The Cambridge Chat Thread

moonkatie

I am so very very tired, yet I have two essays to write this evening.

I wonder how much coffee I can drink before I cross the line from awake/semi-productive to manic/incoherent...

Sleep and do the essays when you're awake. I learnt the hard way...

Reply 7045

OP

Catsmeat

Craggy, sorry I couldn't drop the money around yet, despite my failed promise. I've been struck down by lightening illness. I'll try and cycle by Peterhouse on Saturday and drop it off ...

Don't be silly, I didn't even notice. I was stuck in my own comparable essay crisis. Remember I messaged you my bank details on facebook, so surely it will be easier to log in and deposit it online? Otherwise do what the others did and UMS it. If you have a cheque book, just shove it in an envelope, put my name and 'Peterhouse' in and wham it into the box in your plodge. Or message me your house number and I'll pound on the door next time I go to Sainsburys :rolleyes:

Reply 7046

moonkatie

Catsmeat

That is quite ambitious. The manic/incoherent horizon usually occurs, for me, at about 3-5am, after which all is fine. You just need to bridge that point. I tried to use ProPlus before, but found that I overused it in a big way, stopped sleeping for two days and was found by my housemate smiling to myself and attempting to climb over the halls at about 3 in the morning. Not recommended.

Ah yes, but ProPlus is the work of the devil. Following copious amounts of caffeine I tend to turn into some sort of bumbling lunatic as it is, so at least the general restrictions on coffee/liquid intake help stem the flow of crazy somewhat.

zoedotdot

Sleep and do the essays when you're awake. I learnt the hard way...

This would certainly be the preferred option, but certain restrictions on time mean that I really have to get these out of the way this evening.

Speaking of which.....

Reply 7047

moonkatie

This would certainly be the preferred option, but certain restrictions on time mean that I really have to get these out of the way this evening.

Speaking of which.....

Mmm, I've ignored problems with time restraints this year. Surprisingly it's worked quite well for me. I am two essays behind, but I know the material exceptionally well because I haven't been skimping on reading, and I'm currently in much better health than I was last year. And also not shouting at people every ten minutes, which is nice :smile:

Sometimes I even stay awake in my lectures!

Reply 7048

Chubasco

1

Ahhh, Spanish translation hell...and I really want some Red Bull to help me stay awake but I don't really think it's a good idea as I've done that far too much recently.

Reply 7049

Crazy_emz

Ahhh, Spanish translation hell...and I really want some Red Bull to help me stay awake but I don't really think it's a good idea as I've done that far too much recently.

Are you doing the one about the Guatemalan women? Because that was horrible with tons of passives and icky bits where I didn't know if the subjunctive was needed :frown:

Good luck with it anyway, I share your pain. My translation into Russian this week is horrific.

Reply 7050

OP

My day's gotten better. I went to a performance of Britten's 'A Ceremony of Carols' which was all quite interesting relatively contemporary choral music, all female with a harp. Was really pretty. Then there were mince pies and I chatted to people in the bar. Peterhouse bar has started doing Magners on tap and I only just noticed :king1:

I probably ought to go to bed early though. I really want to submit my postgrad application tomorrow and the proposal needs a few finishing touches which I can't honestly see myself achieving tonight.

Catsmeat

That is quite ambitious. The manic/incoherent horizon usually occurs, for me, at about 3-5am, after which all is fine. You just need to bridge that point. I tried to use ProPlus before, but found that I overused it in a big way, stopped sleeping for two days and was found by my housemate smiling to myself and attempting to climb over the halls at about 3 in the morning. Not recommended.

Except the proplus bit...

I've found I can still do all nighers as long as they're isolated and preceded by a few days of good sleep. If I try and do an all nighter after a week of sleep deprivation, I just fail. I think the intense panic I had through first year stimulated adrenalin release or something. I've got no other explanation for how I managed to do that many all nighters.

Reply 7051

Canned Door

Zoedotdot

Mmm, I've ignored problems with time restraints this year. Surprisingly it's worked quite well for me. I am two essays behind, but I know the material exceptionally well because I haven't been skimping on reading, and I'm currently in much better health than I was last year. And also not shouting at people every ten minutes, which is nice :smile:

Sometimes I even stay awake in my lectures!

That seems ideal, the way you put it. I would love to feel I knew what I was doing, but I think at the moment, at this stage, it's as much about undeveloped skills and approaches as much as it is about not having read enough or closely enough.

Reply 7052

Chubasco

1

Zoedotdot

Are you doing the one about the Guatemalan women? Because that was horrible with tons of passives and icky bits where I didn't know if the subjunctive was needed :frown:

Good luck with it anyway, I share your pain. My translation into Russian this week is horrific.

That's the one. I did quite well on the other two translations so I have a feeling that my teacher will be disappointed with this one if it's not so good. And given some of my work-related fiascos this term, I really need to actually do well in something so that end-of-term DOS and tutor meetings are not completely awkward.

Hope the Russian isn't too awful.

Reply 7053

OP

Zoedotdot

Mmm, I've ignored problems with time restraints this year. Surprisingly it's worked quite well for me. I am two essays behind, but I know the material exceptionally well because I haven't been skimping on reading, and I'm currently in much better health than I was last year. And also not shouting at people every ten minutes, which is nice :smile:

Sometimes I even stay awake in my lectures!

Ditto. I'm a much happier person last year and this than I was in first year for much the same reasons. Also I've noticed that I'm a million times more sensitive to noise when tired, which explains alot.

Mind you, my work load in the sense of deadlines diminished by 50% going from Part I to Part II, so its not as though I chose to stop destroying my body, its just that after first year I suddenly had time to sleep again.

Reply 7054

Canned Door

That seems ideal, the way you put it. I would love to feel I knew what I was doing, but I think at the moment, at this stage, it's as much about undeveloped skills and approaches as much as it is about not having read enough or closely enough.

I couldn't have done it last year I don't think. This year I'm much more confident in my abilities and how I learn, and I know that I nearly destroyed myself with what I tried to do last year. Knowing your strengths and how to play things is part of what you learn here - it's not all about desire and transgression in French literature :wink:

Crazy_emz

That's the one. I did quite well on the other two translations so I have a feeling that my teacher will be disappointed with this one if it's not so good. And given some of my work-related fiascos this term, I really need to actually do well in something so that end-of-term DOS and tutor meetings are not completely awkward.

Hope the Russian isn't too awful.

Ah, now my problem is that I didn't do well on the previous two - my Spanish language work has really fallen to the wayside this term because my Russian needs a serious boost and because (unfortunately) I've started to lose interest in Spanish. I like speaking it but I think that after 8 and a bit years of study I'm just a bit fed up. I also need to legitimise my work situation to my DoS - I think he might be a bit horrified if he reads my reports without me explaining my situation!

What I meant to say was don't worry, yours can't possibly be as bad as mine was. I just used the passive almost all the way through and I know she's going to flip at me for still being weak on grammar - my translations always come back with the same comment: good, imaginative translation, bad bad grammar.

Reply 7055

Chubasco

1

Zoedotdot

I couldn't have done it last year I don't think. This year I'm much more confident in my abilities and how I learn, and I know that I nearly destroyed myself with what I tried to do last year. Knowing your strengths and how to play things is part of what you learn here - it's not all about desire and transgression in French literature :wink:

Ah, now my problem is that I didn't do well on the previous two - my Spanish language work has really fallen to the wayside this term because my Russian needs a serious boost and because (unfortunately) I've started to lose interest in Spanish. I like speaking it but I think that after 8 and a bit years of study I'm just a bit fed up. I also need to legitimise my work situation to my DoS - I think he might be a bit horrified if he reads my reports without me explaining my situation!

Ahh, I know what you mean about Spanish because I'm having a similar thing with French. I want to be fluent and I love my French lit paper but I don't think that I'm going to be able to get much better gramatically and I'm really lazy about learning vocab.

I guess I should talk to my DoS but I really hate to sound like I'm making excuses.

Are you going to spend your YA in Russia?

Which class are you in for translation?

Reply 7056

alex_hk90

19

Zoedotdot

Sometimes I even stay awake in my lectures!

Same here - this morning I actually managed to stay awake and pay close to full attention in both Calculus and Linear Algebra, despite having gone out last night. And I understood both lectures completely. :eek:

Reply 7057

OP

Aha.Ha.

Only about three hours out and I just caught myself looking forward to reading one of the interesting looking books for Monday's essay :o:

Reply 7058

It could be lupus

12

alex_hk90

Same here - this morning I actually managed to stay awake and pay close to full attention in both Calculus and Linear Algebra, despite having gone out last night. And I understood both lectures completely. :eek:

I wasn't even out last night and still felt extremely tired and fell asleep this morning during my lecture on diet and vitamins. All the same I stayed fully awake during my lecture on the circulatory system... maybe it was the topic :p:

Reply 7059