Last night I decided to take an herbal bath.  Sounds deliciously relaxing, doesn’t it?  Oh, think again, my friends. A few days ago I was wandering aimlessly around Exeter and I happened to notice a fair in the Cathedral Green.  Various sustainable, eco-friendly, organic, fairtrade products were on sale.  An herbalist’s stall was selling something called “herbal face … Continue reading →

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d say: a couple of days ago I punched a man in the face and he began to bleed. We had the following conversation just immediately prior to and after my assault on my opponent’s visage: Him: “Okay, good, but this time, really aim for my nose.”  (This was in … Continue reading →

So now I know what it’s like to use a whistle while laughing.  For the past few days I’ve been on an intensive researcher training/development retreat designed to help PhD students consider career options available to them and to develop skills like leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, those kinds of things. One of the tasks involved some blindfolded … Continue reading →

Dear Dr. Smith?, Perusing the news today I came across a BBC article about your mathematical modeling of possible outcomes of a zombie attack.  I appreciate you also making the full text of the published chapter available through your university webpage, though as I am not a mathematician, much of the statistics admittedly went over my head. But … Continue reading →

I hopped a train on Saturday for a whirlwind trip to London.  This time I was going for the monthly Saqarah hafla, hosted by my friends Eleanor and Nafiseh.  They were celebrating their second anniversary of hosting haflas (belly dance showcases/parties), which meant there was cake for all!  I was most excited to see a dance called … Continue reading →

So I called my mom the other day.  Ah the miracle of Skype for those of us who live far from home.  She asked how I was.  I said I was a little down. “One of my friends kissed me at the Firehouse the other night, and now he says there’s no chemistry between us.  Well why did he … Continue reading →

So did anybody read the Sunday New York Times this week?  My mom sends me a little care package with the comics every week and she always sends the Sunday Week in Review section with it.  (She calls this my OCBs–Only Child Benefits.)  I read Nicholas D. Kristof’s column “Not a Victim, But a Hero” (26 … Continue reading →

On Thursday I took a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test.  The University runs a free development program for Research students in association with the Careers Service office.  You can go to these sessions called “Time Management” and “Learning to Speed Read” and “Managing the Supervisory Relationship,” things like that.  I tend to go to the careers ones (“Developing … Continue reading →

This morning I woke up so unbelievably full.  It was like the day after Thanksgiving.  Last night I took myself out for a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant in town.  I was really craving spaghetti al’Arabiatta, and there’s this Italian restaurant in an old malthouse that I hadn’t been in but always wanted to try because … Continue reading →