A long-delayed update
It's been aaaaaages since my last update (sometime in October, I think), for which there's little excuse. I've been pretty busy, but a lot of the time, I've thought to myself "oh, that'd make a good lj entry" but couldn't be bothered to write it up, and somehow the procrastination fed on itself. Ah well. The last few months in (sanitised) bullet points, then:
- Moved into the House of Crack with alinak and davechicken.
- Proceeded then to not be home very much, and in a chemistry lab a great deal of the time, trying to synthesise an ATP analogue, and having (finally) synthesised it, trying to purify it (still ongoing, sadly)
- Started training at Shorinji Kempo with singing_hamster and Richard the lj-less, and enjoyed it mightily. Got drunk more than a few times with Kempo people, especially at the winter social, which was fancy dress and very entertaining
- Met jonpowell at Kempo, flirted for a bit, and started going out with him. A sweet boy, and he hasn't quite realised how nuts I am (you reading this, dear?)
- Attempted to make the transition from chemistry to biology rather unsucessfully, given that I haven't quite finished in chem, but did get a week's worth of work done in biology before the end of term. Protein yey!
- Went home for holidays and did very little, until my mum caught the-bug-that-would-not-die, then did very little plus cooking and helping with chores, which was just as well. Went to the theatre a couple of times (both excellent). Ate goose, and received some presents.
- Wandered to Northampton to visit jonpowell pre-Christmas, and borrowed him post-Christmas to meander about London, though sadly many things were shut.
- Went to Edinburgh to stay at Tracy's flat over New Year/Hogmanay with cruiach, singing_hamster, davechicken, alinak, Richard, two cats, three geckos (very quiet) and about a bazillion crickets (not so quiet, really). Fun was had, drinks were drunk and a great deal of junk food was enjoyed. My sympathies to those on the other airbed, and those that the cat peed on.
I think that's about all I can remember without going into silly amounts of detail. Anyway, I've made a list of resolutions for the next year, but they're more like guidelines goals, since I've never been very good at changing my character or behaviour. I'm going to try, though.
By December of 2007, I aim to:
1. Have done well on all portions of my M.Sci (research, writing and defense), to have done my GREs and applied for PhD positions at various universities in the UK and USA.
2. Have a decently paid, useful temporary (8-12 month) job that I enjoy, which will pay for the trip to Japan and other traipsing around the globe.
3. Be a nicer person. I will try to think before speaking, be more thoughtful about how my actions affect other people, and try my best to be kinder, more tactful, more helpful and more reliable.
4. Maintain a loving and healthy relationship with my significant other, and among other things, to help him be more “part of the gang” with my friends, without pushing them or him.
5. Lose about 20 pounds of flesh, and be in better overall shape. To that end, I will try to attend Kempo training a minimum of twice a week, exercise daily on my own, and eat more healthily.
With any luck I won't fail too miserably, but we shall see. I don't know if "this'll be my year", but odds are it won't. I'm a bit of an insular, procrastinatory sort of person, if I'm being brutally honest with myself, and have trouble reading people or reacting appropriately (ever feel the need to "kick yourself" about something you should or shouldn't have said? I get that about ten times a day. My brain doesn't seem to catch up with my mouth). Anyway. In a few days I'll head back to Durham, hopefully get some work done on my thesis (I find it impossible to work here, for various reasons) and generally get myself sorted before the next round of research. Deadlines, grrrr...
- Moved into the House of Crack with alinak and davechicken.
- Proceeded then to not be home very much, and in a chemistry lab a great deal of the time, trying to synthesise an ATP analogue, and having (finally) synthesised it, trying to purify it (still ongoing, sadly)
- Started training at Shorinji Kempo with singing_hamster and Richard the lj-less, and enjoyed it mightily. Got drunk more than a few times with Kempo people, especially at the winter social, which was fancy dress and very entertaining
- Met jonpowell at Kempo, flirted for a bit, and started going out with him. A sweet boy, and he hasn't quite realised how nuts I am (you reading this, dear?)
- Attempted to make the transition from chemistry to biology rather unsucessfully, given that I haven't quite finished in chem, but did get a week's worth of work done in biology before the end of term. Protein yey!
- Went home for holidays and did very little, until my mum caught the-bug-that-would-not-die, then did very little plus cooking and helping with chores, which was just as well. Went to the theatre a couple of times (both excellent). Ate goose, and received some presents.
- Wandered to Northampton to visit jonpowell pre-Christmas, and borrowed him post-Christmas to meander about London, though sadly many things were shut.
- Went to Edinburgh to stay at Tracy's flat over New Year/Hogmanay with cruiach, singing_hamster, davechicken, alinak, Richard, two cats, three geckos (very quiet) and about a bazillion crickets (not so quiet, really). Fun was had, drinks were drunk and a great deal of junk food was enjoyed. My sympathies to those on the other airbed, and those that the cat peed on.
I think that's about all I can remember without going into silly amounts of detail. Anyway, I've made a list of resolutions for the next year, but they're more like guidelines goals, since I've never been very good at changing my character or behaviour. I'm going to try, though.
By December of 2007, I aim to:
1. Have done well on all portions of my M.Sci (research, writing and defense), to have done my GREs and applied for PhD positions at various universities in the UK and USA.
2. Have a decently paid, useful temporary (8-12 month) job that I enjoy, which will pay for the trip to Japan and other traipsing around the globe.
3. Be a nicer person. I will try to think before speaking, be more thoughtful about how my actions affect other people, and try my best to be kinder, more tactful, more helpful and more reliable.
4. Maintain a loving and healthy relationship with my significant other, and among other things, to help him be more “part of the gang” with my friends, without pushing them or him.
5. Lose about 20 pounds of flesh, and be in better overall shape. To that end, I will try to attend Kempo training a minimum of twice a week, exercise daily on my own, and eat more healthily.
With any luck I won't fail too miserably, but we shall see. I don't know if "this'll be my year", but odds are it won't. I'm a bit of an insular, procrastinatory sort of person, if I'm being brutally honest with myself, and have trouble reading people or reacting appropriately (ever feel the need to "kick yourself" about something you should or shouldn't have said? I get that about ten times a day. My brain doesn't seem to catch up with my mouth). Anyway. In a few days I'll head back to Durham, hopefully get some work done on my thesis (I find it impossible to work here, for various reasons) and generally get myself sorted before the next round of research. Deadlines, grrrr...