S1 2006 begins

Despite some technical hiccups, I now have access to both the Macquarie and Griffith subject portals. Work for this semester begins tonight with chapter two of David Kennnedy & Derrick Riley's Rome's Desert Frontier.

Exam finished

It's over! Another subject down. I feel like my right arm is about to drop off at the elbow, and my brain is slightly mushy, but apart from that, I'm looking forward to a beer and a parma at The East tonight.

Dreams

Two dreams I had last night; 1) When I opened the exam paper, the first question was "Compile a mix-CD for one of the Roman consuls we have studied. Explain your song choice". 2) I discovered an arcane Roman ritual which still exists amongst Italian youth today. During the days of the Republic, young boys were encouraged too enter a deep meditative trance, whereupon they imagined themselves as great soldiers. This ritual was intended to instill a driving motivation deep in the subconscious. I discovered that it is still done today, except Italian boys simpply use Photoshop to create an image of themselves as soldiers. Further to this, I thought I heard someone repeatedly calling out "Jugera!" (which is a Roman measurement of land, equal to about 1.25 acres). Then I suddenly awoke, realising that our cat was coughing up a furr-ball on the couch, and that it was she who was calling out "Jugera!" (which is kind of onomatopoeic for the sound she makes when she coughs up a furr-ball).

Reassuring words

Some reassuring words on the subject's online forum from a student who did her exam this afternoon... "I even went to the gym afterward to work out the stress that I had built up over nothing." ...and... "All the best and relax, it isn't (is not) as bad as you think. You may be very surprised." My exam is tomorrow afternoon.

Last full day of studying

Last night we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Fitzroy, to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. The food was fairly average, but the company was great. I found myself precariously balancing my desire to drink and be merry, with the thought of the following day being my last chance to study for the exam. I think I managed a successful balance. I bought my friend a bottle of Italian pinot grigio, seeing as she recently arrived back from 9 months in Italy. Today I crammed some more; trying to sketch out a rough outline for the only exam question we've been told in advance. After much stressing, I finally just cracked open a notepad and started writing. I was relieved to see words flow from my pen without too much resistance. I feel a lot better about the exam now than I did this morning. Tonight we're experimenting with smoked paprika, which we bought yesterday. It smells sensational.

War of the Worlds

It's hard to concentrate when my neighbour is playing Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds rock opera at full volume.

Cramming

I have been cramming. Today, it's the life of Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus (aka Augustus). I still feel ill-prepared for the 3 hour exam. The thought of exams ties my stomach in knots, they're the most torturous form of assessment. Give me essays any day.

More material arrives

Spent much of last night revising the career of Gaius Julius Caesar, and I still have more to to this evening. The material for next semester's Macquarie subject, HST240, arrived yesterday. I had a quick listen to one of the lectures, and found the audio quality terrible - there's a static squeal which runs through it.

Offline material

No studying last night, but a Sri Lankan dinner with friends instead. The material which arrived from Griffith looks interesting, but unfortunately it's one of the OUA subjects which has no online support. I attempted a subject through the University of Adelaide which was like this, and I felt like I was alone on a desert island. The good thing about Macquarie units is that they have a WebCT presence, so a tight community usually emerges pretty quickly. I discovered Beginnings - A Journal, by another OUA student. Ewan D. Harris has completed 53 OUA units. 53! Hats off, I say.

Offline material

No studying last night, but a Sri Lankan dinner with friends instead. The material which arrived from Griffith looks interesting, but unfortunately it's one of the OUA subjects which has no online support. I attempted a subject through the University of Adelaide which was like this, and I felt like I was alone on a desert island. The good thing about Macquarie units is that they have a WebCT presence, so a tight community usually emerges pretty quickly. I discovered Beginnings - A Journal, by another OUA student. Ewan D. Harris has completed 53 OUA units. 53! Hats off, I say.

treading water

I submitted an essay on Pompey The Great on Friday. Since then I have been up to my neck in Gaius Gracchus, Gaius Marius, Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The exam is a week away. Thankfully I have Shameless to keep me sane. Last episode of Series 1 just finished. Hopefully SBS has Series 2 lined up.

Package arrives

Australia Post were banging down the front door at 7:30 AM this morning. A package from Griffith University - study material for one of next semester's subjects. I got excited at first - I thought it was a delivery from That's Life, whose competitions I've b een addicted to lately. Sad, I know.

mutations

This blog has mutated since it began. I'm going to force it back into shape.