Wednesday

[ellarien]

I just solved my first Sudoku puzzle. It took me about two hours and half the eraser on my pencil (proceeding by writing down all options for any square that looks reasonably constrained, and then eliminating). Obviously I need more practice. I also wonder if this would appeal to my mother.

Four things meme, via marykaykare

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE
Summer student, working on programs for the computational physics lab.
PostDoc in a Physics Department
PostDoc in a Mathematics Department
Scientist in a research institution.

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER
Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Sense and Sensibility
Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy.

FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN
Sheffield, England
Birmingham, England
London, England
Tucson, AZ

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
Stargate: SG1
CSI
Without a Trace
Law and Order

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION
North Wales (I was two.)
Leicester, England
The Lake District (every autumn from 1989-1993)
Sheffield, England. (every year.)


FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY
LiveJournal
Flickr
Userfriendly.org
Catoftheday.com

FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS
Salmon
Vegetarian Lasagna
Jelly donuts, especially the cinammon apple ones.
Fresh cherries


FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
Somewhere closer to home
Somewhere with real trees and water in the rivers
In front of a warm fire.



Year in review meme, via rilina and yhlee
(Take the first line from the first entry of every month.)

January:
I really hope today isn't going to set the pattern for the year. Right now I seem to have the choice between having my nose and sinuses full of liquescent glue and being zonked-out on antihistamines -- not that it takes much to do that.

February:
[Visited states map]
Florida, Illinois and Ohio only count by virtue of airports; all the others I've slept at least one night in.

March:
But first, a mini-rant ...

Electrolite pointed out this ... person's ... views on women science fiction writers:


April:
White Orchid Tree: There are several of these trees around the campus, and this week they've been laden with flowers.

May:
Suddenly realizing that this might be my last chance at the prickly-pear flowers for this year, I actually got up this morning and took the camera for a walk. I came back with 105 photos.

June:
My package was in my mailbox when I got in to work this morning, so I now have my copy of The Hallowed Hunt sitting on my imminent-reading shelf.

July:
Golden Chain Tree: Otherwise known as Cassia fistula, from the Indian subcontinent.

August:
Monday was a rather grey and gloomy day. We took our traditional walk up through Ecclesall
woods to Whirlow.

September:
On Saturday morning I was possessed of a sudden urge to go to Castleton, much farther into the Peak District than we normally penetrate.

October:
I really didn't intend to walk all the way to the mall and back this afternoon, but the bus there whipped past without even slowing down to check for people at the stop, and I just missed the bus back.

November:
I heard about this on the BBC at 1am: Male mice tune up to impress. Slowed down into the human hearing range, they sound remarkably bird-like.

December:
[on Pride and Prejudice (2005 movie)]
The short version: I enjoyed it, but thought it fell apart rather in the closing half-hour or so.