25 Random things about me meme

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I have been in education since I was 4, and when I finally get my thesis I'm planning on staying in academia for as long as possible.

2. I had the same bedroom from when I was born until I went to university.

3. In an ideal world when I eventually have children I'd love to be able to stay home with them for as long as possible (both made harder and easier by #1)

4. I read everything and anything, books, magazines, backs of cereal packets.

5. I was baptised in the United Reformed Church (to parents from with methodist and Church of Scotland/Church in Wales backgrounds), chose to get confirmed in the Anglican/Episcopalian church, and have attended Church of England and Methodist churches since.At and since uni I've never deliberately looked for a CofE church, just a church where the preaching is good and I felt comfortable.

6. I didn't wear own a skirt that came above my knee until I was 22.

7. I would love to work on a short research contract in Antartica.

8. I adore travelling, I like flying and long train journeys, taking the boat and going to new places. I get this from my Dad.

9. My parents brought us up as far away from the sea as possible but took us there practically every holiday. Consequently being by the sea is one of my favourite places.

10. Places I have lived for over one month: Earls Barton, London, New Jersey, Wellingborough, Lusaka.

11. Cities I wouldn't mind living in: Philly, LA, Denver, Portland, Seattle, Exeter, San Francisco.

12. In sixth form when I was stressed I used to bake gingerbread men.

13. My new year's resolution for this year was to cook a new recipe once a week, I'm managing to do this more than half the time.

14. I have been on been on BBC World Service (in Spanish).

15. I prefer driving on country roads to motorways.

16. I adore thunderstorms.

17. I have a habit of finding good accommodation online.

18. I'm a nightowl and am allergic to mornings.

19. I was nicknamed "Staircase Mum" in my first year at university in halls.

20. I have/do play the recorder (descant&treble), flute, cello, piano, sing and used to compose.

21. I want to learn Hebrew.

22. I love to watch films and will watch pretty much anything within reason.

23. I can survive a day without coffee, but a latte or very milky coffee is generally the closest I get to breakfast.

24. My favourite meme is the five things meme (what you were doing 10 years ago, to do list, snacks I love, if I was a millionnaire, places I've lived, jobs I've had).

25. My Mum says I was born in the wrong climatic zone, I love heat and sun and am not a fan of damp, grey days.

Movie meme: I'm not a film geek really...

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Universal Soldier
(x ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG (original)
Total so far: 12

(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
(x) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring (the original and the Hollywood remake)
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving -MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 22

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 30

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(x) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 40

(x) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled (original only)
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
(x) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 50

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
(x) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 60

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She’s All That
(x) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 73

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday (seen both)
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 86

( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Kippendorf’s Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
(x) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 92

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 96

( ) Baseketball
(x) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History
( ) Three
Total so Far: 101

(x) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
(x) Willard
Total so far: 109

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 115

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 119

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 123

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total so far: 130

( ) Battle Royale
( ) Battle Royale 2
(x) Brazil
(x) Contact
(x) Cube
(x) Dr. Strangelove
( ) Enlightenment Guaranteed
(x) Four Rooms
(x) Memento
(x) Pi
(x) Requiem for a Dream
(x) Pulp Fiction
(x) Reservoir Dogs
(x) Run Lola Run
( ) Russian Ark
(x) Serenity
(x) Sin City
(x) Snatch
(x) Spider
(x) The Sixth Sense
(x) The Village
( ) Waking Life
( ) Zatoichi
( ) Ikiru
(x) The Seven Samurai
( ) Brick
( ) Akira

Total 148

OK I've watched a lot of movies (including many many not on this list that I deem classics)

100 things I may or may not have done meme

Bold what you've done. . .As seen at various blogs/.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo.
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (not good when sleeping in a tent)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. (Been there but in 2003 they didn't let you up there)
18. Grown my own vegetables. (grown my own herbs)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (98% totality)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run. (hit a full rounder once)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted (I had lots of friends who did art at school)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (well a mock one in Burbank)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check. Amazingly no.
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House. I've been to the White House; I've never been inside.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. My sister sunk. Heh.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee. First and second time within 2 hours of each other.
100. Ridden an elephant

Five things meme

Seen this in so many places, thought it would make a nice break from attacking my thesis.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago.

1. In my first year of a Chemistry degree, enjoying labs and french but not the rest.
2. About to do to my first ringing society dinner and start a very serious long term relationship.
3. Loving exploring and discovering London.
4. Still managing to work, ring, play my flute and sing.
5. Getting used to having high speed on tap internet on my first computer.

5 things on my to do list today

1. Bake a cake for a friend's birthday.
2. Pack for the ringing society dinner and weekend in London.
3. Work on finishing off a chapter and formatting stuff on others.
4. Have lunch with my Grandmother.
5. Chase up my fellow convenors for session at international conference in April.
   

5 snacks I love

1. Hot chocolate
2. Sesame snaps
3. Jammy dodgers
4. My Mum's version of Pret a Manger's Love bars
5. Grandma's chocolate crispies

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire

1. Find a job that let me do research, teach but in the USA and part-time
   
2. Donate to various causes
   
3. Go on an international travelling gap year
   
4. Buy a house (or several in the USA, UK, possibly a small island off Belize)
5. Pay off my student loans
   

5 places I've lived

1. small village, Northants
   
2. London (South Kensington, Turnpike Lane, Edgeware Road, Tottenham, Bow, Honor Oak Park, Wimbledon, Bloomsbury)
   
3. Summer Camp, New Jersey
   
4. Lusaka, Zambia
   
5. another small village, Northants
   

5 jobs I've had

1. Music teacher (many different forms including camp counsellor, Saturday morning music school)
   
2. Credit controller
3. Research Assistant
4. Lecturer
5. Research Chemist
   

Big questions in Geography

In the attack each chapter in turn thesis strategy that is occurring in response to the great PhD meltdown of 2008 I'm currently going through my introduction.

Something I'm finding hard, and I'm sure its the imposter complex along with not wanting to sound big-headed is the contribution of my work to the big questions in my discipline. In my case this is Geography/Environmental Sciences.

Cutter et al. (2002) addressed the issue of what the big questions in Geography are. The article is from an American stand point (similar to Pattison, 1964), having come out of discussions out of AAG# but is useful in shaping my argument somewhat.

Cutter et al. (2002: 307) think that the 10 big questions are:
1. What makes places and landscapes different from one another, and why is this important?
2. Is there a deeply held human need to organize space by creating arbitrary borders, boundaries, and districts?
3. How do we delineate space?
4. Why do people, resources, and ideas move?
5. How has the earth been transformed by human action?
6. What role will virtual systems play in learning about the world?
7. How do we measure the unmeasurable?
8. What role has geographical skill played in the evolution of human civilization, and what role can it play in predicting the future?
9. How and why do sustainability and vulnerability change from place to place and over time?
10.What is the nature of spatial thinking, reasoning, and abilities?

My work fits into (5) and (9) as it involves contamination of resources (water and food), coping strategies that may be sustainable (urban agriculture, food networks, food security), issues of vulnerability (the poorer members of society having less choice and therefore perhaps less concern with risk*) and alongside these questions concerns perceptions and policy relevance.

Alongside my usual pigeonholes of environment and development (including health, pollution, toxicity, sustainability) its sometimes easier for me to say what big questions I'm trying to answer as my work by its very nature is inter/transdisciplinary.

#The differences between 'geography' in the British and American contexts let alone in university departments is definitely a subject for a post all of its own.

* Something that has often come up in focus group discussion with urban agriculturalists in the field is that they say they can't afford (in economic terms) to think about the quality of the food they eat, only getting enough in quantity. I wonder if anyone has done any research at what point in the economic growth cycle people start to become concerned with quality rather than just quantity issues (like when people start spending money on non-essential items).

References
Cutter, SL., Golledge, R. and Graf, WL.(2002)The Big Questions in Geography, The Professional Geographer, 54(3): 305-317. ( DOI link )
Pattison, WD. (1964) The Four Traditions of Geography, Journal of Geography, 63(5):211-216.

InaDWriMo

International Dissertation Writing Month (InaDWriMo) is a variant on Blog a post each day of the month (NaBloMo) which is a variant on write a novel month and I've signed up at Dr Brazen Hussy .

I've had a major thesis melt down this past couple of weeks (which had been coming for a long time) so this has come at the right time.

My aim is to finish the four chapters that are mostly written (have had comments from one or both supervisors) that is the study site, heavy metal levels, food consumption and the risk measures/health issues chapter. Also I want to have the theory and methodology for the last empirical chapter done (this is the bulk of new writing). This is not word busting just sorting stuff out really. Therefore, in an ideal world (but its not in my official target) I'd make a good go at the THQ chapter (which uses stuff from the HM and food chapters). I have all the figures for this from various EGU posters and after my main supervisor's revelation that he is OK with 1000 word chapters it can be quickly writte. Especially as my office next door neighbour got rave reviews for an emprical chapter written in a day. However, I'm newly enthused about getting through the hoops to get the piece of paper so we shall see.

I love designing research, carrying it out, talking about it, doing posters, but have an issue with writing. I'm also really missing teaching this term (I've been banned so I don't get distracted).

I probably should also mention that I don't really like working on Sundays. This often becomes not working the whole weekend, something I'm trying to change or sometimes I work half of Sunday. Sometimes its weird as after ringing, church, coffee its 2pm and I'm raring to go.

US States

Well, its the 4th of July, the day the US celebrates kicking out the British once and for all. So while my American friends enjoy a day off and fireworks (I still shake my head at the difference in attitude in fireworks between here and there) I thought I'd give a brief resume of the US states that are ticked off, I've been to more than the below but they are edited highlights. I am a bit of a travel geek evidenced by the itinerary I sent to my parents and sister for my upcoming trip (which I am so counting down the days to, haven't quite got down to hours, but am close).

New York: NYC (June 2001, September 2001 [a whole post in itself], August 2003), Hamilton (August 2006)
New Jersey: Elmer (my home for 9 weeks June-August 2001)
Pennsylvania: Philly (June 2001), Wynnewood (August & September 2001), Reading (August 2001)
Washington DC: (August 2001)
Massachusetts: Boston, Amherst (August 2001, September 2001)
California: LA, SF, Merced, Yosemite (August 2003)
Washington: Seattle, Vashon (August 2003)
Oregon: Portland (August 2003)
Illinois: Chicago (August 2007)
South Dakota: Rapid City, for Mount Rushmore (August 2007). I was so surprised by South Dakota, it was filled with National Parks, another place I want to spend some more time.
Colorado: Denver(August 2007), I adored the whole feel of Denver and Colorado, I'd love to spend some more time there and go to Boulder.
Utah: (August 2007) Train from Denver to San Francisco went through Utah, I got off the train in Salt Lake City as I'd done so much about the Mormons in GCSE History when we did the American West.
Arizonia: (August 2007) Flew into Phoenix, drove to Flagstaff, visited Grand Canyon and Sedona.
Florida: Orlando and Key West (August 2007) on Dad's tour, Key West was my choice to chill out after the rest of the trip. We drove through Miami and I would have liked to spend some more time there.
Georgia: (November 2007) for a friend's wedding
Texas: (November 2007) visiting friends in Austin while I was out there for the wedding

This trip I'm not going to any new states this time (unless a certain someone has other ideas) but am picking up some new places. Its going to be good to re-visit DC and Philly along with spending some time in LA in less of a tourist mode. We are however staying in an amazing B&B in La Quinta for Joshua Tree. This is a place that has lots of the features that we talked about in a dream house, except being by a lake instead of the sea.

the past two weeks or so...

Random points from the past two weeks or so (in no order so whatsoever chronologically or of importance).

* Five days in South Wales with Mum, sister and Grandmother. View from living room was the sea (and the north coast of Devon if clear). Walks on the beach, sun, sea, and an awful lot of writing.

* Coffee , Lunch, canal side walk. pretty train journey, lots of good conversation (including some while we're on trains going on opposite directions) on different occasions with a good friend. Although we've known each other for 9 nine years (with some ups and downs) this friendship has really developed into something different and deeper in the past six months. Where it goes neither of us knows but are happy in the friendship.

* A good friend from the USA being over with a people-to-people ambassadors trip. Last time I saw her was the day after her wedding in November, and will spend the weekend with her in August on my way back from the west coast to the UK going via Atlanta.


* A series of very emotionally honest emails with the boy triggered by me discovering some old emails from four and a half years ago in the college email changeover and sending a bit to him. Nothing brand new from either of us but sharing stuff neither of us would have done a couple of years ago. This along with some amazing text and a 2 hour skype conversation confirms the fact that to quote something from Glamour magazine this month about long distance relationships "you have to write your own love story". The boy and I know what we have and are OK with it, despite that fact that it doesn't have a name. Also knowing he is looking forward to my trip as much as I am is very reassuring.

* I have an outfit for the boy's sister's wedding, and shoes and the most amazing earrings. I'm not normally this girly but its a fairly important thing for us and I'll be meeting most of his extended family en masse.

* Writing is getting there on the thesis. I'm very much in the get it done and over (my finances really need this to happen) and its progressing.

My life as a flikr mosaic

I really like flikr and need to get myself organised with it and put some of my photos up.

So from Cady.

1. type your answer to each of the questions below into flickr search.
2. using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into big huge lab’s mosaic maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

the questions:
1. what is your first name?
2. what is your favourite food? right now?
3. what high school did you go to?
4. what is your favourite colour?
5. who is your celebrity crush?
6. what is your favourite drink?
7. what is your dream vacation?
8. what is your favourite dessert?
9. what do you want to be when you grow up?
10. what do you love most in life?
11. what is one word that describes you?
12. what is your flickr name

I'm amazed at some of the things that came up, a steam train is not the first thing associated with my secondary/high school.

What Advanced Degree Should I Get

Pretty accurate seeing as I'm doing Social Sciences, my thesis is more physical science than humanities than I thought it would be when I started out but...

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Book List

From Maude in Progress .

The top 100 or so books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users.
Bold the books you have read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish.

I always finish a book even if it’s a struggle. From this list I don’t see much I had to read for school. Perhaps a reflection of once you get GCSE English at 16 you don’t need to satisfy any other English requirement. For GCSE English we did 1984 (but I’d already read it I was and am a bit of a George Orwell fan), Macbeth and Flowers for Algernon. We did Romeo and Juliet in Year 9 (8^th Grade) along with a bunch of 20^th Century young adult writing. The Aeneid was the set text for the literature component of my Latin exam so I’ve read it in both English and Latin. I found it bizarre that I did Latin literature and never French. Especially as I did a total of 7 years of French. I have read Camus, Beckett and a couple of other things in French though (when I had time to attempt to stop my French getting rusty).

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel (Although I've read it for teaching my undergraduate tutorials and lecturing about environmental determinism, as opposed to having to read it for a course I was taking)
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter (brought and read my first time in the US, I also re-read all the relevant American literature I had at the time including the Buccanneers by Edith Wharton)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves

The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion is this (?)
There is Confusion (?)
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid (in English and Latin, I was a geek at school and did Latin in my lunch hours)
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit (in Junior School)
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield

Life happens...

So in the past month I have (in no particular chronological or meaningfulness order)

* Been to a celidh (aka barn dance, square dance). I'd forgotten how much fun they are and we're planning on going to more. Unfortunately I'm going to be in the States when the Proms celidh is :-(

* Marked a whole load of exam papers. Personally, the incentive that worked for me (developed over my increasing teaching load over the last couple of years) is chocolate and sweets after so many papers marked.

* Written more than I thought on my thesis. Still having silly blocks over tiny silly things such as graph drawing but its all part of the process.

* Had some interesting conversations with friends. Why is it when you're single people decide to tell you they're interested even if you've known them for 9, 7 or 5 years (and know you're 'involved' with someone)?

* Been travel advisor to quite a few people on Vienna, New York, Zambia, London, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. I love travelling and sharing stuff about cool places with people so seriously considered just becoming a travel agent.

* Won a prize at a conference for my presentation. Quite a big thing but my non-uni friends don't seem to get how big a deal it is for me.

* Got shocked at how much petrol prices have risen just in the time that I've had my car (less than six months) a 10% rise. Luckily my car does just under 40 mpg and most of my journeys are at around 50 mph but its a bit shocking especially compared to how much petrol is in the US. I can't really complain about the weak dollar as I'll save far more when I'm there this summer from the exchange rate than suffer due to high oil price double impact.