Near Square

n all my star-struckedness (yeah, not really) yesterday, I forgot to tell you about the speech I gave at Toastmasters on Tuesday night.  My seventh official speech, so I’m creeping ever closer to ten and finishing the first qualification.  As with everything else in my life at the moment, the race is on to complete…

Meeting the class of 2015

ven though I’m not actually taking a paper until next semester, I’m still considered part of the Honours class for the entire year, so I’m being invited to all of the class-wide meetings and events.  I attended the first this afternoon, the introductory meeting where the Head of Department alternately scares you with how hard…

No good at saying no

y resolve about not taking on new things is weakening.  I was asked last night to step in as treasurer for my Toastmasters club, because our current treasurer has just resigned from the club.  My immediate response was that I definitely couldn’t do it after the start of July, because I’ll be studying, but the…

What I read in 2014

For the first time since I started keeping these reading lists, I dipped below 100 books read this year – my total was only 93.  I suspect the main reason for that is that I got out of habit of reading for pleasure in the first half of the year, when I was reading so…

Graduation

o, not mine – that’s a couple of years off yet.  But I did take part in the ceremony today.  There’s a tradition that the general staff (i.e. non-academics) can volunteer to help out at graduation doing things like ushering parents to their seats, or helping the marshalls organise the students.  Or, as I was…

Time flies like a banana

his year is seriously racing past.  It’s the end of the academic year tomorrow, and already murmurs about Christmas parties are arising from various quarters – where did the year go???  I’m sure it was only a couple of weeks ago that I finished studying myself, but a whole semester has gone past since then!…

Santa's Spurtle

ery weird dream last night. I was walking with a group of people (no idea who, but it seemed very important to me that I impress them). They were talking about how wooden spoons are made, and that it’s necessary to heat-temper the wood that’s used to make them (yes, I know that makes no…

THATCamp

spent today at a conference. Well, technically it was an unconference – a THATCamp to be precise, a Digital Humanities event (THAT stands for “Technology And The Humanities”) which is a semi-planned, mostly make it up as you go along, mix of planned and impromptu sessions based around the idea that everyone has something to…

I'm free!

I know it’s not quite July yet, but I handed in my final assignment on Thursday (it wasn’t due until next week, but I didn’t want to have to work on it this weekend, so I put in a bit of extra effort during the week (luckily my boss is supportive and kindly turned a…