooong day! Luckily no snow and minimum iciness (although enough for the GIANT hired van to get stuck in college!) We now realise we have a lot of stuff, but already our nest looks good and homely and we are going to make it even nicer. I'm excited to be doing this!
2. Spurs drew with Arsenal after a dreadful performance from the Gunners (including Eboue being sent off for being just persistently annoying and naughty). Why Spurs couldn't capitalise on the full three points I just don't know - they had so many shots and attempts but just couldn't break through.
3. I want to mention the GIANT van again, just cos I'm so pleased that I could drive it ok, albeit with X dealing with my freakouts about whether it could fit in gaps, whether I was reversing it ok, where the petrol tank was etc. It's cool to be driving up from a high position, and also it was surprisingly manoeuvrable! I named her Blizzy. Diesel-wise she was excellent value - used up £20-odd of fuel having driven all over London and back and forth from Oxford, plus a few little drives. Good stuff.
4. SO much to do this week and I think there'll be even more next week, but I just don't really have time what with trying to sort the nest out, a knee appointment on Weds, and lots of social stuff. Still, am looking forward to V-Day next weekend!
5. Our battle with LMH/T was cancelled due to more crazy snow. It's on for next weekend though, I wonder if I should play...?
Ok I'm going to go and make us some dinner so we'll be nice and energised for more nest-organising. Hope all is well with you.
Friday, February 06, 2009
SO MUCH SNOW!
SNOW. That is all that we have at the moment.
My relationship with snow is pretty turbulent. Up and down, love and hate, right and wrong. And more annoying opposites.
Right now I am not happy with the snow. It is stressing me out as moving weekend is here and moving is going to be tricky. BUM.
What else? Very hectic week. All my essays were written in dramatic last minute/pressured fashion. Wrote possibly my worst essay of the term at 1pm today in 55 minutes after having a super long journey from London to Oxford because of our good friend, SNOW. Oh and also the Oxford Tube, which has become a bit substandard. Anyway am glad classes are done for the week, and also that Sociological Analysis is nearly done as the class has become really tedious, mainly cos it's a massive lecture, but also cos our essay topics are really odd and so it's difficult to well in them.
Went to X's father's birthday dinner last night, was very nice, we had Indian food. I like going out for Indian food, partly cos it's ironic, partly cos restaurant Indian food is different to actual Indian food. I liked the "manly flowers" I took X's dad - I think men should get flowers too.
Aaah packing, I knew there was something I had to do. How can I avoid it? Maybe whoever gets my room will want my stuff and then I can buy all new stuff??
So the next time I post it'll hopefully be from our new nest :) Wish us luck!
My relationship with snow is pretty turbulent. Up and down, love and hate, right and wrong. And more annoying opposites.
Right now I am not happy with the snow. It is stressing me out as moving weekend is here and moving is going to be tricky. BUM.
What else? Very hectic week. All my essays were written in dramatic last minute/pressured fashion. Wrote possibly my worst essay of the term at 1pm today in 55 minutes after having a super long journey from London to Oxford because of our good friend, SNOW. Oh and also the Oxford Tube, which has become a bit substandard. Anyway am glad classes are done for the week, and also that Sociological Analysis is nearly done as the class has become really tedious, mainly cos it's a massive lecture, but also cos our essay topics are really odd and so it's difficult to well in them.
Went to X's father's birthday dinner last night, was very nice, we had Indian food. I like going out for Indian food, partly cos it's ironic, partly cos restaurant Indian food is different to actual Indian food. I liked the "manly flowers" I took X's dad - I think men should get flowers too.
Aaah packing, I knew there was something I had to do. How can I avoid it? Maybe whoever gets my room will want my stuff and then I can buy all new stuff??
So the next time I post it'll hopefully be from our new nest :) Wish us luck!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Protesting and other things
It's Sunday of 3rd week already, I can't believe it! And it's February! And it was snowing in London today.
Have had very busy weekend. Was in London on Sat - went to the Tate Britain with X, which was cool, and then we joined my brother for the Anti-Genocide protest march against the war in Sri Lanka and the wrong-doings of the government there. It's some bad sh*t going down over there, but because the Tigers are listed as terrorists, no one else will intervene, even though the Army is basically destroying civilian infrastructure, and displacing and killing thousands of people. It's a terrible thing, I hope they can at least reach a cease-fire soon, if not granting us Tamils as separate state. Anyway, apparently 50,000 people turned out for the march from Tate Britain to Temple, which is loads of people, and all the roads were closed for the walk, with a petition being handed into parliament, so fingers crossed that our voices can help the voices being silenced in Sri Lanka.
After the march we went bowling in Finsbury Park, which was fun, and in stark contrast to all the serious thoughts of the protest. Then we went to one of X's house-mate's friend's gigs in Great Portland Street, which was also really cool, I love live music, especially when it's something different. Then today we chilled for most of the day and managed to complete the Observer speedy crossword - a success compared to last week where we really struggled! Now am back in Oxford, but disappointed since the bar is closed and so Scrabble Club has been cancelled. At least I'll get an early night!
Managed to do the whole of January without drinking, good stuff! Celebrated with a pint of ale with X in Notting Hill, yum. We are excited because next weekend is moving weekend, thus only have a week left in this place! Hopefully all the drama of moving won't be too much - this time next week we want to be nice and settled.
Lots of work for this week, as per usual. Let's keep this train going!
Have had very busy weekend. Was in London on Sat - went to the Tate Britain with X, which was cool, and then we joined my brother for the Anti-Genocide protest march against the war in Sri Lanka and the wrong-doings of the government there. It's some bad sh*t going down over there, but because the Tigers are listed as terrorists, no one else will intervene, even though the Army is basically destroying civilian infrastructure, and displacing and killing thousands of people. It's a terrible thing, I hope they can at least reach a cease-fire soon, if not granting us Tamils as separate state. Anyway, apparently 50,000 people turned out for the march from Tate Britain to Temple, which is loads of people, and all the roads were closed for the walk, with a petition being handed into parliament, so fingers crossed that our voices can help the voices being silenced in Sri Lanka.
After the march we went bowling in Finsbury Park, which was fun, and in stark contrast to all the serious thoughts of the protest. Then we went to one of X's house-mate's friend's gigs in Great Portland Street, which was also really cool, I love live music, especially when it's something different. Then today we chilled for most of the day and managed to complete the Observer speedy crossword - a success compared to last week where we really struggled! Now am back in Oxford, but disappointed since the bar is closed and so Scrabble Club has been cancelled. At least I'll get an early night!
Managed to do the whole of January without drinking, good stuff! Celebrated with a pint of ale with X in Notting Hill, yum. We are excited because next weekend is moving weekend, thus only have a week left in this place! Hopefully all the drama of moving won't be too much - this time next week we want to be nice and settled.
Lots of work for this week, as per usual. Let's keep this train going!
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