Ivo in Exeter

this blog has moved

2009-07-07T08:16:00.002+01:00

I am trying out blogging through iWeb on my Mac, so this blog has moved to here

Uploaded - 26\06\2009

2009-06-26T08:30:00.001+01:00

I've been thinking about growing chilies for a while so earlier this summer I bought a seed kit and in April planted some chili seeds. now they've grown into quite tall plants and there are some fruits hanging on the branches. I couldn't believe it. now we need to be courageous enough to use them in our cooking as well - and I hope they won't be too hot.

I just noticed this

2009-06-26T08:15:00.002+01:00

emailing feature on my blog account, so I might actually be able to
update the blog via email. some how to me that seems much easier than
having to sit down and actually sign into the blogger application on
the web. I am massively behind on updating my blog. I kept meaning to
put pictures up from our holiday in Cornwall in March, but now that
seems much too far away to still be talking about it. We still had a
good time there though. I am still working on my PhD even though it is
slowly driving me mad. all the little things you need to worry about
in the end and now all the big things. The bigger picture of the whole
thing, and the contribution to Psychology as a science. I am not sure
i am making much of a contribution to psychology as a science, but
more to marketing and the consumer research scene... I'll see. One of
the people at the university here keep telling me how keen he is to
give me a mock viva, and I am not even done writing yet. But i guess I
have to be thinking about it. it is one of the scariest things I think
I will do in my life, the viva, not the writing... the writing is the
most painful thing. I really sometimes wonder what got into me to sign
up for this... it can't all be about the letters in front of my name,
although Dr. Ivonne Hoeger does sound quite nice... or maybe Dr.
Ivo... I like that too... Ivonne Hoeger, PhD doesn't have the same
ring to it, but it is still not bad...

anyway, that's all I am doing at the moment, suffering through the
final stages of the PhD, and hoping it will be over soon...

PS: ok so this emailing thing only creates a draft and then I still have to go into blogger and publish it... might need to investigate more about this

2009-04-09T17:14:00.002+01:00

gosh it's really been a while since I have updated this blog. I have so much to write about really, but then often feel like I have nothing to say... I will update with pictures from Cornwall over the Easter weekend though. It will be nice not to have to do any work. And then just a few days later I will be off to Germany to see my family who I haven't seen at all this year... so stay tuned for an update in the next few days.

Christmas in Germany

2009-01-19T08:04:00.002Z

I really can't believe how long it's been since i have posted something here. I think the stress of writing up now has actually hit me and I don't have anything interesting to say anymore, even though lots has happened in the past month or so. Well actually Neil has been much better at updating things, so you can have a look there as well. But just to round things off. In December we went to Germany so Neil could finally meet my family, which I thought was very nice. We had a good time for that week he was there going to the Christmas Market in Bremen, which is one of the nicer ones near where my parents live, visiting my grandmother, wandering around the town where my parents live and then it was already time to take Neil back to the airport on the Friday. I stayed in Germany until after Christmas and I had a good time as well. Christmas day is always a big family affair at home as we meet with my mom's side of the family (so 3 of her 4 brothers and sisters with families) for a meal at lunch time in a nice restaurant and then have coffee and cake at one of their houses afterward. This year was slightly different as we went to grandma's house instead and it was also slightly more crowded than usual as one of my aunts had relatives from Canada visiting who were there as well. It was nice to have someone to speak English to, and I think they were a bit relieved to have someone there who understood English more than the rest of my family. The next day we went to see my other grandparents without all the family there. A visit there on Christmas day is always overwhelming for me; my dad has 9 brothers and sisters who all have at least one child and some of them already have children now as well. Very big family. And the next day it was already time for me to come back to Exeter.

Christmas is coming...

2008-12-03T19:00:00.004Z

As you can see we have been decorating for the holidays... and yes i know it's been forever since i have updated this blog but i have been swamped with work and then not felt like I had much to say. there will be more soon though!

2008-11-17T08:19:00.001Z

and now it is over a month later and I still haven't written an update... I will soon though! I have to get through this pile of work first and then another one probably in the form of first year essays... I guess I'll just have to make some time for blogging as well...

I'm off

2008-10-14T07:16:00.002+01:00

to Germany that is. See you when I am back next week

new students

2008-10-03T11:39:00.002+01:00

We've had a week of welcoming new students and I think it has gone ok. Tuesday masses of first year students came to the school and didn't know what they were doing. It was interesting to say the least, but I think in the end everyone figured out what is going on and what they are meant to do.

Yesterday we had the new postgrads coming in and that went ok as well. A very small group this year, so I think it will be a good year. I am less involved with them now that I am not the mentor for the economic and consumer psychology group, but I did meet them yesterday and showed them around the department.

Not much else new at the moment, i really need to get more writing done on my PhD. But at least the last meeting with my suoervisor was good, she had lots of nice things to say and even said my pilot study write up can be used in combination with another study I ran last year, so that is another chapter sorted. It is actually starting to get real now. I will at some point actually have a book with my name on. It really is a scary thought, but at the same time it is exciting...

and speaking of all that writing I have to do, now I am getting back to work!

More Rome Photos

2008-09-30T08:34:00.003+01:00

As promised here are more Rome photos...

This is just as we are sitting at dinner one evening and all the lights from the candle and also the street lamps were reflected. I thought "try something a little bit creative" and I think it has come out OK actually.

At Piazza Navona

We stumbled across this one day as we were walking around probably on that first day still actually, and then thought we must come back here for dinner one evening. This whole piazza was surrounded by restaurants and ice cream places and in the middle all those artists trying to sell their paintings.

The Trevi Fountain at night... at the bottom of the picture you can just about see people's hands as they are throwing coins into the fountain over their shoulders. Apparently you have to throw in 3 coins, the first is so you will come back to Rome, the second so an Italian will fall in love with you and the third is for charity. The clear out the coins at the bottom of the fountain every so often and actually donate the money to a charity. I only threw in one coin so I come back to Rome some day...

Here is another the view we had another evening having dinner right across the piazza from the Pantheon

After dinner we walked around the piazza for a bit, had some really yummy ice cream and then took some more photos of the outside of the Pantheon. I loved the warm light all the street lamps created.

Neil loved the Pantheon so much he needed to hug one of the columns

and then we thought that playing with the camera's shutter speed would be fun...

this would have been a nice photo had my leg not been in the way

And this is it once again for this post. I will put up the rest of the photos in another post, as they are mostly from the last day when we went on a tour on one of those hop on hop off busses. But now I need to get ready to go to uni. We have all the new first year students registering, which will be a lot of people. the new incoming class for just psychology (which includes some other degrees such as animal behaviour, and a few joint courses with Biology and Education and Sport Science) is about 250 students. But this is always a good way to get to know them a little bit on the first day and make sure they are not too scared.

Rome Photos

2008-09-22T21:07:00.005+01:00

Even though Neil has already put up a lot of Rome photos I still want to add some of mine, so here they are...

These photos were all taken on the first day we were in Rome. That was one of the two days I had free while in Rome. On this day we decided to start with the Vatican. We went to St. Peter's first. Spent a little time walking around the square in front of it and then also went inside. It was just amazing. I was surprised at the Swiss Guard uniforms. I thought of them as heavy military, but their uniforms make them look much less threatening.

Next we went to Castel St Angelo. It is just down the very long road which leads to St. Peters. It was built as a mausoleum for Hadrian and his family I think and then later was used to protect the Vatican. There is some mention in the Dan Brown Book Angels and Demons, I seem to remember it had something to do with the Illuminati, but can't quite remember all the details. I really need to read that book again, but anyway, here are a few pictures from our visit to the Castel

After the visit to the Castel we had a look at our map and thought that it doesn’t look very far to get to the Pantheon which it didn’t so we ended up visiting that as well on the first day. Here are some pictures of that as well, but as Neil already said it is so hard to capture it properly. So my pictures will just be from the outside and of the fountain in the piazza.

this was it from the first day we were in Rome, to finish this post here is a picture of the view we had from our Hotel’s roof top garden

More to come soon

Back from Rome

2008-09-09T22:09:00.002+01:00

yes sadly we had to come back from Rome. But we had a lovely time. The main reason was the annual IAREP conference for me to attend. I was quite nervous about having to give a talk, and got even more nervous when I was sitting in the actual session on the first day realising that all the other people were behavioural economists. But it went ok in the end. I was nervous for the first few 30 seconds and then actually got into it and had to rush a bit to get through the whole talk in 10 minutes. Overall it was a good conference, but the one I went to in Edinburgh 2 summers ago was a lot friendlier for someone with my research interests.
Photos to follow once I properly sorted through them.

off to Rome

2008-09-01T20:34:00.001+01:00

we are off to Rome in the morning. Well first we have to get to the airport and then we are off to Rome. I am really hoping that this conference will be a good one, that I make lots of good contacts and also that my presentation will go well. I am so scared, there is no one in my session whose name I even know, so hopefully there will be a few friendly faces in the audience. So I better get my packing all done and I will report back from the trip when we are back next week. Hope to get some good photos with the not so new anymore now camera! See you next week!

moving office

2008-08-29T13:13:00.002+01:00

I knew it was all too good to be true and I shouldn't have thought that we would just be able to stay in our little three person office until the end of the PhD. Well, really I should have known considering that we were in the official Head of School office in the department. But anyway, now we are actually being kicked out and have to move to a different office. Maybe the move will be good, new suroundings = more motivation to work? We shall see what happens. All my stuff is now packed up and stacked in 6 cardboard boxes that are waiting to be moved when the new office is free. Luckily I won't be around for that because Neil and I are off to Rome. I will be going to a conference and I am really starting to get nervous about it. I hope we find our way to the hotel from the airport and I really really really hope that we won't bump into my aunt who is also on holiday in Rome for the next week.

Fireworks

2008-08-18T15:30:00.004+01:00

We went to see the second day of the British Fireworks competition which was held in Plymouth last week. I decided to take my camera with me to see if i can get anything resembling a nice picture of some of the fireworks, and I was surprised how well they came out.

Before the fireworks started we walked along the hoe for a bit enjoying the view out to the sea and of people gathering to watch the fireworks.

and we also enjoyed the funfair for a while and somehow ended up on this...

Mamma Mia

2008-07-31T21:44:00.002+01:00

went to see Mamma Mia today with some people from uni, and I think this film was just brilliant. Mark Kermode from the 5 Live film review was right about all of it (Pierce Brosnan was horrible singing, but at least he tried I would never have the guts to sing on camera, Meryl Streep was quite good, and this film does indeed make you feel good). Well I can see how you could not like this film though if you don't like ABBA's music. I loved this so much that I now want to go see it again. Hope I can find someone to join me. I'd also love to go see the Stageshow. Maybe I can convince my mom to go see it when I am in Germany in October for a week.

Michael Clayton

2008-07-31T07:47:00.002+01:00

This week is a week of films. Tuesday the Dark Knight at the Odeon, Wednesday night Michael Clayton at home on DVD, and there are more to come. But this is about Michael Clayton. It's an ok film I think. Very confusing to start with, and actually right through to the end. Lots of things are not explained properly and you never quite understand the motivation of the characters. The music was brilliant though, and George Clooney handsome as always, and Tom Wilkinson was really good in his role as the laywer.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-30T09:05:00.002+01:00

We went and watched the new Batman movie last night with some friends, and it was very good, although not quite as good as the previous one I think. I am sure lots of people will disagree with me on that one, especially for Heath Ledger's performance, but I still think as a Batman film Batman Begins was better than the Dark Knight. This one also didn't set itself up for a next one, so it will be interesting to see what happens next. Still very enjoyable and very creepy and dark film with lots of moments to make me (and other people in the cinema) jump.

I am done!

2008-07-15T16:59:00.004+01:00

well with the paper for now anyway. It felt quite good to send it off earlier today, but I am sure that it still could have used some more work. but then again nothing ever is perfect with writing, it can always be improved somehow. But for now I am done with it, it has been sent off to the judges who will decide who will win the student paper prize (€1000 and a subscription to two academic journals, or just a subscription to an academic journal). Either would be nice, but of course the €1000 would be better, but even the runner up prize would be nice in the sense that the paper will be recognized.

Besides that not much has been going on. We had workmen in the department today to re-seal the windows so there are no more drafts in the building, so from about 11 am this morning our office was smelling so bad of this sealant that we had to relocate to another office for the day until they came to that room as well and made that just as smelly. By that point I had submitted my paper and also read a few other ones so I thought it was ok for me to go home, where I now am.

Oh an earlier I had a moment of inspiration regarding my PhD. I have found another line of research within which I can situate my work, or I might be able to use it as an answer to a number of questions I still have unanswered or only have vague answers to at the moment. I need to go back to my earlier studies and properly look at the results in very much detail and see if this applies, but it might do. I'll discuss it with my supervisor next time i see her. Wonder what she thinks, probably a rubbish idea, or someone else would have mentioned it along the way, but who knows, might be that just no one has looked into it as much as I have by now...

Also the conference is less than 7 weeks away now, very scary to think about it. The programme has been published on the website and I know when I am presenting. But it is in Rome!

2008-07-04T17:49:00.003+01:00

just finished two days of admissions work. We had a group of sixth form students from the Channel Islands visiting us, so we put on a show for them. Begged lots of the other postgrads and postdocs to do a short presentation that's fun and still teaches these students a little bit about psychology and what it would be like to study at university level. I think they all enjoyed themselves, and we are happy that it all went so well. No major problems came up and now we know that we can organise these things successfully. Now we just have to wait and see whether these students will consider Exeter (and especially Psychology at Exeter) as one of their university choices once they are done with A-levels. We all thought it was a good sign that a lot of them went and bought Exeter University hoodies while we took them on a campus tour yesterday.
Now back to normal PhD student life, which at the moment means for me to finish off this paper I have been writing on forever already, so I can submit it for the best student paper competition for a conference paper for the conference i am going to in september.
and now it is my weekend!

even more excitement

2008-06-28T09:04:00.003+01:00

yesterday was one of the most stressful days so far of my PhD career, one of my office mates had her viva in the afternoon; I had no idea how nervous I would be for her. Now this is making me worry even more about my viva which will be coming up sometime in the next year. I can't believe how stressful it was for us sitting there waiting for her to come out and tell us she passed, so I don't even want to imagine how stressful it was for her. But it was such a relief when she came out after three (!!!!) hours of examination with only very minor corrections. We all thought that a viva on a Friday afternoon wouldn't take the whole three hours, but it did, started at 2:15pm and she only come out at 5:15 but with such good news. I have to admit I am a bit jealous that she is done now... oh well, I will get there, after all she started a whole year ahead of me so I still have time to finish, plus I have until the end of September 2009. But first I need to concentrate on getting that conference paper done so it will be included in the programme for the Rome conference in September. It is so nice, people keep telling me about all the things I need to go see when I am there... I really hope I get some time to see some of the city during the conference and not just on the two extra days, but we shall see.

2008-06-23T22:47:00.002+01:00

ok this will be the last change of the template for a while I promise... this is much nicer on the eyes, especially if the eyes reading this blog are feeling a little bit tired. Anyway, as I said in a previous post, I got accepted to present a paper at a conference in Rome, and today I went through and sorted out how much money I will need from the department, and somehow they approved it all by the end of the day I had the email saying yes it's fine. Now it is getting even more exciting, it is more real... even though it is still a few months away I am really excited that I get to go to Rome all expenses paid! Anyway, I think it is time for bed now...

Excitement

2008-06-23T07:35:00.003+01:00

sorry for the constant changing of my template in the last few weeks. I just can't settle on one at the moment. But for now I like this dark one, it brings out the photos a bit better than some of the other ones.
But yes why am I excited you might wonder... well I just found out on Friday that I got accepted to speak at a conference held in Rome later in the summer. It will be nice to get away for a bit and see such an exciting place, but also I think it will be good for my professional development. Getting closer to the end of my PhD, I really need to start thinking about what comes next. At the moment I am favouring the option of becoming an academic more than anything else. The whole lifestyle that comes with it and the possibilities to be more flexible in my job just sound really good. But we shall see. I am going to apply for some post-doc positions and research jobs though, don't want to just bank on one thing and then not get it... So I wonder what this conference will be like. The last one was a bit strange because I didn't really know that many people there, and I felt a bit awkward for most of the time. Hopefully this one will be better. But it should, from what I can tell at the moment, there will be a number of people from Exeter there as well. Now I just have to see if the department will give me enough money so I can actually afford to go. But they really have to. I have not claimed for an international conference before and more other people get to go to multiple conferences in a year.
So Rome... if anyone has been before and can tell me where to go and what to see or has any other tips that would be good... Better get some breakfast now

and it is the end of another week

2008-06-13T16:35:00.002+01:00

time seems to be flying at the moment. I can't believe it is already the middle the June, wasn't it just my birthday? Oh well, must have been longer ago than I keep thinking. Anyway, I have been trying to work on this one paper for so long, and now I am finally making some progress. Earlier in the week i got about a page and a half done in one day, with all the adding and taking away things so that was quite good. Today was a good day as well, I think I have got about 2-3 pages more done, and I think I may have found my flow. All of a sudden I was getting ideas and things seemed to sound OK whereas before it was always that I would write something and then have to delete it as it was pretty much just rubbish.
I've also been thinking about what should come next. A post-doc position would be nice, so I can write up a bit more of my thesis for publication once I am finished with the examination. I came across the ESRC Post-doc thing, which is exactly what I want. Get a year employment at a university and write up the PhD thesis with publications and also attend more conferences and learn a bit more before even attempting to get a job somewhere. At the moment my publication record is nowhere near good enough to get a job at a university... so that needs work in any case. The major problem is that I really don't want to move away from Exeter at the moment. I feel quite settled where I am and I haven't really felt settled in a long time, so this is very nice. So at the moment the only plan I have for when the PhD is done is hope for the post-doc in the business school in the marketing department. Yesterday afternoon I downloaded the notes to help you fill in the application form for this job, and it is evil. Well I guess you have to put in some work if you want them to fund you for a whole year for any research trips and other expenses plus a job... but still it is a really nasty application form, and you need so many supporting documents. Nightmare, but I will have to do it...
But the main worry at the moment is who we can ask to be my external examiner once the time comes. I am already terrified about the whole experience, but nothing I can do about it. We all have to go through it sooner or later.

walk by the Quay

2008-06-09T08:14:00.003+01:00

It was such a nice evening on Saturday that we decided to go for a stroll by the river after dinner. It was a nice walk and we even got to see a swan with its signets. they were so cute! so here are a few pics from that walk

noch mehr Blumen

2008-06-06T08:25:00.003+01:00

I've put up a few more plants on our window sill. Well, we'll have to see what happens with them anyway. the white pot in the middle should grow some herbs in a couple of weeks, and the brown one should hopefully grow an orange tree.

Neue Blumen auf der Fensterbank

2008-06-01T15:25:00.003+01:00

here the new plants on the windowsill.

First a Venus Flytrap. I've been wanting one of those for a long time, I think they look a bit spooky and very cool at the same time.

Then this pink one, we have no idea what it is so if anyone does let us know. Neil just saw it and said "aww pink!" and that decided we were buying it...

And then also a spider plant which doesn't live on the window sill...

2008-06-01T09:52:00.005+01:00

Ich hab beim letzen Mal ganz vergessen zu schreiben, dass ich den neuen Sex and the City Kinofilm gesehen habe. Der war echt gut, auch wenn nicht jeder mit dem Ende zufrieden sein wird, aber egal. Mir hat er gefallen und ich glaub Dee und Ilka fanden den auch ganz gut.

Ansonsten war die Woche bis jetzt ganz gut. Hab mich mit ein paar Freunden getroffen und war an der Uni. Arbeit geht ganz gut im Moment, die 4te Studie ist jetzt endlich am Ende. Ich muss jetzt nur noch alles analysieren und dann aufschreiben was es alles zu bedeuten hat.

Gestern abend waren wir mit ein paar Freunden in Bickleigh im Fisherman's Cot, das war echt nett. Erst haben wir gedacht dass es wohl doch nichts mehr wird weil es hier in Exeter so doll geregnet hat, aber dann auf dem Weg hat es gar nicht mehr geregnet und in Bickleigh sah es so aus als hätte es gar nicht geregnet, und so haben wir noch eine ganze Weile draussen gesessen und dann auch noch eine ganze Weile drinnen. Ich glaub am Ende waren wir dann erst so gegen halb 12 wieder zu Hause. Aber es war echt ein schöner Abend.

Heute wollen wir mal zum Gärtner fahren und uns ein paar Blumen für die Fensterbank kaufen. Ich hoffe wir finden was schönes dass zu meinen Sonnenblumen passt. Denen geht's ganz gut bis jetzt und ich hoffe es wird was aus ihnen werden. Diese Pocket Garden sets sind total super.

I thought it was time for a new template once again

2008-05-30T08:52:00.003+01:00

und dann hab ich mir gedacht, dass ich doch mal wieder was auf Deutsch schreiben sollte. Da hab ich so gut mit angefangen und dann gar nichts mehr. Na ja, aber ich bin es ja auch gar nicht wirklich gewohnt so viel Deutsch zu sprechen. Obwohl jetzt mit den ganzen Deutschen bei uns an der Uni da hab ich schon ein bisschen mehr Übung, und dann will ja Dimitrios auch immer dass ich ihm Deutsch beibringe. Bis jetzt hat es ja nicht so gut geklappt, aber immer mal ein bisschen und irgendwann geht es schon. Aber mal sehen.

Oh ja, meine Sonnenblumen machen auch ganz guten Fortschritt!

und so weit gucken sie schon über den Rand vom Blumentopf.

North Devon has beautiful beaches!

2008-05-25T21:39:00.014+01:00

yes it does! I had been telling Neil that i would like to go to a proper beach, meaning a beach without pebbles and with miles of sand. So since Neil had Saturday off work and the weather was supposed to be nice enough we decided to drive up to north Devon for the day yesterday. We went to Woolacombe and had a lovely day. Here are some photos of the day:

this is just an overview of the beach with the town in the background. I couldn't believe the length of the beach... It was so nice to be able to walk barefoot in the sand and stick my feet in the water.

here another view of the beach to the other side, it went on for miles... We enjoyed a very nice walk into this direction, not really taking notice of the very strong wind and how much it would blow in our faces on the way back.
As usual at any beach we have been to so far, Neil had to built something. Here is his sand castle. As I was taking photos of it a man in a surfing outfit came by and asked why I was taking photos of the sand castle - he must have thought it wasn't very good. I thought he was being quite rude... Very unusual of an English person to just come up to someone else and tell them what they are doing is silly. Usually English people would just talk about this behind your back... or maybe I am misunderstanding the English there... anyway, we didn't really care about what he said and took a few more photos of the sand castle.

After all the fun of building the sand castle we walked up into the town to find some food. At first we were going to have something to eat at one of the vans parked on the beach selling food, but decided they were too pricey so town it was. We ate some fish and chips, which are always being served in the same box saying something like "the great British take away" on the top. After that we went and played a round of Krazy Golf, yes spelled like that! Neil beat me but that was clear from the start... it was still fun though.

After crazy golf we went back to the beach and went for a walk watching the many surfers trying their luck at finding the perfect waves. It was amazing though the amount of spray being produced by the wind.

And a seagull struggling against the wind

here is Neil about to stick his feet in the water...

and then getting wetter than he wanted

And here a very windswept Neil:

We also saw this guy whizzing past with a kite. it looked really cool, but who knows how difficult it might be...

I really had a good time at the beach... and I think so did Neil...
I love walking barefoot in the sand!

In the evening we went to see some friends to watch Eurovision which this year was a big disappointment. I still can't believe that the German entry was so bad. The No Angels are usually quite good, their performance was really not up to their normal standards. There were only a few very strange entries. I would have voted for Bosnia & Herzegovina, but in the end didn't really feel inspired enough to vote for anyone. Hope next year Eurovision will be back on proper form, otherwise I might not want to watch it again... if even Terry Wogan doesn't quite know if he wants to be involved again something is seriously wrong!

more sunflowers and things

2008-05-23T18:54:00.005+01:00

my sunflowers are making more progress

and here another one

also this week Neil was reading a clever magazine

which reminds me we still have to come up with our version of the future. The New Scientist is having a competition which ends soon. Any thoughts? You can win a year's worth of dry cleaning vouchers and other bizarre things like that. I want to win the Sony Vaio Laptop or the cool mobile - yes I know I still am a self-proclaimed geek!

in other excitement, we had a bomb attack in Exeter yesterday, well we still aren't quite sure whether it really was a bomb or not. But anyway some guy walked into a restaurant then there was some explosion of some kind and then the whole city centre area was closed for the rest of the day. Very strange to have this happen in Exeter though...

now I have just come home from a lovely dinner at Strada with some uni friends. One of them has just come back from Australia, so it was nice to get together. Plus the food there is just so good!

trying to grow sunflowers

2008-05-18T15:30:00.004+01:00

last weekend we went to the otter and butterfly sanctuary not too far from where we are and I bought a little pouch to plant sunflowers in. It is really cool so see them start growing so quickly. The pouch said they will germinate in about 2-3 weeks, but I'd only just planted them and now they are already this far!

2008-04-29T11:19:00.002+01:00

still battling with my motivation to come back to me, but so far not too much luck. At the moment I guess it is ok because I am data collecting so at least I am doing something. Data entry - very mundane but still is something I can do and then feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day. I am very determined to get this paper I am currently writing done by the end of May. It really needs to go and be submitted to a journal and then the reviewers can deal with it. It was quite interesting, I went to a workshop for PhD students last week about writing and publishing work and the guy talked about reviewers of paper as co-authors. Not sure if I agree with that, but I can see his point. In some way these people are co-authors. They contribute to other people's work in the sense that they have a distanced view of the work and maybe can be more critical about it. Still I am not so sure if I can really take everything from the workshop on board very easily. He also said that you shouldn't take it personally when reviewers say you have to revise your paper... well in a sense it does seem like a slap in the face, as if they are saying: why did you even try to submit to this journal, we are way better than you are! Hmmm, maybe I am over analysing reviewers there, and I should really be careful about what I say, I have been reviewing papers for a journal as well. Oh yes that's something else I can add to my annual progress report... invited article reviews. Sounds quite good actually... ok well all this talking about work, maybe I should actually try and do something. Need to add the data I collected yesterday into the excel spread sheet and see how many people have now participated in my study. And I need to figure out a way to maybe make a digital version of the study so I can get more participants.

2008-04-23T16:12:00.002+01:00

not much is happening at the moment. I've just finished a teaching session for pre-university students and I think they had no clue about what I was talking about, and there I was thinking that my research is not that complex. But I guess if you know nothing about what research really is then even the work I do is quite difficult to grasp. But still we had good fun talking about shopping and what they liked shopping for and what they thought men like shopping for. At least that part they understood...

A few days ago I watched "Failure to Launch". Good film with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey. Very amusing film about a woman who gets hired by parents to get their 30+ year old sons to move out, and as these films go she falls for him and then there are all sorts of complications before the end. Enjoyed the funny moments and the sense of humour. Last night we watched "Elizabethtown", and it was very good. All I knew about the film beforehand was that it involved some sort of death, and a roadtrip. And that's what it pretty much was, but it was also so much more and it was still really good, apart from Orlando Bloom's inability to act... sorry but it had to be said. Kirsten Dunst was in it too, and she was much better, and the music was really good. Must get that soundtrack!

I've been getting ready to collect some more data, and now I need to find loads of people who can sort some cards into groups for me. I really hope this study will work and it will add to my work so far. I have been going through a low phase yet again, these really seem to come and go on an alomst regular basis now. I have days where I think I really want to just quit and get a job folding jeans in Gap, but at the same time I know that I don't really want to quit and that I want to finish this PhD, even if it is the end of me! Grrrr, stupid motivation, COME BACK!!!

Been fiddling with my camera a bit more, but still have no idea what the different manual modes do. I understand the basics, shutter speed is how long the lens stays open, aperture has to do with how wide the lens is open, but ISO still is a bit of a mystery. And friend told me something about depth of field which has something to do with how blurry the background of a photo is. And now I need to figure out how to use all these things in combination to take cool and arty photos... We'll see. Still it is nice to have the amount of pixels, it really does make a difference. so much more detail there in the pictures.

Guess since I am not really done anything productive here at the office any more, I could just as well go home... so that's what I'll do!

Back home

2008-04-11T15:54:00.003+01:00

I had a great little holiday in Germany, as always. This time we've mostly seen family, but that was mostly the purpose for the trip was my cousin's confirmation, and as one of the god-mothers I had to be there. I arrived there in the evening on the 26th and then the next few days were quickly absorbed by family meetings and confirmation celebrations. It was just like usual family celebrations with loads of food and chatting. I really enjoy those times at home lately, not that I didn't enjoy them before. The rest of the time my mom and I spent mostly just visiting family members and going shopping and going out to eat. I think my mom really enjoys that as well, my dad is always away so he never really wants to go out to eat. We also went to the cinema and watched Keinohrhasen which was really good. I sometimes wish more German movies got exported over here, but usually it is only the critically acclaimed ones and the very very strange or ones about the war that get over here. Oh well, there is still time. And this way I always have a reason to go back.

The time at home really went by much too quickly, and on the 8th of April I was back in Exeter. Flight, bus and train journey were fine and I arrived almost on time at the Station in Exeter where Neil came and collected me.

The next day we went to Budleigh Salterton and Ladram Bay to enjoy some sunshine and over the next few days I tried to get back into working mode, which hasn't been very sucessful. I am still working on it now, but I am sure it is because students aren't back yet either so I am thinking why should I work if none of them are...

Monday I finally got to get my birthday present from my parents. A really really nice new camera. I am completely overwhelmed with it, but it takes really nice photos. It is a Nikon D60 SLR camera. I really have a lot to learn now. I have been buying slightly geeky camera magazines to learn more about how to use these cameras, but so far I am not so sure. Maybe I just have to experiment a bit...

Tuesday we went to see Shine a Light at the cinema which was really good, just not quite what we expected it to be. From the advertising I thought it was much more of a documentary than a concert film. But it was still really good.

Yesterday we went to Darts Farm to buy some nice food and to have fish and chips for lunch and then went for a walk in Topsham after that. It was fun, we went into this Bird Hide thing which was full of Bird Geeks as Neil called them to have a look at some birds, and then walked along the estuary back to the Quay and had a drink at the pub there. We took some photos along the way, but I'll have to add them later I am writing this from my office computer... I know still not back into work mode!

Tonight we are meeting some friends at Wagamama - there are 2 for 1 vouchers again. So that's something nice to look forward to!

A lovely easter weekend!

2008-03-25T08:50:00.005Z

and it all started with my 30th birthday on Good Friday. I had known that my 30th birthday would be on a Friday for years, but only sometime last year I found out that it would be on Good Friday. At first I was quite annoyed about it, but after all it was a lovely day. Friday Morning I woke up not too early and even had a present to unwrap there and quite a few cards had arrived early as well. The package from my mom still hasn't arrived now as I am typing this on Tuesday. Anyway, I spoke to my mom on the phone and then my grandma rang as well. As I was speaking on the phone to various people Neil put balloons all over the living room, which made it look very nice and birthday like (and not just because the balloons had happy birthday and happy 30th written on them!) In the afternoon a few people came over for cake which I baked myself. It was nice to have people there and even better that they liked all the cake. In the evening we met up with even more friends for a lovely dinner at Harry's Grillbar. It is an excellent choice if you are in the mood for steak and grilled things. We had a great time, and didn't even find it too expensive for what it was. And the restaurant is a lovely building too.

Saturday Neil had to go to work in the morning, and then drove a friend out to an antique shop to pick up something so I just lazed about in the morning and then met a friend for coffee in the afternoon. It was a nice day as well. If you can't tell by now I like being lazy...

Easter Sunday again we didn't do very much got up late and lazed about for a while and then met a friend in the pub just across the road from us. Very nice thing to do in the afternoon.

Yesterday Neil went for a run in the morning while I watched Numb3rs and then I met another friend for coffee in town. And in the afternoon and evening we watched the last 4 episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Very good show, I can't believe it was canceled after just one season. But who knows, maybe there will be more episodes coming...

Today I need to pack my things for the trip to Germany. I leave tomorrow for just under 2 weeks. It's my god daughter's confirmation, and since we are on break at uni I said I would be able to make it. And just in general it will be nice to see my family for a little bit. My parents had been planning to come over for my birthday, but with my dad's crazy work schedule it just didn't work out.

PS: And being 30 doesn't feel at all different...

getting up early to go to the gym...

2008-03-17T07:20:00.002Z

... just isn't always easy. This morning it almost felt like torture to make myself get up. Still am up and nearly ready to leave the house now, but thought a tiny bit of procrastination is ok so I can put something on the blog. We had a very nice weekend. Friday night just stayed home, even though I had an invitation to birthday drinks. Didn't really feel like going, mostly because it was too late (9:15 pm start - that's nearly my bed time!!!) so we just watched a few episodes of Studio 60 and then went to bed early. Saturday I met some friends for coffee and lunch and then spent the afternoon lazing around the house not doing a lot but waiting to go out for dinner that evening. Dinner was really nice, we went to a place near Exeter for a lovely meal with Neil's mum and dad for both our birthdays (early for me, but late for Neil). and yesterday morning was spent again lazing around the house - that's what Sundays are for! - and then met a friend in town for coffee, then went for a drink at Mill on Exe and then had friends over in the evening to play bowling on the Wii. And now I can't believe that it is Monday morning already and time for the gym...

2008-03-12T13:16:00.002Z

finally we are getting to the end of the open day period, these days are quite draining and I never get anything else done. There are always little things to sort of throughout the day, but today it looks like I am getting a bit more time. Students and parents seem to be enjoying their visit to Exeter, and for the most part the students do show a lot of interest. I never quite know how to deal with students who clearly are being dragged here by their parents, and I just want to say that it's not worth it sending your child to uni if they clearlt have no interest. Give them a gap year to have a think, makes life for us who have to teach and tutor them easier. But it's not up to me to say this at these days. Anyway, let's see what this afternoon brings, aparently it is going to be very manic with loads of people coming to find out about our various degree programmes.

2008-03-10T07:19:00.002Z

sometimes I still wonder what I've got myself into when I am up at this hour of the day to get ready to go to the gym. Didn't sleep particularly well last night with all the wind out there, but now I still feel awake enough to go swimming.

We had a nice and quite weekend, apart from Friday night when we had a birthday party for Neil's 30th birthday. It was fun to have people over, and most of them had a go on the brand new Wii we got as a combined birthday present to ourselves. Saturday was spent being lazy and going for food in the evening at City Gate, very nice food for pub food and good prices. Yesterday Neil watched three films, all for free. One at the Picturehouse in the morning, one at home in the afternoon, and then another one in the evening. I just wanted a bit of dreadful telly and some DVD in the morning, had coffee in the afternoon, and then played on the Wii in the evening.

and now it is already time again to get going... Hope the gym isn't too busy today...

another update

2008-03-06T21:25:00.003Z

while Neil is having a go on the Wii (and making sure I can never beat him at the bowling), I am quickly going to update my blog. Been quite busy over the past few weeks. We've been having Post offer open days in the university, and on top of the central programme run by the Admissions office each department/school has also been playing host to lots of students and their parents. It has been quite fun so far, but these days are quite challenging. Organising over 100 people is not the easiest thing to do, but at least we seem to have a lot of interest in the new programmes being offered here. It is also interesting to see pupils of varying backgrounds and with varying reasons to come to Exeter in the first place. Besides that I have been seeing my students to talk about their exam results (which they never like that much) and been trying to write a paper for publication (which I am not liking very much at the moment). The problem with the paper is the flow, the information is all there, but somehow it just isn't quite what it should be.

Hmmm, besides that I don't have that much to say, Neil pretty much said it all already in his blog, so just have a look there

2008-02-21T09:08:00.003Z

still not feeling that much better, but at least I didn't have the same nasty stomach cramps all night, so I did actually sleep quite well for a change. Normally when I am ill because I sleep all day I can't really sleep in the night, but last night was OK. So what can I write... since yesterday not much has happened, I spent most of the day in bed, not eating, and then by evening my stomach was complaining because it was upset and because I was hungry at the same time. Very strange feeling, but eating didn't help that much, and having breakfast just now, wasn't the best idea either I am starting to think with the way I am feeling now. Still hot one minute and then cold, but maybe I need a shower and then a walk. See if Boots have some medicine that will help get rid of this sooner.
I am very annoyed about being ill now anyway. I was supposed to take a friend to dinner last night as a late birthday present, and today Neil's sister is visiting so we are invited to dinner at his parents'. I was really looking forward to that, but the way I am feeling at the moment, I am not sure I will be going. But we'll see how I feel after a shower and a little walk... since the weather is so nice (but a little freezing) out at the moment.

I'm rubbish

2008-02-20T09:20:00.003Z

I've been rubbish at updating this blog for the past month or so, but today I am feeling rubbish so I thought I should at least be less rubbish about the blog and update this. Neil has been doing a really good job and keeping his blog up to date, so whatever we've been up to should be there. I really should be in uni today helping out with an open day thing, but I just can't get myself out of bed. I hate feeling like this, even the headache keeps persisting, and then I feel hot and then cold again...
I just took this quiz about what time of day I am, and i think it got it completely wrong.

I can never be 6:49 in the morning, I am way too grumpy that early in the morning...

anyway, Neil has been ill the last few days, and I am not sure if I caught it off him, or just somewhere at uni... who knows. these things seem to be flying around at the moment.

long overdue

2008-01-21T18:02:00.000Z

I know this post is long long overdue, but I just didn't feel like I had much to say that was interesting enough to put on the blog... well I guess I could have put down that I have joined the gym, and have been very good at going every other day in the week. So far only swimming but it feels good to be doing something, and I really enjoy swimming anyway. I always think I should go swimming more, but then don't get around to it. So this time when my office mate said she had been thinking about joining the gym, we looked around for one that has a pool and then I said we can join together. The joint membership was a good deal too.

this past weekend we went to Wales for a party. One of Neil's friend's had booked a singer - what a great idea. I hadn't heard of Brian Houston before this weekend, but it was really good. He was really funny and the music was great as well. And he signed the CD we bought as well, which makes it even better. It was also great to meet some more of Neil's friends from Greenbelt whom he talks about a lot.

Besides that we had Brotzeit one evening with friends, have been to the pub lots to eat or just to meet friends, and have watched lots of the Eddie Izzard DVDs Neil gave me for Christmas. It is really great, he is so funny!

I completely forgot to put up the pictures of my mom's christmas decorations at home...

2008-01-04T08:45:00.000Z

update...

2007-12-28T15:26:00.000Z

I got back last night after a pretty stressful day of traveling. At least it was all delayed by enough time that I still managed to catch the train from Reading I was booked on so I didn't have to buy a top up to my ticket so I could travel during peak time. It was nice to get back though, Neil collected me from the station and then cooked dinner pretty much instantly after we got home. Then we watched some things on video that he had taped while I was away, Have I got news for you was funny as always, and Omid Djalilli still makes us laugh.

this morning Neil got up early for work, and once i got up and unpacked I did a few loads of washing to get it done and then I met Neil in town during his lunch break. Lousy day out there, but I still wandered around town for a while. I can't believe how busy it is now, almost worse than it has been before Christmas!

My time at home was very nice. I went to my 10 year high school reunion which was a very bizarre night. Very surreal to see people again after over 10 years, and to see that some people hadn't changed at all. Still same haircut and fashion sense... And it was fun to see people's faces when I they heard my answer to the obligatory "and what are you doing now?" question. Seemed like hardly anyone thought I would be the one to go on and get my PhD... but who cares really. At first I didn't even want to go to the reunion, but my mom and also a friend of mine kept saying I should go even just for a little bit, because I would regret not having gone later. And it was nice to see some friendly faces, but it becomes more and more difficult to talk to people. Our lives are just so completely different that we just don't have that much to say to each other.

I also met with a few school friends for dinner one evening and with them it is very much the same. The three of them are very much settled where they are and they don't really understand much about what I do, and vice versa. so it is hard to have good flowing conversation, but I have learned that it is always a safe bet to ask one of them about their new babies and they can talk about that forever.

Christmas was nice and quite really, with one very few annoyances caused by my dad, as usual. He doesn't particularly like Christmas, or maybe it is just the fact that we get together with the whole family, but my mom and I really enjoy that part of Christmas. So anyway, Christmas eve we spent at home. I watched The Muppet's Christmas Carol and my mom cooked a delicious duck roast dinner. Then we exchanged presents and watched more christmassy stuff on the telly. Christmas day we went for a meal at lunch time with my mom's side of the family at a really nice restaurant. Very nice food again and then went to my aunt and uncle's house for coffee and cake in the afternoon. Then out of the blue my dad decided that he wanted to go to his parent's house which my mom wasn't quite as happy about as she pretended to be. We had hardly finished cake at my aunt and uncle's and then left. At my grandparent's house it is always busy, nearly all 9 of my dad's brothers and sisters were there with children, and now even some of my cousins have started having babies, so loads of people, and some of the small ones can be very very moody, which is not always fun to watch and listen to. Boxing Day one of my dad's brothers came over in the afternoon, otherwise the day was pretty nice and quiet and I had to get packed for my trip back.

pre christmas cheers

2007-12-17T09:43:00.000Z

since I got to Germany it has been pretty much just eating different christmassy things. I arrived Thursday night about an hour later than I was supposed to as the plane left late, but all else was ok. Friday my mom and I went to Hamburg for the day to just window shop and also to have steak. We always go to the same restaurant, and they can cook steak like no where else. It is so nice... After the day of shopping we dropped by my grandma's in the evening for an hour and then we came home to be lazy. Saturday we went to my grandma's house again for advent tea, coffee and cake in the afternoon. My mom's oldest sister and her youngest brother with family were there as well, so there was lots of cake... one of which was this one

it is my favourite christmas time cake, mostly because my grandma always makes it at this time of year, which is odd because it is even better with fresh strawberries, these ones are frozen ones... anyway... after we finished coffee and cake we got dressed up warm and went to a christmas market a few towns away. It was so nice to see a proper German Christmas market instead of the tiny one in Exeter... but it is still nice enough in Exeter. But the evening was spent there wandering around drinking Glühwein and Heißen Apfelpunsch.

oh yes one thing I do miss from Germany at Christmas time is what we call "Naschteller" something like munchie plate in English would be the closest... when I was younger my mom would make one for each of us here, now it is usually just one for all three of us. But this was the one at my grandma's house...

Yesterday my mom and I stayed in for most of the day, watched The Holiday on DVD and then later went out to have pizza at our favourite pizza place (I think you can see a theme there...)

Today we want to go to another Christmas Market, the one in Bremen as it is very big and very nice. I will try and take some photos... but can't promise anything. We went last year as well and really enjoyed it. Not sure how long that will take. But speaking of it, I better get in the shower and dressed now so we can head off.

More soon...

Teignmouth Beach

2007-12-15T10:57:00.001Z

CIMG1346, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

I took this photo earlier this week on Teignmouth beach. Neil had the day off and we thought we should drive to the beach, and so we did. The drive was through very pretty countryside. We wandered through the town for a bit and along the beach and then we hit the archade on the pier and played on the 2p machines for a while. Somehow they are quite addictive. We didn't win much, and what we did win we put straight back into the machines. Very much fun though.

typical sunday really

2007-11-25T16:11:00.000Z

I slept in quite nicely today after being woken up at 5:30 am with a blinding headache, and then went to meet some friends at Starbucks for a cuppa. It is always nice to get out of the house for a little bit, and I think the fresh air did me good as well. After coffee I went by the Apple store for a bit and it was much nicer today than yesterday. It wasn't as packed as yesterday when they just opened, and I had a play with the new iPod touch and the iPod classic as well as with Leopard. I am now thinking about upgrading, it seems worthwhile just for Time machine alone... but anyway. After the visit there I walked home, and was greeted by a very strange sight; Neil sitting on the sofa with my DS! It is the scrabble game that had him convinced. But then again he is really good at it, and can actually beat most of the opponents in one try, when I still need a few more gos. But it is still fun, I prefer the mini games - they really help with building vocabulary. Not much else going on today really, we are having roast later and then then just vegging on the couch I assume... maybe pub quizzing later, but no word yet.

finally

2007-11-23T17:31:00.001Z

I am free... I finished all the marking I have to do this year... I still can't quite believe that I am done. It was quite a nightmare, but I am just thinking about it in terms of how much I will get paid at the end of December because I have all this marking done now. All the things I can do with that money, but I really should be careful and just be good and pay off my credit card rather than going crazy and spending it all on nice things.

Anyway, I was in town this afternoon and saw that the Ice Rink near the Castle is opening up and it is combined with a little Germany style christmas market - all it is really there are a few stalls with things to buy and then the obligatory Bratwurst stand. I only walked by briefly, and it looked authentic, but I need to find out if they are real and good Thüringer Bratwürste. Might see over the weekend if I fancy one!

Also apparently the Apple Retail Store in Exeter is opening up tomorrow morning, but at the moment it doesn't look like it is anywhere near ready. Still all boarded up on the outside and no shiny windows to display any cool things yet. But who knows, they are probably making everyone work like crazy so it is all perfect for tomorrow morning. I will go but not first thing in the morning, having a lie in is more important to me...

Monday morning...

2007-11-19T08:07:00.000Z

gosh how in the world do weekends just disappear so quickly and we are back on another week... well this week isn't just another week, it is also another week of marking :( It's just not fun at all, I guess it would help if the module convenor would set a different assignment, but they are just the same every year... and for this particular one it has been the same for the last 4 or 5 years... very sad, but oh well. This year apparently the students are supposed to be better quality (A-level wise) but must have got stuck with the bad batch (the other markers have a higher average than me and I am not being too harsh we checked!) so I am hoping things will pick up with the ones I mark today. It isn't that it is the most difficult thing they have to do, I had to write more difficult papers in my first year and I did it all in a different language and there aren't that many students whose first language isn't English... anyway, enough ranting (sorry it is Monday morning) and better get to my lovely cup of tea that's waiting for me (Mmmmmhhhhh Roiboos Strawberry and Cream flavour yum!)

Once

2007-11-13T18:09:00.000Z

went to see "Once" at the Picturehouse yesterday and it was brilliant. Well not very much happens in th film really, but it just really made you feel happy inside. The story is very simple. A busker on the streets of Dublin (?) meets a Big Issue seller and they record a few of his songs together and both are happy in the end with choices they made. Doesn't sound like much, but trust me the music more than makes up for lack of anything happening. Plus the girl dragging a vacuum cleaner through the streets as if it were a dog is just really funny!!!

this afternoon I got a pile of first year practical reports to mark by the 27th of this month, which will be nice for the money I am getting in December, but not so good for my sanity. First years are just a bit inaccurate in the way the report findings. should be interesting. and then of course I have all my own work as well, a paper that needs to be written, and a load of data to be analysed from two studies now. Still typing in data for one of them, but the other one can soon be written up... so I really should get to that, so that I can actually properly enjoy my christmas holiday.

oh speaking of collecting data... if you know of any men who have 3 minutes to spare and don't object to contributing to science, here is a link to my current study.

I have more than enough women, but it would help if I could get a few more men to fill it in, as the numbers are too unequal at the moment. so thanks to anyone who can help.

2007-11-12T08:08:00.001Z

another weekend has come and gone way too quickly for my liking, but there you go. Not much that can really be done about it. It was a nice weekend though. Friday night we went for a drink with a uni friend who had finally submitted the final version of his PhD after a long time of trying to please the external examiner. then we came home and just vegged out on the couches and watched some tv.

Saturday I wasn't feeling too great, so I stayed in most of the day and in the evening again we met another friend for a drink at Mill on the Exe and then I came home and watched Ocean's 11 from the very nice big couch in our living room, while Neil went to play some snooker.

And then yesterday morning annoyingly started with my parents ringing with computer problems, so they kept me on the phone for a while and Neil was thinking we were having an argument. the main problem was them putting me on loud speaker on their end and then walking away from the phone so i couldn't hear a word of what they were saying and my dad just changing random settings on the computer and then not telling me about what he had done. That made me all flustered, but thankfully friends had invited us over for Sunday lunch and to see their new house. It was really nice to finally see the house, they moved in August, and now it is November... way too long. Anyway, we had a nice afternoon with them eating a lovely lunch, and then playing on their Wii for a while, then I saw I had a text from a friend who was desperately looking for a dinner buddy to use up a 2 for 1 Wagamama voucher. So I ended up going with her which was really nice, I had one of the ramen soups, and it was just the right thing. Not overly filling, but just really nice and tasty. I have been craving soups with this colder weather... not much else to report, we watched Top Gear and then A Long Way Down and played on the computers for a while, and then went to bed....

And now it is Monday morning already and I can't get myself out of bed... well I will be staying at uni late to though, so I can warrant going in a bit later. Hope the film tonight will be good. We are going to see "Once".

2007-11-08T10:12:00.001Z

I'm really not feeling very good at the moment. It seems that my body can't quite decide whether it wants to be ill or not, so I am constantly in this weird stage of where I think I can get a good day's work done and then end up sitting in the office feeling all sluggish and lazy and can't get anything done. I wish it would just develop into something properly so I can just stay in bed for a few days and get better... but this way I just can't justify staying in bed. So I am just waiting now for the washing machine to finish the cycle and then I am off to uni to have yet another unsuccessful day. At least one thing to look forward too, Neil is back tonight :) YAY!

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

2007-11-06T07:55:00.000Z

went to see the above film last night, and it was quite good... just a bit in the middle was a bit annoying and seemed to be superfluous to the rest of the plot (what a big word so early in the morning), but the fact that Clive Owen was in it made it all worth wile to watch. Cate Blanchett was brilliant again as Queen Elizabeth, but I thought the first film was better than this. But then again it was a long time since I have seen it. I seem to remember to have gone to see it to get some extra credit for a class in my very first year in college (1998 or 1999), don't know anymore though how that film related to the class I took.

weekend catch up...

2007-11-04T17:57:00.000Z

First I should say that the Ann Summer's Party wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We played a few slightly embarrassing games, but the lady who ran it was nice to the few of us who hadn't been to one of those parties before. I did feel slightly bad about not having any money to buy anything, but I also didn't quite see the point in spending so much money when I don't have the money... so maybe next time I just won't go...

The rest of the weekend has been nice. Yesterday afternoon I met some friends for starbucks coffee and then met Neil at the Continental Market to have an overpriced German Thüringer Bratwurst (something I much rather spend my money on twice a year) and then wandered home to watch Fireworks from the flat... some were really really nice, and there are more today!

Neil cooked a roast dinner/lunch today and we had friends over which was lovely and very relaxed.

2007-11-02T19:36:00.000Z

I am off to an Ann Summers Party tonight - not quite sure what to expect... Hope it won't be too embarrassing :-/

2007-10-31T10:01:00.000Z

working from home this morning as I had to write a reference for one of my students. It still makes me feel a bit strange to suddenly be on the other side with all these things. It never really occurred to me when I was just teaching seminars, but now that I am marking and especially with having to write references it has dawned on me that I am actually getting to the other side. it is a very slow and unnoticeable transition, and it just hits you at some point and you wonder how it happened.

also just printed out the info I need to apply for permanent residency in the UK, from a first look at it it seems that I have to have been living in the UK for 5 years minimum anyway to be able to apply, so it will be a few more years until it will even be relevant. But these things are good to know. And it also means that I have a while until I will need to retake my driving test to get a ful UK license. For the moment I apparently can drive on my German one, so I think when i get paid a good amount I will put some money aside so I can take some driving lessons over here. sitting on the other side in the car, and more importantly relearning to drive a stick. That terrifies me a bit, not as much as roundabouts do though. they seem easy to get on, but very difficult to get off at the right exit, so I just see myself being stuck on a roundabout having to go round and round until no cars are left but me. A bit sad, but true... I have never really enjoyed driving anyway, but that's mostly because of other drivers' impatience more than anything else.

ok I think I should really get to uni now. I need to prepare the materials for the study I am running tomorrow. I really hope it will go well and the students will be a bit more responsive this time. I taught some of the same group in a seminar on Monday and most of them just didn't say a thing. Even when I picked on them they wouldn't... very strange. You'd think that the best of the best would be a bit more engaged in the material since they are here to learn, and they even want to be here... or maybe that is just my naive thinking. For me it is hard to believe that someone doesn't want to be at university. I had a few students last year who came to me asking for advice about dropping out, and it really was hard for me to imagine why anyone would want to leave once they got into such a good programme. but then again it's not for everyone, and I am sure they made the right decisions.

ok enough rambling now really... I need to get stuff done today!

Digital Fortress

2007-10-30T21:33:00.000Z

started reading this book and so far it is really good. Just as well written as the other ones i have read (Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons) and just as addictive. I started Digital Fortress the other night and ended up reading for about two hours even though I meant to go to bed early.

Lovefilm sent me Disc 1 of Scrubs Series 5 so I am looking forward to watching some new episodes, well not really new ones, but ones I haven't seen. Anyway, so much tv stuff to catch up on. I am still behind on NUMB3RS, but slowly getting caught up. House I am waiting for Series 3 to be released on DVD, and I really need to get my hands on CSI series 6 and 7. I am getting paid a nice amount at the end of next month, so that should be enough for a few treats.

Also been looking at these shoes. they might also be a treat sometime soon! although it would be nice if they existed in a different colour not just black. But oh well...

we watched Oz and James' big Wine Adventure earlier, funny as always!

2007-10-27T22:28:00.000+01:00

having a fairly lazy weekend so far, not much to report on in the last few days really. I cooked my all time ever favourite meal tonight, my mom's maccaroni casserole and it turned out quite good. I had seen one of the vital ingredients - Fleischwurst - in Sainburys a while ago so I got it and asked my mom to send another one of the vital ingredients that I have not been able to find over here, and when that finally arrived this morning I just had to cook the casserole for dinner tonight. We both enjoyed it, and then decided to have some pudding at the pub. It is great living so close to such a nice pub...

Last weekend we went to see Russell Howard the comedian. He was brilliant, very quick with improvising on things the audience was shouting - not that we were shouting that much. But he was great, made me laugh so much my stomach actually hurt. Would definitely recommend him to anyone who is in the mood for a good evening of comedy.

Tomorrow will be another lazy weekend day, I love those days. Neil can beat me a few more times at scrabulous on facebook - I am so rubbish at it it isn't even funny... and I might read a bit of Freud, or maybe a bit of the Dan Brown book I bought at the Oxfam shop the other day. My mom said it is one of the best ones, Digital Fortress I think it is called. Will report later. There are so many books on my bookshelf I should read really... but then I go to the library and take out random books I come across. A few weeks ago I borrowed "Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher" by Walter Moers. He is this comic writer from Germany who got into writing novels, and they are just completely bizzare and strange, but at the same time so funny. If you come across it get out "the 13 and 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear", it is a great read! So much interesting stuff to read, when I really should re-read that article for the seminar I am teaching on Monday afternoon, but then I am thinking I can just read the article Monday morning and read something fun while I am at home... when actually the article for the seminar is not completely uninteresting... about face perception in infants, and about the fact that babies under 6 months old can distinguish between two different monkey faces, while children older than 6 month and adults have completely lost that ability. I am still not quite sure why researchers really care about this, but science is fascinating that way... so many questions to be answered and even more to be asked yet...

Hmmm, on that thought I think it is time to get ready for bed!

it can be done after all

2007-10-20T20:14:00.000+01:00

yes I finally did it! I solved the rubik's cube :)

am I really that much of a geek?

2007-10-18T17:43:00.000+01:00

every since Neil put the games out on the bookshelf in the living room i have become somewhat obsessed with the rubix cube of his. And then Neil mentioned seeing something about someone solving one in about 30 seconds I was even more determined. So I went onto YouTube and found a little video about how to do it, but for some reason I am only getting there about 2/3 of the way. Something keeps going wrong in the last few steps, and I can't figure out what it is I am doing wrong. I do realise this makes me sound like a complete geek, but I have always been a bit of a geek anyway so I don't really care... I just want to solve that rubix cube now... at the moment I am once again 2/3 done and only need to solve the last layer

edited a bit later:
I think this one can't be done... I am following the steps exactly and it just messes the whole thing up. This is impossible, I have no idea what I am doing wrong and I am determined to get this done... it has to be done!!!!!

maybe it is time for bed...

2007-10-14T11:46:00.000+01:00

I'm enjoying a lazy sunday today. Neil left early in the morning to go to Thruxton for the Touring Car championships and now I am considering what to do for the day. I was going to meet up with a friend in the afternoon but she has been struck down by freshers flu, so she needs some rest. I might still wander up to town and have some starbucks tea or something anyway... will decide in a bit. I need to get something to eat anyway and need to buy something for Neil to have when he comes home later.

Fishing boats or sailing boats

2007-10-13T22:04:00.001+01:00

DSC02126, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

ok one more Cornwall photo. Neil's dad took this very nice photo while we were down there recently, I think it was in Mevagissy (or as Neil and I liked calling it Megavissy)

finally back online

2007-10-13T21:58:00.000+01:00

Talktalk have finally finally managed to send us the broadband modem we've been waiting for for the past couple of weeks. It has been strange not having internet. Neil kept saying how much he enjoyed not having the internet for a while and then got a bit annoyed about not having it for little things. I have been been feeling a bit like I was cup off from the world without it at home. Not being able to update my facebook was the most annoying, even though I was on it almost everyday at uni anyway. It is just different having internet at home and at the office... anyway, now we are back online and I should be updating this more frequently. Sorry for all the abandonment over the past few months... but then again not that much happened besides the moving in with Neil.

Neil and I in front of giant rhubarb

2007-10-05T12:13:00.001+01:00

Neil and I in front of giant rhubarb, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

well it isn't really rhubarb, but it looked a lot like it

oh yes we went camping...

2007-09-28T11:26:00.001+01:00

101_4678.JPG, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

while we were in Cornwall. Thankfully only for a night as I was very uncomfortable and didn't sleep very well... but maybe with a better airbed and slightly warmer night time temperatures it might be fun.

Cornwall Photo

2007-09-27T16:51:00.001+01:00

101_4732.JPG, originally uploaded by ivo_loves_london.

one of the photos we took while we were in Cornwall...

this post is long overdue

2007-09-20T13:05:00.000+01:00

sorry about the delay in blogging updates, but things have been a bit hectic since I have come back from Germany. But first things first. I have had a wonderfully long and relaxing time in Germany mostly spent with my mom not doing a lot. We drove to the north sea coast for a few days to a place called Cuxhaven and enjoyed the last few bits of sunshine and the beach and walking in the "watt" as we call it in German, not sure what it would be called in English. After that little holiday my stay in Germany was almost over and it was back to England for me. It was exciting to come back as I moved all my things into the new flat and now have been living in the new flat with Neil since the 30th of August. So far it is all going well and I love the amount of space we have. A fairly big kitchen/living room, two bed rooms (one of which will be the study/guestroom) and a nice size bathroom with an actual bath tub in it. The location is excellent as well, right by the river and very near one very nice pub.
Last weekend we went to Cornwall from Thursday to Monday to attend a wedding. They couldn't have been luckier with the weather that day. The weather was ok all weekend, but on occasion it did drizzle and rain a bit, but not Saturday. From morning until evening it was the most beautiful and probably the last very nice day like this for this summer. The venue was overlooking the sea so the wedding photos will be really nice I am sure. But since we stayed for a couple days longer we also had a chance to see a bit more of the south coast of Cornwall which was really nice for me as I had never been to Cornwall before. So beautiful. Unfortuately I forgot my camera at home so we had to make due with Neil's camera, still very good photos, just not as many as I propably would have taken ;) They and also photos from my trip to Germany will be up here once our internet has been connected. Should happen in the next few weeks, the go live date we were given at sign up was the 29th of September and I really hope that it will happen by then. Also there are some photos from Germany on my Flickr Photo page
This weekend is another wedding to go to and tonight are Stag and Hen evenings for the bride and groom. Should be fun as the girls are going to the Old Firehouse here in Exeter another very nice pub. Once this wedding is done that will be it for this year and weddings... I will have been to 4 of them... somehow people have become wedding crazy...

ok that will need to do for an update for now... there will be more once the braodband is connected

2007-08-18T14:23:00.001+01:00

just about to leave for a friend's wedding. should be fun but also will last quite long. The church thing is at 4pm and then reception starts at 5:30pm and could last until after midnight. Hope some nice people are there and my friend didn't seat me with all the lonely people who are there on their own...

2007-08-14T21:46:00.000+01:00

finally finished Harry Potter :-) Very good book!

just slightly more geek

2007-08-13T08:33:00.001+01:00

Your Geek Profile:

Academic Geekiness: Moderate
Geekiness in Love: Moderate
Gamer Geekiness: Low
General Geekiness: Low
Internet Geekiness: Low
SciFi Geekiness: Low
Fashion Geekiness: None
Movie Geekiness: None
Music Geekiness: None

How Geeky Are You?

to Denmark and back in a day

2007-08-12T20:08:00.000+01:00

This morning after we finished breakfast my mom and dad decided that since the weather was looking so nice we would drive up to the coast somewhere. Then my mom said let's go to the Baltic Sea coast to which my dad replied why not go to Denmark? And so we did. Loaded up the car with all our things and then took off. It took us about 2.5 hours to get across the boarder and then we found a nice little beach not far away. We spent about 3 and a half hours there and now just got home after stopping for food on the way home. A nice day, but rather too much time spent in the car. But at least that gave me time to get some more Harry Potter read. I am very near the end now, such a good book but very dark and disturbing things have happened... hope it will have a happy-ish end!

Germany so far

2007-08-10T07:57:00.000+01:00

is not bad... the first day the weather wasn't too great, but yesterday was thoroughly nice, we sat out on the balcony until about 10 pm. Then little bugs were attacking so we decided to come inside. We went to see my grandma in the afternoon with was nice. I have tried to find a new pair of glasses over here, but just can't find anything that I like... might have another think about trying contact lenses. I will need to see if I can wear the all day and all night ones, which would be nice. That way I don't have to put them in and take them out on a daily basis, and I won't have the initial cost of about £200 at once which I would have with glasses. I'll just have to have another look here and if I really don't find anything then have a look in Specsavers when I am back. Not much planned for today. My mom just went to the airport to collect my dad, he is coming back from Ethiopia and we have no idea what work has planned for him this next week. So we might go with him if he has to go somewhere where it is nice enough. Then next weekend is my uncle's birthday and the next day the wedding. After that we might go to the baltic sea coast here in Germany like we did last summer. We had a good time and it is nice up there when the weather is good enough.

also just so you know... I have just rung the estate agents again and they said that now everything is actually in order for Neil to start the moving in on Monday!!!! I thought it was all fine when my friend said he got an email from them that they received his forms, but I just wanted to make sure. And now it is sure! YAY :o)

Holiday

2007-08-08T11:03:00.000+01:00

I have arrived safely in Germany and am enjoying being home. Especially since we got a new wireless router, and it is great I can be anywhere in the house and be on the internet without wires! Not sure what the plans are at the moment, but I will enjoy it. This morning I have already fixed my mom's computer problems she had been complaining about for a while and set up the wireless internet connection. Now I need to figure out some things for another piece of software my mom has new and then I should be all set for the work my mom said I need to do while I am here.

Weather is not too great at the moment, but at least it is dry... and not too humid. We are still thinking of going away for a few days, but not sure when we will do that. My dad might be coming home as well in a few days, so we might wait until after he has gone away again for yet more work.

Housing stuff should now be all sorted - I hope so anyway!!! My friend in Australia got back to me and he sent all the forms they wanted back by fax and they confirmed that they received it all. So it really should all be in order...

lots of stuff to do today

2007-08-06T07:25:00.000+01:00

well maybe not that much, but it feels like a lot. The first thing after getting ready for the day is going to the lettings agency so I can sign my part of the contract. That is also the most important thing I have to do today. Once that is done I can come home and finish my packing for Germany and then need to pack a few bits Neil wants to take so he can be set up in the new flat when he moves. Then I need to book a seat on the train for tomorrow morning and since I can check-in for the plane online I will take advantage of that. I have never been able to do that before, so that should be exciting! But first things first.... I need to make a cup of tea :) while I am listening to the new Radio station that has replaced Classic Gold... now just called GOLD... so far I am not liking it very much :(

edited after lunch:

more complications with Fulfords now... as I said I went in this morning and signed my contract, and then the woman said ok now we will contact your guarantor so he can sign the contract for you as well... which is when I freaked out as my friend who is my guarantor is now in Australia on a research visit for 6 weeks. I can't believe she didn't tell us about this... every time I go in they say a little bit and then next time say that we need something else. At least she said they can send him the contract via email and he can fax it back. Now I just need to get a hold of him and see if he can use a fax machine to send it back before the end of this week. Gosh I just can't believe this! So once again keep your fingers crossed that this will all be sorted out as soon as possible!

better get back to packing now!

the end of classic gold as we know it

2007-08-03T08:38:00.000+01:00

I am a bit sad to say that my favourite wake up to radio station will cease to exist as it has been later today. I had no idea this was happening until this morning when I switched it on and Tony Blackburn said that this was their very last show today... I suppose now that I have admitted to this people will think about me a bit differently... ah well I don't really care. I am doing a PhD I must be a bit insane :P. That said I better get into gear and start my day now.

news

2007-08-01T11:11:00.000+01:00

today finally finally I got a message from the estate agency and all the references are now in order and we can now arrange for the contracts to be signed! This is such a relief. I have been so stressed out over all of this, because I was worried I would be the reason Neil will be homeless :( But now it has all been sorted out, and I can go and sign the paperwork before I leave for my summer holiday in Germany, and then Neil will take care of the rest once the move in date comes around. Less than 2 weeks now, so it is all approaching very fast! I am very excited now and finally won't need to be stressed anymore :o)

Stonehenge again

2007-07-31T13:44:00.000+01:00

just found this photo and thought it was quite good... Stonehenge in the distance

Stonehenge

2007-07-28T08:16:00.000+01:00

Neil is doing such a good job blogging about London, that I should really do a bit as well. But since he has pretty much covered the whole trip now pretty much, all that is left for me to add really are some photos of Stonehenge. I was quite excited that we would go past it so I could see it... so here it is...

through a fence, but nonetheless impressive. Neil had warned me when we were getting closer to it, and he was still the first one to spot it. Oh well... I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed when I saw it, and at first thought it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but now a bit later I do think it is very cool. To think that a group of people put it there such a long time ago...

the funny thing with Harry Potter...

2007-07-25T08:03:00.000+01:00

is that in all the waiting time between the books you almost forget how addictive the reading actually is. I started about 9pm last night and thought I would read for an hour and then listen to the comedy on the radio on BBC7 at 10, and by the time I looked up from the book I was at the end of chapter 6 or 7 and it was 11:25 and most of the comedy was over. Ah well... at least I finally started it and will be done soon, so I can have normal conversations with my friends again rather than telling them "don't tell me anything about what happens... I want to find out myself!"

ok new day more dealing with housing things... was hoping to get it all settled by the end of this week, but totally forgot about the wedding on Friday that starts at 2 in the afternoon... but I can still hope it all will be sorted by the end of this week!

my so called life

2007-07-24T20:52:00.000+01:00

is such a genius show... I have just finished the last DVD in the series and just can't believe it is over. They could have developed it into so much more than it was, and it ended with no explanation of anything really. They just left the viewers hanging... still very good and Jordan Catalano is just so cute!!!

Well, I said I would blog about London, but Neil is doing a much better job than I would, so have a look here for a description of our trip.

housing matters are still not sorted out, but hopefully will by the end of this week. potentially found someone who is willing to help out, but will see if the agency will say that they actually can help. So keep your fingers crossed. And in the process also found out that the advice unit at our university is actually not able to give any constructive advice at all. When I told them about my problem their solution was to just not deal with that estate agent... very helpful!

Anyway... I don't want to get into it again have been ranting at most of my friends (and supervisors actually!) about it and I'd just like to relax, so I am going to bed early tonight to read the Harry Potter book so I can finally know what happens at the end!

back from London...

2007-07-22T21:16:00.000+01:00

we had a great time in London, but it was all very exhausting. I completely forgot about the different pace up there, but it was so nice to be back as well. I am feeling quite tired now, so I think I will write a proper blog tomorrow once I have imported all my photos to the computer as well.

London here we come!

2007-07-17T16:05:00.000+01:00

I am quite excited about our little trip to London. We've planned this quite some time ago and it always felt like it was ages away, but now it is tomorrow that we are off. should be fun with the various things we have planned... a taping of the Now Show, a concert in the BBC Proms series, meeting up with some of Neil's friends, meeting up with one of my friends, going to various cinemas, and maybe even a chance to buy the brand new Harry Potter book.

Also this afternoon I dropped off the guarantor paper work with the estate agent so keep your fingers crossed that we will hear back from them soon with an official move in date! I am now starting to be really excited about moving house... it did seem like a bit of a nightmare for a bit, but now seems to be sorted. More when we are back on Sunday!

new survey

2007-07-15T13:23:00.000+01:00

If you would like to participate in my new survey and would like to be entered into the draw to win a £20 Amazon.co.uk voucher please click here . There is no limit on who can participate. Thank you!

is this really me?

2007-07-11T18:11:00.000+01:00

You Are From the Sun

Of all your friends, you're the shining star.
You're dramatic - loving attention and the spotlight.
You're a totally entertainer and the life of the party.
Watch out! The Sun can be stubborn, demanding, and flirty.
Overall, you're a great leader and great friend. The very best!

What Planet Are You From?

getting caught up

2007-07-09T07:43:00.000+01:00

just getting up and thought it must be time to write a bit on my blog after neglecting it for a while... Monday morning, but actually at the moment Monday mornings don't feel quite as bad as they do during term time.

Had a good week, nothing much really happened. I had the first official meeting with my new PhD supervisor Carole. I had been a bit worried about how things would change, but she is happy with how things are going at the moment. We have mapped out the next three studies I am going to do for my thesis, and we will need to start working on getting things written up.

Last night we went to some friends' house for dinner, and it was really nice. The evening ended with watching a bit of Wallace and Gromit, which is always good.

new supervisor

2007-07-04T21:26:00.000+01:00

tomorrow I will have the first official meeting with my new supervisor. I am both excited about it, and at the same time a bit worried. The last two times we have met with her my old supervisor was there as well so she may have been a bit cautious with saying what she really thought about my research. Recently I had sent her some things to look at and her comment was "we can discuss this when we meet next week", so I am wondering how much that will be. Major changes to what I thought I was doing? Hopefully only minor changes...

I have been slightly lazy the past few days, well weeks actually. I always managed to do bit of work here and there, but nothing major. I am still waiting to hear if I got accepted to go to that conference in Memphis in October, and if I am I will have to prepare a poster about one of my previous studies and then also finish writing that paper I submitted sometime in March. I can't ever understand why these things take so long to get through. By the time I get to anything I won't even remember what I have written in the paper. Oh well I guess I will manage fine, I did fine at my first conference so should be good now. If this one doesn't work out there is always next year and maybe even the year after that... we shall see.

Oh something else. I have finally finally discovered all the great things You Tube has to offer. I always knew it was there, but never really knew what it had to offer. So I have been browsing around there much of this evening and yesterday. Found Friends bloopers which really made me laugh, saw Hugh Laurie long before people even thought of him as Gregory House, and also found some Eddie Izzard comedy. The latter is great too...

not much going on

2007-06-27T07:25:00.000+01:00

There hasn't been much to blog about recently... the weather has been appalling over the past few days - well actually over the past few weeks - but it is finally brightening up a tiny bit. If it just goes like that bit by bit it will be nice in August when I am in Germany :) Speaking of Germany today is Siebenschläfer (Seven Sleepers Day I think I would be over here if it existed) and the thing is that people will watch the weather very closely today, because whatever the weather will be like today it will be like this for the next 7!!!! weeks. I have no idea where this comes from, or how true this actually is, but I remember summers where it has been raining an awful lot and my mom said that it had rained on Siebenschläfer.

I had my last official meeting with my current supervisor, which was a bit weird. I thought it would be something like "ok now we have worked together for this long so we should keep in touch..." but all it was in the end was looking at my current study and he handed me a copy of a PhD thesis submitted over 10 years ago so I can have a look at it and see what I am up against. Then he said we should write a paper together so I can have at least a publication in my PhD and that was pretty much it. Ah well, it was nice anyway, he said he will be around next academic year so I should stop by his office wherever that might be. From next Thursday onwards the new supervisor is officially taking over, should be good.

I also met a friend at Wagamama's the other night, which was good as always. I had my usual, although I am thinking that I should really become a bit more adventurous and try out different things. Maybe next time...

Rain

2007-06-25T09:06:00.000+01:00

I really don't like all this rainy weather we have been having. Looking out it just doesn't make me want to go up to uni, but some of my students want to come and get their essays so I really have to be there. Ah well... at least I have Wagamama tonight to look forward to :) Better get a move on then

2007-06-23T23:20:00.000+01:00

had a lovely evening with friends in Georges meeting house and now just got home and discovered that Garrison Keillor's radio show (might be familiar if you have seen A Prairie Home Companion at the movies) is on one of the digital stations I listen to. So I have put that on now while I am getting ready for bed. Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

not much going on

2007-06-22T14:42:00.000+01:00

not much has been happening this week so far, just been to uni and tried to work and met Neil for a drink and for the most part tried to dodge the rain sometimes more successful than other times. The weather has been dreadful really, but hopefully it will pick up over the weekend! Trying to get a study up and running and that's pretty much it. Last night I watched a few episodes of House on DVD and it is just really good. Hugh Laurie is the best they could have got to play Dr. House, incredible how well he can fake the American accent...

Open Day

2007-06-19T19:04:00.000+01:00

I helped out with open day today and it was the same as every time I have done this before. We got some very eager people asking some very sensible questions, and then some really ditsy ones asking some really silly questions. But we are just polite and try to answer every questions as best and as politically correct as we can. I mean seriously, I had one person come up to me asking how Psychology at degree level is different from A level psychology. What are you supposed to say that something like that. And we didn't just get that question once... Still most of them I would welcome to be my personal tutees, while others I think i would just plain reject... But I am home now and I can relax :)

back already

2007-06-15T20:23:00.000+01:00

this was really a very short trip. I can't believe I am already back in Exeter. I had a great time at home though. We did all we wanted on this trip. Starlight Express was a lot of fun too. We found out that it is the musical that has been playing the longest in one place in the world. It has been in Bochum in Germany for the past 19 years... Although I have been wondering how long Phantom of the Opera has been playing in London at Her Majesty's Theatre. Anyway, the show was excellent, I couldn't believe how good they were at dancing and singing on roller skates. Also part of the show were a few stunt skaters on inline skates; they were really cool with their high jumps and other things they did. After the show we drove home and then it was just another evening at home and then back to Exeter.
The journey back was ok, but delayed slightly by various things... plane didn't leave on time and then some Heathrow Express train had broken down on the train tracks and blocked anything coming out of London so my train from Reading was delayed as well. But I still got back before 7 pm, but felt very tired.
And then yesterday was the party to celebrate Neil's mum's retirement and birthday. It was a whole day of meeting lots of people, but I seemed to have done well :) I always think nothing can be as intimidating as meeting my huge family...

just a quick post

2007-06-12T16:12:00.000+01:00

I've made it to Germany fine and now sitting here in the very hot and humid office writing this quick post. Just got home after a full day of stuff. This morning we went to Hamburg and met my aunt to have breakfast at an all you can eat place near the Alster (a river in Hamburg). It was really lovely weather so we sat outside and enjoyed the view from there over the river. Then we wandered around a bit and then my mom and I came back home. Then I got my hair cut and now I am getting ready to meet with some old school friends for dinner. Tomorrow we are off to Bochum for the musical so might not get a chance to post before I come back again Thursday. Hope you are all well!

going home

2007-06-10T20:03:00.000+01:00

I'll be off to Germany tomorrow and I am really excited. Finally it is time for my mom and I to go see Starlight Express. I really hope that it will be as good as I think it is. There has been so much build up... been wanting to see this ever since I was 15 or 16 or something around then. Still I get a trip to Germany and I get to see my mom for a few days. Lots planned as well for the few days I am there. I fly out tomorrow night from Heathrow and then will be home by about 11pm German time. Tuesday we are meeting my aunt for brunch, the might pop by my grandma's on the way home and then I am getting a haircut before I am meeting some friends from school. Wednesday we drive down to Bochum to see the musical in the evening, stay the night there and drive back Thursday and Friday I fly back to England again. Just a flying visit, but still at least i get to go at all.

Ocean's Thirteen

2007-06-09T19:38:00.000+01:00

was quite good, although not as good as the first one. I still think Ocean's Eleven was the best out of the three but I still like them all. This one was just as predictable as the second one, but if you enjoyed the other two this is still worth going to watch. And a plus point is that Eddie Izzard is in it as well, amongst all the other hotties. I prefer George Clooney over Brad Pitt always have really... anyway, the film was good and I had a lovely afternoon with a friend. Now waiting for Neil to come by after watching the Formula 1 Qualifying.

being tagged...

2007-06-09T11:35:00.000+01:00

my friend Sarah has tagged me on the "8 things about you" thingie but she didn't stop there and more things even more complicated by saying "8 things with the number 8 in them"... Right now I can't think of any thing that has an 8 in it besides this:

8 is twice the number of academic degrees I already have ;)
8 is the number of years that I have not lived in Germany in all of my life, although soon that will be 9.

so that is it for now... if I think of something else I'll add it on later...

off to see a friend who had a knee operation last week Friday and then I am meeting another friend to go see Ocean's 13!

Saturday

2007-06-09T08:04:00.000+01:00

I almost can't believe how early I am awake today, but it must mean that I am feeling much better, and I think I am :) Not much planned for the day really... just doing a little bit of cleaning in my flat as I hate coming home to an unclean place after a holiday, and then I might pop by a friend's house on my way into town this afternoon. Going to see Ocean's 13 this afternoon. I hope it is as good as the other ones. I know it isn't a masterpiece of a story, but still enjoyable enough plus this one is much shorter than Pirates 3. Still not sure I really want to sit in a cinema for nearly 3 hours to see that one. Mark Kermode's review was not very positive. Actually I will have to listen to the one he did for Ocean's 13... although that might not be very positive either. Ok better make a cup of tea now and start my day.

hand over

2007-06-08T18:41:00.000+01:00

I had a meeting with both my old and my new supervisor today and it went really well. Carole - the new supervisor - has a lot of really good ideas and she seems very enthusiastic about my project. I am so happy about it all and that finally things are sorted out. Makes me feel so much more at ease and that I can actually do it. I also got the official notice that I will be allowed to register as PhD rather than MPhil. this means the department or well those three people that were in my upgrade meeting at least think that I can actually do this. Anyway I feel better about my PhD again... and I want to get it done now!

PhD

2007-06-07T14:01:00.000+01:00

I have just found out that I will be allowed to register as PhD student for next academic year... finally. I have been waiting to hear this for the past three months! I am so relieved. Now I will be able to enjoy my break at home much more. Although it is just a short break. Hopefully later in the summer I will be able to go home for a bit longer, even though it doesn't really look like that at the moment. Anyway, I am really happy about the upgrade having gone well and also the supervisor issue is sorted out! Will be meeting with both of them (old and new) tomorrow to see how we can move things forward and make it so I can finish as soon as possible! :)