Last week I had a big Maths exam, 20 credit points (the whole year is 120) which didn't go brilliantly. I may have passed. It's frustrating trying to learn how to do questions with no example solutions (no past paper solutions at all, minimal solutions to problem sheets) and figure out things which are more dependent on your knowledge of things like what the sum from 1 to n of 1/k happens to be than your knowledge of the unit material. I'm terrible with such things, it feels like there's a big fact sheet I'm meant to have memorised at some point but I missed the memo. And that crushes my confidence and fledgling ability to get my head round probability theory. Gah. This exam is out of the way now, only six more to get through in May/June!
I've tried burrata, as recommended by a certain dressmaking genius by the name of Oona. Waitrose had it reduced, from an introductory offer price too, so I snapped it up.
Funny looking thing!
SO CREAMY. Insanely creamy. Definitely to be eaten with crusty bread.
I finally bought an Emmy The Great CD, First Love. I saw her at The Fleece in October, I was having a bit of a difficult time and spent most of the gig close to or in tears but I'm glad I went. This is not an album to listen closely to when you're feeling vulnerable, it's full of loss and sadness.
My days are now full of background writing for my project thesis and fiddling with Open CV for Android which seems a lot more complicated than it could be. Stupid things. On the plus side I chose my units such that I only have one coursework to do apart from this and it's a fairly straightforward one.
I've had a play with my blog design, got rid of a broken Flickr widget, added a page which has no content yet, and changed the background to cheery blue polka dots. This is the same background I had on my Myspace page, back in the day. Nostalgia!
I've had a look in the freezer and figured out what I need to eat my way through before the end of the year/my flat contract. It's mostly reduced things I couldn't eat at the time, meat from large packs which I bought as it was better value for money, and strange stews I must have got sick of before finishing. Hmmm.
On Thursday the boy & I went for a post-supper walk to the
suspension bridge. His camera is capable of taking photos in the dark,
mine not so much. I got a couple of presentable ones though. I also got
very cold!
Bridge! All lit up.
After an abortive attempt on Saturday that turned into brunch we made it out to Arnos Vale on Sunday with Matt & Alice. It's a huuge place and parts of it are incredibly overgrown. Photos were taken, names were spotted (the best was Pobjoy) and there was discussion of what is and isn't appropriate in a graveyard.
I've just finished with my last coursework of the year which is a great relief as CS courseworks tend to take ages and be pretty frustrating! Sadly I don't get a break as my first exam is a week on Thursday. That's why my bed currently looks like this:
I've got lots of colourful folders & dividers to keep everything together, and when I'm done with all my exams, this years notes will be confined to the largest of the brown boxes featured in my last post and put away under the desk!
I haven't been spending *all* my time working though, I'd go crazy if I didn't have a break. Sadly I missed the crazily wonderful spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest (& accompanying barbecue party) , but it was for a good cause - I went to see The Wave Pictures play :D Some bands are just disappointing live as they sound nothing like their recordings but this was definitely not the case here. It was just excellent. The songs which the drummer sang were especially lovely. Bliss! And a wonderful break from the stress of coursework.
Yesterday was my first day of freedom from coursework and I took advantage of it! I made up some lost sleep by sleeping in, then made my way to lectures via my favourite run of charity shops on Cotham Hill, where I found this lovely skirt for £3.99:
And picked up an old duvet cover (£1.99!) to make into a muslin/toile for my attempt to replicate this dress of mine that I really like the shape of. It was only £1.99 and hopefully will provide plenty enough material for a decent attempt. It's also light and fairly sparsely patterned so I should be able to see what I'm doing...
Now what colour buttons should I use on this if I end up with something wearable?!
I've also been playing Carcassonne with the boy, I beat him 149-93 last night!
This is a game from February but you get the idea.
And I'll leave you with the tiny crane I made from a Fruitella wrapper :D
I'm pulling myself back from the verge of Blogfail. I'm feeling somewhat busy now, and lectures haven't even started yet.
Last weekend I popped up to Bristol and went on a lovely six and a half mile walk with Niall and some of his family. It was downhill to the edge of a lake and then back up but we went at a nice pace and there was stopping to admire the view/cows/lake. Niall has already had his films developed and has written a little photoblog about it here. The weather was really good; bright sunshine almost the whole time, but not too hot at all.
We had a picnic lunch along the way, watched some planes land at Bristol airport, ran away from cows that charged toward us, met a rather cute wobbly puppy, and finished the whole thing off with an excellent meal at the Bear & Swan in Chew Magna. H'rah!
The next day we had brunch at The Primrose Café in Clifton, then I drove home in time to take my sister to Asda to buy helium balloons. (and for me to buy the roses in the previous post)
After a few days of sitting around at home not achieving a great deal I came back up to Bristol. We drove up in pelting rain; the spray on the motorway was so bad I could hardly see! But we made it, lugged my stuff up to my flat, and had a delicious selection of salads for lunch at Papadeli, with Luscombe lemonade, ciabatta & oil, and really tasty manchego (Spanish sheep cheese). Followed, of course, by coffee and cake. I was actually too busy eating to take photos, but it was delicious.*
Since coming back I've been to the pub with Photosoc, seen one of my friends who's a singer/songwriter play a gig, drunk tea with computer scientists, run away to rainy Plymouth for a friend's birthday and had Photosoc meetings to organise all manner of new year stuff.
I've got to organise a photographic scavenger hunt! Eeek. It involves sending teams of people off around Bristol with a list of things to take photos of, they can be specific things, vague ideas or concepts. The idea is to have fun and meet people. I've got a few ideas already but suggestions are welcome!
Here's a video of my friend Mikey aka asinglebiteofcherry playing at The Croft in Stokes Croft last Thursday.
You can hear samples of and buy his album on his website!
I'm off to London tomorrow for a gig, excitingness! Expect photos etc in the next few days...
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*You may be able to tell I quite like food
