lokuro

So, about my PhD...



The road was long and stony and, as some of you might know, I had a lot of issues with my supervisor along the way~ (like A LOT, up to a point where I started to have real nightmares ... makes one wonder if the whole thing is worth it, ne?)

Anyway. I actually wanted to make it sound a lot more joyous than that :'D
Because - last week I had my thesis defense!! (which went astonishingly well, if I may say so myself! I am really proud for knowing all the answers! Well, except that really tricky one that's still haunting me, but that's still a good percentage...). All the sleepless nights finally paid off! :'D

So now I officially have the title of Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat. if you want to keep it personal ;D), as awarded within the program of "Physics of Biological and Complex Systems"!

(Figure 1: Bachelor, Master and Doctor theses, all lined up in a tasteful display of complimentary binding colours)

I've survived the long journey!

The logistics of our trip were a bit challenging; we went cruising around Portugal and were constantly packing/unpacking, checking maps and hoping to manage everything in time, so it was a tiny bit more stressful than my usual vacation. Also, on the second to last day I've got smashed against a beach full of seashell fragments and was profoundly bleeding on my way home (the train ride from the airport to my hometown should have lasted 2 hours, but due to a hurricane Xavier it took the DB almost 8 hours x_x Thanks for a nice welcome, Germany? :'D)

But it was totally worth it *_*

As soon as I catch up on sleep and adjust to the harsh weather change from 30°C to 12°C (86F --> 53F) with constant train and gale-force wind, I'll probably write more, but you can have a spoiler: I can totally recommend Portugal at this time of year. It was awesome ♥






P.S.: I've got a (very) belated B-Day present from M: Killing Time by Della Van Hise. He found that one edition of this legendary book that still has all the slashy bits >:)

Lately, my weekends were rather busy:

1) Last week I was attending the Bunsentagung in Rostock, presenting my poster, talking to my friends¹, not talking to and trying to avoid my supervisor, sampling free wine at the evening, listening to some nice British speakers, learning what you should never say during woman networking lunch meeting² and generally enjoying the view. Rostock is a nice, big city, with broad streets and bright buildings. I've only missed people on the streets, so maybe the city is haunted? Anyway. Here on tumblr (smaller, better organazied collection) or here on instagram (bigger, more chaotic one) are some pictures - enjoy Hafenstadt Rostock :D

¹the same friend has celebrated her thesis defense yesterday evening! Many good wishes to her! :D
(we were a bit nostalgic and when someone asked her how we met [7 years ago], she said anime was to blame. And I added 'yeah, an anime about psychic contract killers'... being part of the tiny Weiß Kreuz fandom is probably the best way to find a friend for life :3)

²do net ever mention that you are thinking about leaving the academia and giving industry a try. Every firm outside the academia is evil111!! Seriously, it was a similar experience as if someone would mention that he sometimes doubts the existence of the God Almighty, while speaking to his fellow cult members...

2) Next weekend my partner and I are attending a wedding :3 Relax, we are not the lucky pair :D (While I'd love to hear 'the marry me'-proposal - I admit, I love compliments of all kind - I just can't imagine saying 'yes', because... why should I? Why do people do this? Maybe I'll see it differently in 20 years? Who knows o.O")
Anyway, the journey starts on Friday morning and the wedding will take place in Nürnberg, so there will be even more photos of German cities next week :3

P.S.: There are several LJ entries, where I'd like to comment but somehow I am always too tired in the evening... next next weekend? ._."

So, I watched the record of La Fille du Pharaon from Bolshoi-theater (by Pierre Lacotte, Cast & further information)

And while the choreography was rather standard, I won’t dream of complaining because the show was such a beautiful spectacle! I mean - when you merge the famous Bolshoi ballet and the Ancient Egypt it simply has to look gorgeous. And yes, men in short skirts and with a lot of jewelry upon them (as well as women in business suits and with authoritative looks on their faces :3) are my kind of aesthetics~ (Skvortsov made a few mistakes, I admit, but he looks very good in really short skirts and pretty white dresses, so that’s okay I guess~) and Zakharova is always lovely, charming, bewitching and absolutely flawless ♥

Also, 10/10 for the sets, decorations and costumes (yes, I am superficial like that, but I can also cite wikipedia for my defense: "sets and costumes were reinvented with a minimum of realism and a maximum of grandeur.")

( Want to see the delusions of grandeur?Collapse )

(here are a few more screen-caps. Understandably, in most cases I was too distracted to think of it. Also, everybody just kept on moving and swirling around, making capturing them rather hard..)

Happy Easter to those celebrating :3

As for me, I must benefit from that holiday despite being a convinced atheist. On Friday M. & I were in the swimming pool (with some awesome water slides!) and yesterday my Dad visited me and we went for a long, nice walk in the nearby forest for about 4 hours or so (yes, our legs were complaining the next day, very much so, but it'd be a shame to waste the only sunny day!)

And today M. left to visit his parents and I can finally have some time for myself... Nobody’s home and I can act like an adult by making faces to my mirror reflection :P
( Silly grimacingCollapse )

The absolute highlight of all the experimental protocols I had to correct during my tutoring phase.

The students had to make a linear regression. To put it simple (if not very scientific): they had to join the dots into a line in the most sensible way. The result was very creative.



P.S.: and don’t even let me get started on the deep philosophy of a negative dissociation constant Kd ...

On the bright side: I rediscovered my love for YGO. That ridiculous show I watched ... um, good 12 years ago? My first anime love <3 Do any of my followers know this silly anime?

As for the professional side of my life: I feel a bit lost. My motivation is hiding in a deep, deep cage and I just can not lure that bitch sensitive creature out. May be I'm just tired because of all the other things happening, maybe the dislike of my supervisor is finally hitting the bottom, or maybe I am just lazy. (I am truly not a very hard-working person, I admit). Anyway. Instead of being productive I've registered for the new course "Chemistry & Philosophy" for the upcoming summer term. Actually, it was the motto of the lecture/seminar that got me hooked "Wer nichts als Chemie versteht, versteht auch die nicht recht" - by Lichtenberg (trans. "Those who know nothing but chemistry don't know that very well either").

I am also considering visiting CeBit or Hannover Messe (curious of seeing Obama life? Come to Hannover! :D) and generally doing something adult and important just outside of the university. Because working does not seem to work for me anymore? (ouch, that's one terrible pun x_x) Maybe visiting the annual meeting for the shareholders of BASF? Sounds just pretentious enough to give me the feeling that I am doing something productive. (M. tries to teach me investing in stock market but I still feel rather insecure about it. But curious. In a few years, when I hopefully don't have all of those other problems to deal with, I'd like to learn it properly. Don't tell me that later I'll have another problems. Just different kind.)

Side note: Today was the first time ever that I bought a kindle edition instead of a real book o_o But apparently it is easier to find "The Josephus Trilogy" by Feuchtwanger as a kindle rather than the paper version? At least if you don't want to buy a slightly used paper version. Shame on you, Germany, really ._.

(below is one of the benefits of paper books. Shame on me, I guess? ._.)

I actually wanted to make a long, elaborated entry with some updates on my life and well-being (and pretty pictures of the scarf!), but suddenly the weekend was over. And I still haven't accomplished anything. This happens a lot lately...

Anyway, have a silly repost from my tumblr instead (hence the format... and because I am lazy). While browsing I stumbled upon this link. And of cause I had to try it out on Weiß Kreuz Characters.

This happend during Christmas (which we don't celebrate) and the New Year's Eve (which we celebrate as if it was the Christmas, with lots of food, presents and of cause a huge Tannenbaum (fir tree). At least we don't celebrate Yom Kippour, otherwise I'd be too confusing even for my crazy family.)
Anyway. My parents have a huge library of old Russian Classics and this novel was so endearing, I had to take it with me. The primary school presented this book to my mother when she was a kid. It's even 'signed' :3

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