Today I met with my pseudo dissertation tutor to discuss a new subject for my dissertation. I say pseudo as she’s not my actual tutor - he’s galavanting in the Netherlands at the moment, as is his wont being Dutch; she’s just the tutor of the course where I got my new idea from.
This has been playing through my ipod headphones all day. Really hypnotic song, with amazing vocals (gusgus - deep inside)
It felt like it’d never come, but February is upon us! A hectic January was spent on placement, writing 20 000 words of utter tripe on various topics I knew little about. There was, of course, time to party amongst all the essays, with the Togis Towers housewarming being a highlight, let’s just say good intentions to be in the library on sunday morning were ruined by a vat of cider…
The supposed deadline for a response from dreamjob has long since passed. No news is good news, right? My post-masters plans are really rather dependent on this job, rather foolishly of me. But first things first, I’ve got the dissertation idea pretty much worked out (ask me in a month and it’ll be something different!) and it’s really rather current. The front page of the Times today talks of the need to improve cycle safety in the UK in the light of recent deaths (sobering thought alert: since 2001, 576 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 1275 cyclists have been killed on our roads) and this has caused a veritable torrent of tweets on the subject, even trending in the UK (#cyclesafe). Most recognise the need to protect cyclists but there is a vocal minority trotting out the usual negative stereotypes about cyclists and this is what I am basing my dissertation on, so thanks HATERZ!
Basically, I’m doing a comparative analysis of the discourses surrounding cycling in the UK and the Netherlands and how these relate to governmentality. There’s a real gap in the research in this area and you never know, some good might come of it (naiveté alert!)
Of all the New Year’s Resolutions I made, it seems I’m making the most progress on the hardest one, the Land’s End - John o’ Groats cycle. We’ve planned the route, tallying up at a total of 1567km and we’re going to camp along the route. No B&Bs for these boys! Now, to blow the dust off my racing bike that’s been chained up in the bike store these past few wet, windy months and get some practice kms in…
I never normally make resolutions, as I think of them as a bit silly really. Everyone wakes up (hungover) on NYD and thinks, ‘Wow, this year’s going to be so different to the last’ and it invariably isn’t. Then I realised, I’m at quite a crunch-point in my life and A LOT will have changed by this time next year. So, what’s the harm in being optimistic and setting out what I want to achieve this year. Who knows, maybe I’ll actual achieve some of it?!
1.) Complete a lejog cycle (that’s Land’s End - John o’Groats for those not in the know).
2.) Get job and new life down in London
3.) Improve on my woeful transition time in a triathlon
4.) Get operation, kick W-P-W into the ether. (Currently on waiting list)
5.) Write amazing dissertation that propels me to stardom amongst the cycling infrastructure community (*the* coolest group in the world)
6.) Get at least a merit on my Masters
7.) Take more advantage of the fact that I currently live 15 minutes’ cycling from the Peak District national park.
8.) Spend less time frittering away on the internet and put it to more constructive tasks, like reading and cycling
9.) Be much fitter by the time Ktown Crew Tour ‘12 to Wales rolls around
10.) Drink more (decaf) coffee with Rich and Bella
11.) Spend less time hungover (never. going. to happen.)
12.) Travel somewhere I’ve never been before
So I had the weekend free and the flat was going to be empty as H. is filming in Belfast, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to head back up north to K-Town. There is no noise of sirens or buses coming from outside, in fact I’ve heard birds tweeting for the first time in months. The weekend will be spent eating everything I can get my grubby little paws on and reading journal articles. I think my cat is enjoying having me home too, as she immediately jumped onto my bed and fell asleep.
Source: astoryofagrouchI have spent the last 4 days in bed at my parents house watching TV as a victim of something I like to call “the Knaresborough effect”.
Studies have shown that “the Knaresborough effect” usually kicks in after roughly 5 days of returning to Knaresborough after living away for any significant…
