Vivat Libertas

Kepler's Three Laws

So maybe some of you are sitting down with a page of maths exercises and feeling close to tears because you're so frustrated that you can't figure out what to do. I mean, it can't just be me, right? And when, like me, you actually like maths to the point of thinking that it's beautiful, it's even more frustrating and upsetting. I have a couple of things to say about this. Firstly, unless your teachers or professors are really  mean (or just incompetent) those problems are solvable. Maybe not with the tools you have right now, maybe you might need to use old tools in a different way, but they're probably solvable. And getting hysterical usually doesn't help with doing maths - well, it doesn't help me with doing maths at any rate. Secondly, take your time. I don't know how I can stress this enough, because it's important and most people (including me) forget to do this. Obviously certain things are going to be quite straightforward and you mi...

So I've moved into my new flat and everything's sort of okay-ish, barring the fact that it took me two weeks to get hot water coming out of the taps. That was not cool. But my flatmates are all really nice - and all girls. To be honest, I wasn't too fussed about this at first, though given that most of the first-year boys I've met consider cooking to be a dark art and are even messier than I am I'm thankful that our kitchen is reasonably clean. It's just that...well...some people extol the virtues of living in all-female environments because there are no yucky, gross men to cause drama (apparently flatmates getting together and breaking up is a huge source of  drama for everyone else) or prey on us vulnerable women. This makes sense given two assumptions: 1. Everyone is straight. 2. If you are sexually attracted to someone, you will act predatory towards them. Both assumptions are bullshit, but surprisingly few people question them. And both hurt an aw...

Pendulum Motion Pretty useful for anyone stuck on that pendulum nonsense.

Measuring The Sky

Since completing my Grade 8 in singing with an embarrassingly high mark (for me anyway), a lot of things have come my way. I've sung with a couple of choirs outside of school, been paid token amounts for my efforts (hey, money is money), and somehow weaselled my way into a choir of semi-professional real ale drinkers  musicians. And on top of that, I'm looking for paid choral work in Manchester - so if anyone needs a soprano, kindly drop me a line. (Seriously. I'm a student. It's a foregone conclusion that I'm broke - but fortunately surviving off more than just noodles and ramen because I know how to cook.) And  I want to continue and maybe do diplomas and such. Anyway, sometime in late August I went up to St Albans to sing with one of the choirs that my former music teacher helps run, which was pretty fun (if exhausting) and I met a lot of nice people...and we got asked, at more or less the last minute, to sing at a wedding. Now, I don't really mind doing ...

Blog - physicsworld.com Interesting and disturbing article.

So parents get a lot of shtick sometimes, from the criticisms of resentful offspring to the sneering attitude that the vast majority of the population are more than capable of fertilising an egg. And I've got to admit that a lot of the criticisms are justified: parents make a lot of mistakes, mistakes that have lifelong impacts on their children. Parents can be selfish and irresponsible, often cruel. Parents can be ignorant, maybe wilfully so. Despite all that, I still want to praise parents. Sure, the vast majority of people can fertilise an egg and carry a pregnancy to term, but the actual business of raising a child - guiding a little human being through the world and making sure they come out as happy and well-adjusted at the end of it all as is humanly possible - is difficult. Right now I've got a seven-month-old niece. She's a charming little cutie pie and no matter what she does I'm her proud auntie, but all the same looking after her is difficult. I know; I...