One ring to rule them all

Okay... so that was fun. Now, back to real life. Somewhat.

Good news is, I finally got paid. Four months of stipend, right into my bank account. Yay! Now I'm going to gradually get rid of all the debts. Obviously I expect a lot of bureaucracy in the way, but everything is going to be just fine, I'm sure.

Next week the second semester begins. For the undergrads, that is. Only yesterday I found out that the grad courses only begin a week later. Of course, that doesn't mean much, since I'm going to have a lot of work to do. Besides that, I'm going ro resume my japanese studies, also beginning next thursday. I have already dug up my books and dictionaries.

I finally received my graduation ring. It's really cool! As soon as I get a picture, I'll post it here.

Also, I've been convocated to work in the elections. I'm not sure what it's all about, I'm going to find it out next tuesday.

Curious thing is, yesterday I woke up in a very bad mood. But the news of my payment changed it all. Not only my mood, but it gave me a new perspective about my masters. A few things I discussed with my advisor last tuesday also give me a lot of motivation. I'm really looking forward for the next months.

Mostly, I think this is it for now. A lot of things cross my mind at the moment, but, at least for now, I prefer not to write about them.

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On the field

Directly from the XAS beamline at LNLS today!

It's being an interesting experience. The samples we're measuring don't have anything to do with my project, but this is going to be very useful, I'm sure.

Besides that, I think there's finally hope for my stipend: It's due tomorrow, at last. It's been four months since I began work on my masters, and since then it's been a royal pain in the financial ass.

In ten days we're gonna have the RPG marathon at Daniel's house. I just hope I can keep up with everything I intend to do: the live arranjements are not going as well as I wish they were. I just hope all the players submit their characters until the next weekend, so I get some time to prepare everything. The Exalted campaign is not a source of concern, since it's a table-top and we manage to get things going without too much preparation. I'm just disappointed with the fact that there will be no time for the Paranoia session.

Maybe next time.

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500 undeads ahead of you? Go for it!

It's been a while since I posted here the last time. A week, to be more precise.

That's a bit odd, because my first semester courses ended almost two weeks ago. On the other hand, there were still other issues needing attention, so my first semester only actually ended last friday.

My stipend problems are coming to an end, at last. My payment was finally scheduled for July 25th - next tuesday.

Today I went to the language school and scheduled my level examination for tomorrow - I will resume my japanese studies beginning next semester, and since it's been two and a half years since I've interrupted them, I decided it was best to do the exam. I hope that next year I get to start my italian, too.

In other news, yesterday the RPG session was absolutely awesome. It took almost seven hours, including a few pauses for eating and things like that. The cool part is it was a fun as hell session, it was fantastic. The story got absolutely wonderful, and I think yesterday's story is truly Exalted stuff. Read the campaign blog to know what I mean (it's in portuguese). One of the most enjoyable sessions I've ever played. Ever.

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Tendencies

I gotta admit, I have a tendency to always expect the worst. Yesterday I was thinking I was going to hear my advisor preaching about responsibility, thinking she was mad at me. Well, she just said, "too bad you couldn't make it, maybe you could use a schedule organizer".

In other news, yesterday was one of the most awesome rpg sessions I've ever had. Gradually the guys are getting the hand to it, and our Exalted sessions are getting cooler every time. There's a lot of players and I have a hell of a time preparing sessions for them, but it's very rewarding. The best part is, things tend to get even better.

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Somebody stop me...

I hate to let people down. However I think that's somewhat unavoidable. Particularly when it comes to my advisor. Yesterday I stayed at home, doing nothing. I knew I was forgetting something, but I wasn't able to remember what it was, and to be honest I didn't even care.

But it was very important. I had a meeting with my advisor, to which I didn't appear. Didn't talk to her yet, but I do expect to hear a lot from her. And know what, she is absolutely right. I'm being irresponsible. I gotta get real and start dedicating myself to my project. There is a time for everything, and I've been procrastinating was too much lately.

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Towel Day

Towel Day,
originally uploaded by fmneto.

This photo is from the Towel Day at IFUSP. It has been a while ago, but I'm testing this new feature, which allows me to post pictures directly from flickr.

Things are starting to get right. I hope to finally begin receiving my stipend by the end of this week. My advisor is back after some personal problems and now we're going to start the hard work, together with Rebeca. I've learned quite a lot about SAXS during my Crystallography classes, but this is going to be the really productive part, since I'm going to have my advisor by my side explaining every single detail and solving every doubt I may have.

I think I'm lucky, because my advisor is so cool. She's always ready to listen, and her enthusiasm is fantastic.

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It's over.

Yesterday was a very good day.

The EIRPG was fine, but the only thing I regret is that I'm going through financial problems. There were a LOT of Exalted books there, all of them at very low prices. And there I was, only able to look at them and curse the people responsible for this. Anyway, I hope I can go back to the book store sometime in the second semester and do my shopping. I wasn't able to make it in time to see Sean Punch's talk, which I was kinda looking forward to.

I met friends I didn't see in a long time. One of them has recently came back from Japan. It was nice. A lot of people that don't see each other very frequently got together and all we did was just talking, and it was great. After a few problems, like going out to get the stuff for dinner, ou running out of gas and we having to move the whole "event" to another house, we got food around 1:30 am. And there we were, eating pasta and wathing [adult swim]. The best part, though, was yet to come: a whole can of "brigadeiro" was waiting for us after dinner. There was a lot of left over, but the guys were kind enough to give me the candy as a gift. What a joyous moment! =P

I ended up getting back home around 6 in the morning.

Sometimes I think how lucky I am for having so many friends. During the EIRPG I had to keep going back and forth so I could be with everyone. The sad thing is that I wasn't able to say bye for all of them, though... I just wish I could keep in touch with everyone more often. I feel somewhat guilty for being away sometimes.

In other news, the world cup is over for Brazil. Finally, maybe this country will get back to normal. 'nuff said.

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