minus zero

I have a research topic!

After spending a couple of months wading through research papers and trying to get a feel for the area, I've settled on 'discovering music on the move' as the area of mobile HCI that I'm going to concentrate my PhD research efforts on. There seems to be a lot of activity in the areas of creating and consuming music in a mobile context, but I've not (yet) found much that deals specifically with the joy of discovering a new band, song, or genre of music. Now I've got to knuckle down and read everything there is to read, and then write a literature review by January 15^th... Eek.

In other news, the Annual SUCS Christmas Party is taking place tomorrow at the House of Geek. I'm looking forward to it, although I can't help but wonder how it's going to differ to last year's gatherings now that people such as Steve, Jo, Tudor, Darren etc. have moved away. Photos on Friday!

So I turned 22 last Friday. I spent the day relaxing with my lovely lady, which was rather good. I worked my first shift at the new student shop in the evening, and although I felt slightly bad about leaving Jen on her own she assured me that she'd be fine, and would keep herself entertained.

The 5 hours at work dragged on and on, until I was finally set free at 10. Jen came to meet me and we wandered home, discussing the romantic night we were going to spend together. When we got back to the house, Jen instructed me to go through to the kitchen and get a bottle of wine from the fridge. With a huge grin on my face, thinking it was my lucky night, I blundered into the lounge and fumbled for the light switch in the darkness.

All of a sudden, the lights came of their own accord and the sound of loads of people shouting "SURPRISE!!!" greeted me. The house was incredibly warm compared to the bitter Swansea air outside, and my glasses had fogged over. I was completely taken aback and didn't really have a clue what was going on! It soon became apparent that the room was packed with loads of my friends all wishing me a happy birthday and wondering why I looked so shell-shocked. A huge grin came across my face as I realised what was going on, although I staggered around for a short while not quite sure if I was awake or dreaming. The rasterbated photo of my ugly mug just added to the surrealism of it all.

The party was a huge success, and I'm totally in awe of how much effort was put into the organisation and secrecy of the whole enterprise. Big thanks, kisses and love to Jen, Steve and Sey for all the hard work you put into it, you're the best! Jen's sangria was delicious, and a little more intoxicating than was assumed (right, Sara?).

Thanks of course to everyone who came along to make the night so much fun, hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did. It was really humbling to have so many people there for a party for me! Wow.

Oh! I almost forgot the cake. It was a true masterpiece (if you're wondering what the hell the design on the top is all about, I refer you to Goatse), and delicious to boot. Sey, you did a brilliant job, though I just can't picture you in an apron in the kitchen with a tube of pink icing.

More pictures of the event: Andy's and Seyhan's.

The SUCS beach party was a blast; I ended up staying all night. It was pretty cool to watch the sky get darker only to be replaced by light from the bonfire, and then watch the fire die out as the sun rose behind the clouds again. I'm sure there's some technical term for that contrast, but hey I'm a computer science student and as such not expected to know such things.

The best bits of the party are innumerable (uncountable? ;) ) but there were unfortunately a few things which did create a bit of a bad atmosphere. There were a couple of 3rd years (non-members, as it happens) who really got on everyone's nerves. Overall though, a fantastic evening.

Photos from the night: rollercow's, FireFury's, Arthur's, psycodom's, Steve's (with a few by me).

I'm back home in Trowbridge now - so far I've done next to nothing and it's been fantastic. I discovered a new rowing machine in the shed, so there's no excuse not to do some exercise now (damn!).

Oh, and I talked Mummy into cutting my hair for me:

The 3 weeks of pain known as the exam season have drawn to a close, and I'm now two thirds of the way through my degree (summer resits notwithstanding). A scary thought indeed, as it feels like the past two years have flown past. The remaining segment of the course promises to be the most interesting, challenging and important, in equal measure, and I'm looking forward to it moreso than either of the past two Septembers.

A relatively relaxed summer awaits, in the meantime, and it'd be a lie to say that I'm not looking forward to getting home - I can't wait. Much as I love being in Swansea, and hanging out with all the people I know here, the end of term is when the money and energy runs out (doubly so in the summer term) and I can't wait for a bit of home cooking and not having to worry so much about finances and bills.

Anyway, on a lighter note, tonight is the fabled annual computer society beach party, and a thoroughly good excuse to get sloshed with like-minded geeks, hackers and department staff. Last year's party was a mighty event, and (because I've had a hand in organising it, of course) with any luck the trend will be continued this year.

Expect photos (via Steve) at some point (hangovers permitting ;) ).