"If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others."

Listening to: 'Last Request' by Paolo Nutini [These Streets]

OK the title isn't completely random: my mother gave me this calendar-esque "365 Motivational Quotes" thing and under September 28th, that's what it says. I thought it's quite fitting because at the end of the day, the objective of this PhD is to contribute to research, and possibly end up teaching. More on that later.

So yeah, I'm all unpacked. In the end it took a week, but oh well. Most of it was done by Sunday, and then I just took it easy. Now my room looks like...well, my room. Yes, MY room. And that's what counts. I still have to give some more clothes to Oxfam and put the posters up, but there's plenty of purple and Tatty teddy figures for it to be trademark PseudoRandom. It's helped get rid of the homesickness, which is another important point. And I still have too many clothes, but at least they now fit in my wardrobe!

I'm trying to think of the other things that have occupied my time for the past week and I'm only able to come up with Radio 1! I have to say though, there's a lot of nice new music on the radio. Muse, Lostprophets, My Chemical Romance, and many other bands have come out with some good singles. Even the new (dare I say) Pussycat Dolls single is quite decent!

Bang Bang's coming to stay tomorrow, which will be lovely. And then I start 'work' on Monday. My first assignment is to read a related PhD thesis - I can't help but think that I might not understand a word of it! I've also signed up to give supervisions to undergraduate students...poor them! Something tells me this transition from undergraduate to postgraduate is a more sudden version of the transition from adolescence (when you think you know everything) to adulthood (where you realise that you don't know anything). Interesting times lie ahead.

Oh and Paolo Nutini's voice is sooooooo sexy...I get goosebumps just listening to him! Too bad he isn't as yummy as he sounds.

Boxed in

Listening to: 'Twenty-Four' by Switchfoot [The Beautiful Letdown]

And so, the bitch is back. Reached Cambridge on Tuesday, and so far I've managed to do everything I wanted to -

1. found my room
2. met housemates (well, two out of the four)
3. got internet
4. moved stuff

Indeed, thanks to two angelic young men with biceps and triceps twice (or thrice) the size of my own, my room is now full of boxes that were packed by my father, back in July. At some point over the next few days, I'm going to have to un-box them and make this place liveable. There are 30 (yes, thirty) medium-sized boxes in my room, and I have a feeling that Oxfam's about to get lucky.

I've been away from home for almost 4 days now, and the homesickness is (very) slowly wearing off. I really didn't anticipate this level of homesickness. I guess moving into a new place by myself, new housemates, no Shorty (she's gone in search of bright lights and high salaries)...it's all a bit too much after spending two and a half months at home with my parents. Even though I'm technically back in my second home, I feel like I've been thrown back four years to when I was a fresher. Once again, I don't know how things work, I don't know what to expect, I don't know if I've made the right choice. The thought "what the hell am I doing here?" has crossed my mind on many occasions this week. There's an event in the MCR bar for freshers tomorrow, so hopefully I'll meet some others in the same position. I also got details of Health and Safety - oh the joy - lectures in two weeks' time (Venus, you'll probably have the same letter in your pigeon hole when you get here). Reading the letter reminded me that I'm here for more than just unpacking my stuff, which was refreshing. I can't believe I'm looking forward to Health and Safety lectures! I can't wait for things to get going. I know I'm gonna complain about having too much work later, but right now I'm thinking 'too much work' is better than 'no work at all'.

OK it's almost 9.30pm and I'm already yawning...I don't like jet lag. Maybe I should get to bed and give my body a rest. I've got a long day (of unpacking) tomorrow.

Chronicles of a lady of leisure

Listening to: 'El Negro Bembon' by Celia Cruz [-]

OK this post is mainly for Waz who seems to be devoid of reading material (see comment in previous post).

I'm supposed to go to the dentist tonight (yes, weird dentist works at night)!!! Haven't been to the dentist in so long that I can't remember how old I was when I last went. My braces came off when I was 12...assuming I had at least one check-up after that, I haven't been to the dentist in over 10 years????? Geez. I'm careful though, so there shouldn't be anything major to do.

Right...enough about my teeth. There's a huge spider in the laundry room. It gives me the creeps. It's been there for the entire week...jobless spider. Actually I kinda feel sorry for the fellow...it's probably lost. I don't think spiders like being inside laundry rooms.

I went to the cinema with my parents and saw Miami Vice. All in all I thought it was well done, even though the movie seemed kinda pointless...an extended episode of the TV series. I guess that's what a movie based on a TV series is, but I still think it's pointless. I also can't understand the logic behind casting a Chinese actress (albeit a good actress) with a very strong Chinese accent as a Cuban. D'oh.

I also saw Superman Returns at the cinema (can't remember if I've already mentioned this), which I thoroughly enjoyed. Can't wait to see K.A.N.K. tomorrow - I don't care what people say about it, I'll watch any movie with SRK in it! As you can see, the cinema has become my friend.

Angel is leaving soon. Hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch with her more frequently now that she's gonna be in the UK...the past four years have been difficult. Speaking of 'leaving', I've got 2 weeks and 3 days left...I should probably get my act together. Thankfully Cambridge is very generous, and no one's gonna have to sell their organs for money. So it's back to darling little Cam, with her miserable winters, glorious summers and way too many old buildings. I tried to quell Venus' fears about starting at one of the most prestigious universities in the world...but now I'm wondering if I should be worrying too. What if the other PhDs are really serious and geeky? What if they know stuff? What if I don't? Anyway, screw it...two more weeks of holiday: I'll be damned if I waste my time left worrying.

OK I'm getting hungry and my father's (presumably) on his way back from the police station in time for dinner and dentist appointment. Yeah, a slightly hurried trishaw driver decided to 'borrow' our side mirror on his way home. Hope the dent in the door isn't too bad.

So there you go...my 'take' on life. I'll get back to ranting about the international media's response to our security situation later.