We had a biology lab.
It was a little dull.
Only because, we didn't really know what we were doing or why. And the instructions were never very clear on which test tube you were pippeting into or out of.
But.
WE GOT A FREE LAB COAT!
I'm so happy.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
In which I freak out a little - Wednesday 25th May
I'm pretty sure the main reason I'm going to fail my exams is because I'm genuienly confused about whether the mantle is a solid or a liquid.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
In which we put our noses to a busy shopping centre floor - Tuesday 24th March
Today had had our final geology fieldtrip of this year.
Only this time .... it was a walking tour of Oxford.
Aahahahhaahaha.
So picture the scene. We're identifying cross bedding in New College walls, sitting under the Bridge of Sighs noticing differences in crystal size in the curb, identfying the cobbles around the Rad Cam.
The best was, obviously, going into the Clarenden Centre (this shopping centre) and suddenly realising the floor is absolutely COVERED in fossils !
There were ammonies and belemnites and bivalves and corals!
I'm not going to lie.
It was genuinely exciting.
I have been walking on AMMONITES the size of your fist every time I've cut through to get to Primark and haven't even noticed!
Apparently they sometimes get kicked out of the Clarendon centre on this trip. Perhaps we didn't because no one brought their hammers with them.
Sometimes when people come to visit I take them to the Oxford Natural History Museum (which is incredibly exciting, even if you do not love rocks.) But in future I'm just going to walk them round Oxford and get them to stare at the floor.
All in all, it was a very humorous trip. If not a little embarrassing.
At least they didn't make us wear our high vis jackets.
Only this time .... it was a walking tour of Oxford.
Aahahahhaahaha.
So picture the scene. We're identifying cross bedding in New College walls, sitting under the Bridge of Sighs noticing differences in crystal size in the curb, identfying the cobbles around the Rad Cam.
The best was, obviously, going into the Clarenden Centre (this shopping centre) and suddenly realising the floor is absolutely COVERED in fossils !
There were ammonies and belemnites and bivalves and corals!
I'm not going to lie.
It was genuinely exciting.
I have been walking on AMMONITES the size of your fist every time I've cut through to get to Primark and haven't even noticed!
Apparently they sometimes get kicked out of the Clarendon centre on this trip. Perhaps we didn't because no one brought their hammers with them.
Sometimes when people come to visit I take them to the Oxford Natural History Museum (which is incredibly exciting, even if you do not love rocks.) But in future I'm just going to walk them round Oxford and get them to stare at the floor.
All in all, it was a very humorous trip. If not a little embarrassing.
At least they didn't make us wear our high vis jackets.
In which Geology continues to be a joke - Monday 23rd May
Have you ever watched 'Have I Got News for You?'
You know at the end, on the last round, in the fill in the gaps bit, they always have a funny magazine for the theme ?
Well.
Recently I got excited and bought some geological maps.
Well, they arrived today (THEY'RE AWESOME)
... and they came with a free edition of 'Deposits' Magazine.
Sigh.
GeologyIsOneMassiveJoke.
You know at the end, on the last round, in the fill in the gaps bit, they always have a funny magazine for the theme ?
Well.
Recently I got excited and bought some geological maps.
Well, they arrived today (THEY'RE AWESOME)
... and they came with a free edition of 'Deposits' Magazine.
Sigh.
GeologyIsOneMassiveJoke.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
In which a fruit related theft occured - Sunday 22nd May
Okay, so, also, I might have had a bit of wine
But that does NOT change the fact, that, okay, starting from the beginning.
We went to University formal. We were very excited about wearing our gowns, and I'm not going to lie, the hall was very fancy.
But.
I was eating pudding.
And.
I'd almost finished (in that, I'd already eaten my pudding, and had almost finished Rich's pudding)
and
I was saving the raspberry till last ....
AND THE LADY CAME AND TOOK MY PLATE AWAY.
Let it be know, over hill and over dale, that University College steals your raspberries.
But that does NOT change the fact, that, okay, starting from the beginning.
We went to University formal. We were very excited about wearing our gowns, and I'm not going to lie, the hall was very fancy.
But.
I was eating pudding.
And.
I'd almost finished (in that, I'd already eaten my pudding, and had almost finished Rich's pudding)
and
I was saving the raspberry till last ....
AND THE LADY CAME AND TOOK MY PLATE AWAY.
Let it be know, over hill and over dale, that University College steals your raspberries.
In which I display my Jew knowledge - Friday 21st May
Did you know, that Innocent Smoothies are not kosher?
That you've got to leave three hours after eating meat before you can have milk ?
But only a half hour after eating milk before you can have meat.
And if a drop of milk lands in a pot of meat by accident, you can still eat it as long as it's less than one sixtieth of the meat thing.
As you can see, I have read Miriam's Jew handbook.
Can't eat bugs !
Okay to kill bugs, squish bugs, burn bugs. But you can't then scoop them up and eat them.
That's why dates aren't kosher ... in case of BUGS.
However, Miriam threw a real curve ball at us with this one:
'There are eight varieties of grasshoppers I can eat ... but no one knows what they are ... So I just can't eat any of them.'
What a sad day for Jews everywhere, wishing to eat grasshoppers.
That you've got to leave three hours after eating meat before you can have milk ?
But only a half hour after eating milk before you can have meat.
And if a drop of milk lands in a pot of meat by accident, you can still eat it as long as it's less than one sixtieth of the meat thing.
As you can see, I have read Miriam's Jew handbook.
Miriam, if she were to work in a restaurant, would be able to cook and serve bacon ... however she wouldn’t be able to serve a bacon cheeseburger. (Not least because she’s never touched bacon in her life and would probably get it all wrong :p)
The reason Inocent Soothie is not kosher is prrrrobably because it might have bugs in it.Can't eat bugs !
Okay to kill bugs, squish bugs, burn bugs. But you can't then scoop them up and eat them.
That's why dates aren't kosher ... in case of BUGS.
However, Miriam threw a real curve ball at us with this one:
'There are eight varieties of grasshoppers I can eat ... but no one knows what they are ... So I just can't eat any of them.'
What a sad day for Jews everywhere, wishing to eat grasshoppers.
Friday, 20 May 2011
In which I wonder why I chose Geology - Friday 20th May
Today was the most disgusting day.
We had two lectures, and I had a maths tute.
On top of this, we decided to try to get all our tute work for Monday done today.
Which means.
I spent five hours staring at rocks today.
I was at the department from 9am to 6pm without leaving.
Not only this.
It turns out.
We had been staring at the WRONG ROCKS for two hours.
We'd even woken up early, and got into the department for 9am before our 11am lecture, in order to waste all this time.
Turns out there are two boxes of twelve rocks left in the labs. And we chose the wrong one.
Seriously, I have spent wayyy too long with nose to sediment today.
We had two lectures, and I had a maths tute.
On top of this, we decided to try to get all our tute work for Monday done today.
Which means.
I spent five hours staring at rocks today.
I was at the department from 9am to 6pm without leaving.
Not only this.
It turns out.
We had been staring at the WRONG ROCKS for two hours.
We'd even woken up early, and got into the department for 9am before our 11am lecture, in order to waste all this time.
Turns out there are two boxes of twelve rocks left in the labs. And we chose the wrong one.
Seriously, I have spent wayyy too long with nose to sediment today.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
In which we suddenly sit up and listen in palaeontology - Thursday 19th May
Our palaeontology lecturer : ... They're not technically algal mats, although you might find them called that in textbooks ... But anyone who says 'algal mats' should be SPANKED.
Um.
Awkward.
Um.
Awkward.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
In which I get in a bit of a pickle - Wednesday 18th March
You will never guess what I've gone and done.
I've only gone and forgotten my pin number.
ON BOTH MY CARDS.
And the machine ate one!
:(
Sob sob sob.
This leaves me in a spot of bother. I now literally only have £1.94 cash to my name, because I spent the rest going to see Alessi's Ark at the Jericho Tavern.
Alessi's Ark were really awesome, they made me feel happy :)
I'm not very good at describing music, but they seem like the kind of band I'd listen to if I was in the mood for something not quite Mumford and Sons and not quite Florence and the Machine.
I'd advise you to buy her albums, they are good.
I'd buy them myself, but I'm in a money predicament at the moment.
By the way, if anyone would like to post me some money, I'd really appreciate that.
I've only gone and forgotten my pin number.
ON BOTH MY CARDS.
And the machine ate one!
:(
Sob sob sob.
This leaves me in a spot of bother. I now literally only have £1.94 cash to my name, because I spent the rest going to see Alessi's Ark at the Jericho Tavern.
I'm not very good at describing music, but they seem like the kind of band I'd listen to if I was in the mood for something not quite Mumford and Sons and not quite Florence and the Machine.
I'd advise you to buy her albums, they are good.
I'd buy them myself, but I'm in a money predicament at the moment.
By the way, if anyone would like to post me some money, I'd really appreciate that.
In which we go on a field trip and have a jolly good time - Tuesday 17th May
fieldtrip. eurgh.
rocks. EURGH.
Today we had a day trip out to an estury and a quarry. We were both happy to be there and also very enthusiastic.
They marched us up to the top of a hill, and then they marched us down again.
Then they realised the tide was in too far ...
So they marched us back UP the hill again.
Along a path.
Then along a 'path' through some trees, down to the water edge.
The tide had just about gone out, so the beach was basically clay.
People were slipping and sliding and clinging onto each other and falling in and pulling each other in and getting muddy.
This picture is courtesy of the beautiful Mimi Beckett :)
We finally got to where we wanted to go ... and our tutor said 'we'd probably have been better off just waiting half an hour for the tide to go out!'
Miriam - who had fallen in mud, cut her thumb, and been told to wash it lots because there was sewage in the water (altho they had no first aid kit to offer ? ...) - was impressed.
However, the rocks were pretty cool. Checking out ripple marks and fish teeth and stuff.
I also have helmet hair.
What a world, what a world.
At the next stop, at this quarry, we should have been looking at the oolites and pisoids and pelites ...
But, instead, we just clawing at the quarry with our bare hands to find fossils.
I found a belemnite!
And a crinoid ossicle, which looks like a baby star fish. It's so cute.
I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine.
Then we went back for dinner, and showed everyone our fossils, and talked about the solar system.
ALSO. They've turned off the heating EVERYWHERE at St. Anne's.
But we don't have radiators, we have heaters. So Hugo on the first floor came round and (for a small fee...) put the fuses back in!
We now have heat !
Also, they fixed the flush on our toilet.
A flushing toilet and a warm room ...
I'm a very lucky girl.
rocks. EURGH.
Today we had a day trip out to an estury and a quarry. We were both happy to be there and also very enthusiastic.
They marched us up to the top of a hill, and then they marched us down again.
Then they realised the tide was in too far ...
So they marched us back UP the hill again.
Along a path.
Then along a 'path' through some trees, down to the water edge.
The tide had just about gone out, so the beach was basically clay.
People were slipping and sliding and clinging onto each other and falling in and pulling each other in and getting muddy.
We finally got to where we wanted to go ... and our tutor said 'we'd probably have been better off just waiting half an hour for the tide to go out!'
Miriam - who had fallen in mud, cut her thumb, and been told to wash it lots because there was sewage in the water (altho they had no first aid kit to offer ? ...) - was impressed.
However, the rocks were pretty cool. Checking out ripple marks and fish teeth and stuff.
We were walking along the beach, and I saw the stone I wanted in the outcrop.
It was ... (wait for it ...) HALF RED AND HALF BLUE !
Awesome.
Rich got it out for me.
But then, disaster struck.
I accidentally crushed it. :(
Curse you, fine grained, sabkha deposited sediment!
Now I just have lots of blue rocks.
And lots of red rocks.
I also have helmet hair.
What a world, what a world.
At the next stop, at this quarry, we should have been looking at the oolites and pisoids and pelites ...
But, instead, we just clawing at the quarry with our bare hands to find fossils.
I found a belemnite!
And a crinoid ossicle, which looks like a baby star fish. It's so cute.
I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine.
Then we went back for dinner, and showed everyone our fossils, and talked about the solar system.
ALSO. They've turned off the heating EVERYWHERE at St. Anne's.
But we don't have radiators, we have heaters. So Hugo on the first floor came round and (for a small fee...) put the fuses back in!
We now have heat !
Also, they fixed the flush on our toilet.
A flushing toilet and a warm room ...
I'm a very lucky girl.
In which I am tempted in Tesco - Monday 16th May
So I'm shopping.
Normally I don't let myself buy chocolate. (Or, more accurately, I make Miriam not let me buy chocolate.)
But today, I figured, I could probably buy them and not eat them all at once. I do HAVE self restraint, right?
So I bought a pack of five twix bar type things.
That evening, I looked at last year's Planet Earth past paper.
I could not do ANY of the questions.
...
I ate five twix bar types things.
Normally I don't let myself buy chocolate. (Or, more accurately, I make Miriam not let me buy chocolate.)
But today, I figured, I could probably buy them and not eat them all at once. I do HAVE self restraint, right?
So I bought a pack of five twix bar type things.
That evening, I looked at last year's Planet Earth past paper.
I could not do ANY of the questions.
...
I ate five twix bar types things.
In which matrices confuse me - Sunday 15th May
Just a friendly hint, don't try and find the inverse of a matrix when tired and hungover.
You just can't times that many numbers together.
You just can't times that many numbers together.
In which we eat £70 worth of food - Saturday 14th May
KEBLE BALL KEBLE BALL KEBLE BALL.
After a long day of being hungover, and being told the embarrassing things I did at formal ... time for Keble Ball!
I've been excited about this since last term.
Washed my hair, tempted my hair to go curly, did my make up, got all dressed ... Sometimes I think I have more fun getting ready to go out then I have going out.
Everyone came round to mine, and everyone looked very pretty :) Or handsome.
We'd paid a lot of money for this ball, and were determined to get our money's worth.
I think the total of what we had between us was :
The next few hours were spent sitting down because we'd eaten WAAAY too much. Good work.
Then there was the silent disco.
I really like silent disco, I think it's great.
It's good how you can pick which song you want to listen to, if one's a bit rubbish.
And it's HILARIOUS when you take your headphones off and listen to everybody half singing.
We staggered home around 4, safe in the knowledge we'd be fat tomorrow.
After a long day of being hungover, and being told the embarrassing things I did at formal ... time for Keble Ball!
I've been excited about this since last term.
Washed my hair, tempted my hair to go curly, did my make up, got all dressed ... Sometimes I think I have more fun getting ready to go out then I have going out.
Everyone came round to mine, and everyone looked very pretty :) Or handsome.
I think the total of what we had between us was :
- Curry
- Falafels
- Popcorn
- Candy floss
- Pimms
- Doughnuts
- Hot chocolate
- Burgers
- Hot dogs
- Banoffee Pie
- Chocolate mousee
- Cheese and biscuits
- Cocktails
- Vodka and lemonade
- Smirnoff ices
- Absinthe
- Cheese and biscuits
- Chocolate fountain
- Burritos
- Eton mess
- An awful, awful lot of doughnuts.
The next few hours were spent sitting down because we'd eaten WAAAY too much. Good work.
I really like silent disco, I think it's great.
It's good how you can pick which song you want to listen to, if one's a bit rubbish.
And it's HILARIOUS when you take your headphones off and listen to everybody half singing.
We staggered home around 4, safe in the knowledge we'd be fat tomorrow.
In which I have too many tutes, and then have too much wine - Friday 13th May
Today I had a horrible morning.
11.00 - 11.30 - Talk
2.00 - 3.00 - Maths Tute.
AAAH. Mind melt.
11.00 - 11.30 - Talk
12.00 - 1.00 - Biology
1.00 - 2.00 - Mapping Tute2.00 - 3.00 - Maths Tute.
AAAH. Mind melt.
Then in the evening Sam came over for Formal.
I was a tiny bit worried about having him over, since whenever he gets drunk in Bournemouth he shouts loudly about how bad a college St. Anne's is. (Typical Corpus boy.)
I needn't have worried. He was well behaved and even complimented St. Anne's croutons.
The trick to getting the most wine at formal is just to DOWN your drink as soon as they pour it for you, because even though they give you two glasses, they fill up from the one you're drinking from. So if you have some left, you get less.
Or.
The other technique is to, as soon as you see the waiter coming, DOWN IT while he's stood there, laughing at you.
Roxy was good at that one.
I don't know why they call it formal, because by the end most people with wine tickets are absolutely falling about laughing. Or just literally falling about (Sami.)
Mostly what I remember is laughing an awful lot, or having people laugh an awful lot of me.
Sounds like it was a good night :)
In which a play is watched, and the viewers are traumatised
Today we went to watch Call of the Wild at Oxford Playhouse.
Our friend Jocasta was in it, but backstage. Which meant we did see her, dressed in black, pushing scenery out the way ... but we probably were meant to have been paying more attention to the play than to the stage manager :p
The play was amazing.
But.
EVERYONE DIES.
Apart from the three people who live, who are unhappy. Because they either:
On the walk back, the Big Issue man's dog started barking. We ran for it ;)
The play was amazing.
But.
EVERYONE DIES.
Apart from the three people who live, who are unhappy. Because they either:
- Watched everyone who was ever nice to them die, and killed a whole tribe of Indians in revenge
- Almost drowned in a lake, had all his dogs die, and broke a leg
- Went to jail for five years because he kicked off the story by stealing the dog in the first place, only to discover when he got out that the girl he loved had gotten pregnant by him and then died in childbirth while he was away.
On the walk back, the Big Issue man's dog started barking. We ran for it ;)
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
In which we go on a day trip to a nearby quarry, and act out being corals - Tuesday 10th May
Today we had a geology fieldtrip.
We were driven to a local quarry and spend about an hour looking at this coraliferous limestone, and an hour and a half wondering what we should be writing in our fieldnotebooks.
MB: Look for boreholes in the brachiopod shells. Some of these fossils were boring creatures. Very boring creatures.
Yes.
And some of them still are.
The second outcrop of this limestone was in a field, right by a children's play area.
Picture the scene: it's an average playing field, kids are on the swings, and we are staring at rocks. For your own amusement, picture all thirty-odd of us wearing our red hard hats.
Proud times for geologists everywhere.
Wednesday 11th May
Today's been a weird day.
I managed to have two naps: one at 9.30am and one in the afternoon.
This coupled with me revising silicates all afternoon made me go a little crazy.
I'd planned to do all six groups, but it turns out you can only do ortho, ino, soro and cyclo. The second you try to do phylo your head just EXPLODES.
Conversation at dinner was about genocide; for no reason I picked up a pea off Miriam's plate and threw it at her. Fairly sure I'd finally snapped.
So it was decided Miriam would come over to mine, bringing all the frubes in all the land, and we would eat frubes and start a blog.
I actuall started one on tumblr, but for one reason or another I'm back on this one I started back in March.
Um. Yes.
I'm terrified about what my scout till think of me when he empties my bin tomorrow: there are five strawberry frube wrappers in there.
We were driven to a local quarry and spend about an hour looking at this coraliferous limestone, and an hour and a half wondering what we should be writing in our fieldnotebooks.
MB: Look for boreholes in the brachiopod shells. Some of these fossils were boring creatures. Very boring creatures.
Yes.
And some of them still are.
The second outcrop of this limestone was in a field, right by a children's play area.
Picture the scene: it's an average playing field, kids are on the swings, and we are staring at rocks. For your own amusement, picture all thirty-odd of us wearing our red hard hats.
Proud times for geologists everywhere.
Wednesday 11th May
Today's been a weird day.
I managed to have two naps: one at 9.30am and one in the afternoon.
This coupled with me revising silicates all afternoon made me go a little crazy.
I'd planned to do all six groups, but it turns out you can only do ortho, ino, soro and cyclo. The second you try to do phylo your head just EXPLODES.
Conversation at dinner was about genocide; for no reason I picked up a pea off Miriam's plate and threw it at her. Fairly sure I'd finally snapped.
So it was decided Miriam would come over to mine, bringing all the frubes in all the land, and we would eat frubes and start a blog.
I actuall started one on tumblr, but for one reason or another I'm back on this one I started back in March.
Um. Yes.
I'm terrified about what my scout till think of me when he empties my bin tomorrow: there are five strawberry frube wrappers in there.
In which I decide I'd like to go to every formal ever - Monday 16th May
I may have mentioned, I enjoy planning things.
Infact, I'm fairly sure I spend more time being excited about things I've planned and then being happy remembering the things I've done than I do actually doing them.
Oh well. Each thing I do makes me happy three times, I suppose.
Today I planned out all the formals I'd very much like to go to.
Is it really so unreasonable to go to nine formals at six colleges in the next seven weeks?
Despite exams?
I think not.
Infact, I'm fairly sure I spend more time being excited about things I've planned and then being happy remembering the things I've done than I do actually doing them.
Oh well. Each thing I do makes me happy three times, I suppose.
Today I planned out all the formals I'd very much like to go to.
Is it really so unreasonable to go to nine formals at six colleges in the next seven weeks?
Despite exams?
I think not.
In which paint is thrown at white clothes - Sunday 8th May
Today was the Hindu Festival 'Holi'. Don't get me wrong, I'm not very up to date with my Hindu festivals.
But facebook told me if I were to wear white clothes, go to the playing ground outside St. Catz, then there would be paint to throw.
So we put on the cheapest white clothes Primark could sell us, and threw a lot of paint.
Before:
But facebook told me if I were to wear white clothes, go to the playing ground outside St. Catz, then there would be paint to throw.
So we put on the cheapest white clothes Primark could sell us, and threw a lot of paint.
Before:
After:
After much amusing ourselves in paint-related ways, we decided to go and amuse the public.
Which, of course, means doing the tourist sites of Oxford. Covered in paint.
The public did stop us to ask why we were covered in paint. And why we weren't studying.
Well. You have to do these things.
Then in the afternoon we had a rather lovely picnic, and played frisbee. (After having eaten tarte citron off aforementioned frisbee, for lack of a plate. You could think of playing frisbee as actually just cleaning it, really.)
P.S. This photo is hilarious. You can almost HEAR the frisbee rebounding off Simon's head.
All in all, one of the most fun days ever :)
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Hello and Welcome.
Hello! How are you? You're looking well today.
Yes.
So.
Introductions are in order?
I'm Ruth, nice to meet you. Good handshake you've got there.
About me: I like making plans, I like taking photos. The rest you'll find out, I suppose.
That's me, coming out of a giant ammonite. I'm a geologist, and this picture is from when Jacqui and I went to the Natural History Museum.
It's basically holy ground. Here are some more photos!
I hope that I never get into the position where my rib cage casts a shadow on the ceiling and I have to be dusted. That'd just be embarrassing.
That's Jacqui. We like to amuse ourselves in museums.
I hope you have a Jacqui. I'm fortunate enough to have two.
Also.
Guess what - in the Natural History Museum gift shop ... YOU CAN BUY METEORITES!
You can buy little pieces of space that fell from the sky!
It genuinely boggles my mind that these things are from further away that the human mind can conceivably imagine ... and yet they cost less than the cuddly dinosaurs.
But yes, so, welcome to my blog.
ENJOY.
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