providence

the rain has prompted me to blog. kinda symbolic as this blog has been deserted like the rain deserted the land of Victoria for the past 2 months.

the view from my office:
close up of the almost unfamiliar pitter-patter:
it's been almost a year since i set out to finish my thesis... it's still lingering. good news is that it is a pass! yay.

lots of things have been happening and it feels like life propels you towards places you least expect. things which i have much to be thankful for.

so for now, enjoy the glorious pics of rain.

been flat out. thesis is gaining momentum toward the end which i wish that would do so right now... end that is.

a very many happenings lately on the culinary front. however, for now, you'll just have to sit tight. i do have an amusing skit via youtube. enjoy peeps :)

you're my inspiration!

i was very inspired today... to listen to a beatles song. you thought i was gonna say, "i was very inspired to write my thesis" right? ha!

anyway, i go to my now favourite haunt - that is, youtube (yes, i've been hiding under a rock - i'm writing my thesis remember?!)... and stumble on "while my guitar gently weeps". great song... but what was also amazing was this...



right now, i'm having trouble picking up my jaw from the floor...

so, now i'm contemplating learning the ukulele. cmon, how hard can it be? just ask google how to play :D ... so i did... heh.

anyway, i bump into a ukulele tutorial hosted on a japanese site. so i go along... it is hilarious (but educational which is good for someone reading...). it's like anime meets a music teacher. come to think of it, all my drumming teachers are comical characters. i love this quote:

"If you are still a poor player, you don't have to play. You are playing music not typwriting. Forget your fingering and song voice. The most important thing is to keep the rhythm and continue singing. This technique is very useful if you memorize only the first chords of some songs."

there's hope! anyway, it totally brightened up my day... until i realise i have a thesis to write.

ok, now i'm very inspired to write my thesis! (then learn how to play a ukulele :D)

mission thesis

happy new year to y'all! as with new year tradition, i took stock... of the thesis. it has come to my attention that there is only 2 months to go until i am to submit my thesis. in the hopes of attaining my goal, i have procrastinated a little (cmon cmon, hear me out first), and produced a graph of my progress to date courtesy of bellygraph.com (pretty aint she?). it will appear on the left as this moment nears.



Fig 1. Belly graph of my thesis progress to date.


As you can see from Figure 1, it's not very flattering.

FAQ.

Q. So, your new years resolution was to start your thesis?
A. Noooo.... i started writing my thesis in november 2006 but was distracted from it by various things - the most credible one being a paper accepted in CIKM 2007 (which took up the best part of 2007). i recommenced writing seriously and productively from september 2007 onwards.

Q. Ok, so you need to write 8 chapters then?
A. No, actually 5 chapters + a long appendix. Initially it was to be 7 chapters and a short appendix but 2 chapters were squished into the appendix and 2 other existing chapters

Q. You've written 2.8 chapters? Why is the number of chapters written a non-integer number and how do you calculate that?!
A. I have lots of fragmented writing for every chapter except the conclusion. That still needs to be written.

Q. Right then, good luck.
A. Hmm, that's not really a question is it?

--

ok. time to get down to it. hope you can monitor my progress with me (and prod me if you think it's going too slow :S).

amazing eats: strawberry

i know i ought to be working on the thesis, but...

i just had the most amazing strawberry! it was gathered this afternoon before any birds took notice and man, it was good. the berry itself was not huge. maybe the size of 10c coin? but the flavour.. sweet, fruity and for once in a long, long time, it tasted like strawberry -- not sour, watery pods from a supermarket. jammy, slightly sticky and wonderful.

ok refreshed, i shall attempt to do more editing. or contemplate whether to munch on the remaining trio of strawberries (shown below)...

trio of strawberries