Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Day 119 - Sorry, I missed the question

31st of March! Tomorrow (in just 1 hour and 35 minutes, in fact) Script Frenzy begins!! The first tentative words of my 100 page script!!! How exciting!!!!

Today, much less exciting things. I played Warhammer Quest with Nick while Julia slept and read James Bond. The first foray was unsuccessful, resulting in the swift death of our entire party. Dungeoneering is a dangerous business. The second journey, after dispensing with the unhelpful Questing Knight, did much better, and everybody actually survived (give or take a limb or two).

Trivialities aside, IT'S SCRIPT FRENZY SOON. I don't know what to write.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Day 118 - Old House up the attic

I spent the weekend in the dark, dank, damp, dimp crab-infested Fens of Norfolk, hence my absence. I had a great time! Eight of us, plus a giant dog, stayed in my Dad's caravan and enjoyed the bracing sea air. Contrary to what the numbers may suggest, nobody was viciously murdered (at least nobody that I'm aware of - we didn't do a head count when leaving).

As the Brachyurian reference above indicates (thanks Wikipedia!) we did indeed go crab fishing. This was clearly doomed from the start when my father, bravely poking a net into the murky waters, slipped on the wet path and nearly joined our prey. Muttering darkly, he declared the river banks totally unsafe for all of us, and said the bridge over the river would offer better chances. Our breathes baited with anticipation, our lines with bacon, we stared down at the water waiting for the bountiful bonanza. After a few minutes, me and Julia tired of this, and took the dog for a walk along the coast.

We returned just as they were leaving, my father darkly muttering something about 'the wrong season'.

On Wednesday, my Script Frenzy begins - I still have no idea what to write about. I placate myself that even thinking about it before April isn't in the spirit of the thing.

My mother pointed out that Wednesday was also April Fool's Day. I am undaunted by such remarks. The script will be completed. (Just you watch - soon it'll capitalise into The Script, and then who knows what else.)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Day 114 - Turn it around before you judge

Phew! I missed day 112 because I was preparing for day 113, and I'm sure you already know what happened on day 113. Pretty crazy, huh? I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Sure, it has its ups and downs (and some of the scars are apparently permanent), but we love it all the same. Every year, just like clockwork (pun intended).

Still, life goes on. April is Script Frenzy month (see here for details). The goal is to write a 100 page script in a month, in return for which you get a certificate, a warm glow of satisfaction, and a 100 page script.

I'm doing it with one of my friends (Odd Bloke) - independently, both of us would probably lose motivation and/or get far too involved and found some kind of egocentric cult. In one of those sad quirks of geography, however, he is in Coventry, and I'm in Peterborough. We need to establish some kind of voice communication, but finding gaps in our busy schedules is proving to be pretty hard.

The biggest difficulty still lurks menacingly over the stormy horizon - what to actually write about. What to write, even. TV show? Film? Play? Comic book? Touring interpretive dance routine? Nuclear mimes? I don't know!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Day 111 - Repunits Unit(e)

A blog, as promised. Still bedtime though. My blog seems to often be meta-blogical. Now that I'm pointing this out, am I being meta-meta-blogical? And now meta-meta-meta-blogical? Are the number of prefixes only limited by my mental stamina? Let's just say I'm being meta-meta-meta-meta-meta-meta-blogical and leave it there, otherwise it just gets silly.

On Saturday, I looked after my little brother for the day, with the help of Julia. It started off by me playing Wall-E on the Wii (terrible game design, rushed out for the film), with Freddie's helpful suggestions, such as "You shouldn't have fallen off there," and some actually helpful ones, like "Don't fall off there." Then I got him dressed, and we watched the first half of Kung Fu Panda whilst eating banana sandwiches.

We had earlier mentioned driving to Central Park, but Freddie did not seem keen. Halfway through a dramatic scene, he paused the DVD, and announced that he was ready to leave. Not one to argue with the fickle interests of youth, I dramatically hurled my sandwich onto the table and we left.

Me, Julia and Freddie picked up Julia's dog, Scamp (hope you're keeping notes), on the way, and walked around the park. Several races took place, in which Freddie appeared to be the funder, rules arbiter, judge, crowd, and inevitable winner. This was helped by the fact that the finish post seemed to change mid-race, and sometimes even after the race had apparently ended. Sports today, can't keep up with them.

We had ice cream, then played a 'shooty game' at Julia's house, which Freddie much enjoyed. Needless to say, his first attempt was much better than mine. Well, they do say your hand eye co-ordination peaks at age 5. Can't argue with science.

Back home, watched the rest of Kung Fu Panda, acted out a bit in the kitchen, and Julia and Freddie attempted to make some sort of nuclear reactor (with working uranium!) out of cardboard, but this sadly proved far too difficult, so the energy crisis is still unresolved. Made spaghetti ate, Freddie went to bed. A good day.

It's my Dad's birthday today! Happy birthday Dad!

Revision continues. I shall start to blog about what I learn, so the two PAINFUL CHAINS THAT BIND MY LIFE can feed off each other in some kind of vicious symbiosis. Topics I am revising:

Logic
Set Theory
Topology and Groups
Group Theory
Galois Theory
Algebraic Number Theory
Knowledge and Reality
Frege and Russell
Philosophy of Mathematics

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Day 110 - Lined up like daisies

I am exhausted. This regular blogging isn't the fun it's supposed to be, because I leave it too late in the day - just when all I want to do is go to bed. I need to do during the day itself. OK, I shall tomorrow - during the day! I'll fill you in on what I did Friday/Saturday, and indeed today.

Happy Mother's Day, Mum!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Day 107 - Stabbing through the words

I still need to do more revision. The best intentions are continually being scuppered by distractions, that distract and tempt me. Breakfast and bathtime alone seems to expand to take up three hours, and then it's time for lunch! Hard-working guys like me can't catch a break, it seems. Tomorrow will be different, though. I'm going to sit down at my desk by 10am, breakfast or not, covered in filth though I may be.

Sadly, one small unavoidable distraction is my new Discworld wizard (Yaztromo), who I'm trying to get the addicted achievements for. Unfortunately, I can't get them until he's five days old, which means I need to rack up 120 hours of playing time as quickly as possible. That means a lot of effort over the next couple of weeks. Or, of course, I play non-stop for five days. Probably not a good idea though.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Day 106 - Representations

I'm blogging in bed! Luxury. Me, Julia, her sister and Mum and Mark went to the pub quiz this evening. We did not do well. I have, however, learnt that the Telly-Tubbies' home hill is called Home Hill, so the evening was not wasted.

My reflection in the mirror looks like a very fat man.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Day 105 - Transmitting through your head

I just watched Intolerable Cruelty, a great film, just as all Coen brothers films are. Especially Coen brothers films with George Clooney. I had lasagne/sweet potato mash/burgers for supper, followed by tea. My eyes are feeling slightly scratchy. I had lunch with my father and Julia at Sundays. It cost £15.19 for the three of us. I had the pork.

This is a log of my life. On the web. A web-log. A "blog", if you will. Enjoy.

Day 104 - Gerrofoutofit

It's 12:23 am. I meant to go to bed an hour ago. I just finished watching a video of a rabbit chasing a snake up a tree. This is the Curse of the Internet.

The desk has been working out well - I even did some revision on it this morning. I also helped make a collage this afternoon, of a dragon. Well, Julia made the dragon, and spurned my helpful suggestions of backgrounds and various props for the dragon to eat.

In a rebellious attempt to make a collage of my own, I carefully scribed some mathematical formulas onto some paper and cut them out. I am now at a loss with what to do with them. Please put your suggestions in a comment.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Day 103 - Triumphant Epistles

Only ten more days to go until Day 113. We all know what that means, don't we?

I've been slaving away for minutes getting my writing desk ready for tomorrow morning. That is when I shall start my revision, after many weeks of exhausting procrastination. The desk itself is an interesting one - an old piece of furniture, about five feet tall, with three drawers and a desk bit disguised (cunningly) as a drawer on the top.

It's made of some lovely...wood, probably oak. These things usually seem to be, I recall. This desk also has history. Apparently, during the Second World War, my great-grandfather's belongings were put into safe storage to escape the Blitz. Everything was stolen, except for this desk - I suspect it was too inconvenient to slip into one's pockets.

Well, the top of the desk is slightly too high for regular chairs, so the idea of actually using it as a desk (rather than, say, a repository of junk) never actually occurred to me. Necessity is the mother of efficiency, however, and I needed a desk area as my revision cubby hole. I call it: the RevisoHole! I may work on the name a little more.

While pondering the height question this morning, Julia pointed out that the chair I was sitting in had a variable height, solving my years old dilemma in one deft pull of a lever. These are sorts of things she excels at. The path towards RevisoHole (still thinking) was now clear! I just cleared the top from its various junk. Tomorrow morning I'll give the whole thing a good polish, then sit at it, and try to work how you're actually meant to revise.

What does 'revise' actually involve?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Day 102 - Scalp pickin'

It's a very special day. And I don't mean Pi Day (though it is that, as well). I don't even mean Albert Einstein's 130th birthday (that is, if he hadn't died).

It is mine and Julia's 5 year anniversary. Five years ago today, she trapped me in a butterfly net, and has kept the drugs at a comfortable (but not disabling!) level ever since. For more details, I refer you to my alternative blog. It hasn't been updated in a while - but why bother, when nothing has changed?

I might have forgotten something.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Day 101 - Sold at great expense

I just sent off my yearbook entry. That's the third time I've had to write a yearbook entry, and it never gets any easier. After weeks of soul searching and agonising composition, I lose all patience with the enterprise, sit down at my keyboard, and write a barrage of nonsensical words. This is at the expense of my reputation and my dignity, but at least it preserves my sanity.

Also, today is the last day of Hilary term. 60% of my possessions are packed in a neat pile in the middle of my room, and tomorrow I'm being driven back to Peterborough. After the Botanical Gardens, of course.

Day 100 - Can it be sold without tiring?

Day 100! I made it! So, what's new?

It's pretty late now - I had a good night, however. I went to the Turf with Mike and {CLASSIFIED}, and we chatted about controversial issues (vegetarianism, abortion, the allure of tobacco...you know). Headed back, via some deeelicious Ahmed's, and then met up with other people and chatted about less serious stuff in my room for a while. Aah, man, s'all good, you know? People should just be chilled out and happy with one another. That's my philosophy on life.

Also, I've been reading this website - a collection of transcripts from Princeton graduates' mathematics oral exams. Yes, I do feel stupid because I don't know the answers to these questions. Yes, I am aware how stupid that itself makes me. No, I won't change.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Day 98 - What about when you can't notice the stripes?

Farm birds can smell the fear, according to the script writers of Friends. Ross is also paranoid. It's hard to write a blog post while watching Friends.

Much more exciting things happened today. Me and Julia signed the wotsit for the flat! Marlborough Road, Oxford - our very own little nook. We'll be moving in, 6 months tomorrow. Also, hopefully getting a kitten. Julia is, as you can expect, in fits of squealing excitement, and making all kinds of lists.

Heck, I'm pretty darn excited as well. Our own flat!!!

Monday, March 09, 2009

Day 97 - Framed by a miniscule amount

Ooh, largest prime smaller than a hundred! (A fun number fact, just for Nick.)

I've returned from Peterborough, without even a scar to show for my troubles, not that Archie didn't try his best, bless his little snapping jaws. A long train journey back, with the usual odd cross section of British society and their politeness and petty mutterings.

Since I got back, I've been looking for jobs with Julia again. Where are you, my web of contacts? It seems I must pull some more strings and scratch a few more backs before the greasy wheels of the jobs market start to grind the other direction in my favour. I have been fond of my metaphors lately. As fond as someone who really loves similes.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Day 96 - The Erratic Poltergeist

Update on the Flat Situation. (Yeah, I'm using capitals. I have a Shift Button, and I'm Darn Well Going to Use It. It's My Language, and I'm Gonna Use It.) The brain trust seems agreed - we move at daybreak. Well, as soon as after daybreak as the estate agent will let us in, at least. That will, we hope, be early enough.

Aah, a message from Julia. I need to respond, and shut this infernal communication engine down. Any minute n

Day 95 - Nullstellensatz

The title of this blog post refers to the Nullstellensatz ('theorem of zeros') of David Hilbert, which I had never heard of before today, but have seen referred to in three different sources within the last 6 hours. Mathematical concepts are, as they say, like buses.

I have been distracted for the past half an hour by looking at websites advertising postdoctoral research positions in pure mathematics. I enjoy thinking about the future; especially when it becomes true - see this old blog post from 2004, for example. I understand this stuff now!

Well, I've forgotten what the Primary Decomposition Theorem says, but I'm sure I could learn it again very quickly indeed.

I'm back in Peterborough for the weekend, and just about to go to bed. I have played with Archie in the garden (his mouth apparently possesses unlimited destructive capabilities) and had shepherd's pie and rice pudding. Home things, you know. Lovely to be back. No more proper sentences. More words bad, less words good.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Day 93 - Plug it to d' left

Real, exciting news! Me and Julia went to look at a flat this afternoon - for those woefully behind on our personal lives, we're going to move in together next year. I'll be doing my Master's year in Oxford, and she'll be working in Oxford, doing the wonderful job of her dreams (preferably something with animals - anybody involved in animal/conservation stuff in the Oxford area who might be able to give an amazingly intelligent, capable, enthusiastic and beautiful girl a job, just comment and I'll get in touch. conversation animal job vacancy jobseekers oxford oxfordshire nature rspb rspca tropical - take that Google!).

We found a good place, but it is expensive (though in Oxford, where isn't?). Now comes the agonising few days when we try and achieve the delicate balance between thinking-it-over-properly-and-making-sure-it's-the-right-decision and not-losing-out-on-a-great-thing-by-waiting-too-long.

I'm going home this weekend to consult the brain squad. Updates later!

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Day 91 - Pig Slayin' Joe

Illness has struck me down. Not real illness, but there are enough vague hints of an illness for me to claim sympathy, relaxation time, and all the benefits of a serious illness without the icky side effects.

How much work should we be doing at university? How much is too much, how much is too little? The obvious answer is "enough", but this raises yet further questions. Enough for what? To pass your exams, or to ace them? To balance your social and work life, or to succeed academically no matter the cost? How much work should I putting in to resolving this question?

At least the last question is easy to answer - a lot. To this end, I will establish the Bloom Foundation of Study Studies, be the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Intern, and devote all of my time and resources to a final answer to this fundamental problem. The people need to know, and know they shall.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Day 90 - An Aquamarine Silk Vestment

Happy Day 90, everybody! That's right, since roughly the beginning of December, I have (roughly) blogged every day for the past 90 days. Except yesterday, of course - after four days with Nick, everybody needs a break from life for a while.

How does that look to you? These are the Froglets, from The Clangers. In under seven days, these happy little critters will have consumed half of the Earth's resources, in a desperate attempt to fuel their latest half-baked scheme - creating an Earth Machine, an automatic planet generator which will spit out a completely fresh, biodiverse, and lemony fresh world whenever the old one becomes a bit icky. Locked in their top hat, orbiting Earth at an implausibly slow speed, these disfigured madmen will surely be the doom of us all. Or, you know, it could work out and be pretty groovy. Why take the risk, though?

Watch out.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Day 88 - Deathiate or Niceify?

It was an evening of explosive FUN in all but name. And even the name was EXPLOSIVELY FUN. That's right, it was a party tonight, hence the EXCESSIVE CAPITALISATIOn.
The party was for {CLASSIFIED}'s 21st birthday party, even though it's not actually her birthday until Monday. We had INDIAN, and me and Nick dressed up as NINJAS, and I spilt some Diet COKE but it worked out fine.
We headed over to MARK's room, did some BHANGRA dancing, and finished (well, started, but you know what I mean) with me and Nick downing a can of whipped cream between us. This is what YOUTH is for, after all.
A great TIME was had by all, and the internet JOINS me in wishing {CLASSIFIED} a happy 21st birthday.

I miss CUPCAKE.