The last week of revision starts here

It is my final week for studying Philosophy of Economics & History of Science. I am very well prepared for the latter, not so good for the former. Based on the mock-exam papers I have, I can typically do 6 or 7 questions for H of S, maybe 2 for P of E. I am going to need some luck to get through them both.

Emma's had her last exam at Cambridge and thinks they have been somewhat mixed. One went very well, one not so well and two were average. She is on for a high 2-1, but doesn't think she has done enough to get a 1st.

And I, of course, still have to write a dissertation over the summer. I have almost forgotten what subject I picked. Hopefully I can get started on that again in a couple of weeks, with the aim of producing a decent draft before Linda and I go to Italy for our main holiday.

There is still no word from Oxford on my PhD application but I have confirmed that it is still in their system. There was an article in the paper the other day saying that applications have risen dramatically for PhDs as a result of the difficult jobs market for graduates. I had thought that would be an issue for MScs, but hadn't really expected it to extend to PhDs. So there has been a huge rise in applications and my chances of being accepted are corrspondingly reduced. I generally have a bad feeling about this and am beginning to think of other projects instead

The main one of these remains my biography project. This would work very well when combined with trading. Indeed I am getting more and more excited about the combination of the two activities.

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I will re-apply for a PhD if I am not successful this year at Oxford. But if not accepted again, I am thinking about finally doing my long-proposed trip to the Himalayas. In the latest KS catalogue, I was surprised to see that it is possible to go to the area of Nepal where Peter Matthiesson went for the book, The Snow Leopard. This has taken over from Mera Peak as my favourite trip idea. So if the PhD doesn't happen, I will do this instead in October / November 2011

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Two views of Shey Gomba - the setting for The Snow Leopard

A somewhat melancholic view of the world at the moment. Currently music reflects this - lots of Nina Simone, and one of my favourite records from the 1980s, the Chameleons' Script of the Bridge which I rediscoved the other day, "Monkeyland" and "Second Skin" being two outstanding tracks