Mr Wallce, where is my divine intervention?

69%. Ho hum. My worst mark since TMA02. At least it was a pass, and more than 40%. Suppose that is something positive, at least.

I have finished the Pygmalion section of the next block. I think I have decided that this will not be one of my choices for the next essay. I am more or less decided on Medea, and I am toying with the idea to use Don Juan too. I found it hard to immerse myself into Wide Sargasso Sea, so I think I might give that a miss.

These dreams...

Don't you just hate it when you have a dream, you are quite sure you are dreaming, but you wake up feeling that the dream was real?

This morning I was woken with that kind of start. I was dreaming that I was asleep, yet I was somewhat awake at the same time - I was able to view everything in the bedroom. Or maybe I was dreaming that I was in the bedroom in the dream. Anyway. I could hear a buzzing sound. I pinpointed it to the curtains, but then it started getting closer. I had in my mind 'There's a bloody wasp coming to get me!' The next thing, the buzzing is right at my ear and I could feel the displaced air on wisps of hair, the proximity of the sting making me sleep wince! Then the wasp landed on my ear, and I was trying to move without moving, hoping that the thing didn't crawl into my ear and sting my eardrum or something! I gently and quietly moved my head, so that the wasp was brushed onto the quilt, and hid my head under the covers. It was this move, in my dream and in reality, that woke me up. I spent the next five minutes listening for waspy buzzing, just in case I hadn't been dreaming!

Can you tell I don't like wasps? I think that this dream was residual fear from last week when I was buzz attacked by an absolutely massive wasp in the bathroom. What freaked me out more than this wasp just ending up dropping from somewhere and buzzing around behind me for a few minutes, and me being just a little incapacitated to get away from it, was that the wasp somehow ended up caught in my hair just above my ear. The buzzing alone is enough to reduce me to tears, but the proximity of the sting to my head completely shook me. Then the bloody thing just dropped from my hair and onto the floor by my foot! Argh! I think I did scream, too!

Well, enough about wasps and dreams of wasps. *Shudder*

I should get my Wallace essay back in the next few days. I am so worried about it. I know now that I didn't answer the question properly, as I've moaned about already. I'm not even sure now that I had enough in there to give me a pass. I'm so disappointed in myself *sigh*.

D'oh!

I am wishing I hadn't jumped the gun and sent my Wallace essay off on Sunday. I can now see ways it could have been improved, made to read more fluidly. Bum! I think I have put enough in to at least get the pass mark, but I could have mentioned the blurring of boundary lines between science and religion, and the resulting separation of science and spiritualism. Argh! That would have made the essay better by a whole lot! That'll teach me not to rush things just because I can't get my head around it at the time.Ah well, hindsight is a useless beast, foresight the evasive beast.

The sunburn is now turning into prickly heat. I don't which is worse - the heat and pain of the burn, or the incessant itch of the prickly heat. Grrr!

I'm all a bit grrrr today as it is. That stupid creature called a brother decided he'd try and pay off his catalogue bill with his XBox360. He bought it over with a bunch of games. Today, he came in saying that he needed money so he was going to take the games to Gamestation to exchange them for cash. When I confronted him about it he said that he had given me the XBox but not the games. When I told him that I was not stupid, that I had checked around to see how much a brand new XBox360 cost, and that I could get one for less than he owed me for the catalogue, he flipped his lid! He must really think I am a mug, that I would take the seconhand XBox without looking around first and making sure what he gave me would cover his bill. Idiot! (Me, not him, for believing he wouldn't try to rip me off. I shall not be believing anything he says again.)

Alas, poor Wallace, your reputation never preceded you!

Done. Done, done, done. Well, as done as I can be.

I struggled through the last of the referencing and finishing the essay last night. Pants is not the word to describe that pile of mulched together words that hardly forms an answer. I can't believe how hard that damn essay was to write after enjoying the block so much. I'm going to leave it until Sunday, just to mature, then I will toothcomb it, edit it if necessary, and wing it into cyberspace to be marked. My poor brain hurts so much that I'm not sure I want to think about 'Pygmedjuan Sea'. But I must. Onwards, ho!

I am hoping the weather holds out for tomorrow. I'd be so miffed if it the weather turns bad and the tennis is called off. I've only been waiting a year to go and watch it. But, the weather is not looking good today, so I don't hold much hope for tomorrow. Bloody typical, it is, as the weather has been quite good for the last week. Bugger!

Oh, but talking about the tennis, yesterday's R16 match between Kei Nishikori and Rafa Nadal was brilliant! I was so impressed by Nishikori, I really wanted him to win. His flying forehand is fantastic. He's definitely one to watch for after taking the second set from Nadal. I would have like to have seen the Delray Beach final now, when he beat James Blake. Looking forward to seeing more of Nishikori.

Panic over!

SkiDaddles op went well. So well that he's at home already. The anaesthetist decided that he did not need the general, so he had the op under local anaesthetic. *Phew*

Andy Murray is in action again. Today he is playing Ernests Gulbis. Currently Gulbis has the first set and it is 5-1 to Murray in the second set.

I am still battling with the Wallace essay. It is turning into an epic of grand proportions. I am just wishing that I hadn't been lazy and noted the references while I put down the essay. Stupid me! So today I will go through and put in the references, then get down to finishing the damn thing off. Then I can start the next block: Myths and conventions. Just got to decide on which two of the set texts I shall do the next essay on. I have Medea, Pygmalion, Wide Sargasso Sea or Don Juan to choose from. I can't believe I'm nearly onto writing TMA07! This course seems to have gone by so fast!

Anti-climax

Hmph. After the other Brits went out yesterday I was looking forward to a really good grass court tennis match between Andy Murray and Sebastien Grosjean. What did I get? Two games. Grosjean retired with a leg injury. Ah well. Will have to wait until tomorrow now. Hopefully there'll be some good tennis during the rest of the afternoon (C'mon Richard Bloomfield!).

On the essay front, I'm up to around 1120 words now. Still need to work a bit more on the socialism section, but I've done the conclusion. I'm feeling OK about this assignment, it's the first time I haven't had an imposing sense of doom about what I have written. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I think I'll try and get the essay finished tonight when (and if!) Principessa goes to sleep. I really want it finished, with a day or two to let it rest before I go through the draft again.

Decimated!

(Pic from Eurosport)

I was quite looking forward to the French Open final yesterday, expecting a good old tennis barney between Nadal and Federer, though I knew Nadal would win. What I wasn't expecting was the comprehensive ass-whooping that Nadal dished out! 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. Hardly made the final worth watching. Hopefully, Queens will be worth watching.

I think I am about 850 words into the new draft of the Wallace essay. Still 350 words to go, and I need to squeeze socialism and the conclusion into that, with maybe a bit of cleaning up on spiritualism and the introduction. I'm kind of happy with the history of science and early life sections. I'm just hoping the whole thing gels together.

Heee! I received my first Moleskine notebook today. It was a free gift from the Folio Society, the place I buy posh books from. I loves them there posh books. But I think I need to stop buying from them for a while. It is too expensive an addiction to feed now!

Well, while Principessa and Nanny are out in the garden, I think I will try and knuckle down and finish the essay.

Brain stew

(Pic from Eurosport)

Damn you, Mr Wallace!

So, having got 1000 words into the HoS essay I am now having to start again. Boo! Hiss! I could tell it wasn't right when I started struggling around 800 words in, but I kept on pulling useless teeth. I emailed my new, shiny tutor and explained how I had interpreted the question and asked some general advice. Most of my interpretation was correct, I was just missing the point historians of science have played. So while I was correct, my whole essay plan was wrong. Phooey! So it's back to the drawing board, and so far I am having little success with rehashing the thing.

I'm taking a break at the mo, watching the Federer-Monfils match. The score is currently 6-2, 3-4 to Federer. I'm hoping Monfils can keep up the good start and win the second set. It is 40-30 in game 8 to the Fed. Oops, okay it is 4-4 in second set now. Whoever wins, Federer I expect, will go on to meet Rafa Nadal (who beat Novak Djokovic in the previous semi) in the final of the French Open.

Kid logic.

Principessa is starting to get more argumentative these days. And arguing with some form of logic and fact. The lastest argument is the bedtime argument.

• Me: It's time for bed.
• Princi: Mummy (points to window) it's not dark.
• Me: It's still time for bed.
• Princi: But Mummy, it's still light. It's not dark. It's not night.
  

What can you say? Perfectly logical. It's more or less impossible to get her to go to sleep much before 11pm at the moment. I am thinking of waking her up at 5am and saying 'But it's light. It's time to wake up."

She's also making me laugh lots when I'm playing Guitar Hero - most of the time at her request. I think she likes the tunes. Why does she make me laugh? She tries to sing the songs. Well, more shout than sing. And it is soooo funny and cute! She especially likes 3's and 7's by Queens of the Stone Age. It makes me think I should re-invest in some QOTSA albums.



(OK, while looking for the 3's and 7's vid to put on the blog, the song started playing and Principessa hoofed it down the stairs, burst through the living room door and looked mightily confused that the GH3 tab was not playing on the TV! Funny little Monkey! Oh, and I call her Monkey because she was born in the year of the monkey, and she climbs like a monkey too!)

Well, I'm just on 1,100 words into the Wallace assignment. Not good as I only have just over 100 words left, and I have more spiritualism stuff to cover, his socialism to start, and a conclusion to wind the whole thing up. I think it might be time to go through what I have written and see if there is stuff there that I can cut. Grrr. I think it is all relevant. And I hate cutting things in case they are the things that are being looked for in the essay. Bum! I'm kind of looking forward to this essay being done with, even though it's been, by far, the most interesting of the units.

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.

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.