I'm home in Ireland for a fortnight, because it's summer, and because I'm playing guitar at a friend's wedding. I've got nothing pressing to do, so since my arrival yesterday, I've played GTA IV, SimCity 4, read some of Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and, because sport is something I'm getting nostalgic for, took out an old skateboard and an old football. The skateboard is not very good, but I tightened its trucks and tried moving - which was hard, as the wheels are too soft. Then I tried ollieing, the one trick I was decent at when I skateboarded five or so years ago (I even had a half-pipe in my back garden that friends of mine and I made. That's gone now, sadly: it was really good fun). I succeeded. Then I tried kickflips, and, to my immense surprise, landed the second one. I have a suspicion that I never before landed one - although I was certainly able to come very close. I couldn't land another one, but I didn't try very hard. Then I tried a heelflip; no success. I could barely flip the board fully. I definitely used to be able to heelflip.
Anyway: after this I got bored and went looking for a football. I found an old one which was actually quite good; but it was a bit soft, so I went hunting for a pump. I found one: the nozzle looked too big, and it was really rusty, but I used it anyway. The ball and pump are both now in the bin.
I was in London last week (sorry
johnny9fingers: I meant to tell you, but I didn't get around to it, and I didn't want to use the internet while actually in London) with some friends from St. Andrews. There, I saw some rock bands playing (Fun. and Rolo Tomassi), and since then I keep thinking to myself how much I need to be in a band. It's such a wonderful, wonderful feeling, being on stage. And it'd be something much more active than philosophy and reading and classical guitar, and this, I think, would be extremely good for me. So would exercise. I swim a bit these days - two or three times a week - but the North Sea does not really lend itself to extended swims, being rather cold, so I only stay in for ten minutes or less; and I walk in and out of college every day, and this amounts to nearly an hour's walk. So I'm not unfit. But I need to get actually tired too. For my mind, see. I think it will make me less laconic, more excited, more imaginative. I'm not entirely sure why this is to be desired, but I want at least to find out. I feel that it is to be desired.
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Incidentally, I got the marks back from everything I've done through the year. Working out the average, it turns out that I missed out on a distinction by a small amount. This is very unfortunate politically - because it is this grade that I'll be using to apply for PhDs, and it's not good enough to give me a good chance of getting into the places I was very keen to go to, such as Harvard, Princeton and Oxford (still less of getting in with funding). However, it's (a) probably a fair mark, and (b) by no means a bad mark.
Anyway: after this I got bored and went looking for a football. I found an old one which was actually quite good; but it was a bit soft, so I went hunting for a pump. I found one: the nozzle looked too big, and it was really rusty, but I used it anyway. The ball and pump are both now in the bin.
I was in London last week (sorry
johnny9fingers: I meant to tell you, but I didn't get around to it, and I didn't want to use the internet while actually in London) with some friends from St. Andrews. There, I saw some rock bands playing (Fun. and Rolo Tomassi), and since then I keep thinking to myself how much I need to be in a band. It's such a wonderful, wonderful feeling, being on stage. And it'd be something much more active than philosophy and reading and classical guitar, and this, I think, would be extremely good for me. So would exercise. I swim a bit these days - two or three times a week - but the North Sea does not really lend itself to extended swims, being rather cold, so I only stay in for ten minutes or less; and I walk in and out of college every day, and this amounts to nearly an hour's walk. So I'm not unfit. But I need to get actually tired too. For my mind, see. I think it will make me less laconic, more excited, more imaginative. I'm not entirely sure why this is to be desired, but I want at least to find out. I feel that it is to be desired.---
Incidentally, I got the marks back from everything I've done through the year. Working out the average, it turns out that I missed out on a distinction by a small amount. This is very unfortunate politically - because it is this grade that I'll be using to apply for PhDs, and it's not good enough to give me a good chance of getting into the places I was very keen to go to, such as Harvard, Princeton and Oxford (still less of getting in with funding). However, it's (a) probably a fair mark, and (b) by no means a bad mark.