I am currently in the midst of grading a batch of first year social science essays. What always impresses me about the essay grading process is that so many of the same mistakes and missteps are made by relatively large proportions of each class.
Not that I expect people to necessarily find or read this, but I thought that I should maybe try to compile a few tips based on some of the most common problems I have encountered while grading essays.
Anyway, here goes.
1 – Though it seems that most of the essays I grade do it, starting one’s essay with a broad, but unsupportable, claim is not a particularly good idea. The person grading your essays know that you don’t really know that ‘Everyone loves X.’ Don’t start your essay by giving the grader a reason to think that you don’t know what you’re doing.
2 – Proof read your essay before submitting it. Make sure that what you are saying is what you actually want to be saying. Nothing gives away a rush job like an incoherent essay.
3 – Make sure that you use the right word. There are all kinds of homophones out there waiting to be misused. Don’t fall for them. ‘Poll’ is not the same as ‘pole’ which is not the same as ‘Pole.’ Not only are such mistakes embarrassing in hindsight, but they also display a lack of attention to detail and are frequently a good sign that the writer doesn’t really know much about what they are writing about.
4 – You aren’t Dickens - so don’t write like him. Though they may be tempting, avoid artificially long and complex sentences. While these guys may juice your word count they also make the essay harder to read (and many times there are also issues on the execution front). Clarity is essential. If the grader can’t read the essay it doesn’t matter that you managed to squeeze in a few extra words.
5 – Make sure that your essay is the required length. If the assigned essay is to be five pages long then it should be five pages long. Though reasonable graders will usually accept some flexibility around the edges, being 20% or 30% over or under is asking for trouble. The worst part about mistakes of this nature is that they are pretty easy to avoid. Before you even submit your essay you know how long your essay is and how long it should be. Make sure that these two things match.
6 – If the assignment requires that you use a certain number of scholarly sources then use at least that number of scholarly sources. Failure to meet the basic requirements as outlined in the assignment is a great way to lose points. Oh, and while you’re at it, why not trying using a standard citation format?
7 – An unsubstantiated fact or direct quote without a source isn’t worth very much these days. It is essential that you cite the sources of your information. Not only will this help you avoid charges of plagiarism, but it will also help you strengthen your position. And if you have done the work why not demonstrate that this is the case?
8 – Avoid repetition. Graders know if you are just saying the same thing again and again. And it gets old fast.
9 – Don’t write with your thesaurus. In my experience overuse of one word is almost always better than the misuse of several words. If you would like a larger vocabulary, always a laudable goal, try hitting your dictionary in the off-season so you are ready to go come essay writing season.
10 – Don’t underestimate the intelligence of the person grading your essay. If it is a rush job they will know. If you don’t know what you are talking about they will know. And there’s a good chance they will be able to tell if you have claimed a professional’s writing as your own.
Bonus Tip – And maybe this is the most important one, start early and do the work. It will show.
Showing posts with label School Assignments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School Assignments. Show all posts
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Thursday, May 06, 2010
I'm Famous or Changes in Condom Testing Technology
A few nights ago while speaking to a friend, though I can't now remember why, I mentioned that while in Junior High and High School I had created a condom testing machine as part of my annual science fair requirement. Much to my surprise, this friend, who also happens to be from St. John's (though always attended different schools), had heard about my science fair project and was even able to recall a few details (though they had not seen the machine in action). Apparently, my science fair project was talked about somewhat regularly by a relatively large portion of the students my age in St. John's. It seems a little strange to learn 13 years after the fact that your work was having something of an impact in a broader community (though aside from inducing giggles and shock I am not really sure what impact I really had).
The machine that I created, which I called the Fex Machine, was based on the premise that Simulated Usage Condom Testing (SUCT) was worth considering (at the time may condoms were tested through an inflation test even though condoms are not typically called upon to hold several liters of air during use). Not surprisingly, the components of the machine were relatively straightforward. A condom was placed on the Fenis (fake penis) and then repeatedly inserted into the Fagina (fake vagina). At its top speed the Fex Machine could perform 112 insertions/thrusts/strokes per minute. If my memory serves correctly, I could get about 6000-8000 insertions before most condoms would break.
After a few years of somewhat passionate involvement with the subject methods used in condom testing started to fade from my consciousness. Of course this reminder of my former glory reignited some of my former passions and encouraged me to try to check up on the state of the field.
One of most interesting things I learned in this very brief foray back into the realm of condom testing is that something similar to my Fex Machine has now been used in the condom testing realm, though to determine the cause of ruptures rather than to determine their likely rate of success.
Though I don't have a photo of the Fex Machine I can tell you that it is not completely dissimilar to the photo included below, though unlike this machine it really does look as though it was built in a basement with scrap parts.
(Source: White, Nicholas D. and Steffen Bodemeier. "Male condoms that break in use do so mostly by a “blunt puncture” mechanism." In Contraception 77.5 (May 2008): 360-365 Image available here)
So I guess this means not only do I feel moderately famous, but also that I was somewhat ahead of my times as far as condom testing was concerned. I am also really starting to wish that I had considered patenting my machine (imagine the royalty/licensing revenues that would now be rolling my way).
The machine that I created, which I called the Fex Machine, was based on the premise that Simulated Usage Condom Testing (SUCT) was worth considering (at the time may condoms were tested through an inflation test even though condoms are not typically called upon to hold several liters of air during use). Not surprisingly, the components of the machine were relatively straightforward. A condom was placed on the Fenis (fake penis) and then repeatedly inserted into the Fagina (fake vagina). At its top speed the Fex Machine could perform 112 insertions/thrusts/strokes per minute. If my memory serves correctly, I could get about 6000-8000 insertions before most condoms would break.
After a few years of somewhat passionate involvement with the subject methods used in condom testing started to fade from my consciousness. Of course this reminder of my former glory reignited some of my former passions and encouraged me to try to check up on the state of the field.
One of most interesting things I learned in this very brief foray back into the realm of condom testing is that something similar to my Fex Machine has now been used in the condom testing realm, though to determine the cause of ruptures rather than to determine their likely rate of success.
Though I don't have a photo of the Fex Machine I can tell you that it is not completely dissimilar to the photo included below, though unlike this machine it really does look as though it was built in a basement with scrap parts.
(Source: White, Nicholas D. and Steffen Bodemeier. "Male condoms that break in use do so mostly by a “blunt puncture” mechanism." In Contraception 77.5 (May 2008): 360-365 Image available here)
So I guess this means not only do I feel moderately famous, but also that I was somewhat ahead of my times as far as condom testing was concerned. I am also really starting to wish that I had considered patenting my machine (imagine the royalty/licensing revenues that would now be rolling my way).
Saturday, April 03, 2010
A Few Quick Notes 416
-Though the sun has now set, today has been and continues to be a beautiful day. According to Environment Canada we reached a high of 21, which is believable.
-It seems that I am now up to 3/18 with my Roll Up the Rim to Rim Wins. I am starting to think that I should have quit when I was ahead this year.
-Today I took advantage of the nice weather and went on a bike ride with a friend/neighbour. We rode from our apartment building deep in the South End, around the rotary to Herring Cove. According to this friend, who has made the trip before, the total distance is close to 30 km. Assuming this is true, and I have to reason to think it isn't, this is likely the longest bike ride I have ever taken. I hope that we will be able to go on similar trips as the summer progresses and that by the end of the Summer/Fall I won't be quite as slow as I was today.
-On Thursday I handed in my final major paper of the season. Though I still have two more pieces of written work to submit, and a final exam, handing in the final paper on Thursday was quite a relief.
-We are planning on a having a few people over for Easter dinner tomorrow. To the best of our knowledge we have everything that we need from the grocery store, if not we are going to be somewhat out of luck as most of the stores will be closed tomorrow.
-In preparation for tomorrow's dinner I baked some bread so that I would have stuffing material. Shortly we are going to start working on the Easter bread for tomorrow. If we become particularly ambitious we may even try to do some vegetable peeling before we call it a night.
-I think I will try to call it a night early tonight. I am hoping that the the fact that I didn't take a nap and that I did take a 30 km bike ride will mean that I will be able to go to sleep before 4:00 AM.
-Happy Easter
-It seems that I am now up to 3/18 with my Roll Up the Rim to Rim Wins. I am starting to think that I should have quit when I was ahead this year.
-Today I took advantage of the nice weather and went on a bike ride with a friend/neighbour. We rode from our apartment building deep in the South End, around the rotary to Herring Cove. According to this friend, who has made the trip before, the total distance is close to 30 km. Assuming this is true, and I have to reason to think it isn't, this is likely the longest bike ride I have ever taken. I hope that we will be able to go on similar trips as the summer progresses and that by the end of the Summer/Fall I won't be quite as slow as I was today.
-On Thursday I handed in my final major paper of the season. Though I still have two more pieces of written work to submit, and a final exam, handing in the final paper on Thursday was quite a relief.
-We are planning on a having a few people over for Easter dinner tomorrow. To the best of our knowledge we have everything that we need from the grocery store, if not we are going to be somewhat out of luck as most of the stores will be closed tomorrow.
-In preparation for tomorrow's dinner I baked some bread so that I would have stuffing material. Shortly we are going to start working on the Easter bread for tomorrow. If we become particularly ambitious we may even try to do some vegetable peeling before we call it a night.
-I think I will try to call it a night early tonight. I am hoping that the the fact that I didn't take a nap and that I did take a 30 km bike ride will mean that I will be able to go to sleep before 4:00 AM.
-Happy Easter
Friday, March 19, 2010
A Few Quick Notes 410
-Today was another beautiful day in Halifax. Unfortunately, I didn't end up leaving the apartment until the temperature was about 7 or 8 degrees below today's high.
-After a few years of neglect I finally got around too looking into the service we use to distribute our post via email. It seems that since the last time I looked into things Feedburner was acquired by Google and is thus now a Google service. The big news is that I have changed the feed from being a Feedburner feed to a Google feed. In theory the transition should be seamless for those who receive the daily email updates and who have used readers to subscribe to the feed, but if things do not go as smoothly as planned it would be great it someone would let me know.
-This evening I made a trip to the grocery store just a few minutes before it was schedule to close. While there, among other things, I picked up some carrots, celery, and more discount diet passionfruit pop. Shortly after returning home I peeled and cut into sticks 3 pounds of carrots (I have subsequently consumed two bowls of carrot sticks). I have also managed to consume a number of cans of passionfruit pop.
-In about 2000, while I was living in New York, I developed a taste for Oreo cookies. I started going through packages of Oreos quite quickly. This course of events took me by surprise as I had never really liked Oreos as a child, actually I was grossed out by the idea of all sandwich cookies that weren't Fudgeos. Almost as soon as I left New York that December my infatuation with Oreos ended.
A few days ago I noticed that on of the grocery stores had Oreos on sale for about half price. This was a low enough price for me to see if I could either re-kindle my relationship with the product or determine if I had really just had nothing more than a brief dalliance with the cookie almost a decade ago. I think it turns out it was the latter. Now that I have had a few I can safely say that they really don't do anything for me. If it wasn't for the fact that I have about 80% of a package left I think that I would probably feel quite comfortable if I never ate another in my life (actually that may not be true, I am somewhat curious to know whether or not American Oreos are different and whether or not they are better than Canadian Oreos).
For those of you who are curious, Fudgeos are still my go-to sandwich cookie. The package I purchased with the Oreos was consumed within just a few days of its purchase.
-We have our final Ultimate game of the season tomorrow.
-Wow, I really should get back to work.
-After a few years of neglect I finally got around too looking into the service we use to distribute our post via email. It seems that since the last time I looked into things Feedburner was acquired by Google and is thus now a Google service. The big news is that I have changed the feed from being a Feedburner feed to a Google feed. In theory the transition should be seamless for those who receive the daily email updates and who have used readers to subscribe to the feed, but if things do not go as smoothly as planned it would be great it someone would let me know.
-This evening I made a trip to the grocery store just a few minutes before it was schedule to close. While there, among other things, I picked up some carrots, celery, and more discount diet passionfruit pop. Shortly after returning home I peeled and cut into sticks 3 pounds of carrots (I have subsequently consumed two bowls of carrot sticks). I have also managed to consume a number of cans of passionfruit pop.
-In about 2000, while I was living in New York, I developed a taste for Oreo cookies. I started going through packages of Oreos quite quickly. This course of events took me by surprise as I had never really liked Oreos as a child, actually I was grossed out by the idea of all sandwich cookies that weren't Fudgeos. Almost as soon as I left New York that December my infatuation with Oreos ended.
A few days ago I noticed that on of the grocery stores had Oreos on sale for about half price. This was a low enough price for me to see if I could either re-kindle my relationship with the product or determine if I had really just had nothing more than a brief dalliance with the cookie almost a decade ago. I think it turns out it was the latter. Now that I have had a few I can safely say that they really don't do anything for me. If it wasn't for the fact that I have about 80% of a package left I think that I would probably feel quite comfortable if I never ate another in my life (actually that may not be true, I am somewhat curious to know whether or not American Oreos are different and whether or not they are better than Canadian Oreos).
For those of you who are curious, Fudgeos are still my go-to sandwich cookie. The package I purchased with the Oreos was consumed within just a few days of its purchase.
-We have our final Ultimate game of the season tomorrow.
-Wow, I really should get back to work.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
A Few Quick Notes 394
-For some reason unknown to me it is much warmer today than it has been for the past few days. At one point today it was as warm as -1, which is about 15 degrees warmer than good chunks of yesterday. Apparently tomorrow temperatures may even reach above 0 for portions of tomorrow.
-This morning, for breakfast, I made some butterscotch pinwheels. This are basically biscuit dough wrapped around a butter and brown sugar paste. Not surprisingly, these are pretty tasty, though maybe not the world's healthiest breakfast food (maybe I will have to have some vegetables or go for a walk this evening to try to offset this meal). Fortunately I was able to get my roommates to eat a few of the pinwheels, otherwise I am pretty sure that I could have ploughed through most of them in a 24 hour period.
-Today, for the second day in a row, I made use of my new coffee maker. The built-in grinder and timer make it a pleasure to use. I can't tell you how pleasant it is to wake up to freshly brewed coffee. It is certainly much more pleasant than getting up and washing the percolator that is still dirty because of the previous day's coffee related activities.
-In the coming days or weeks I really need to get my gardening plans in order so that I can acquire the appropriate seeds. In particular, I need to figure out which types of tomato plants I want to grow so that I can give them a few weeks of prep growth before I transfer them to the balcony for the summer.
-Our Ultimate team managed another win yesterday. While there were periods of disorganization among the members of our team, we somehow managed to maintain the lead for basically the entire game. While I can't say that I contributed too much to our team's efforts I can say that I don't think that I screwed up too much and I did make a few rather impressive catches.
-In one of my courses I have to submit a discussion paper every Sunday evening (the material covered in the paper will then be discussed on the following Tuesday). While these aren't at all a bad idea, they do kill the better part of my Sunday afternoons. Fortunately I just finished this week's paper, so I should be able to put a few hours of work in on other areas before turning in for the night.
-I have my re-scheduled interview tomorrow morning. I guess I should put a little time in re-examining some of the material I gathered on Thursday evening (as well as examining the new media reports that have come out this weekend).
-Word on the street is that today is Super Bowl Sunday, though had it not been for a commitment of Neil's I would have had no idea that this sporting event was ongoing today. Now that I do know that it is ongoing tonight I can't even pretend that I am going to watch it as we don't have a TV with a functional antenna. I guess that this is further evidence that I am out of touch with the common wo/man.
Blog-off Score
Neil: 0
Cameron: 17
-This morning, for breakfast, I made some butterscotch pinwheels. This are basically biscuit dough wrapped around a butter and brown sugar paste. Not surprisingly, these are pretty tasty, though maybe not the world's healthiest breakfast food (maybe I will have to have some vegetables or go for a walk this evening to try to offset this meal). Fortunately I was able to get my roommates to eat a few of the pinwheels, otherwise I am pretty sure that I could have ploughed through most of them in a 24 hour period.
-Today, for the second day in a row, I made use of my new coffee maker. The built-in grinder and timer make it a pleasure to use. I can't tell you how pleasant it is to wake up to freshly brewed coffee. It is certainly much more pleasant than getting up and washing the percolator that is still dirty because of the previous day's coffee related activities.
-In the coming days or weeks I really need to get my gardening plans in order so that I can acquire the appropriate seeds. In particular, I need to figure out which types of tomato plants I want to grow so that I can give them a few weeks of prep growth before I transfer them to the balcony for the summer.
-Our Ultimate team managed another win yesterday. While there were periods of disorganization among the members of our team, we somehow managed to maintain the lead for basically the entire game. While I can't say that I contributed too much to our team's efforts I can say that I don't think that I screwed up too much and I did make a few rather impressive catches.
-In one of my courses I have to submit a discussion paper every Sunday evening (the material covered in the paper will then be discussed on the following Tuesday). While these aren't at all a bad idea, they do kill the better part of my Sunday afternoons. Fortunately I just finished this week's paper, so I should be able to put a few hours of work in on other areas before turning in for the night.
-I have my re-scheduled interview tomorrow morning. I guess I should put a little time in re-examining some of the material I gathered on Thursday evening (as well as examining the new media reports that have come out this weekend).
-Word on the street is that today is Super Bowl Sunday, though had it not been for a commitment of Neil's I would have had no idea that this sporting event was ongoing today. Now that I do know that it is ongoing tonight I can't even pretend that I am going to watch it as we don't have a TV with a functional antenna. I guess that this is further evidence that I am out of touch with the common wo/man.
Blog-off Score
Neil: 0
Cameron: 17
Thursday, February 04, 2010
A Few Quick Notes 392
-Today was another rather chilly day, though nowhere near as cold as it was earlier this week. While there were a few snowflakes today, if my memory serves me correctly, there really wasn't any accumulation to talk of.
-We had a nice tofu and chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight.
-I need to try to go to bed early tonight so that I can wake up early tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I really don't see how this is going to turn out well in the end.
-While I was sitting in class this afternoon it became apparent that for some reason just about everyone in class was out of it, even those of us who tend to be quite active and participate frequently. This was particularly strange as I am quite confident that many of us keeners completed the assigned readings, so it wasn't as though we weren't ready. The most likely explanation is that many of us were tired as a result of working late last night to complete papers that were due during today's class.
-I have some marking and research work that I really need to work on tomorrow. Hopefully my modified schedule won't mess me up too much.
-Word on the street is that Neil is a little dissatisfied with a few of my recent posts. He thinks that they were a little to self-referential and void of content. While I think that he is likely correct, they did meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the blog-off, which we at least in part suggested by him, so I don't feel too bad about them. Furthermore, as some of us may recall, he managed to squeak to victory by making a series of such posts in the dying moments of last year's competition.
Blog-off Score
Neil: 0
Cameron: 11
-We had a nice tofu and chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight.
-I need to try to go to bed early tonight so that I can wake up early tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I really don't see how this is going to turn out well in the end.
-While I was sitting in class this afternoon it became apparent that for some reason just about everyone in class was out of it, even those of us who tend to be quite active and participate frequently. This was particularly strange as I am quite confident that many of us keeners completed the assigned readings, so it wasn't as though we weren't ready. The most likely explanation is that many of us were tired as a result of working late last night to complete papers that were due during today's class.
-I have some marking and research work that I really need to work on tomorrow. Hopefully my modified schedule won't mess me up too much.
-Word on the street is that Neil is a little dissatisfied with a few of my recent posts. He thinks that they were a little to self-referential and void of content. While I think that he is likely correct, they did meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the blog-off, which we at least in part suggested by him, so I don't feel too bad about them. Furthermore, as some of us may recall, he managed to squeak to victory by making a series of such posts in the dying moments of last year's competition.
Blog-off Score
Neil: 0
Cameron: 11
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
That was fast
It seems that even though classes only started today I am already back in the midst of a semester in full swing.
This feeling really started last night when I downloaded and printed an article that I needed to read for Tuesday's class. Just moments ago, after proceeding rather inefficiently for a few hours, I finally finished it. For this term to work I am really going need to pick up my pace.
The major development was that today, while talking to graduate coordinator about my course selections for the term, I ended up being talked into taking a course whose first session was to start about an hour and a half from the time I was talked into taking it. Once in class I ended up volunteering to take the first presentation slot, which means a presentation next Monday. Not surprisingly, most of the students in the class opted for presentations later in the term (a mistake I hope to make never again as it leads to a rather congested end of term).
So I guess that means that from the get go I will get a chance to test my attempt to try to stay on top of things and now allow them to pile up as the term progresses (though my inclination towards immediate rather than delayed gratification may stand in my way).
This feeling really started last night when I downloaded and printed an article that I needed to read for Tuesday's class. Just moments ago, after proceeding rather inefficiently for a few hours, I finally finished it. For this term to work I am really going need to pick up my pace.
The major development was that today, while talking to graduate coordinator about my course selections for the term, I ended up being talked into taking a course whose first session was to start about an hour and a half from the time I was talked into taking it. Once in class I ended up volunteering to take the first presentation slot, which means a presentation next Monday. Not surprisingly, most of the students in the class opted for presentations later in the term (a mistake I hope to make never again as it leads to a rather congested end of term).
So I guess that means that from the get go I will get a chance to test my attempt to try to stay on top of things and now allow them to pile up as the term progresses (though my inclination towards immediate rather than delayed gratification may stand in my way).
Thursday, December 31, 2009
End of Term Essay Recipe
1 to 2 dozen nouns
3-6 handfuls verbs
3 adjectives
14 cups of prepositions
articles to taste
Place the prepositions in a pot on the stove and set the heat to medium. While the prepositions are warming rub each now with a verb, switching to a new verb once the old one wears out (about every four nouns). Place the verb coated nouns in a bowl. Juice the adjectives over the verb coated nouns and then stir. Add articles to taste. Once the prepositions have reached a boil begin to add the noun mix, lower the heat, and allow the combination to simmer. After 1 to 2 hours remove the pot from the burner and allow to chill. Once chilled, the mixture can be poured into an essay mould. Each batch will enough essay content for about four term papers. Typically, a quadruple batch is sufficient for most masters thesis moulds. No matter which mould size is being used at least one night is required for the mixture to properly set. Garnish with punctuation if desired.
Chef's tips:
1) Modal verbs add a nice piquancy that cannot be replicated by any other type of verb.
2) If making enough for a Ph.D. thesis be sure to add a few extra adjectives and nouns to each batch.
3-6 handfuls verbs
3 adjectives
14 cups of prepositions
articles to taste
Place the prepositions in a pot on the stove and set the heat to medium. While the prepositions are warming rub each now with a verb, switching to a new verb once the old one wears out (about every four nouns). Place the verb coated nouns in a bowl. Juice the adjectives over the verb coated nouns and then stir. Add articles to taste. Once the prepositions have reached a boil begin to add the noun mix, lower the heat, and allow the combination to simmer. After 1 to 2 hours remove the pot from the burner and allow to chill. Once chilled, the mixture can be poured into an essay mould. Each batch will enough essay content for about four term papers. Typically, a quadruple batch is sufficient for most masters thesis moulds. No matter which mould size is being used at least one night is required for the mixture to properly set. Garnish with punctuation if desired.
Chef's tips:
1) Modal verbs add a nice piquancy that cannot be replicated by any other type of verb.
2) If making enough for a Ph.D. thesis be sure to add a few extra adjectives and nouns to each batch.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 377
-Today was a little on the cool side. At the moment the reported temperature is -6. Not surprisingly, I get the sense that things are a little cooler in other parts of the country. While we had a little bit of snow a few days ago, there is really not much to show for it at the moment.
-My friend Peter, a new Dal library student, is crashing with us for a night or two before he heads back to St. John's for Christmas. A few minutes ago he asked me a few questions about Dialog, a database aggregation service that is used in the library context. This really reminded me of this time of year in 2006 when I too was working on a Dialog project at the end of my first term of library school. As Dialog uses a command drive search interface it isn't particularly surprising that I wasn't as helpful as I might have been in December 2006 (I remember the concepts, just not the specific commands).
-I have been really cutting back on caffeine for the past two days. I was starting to notice that I was consuming so much that I was reducing my level of productivity. One of the major problems was that I was unable to get to sleep at a reasonable time, which meant that I was throwing my schedule more and more out of whack and not really getting more done.
Anyway, so far it looks as though the decision has been a good one and I may try to stick to my current low level of consumption (a liter of coffee a day).
-I came across some rather good news recently. It seems that my former roommate in Montreal has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, which he will be taking up in October. While I have been incredibly pleased when other friends have been awarded scholarships and fellowships I think that none have made me happier than hearing about this award. I really think that they picked a great candidate.
-I should get back to work, I have all kinds of it to do.
-My friend Peter, a new Dal library student, is crashing with us for a night or two before he heads back to St. John's for Christmas. A few minutes ago he asked me a few questions about Dialog, a database aggregation service that is used in the library context. This really reminded me of this time of year in 2006 when I too was working on a Dialog project at the end of my first term of library school. As Dialog uses a command drive search interface it isn't particularly surprising that I wasn't as helpful as I might have been in December 2006 (I remember the concepts, just not the specific commands).
-I have been really cutting back on caffeine for the past two days. I was starting to notice that I was consuming so much that I was reducing my level of productivity. One of the major problems was that I was unable to get to sleep at a reasonable time, which meant that I was throwing my schedule more and more out of whack and not really getting more done.
Anyway, so far it looks as though the decision has been a good one and I may try to stick to my current low level of consumption (a liter of coffee a day).
-I came across some rather good news recently. It seems that my former roommate in Montreal has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, which he will be taking up in October. While I have been incredibly pleased when other friends have been awarded scholarships and fellowships I think that none have made me happier than hearing about this award. I really think that they picked a great candidate.
-I should get back to work, I have all kinds of it to do.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 375
-It has become noticeably more Wintery in the last few days. Instead of just wearing a sports coat, I have actually started wearing an insulated jacked, scarf, and hat. A few days ago we even had a few snowflakes fall, though we managed to avoid real accumulation.
-I went for my Swine Flu vaccination shot today. Dalhousie was providing a free shot service so I thought I might as well stop by. What was particularly impressive about the whole thing is how well organized it was. They were moving people through quite quickly, the result being that when I went there wasn't a line even though a steady stream of people kept arriving. So far my arm and I feel fine. I am expecting that by some point tomorrow I will start to feel something in the arm where I received the shot.
-My big news yesterday was that I submitted my SSHRC graduate fellowship application. SSHRC is a federally funded granting agency, and one of the main sources for graduate funding in the social sciences and humanities. While it would be great to get a SSHRC fellowship I am not holding out much hope, the odds are not in my favour.
-We had a tofu stir-fry for dinner yesterday night. I thought it was pretty tasty.
-A few days ago I was thinking about writing about the people that borrow my fountain pen and are then able to use properly. I was going to comment on the seeming universal inability of the current generation to use fountain pens. Of course I ended up loaning my pen to two younger students today and neither of them had any problems. Good thing I didn't write was I was thinking about writing as I think it turns out that it wouldn't have held up.
-All three of my classes have come through with extensions for their essays. Though this means I won't have much free time before my Christmas departure I think it will generally be a good thing the quality of the essays.
-On Saturday we played a hard fought game of Ultimate. While we were leading at halftime we ended up losing by a point.
-I should get going, it is already much too late.
-I went for my Swine Flu vaccination shot today. Dalhousie was providing a free shot service so I thought I might as well stop by. What was particularly impressive about the whole thing is how well organized it was. They were moving people through quite quickly, the result being that when I went there wasn't a line even though a steady stream of people kept arriving. So far my arm and I feel fine. I am expecting that by some point tomorrow I will start to feel something in the arm where I received the shot.
-My big news yesterday was that I submitted my SSHRC graduate fellowship application. SSHRC is a federally funded granting agency, and one of the main sources for graduate funding in the social sciences and humanities. While it would be great to get a SSHRC fellowship I am not holding out much hope, the odds are not in my favour.
-We had a tofu stir-fry for dinner yesterday night. I thought it was pretty tasty.
-A few days ago I was thinking about writing about the people that borrow my fountain pen and are then able to use properly. I was going to comment on the seeming universal inability of the current generation to use fountain pens. Of course I ended up loaning my pen to two younger students today and neither of them had any problems. Good thing I didn't write was I was thinking about writing as I think it turns out that it wouldn't have held up.
-All three of my classes have come through with extensions for their essays. Though this means I won't have much free time before my Christmas departure I think it will generally be a good thing the quality of the essays.
-On Saturday we played a hard fought game of Ultimate. While we were leading at halftime we ended up losing by a point.
-I should get going, it is already much too late.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Super busy
As some of you might have guessed based on my limited blogging of the past few days, I am still quite busy with school related work. Though now in addition to the regular reading and writing that has been filling my days for the past few weeks I can add marking. My first batch of the year has to be partly ready to go by tomorrow, which should be fine as I have already taken a quick read through the exam answers I need to mark. Though the completion of the job will require I go through them again in a little more detail.
Of course, on top of this I have a paper due tomorrow (though it is quite short). My plan is to shortly finish the first draft of the paper and then head over to the exams. Once I am done with the exams I hope to kill off the paper. We will see how well this seemingly simple plan works out in the end.
In other exciting news, I did find time to make some marlin for myself for dinner. Unfortunately, it turns out that either I don't know how to prepare marlin or I think marlin is pretty gross. While I am willing to acknowledge the former as a possibility, I am somewhat inclined to lean towards the latter as more likely of the two options. Anyway, it is a good think that we only had one piece in the freezer.
Back to work, at least until I start slacking off again.
Of course, on top of this I have a paper due tomorrow (though it is quite short). My plan is to shortly finish the first draft of the paper and then head over to the exams. Once I am done with the exams I hope to kill off the paper. We will see how well this seemingly simple plan works out in the end.
In other exciting news, I did find time to make some marlin for myself for dinner. Unfortunately, it turns out that either I don't know how to prepare marlin or I think marlin is pretty gross. While I am willing to acknowledge the former as a possibility, I am somewhat inclined to lean towards the latter as more likely of the two options. Anyway, it is a good think that we only had one piece in the freezer.
Back to work, at least until I start slacking off again.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Convocation weekend
As some of you may recall, a few weeks ago I successfully defended and submitted my MA thesis. This meant that I had satisfied the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in Political Science at Dalhousie. I didn't think that this was particularly big news, but it seems that a few people in my family did.
On Thursday evening, a few hours later than originally expected, my grandmother arrived in Halifax with the intention of attending my convocation ceremony. My sister and mother were to, and did, arrive on Friday afternoon for the same reason.
Prior to my mother and sister's arrival I met my grandmother at her hotel (we didn't have room for three) where we had a very pleasant lunch together. Shortly after we parted ways so that I could go to the university and pick up my academic gown, as well as submit a paper.
Not too long after I eventually made it back to the apartment I was able to contact my mother and sister, who had arrived in the intervening period, and suggest that instead of driving through the Valley in the rain they come to our apartment for dinner. Though there was a little bit of confusion about communication and when people would arrive, they eventually did show up and I cooked us all dinner.
That evening, after a few games of Fluxx, Kirsten talked my mother and I into joining her for a dip in her hotel's pool. I think that we were all rather surprised by how big and deep the pool was for a hotel pool on the second floor of a hotel. The other nice aspect of the set-up was that they had a hot tub. As I hadn't been in a hot tub in quite a number of years I was quite keen to see if I still liked them as much as I remembered liking them. It turns out that they were as good as I remember, though I think I may have stayed in a little long as I definitely felt a little faint by the time we got out.
After a group breakfast on Saturday morning we all went back to our respective sleeping locations to either prepare for the afternoon's convocation ceremony, sleep, or engage in some combination of both activities. I know that I managed to sleep for a few minutes before throwing on my convocation garb.
We all made our way to 'The Cohn' about an hour before the event was to start. I arrived at this time because that was when the graduands were instructed to arrive. The other arrived at this time because an additional ticked was needed and this was when they were planning on distributing the extra tickets. Fortunately, within moments of arriving Kirsten was able to secure the needed ticket, allowing me to go upstairs to the staging area with a relative degree of comfort that things weren't going to be screwed.
Almost as soon as I entered the area where all of the graduands I came across a, now former, classmate. We spoke for a few minutes when a third classmate joined us. As it turns out, of the 11 of us who started as MA candidates last September, we were the only three political science MA students to show up for the convocation ceremony. Actually, I got the sense that quite a number of the graduands were no shows. It was so sparsely attended that I was fifth last in the alphabetical line-up even though my last name normally puts me in the middle of most lines.
At the appropriate time the graduands were assembled two-by-two in lines. After what seemed like about 5 order checks we eventually made our way to the auditorium. As it turns out, as MA students, we were relatively near the end of the batch of graduands, though there were a few computer science types and Ph.D. students after us.
Once we made it into the auditorium and were seated things began to move quite quickly. Before I knew it they had started getting the Bachelors students up on stage. Eventually we were moved from our seats to the staging aisle. They had planned things so that once standing no one would have to stand that long.
After just a few minutes my name was called and I was making my way across the stage. Of course I am sure that I slouched and screwed up the timing, but I guess there isn't much I can do about it now. That being said, I think part of the problem is that I had no idea what to expect when I reached the Chancellor in the middle of the stage, this part of the ceremony wasn't explained to us at all. As it turns out he basically just says good luck and you move on (no hand shaking because of the swine flu). It was generally rather awkward, particularly as nothing really happens (they don't hood you like they do at MUN convocations).
After all of the graduates had been on stage they started the honourary doctorate part of the ceremony. The recipient of the ceremony's honourary degree was the Music Director (and sometimes conductor?) of Symphony Nova Scotia, Bernhard Gueller.
After Gueller's talk things wrapped up quickly and we made our way our to the lobby. Once in the lobby I again ran into one of my former classmates, and then my history professor (who happens to also, be the Associate Dean of Arts and Social Sciences). Eventually, my mother located me, and after a little chatting and photo taking we make our way across the lobby to find Rebecca, Kirsten, and my mother.
After a little bit of indecisiveness and dilly-dallying (along with a few cookies and some juice) we made our way through the building to find a place where we could take some pictures. Eventually, after a few photos, we were ready to leave.
Shortly after leaving we decided to head directly to dinner. After some more indecisiveness and a little bit of snarkiness we settled on the Mongolie Grill (so that everyone could get the ingredients and quantity they wanted). All things considered, I think that the meal went well (though I was definitely tired and not in a celebratory mood).
After dinner we returned to the apartment to kill time (and my chances to study) while my mother waited for Neil's plane to arrive so that she could head out to pick him up from the airport (he was attending a conference for matheletes in Atlanta for the better part of the week).
This morning we again went out for a group breakfast, mainly so that Neil could get a chance to see grandma (and because we all needed to eat). After breakfast Rebecca and I returned to the apartment while The Ladies + Neil made their way to the Valley for some apple picking and touring.
Eventually, the group went to the airport to drop my grandmother off for her flight only to find that one leg of her trip had been cancelled. The eventual result was that she was re-booked for a new set of flights tonight and will be crashing with us tonight (I imagine it has been a few years since she has spent the night on a futon in a student apartment).
Anyway, I am now trying to catch up on some school work and reading while the rest of them are playing euchre in the living room. If the pots get to big I may have to go in and say something, but until then I think I can probably trust them by themselves for a while.
So tomorrow brings us back to another week of school, the main difference being that will have visitors (my grandmother for the morning and my mother the next few days). I imagine that I will feel my slack work weekend in the very near future, maybe as soon as tomorrow morning's class.
On Thursday evening, a few hours later than originally expected, my grandmother arrived in Halifax with the intention of attending my convocation ceremony. My sister and mother were to, and did, arrive on Friday afternoon for the same reason.
Prior to my mother and sister's arrival I met my grandmother at her hotel (we didn't have room for three) where we had a very pleasant lunch together. Shortly after we parted ways so that I could go to the university and pick up my academic gown, as well as submit a paper.
Not too long after I eventually made it back to the apartment I was able to contact my mother and sister, who had arrived in the intervening period, and suggest that instead of driving through the Valley in the rain they come to our apartment for dinner. Though there was a little bit of confusion about communication and when people would arrive, they eventually did show up and I cooked us all dinner.
That evening, after a few games of Fluxx, Kirsten talked my mother and I into joining her for a dip in her hotel's pool. I think that we were all rather surprised by how big and deep the pool was for a hotel pool on the second floor of a hotel. The other nice aspect of the set-up was that they had a hot tub. As I hadn't been in a hot tub in quite a number of years I was quite keen to see if I still liked them as much as I remembered liking them. It turns out that they were as good as I remember, though I think I may have stayed in a little long as I definitely felt a little faint by the time we got out.
After a group breakfast on Saturday morning we all went back to our respective sleeping locations to either prepare for the afternoon's convocation ceremony, sleep, or engage in some combination of both activities. I know that I managed to sleep for a few minutes before throwing on my convocation garb.
We all made our way to 'The Cohn' about an hour before the event was to start. I arrived at this time because that was when the graduands were instructed to arrive. The other arrived at this time because an additional ticked was needed and this was when they were planning on distributing the extra tickets. Fortunately, within moments of arriving Kirsten was able to secure the needed ticket, allowing me to go upstairs to the staging area with a relative degree of comfort that things weren't going to be screwed.
Almost as soon as I entered the area where all of the graduands I came across a, now former, classmate. We spoke for a few minutes when a third classmate joined us. As it turns out, of the 11 of us who started as MA candidates last September, we were the only three political science MA students to show up for the convocation ceremony. Actually, I got the sense that quite a number of the graduands were no shows. It was so sparsely attended that I was fifth last in the alphabetical line-up even though my last name normally puts me in the middle of most lines.
At the appropriate time the graduands were assembled two-by-two in lines. After what seemed like about 5 order checks we eventually made our way to the auditorium. As it turns out, as MA students, we were relatively near the end of the batch of graduands, though there were a few computer science types and Ph.D. students after us.
Once we made it into the auditorium and were seated things began to move quite quickly. Before I knew it they had started getting the Bachelors students up on stage. Eventually we were moved from our seats to the staging aisle. They had planned things so that once standing no one would have to stand that long.
After just a few minutes my name was called and I was making my way across the stage. Of course I am sure that I slouched and screwed up the timing, but I guess there isn't much I can do about it now. That being said, I think part of the problem is that I had no idea what to expect when I reached the Chancellor in the middle of the stage, this part of the ceremony wasn't explained to us at all. As it turns out he basically just says good luck and you move on (no hand shaking because of the swine flu). It was generally rather awkward, particularly as nothing really happens (they don't hood you like they do at MUN convocations).
After all of the graduates had been on stage they started the honourary doctorate part of the ceremony. The recipient of the ceremony's honourary degree was the Music Director (and sometimes conductor?) of Symphony Nova Scotia, Bernhard Gueller.
After Gueller's talk things wrapped up quickly and we made our way our to the lobby. Once in the lobby I again ran into one of my former classmates, and then my history professor (who happens to also, be the Associate Dean of Arts and Social Sciences). Eventually, my mother located me, and after a little chatting and photo taking we make our way across the lobby to find Rebecca, Kirsten, and my mother.
After a little bit of indecisiveness and dilly-dallying (along with a few cookies and some juice) we made our way through the building to find a place where we could take some pictures. Eventually, after a few photos, we were ready to leave.
Shortly after leaving we decided to head directly to dinner. After some more indecisiveness and a little bit of snarkiness we settled on the Mongolie Grill (so that everyone could get the ingredients and quantity they wanted). All things considered, I think that the meal went well (though I was definitely tired and not in a celebratory mood).
After dinner we returned to the apartment to kill time (and my chances to study) while my mother waited for Neil's plane to arrive so that she could head out to pick him up from the airport (he was attending a conference for matheletes in Atlanta for the better part of the week).
This morning we again went out for a group breakfast, mainly so that Neil could get a chance to see grandma (and because we all needed to eat). After breakfast Rebecca and I returned to the apartment while The Ladies + Neil made their way to the Valley for some apple picking and touring.
Eventually, the group went to the airport to drop my grandmother off for her flight only to find that one leg of her trip had been cancelled. The eventual result was that she was re-booked for a new set of flights tonight and will be crashing with us tonight (I imagine it has been a few years since she has spent the night on a futon in a student apartment).
Anyway, I am now trying to catch up on some school work and reading while the rest of them are playing euchre in the living room. If the pots get to big I may have to go in and say something, but until then I think I can probably trust them by themselves for a while.
So tomorrow brings us back to another week of school, the main difference being that will have visitors (my grandmother for the morning and my mother the next few days). I imagine that I will feel my slack work weekend in the very near future, maybe as soon as tomorrow morning's class.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 357
-We had another nice day in Halifax today, though at times it was a little on the cool side. Fortunately, it wasn't cold enough that a brisk walk wasn't enough to provide the needed heat to be comfortable.
-It seems that I have been away for a few days, which can largely be explained by the fact that I have had a number of engagements/commitments that have drawn me away from my computer or kept me relatively busy.
On Monday I started my regularly scheduled courses (though I had had a session on the previous Wednesday). The real time sink was the paper that was due on Tuesday afternoon, which I was able to submit with a about two hours to spare (actually, I think that the professor was a little surprised that I actually handed it in on time). On Wednesday I had the pleasure of having two several hour seminars, the first of which started at 8:30 AM. The second seminar, the one for which the paper was due, ended at 5:30 PM, a solid nine hours after the first one started. A little later in the evening Neil and I had our first Ultimate game of our Fall season (we tied). Then on Thursday I helped a friend with some things before heading into school for a SSHRC doctoral fellowship information session. Immediately after the SSHRC event I made my way across campus to meet with a professor (the one for whom I had to write the paper) and ended up talking with her for almost 2 hours. After dinner (tacos) all three of us went back to campus to attend the weekly trivia night at the student bar. After trivia we made our way to Bubble's Mansion, hoping that this would be the location of the new Trailer Park Boys movie's premier after party. As it turned out that Bubble's Mansion wasn't as active and happening decided not to stay. In the end, for a variety of somewhat complex reasons, we ended up heading to another establishment. Unfortunately, the beer we ordered wasn't so great so it took us quite a while to drink it. In the end the only thing that really got us moving was that they turned on the lights and were clearly sending us the message that they wanted us to go. Anyway, these events meant that Thursday night was much less productive than I hoped it would be. Then today, I had to head into school to check on a few things before heading out to the Kempt Road area with Peter to buy some bulk dried goods (mainly beans) at good prices. Then tonight, because of our earlier shopping adventure, Peter came over for a dinner that was at least in part based on this afternoon's purchases. Anyway, all of this is just to give some insight into my noticeable absence from the blog. I really wish that a number more of these reasons related to academic eagerness, but unfortunately such reason were only part of the reason for my absence.
-Earlier tonight I noticed that the watermelon plants seem to be infested with something (hopefully not spider mites). Soon after this discovery I destroyed the infested plants plants and sprayed the others than had stored in the vicinity with pesticide. Hopefully this somewhat prompt action had curtailed the spread of whatever it was on the plants, though I fear that I may have been too late, which would really frustrate me quite a bit. Anyway, I guess I may try to do a bit of cleaning tomorrow and then have to wait and see whether anything comes back.
-I feel that there were quite a number of other things that I wanted to comment upon but that I can't seem to remember at the moment. Maybe when I have a little more time tomorrow I will try to work on a slightly more complete re-cap of the past few days.
-It seems that I have been away for a few days, which can largely be explained by the fact that I have had a number of engagements/commitments that have drawn me away from my computer or kept me relatively busy.
On Monday I started my regularly scheduled courses (though I had had a session on the previous Wednesday). The real time sink was the paper that was due on Tuesday afternoon, which I was able to submit with a about two hours to spare (actually, I think that the professor was a little surprised that I actually handed it in on time). On Wednesday I had the pleasure of having two several hour seminars, the first of which started at 8:30 AM. The second seminar, the one for which the paper was due, ended at 5:30 PM, a solid nine hours after the first one started. A little later in the evening Neil and I had our first Ultimate game of our Fall season (we tied). Then on Thursday I helped a friend with some things before heading into school for a SSHRC doctoral fellowship information session. Immediately after the SSHRC event I made my way across campus to meet with a professor (the one for whom I had to write the paper) and ended up talking with her for almost 2 hours. After dinner (tacos) all three of us went back to campus to attend the weekly trivia night at the student bar. After trivia we made our way to Bubble's Mansion, hoping that this would be the location of the new Trailer Park Boys movie's premier after party. As it turned out that Bubble's Mansion wasn't as active and happening decided not to stay. In the end, for a variety of somewhat complex reasons, we ended up heading to another establishment. Unfortunately, the beer we ordered wasn't so great so it took us quite a while to drink it. In the end the only thing that really got us moving was that they turned on the lights and were clearly sending us the message that they wanted us to go. Anyway, these events meant that Thursday night was much less productive than I hoped it would be. Then today, I had to head into school to check on a few things before heading out to the Kempt Road area with Peter to buy some bulk dried goods (mainly beans) at good prices. Then tonight, because of our earlier shopping adventure, Peter came over for a dinner that was at least in part based on this afternoon's purchases. Anyway, all of this is just to give some insight into my noticeable absence from the blog. I really wish that a number more of these reasons related to academic eagerness, but unfortunately such reason were only part of the reason for my absence.
-Earlier tonight I noticed that the watermelon plants seem to be infested with something (hopefully not spider mites). Soon after this discovery I destroyed the infested plants plants and sprayed the others than had stored in the vicinity with pesticide. Hopefully this somewhat prompt action had curtailed the spread of whatever it was on the plants, though I fear that I may have been too late, which would really frustrate me quite a bit. Anyway, I guess I may try to do a bit of cleaning tomorrow and then have to wait and see whether anything comes back.
-I feel that there were quite a number of other things that I wanted to comment upon but that I can't seem to remember at the moment. Maybe when I have a little more time tomorrow I will try to work on a slightly more complete re-cap of the past few days.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 356
-It has been mostly overcast today. At time it was even quite rainy, though as I haven't really left the apartment yet this really hasn't caused me any problems. Actually, that I didn't get the late afternoon sun in my bedroom window afforded me fewer afternoon distractions that I might normally have. The other thing of note about today is that it is a little warmer than I might have expected. Now, after sunset, it is still almost 20 degrees (and humid), which is quite different than I would have expected.
-A few days ago I purchased a Thermos in which I planned on storing hot beverages. So far it has been quite useful. I am hoping that this purchase will encourage me to purchase less coffee, a plan that seems to be working so far (I only have to not buy about 9 cups of coffee for this purchase to have paid off).
-We had pinwheels for dinner tonight. It seems that this is becoming a bit of a go to dinner option for me.
-On Friday evening there was political science reception, which was followed by a few drinks with some of the new political science graduate students. Given that I attended a similar series of events there was a strange feeling of deja vu, particularly when I ended up getting my second research assistantship at such an event. The most notable difference between this year and last was that this year's reception didn't feel as well attended as last year's, though I don't know why this was the case (though a retirement and two sabbaticals might explain at least part of the difference).
-I have a short paper due on Tuesday afternoon. So far it has not been progressing as quickly as I might have hoped.
-A few days ago I purchased a Thermos in which I planned on storing hot beverages. So far it has been quite useful. I am hoping that this purchase will encourage me to purchase less coffee, a plan that seems to be working so far (I only have to not buy about 9 cups of coffee for this purchase to have paid off).
-We had pinwheels for dinner tonight. It seems that this is becoming a bit of a go to dinner option for me.
-On Friday evening there was political science reception, which was followed by a few drinks with some of the new political science graduate students. Given that I attended a similar series of events there was a strange feeling of deja vu, particularly when I ended up getting my second research assistantship at such an event. The most notable difference between this year and last was that this year's reception didn't feel as well attended as last year's, though I don't know why this was the case (though a retirement and two sabbaticals might explain at least part of the difference).
-I have a short paper due on Tuesday afternoon. So far it has not been progressing as quickly as I might have hoped.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 342
-I think that today has been the hottest day of the year. At times it was at least 30 degrees and, supposedly, felt as though it was 38. Amazingly, for at least the past six hours it has been 30 or higher.
-Many of you likely won't be surprised to learn that I haven't been finding this heat particularly pleasant. Aside from spending much of my day sweating rather profusely, I have also been rendered somewhat less productive because of the conditions. Fortunately, I was able to get some work in before the sun made my bedroom workspace unbearable. Now that evening is approaching I am hoping that things will go back towards a reasonable temperature and that I might be able to head back to work.
-A few days ago I was able to harvest a few more pea pods and two beans from my balcony garden. As with the first batch, these were used in a beef stir-fry.
Just yesterday I finally made my first leaf lettuce harvest, just in time for Neil to use it with the burgers we had for dinner. I think he may have killed off the rest at some point today.
I am expecting a few more pea pods, some beans, and more lettuce to be ready in the near future. As you can see, the tomatoes are still a ways away from being ready to harvest (the water melon and pepper are even further away).
-Yesterday evening we acquired a new shower curtain. Shortly after it was installed I decided to test one of its more prominent features.
It seems to work, though it does feel a little bit narrower than our previous shower curtain. Hopefully water seepage won't be a problem.
-It has been a few days since I last did a full balcony garden run-down, and it seems that it may be a few more still, but I thought that I would try to post a photo of the overall progress. As you might be able to see, things are definitely growing well. I am just hoping that I don't run out of season before all of the plants finally reach maturity.
The largest change that is likely noticeable in this photo is that the tomatoes are no longer all next to each other on the brick rail. Unfortunately, over the last few days the plants have become tall enough that they are now collapsing under their own weight and have had to be moved to locations that provide some support. Two of the pots are resting against the rail while the other two have been crammed in corners. I am hoping that this solution will get me through the rest of the summer, though I am a little worried that eventually even this will not be enough.
-Many of you likely won't be surprised to learn that I haven't been finding this heat particularly pleasant. Aside from spending much of my day sweating rather profusely, I have also been rendered somewhat less productive because of the conditions. Fortunately, I was able to get some work in before the sun made my bedroom workspace unbearable. Now that evening is approaching I am hoping that things will go back towards a reasonable temperature and that I might be able to head back to work.
-A few days ago I was able to harvest a few more pea pods and two beans from my balcony garden. As with the first batch, these were used in a beef stir-fry.
Just yesterday I finally made my first leaf lettuce harvest, just in time for Neil to use it with the burgers we had for dinner. I think he may have killed off the rest at some point today.
I am expecting a few more pea pods, some beans, and more lettuce to be ready in the near future. As you can see, the tomatoes are still a ways away from being ready to harvest (the water melon and pepper are even further away).
-Yesterday evening we acquired a new shower curtain. Shortly after it was installed I decided to test one of its more prominent features.
It seems to work, though it does feel a little bit narrower than our previous shower curtain. Hopefully water seepage won't be a problem.
-It has been a few days since I last did a full balcony garden run-down, and it seems that it may be a few more still, but I thought that I would try to post a photo of the overall progress. As you might be able to see, things are definitely growing well. I am just hoping that I don't run out of season before all of the plants finally reach maturity.
The largest change that is likely noticeable in this photo is that the tomatoes are no longer all next to each other on the brick rail. Unfortunately, over the last few days the plants have become tall enough that they are now collapsing under their own weight and have had to be moved to locations that provide some support. Two of the pots are resting against the rail while the other two have been crammed in corners. I am hoping that this solution will get me through the rest of the summer, though I am a little worried that eventually even this will not be enough.
Monday, August 10, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 341
-We are presently in the midst of a rainy period, which is somewhat of a contrast to the past few days. The other major change in the weather is that it is a fair bit cooler today that it has been the past few weeks. It is cool enough that I might actually be tempted to put on a sweater at some point today or this evening.
-As is common for us these days, Neil and I had an Ultimate game last night. Unfortunately, only 5 of our players showed up so we didn't have enough people to field a full team. In the end we picked up a few players from the other team and played a game. In the game that we did play, though it won't count in the traditional sense, we managed to win by a score of 15 to 7. In the second half we score 8 points to their 2.
Unfortunately, one of the points, I believe the last point of the first half, I managed to jam one of my toes. Though I didn't feel much at the time, this were definitely a little less pleasant by the time I tried to go to sleep last night.
-On Saturday night after catching a few Busker Festival shows with Neil and Rebecca we decided to head to the local casino to see if would could also catch some free live entertainment there. As it turns out, we missed the final show of the evening by about an hour, but we did manage to spot Team Gushue.
-On the subject of spotting people, as we were walking to the Busker Festival I ran into a friend with whom I attended junior high and high school who seems to be living here now. It was quite fun to run into someone who I haven't really seen much since high school.
-I just baked another batch of bread. This time I ended up with four loaves. Hopefully I will have room for about three of them in the freezer.
-In terms of food production, my balcony garden seems to be on a good roll these past few days. Aside from continued pea growth, I have finally spotted about a dozen scarlet runner beans, though they are still quite a ways away from being ready for consumption. The tomatoes are also continuing to grow quite rapidly. At last count I had about 20 tomatoes ranging from as small as only millimeters cross to about as large as a full-sized grape. I am really looking forward to further harvesting activities.
-As this post makes clear, I have been doing a very good job of avoiding my school/thesis related work. I guess I should try to put a few hours in starting now. I really wish that I wasn't so skilled in the art of procrastination, it really doesn't seem to help me out all that much.
-As is common for us these days, Neil and I had an Ultimate game last night. Unfortunately, only 5 of our players showed up so we didn't have enough people to field a full team. In the end we picked up a few players from the other team and played a game. In the game that we did play, though it won't count in the traditional sense, we managed to win by a score of 15 to 7. In the second half we score 8 points to their 2.
Unfortunately, one of the points, I believe the last point of the first half, I managed to jam one of my toes. Though I didn't feel much at the time, this were definitely a little less pleasant by the time I tried to go to sleep last night.
-On Saturday night after catching a few Busker Festival shows with Neil and Rebecca we decided to head to the local casino to see if would could also catch some free live entertainment there. As it turns out, we missed the final show of the evening by about an hour, but we did manage to spot Team Gushue.
-On the subject of spotting people, as we were walking to the Busker Festival I ran into a friend with whom I attended junior high and high school who seems to be living here now. It was quite fun to run into someone who I haven't really seen much since high school.
-I just baked another batch of bread. This time I ended up with four loaves. Hopefully I will have room for about three of them in the freezer.
-In terms of food production, my balcony garden seems to be on a good roll these past few days. Aside from continued pea growth, I have finally spotted about a dozen scarlet runner beans, though they are still quite a ways away from being ready for consumption. The tomatoes are also continuing to grow quite rapidly. At last count I had about 20 tomatoes ranging from as small as only millimeters cross to about as large as a full-sized grape. I am really looking forward to further harvesting activities.
-As this post makes clear, I have been doing a very good job of avoiding my school/thesis related work. I guess I should try to put a few hours in starting now. I really wish that I wasn't so skilled in the art of procrastination, it really doesn't seem to help me out all that much.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Done
So it is done. About twenty minutes ago I finished my final essay of the semester. All I have left is an exam, which happens to be for the same course.
Once I finish the exam I just have the thesis to focus on until the end of August. Should be fun.
My present problem is that I am hepped up on naps and energy drink because I was expecting an all-nighter that I ended up not needing to pull. Hopefully I will manage to get to sleep in a reasonable amount of time because I have an 8:30 AM class tomorrow. Sadly, in the best case scenario is that I will get a little less than five hours, which isn't quite enough as far as I am concerned.
In some ways the 8:30 class isn't my biggest fear. My biggest fear is dealing the with class I have immediately after, which runs from 11:30 to 2:30. I imagine that I might not get as much as I would hope from this class.
On a moderately unrelated note, the Grad House closing event will be taking place tomorrow starting at 1:00 PM. At the moment I am thinking of possibly heading over after my last class, and then returning home for a nap. For those of you in the region, this event may be worth noting, even if you don't plan on attending. The other key aspect of the event is that they are planning on having free barbeque, which was fine the last time I had it at this location.
Anyway, enough procrastinating. If I want to catch even 4.5 hours of sleep I need to get moving.
Once I finish the exam I just have the thesis to focus on until the end of August. Should be fun.
My present problem is that I am hepped up on naps and energy drink because I was expecting an all-nighter that I ended up not needing to pull. Hopefully I will manage to get to sleep in a reasonable amount of time because I have an 8:30 AM class tomorrow. Sadly, in the best case scenario is that I will get a little less than five hours, which isn't quite enough as far as I am concerned.
In some ways the 8:30 class isn't my biggest fear. My biggest fear is dealing the with class I have immediately after, which runs from 11:30 to 2:30. I imagine that I might not get as much as I would hope from this class.
On a moderately unrelated note, the Grad House closing event will be taking place tomorrow starting at 1:00 PM. At the moment I am thinking of possibly heading over after my last class, and then returning home for a nap. For those of you in the region, this event may be worth noting, even if you don't plan on attending. The other key aspect of the event is that they are planning on having free barbeque, which was fine the last time I had it at this location.
Anyway, enough procrastinating. If I want to catch even 4.5 hours of sleep I need to get moving.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
The final sprint to the finish line
It seems that my final essay of the term is due tomorrow morning at 11:30. As of yesterday I was very worried about completing it on time. While I am feeling a little better at the moment, having just printed a draft to edit, I am still not completely comfortable about the status of things as the presently stand. I guess that is what happens when you race to the finish.
The rather unfortunate coincidence of the day was that I had to head from 5:30 to 6:30 to attend an important school related social engagement. Fortunately, I was able to catch the bus a little earlier than I had hoped and then get a ride home from a friend.
Back to work.
The rather unfortunate coincidence of the day was that I had to head from 5:30 to 6:30 to attend an important school related social engagement. Fortunately, I was able to catch the bus a little earlier than I had hoped and then get a ride home from a friend.
Back to work.
Monday, April 06, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 301
-Today was another overcast day, though we did manage to get a few minutes of something approaching sun later in the afternoon. I am a little worried that I will be hit by rain on my walk to school tomorrow, though maybe I will luck out and manage to miss it.
-It seems that there are now about six tomato plants visible. The few that were showing yesterday have shown signs of great improvement since yesterday. It seems that he tallest is now approaching 2 centimeters. If this rate of growth keeps up Neil will have fresh tomatoes in no time.
-I feel that the beans have really slowed down. The fourth bean plant doesn't seem to have grown much at all in the past week while the other three are definitely not racing along the string as quickly as they were. Hopefully this slowdown can be attributed to them getting less sun, and that more sun means that they will continue their growth spurt.
-I was able to crank out a two loads of laundry today. Unfortunately, as I was hanging my socks up to dry I learned that I had forgotten one of my socks when I was loading the washer. I hate having one sock of a pair clean while the other is dirty, it seems to really throw things off.
-I have an essay due on Thursday that I am further behind on than I would like. Hopefully I will find to get 'er done between now and then.
-While listening to the most recent episode of Stop Podcasting Yourself today I learned that one of the co-hosts, Dave Shumka, will be performing at the upcoming Halifax Comedy Festival. While I don't think that I can afford some of the fancier shows, I think that there are at least one or two shows in which Mr. Shumka will be performing that are in my price range. Hopefully I might be able to talk Neil or others into attending with me
-It seems that there are now about six tomato plants visible. The few that were showing yesterday have shown signs of great improvement since yesterday. It seems that he tallest is now approaching 2 centimeters. If this rate of growth keeps up Neil will have fresh tomatoes in no time.
-I feel that the beans have really slowed down. The fourth bean plant doesn't seem to have grown much at all in the past week while the other three are definitely not racing along the string as quickly as they were. Hopefully this slowdown can be attributed to them getting less sun, and that more sun means that they will continue their growth spurt.
-I was able to crank out a two loads of laundry today. Unfortunately, as I was hanging my socks up to dry I learned that I had forgotten one of my socks when I was loading the washer. I hate having one sock of a pair clean while the other is dirty, it seems to really throw things off.
-I have an essay due on Thursday that I am further behind on than I would like. Hopefully I will find to get 'er done between now and then.
-While listening to the most recent episode of Stop Podcasting Yourself today I learned that one of the co-hosts, Dave Shumka, will be performing at the upcoming Halifax Comedy Festival. While I don't think that I can afford some of the fancier shows, I think that there are at least one or two shows in which Mr. Shumka will be performing that are in my price range. Hopefully I might be able to talk Neil or others into attending with me
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Theatre
What a week.
On Wednesday night Neil and I attended a stand-up show at undergraduate bar. Tonight Neil and I are going to try to make it to a student theatre production.
Actually, the event we are hoping to attend is likely to be comprised of a few productions, somewhere between 1 and 9 one act plays written by the Dalhousie theatre students. At the moment this is basically all of the information we have, we don't know anything about any of the plays we might be seeing.
The key element in our decision to attend is that admittance is free.
Hopefully Neil can manage to get out of the shower and dressed quickly. I would really rather not be late.
Given that I also attended two public lectures this week, it is beginning to appear that I might be more cultured than yogurt.
On Wednesday night Neil and I attended a stand-up show at undergraduate bar. Tonight Neil and I are going to try to make it to a student theatre production.
Actually, the event we are hoping to attend is likely to be comprised of a few productions, somewhere between 1 and 9 one act plays written by the Dalhousie theatre students. At the moment this is basically all of the information we have, we don't know anything about any of the plays we might be seeing.
The key element in our decision to attend is that admittance is free.
Hopefully Neil can manage to get out of the shower and dressed quickly. I would really rather not be late.
Given that I also attended two public lectures this week, it is beginning to appear that I might be more cultured than yogurt.
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