| trees, and the death thereof. |
[22 Nov 2009|07:26pm] |
I'm stunned by the vast amounts of paperwork I'm accumlulating with all this study business. I seem to be incapable to reading Srs Academic Papers on screen, so now have two and half bulging lever arch files of madly-highlighted printouts. And another of my notes. (Yes, handwritten. I remember things better when I write them out by hand, and think entirely differently with a pen rather than a keyboard.) It seems to be coming in at about five vertical inches of paper-reading for each essay, where each essay is a mere 1500 words, or about seven double-spaced sides, including bibliography.
Am I completely insane? Is this a horrible case of trying too hard?
(I'm still baffled by the person on the course forum who told me that she is writing this essay entirely from the text book--how on earth does one get enough information from that? Hell, even the three hundred years of the neo-assyrian empire only gets half a page in that book. The Incas get two. Whoop.)
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| sixteen degrees |
[19 Nov 2009|04:51pm] |
Yes. Heating. Heating is a marvellous, wonderful thing. I just came home and was able to take my coat off. Sixteen degrees = new definition of contentment.
New dentist? Yes. Not a mean hack and slash merchant like the previous one who managed to scare me so much I avoided him for too long. New filling achieved, with gentleness and running commentary of information. And only one needed. Not three. And cleaning achieved without me demanding valium and local anaesthesia. Hurrah!
Sixteen degrees, and all is well.
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| i'd cross my fingers if i could feel them |
[18 Nov 2009|08:09pm] |
If all goes according to plan tomorrow, there will be:
- fixed teeth. Good, because toothache is tedious. Bad, because of dentists and drills and horrible things and having to pay for the above.
- fixed heating. Good, because, it's twelve degrees in here. I shouldn't have looked at the thermometer. Bad, because the part hasn't arrived yet and this all depends on that.
In the meantime, food. And the catalogue from the exhibition at the British Library at the moment, of nineteenth century photography. And pondering ancient empires. And probably going to bed very early, with whisky, and all creatures of the household, because, well, see above re TWELVE BASTARD DEGREES CENTIGRADE.
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[15 Nov 2009|04:02pm] |
1. I really wish the heating was working. Have been trying to study, bundled in clothes and wrapped in a blanket, and I've forgotten what my toes feel like and my fingers have been too cold and stiff to make notes. This reminds me of my first year in college, in another high-ceilinged georgian room with no bloody heating. And I can't even push off to the Bod. At least another few days till its fixed, as obscure part for an obsolute boiler makes its way through the post. Brr. Why is this the first place that we've lived in years that has no fireplaces?
2. Hurrah for a whole afternoon playing with seriously cool archaeological artefacts at the University. Thanks, Dot!
3. Hurrah for a Padmini party (though I am clearly Too Damn Old to stay out *that* late.)
4. Cold. Time for another bath.
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[11 Nov 2009|08:09pm] |
Ninety four percent.
(phew)
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| clearly not my week |
[05 Nov 2009|02:29pm] |
The other day, the hot water ceased to be hot, but was merely tepid. Instead, the radiators came on. Strange, given that the central heating was switched off at the wall. Call landlord's agency. Wait a couple of days. Take morning off work. Chap shows up. Hurrah.
Water diverting to the radiators? Ooh, that'll be the diverting valve gone then. We discuss: hot water or heating. Hot water, obviously, as there are always more jumpers and showering from a kettle-filled bucket is not fun at all. He open up the boiler to perfom magic, and swears a lot. Boiler it seems, is buggered and needs replacing. Landlord will not be happy. Anyway, he leaves, leaving hot water behind.
I do a spot of work, and then hear funny noises coming from the kitchen. Boiler. Of course. Boiler is repeatedly trying to fire but managing nothing at all. NO heating AND no hot water. Icy cold and horrible noises. Call agency, oh, well, it could take a while. You probably need a new boiler. I HAVE NO HOT WATER. AND A MARINA COMING FOR THE WEEKEND TOO. FIX THIS.
We'll call you. Great. Thanks.
EDITED TO ADD: hmm, so, seems like my growlery works sometimes. Knight in shining white van reappears, opens up boiler, spots that an old "mend" was held together with sticky tape (not a metaphor) and fixes that. HOT HOT WATER AGAIN. downside: heting likely to be off for at least ten days. And that's without replacing boiler. That's ordering the special part from the special parts shop.
Oh. And my tooth is still not fixed.
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| Yah. Tah. Boo. Sucks. |
[01 Nov 2009|04:12pm] |
Hurrah. Essay number 2 dead and delivered up, still bleeding, to tutor.
Hurrah. Pubbage with pals.
Bah. Official day off to make photographs? Pissing down with rain and dark, dark, dark.
DOUBLE BASTARD BAH: a major filling just dropped out. On a sunday afternoon, of course. Doesn't hurt yet...but do I play roulette with infection risk for 24 hours, or do I go and spend the rest of the day/evening sitting in a waiting room at Chalmers Street?
Yeah, that part is the sucks.
(edited: oh great. I get to spend my evening at the dentist. Because I'm one of the awkward squad that needs hefty antibiotics before any treatment. Lucky me. 7pm for pills. 8pm for drillings. UGH. pass the painkillers.)
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| doing battle with Harvard. a question. |
[21 Oct 2009|08:52pm] |
I've been having a round of teeth-clencingly polite disagreements with the poor woman who is unfortunate enough to be my tutor. We appear to have issues. These, I fear, cannot be fixed. But there is something I was wondering about, and perhaps the collected writerly and academic brains among you can help.
I was given a slapping down for how I included secondary citations. And yet, hmm. Perhaps you can help me with this.
Policy is: plagiarism is evil, not referencing is plagiarism, and pretending to have read something you have not is a form of this very same evil.
Hypothetically, Bloggs does seminal scientific fieldwork in, oh, neolithic bee-keeping. Jones, some years later, writes a mostly dull but useful article about domesticated animals, and refers to Bloggs, at length. I have no chance of reading Bloggs's original 1988 essay, as The Annals of Archaic Apiarists is not available locally, or online. But I want to make use of it because it's the killer info, and even--being sneaky and trying to get double duty from my stunted wordcounts-- get across how Jones has used the discoveries of Sweet Bloggs to put across a particularly tasty argument. And in this example, there are no direct quotes, and working the names and layers into my miserable excuse for text would be a shocking use of extra words...
The question, finally, is how does one perform this act of secondary referencing in the Harvard system?
(Bloggs, 1988, cited by Jones, 1999, p123)
(Jones, 1999, p123)
(Bloggs, 1988)
Something else?
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[17 Oct 2009|12:41pm] |
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3.10 this afternoon. At the cameo. New Gilliam film. Who fancies joining us?
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| ok. phew. |
[02 Oct 2009|09:47pm] |
Essay submitted, 3 hours before deadline. Go me.
Is it wrong that a 1560 word essay has 1150 words of bibliography?
In frivolous but happy-making news: Pilot Pluminix pens are insanely cute, are just the right size for my hands, have a surprisingly smooth italic nib, and are under five quid. I have ink.
And, non-frivolous but utterly glorious: an entire morning in the museum stores, looking at a tiny fraction of a collection of very early, and very marvellous photography. Swoonsome.
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| is there a laptop gathering dust and looking for a new home? |
[10 Sep 2009|07:17pm] |
is there a laptop somewhere out there among you, gathering dust and looking for a new home?
The terminal case of ibook death has coincided rather badly with a bad money drought. So, cheekily, I was wondering if anyone might have a-no-longer-used laptop that is otherwise healthy but just doing a good impression of a paperweight.
Doesn't have to be swanky or or even slightly new, just has to be able to run some version of photoshop (later than v8) and talk to my scanner and deal with reasonably big graphics files. Mac would be dreamy, PC would be fine. Ickle tiny netbook? Not so good for photographics. Not fussed if it weighs a ton, as it won't get out and about much, it's just that the sitting editing pictures for hours is not something I can do sitting at a desk because of the stupid leg.
Can scare up some cash. Lots of barterables.
Don't really want to go the ebay-risk way, of not being sure if I can get something that, you know, will function. Any ideas?
(and, forgive me, please, if this seems bang out of order.)
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| home (medical. TMI-ish.) |
[08 Aug 2009|02:32pm] |
Am home again from hospital. Phew. Have my snarl, have sofa, have snoozing kitties, have freedom from talkative mean lady on the ward. Have jammies rather than stylish backless gown.
Am still feeling rubbish, but pain is down to reasonable levels (at the mumbling and grumbling and taking tablets level rather than serious swearyfucks more morphine NOW level), temperature down to normal for 48 hours now, and no longer have the constant "stand back, she's going to blow" level of revolting nausea I had for four solid days. That all got very tedious. Had a bunch of tests that reveal that Something Is Wrong but We Don't Know What. Odd things that don't join up, basically. Good news is that there's nothing obviously scary showing up. Best assumption now is that Something Is Wrong and am being booked in for more tests to look at gallbladder, bile duct and pancreas related things. Possibly some sort of obstruction somewhere. Endoscopy was utterly foul, so glad it's not another of those. Doc seems happy that I am remarkably healthy and fit, except for whatever this is.
Glad to be home. Just waiting for it to stop and go away now, please.
p.s. thank you for all the nice thoughts. Forgive me for not replying to each, but am slightly cross-eyed from painkillers, and also my lap is more full of slightly-batty-cat than laptop
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| bah |
[06 Aug 2009|10:21pm] |
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i am in hospital with invisible gallstones again. been here since monday. no longer in screaming, well, sweary anyway, agony but in wworld of nofun. ultrasound showed no stones. other tests and theories ongoing. yay for painkillers. prob not up to visits sorry. can get texts but not enough signal for calls. also rubbish net. not sure when home as much depends on next tests and all, or maybe it will go away like last time. pls llook after my snarl. he probably needs a pint.
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[23 Jul 2009|02:45pm] |
Friday. Cumberland bar, Cumberland street. I'll be there from about 6pm. Outside if it's nice.
Will you be? There, or nice?
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