I have been struggling to catch-up with my current Open University course. I applied for it a few months ago and had a vague idea that the course started at the end of November. Other things were planned as you'd expect, and it was only through luck that I logged on to the course Website the other day to see if there were any really keen people starting already. Predictably, I discovered that the course actually started at the start of November, and I was already a bit behind! Oh well... I work best (only?) under pressure! Last night was spent catching-up on what has happened so far, and I think I will be up with everyone else by the end of tomorrow. This is quite important as it is taught entirely on-line, so if you are not in the 'tutorial' conferences it's pretty obvious!

There are some universal truths that we must all accept. 'Being slack when a student yet somehow managing to get everything in on time' is one of mine. Well, as long as you don't include PhD thesis' in that, I suppose. I take some pride in never having handed any coursework in late, but it's a weird sort of pride since a lot of my friends who almost never got stuff in on time got their degrees in the end anyway. Mind you, they were arts students, and I think in the arts handing stuff in late is practically expected.

Christmas is fast approaching. I saw the first decorations going up in October. It's tempting to say something along the lines of 'It gets earlier every year!', but that's obviously not true; the people who say it are just getting older. They probably also think that Mars bars were bigger, there was less crime on the streets, and the grass was greener. All of these things are relative. In any case, I quite like the decorations going up early, otherwise everything is a bit grim in November after Guy Fawkes night.

Thinking of Christmas, I am undecided about what to do for a tree this year. A real tree is of course the nicest thing. However, I always feel slightly guilty that a tree has to die to give me a few weeks of enjoyment. Would a plastic tree be any better though? Both real and plastic trees can be recycled, and you can get some pretty decent looking fake trees these days. I think that the environmental choice is not as clear-cut as it may first appear. Hmm.

Therapy?, one of the best live bands ever, are playing Reading on the 3rd of December. Should be excellent. Come along!