t = Armageddon + 17

So..its been slightly over two weeks since the T***** was sent off to meet its doom (i.e. ruthless examiners who will no doubt be underlining all typographical errors and making comments in the margins with a vengeance). I'm just beginning to breathe normally again. So what have I been up to in the meantime?

Nothing much. Oh yes. Except for reading and the odd mahjong session or two. And taking over classes for other TAs.

I wish I can go away though. At one stage, the only thought that was sustaining me through the dark days was traveling after submission. That was my one burning motivation. I wanted to travel, to take my own iron rooster, not through China like Paul Theroux did. I was yearning for a modest ride up the KTM tracks, all the way to the north, crossing the border into Thailand and going all the way north. To not have a plan or be constraint by schedules. I had wanted to visit Taroko National Park after my conference in Taipei, but had to come straight back aimmediately after as I hadn't handed in then, missing Jean in Bangkok as well. That was a bummer as we had been planning to travel together for the longest time. Maybe we'll hang out in February. Destination Vietnam!

Now, I can't leave the country. I have work to do. Papers to write, data to collect, more analyses but I can't seem to get it in me to start on it. These couple of weeks, a colleague from Brisbane is in town, and after that, another colleague from Hong Kong flies in. By the time its all done, I will have to take time out for the viva. Only silver lining in the cloud? I'm taking off for KL tomorrow night. But have to come back on Sunday night as I've got a prac on Monday afternoon. Well.. better than nothing I suppose.

Been reading too. Fiction. What a fresh change of scenery from journals! So far I've polished off two books and am on to the third. Nothing ambitious. Just Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchet). I've read Good Omens before when it was just published, but have forgotten the plot. It was a good re-acquaintance, much like catching up with an old friend only to find he hasn't changed very much and is still as funny and charming as ever. It got me thinking why I never delved more into the world of Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman in my teens, but then I realised that it was because not long after that, I got sucked into the world of Peter Singer and Animal Liberation.

I received the omnibus edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for my birthday (YAY!) the other day, so am starting on it again (read it many moons ago but never did finish - life simply got in the way). Its a heavy tome so it will do nicely as bedside fodder for the coming weeks. Because I need a book to take away for the weekend, I bought Nick Hornby's The Complete Polysyllabic Spree yesterday. It was a toss up between this and Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's Long Way Round. Well.. maybe next time Ewan. And there's old Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead. This book and I go a looong way back. I'm beginning to suspect its a book I am doomed to never complete.

I actually started on it 7 (!) years ago. It was the book I brought to keep me company through my travels around Europe. I didn't finish it then. For some reason, I put it down and started on The Lost World instead. Anyway, with the lost world out of the way, I returned to Ayn. I was back in London then, and I lost the book at a tube station. It was so fast. I placed it on top of the phone while making a phone call to a friend's place to get directions to his flat, ended the conversation, walked away and realised it was missing within 50m. Was gone when I came back and that was that. Anyway, I picked up another copy while in Philippines 2 years ago (they get very cheap books there! Third world book pricing, I'm told) and it has been sitting on my shelf since. I always mean to start on it again, but some other book will come along and I will return it to its shelf and devour the new comer. Its the same story all the time, even this time. You guessed it. Before Neverwhere came along, guess what I was reading. Actually, I do want to read Bill Bryson's The life and times of the thunderbolt kid too. So I guess Howard Roark will have to take a back seat again.

It's a little like the little guy in the background whom you don't quite care for but is always there when you need him huh? Oh well.. as Nick says, reading should be for pleasure. I'll get round to Ayn one of these days.

And here's another clip of Asher!

It is a 40 s clip, but reality, the interesting bit happens between 12-18s and it goes downhill after that. I don't have movie editing software and I suppose I need to work on that. He can already sing a recognizable version of Jesus loves me so I'm trying to get that on video.