Course Conflict

Today, I have weighed up pros and cons.

Background: I am on a four year course which will ultimately mean I will attain a MSci Hons degree in two years time, as long as I keep up or improve on the standard I am currently working at. A masters degree will be ever so useful when it comes to applying for jobs, and will be all round more impressive at the end of it, especially if I wish to go into a career related to my degree. However, I'm not sure that I do want to go into a career related to my degree, or that I am up to the motivation required to complete the four year course to an acceptable level. Therein lies the dilemma...

Four Year Course Or Three Year Course?

Reasons to stick on the four year course:

• More experience, better job prospects, improved knowledge, more impressive degree qualification etc etc...
• I am already on the course, it's easier to continue rather than quit and find I regret it.
• Don't have a clue what I would do otherwise - another year at uni buys more time to think this through, or put off the decision making, while opening more options for choice of career.
• Get to stick with the student lifestyle for a little longer - pfft, who needs to grow up? And then I could do a PhD, and be a post-doc researcher and never ever need to get a real job...
• Get to see all the people who have been away for third year, consolidate friendships, continue getting to know people, increase friend base, live away from home a while longer, keep up independance. If I switch to three years, all of this studentdom will be cut short.

• The idea of only having one year left at uni scares the hell out of me.

Reasons to switch to the three year course:

• I'm not sure I'm cut out for the stresses, independence or motivation needed in fourth year, or the constant strive to achieve and I fear I'd feel inadequate in comparison to everyone else and unable to cope.
• Most of the time is spent in the lab, working on your own project, which you are figuring out. Alone. It's worth a quarter of the degree as a whole. Do I really want to risk a year of misery?
• May require further qualifications if I decide to do something else, so what's the point in doing a masters in my current subject?
  
• If I switch to three years, it might give me the push I need to seek what I really want to do with my life. Or it could be another wasted year when I think - hey, I should have just gone through with the masters, it wouldn't have been that bad, right?
• Even having a BSc in the subject is a darn sight more impressive than most degrees on the market - I'd be well set up for most jobs, even if I don't know which to choose yet.

• The idea of spending every day in the lab scares the hell out of me.

So what do you think? More to the point - what do you think I think? Ask questions, give advice, opinions, personal experience, anything that'll make me swing more convincingly one way or another!? There's no specific deadline for this decision, but for my own peace of mind, I'd like to have it sorted in my head before the end of the summer, as planning for the next academic year often starts in the beginning of the current one. So, although there's no guarantee that I'll take anything of what is said to me...please, feel free to give your tuppence worth...!

Vote: Stick or Switch?

On the jukebox: The Monkees ~ Daydream Believer

Feet Fetish

Today, I have painted my toenails.

Now has begun the season of open-toed shoes, it is appropriate that I should colour my toenails to co-ordinate with my outfit. Unfortunately, the haphazard application of suncream has resulted in golden feet, but magnolia legs, which is fine... as long as I have trousers on!

I'm not one to polish the phalanges very often, toenails even less so than fingernails. Feet certainly aren't my favourite part of the body, my toes are kind of stumpy and my feet are too long and too wide - I don't tend to get them out in public very often. But I love the extra dimension that painting your nails adds to the outfit.

As quoted by someone, it makes me look "like a girl". Cheers, that is the look I generally aim for.

Today has taught me: if I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. When applying suncream, be sure not to miss key areas - such as feet, hands and ears. It's not a good look.

On the jukebox: Madonna ~ Holiday

Knowing Me

Today, I have carried out a random act of kindness.

When A Year Of Kindness started out at the beginning of this month, I thought it was a great idea. Mainly because, as with many ideas that I think are great, I had considered doing something similar. I've often wanted a blog with a sole purpose; a specific structure; a reason to blog. The problem with restricting yourself to a particular style of blogging is that it doesn't leave much room for expansion or change and can end up becoming repetative or just plain dull. It does a blog good to be able to shake up the style every once in a while.

The entries are often better if based quite loosely around a general subject or format - for example "A Day In The Life Of A Student" type is fairly straightforward, as all it means is you write about the idiosyncrasies of student life - a snapshot of what it's like to be that age, being on the brink of adulthood can offer some of the most entertaining and perceptive moments of life before reaching the middle-age mundanities of mortgages and marriages. People like to read about things that relate to them, or insights into how other people live. Weblogs that I read have long been a source of inspiration or contemplation - raising ideas that may have discussed before, throwing new light on a subject, or simply a way to pass the time. If you asked me what I write about on my blog? "random stuff an' fings, like yeah...I dunno"

Hell, I go off on a tangent enough in a single blog entry - starting off with one subject and finding myself wandering over onto some unfocussed land of babble, as is so succintly displayed in this very example - I couldn't imagine keeping it based around the same subject for each entry I write. What I'm saying is, as long as you can articulate yourself appropriately, it doesn't matter really what you say, I'll read it anyway...

Today has taught me: Not to publish your blogs before they're finished, just to see what they look like. They will still turn up on RSS feed and make you look like a fool :oP

On the jukebox: Mystery Jets ~ Young Love

Fairly Hairy

Today, I have long hair.

You ask almost any guy "long or short" they say long, at least in my experience. Long hair has its advantages - looks more feminine, easier to style, easier to manipulate to how you want it to look. Maybe it does look better. But it's also a lot of effort - washing, drying, straightening, plaiting - it just generally takes eons longer than with a shorter style. Sure it looks good for show - sexy, girly, beautiful, but is it worth it for you, the owner?

However, to keep hair short and sharp involves regular trips to the hairdresser which in my opinion, is not a favourable option. So I keep it long, until it gets so long that it begins to drag me down, such a heavy head of hair that I sometimes wish I could just chop it all off and start again. I am at this point currently. I desperately need a hair cut. It just seems senseless to me to spend the same amount on cutting my hair as it costs for a flight to Europe.

Long Hair or Short Hair?

On the jukebox: Yomanda ~ You're Free

Birthday Bumps

Today, I have scheduled a blog entry.

Since I know I won't be internet-accessed on the 21st July 2008, I am writing this from beyond the screen, as it were. How odd. Anyway, the point is not to make sure you don't miss me too much, but for the fact that it is a certain blogger's birthday today, I knew her from the Halcyon Days of yore, now she's all grown up and out Into the Blue...

Happy 21st Birthday, Hannah!




Direct your own birthday wishes here.
:oD

On the jukebox: The Genie ~ A Friend Like Me

Turning Three

Today, I have celebrated my third anniversary.

"Hi everyone!
This is my blog. You don't know me, yet, but if you look over the following days (or months) more about me and my life may begin to unfold as you learn about things that annoy me very much. You may laugh at some aspects or you may find it totally dull as it is about people and places you neither know nor care about. Whatever you think, feel free to leave a comment, whether you plan to make regular visits, or you are just passing through cyber space, i'd love to hear from you..."

Three years; four names; two sites and countless entries later, here I am. Three years has seen through a hell of a lot: painful heartache, boundless excitement, simple amusements. Three years is an awfully long time, especially in proportion to the pieces of my life that I actually remember. Three years of an almost daily diary-type publication gives a more comprehensive view of feelings present at particular moments than mere memories can manage to conjure up from scratch. I wonder what I'll think when I look back on it all in three years' time?

To you,
The ones who leave their spark,
Upon my own blog spot,
Even if it's just a small remark,
It really does mean a lot.

I'm happy

On the jukebox: Bright Eyes ~ First Day Of My Life :o)

Read Right

Today, I have used an acronym.

Go check out x..k...cd? xckd?

It's only when I go to use some words out loud that I realise how ridiculous they sound. How silly it is when you try to say them rather than type. I've been reading English for over sixteen years now, and although there are some words in the langugage I struggle to pronounce, they are few and far between. But when typing and reading, it's a different situation, as I do use words that simply are unidentifyable by the convention of pronunciation. These little acronyms have been created to make typing life easier, or more quirky.

If I see xkcd on a page, I know immediately what it means, and similarly with bbtmn. That is, I know what it refers to, but I don't know what the letters stand for, if anything, and since they are devoid of vowels or any sort of phonetic construction, to try to speak these outloud without spelling them is virtually impossible.

Once you get past the reading-out-loud stage of education, it's hard to describe or understand the concept of exactly how people read in their heads. Do you read each word or do you recognise it? It's possible to grasp the meaning of a phrase without having to dissect the sentence word for word. Often, you can't see a word you know and not read it, it's a learnt reaction, which is one of the ideas behind this experiment.

Having seen this programme advertised, along with spending time reading with children under eight, it's interesting to see how people learn to read. Reading and writing are abilities that come so naturally to most adults that it's not easy to imagine how a person could not be literate, or that five million people in the UK have a reading age of less than a 12 year old. It's only going back to primary school and struggling to recall my ah, buh, curly ker phonetics that I can appreciate that although my aye, bee, see comes easily now, learning the alphabet and how to spell had to start somewhere.

"How do you spell tissue?"
"T..i..sh..oo...?"

On the jukebox: Jackson 5 ~ ABC

Picture Perfect

Today, I have used my new camera.

After having spilt water on my trusty digital compact camera a couple of days ago - meaning that it now no longer even switches on - I felt compelled to buy a new one. The fact that a holiday is drawing near meant that this decision was more hastily made than I might have liked, but still, I now have a working compact camera, which is a hell of a lot easier to cart about than a DSLR.

Photography is an art that often has me wondering - is it due to the skill of the operator, the luck of the composition or the quality of the equipment? Some days, some situations, some moments, I think - well, you'd have to be completely incompetent to not take a passable photo given the perfect shot in front of you. Is photography a talent to be marvelled at, or just a chance opportunity? Are there good photographers, or only good photographs? Well, I'm sure if you manage enough of the latter, you can be considered to be the former. But what makes a good photo - the technical specifications, or the specific moment caught? Can photography even be considered an art at all? Surely anyone can take a photo, especially if equipped with decent lights, camera and a suitable scene of action.

Just as anything, it's not black and white - a good photographer would combine expert knowledge with creative insight to work out what works for an amazing picture. Sometimes, I feel like photography is an innate ability more than a learned skill. It's part of the reason why I find it so hard to judge, to understand how to measure a talent in something that seems to have no set rules for success. Sure, I know, you can teach someone how to take better photos, and some places you can't fail to take a decent shot but I think part of the skill of a good photograph is the instinctive sense of what makes a good photo - even if you don't know why it is that it works well. I'm not sure if what I'm trying to put across actually makes sense, but whether you speak as a person who is into photography or not, I'd like to know what you think on the matter...

On the jukebox: Irene Cara ~ What A Feeling

Summer Scenery

Today, I have let go of an old companion.



What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.




No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.



No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.



No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.



No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.



A poor life this is if, full of care,



We have no time to stand and stare.



Farewell Fujifilm Finepix F11. You have served me well.
August 2006 - July 2008
RIP

On the jukebox: One Republic ~ Stop and Stare

Be Happy

Today, I have worried.

I want to write. I really do. I just can't find the sentences that don't begin with I. I know that it's not bad to use my blog to write about me, indeed, I start every entry with an "I have" but you know, there's a limit to how interesting that would be. Once you find out all of mememe there is to see, why would you want to listen anymore?

I worry. Too much. About stupid stuff and the rest. About things I have no control over. I worry about what people think of me, I worry that people don't think of me. I worry about whether I'm making the right decision, if it's really because I'm being sensible and can rise above the instinctive feeling to make a path for a happy time, or because it's too much hassle to choose otherwise or, well, any number of other reasons.

There are almost one million words in the English dictionary. It is predicted that the one millionth word will be created in April 2009 sometime. Meanwhile, the average person uses approximately 14,000 words. Even a linguistically gifted person will use only about 70,000 words. Now, I wonder if these are the same type of words that people are using, how much would our 14,000 words correlate with other people's 14,000? Which words in particular would you say you use often, despite the fact that they might seem unusual to other people? I rarely write anything of a creative nature anymore, therefore I have little need to think to extend my verbiage beyond a purely perfunctory sense. So to try to use more interesting language seems futile.

Well, that's where an unplanned mind splurge takes me. Beyond the rigid confines of structure whilst upholding the pompous tone and pretentious manner. Half the time I'm not sure that I use complex words in the correct context, but chances are the people I converse with wouldn't be certain of the appropriate usage either.

Toodle-pip!

On the jukebox: The Boy Least Likely To ~ Balloon On a Broken String