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A new episode of Doctor Who aired today called The Doctor’s Wife, and I’ve been excited to see it ever since I found out Neil Gaiman was to write it. In a spoiler-free quick review of it, I’d say it was everything I’d expected from Gaiman and more. Intense plot twists and surprises, strange characters, and dark undertones are all big parts of his writing style, and they were all there. I highly recommend it.

For those of you who don’t know, my interest in Doctor Who started a year or two ago, when a friend from UBC introduced …

Today I bought two books for Kindle that I’ll take with me on my trip to AZ. I bought Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, like I said a few days ago, but I decided on something else instead of The Wise Man’s Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss.

I’ve been reading The Wand in the Word, a collection of interviews of 13 fantasy authors (Brian Jacques, Garth Nix, Madeline L’Engle, Tamora Pierce, etc). I don’t think this book was actually mentioned at all, but in the middle of reading the interview of Garth Nix I was reminded that I hadn’t …

Another exam done today, which ended up being much easier than I expected. And I expected it to be easy. I was tired afterward though, since it was an early morning exam, and I didn’t want to do all the errands I had–doctor’s, bank, chemist (pharmacy in non-UK English), groceries. Then, though, I was happily surprised: all the people I encountered were kind, energetic, easy to talk to. Including the doctor, which was a relief. Nothing’s worse than a doctor you’re not comfortable talking to. Got everything done, and am now home. A good day overall. There are even thunderstorms …

All I can really think about is how tired I am of exams.

I’ve done five out of nine now. I had one this morning at 9:30am that lasted for two hours (most of them are one and a half) and I’ve got another one again, tomorrow at 9:30am. At least it’s not two hours. I wish I could console myself by saying the hardest ones are over, but it’s not true. All three of the exams I have next week are tough, and there’s one in particular I want to make sure to do well in. Two of them …

Given this surge of inspiration I have to write, I think it’s time for me to challenge myself. Last September I wrote a blog a day for a month, and it seemed to go well. It’s true that I had all the new stuff about Scotland to write about to keep things interesting, but I know I can do it again. I haven’t written daily since then, and honestly since last summer when I kept a journal. It’d be a good exercise for me.

Not only that, but I feel like my blog is failing a little with how few …

As of now I’ve completed four out of the nine exams I must take this spring. The other five are to be done over the next two weeks. I’m constantly between two minds. After a bit of studying (or more than a bit, depending on the subject) I start out feeling like I’ve done enough and I give up trying to soak up any more information on that topic. As soon as the exam draws near, the rest of my friends from class start worrying and telling everyone they’re worried, and that shakes my confidence, and I waste days going …

So it’s been far too long, yet again, but what else can you do during a month of studying? Other things tend to seem less important.

A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went to Rothesay (Ross-ey or Roth-say, depending on where you’re from in Scotland), on the Isle of Bute. It was the most amazing trip, for it being only two days and one night. The first day we arrived and checked into our B&B, which was empty except for us. This means that they gave us their best room, which had a double bed plus two …

So much has happened in the world in the past few months I can hardly comprehend it. Massive protests in the middle east, a devastating earthquake in New Zealand, and massive devastation in Japan from earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear crises. I don’t go out of my way to read or watch news generally, but lately I’ve been following more news sites on Twitter and am regularly visiting BBC News and Al Jazeera for their more major stories. I wouldn’t have even known about Al Jazeera if it weren’t for their coverage of the Egypt protests, and my friend telling me …

Ah, I feel ashamed It’s been almost a month since I last posted. I’ve been doing one a week since September, when I did almost 20 in one month. It’s true that I’m in a new relationship, which tends to make time disappear… but it’s also true that it’s crunch time with my courses, and I still have a couple weeks of this craziness left. Then a month of break, which will mostly be spent studying for my 9 exams that are worth quite a substantial amount of my grade. Oh, joy.

After that though, I think I’ll get back …

I suppose missing last week’s post is proof that life is quite busy for me these days. The courses I’m taking this term (which I realize I haven’t listed yet) are:

• Databases (DB), mainly using SQL and learning how to combine it with other languages like C and Java
• Distributed Information Management (DIM), or how to make complex web apps, like Twitter and Facebook
• Networked Systems (NS), the nitty-gritty details on how computers talk to each other
• Operating Systems (OS), more nitty-gritty details, instead about how computers work from a very low level
• Professional Software Development (PSD), how to plan

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