The Blog - The Archive

   To the Redback I just met in the shower...

Fuck you and your entire species. I hope you go extinct.

Labels: naked-Cat, spider

   Battlestar Rant...

Man, I have so many problems with the BSG "finding the map to earth in the stars" scene it's not funny. I'm willing to let the "seeing every constellation on the elliptic at one time" thing slide, because it would be a crap map without a 360 view around the planet and whatever. Although that does make Starbuck's "we're standing on Earth" line complete bullocks.

I'm almost tempted to let the "referring to the Lagoon Nebula as M8" thing slide. Because hell, it is the correct Messier catalog number for it, and maybe people started out on Earth, before they moved to Kobol, and our extremely esoteric catalogue of "~100 things that are not comets" could have stuck around the scientific literature or something.

But seriously guys. Couldn't you even get the constellation right? M8 is in Sagittarius, and all of the Messier objects in Scorpius are a completely different class of objects. Two minutes on wikipedia could have saved your arses a whole lot of embarrassment.

Labels: BSG, Cylon-Cat, finding the way to Earth

   A pocket full of seashells...

Today was a glorious day.
The sort of day where some part of your brain kicks in and says "you remember how it rained for months and months and they think it will be raining again next week? why are you sitting here making yourself miserable?" and you stop, and you think about it for a moment, and you can't come up with a reason to sit there any longer so you say "fuck it, I'm going to the beach!"

And you do!
I put myself on a series of buses, and took myself to the beach I was most familiar with the public transport options to -- Manly! Which is such a nice place, and right from the moment I stepped off the bus I could smell the salt water. Oddly enough, it made my stomach grumble (it had been a long time on the buses) so I wandered through some shops and eventually found myself some nice seaside lunch!
And the usual crowd showed up to try and share:
But it was okay because I was too greedy and wouldn't share (and there were enough people feeding them chips that I didn't actually feel bad about not sharing my very yummy sushi (which was quite cheap too - $5.70 for all that)). And who could pay the seagulls any attention with a view like this:
After I'd slowed down the rumbling of my tummy, it was time to actually enjoy the beach that I'd traveled so far to see. I took my shoes off and headed off down the sand.
and found myself a nice sandy (and shady, since I'd forgotten my hat) spot to sit down on, where I could just listen to the waves coming in.
I tried to take a self portrait to prove I was there, but I was replaced by aliens at the last moment.

I sat there for a long time, running my toes through the sand, writing and doodling and just trying to remember the last time I did something creative and how it used to feel when I was more than just someone who spent all day working on a boring PhD. It was really nice, and I wasn't just feeling sorry for myself, there was some real soul searching going on there. No conclusions, but at least I'm looking now.
As the shadows got longer all of the chronic sunbathers went home (or maybe to their nearest solarium, I have no idea. These people had leather instead of skin), leaving the beach even more peaceful than before.

I was feeling better about the whole no-longer-a-creative-person thing, so I packed up my notes, tried to get most of the sand off me, rolled up my pants and headed for the water at last.

The water was so nice and warm! If I'd had a swimsuit (or maybe even just less impractical underwear) I would have gone for a proper swim, because the temperature was just perfect! (The lack of waves higher than my knees was but a small disappointment.) I love the Pacific Ocean, particularly the East Australian Current which keeps our beaches nice and warm even in the colder months. It brings warm feelings to my heart and makes me want to go back tomorrow.

But it was not to last, as I had promised my mother I'd be home in time for dinner (first time all week, I think I'll have to work on that). So I took one more photo of me (in the hopes of not looking like a goth this time) and started heading back.
I may have stopped by the New Zealand Natural shop on the way back for the customary "I went to Manly and all I got was this lousy Ice Cream"...

...but there's absolutely no evidence to say that I did. :)

As the sun was starting to set I made my way to the wharf and put myself on a ferry back to the city. Because nothing says "Sydney Harbour is a deathtrap!" like riding on the Sydney ferries.
I got to watch the sun go down...
All in all, a most satisfying day away from the university. I almost feel up to going in and actually working on my PhD on monday. Pity my iMac's being delivered. *grins*

There are a few more photos up on my flickr set, since I figured I'd spammed you all enough for one post. I'm sure I'll be back to my regular moping in no time.

Labels: autumn, beach, manly, seagulls, swimsuit edition

   Screw my unhappy brain...

My shiny new iMac should be arriving on monday. I think I'll take a day off to celebrate.

Gah, I'll need to think of a name for it...

Labels: iCatherine, retail therapy

   Fuckity...

Figured out the reason I wasn't buying a new computer is because I don't feel that I have earned a new computer or any other shiny things. IT'S NOT MY FAULT I HAVEN'T FIGURED THIS SHIT OUT YET, IT'S HARD DAMNIT!!!

Labels: computer camp, iCatherine

   SC's PhD FAQ of Love and Justice...

Q: Why does it take 4 years to write one computer program?
A: Because it's hard.
(I get this one a lot more often than I would like. I could waffle on about ODEs and why they make your life difficult but the simple truth of the matter is I'm not done yet because this stuff is fucking hard.)

Q: You can just buy it with your scholarship, right?
A: No, I don't have a scholarship. It's why we can't find my desk under all the marking I have to do.
Q: But if you don't have a scholarship, how can you afford to live in Sydney?
A: I'm one of those pathetic adults who still lives with their parents because they can't afford to live in Sydney. At least I'm not in the basement.
Q: But, seriously, how do you pay your bills?
A: I'm hasty and a crybaby, but to tell the truth I'm one of the highest paid call girls in Sydney. No, really, stop asking about money, dad.
(This was an actual conversation with my father, but enough variations on it have occurred that it goes in the FAQ.)

Q: So what, exactly, is it that you do all day?
A: I sit in front of a computer, twiddling boundary conditions and running my code over and over again. Sometimes I write to my thesis while I wait for it to run, sometimes I write angry blog posts.
Q: But any monkey could do that!
A: And we're all glad they chose this one, aren't we?

Q: Should *I* do a PhD?
A: No. Seriously, no.

Any other questions?

Labels: faq, phd, rant, stupid people

   If my handwriting is any indication...

...I'm ready for my PhD now.

Labels: a godawful mess, handwriting, phd

   Damn, blast and a muddy bucket of pitch...

Neil Gaiman did a panel with Isobelle Carmody in Melbourne, and I can't even get into his Sydney reading because I quite stupidly thought "maybe it was someone else's turn" and didn't book until it was too late and all booked out. It's just not bloody fair. My favourite hermit and my favourite author-about-town chatting about what inspires them, and I didn't even know it was on until it was over.

I so would have blown off work for a few days if I'd known. *sighs*

Anyway, have maths papers to mark. Bye blog.

Labels: books, isobelle carmody, Neil is our god