What a difference a haircut makes!!!

Ok, guys, I realise that to you a haircut is an unavoidable (not in all cases, but we’ll leave that for now) annoyance, but bear with me- there are girls out there who’ll understand!

Anyway, I know that right now I should be head-down and working, but I’ve been wanting (and my hair has been needing) this for a good few weeks now, and I went today after (what felt like) a long day of lectures, when I would have been too knackered to work anyway. And it cheered me up, which was definately necessary. The whole getting your hair washed thing, and just being pampered a little, its about so much more than the cutting bit. I’m usually a little nervous about hairdressers, but this was fab. Took along a good girly mate for moral support, and hey presto!

OK, so I was trying to be positive and all. And I’m managing, in some ways. I think, considering all this c**p that I’m dealing with, I’m being remarkably positive. Anyhow, the positive, I CAN do this etc of the last post took a bit of a knock the next day, when we discovered that one of the ’small’ pieces of work we still had to be given was in fact a 4000-5000 word environmental statement (basically the whole EIA thingy that generally takes proffessional ppl a few months to do) which was due in in a week! *@*?!?#*!?@!*#! (loosely translated as ‘rude words’!!!)

We all said no, lots, dug our heels in, refused, so the poor lecturer (not coordinator blokey, a nice friendly man who we like) had to try to negotiate. This would have been fine, if coordinator guy hadn’t then said no to him! And, in response to our plea, decided not to make the huge, impossible piece of work smaller, but to make it count for more! Hmm, missing the logic there so far (although I’m told I shouldn’t look for logic in educational establishments…)! End result: we do what friendly man told us to (he’s marking it) and just don’t tell coordinator guy. So, the HUGE assignment is now a little shorter, and we managed to squeeze a couple of extra days out of them too. Not a great victory, but a small step for masters students!!! Oh, and we are now all united in a joint loathing of coordinator guy, and have plans for an end of term celebratory event, involving an amount of Barbados rum brought from home recently by one of the class

For now though, its head down, and lots of work. So if I dissappear for a while, I’m still here, just temporarily engaged. Only 2 weeks to go…

Have calmed down a bit since my last post, even after going to try and explain things to ‘coordinator’ which, needless to say, didn’t help. The words head and brick wall spring to mind…

However, life isn’t all bad. On Thursday we went to see the new Bridget Jones, for me, out of curiosity as much as anything else, and the need to hang out with girly friends! We laughed, we cringed, we (almost) cried, and went ‘aww’ at all the right moments! My stomach muscles haven’t had such a work-out in a while- thanks Bridge!!! And all thoughts of work were forgotten! I won’t say too much else, as there are probably people who haven’t seen it yet, but it was good!

On the work front? Ok, so I did the presentation on Monday (scared? me? nooo! um. one of the joys of having a surname starting with A- you get these things over and done with more quickly) and handed in the other presentation plan, and the stats work. Two more down… Oh the relief! Although diminished slightly when you realise that the workload still isn’t going down- there are 2 more pieces to come still (only 2 and a half weeks of term left as well!), which should materialise this week. I then spent this afternoon in the library trying to research an essay I have to write. This was difficult enough, not really knowing where to look, and made harder by the fact that the title isn’t (if you’re me) even remotely interesting. Although, there may be those who don’t find the invasion of alien plant species interesting either. Ho hum. So, in attempting to find something related to the topic, I spent all of 3 hours scanning through abstracts, and found a total of about 3 articles which may be helpful. Hmm. Not really enough to base a 2000-3000 word essay on then.

But, even so, the end is in sight. Not long to go now And then I shall try and post about something other than work for a change

Aaarrrgghhhhh! Ok, so I’ve stayed away from ranting about the laughable efforts at organisation of my Masters for a while, but I have to get this one off my chest.

We (for this read I) have been pestering for ages to get a list of coursework assignments for this term. Not a huge request, just want to know what we’ll be given, and, ideally, how much it contributes to the total marks etc. You’d think that a group of lecturers, whose job it is to do these things, would be able to manage that? Especially when one is employed specifically to coordinate all the others. Anyway, apparently this was just too hard, and not at all possible, and after I’d asked a few times, I gave up. The work continued to pile up, and the last week or so we’ve all been despairing of getting it all done on time, let alone seeing any daylight other than through the library windows!

Then, today, said coordinator presents us with a list. Showing (hopefully) all the work for this term. So, what’s the problem you say? Well, not only is it only 4 weeks till the end of term, so its not exactly as useful as it might have been a month or so ago, but it also shows we have another 3 or 4 assignments which we haven’t been given yet. And don’t know when we’ll be given them. So, as well as the 4000-6000 word term paper (which, if we had more time, would be quite interesting given we could choose the topic) worth half a module on its own, the 2000 and 3000 word essays (one of which we can’t do untill we have another lecture on the subject), 2 presentations and a statistics problem whic we already had…

…we now have another statistics problem, another computer modelling problem (see earlier posts for the madness that one caused!), a field trip write up and a lab write up. All to be done in the next 4 weeks. No, 3 and a half weeks. Along with lots of hours of lectures a week in comparison to the start of term cos the ‘coordinator’ has only just got the guest lecturers spots sorted out now.

And he told us that we should really be able to keep track of our assignments ourselves, and know when things are due in, and seems to see this as a big favour he’s done for us, which he shouldn’t really have to do. Though the point was to know the assignments we haven’t been given yet. Unless we’re supposed to be psychic too….

I repeat, AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Ok, think I’ve got it all out now. Must get back to it, or this pile will never get any smaller. Helpful/studious thoughts this way please x

I was told by another folkie friend this week that Fairport Conventions Cropredy Festival is definately on next year! Some of you may know this already, some not, some quite probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but hey, who cares? I’m happy, and wouldn’t mind betting that a good many others are too! Its good to know that there’s enough other folkies out there to keep it going! Well done guys, see you in the field…

This weekend my parents are coming to visit from Manchester. To many, this may not be good news, but I have missed them this term. The three of us are really close (I don’t have any siblings), and, particularly when things are a bit tough as they have been recently, I love just being together for a while. I’m too old now for them to be able (or me to want them to) fix everything, but just being together again gives me (and all of us) strength to go out there and deal with the difficult stuff. I guess that’s what family is all about, a safe haven away from the madness, and a source of courage when it all goes horribly wrong!

So, even though the work is still sky high (I usually like mountains, but not work mountains!), it can’t get me down right now

I handed in two pieces of work today! Not huge, important pieces, but nontheless, assignments that are completed, and out of my hair!
Phew, what a relief!
Now, on to the next one. Only two presentations, two essays and a dissertation-sized term paper to go. Until they give us some more.
But still, I’ve finished some!

Why is it that the word has so many negative associations? Why is it that, especially for people of a certain age and situation, that the thought of not being in a relationship automatically seems tied up with not fitting in, with being the odd one out, Bridget Jones-style. We are, in some way, made to think that singledom is the least favourable option, that we must, to be avoided if possible, and far from the ideal.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I aspire to the idea of marriage and family as much as any woman (or man, don’t want to be sexist here), but at some times, the right thing, the ideal, is to be free and single, to be your own person, not because there isn’t a better alternative, but because it is the best thing for now. ‘For everything there is a season’.
I do surprise myself with how easily all this is coming, and of course its ok in theory, the practice is much trickier. But writing it down helps to remind me that its ok, that what I’m doing is right, and that it needn’t always be a negative.