h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Or at least I was earlier.

So the exams are finally over. I think I did okay overall; certainly better than I expected in today's History of Science exam, since there were questions available that suited my specialities quite well. I've been assured by a fellow philosopher that I did read the cultural relativism question in the Ethics and Values exam correctly, and even in Early Greek Philosophy (in which I was a touch disadvantaged; the lecturer was present only during the first term, so he compressed the entire module into that term, putting on an extra lecture per week -- which I couldn't attend because it clashed with one of my other lectures, so I just had to get the course notes off the University network) I think I did reasonably.

The weather is beautiful. Also rather hot. Unfortunately, a combination of heat, humidity, walking to and from a fairly distant exam hall, and standing around waiting for dinner appears to have taken its toll; it had been a long time since I'd last fainted, and possibly my ability to predict the onset of dizziness was waning. Alas, my susceptibility clearly remains -- and whereas on previous occasions I'd always fallen over on the spot, on this one a sudden and unexpected rush of dizziness while I was carrying a piece of chicken on a plate caused me to stagger, semi-conscious, into a table covered in bowls of fruit salad. Fortunately there are some very kind and understanding people in College. At any rate, Entry-writing has had to be pushed back a touch due to recovery time and the burden of unexpected extra laundry, but now I shall have lots of free time in which to get the FF7 rewrite Entry sorted out, so it _will_ be coming soon -- unless, of course, something else goes wrong.

Further rambling, then. I've finally got around to watching the first DVD of Serial Experiments Lain, which sits firmly in the 'intriguing but difficult' category of anime -- even more so than Boogiepop Phantom, and maybe as much as Eva, since it doesn't really have a shallow end. It's a very interesting show in terms of the cultural observations it's trying to make, althhough its narrative style tends to encourage a feeling of detachment, which could be seen as a weakness.

I've now managed to watch the final volume of Noir, which is just as dramatic as I expected. I also now have the sixth volume of the Excel Saga manga; unfortunately the supplier I used had run out of copies of the other volumes I'm lacking, so I have to wait for them to be ordered from the U.S.

Life.

I'm glad to hear the exam went OK and that you survived. And sorry to hear about the fruit salad incident. It is not hot and humid here yet but it is coming and I'm not looking forward to it. Are you drinking enough water? . I don't know if you know Egon, but he has managed to work this sort of thing to his advantage: F77509?thread=426856

I've been fine with the amount of water I'd been drinking plenty of times in the past on substantially hotter and more humid days, so I don't think it's that. I'm told it's esentially circulatory; having Marfan Syndrome (A549001, http://www.marfan.org.uk ), I'm 1.98 metres tall, and that's quite a long way for the heart to pump blood. Standing around involves the non-usage of leg muscles whose contractions I'm told help the circulation, so that doesn't help. Anyway, although I've always been more prone to fainting in hot or cold weather, it's not a direct heat --> fainting thing; if it were it would be more predictable. It's been happening less in recent years, but appears to have come back in dramatic fashion.

Congratulations to egon; but while the method may work in the hunt for Nice, Friendly Girls, I suspect that the relative scarcity of -/-/-/-/-type attributes (the one to be read figuratively) will remain a barrier to my clicking with anyone, even while covered in fruit salad.

Good to hear about the exam; not so good about the fainting...
I've never fainted - as of yet - but I can't imagine it being too fun. Question is, is it better to do it in public (where you will be helped - hopefully - and may always meet someone nice...) or in private (to save the embaressment?)

Don't be pessimistic - you're sure to "click" with someone some time; probably sooner rather than later.
Now I've just got to convince myself of the same thing...

I think it's better in private as long as one picks oneself up undamaged on recovery. If one hits one's head, say, it's better to be in public. Not that one often gets a choice anyway.

My pessimism is based on extensive experience of being me and sound inductive prediction; the possibility does exist, but outside my expectations. So probably later, or never, rather than sooner.

Good luck with the self-conviction. (Admittedly I probably haven't helped.)