Time Passes

Apologies for not writing for some time. After the conference last week (which was more or less everything I thought it would be) I had a busy couple of days trying to construct a computer program before I was through with uni. I'm now towards the end of a "week off" but in truth it's been somewhere in between a working week and a holiday.

I've been to the cinema a few times, watched a couple of DVDs, but have also spent quite a few hours pouring over diagrams of knots (have I ever mentioned that my research area is knot theory? I'm not sure that I have...) to put together one last piece of research before the calendar flips over to October and I start writing up in earnest. With a bit of luck, a lot of hard work and a hope that I don't develop carpal tunnel syndrome I should have my thesis finished not too far into the new year.

I sort of promised myself that I wouldn't go to uni at all this week, but I ended up on and around the campus on Tuesday afternoon to meet a friend for a drink. The campus was overflowing with freshers, as term starts properly next week. You almost couldn't move without treading on some spiky-haired poser wearing a "funny" t-shirt and a sticker prominently stuck to his chest advertising some infamous student bar crawl.

That preceding sentence makes me feel old (and quite catty too, come to think of it). Seeing all of those "kids" the other day makes me feel old. It's eight years since I started university, and things (social, entertainment, internet) are so different now. Most of them will be younger than my little sister if they're going straight from high school to university.

To be fair to them though, my problem isn't so much with them as with what they represent: another summer over, and almost certainly my last summer at Liverpool.

(this post might very well be all the proof I need that I shouldn't blog first thing in the morning; let's hope that I have something other than minor observations and insecurities to offer next time)