Time flies when you’re having fun — it certainly seems true to me. I’m not sure about the converse, but see the above comment about interminable angsty nights. I’d say I’ve been generally pretty happy (barring the odd bout of angst (I’m writing “angst” a lot tonight)) since I got my act together with coursework early in Year 11 (not sure that was the cause, but it feels like a turning point), and I’m now going “was that really two years ago”? Looking back, I realise I’ve done a lot and changed a lot since then, but it’s still a shock that I’ve just applied for university, my friends a year above me are there already and relaying tales, my friends in my year are driving to school, turning 18…. Time’s flown. I’ve tried to make the most of it, and I think generally I haven’t done a bad job, except for this summer, where apart from a week’s camping in the Lakes I did almost exactly nothing, from a long list of things I wanted to do but never actually turned into a list (wherin lies my problem, I think), but there’s so much more I wish I’d done and was doing. I’ve got into the probably unhealthy habit of staying up late into the night at my computer, I suppose so I’m living a little more life. I spend quite a lot of time doing various not-particularly-productive bits and pieces, and sometimes I feel I’d like to cut down on that, but I generally feel like I need that downtime.

As I mentioned before, I’ve just applied to university. I’ve been back at school over a month, and it feels like I’ve hardly had chance to breathe. I really don’t have all that much time left at school, then the long summer holiday, then I’ll be at university. What scares me is this rush towards adulthood and middle age. Given the rate the last two years have gone, a four-year degree won’t feel that long, and then I’m looking for a job or a PhD studentship. Heck, the last 17 and a bit years haven’t felt like all that long. That long again (and it’ll feel shorter) and I’m practically middle-aged. OK, I’m just scaring myself now. But I really do feel like there’s so much to do and so little time. I’m starting to rethink my long-held belief that eighty or ninety years will be more than long enough for me. Heck, what I could really do with is a clone with a shared mind (also xkcd 105).

In the meantime though, I think the practical solution is to keep up with work and try to have a bit of fun productive stuff — reading list and stuff, maybe NaNoWriMo — during term, and have busy holidays. I need to plan next summer far more than this one was, because it’ll be longer, I ought to do far more, and even my trip to the Lakes was a bit last-minutey and probably not quite what I’d have gone for if I’d have planned in time. I’m thinking of cycling in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and/or Germany (Paris to Berlin is probably waaaaaay overambitious but would be awesome), maybe working for a month or so, having an epic crunch of my reading list, I’ll need to prepare for university… see what I mean about needing two of me?

This was mostly written last night (relative to posting time). I wasn’t angsty by the end, but I wasn’t tired either :(

tl;dr: I’m getting old.

• Philosophy Unit 2: 80/100 – A;
• Maths: Core 2: 100/100 – A;
• Maths: Core 3: 100/100 – A*;
• Maths: Mechanics 2: 93/100 – A (Includes ~5% special consideration for getting a migraine — I think);
• Maths: Decision 2: 90/100 – A, despite giving up half-way through with the afore-mentioned migraine (back-to-back exams FTL) — I think they must have more-or-less doubled my raw mark because of that.
• Physics Unit 2: 120/120 – A;
• Physics ISA: 54/60 – A;
• Chemistry Unit 2: 140/140 – A;
• Chemistry ISA: 56/60 – A;

Overall AS results including January modules and D1:

• Philosophy: 180/200 – A;
• Physics: 294/300 – A;
• Chemistry: 293/300 – A;
• Maths: Slightly complicated as which modules go into Maths and which into Further Maths all depends, but:
  • Total of all modules taken: 760/800;
  • I will get an A in maths even if I get 0/100 in C4;
  • If I get ? 80/100 in C4 I will get A* in maths.

Anyway, AS module results from January exams (subjects listed in descending order of purity/awesome):

• Philosophy Unit 1: 100/100 – A (duh): Woo-hoo!
• Maths: Core 1: 97/100 – A;
• Maths: Mechanics 1: 86/100 – A: slightly fail, but probably only one question messed up, not worth resitting unless I desperately need marks next year. I think I was a bit slapdash (read: cocky) in preparing for Maths, to be honest.
• Maths: Statistics 1: 94/100 – A;
• Physics Unit 1: 120/120 – A: Woo-hoo again;
• Chemistry Unit 1: 97/100 – A.

I’ve also got 100/100 in Decision Maths 1 from last January. Pretty happy with those results, but I need to revise harder (read: at all outside lessons) for Maths in June.

I entered a poetry competition advertised at school with something I cooked up in half an hour, and amazingly they’re mad enough to want to publish it. (OK, so they don’t seem to be too selective and I have a feeling most of their business model is selling to proud parents).

Here it is, in all its dreadful glory:

I thunder as I debate: bankers,
And their bonuses; and bay for blood.
I sing The Red Flag,
Cry out for socialism
But in my heart
I

1. Keep a diary
I tried to do this last year, and I kept it for four or five months in total. I’d like to try again, and I’d like to try to keep it up for the whole year.

2. Blog more
Yeah. I tried to do this last year as well. Hopefully I’ll do a little better this year. I’m going to aim for a minimum one/month, but I’d like to try and do more.

3. Read some books
OK, so I already do quite a lot of this. But there are quite a few books I’d like to read, but need a bit of motivation to get started on, and I’d quite like to read some books I otherwise wouldn’t. I’ll post a partial list here, and I’ll keep an updated list as well, because I’m bound to think of others later.

• On Liberty, JS Mill;
• Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes;
• Paradise Lost, John Milton (at least try it);
• Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger;
• Twilight, Stephenie Meyer (for teh lulz);

I’d also appreciate suggestions. If you comment below or otherwise contact me with a suggestion, and I can reasonably get hold of the book, I’ll make it a resolution to at least give every one a go.

There are fewer than last year, but hopefully I stand a better chance of keeping them. Hopefully.

Addendum, later that evening: As a corrolary to 2 and 3, I will try to review at least some of the more interesting books I am reading.

• Maths: A*, predicted A*;
• Statistics: A*, predicted A*;
• English Language: A*, predicted A*/maybe A;
• English Literature: A, A*/maybe A;
• Core Science: sat last year: A*;
• Additional Science: A*, predicted A*;
• History: A*, predicted A*;
• French: A*, predicted A*;
• German: A*, predicted A*;
• Food Tech: B (1 mark off A), predicted A*/A;
• RE: A*, predicted A*.

Overall I’m fairly happy with my results, and my predictions were somewhat optimistic, but the B in Food Tech is a bit disappointing.

• Maths: A*;
• Statistics: A*;
• English Language: A*/maybe A;
• English Literature: A*/maybe A;
• Core Science:
  ]]> http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2009/05/gcse-predictions/feed/ 0 http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2009/01/new-years-resolutions/ http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2009/01/new-years-resolutions/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:40:26 +0000 Jonathan http://sinewave42.com/blog/?p=29 I have decided to give myself some belated New Year’s resolutions (an idea stolen from inspired by Sean and James R). Here they are:

  1. Keep a diary in my Moleskine
  Moleskines are beautiful. I probably won’t live up to that with my scribblings, but they’ll be valuable to me in years to come. I look back on the half-dozen diary entries I have left from previous years and regret not having written more.

  ]]> http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2009/01/new-years-resolutions/feed/ 0 http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2008/05/holiday-in-the-lakes/ http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2008/05/holiday-in-the-lakes/#comments Sat, 31 May 2008 15:12:21 +0000 Jonathan http://sinewave42.com/blog/?p=6 It’s the half-term holidays, so I’ve been on holiday with my family from Saturday (24th) to Thursday (29th). We were camping in the Lake District on a very nice campsite just above Keswick. For the first couple of full days it was pretty windy, but we managed to get a couple of walks in, going up to 600-700 metres. It was pretty unpleasantly windy on top, but overall enjoyable. Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy, so we got very little done, although my mother and I got up Catbells on Tuesday, having seen the ospreys in Dodd Wood.

  Wednesday was spent looking around Keswick’s four or so decent gear shops (and avoiding the dozen or so rubbish touristy ones) in search of rock shoes for my mother. I also got a new pair of waterproof overtrousers, since the old ones were halfway up my shins, and my dad got a new pan which is supposed to be about a third quicker for boiling water, which is perhaps a little exaggerated, but not by a long way. (An aside to those of you who aren’t outdoors nuts. Boil time is an important factor in camping, since the longer it takes, the more fuel it uses, and fuel is heavy, so minimizing fuel use is important for lightweight camping. We fill a Ford Focus estate and roofbox when we go camping, so you couldn’t exactly call us lightweight, but faster tea in the mornings is a very good thing.)

  On Thursday we climbed Helvellyn, the third (or second, depending on whether you count Scafell and Scafell Pike as the same mountain or not) highest mountain in the Lakes (and, since the lakes are the only serious mountain area, England). We climbed up Swirrel Edge (to the right as you look from Red Tarn) and down Striding Edge (to the left). The scrambling wasn’t hard, but at that sort of height, it doesn’t have to be to get a decent adrenalin rush. Swirrel Edge was great, but Striding Edge was very busy, longer than you’d like it to be, and easier, so it wasn’t as interesting.

  We drove home on Thursday evening, stopping in Catterick to wait half an hour in a small chippie for greasy fish and chips – not the greatest meal out I’ve ever had.

  All in all, a great holiday.

  ]]> http://blog.jgh.me.uk/2008/05/holiday-in-the-lakes/feed/ 0