Counting

That's what my days have been characterised by lately. Specifically, word-counts and count-downs. Count-downs to when we start final exams (actually, this is not really worth thinking about - too depressing), to when I finish exams and life as a UoM student (63 days to go!) and to the grand summer adventure. As for word-counts, these were a bit of a nightmare as I was bit overboard when it came to the stipulated word-limit of my dissertation, and believe me, it can be much harder to reduce words than increase them. But finally, I managed to reduce them to an acceptable level, and I'm happy to announce that my thesis is practically ready! What's left is the go-ahead from my tutor and a final proof-read. So unless my tutor drops a bombshell, which he shouldn't, I should be done. However, I won't be truly sighing with relief until I see it printed and hard-bound in all its glory. But I can say it feels good to see the document as a whole. Considering the marks that it's worth (just 1/8 of the final grade, in spite of expectations), my friends and I all put a disproportionate amount of time in our dissertations. But hopefully, the effort will pay off. At least, I can finally truly start focusing on my finals...2 years' worth of 14 subjects (eek!)

In other news...

• this weekend I had a much needed catch-up with Petra, one of my closest friends, who was back home for the Easter hols - great night. The last 3 weekends have in fact consisted of good nights outs - they were very much needed breaks.
• congratulations to my dear friend Maria who's been elected MCVP PD & ER in AIESEC Ireland!
• I succumbed to another book-sale and bought 7 books. I'm quite happy with my purchases: Two books by Ian McEwan: Atonement and Saturday (I read his Enduring Love and had absolutely loved it), Zadie Smith's On Beauty, A Rough-Guide on Women Travel, Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud (an autobiographical travelogue by a Chinese woman during the Cultural Revolution), The Seahorse by Tania Unsworth (set in India) and finally a collection of articles and writing for radio by Stephen Fry, one of my favourite British comedians, called Paperweight. It's described by the author as a snack book or a literary guacamole in which to dip one's tortilla of curiosity :) I already read the introduction and laughed out loud. Anyway, all these have been stashed away in a cupboard only to come out after 18 June. Instead, I must read IFRSs, ISAs, Company law, etc., etc.

By the way, I finally opened a flickr account. After encouragement from some friends and plenty of inspiration from flickr itself, I do hope to eventually take photography more seriously, hopefully even investing in an SLR camera. Just wanted to say that any kind of constructive feedback is highly appreciated :) And for anyone who was wondering, sea-crystal is actually a wordplay on my name.