56 posts tagged “studying”

My day has been book-ended by trips to the doctor and now I am about to fall asleep to an episode of House on hulu.com. I had my annual mole check-up at the dermatologists where I discovered that there was nothing untoward going on and I even got praised for my obsessive use of sun screen. I love slapping on the factor 50 and wear it all year round. So what if I will only turn off-white in the summer it's better than freckling. The upside to spending so much time in waiting rooms is that I finally managed to finish The Persians and even squeezed in an initial reading of The Suppliants. Finishing the first play of the year makes me feeling like I've crossed my own Rubicon, and now I can get stuck into my courses.

I tend to do quite a bit of navel gazing during yoga classes, and by navel gazing I mean putting my introspective head on though I do literally spend time gazing at my actual navel as well. I find yoga quite mindless, especially when you filter out the mediation and the new age rhetoric, as all you are doing is breathing and following instructions for a series of poses. I like to think I do my best thinking on the mat, and today I was mulling over why I have been feeling so out of sorts. I managed to identify key ingredients that had been missing this week - escapism and thinking.

Escapism comes in many forms.  My favs are studying ancient civilisations and watching genre tv shows based on cool futuristic stuff (hello science fiction and fantasy).  I find that both of those things lead to thinking and that in turn leads to a happy me. Does this makes me an uber nerd? Because I really hope so. Last week was primarily about the day job, and in the evening I only had time to watch the Daily Show and Colbert. As much as I love Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert they are very much based in reality, and given that most of my favourite shows are on break for the summer there are slim pick-in's for programs that transport you to a galaxy far far away. 

Is it odd that a lack of Fringe, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck and Doll House disrupt my reality so much? Not really when you think about the Obama-BSG article the Onion ran a few months back. Dude, I am totally on the same page as I have an entire summer to fill before school and the new tv seasons begin in earnest. What am I meant to do till then?

Next up will be my summer sci-fi survival guide.

Lovely

• Not having to sleep on the floor
• Spending lots of time with my mum even if I am distracted with exams
  
• Rockery Nook at Menier's Chocolate Factory was hilarious
  
• Limited internet access
  
• Unlocked iPhone is better to text with than anything else
• Catching up with family & friends
• Haven't reached study saturation point yet
• It's only Tuesday
  

• Feel like it is taking longer to get into exam mode even though I am studying everyday
  
• Jet lag forcing me to take afternoon naps and making it hard to wake-up in the am
• Can't think about Florence until exams are done
• Swine flu - what the heck!
  

If money didn't matter, what job would you most like to have?
Submitted by Rainbird.

I am pretty certain that Alex thinks that I am under the impression that money doesn't matter and that is why I am bent on studying classics and not law or accountancy. So to answer your question if money didn't matter I'd be in school full time rather than part-time, and would go on to get lots of masters.

It started with returning from Seattle to a blizzard and eight inches of snow, and ends with a weekend of spring like temperatures. Ah, I do love the tail end of winter.  But is it really the end of winter or is mother nature frakking with us? Apparently temperatures are due to plummet again next week so it is not quite time to box the puffy coat.  It is however time to start planning for my trip to London to sit my exams. This year they are really early on in May which is making me nervous but I only have two exams so technically less to-ing and fro-ing between subjects than the last three years. Though, I do have to keep refocusing myself on the "studying" part of my jaunt to London, and not get too carried away with picking plays to see and arranging play-dates with friends and family.  As a BIG carrot I've booked a mini-break to Florence with my Mum for after the exams so if that doesn't keep me motivated then I am not sure what will.  

I've been trying to keep off the "interwebs" so that I can get back on track with my studies, and the good news is that I am in a happy place at the moment. Yes, I did get up a 5:30am to read three more topics on Octavian's transition to Augustus so that I could go out for lunch today, and I do have four topic worth of notes on Greek architecture to type up when I get back. But, I DVR'd The Beach yesterday, and I think I'll spend the afternoon watching that whilst tippy-typing away. As much as I love Danny Boyle I boycotted this film because DiCaprio was cast instead of McGregor, and it has taken a long time for me to accept that DiCaprio is actually a good actor (probably better than McGregor in the long run) and that he merely had the misfortune of being in Titanic.

All this typing has allowed me to finally finish off watching MI5 (Spooks) season 5 on DVD. The show definitely has a tendency to veer towards the melodramatic but overall it wasn't a bad season. Loved the finally where eco terrorists were planning to blow up the Thames Barrier and flood London.  Everytime one of the scary maps depicting which areas of London would be under 10ft of water I knew that my mum would be safe on her hilltop residence. Also, I much prefer the icy Ros Meyers (Hermione Norris) to the raspy Zoe (Keeley Hawes - why does that actress always sound out of breath? Too much time in corsets in costume dramas?).  What I am really looking forward to is getting to season 7 with Richard Armitage playing a double agent with the Russians. Cue flashbacks to John Le Carre novels. 

Venturing out of the flat today for a spot of lunch, and a mooch around SoHo. If I get my notes typed up today then there is a good chance I will be able to read some fiction over the weekend, and I have a Scandinavian thriller that I am desperate to dip into.

I can't believe that I am wobbling already but I have TWO seminars on the go at the moment and it is a tad stressful. I thought that my Architecture seminar wasn't kicking off until Friday but no it is today. Looks like I will be winging it on both fronts.

Just an aside, but did anyone think McPalin was really weird on SNL Election special?

It was to be a scholarly Sunday but someone spraining their ankle derailed my schedule. As much as I hate it when Alex works away from home it really does make me a more productive student. At the moment I appear to be drunk on company. I haven't grown tired of having my boy back to chum around with and cook for but the occasional weekend outing is good for both of us. Any how, I have managed to make more progress on my understanding of the second triumviral but it is sooo hard to separate Rome the tv show with Rome the reality (or at least the reality as told through fragments and shreds of evidence). 

Tomorrow we are going to pay a visit to see our friends who had a premie baby, and I've baked chobolate gingerbread to bring with. In fact, I over estimated and baked a shed-load of chocolate gingerbread. Enough for us, them, the super at my work, my office and Alex's.  I think I am going to have to go into the baking business one of these days!
 

Alex is off playing golf so I am left home alone to study, drink tea and consume chocolate digestives, and I will be trying very hard not to think about how much I want to go to the movies. It has been a whole month since I last went - an eternity! My to dos:

• Wrap up two topics on Augustus
• Start my prep on the seminar on Virgil's Eclogue IV (the fun never stops!)
  
• Pack for London
• Use up the left over roast and make beef & barley soup
• Clear out the freezer
• Make a crumble
  

I had to throw together a dummy site to show off its functionality, and I got to get creative with my "users". I had a Helen Troy who had set up a fundraiser entitled 'Helen's Surf-a-thon' and whose profile picture was taken from a red figure vase. Then there was Mark Aurelius, and Ian Claudius - oh what stories those boys could tell.

I thought all of this was tres funny but the penny didn't seem to drop for the others in the meeting.