|
|
Friday, January 15th, 2010
| |
12:33 am - Schols are finished!
|
So, I had my last exam today! The feeling of relief is something else. Anyway, I think I did really well, and I'm honestly proud of all of my answers, so here's hoping the examiners feel the same way!
...I promised heroic couplets, didn't I? Those are boring on their own ... hmmm ... I have four exams, that's eight lines ... the octet of a sonnet! Yay for silly fun! :D
Here's a Schols sonnet so:
I headed forth with trusty pen in hand:
The day I ventured first into the fray
With frontal lobes minutely diagramm'd
The Neuroscience dragon I did slay.
Then literary theory tried to test
My knowledge of its semiotic lore:
I proved that I can rank among the best
And analysed its premises some more.
WIth hasty thought and slashing stroke of pen
I answered how a newborn comes to grow;
With thoughtful gaze and furrowed forehead then
I wrote the world Victoria would know.
But now I'm done, exams come to an end
And so must this poor sonnet that I've penned!
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, January 11th, 2010
| |
10:47 pm - Telegrammatic updates
|
So, what's been happening since August?
Well, I came home from San Francisco in September and settled back into college pretty well. Handed in a bunch of essays at the end of term there that had me tearing my hair out. But I got them done, and done well!
Jarys and I ended our relationship in December, cordially and mutually - the distance was just too much to deal with. Still good friends though, and not in the formulaic way of "let's be friends". :)
Been studying for Schols (yes, again) ever since those essays were handed in - the exams start tomorrow (aagh!) and in my customary tradition I plan to provide updates on them through use of poetry. Last year: haiku. This year: heroic couplets! :D
Wish me luck - of my four exams (note the change from eight last year!) two are tomorrow: Neuroscience and English Paper 1 (Critical and Cultural Theory / Literature and Sexualities).
Expect more updates soon!
current mood:  scared
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
| |
7:34 pm - Where I'm at. (Hint: San Francisco)
|
So, San Francisco is going very well this summer. I actually managed to get a job reasonably quickly, at a game store in Berkeley called Eudemonia (www.eudemonia.net). I was pretty surprised, especially because when I talked to the manager (Dean), he said "I probably won't hire you, but some in for an interview tomorrow anyway." Since I figured I had nothing to lose, I played the interview hyper-confident (thinking "Americans like confidence, right?") and got hired on the spot. So I guess that is true, at least in part. :) The job is fine: the pay isn't great, but I have regular (albeit antisocial) hours, and the clientele are ... interesting. :p I also get unlimited computer gaming time and great discounts, which is not to be sneezed at! Dean is an ... interesting fellow, whose foibles I may go into more detail about in a friends-locked post. :) Discretion being my middle name and all that.
I'm staying with my relatives Russ and Jeanie again, who have been amazingly hospitable, as is their wont. They've headed to Turkey for two weeks as of today, so I'm house-sitting for them, which I'm pretty flattered they trusted me with.
Jarys and I are getting on really well too. It was somewhat awkward and difficult reestablishing a relationship in person, which was only to be expected, but we've gotten past that and are having a fantastic time together. Jarys recently got an awesome teaching job, which not only means he can stay in San Francisco and support himself during the last year of his teaching certification, he can save up money for next summer, and *crosses fingers* hopefully visit Ireland then, which would be unbelievably awesome! :)
So, highlights of the summer so far: Jarys' roommates Mike & Mae Linh's wedding, which was incredibly beautiful and which I was honoured to be invited to; hanging out with Jarys' friend Esther during gay pride in SF, which was as crazy as one might expect; spending the 4th of July weekend with ex-Marine Republican friends of Russ & Jeanie's - with Jarys - and having them see right through our circumspection; seeing District 9, which is a wonderful film; playing in a fantastic Fireborn game in Berkeley, which I will gush about / already have gushed about to you in due course; running a D&D (4th edition) campaign for the first time, and finding it to be a lot of fun; exploring SF with Jarys, and finally getting to ride a cable car; the trials and tribulations of teaching Jarys Magic: the Gathering (inside joke). Hmmm, I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a few things, but if so I'll add them later. ;)
In short, the summer's been pretty fantastic. I do miss home a bit, and I look forward to seeing all you folks in Ireland from the 23rd of September onwards (and frantically looking for work at home), but right now I'm just enjoying being here now.
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
| |
2:26 am - Getting ready to go....
|
Just sitting here getting the last few bits and pieces ready for my flights to San Francisco in the morning. I'm taking more clothes than last time (lesson learned), which also means more packing. Fewer books, though (another lesson learned). Also: if any of you want to get in touch with me in SF, I'll be getting a phone there soon after I arrive (7pm local time on Wednesday, for the record - the time difference is eight hours behind Dublin), and I'll post the number on Facebook.
Actually, I've just been looking through the phone I had last year in SF, expired now. It has a whole rake of messages to and from Jarys and myself, almost like a time capsule of the last month or so of our time together last summer. It was wonderful to read them over, and remember what it felt like to write them and the events they referred to. It made me happy, but also reminded me how I was nervous about how things will go this summer - not for any particularly good reason, just because the future is uncertain and subject to change. What was great, though, was it helped me see how we'd fitted a relationship and spending time together in around everything else in our (reasonably hectic) lives and made it a seamless part of things - it stopped me worrying that I was idealising the time Jarys and I spent together. It was lovely to read back over those messages and remember last summer with Jarys from that uniquely real perspective: dates, delayed buses, schedule conflicts, randomly romantic texts, organising evenings with friends, getting meals together, teasing and joking, airport farewells. It helped me remember that what Jarys and I had last summer wasn't something irrecoverable or idealised - it was a real relationship between real people who both worked to make it happen. And so it did.
I'm leaving that phone behind, though; it's served its purpose, to remind me that this is a new summer, and there'll be plenty more to write about, and do, and see. I won't worry about it any more; I'm going to enjoy it. Jarys, I love you and I can't wait to see you tomorrow.
|
|
(5 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, May 11th, 2009
| |
2:42 pm
|
|
| Sunday, May 10th, 2009
| |
10:32 pm - Nervousness
|
It's the eve of Trinity Monday. Tomorrow the Provost of Trinity College Dublin annnounces those who have achieved Scholarship from the steps of the Exam Hall at 10am.
I'm so scared. Wish me luck!
current mood: scared
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
| |
6:06 pm - Schols Update
|
I got exemptions! Yes! This means I don't have to sit summer exams!! Plus I'm still in the running to get a Scholarship (won't know about that till May though)! Yeeeeeees!!!
current mood:  jubilant
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, March 23rd, 2009
| |
11:51 am - Exam Haikus #8 - Last exam!
|
Haiku #8: Psychology: Developmental Psychology
Child development
I had prepared three answers
Each one then came up!
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| |
12:17 am - Exam Haikus #7
|
Haiku #7: English Paper 3: Victorianism / Postcolonial Literature and Theory / America and the US
Not too bad, I think
"Spectral" in US was odd
Second-last exam!
Also, I enclose for your edification the most hilariously awful limerick about English literary theory I've ever seen, which is by "Akumu" on the Something Awful forums. Don't blame me for this one, it's not mine!
A reference refers to a referent,
and in deference defers to the deferent
of the deconstructionist's maxim
that texts, if we ask 'em
Tell a story that's from themselves different
*snerk*
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Thursday, March 19th, 2009
| |
3:44 pm - Exam Haikus #6
|
Haiku #6: Psychology: Practicals, Methodology & Statistics I
Not a hard topic
How long can a paper be?
Rushed but did just fine
|
|
(3 comments | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
| |
12:06 pm - Exam Haikus #5
|
|
| Monday, March 16th, 2009
| |
12:13 pm - Exam Haikus #4
|
Haiku #4: Psychology: Neuroscience
What foul trick is this?
All is changed, changed utterly
Answered anyway
|
|
(3 comments | comment on this)
|
| Friday, March 13th, 2009
| |
9:46 pm - Exam Haikus #3
|
Haiku #3: English Paper 2: Romanticism & Revolution / Literature & Sexualities / The Hero in English Literature / Writing Ireland
Blake nowhere in sight
Feminism always wins
Heroines, save me!
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Thursday, March 12th, 2009
| |
1:49 pm - Exam Haikus #2
|
Despite my friends' lovable attempts to have me commit honourable suicide for taking poetic license (and not much of it, either) with pronunciation, and Jarys' even more lovable attempts to prevent them, I will soldier on.
Haiku #2: Psychology: Social Psychology
New question format?!
Surprise Iraqi prison
Did poorly, I fear
|
|
(5 comments | comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
| |
1:04 pm - Exam Haikus #1
|
Since my hands are absolutely destroyed from the exam, this update (and all Schols-related updates) will be extremely short.
So, for my own amusement, I'm going to try to summarise each exam in a haiku, because I used to write haiku before they were cool. :)
Haiku #1 - English Paper 1: Critical & Cultural Theory / Romance
Queer theory came up!
Much feminist rejoicing.
Wife of Bath saves ass.
current mood: puckish
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, March 9th, 2009
| |
10:26 am - Schol exams start tomorrow...
|
Aaagh!
Seriously though, this is a bad week exam-wise. I have English Paper 1 (Critical & Cultural Theory / Romance) tomorrow, so today will be spent cramming in the library.
Wish me luck folks! I shall update sporadically.
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
| |
9:47 pm - Meme, because I haven't done one for a while
|
Taken from  veridian_knight
- Describe me in one word: just one single word. Positive or negative.
- Leave your word in a comment, before looking at what words others have used.
- Copy and paste the meme to your journal to find out how people describe you when limited to one word.
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
| |
6:35 pm - Snow....
|
Right now I'm studying for exams, trying to get a job, working through a complicated emotional situation, in debt, and trying to finalise plans for the summer and possibly a J1 visa while not knowing whether or not I should go.
But today I walked through the first blizzard I can remember in Dublin in my lifetime. I was trying to get to a job interview, and the heavens opened and poured pure whiteness all over the city for half an hour. I was lost, soaking wet, *extremely* cold despite three thick layers of clothing, and late for my interview.
And I couldn't stop smiling. It was truly beautiful; the kind of event that almost never happens, where every other concern has to be put away in favour of enjoying the now. People were smiling at one another, throwing snowballs, laughing at the amazingly unusual weather, and for that instant nothing else mattered.
I'm not going to forget that. Ever.
And I'm still smiling.
current mood: uplifted
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Friday, January 30th, 2009
| |
5:38 pm - Well, that appears to be that.
|
"Dear Student,
Thank you for your application for admission as an exchange student at the University of California. At this stage your application has been reviewed and unfortunately due to the competitive nature of the exchange I regret to inform you that you have not been nominated."
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
If I may reiterate: Shit.
current mood:  crushed
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Saturday, January 17th, 2009
| |
3:08 pm - I just got an essay back...
|
My psychology essay on Lev Vygotsky was, quite honestly, murder to write. I started my research, got a lot of info together on Vygotsky's theories of child development ... then realised all the researchers I'd been painstakingly accumulating critical quotes from flatly contradicted one another in their opinions. I ended up, at the last minute, having to rewrite my entire premise and make the (fully justified) claim that there really was no such thing as Vygotskyan theory, just a lot of researchers attempting to piece a coherent theory together from the random, terribly-translated notes of a man who died very young and never had the chance to revise them.
Apparently it worked. I just got my result back, and my lecturer gave me 80%, which is the highest grade I've ever received for an essay (Americans, learn the British-style grading system, stat!).
And this essay was 10% of my grade in Psychology for the year! *dances*
|
|
(9 comments | comment on this)
|
|
|
|
|
