Haven't written about what's going on in my life, instead writing about what I want, or my odd dreams (they are only a select few. Believe me, there are more). I can't remember if I mentioned already, but one year of my course is taken up by a compulsory BSc, consisting of lectures and a project. Module 2 has just finished; how time flies!
Saw New Moon on Friday; I watched the first film and then read all the books, so everytime I was reading, I would imagine the actors and actresses as the characters. And I think I was building myself up for something bigger and better than it actually was. For people who hadn't read the books, it left a lot unanswered and it didn't explain things very well. Kristen Stewart has not progressed as an actress, neither has Robert Pattinson as an actor. It was good, but superficially so. I did like it, it was a good film but it could have been better, ya know?
It was P's viva on Friday. Let me stop and explain first. I have recently become aware of people reading this blog who are not my friends, and who I do not know. So that means they may well be using a search engine, or clicking next blog, and may not know what I am talking about. A viva is the final step before receiving a doctorate, short of graduation. A doctorate in research is the highest degree an academic institution offers, and the degree allows the student to become a more independent researcher. You essentially write a book, and are orally examined after submission. There is soft pressure to submit within 3 years - the time you get funding - and the hard deadline is 4 years. Hardly anyone submits within 3 years, but P did, thus becoming the second person in his group to do so, the first being over 10 years ago. He passed his viva, with very minimal corrections (of the find and replace variety) such that they hardly count. Now he is a doctor!!
I know that an academic doctor means something different to a medical doctor, and layperson knowledge would place the latter above the former, but it's not true. Medical doctors can become Members and Fellows of Colleges, but the most prestigious degree a university offers is a Doctor of Philosophy. (The Philosophy in this case being Numerical Analysis and Computational Physics, and Galerkin Projections and anisotropy.)
To me, it means less if medical doctors try to get PhD's. It looks like they just want to solidify their credentials, purely by adding extra letters to the end of their name.
But I am very proud of P; he is now a Doctor, a title less easily stripped than that of the medical variety. I guess the next steps are post-doc-ship, Readership, then Fellowship and then FRS-ship, the latter being a very prestigious title. (I don't know how to spell prestigious). So one day, there might be a Doctor P FRS :)
Not much else... just lots of work being done... er, it was C's party last weekend in Harrow; was very fun and so good to see her after so long. Been watching 24 recently; the first two seasons. At first I hated the way that questions were left so unanswered, as if it were Lost-esque, but I found that by reading full plot lines and synopses, I could enjoy it fully. I hate suspense and violence and people dying. Unfortunately, this seems to be what 24 is full of, so I need to read ahead before I watch it. Sad, I know.
xo
Err.. since when did Leighton Meester sing????
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