Distracted By Irrelevances..
I think I ought to be writing that response to Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est rather than sitting here writing yet another blog entry of no particular relevance.
I'm among the fifteen (academically elite, I would presume) people selected from my school to attend Degree In A Day at USyd, happening on the 28th this month. It is said to provide valuable first-hand experience of university life as it is. It's basically one brief intro plus proper lecture each in two of my selected fields of interest. I know for certain that I will be going to the medicine lecture, but I don't know how to choose between industrial chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, genetics, engineering or psychology. My friends also share this dilemma - there are so many things on the list that draw our attention.
Not too much has happened in the past week - finally everything has settled down and is progressing smoothly once again. I figured out a way to juggle Ext-2 English, Matrix and St. Johns and it's working beautifully. Ext-2 English is staying on Tuesday afternoons, there isn't anything at all that I can do about that. I changed to the Friday A2 class at Matrix. This was originally to be at the expense of quitting St. Johns but since the class finishes at 7:30pm, Mum will drive me to Camperdown by 8pm and I can attend the volunteers meeting until 9pm. I only need to do this for 12 weeks every year to maintain my membership, so it's all sweet. Although everything is very tightly packed, leaving me no room at all to manoeuvre in - things are no longer in a big pile of ugly mess as they were before.
I had my first English tutoring session with James this morning, before work. I found it to be very helpful and quite it's money's worth. I think the outlook of my English results has already become brighter. I'm prepared to devote a generous amount of time and effort to strengthen up my weakest link. I refuse the prospect of letting my entire UAI suffer because of one subject. In the hour, we discussed the basic concepts of the AOS and postmodernism. Most was focused on possible directions of my Ext-2 major work. He helped me figure out the best step to take for this stage and I'm glad that I've finally cut five plans down to one that I am able to stick with and work on, for now, at least. James is a very interesting person to talk with in my opinion - he swears a rather profoundly unnecessary amount but I'm willing to allow such vulgarity be compensated with ingenuity. I find him impressive and fascinating, as I do all people of advanced intellect. I made the initial approach a while ago slightly more for this reason than the necessity to acquire a tutor. And I admit I have great interest in him, academically if not romantically - but I was actually very much relieved to find out that he has a girlfriend (no surprises there). If in fact had he been single, I would expect myself to find it very difficult to concentrate during our sessions. Such distractions are the last thing I will want to add on top of the mess of my life in the next twelve months.
I'm rather attached to ELO of late. Orchestral rock all the way!
And both Jenny and Mum are unusually happy with my progress at tickling the ivories this week. Jenny has gone back to thinking that I can actually get somewhere with this. I think all of Jenny's outwardly expressed dissatisfaction last week must have knocked a string in me somewhere. Or maybe it's the singing thing. I'm being forced to sing out loud as I play to 'get the feeling' - I'd lost my delicacy if I ever had any. I was (I'm not any more, I'm told) playing in complete lack of emotions for the past few weeks. I stand in my defence though - it's the music's fault. I can never play Beet's cheerful pieces, or Scarlatti Jnr.'s for that matter and after a while it all becomes so vomitous that I can't even play Chopin. But yes, the singing helps. I used to sit there thinking about chemistry equations or the wording of English responses while mechanically jabbing at the keys. The singing keeps my focus on the music and in the awful cases, allows for self-deception of emotions.
I'm among the fifteen (academically elite, I would presume) people selected from my school to attend Degree In A Day at USyd, happening on the 28th this month. It is said to provide valuable first-hand experience of university life as it is. It's basically one brief intro plus proper lecture each in two of my selected fields of interest. I know for certain that I will be going to the medicine lecture, but I don't know how to choose between industrial chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, genetics, engineering or psychology. My friends also share this dilemma - there are so many things on the list that draw our attention.
Not too much has happened in the past week - finally everything has settled down and is progressing smoothly once again. I figured out a way to juggle Ext-2 English, Matrix and St. Johns and it's working beautifully. Ext-2 English is staying on Tuesday afternoons, there isn't anything at all that I can do about that. I changed to the Friday A2 class at Matrix. This was originally to be at the expense of quitting St. Johns but since the class finishes at 7:30pm, Mum will drive me to Camperdown by 8pm and I can attend the volunteers meeting until 9pm. I only need to do this for 12 weeks every year to maintain my membership, so it's all sweet. Although everything is very tightly packed, leaving me no room at all to manoeuvre in - things are no longer in a big pile of ugly mess as they were before.
I had my first English tutoring session with James this morning, before work. I found it to be very helpful and quite it's money's worth. I think the outlook of my English results has already become brighter. I'm prepared to devote a generous amount of time and effort to strengthen up my weakest link. I refuse the prospect of letting my entire UAI suffer because of one subject. In the hour, we discussed the basic concepts of the AOS and postmodernism. Most was focused on possible directions of my Ext-2 major work. He helped me figure out the best step to take for this stage and I'm glad that I've finally cut five plans down to one that I am able to stick with and work on, for now, at least. James is a very interesting person to talk with in my opinion - he swears a rather profoundly unnecessary amount but I'm willing to allow such vulgarity be compensated with ingenuity. I find him impressive and fascinating, as I do all people of advanced intellect. I made the initial approach a while ago slightly more for this reason than the necessity to acquire a tutor. And I admit I have great interest in him, academically if not romantically - but I was actually very much relieved to find out that he has a girlfriend (no surprises there). If in fact had he been single, I would expect myself to find it very difficult to concentrate during our sessions. Such distractions are the last thing I will want to add on top of the mess of my life in the next twelve months.
I'm rather attached to ELO of late. Orchestral rock all the way!
And both Jenny and Mum are unusually happy with my progress at tickling the ivories this week. Jenny has gone back to thinking that I can actually get somewhere with this. I think all of Jenny's outwardly expressed dissatisfaction last week must have knocked a string in me somewhere. Or maybe it's the singing thing. I'm being forced to sing out loud as I play to 'get the feeling' - I'd lost my delicacy if I ever had any. I was (I'm not any more, I'm told) playing in complete lack of emotions for the past few weeks. I stand in my defence though - it's the music's fault. I can never play Beet's cheerful pieces, or Scarlatti Jnr.'s for that matter and after a while it all becomes so vomitous that I can't even play Chopin. But yes, the singing helps. I used to sit there thinking about chemistry equations or the wording of English responses while mechanically jabbing at the keys. The singing keeps my focus on the music and in the awful cases, allows for self-deception of emotions.