University content

SOooo I have been reading a book called "Traders, Guns and Money" about the world of derivatives and the system of banking / stock markets etc. It complements my course on Quantitative Risk but I'm struggling. The entire subject is so convoluted, like learning english, except that this time there are meant to be some rules. We're still dealing with numbers aren't we? I'm not sure anymore.

I would like to instead spend time doing silly integration exercises for my Complex Analysis course and just to remind myself of all the things I've forgotten. At some point I'll have to face up to this weird quality of having a bad memory. Things just get pushed out after all the information I absorb on a day to day basis. Hopefully I'll be able to sustain it with exercises until the end of session, when I am due to graduate. At least now I have a little time and the motivation to complete all my assignments early.

I'm really enjoying my free time, listening to FBI radio. I find it difficult to distinguish between each of the electronic songs but I'm getting used to them. Writing down the song titles and listening proactively to where it came from helps enormously.

Today I waited until about 12:30 to have my first coffee of the day. I am pretty pathetic in that I can't go very long without one. I am going to give tea a try, since coffee seems to make me sleepy by about 1300-1400 each day. Monkeys (most mammals actually) take naps in the middle of the day in order to stay alert until the night time. It would have been best if I just stuck to my schedule. Instead I tried this during the holidays and totally screwed with my sleeping patterns.

There is an art gallery exhibition next week, Wednesday is the opening night but the exhibition really starts on the Tuesday. Ken volunteers for Amnesty International and he has organized a lot of it. Hopefully my dad will also be able to come. The theme is something from the declaration of rights of indigenous peoples, or something, and an artwork from each student about that. Even though the students are not all indigenous they have done it in the style of Aboriginal art. I love the type of abstract symbolism used by aboriginals, their depiction of river systems is the most natural form I have ever known. Using little dabs of paint on the ends of sticks they create wonderfully flowing dreamlike paintings. I have attempted a little to make some similar styled pieces myself, but there are many nuances that I notice each time I try to mimic. Their blending of color is rare but quite incredible and detailed even though it looks like a blur (as good blending should).