Mmmm, yummy potatoes.

1. You don’t have to measure out ingredients to the fourth decimal place. In fact, sometimes, the more rough you are, the better the result.

2. You don’t have to wear safety gear; you don’t run the risk of killing your lungs with silica vapour, or accidentally inhaling too many fumes from the acetone dried samples. The worst thing you could do is burn yourself, or cut your finger – and let’s face it, I’ve done that and it wasn’t too bad.

3. You don’t have to lock other people out of your kitchen. You can socialise and listen to music. You don’t end up in the place that time forgot.

4. You don’t have to wash dishes five times – first with detergent, then with water, then with acid, then with water, then with de-ionised water. You don’t have to rewash something which has a watermark on it.

5. You don’t have to record every little step you took while you were cooking.

6. It doesn’t take four weeks to cook a meal. Once the meal is made, no further effort – apart from mastication – is required.

7. The fruits of your labours are edible, hopefully delicious, and don’t have to be stored in little sample containers that take over your life.

8. If you don’t want to add a certain ingredient, you don’t have to.

9. Your future success does not depend on the outcome of each meal, and your ability to critically analyse the results.

10. You don’t have to have specialised equipment to make good food.

Combining art and revision (Carlos bought coloured chalk. That was a BAD idea.)

I had my first exam of the year this morning. It was Systems Physiology – a module that Carlos, Saj and I took with the bioengineering department, as part of our efforts to biology it up this year. Basically, we had to learn the anatomy and basic operating processes of the brain, heart, lungs, musculoskeletal system, and genetics. The exam was OK – I did some maths, which I was very happy about (the Nernst Equation – like, the easiest equation in the world), and blagged my way through answering some bits where I knew the information but wasn’t exactly sure what was being asked. We shall see. Four exams away from the end of my time at Imperial. Yes!

I’ve started a new tutoring thing with a lovely little girl in Knightsbridge. I’m to teach her piano and help her with maths, so I started that on Monday, and it was good. She’s very lively and bright, and I can only see myself enjoying it. It does mean I’ve spent ages trying to think of ways to play games with maths – and also looking up the syllabus for the Key Stages 2 and 3. My next step is going to Hamley’s, to see what educational toys they have.

Revision or play-time, you decide.

Well, it’s a good excuse, right?

I made a stew in the slow cooker the other night, which I was very proud of cos it had dumplings in it. I didn’t know what dumplings were – I’d never eaten them let alone made them, and I have to say, they were horrible. Even the picture looks horrible. Yuck.

Knitting is going strong. I’ve completed one glove, received 600 beads and 800 buttons for some scarf projects (I’m doing 11 in ’11 – knitting 11 scarves this year, pretty self-explanatory. If you care, I’ve started a crafty blog so that I can talk about CREATING to the internet, and stop annoying all my friends.) Tom’s parents bought us Wii Fit for Christmas, and it has told me I need to lose quite a substantial amount of weight. (Yuck). After studying the Systems Physiology course and learning about atherosclerosis, and knowing that since I stopped riding regularly (stupid project, getting in the way of my leisure time…I jest…) I’ve put on some weight, this is all going to combine into a massive plan for the next six months. Leave notes in college, run to and from college and home (the Oyster fare just went up, which is largely responsible for that little one), get a first and lose the weight that the annoying voice on the TV is telling me I need to.

Mmmmm, delicious...NOT.

I’m going to the pub tonight, then back to work tomorrow. I’m actually feeling really inspired, and am looking forward to blasting through the last six months of my degree with as much debauchery, studying and jollity as possible. I start Advanced Biomaterials, and Tissue Engineering next week, and I can’t wait.

Ciao for now!

Corrie

Hello,

The Towersey Tiger Hats

It’s been a few days. Oopsy daisies. My advent blogging failed. “What have you been up to?” I hear you ask. Well, on Saturday I had the most awesome lie-in I’ve ever had, like, ever. I was supposed to be revising but the radio was on and my bed was warm and the flat was untidy, which I would have had to face when I got up. So I didn’t. This requires me pointing it out on my blog because people always say students are lazy and spend all their time in bed – it’s quite unusual for me to be in bed after 8 am, even after a 4 am bedtime (as I had on Friday). It was nice to relax – something that I forget frequently. The stress of this term is making me forget to be a real person, which is something that I’ve forced myself to do every year up until now. More lie ins are on the cards, I think! John and I cooked a Jaimie’s 30-Minute Meal, we recorded some Quartet Christmas music, and watched Inception. I also gave the boys their pressies, which I knitted in September during a day-long hospital visit. It’s taken me since then to sew the ends in. They are to match the infamous Tiger Hats.

One of the Tiger Scarves

On Sunday all my music peeps came round and Tom and I cooked a Christmas dinner for them. I don’t have photos unfortunately, cos I was too busy cooking – I think John has some which I will steal from his camera when I next get a chance, so you can all share the awe we felt at fitting 9 people around our little kitchen table. I think we used every single pot/pan/cooking implement we own, but in the evening we went out and everyone else cleaned up.

Where did we go out? To see Ross Noble! zOMG it was hilarious. When I watch him on DVDs or TV or something, I never think he is as funny as I did on Sunday. I pointed out to Tom, John and Jenny as we walked home that “I was laughing so much that I couldn’t laugh anymore”. First time in a long time. This is something else I want to do more often!

I had an assessment yesterday for my final project. I think I passed. Yay! Tonight Lucia, Kathy and I are cooking dinner for the Dwarves, and exchanging gifts as well. I can’t wait to give Lucia hers – you will see why tomorrow, when I finally post a picture of it somewhere on the internet where it can be seen! I finished it in September, have been waiting a long time for this day.

Ross Noble

Anyway, that’s about it. This week is just finishing up in labs, getting ready to go home, and packing for a five-day trip to Copenhagen and Helsinki with the girls. Excited!

Ciao for now!