Tuesday, November 1

Enjoying Halloween afternoon with a pint of... coffee

In the morning, a STATA course from the Oxford University Computer Services. In the afternoon, finalization of the core seminar paper, progress on the paper for Dr. Hurrell, and an attempt to prepare a presentation for tomorrow. There's a certain irony bound up in how, as my chances of having to present continue to increase, my level of preparation continues to plummet. Another irony - which Emily pointed out - is that our 'core' seminar occupies two hours a week, while we spend twice that amount being instructed in statistics: not terribly well, as it happens. When a group of clever and hardworking students despise and disparage a course as we have been, you can be fairly confident that the fault does not lie in ourselves.

Last night, I spoke with Kate for about an hour over Skype: Kate Dillon, in Victoria, not Kate from the IR M.Phil or Kate from the bloggers' gathering. Happily, she now has keys to go along with her desk in the Whale Lab at U.Vic. It's always interesting to get an update on what she is doing. Today also included a brief social pause, when I had coffee in my room with a collection of Wadham grad students. All sorts of curious political jostling seems to be surrounding the MCR elections, though I can truthfully proclaim myself completely indifferent to their outcome. I hope people don't get at one another's throats for no reason about it.

Tonight was very productive. I finished the last edit of the core seminar paper and printed the thing off. I did some good work on the paper for Dr. Hurrell, which I will finish and edit tomorrow evening, after the quantitative methods lecture. I spent an excellent collection of hours inside the SSL, finishing the relevant section from one book and making a good start on the second. I shall be back in there at nine tomorrow. I have come to appreciate the general wonderfulness of confined books; on their account, I shall have to learn how to read in libraries.

As I made my way into the library, I spoke with Bryony for a while at the intersection of St. Cross and Manor Roads. On the way out, I spoke for a little while with Rachel: a D.Phil student in development studies at Balliol. Who's to say that library time can't, in some brief and narrow sense, be social?

PS. Today begins my final month of twentyoneness. Any suggestions for how I should use my final weeks?

Posted by Milan at 12:01 AM