Oh yeah...

Forgot to mention, because it seems like such a long time ago that TMA05 got back...

I had TMA05 back. 82%! Fantastic! Really happy with that as I thought it was awful.

Back to Mr Wallace now, methinks. *sigh*

Principessa and the internet.

• Grandand: Are you happy that your Firefox is back?

• Princi: That's not Firefox, it's Google.

That told Grandand, didn't it?

ARGH!

Internet! I have the internet back! Thank buggery!

Yep, as you may have guessed, I lost the internet for a week. I was able to check emails on Mumbles' computer, but other than that it's been an internet free zone. Just got to try and get another provider sorted out before June 29 now.

I had not realised how much I depended on the internet. It was quite strange looking at the computer and feeling really apathetic towards it, even though I have been trying to get the first draft for the HoS essay done. (I am 3/4 of the way through it, just ordering my thoughts before finishing it. Then it'll be fine tooth comb time.) I have had to keep myself busy - when not busy with Principessa - with Guitar Hero and reading.

I finally got around to buying 'The Myths vols I-VI'. I sat down, really looking forward to reading 'The Helmet Of Horror' by Victor Pelevin, finished it, and didn't get it at all. Bum! It was very interesting. It was done as if it you were reading the messages from a group of peeps in a chatroom. Interesting concept, but very strange story. I think it might need reading again. But, it has been put away, and I am now reading 'The Diamond Age' by Neal Stephenson. I've only just started it, so have no opinion just yet.

Principessa is made up at the moment. I bought a Dr Who duvet set for her, and she jumped around excitedly while Grandand put it on her bed. As soon as it was on, she jumped onto the bed, tamourine in hand, and sang:

Doctor Who had a bed
And he had a sleep
And he was good
And he was happy
Yay! We did it!

Don't ask me! I'm just glad she loves her bed now. Maybe she'll sleep in it more often now.

How about that...

Huh! So, after saying that The End Of Mr. Y read like a thought experiment, about 40 pages on from where I started reading today, this question is asked by one of the characters in the book:

"Would you say that a story could be a thought experiment?"

Well. I think I get the point of this book then!

Woohoo for Moffat!

OK, so this is no slight on RTD, after all he did bring the Doctor back to our screens and made Saturday nights good again (for thirteen weeks of the year!), but I am so glad that Steven Moffat is taking over as head writer for the next series. The episodes he penned were fabulous. So chuffed!

I went to see Iron Man with Laura last night. What a fantastic film. I was disappointed when Robert Downey Jr was cast as Tony Stark, but I was pleasantly surprised. I love the fact that Stan Lee still has to do his Hitchcockian style cameo. Twas good fun!

I've also been taking a break from studying. I needed to sit down and just read a book that didn't need careful perusal. So, after ditching Un Lun Dun - it just started to drag and drag - I decided to read The End Of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas.

First thing to mention about this book; it is, for want of better words, deliciously Goth in its appearance. It has a lovely deep to bright red cover and the edges of the pages are black. It gives the book a little extra something.

Second thing to mention; it reads as if it was written by someone who had done a humanities degree comprising Literature and philosophy. Sometimes it feels like it should be a course book. The story itself reads like a thought experiment, but that only makes it more interesting to read. I'm not too sure about the main character though, and it does seem a little lack in characterisation. There are lots of infodump occasions too. Other than that, it is holding my attention.

So I shall go now and finish reading it. And then I will read over my TMA one last time and get it sent off. Fingers crossed it doesn't come back as a fail.

Crazy rabbit squirrel.

That's Principessa, running around like she's possessed.

Over the last few days I've had some books delivered and Principessa has entertained herself no end with the boxes the books came in. She has lined one of the boxes with bubblewrap. Once her box nest is ready, she jumps in, then grabs another box and puts it over her head. She has had more entertainment from these boxes that any of the toys she has. I'm thinking of just getting boxes for her for Christmas!

Aww, poor thing, she was so funny when she woke up this morning. She was really stressed because her nose was blocked and she couldn't breathe through it.

• "Are you okay, gorgeous?" I asked.
• "No," says Principessa, finger up nose. "There's a big snowball up there!"
  

I couldn't help but laugh!

I'm really enjoying the HoS part of my course. It is sooo interesting. I love the names of the societies; for instance, the British Association for the Advancement of Science. It's like reading Harry Potter and the different departments of the Ministry of Magic. Yes, I know. But small things and all that! Other than that, it is interesting to see how class, religion and social circumstance affected the development of science. And Mr. Wallace is such an interesting character.

Last night I read two essays: one by Wallace about the Amazonians, the other by Darwin about the Fuegians. There was an associated exercise that asked about how Wallace's and Darwin's attitudes differed, and which of the two was the evolutionist during the time of his encounter. Well. I have to say, I really don't like Darwin. His reaction to 'the savages', as he called them, was of distaste and abhorration, whereas Wallace looked upon them as he would any other civilisation, with interest and curiosity and he was completely unjudgemental. Well, that's how it seemed to me. As for the 'who was the evolutionist' question - the book said Darwin was, but I really thought Wallace was. But then, I suppose, Wallace looked upon the Amazonians as people and Darwin looked upon the Fuegians as little more than animals.

Another reason why I'm not liking Darwin so much is that he pussyfooted around, he didn't want to cause offence. At least Wallace took the leap and believed the things he believed in. I don't know whether that is good or bad - though at the time it was bad as it harmed his reputation as a scientist. Hmmm, thinking about this as I write this blog entry, I wonder if it is written in the coursebooks this was to get this reaction, or if it really is the truth of the matter. Will have to read some more.

Book meme

So, I've seen this floating around for a while, but lifted it from (un)relaxeddad's blog. The following list is of the 106 most unread books. The rules are to bold the ones you’ve read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick -
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The [A] Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods - On the shelf, waiting patiently!
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha - Though Geisha of Gion, the autobiog it's based on, is much more interesting
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys - on audiobook. Maybe that's why I didn't get all the way through it. I like Gaiman's stuff.
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aenid
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield

Hmmm, don't know what that says about me, or what I was taught in school. Seeing as I was in the top class, it makes me wonder what in hell was on the curriculum that I never read any of these books for school. I see why it's a list of the most unread books. I'm shocked at the number of them I haven't read. Ah well.

Rousseau, you know.

Grrr. So I thought I had TMA05 wrapped up. How wrong I was. I emailed my new tutor yesterday just to find out if I should be taking Rousseau into account in the first part of the assignment as I had not, only to be told that yep, I should.

Argh! No!

So, I have spent this morning reading parts of the Rousseau section again and rehashing part one of the TMA. I'm not sure I've finished yet, maybe some touching up to the conclusion to do, but otherwise I think I may have cracked it! I just want to shave a few more words off to bring it closer to the 1,200 word limit.

Principessa has been fantastic while I have been working. She has been playing games on the laptop and having tons of fun with a box and some bubblewrap. She is just as amused by popping the bubbles as I am!

Anyway, TMAs to write, tennis to watch, books to read to Principessa.

Was size important to Socrates?

Firstly, as it completely slipped my mind yesterday:

Congratulations to Juliana and Chris on the birth of Samuel! I hope Patience is enthralled with her little brother and that you are all doing well.

TMA05 is really doing my head in now. I thought I had it wrapped up. It read OK, it seemed to have everything I wanted to say in some sort of coherent order. Still, something niggled. Something was missing. That something was the importance of the dimensions of the painting in conveying it's subject matter.

I have been ripping my hair out, so I have just added a bunch of ick at the end comparing the size of 'Socrates' to that of 'Horatii' and 'Brutus', and saying that the smaller picture was more intimate and wasn't as overwhelming in both size and forcing an idea. That's how I see it, anyway. If my interpretation is right is yet to be seen.

I seem to have hit a block with studying. I have been looking forward to the History of Science (HoS) block since starting the course. Unfortunately, the Religion section precedes it and I can't seem to get into the right head space to study it. This is completely putting me off going forward to the HoS section. I feel like I am being submerged in quicksand with no form of escape.

Well, off to watch the tennis (the rest of the Wawrinka vs Kiefer match). Principessa is bugging Nanny!

Blast from the past!

Wow! I've just been having a look around the web after being stunned to find a photo of Ciri and I from about 2000 on a website (and then a few more to boot!), and I found a review - well, sort of - for a Four Star Mary gig in Peterborough. I had written this for my personal website and didn't know that it had been put up anywhere else.

Four Star Mary September 2000.

How about...

So, as I sit here and check emails and stuff, I have a Principessa vying with the laptop for space on my knee. She is sitting quite happily, cuddling my arm. Then she turns to me and says:

• How about toy car? How about toy car, Mummy? How about www dot bbc dot co dot uk forward slash cbeebies, Mummy?

Sponge does not sum up her brain!

Future stuff

I signed up to my next course yesterday. Going to do A215 Creative Writing. I just hope that I do well in it, otherwise I'll be heartbroken! One of the reasons for choosing it is to have my writing looked at with a critical eye, so I can find out areas where I might be going wrong. But yay, looking forward to it.

My new tutor (as I had been assured) is fantastic. I sent an email to him yesterday to introduce myself and to ask about referencing and submitting my assignments electronically. He gave me all the info I needed and even went through a test TMA to make sure everything was working fine. I am extremely happy and relieved. Being able to use the eTMA (electronic tutor marked assignment) system means I have a few extra days to write my assignments, although it doesn't matter for the next one as it is written already. I read it over today (good job, too, as there was a glaring typo) and it sounds okay, so I might send it off sometime next week. I'll just give my brain a chance to make sure all subject matter has been assimilated (I sound like the Borg! Resistance is futile!) over the next few days.

Over the last week or so, Principessa has become a very whingey girl. She has decided to take on the traits of Baby Bear. Whenever she has a bottle o' tea (she still doesn't feel ready to give bottles up, even though she does use cups and beakers) she moans that it is too hot. If she has juice she moans that it is too cold. It seems so strange to have to say: "It's not too hot. It's not too cold. It's just right," every time I give her a drink! She also likes to take the role of the big bad wolf when Nanny stops her from going into her room. Principessa will stand outside Nanny's door and shout:

• Let me in! I'll huff. And I'll puff. And I'll blow the door in!

Something tells me I shouldn't let her watch The Italian Job!

Of Steampunk and tutors

"It makes you wonder what has been lost with all the technology that clutters our lives now."

This was something I said here yesterday. Today, while reading through journals on the feedreader, I found a link to this article about Steampunk.

(Image from www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/gallery/steampunk/)

I've never been one to fit in, but I think I'd like to fit in here. Though if I had the chance, and I could have my Robocop legs installed(!), then I'd be a little more cyber-Steampunk. I think I'd feel quite comfortable there.

On tutors... Yep, well. It appears that my tutor group have been assigned a new tutor after the other one resigned. I know that there had been a lot of complaints about her, and she had really upset Kirst with totally unfair and misplaced comments. Not only that, but it took her over a week to inform Kirst that she hadn't received an assignment. When Kirst provided her with all the details of when it was sent, the day it was posted to her, the reference number on the special delivery envelope, the tutor completely ignored it instead of contacting the post office to rearrange delivery. So now, with only four TMAs to complete before the end of course assessment, I have to try and work out what the new tutor wants to get a good mark. Ho hum!

Of frogs and assignments

I started reading the biography of Alfred Russel Wallace last night. I was hooked by the first few lines, but tired eyes and a need for sleep resulted in me having to put the book down not long after I had started reading.


(Image from Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Nonetheless, what I had read started my brain ticking. I went to sleep reminiscing about frog hunts, how excited my brother, sister and I would be when we saw that the frogs had spawned in the rain-filled Belfast sink that sat in the back garden. We were completely enthralled with watching as the tadpoles first sprouted back legs, then front legs, and then losing their tail as they became ickle biddy frogs. We were so protective over them! Makes me wonder if that's why I'd love to have a frog-aquarium.

I also reminisced about how we used to make our own little bows and arrows. We would choose branches from the lilac trees at the bottom of the garden, then spend the afternoon nicking the ends of the branch with a knife and peeling off the bark. For the arrows, a little cross would be carved into one of the ends and we would find bird feathers to poke into the cross. For the bow, we would get a piece of twine, nick both ends of the larger branches, then slide the twine into the nicks and tie it off. I loved doing all of that stuff, especially on sunny days when the air was thick with the scent of the lilac trees and it was just as warm in the shade as it was in the sun. It makes you wonder what has been lost with all the technology that clutters our lives now.

Anyway, back to the present. I received my result for TMA04 today. Another good'un, 82%. Yay me! And with TMA05 written (it's just sitting around wondering if it could be better. I'll leave it to fester over the weekend, and if I can't think of any changes I'll send it out on Monday) I can relax for a day or two. Woohoo!

Ipod random is NOT a substitute for a good mix tape.

While I love my Ipod, I wish I could work out how to make playlists up! I'm not usually this technophobic, but for some reason I cannot work out ITunes! Yes, I feel very thick. If I could sort out my playlists I wouldn't have to rely on the randomiser so much. Here is just a snippet of the tracks it randomised last night (in order of play):

1. Architecture/plan reading - OUCD3b (need to delete this now the block is done, methinks)
2. Alexandra Leaving - Leonard Cohen
3. Heaven is a Halfpipe - OPM
4. Friends - Adam and the Ants
5. TMA02 Help and Advice - Track 5 OUCD5a (another that needs deleting)
6. You See This Creature - Pygmalion OUCD6
7. Poor Thing - Helena Bonham-Carter/Johnny Depp
   
8. Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins

What I wouldn't do for a good mix tape with some rationality to it!

On exciting music news though, I have booked my tickets to see Bryan Adams in October. Woohoo! Chuffed to little mintballs, I am!

Anyway, while I was scribbling things down last night (TMA stuff, random snippets of thought that could be used in stories, Ipod random list) I noticed a caution on the side of my pen:

• Keep pen cap out of mouth, it can obstruct breathing if swallowed.

No poop, Sherlock! (Doesn't sound right that, but no swearing around Principessa!) Could? I would say it would. Talk about stating the bleeding obvious!

At least I have started drafting Q2 of the TMA, after a long day of talking it out with Kirst yesterday. Argh, I don't know if it helped or hindered. I think I only succeeded in confusing myself and straying from the plan I thought I had. Instead of arriving at 'The Death Of Socrates' I ended up at the Slaughtered Lamb. D'oh!

So, to finish today, I think some light relief is needed. This morning Principessa found a pen and decided she needed to tattoo her legs. A little later on, Nanny took her into the bathroom and tried to wash the ink off.

• Nanny: It won't come off, will it?
• Princi: Then we need some Cillit Bang!

Louis XVI: Vampire or not?

So, last night I settled down to watch my Tuesday night supernatural drama - Moonlight. To give you a quick rundown of the series:

Main character is a bloke called Mick St. John. Turned into a vamp by his wife, Coraline, fifty years ago. Coraline wanted a family, so kidnapped a girl called Beth. When Mick found out, he rescued the girl and burnt his wife to a vampire crisp. Since then has looked out for Beth. Wife came back, but she was no longer a vamp. Mick gets all excited thinking there is a way back to humanity/mortality, but, wouldn't you know it, Coraline goes missing after being involved in a car crash, the cure for vampirism gone with her.

So, that's the summary. Anyway, last night's episode had me giggling by the end. A strange vamp turned up looking for Coraline. Mick, as usual, gets involved and discovers where Coraline is hiding out. It turns out that strange vamp is Coraline's brother, and that they were part of the French monarchy many years ago. Yep, you've guessed it, the Princes of the Blood! How I laughed! It was good how they used the idea of the guillotine and burning during the Revolution as a way to rid France of vampires though (even though the idea was not fully thought out. Just because the 'compound' stopped them from being found out as vamps would not have saved them from execution. If they had been captured by the Sans Coulottes and the other revolutionaries they would still have been killed for being nobility. Still, artistic license and all that jazz, I suppose). Still, made me laugh, the French monarchy being vamps and all. Nearly as good as the Doctor Who thing of the British Royal family being werewolves. But hmmm, ideas, ideas....

I finally managed to draft an answer to the first part of the next assignment yesterday. It's a load of poop. I'll leave it for a few days while I write the rest of the assignment, then go back and edit it. So today I have to do some research on iconography and symbolism in art. I need to find out if red was a symbol for liberty (I think I read that somewhere. At least I hope I did or I was having a very strange dream!), and the significance of an upturned hand. It should give me something to do, and I have firm ideas of what I want to write in the second and third parts of the assignment. I like it when I have plans, when I am not struggling so much.

Well, I shall be off now. Need to do my research and flesh out some plans for a Wire Cat.

Persistent pain in the arse!

Still struggling with TMA05, though I think I have had a little bit of inspiration after giving the question and additional info another read through. I might even attempt a first draft today. I've got to get on with it, I only have another two weeks to get it done. Argh!

Still reading Un Lun Dun and enjoying it. It's taking a long time to read it because I am reading it after studying to help me relax and get to sleep. I just wish I could write the essay while I sleep so that I could sit and read some more fiction!

Well, I'm going into caffeine withdrawal (stopped drinking coffee again. Back to the fennel tea), so I'm off to fizzle out.

"I thought you'd be bigger!"

Yep. I indulged a guilty pleasure last night and watched 'Road House'. I love that film, even though it is no classic! I think it must be because Sam Elliot is in it.

So, Doctor Who. I am so surprised at how many peeps missed the appearance of Rose. Okay, so it was a 'blink and you'll miss it' scene, but from things I have read on forums and blogs I'd have expected more people to be looking out for incidents of Rose. I'm not overly observant (probably not a good thing, need to pay more attention!), but I noticed it! Hmmm.

Principessa has prepared a little office space in the front room for herself. Nanny deposited a little wooden bedside table (really, just four bits of wood screwed together, probably bought from IKEA!) in the front room this morning, so Principessa has arranged it as her laptop table. And you would not believe how organised she has it, I've never seen her arrange a space so tidily! We had some nice time together this afternoon, vegging out with the Doctor on the DVD player (series two, again. Chips and school and Shower Dcotor Who, again! When will Principessa let me watch the Master episodes of series three?).

I have completely stalled with the latest block of the OU course. I haven't studied anything for days now. Not a good thing as there is only another three weeks to get this next TMA written up. Sorry, two weeks, as I have to write it up and post it out, so I have to factor postage time into the equation. I think I have entered burnout, my brain just needs a rest! I attempted to draft the persistent minorites section of the TMA, but ended up writing around in circles and not making much sense at all. I think I might leave it for now and get on with the art history bit, and do some reading around the death of Socrates. I can't wait to get away from this block...

Don't get legless with a philosopher!

Though this doesn't help much with studying Rousseau.

Food porn meme

1. What food do you consider the best “date” food? In other words, what meal or food item do you think is sexiest to eat in the company of someone you would like to look sexy around?

Date? What's a date. Oh, and I don't like dates! And is any food really sexy to eat if you want to be sexy with someone? Well, unless you're doing something rude with it, that is....

2. What well-known person would you like to share a meal with?

Maybe Stephen Fry. Though I think there would be too much interesting talk to be had, and not enough time to eat.

3. What does your perfect breakfast-in-bed look like? (Food AND the details, please. Candles? Music? Flowers? Hot tub? Dancing girls?)

Breakfast in bed? No thank you. Crumbs, spilled tea/coffee after a three year old bounces on the bed... Too much hassle.

4. What do you consider the best application of whipped cream to be?

On strawberries :)

5. Oh-God-No, Biff, the yacht is sinking! You are sent to the galley to retrieve the food. What luxury food items do you snatch first? The champagne? The caviar? Smoked Salmon? Truffles? Chocolate? Or something else?

Well, chocolate, naturally! But why only luxury food? The first thing I'd get would be ryvita and marmite. I'm a girl of simple foods. (I suppose if there were some stuffed vine leaves aboard I'd have to snag them, too.)

The Rules…
“Answer each of the five questions. Tag five bloggers you would like to pass the meme to. Have them link back to you and to this post as the source meme. You and they can take the graphic from here if they like.”

Tags?

1. picasso36: As he too is thinking of food.
2. Deacon Dave: You need to update your blog more often, here is the perfect opportunity :)
3. Skippybird: A fellow food lover.
4. LadyH: Just because.
5. Ciri: I'm going to bug you since you're back in touch ;)!
   

Thanks to (un)relaxeddad for this one!