Brown rice it is. Mother will want her baby boy to be big and stong

That sounds so refined!

I totally understand where you're coming from Sue.

My personal feeling is that because meat can be cut out healthily - I want to. As for other material goods - it might well be that leather is the least polluting material rather than oil derived plastic. Sigh. Such a quandry. It seems viturally impossible to balance things up sometimes!

Thanks for the jelly tips.

Yeah - I always buy free-range eggs, and I'll make sure I buy high quality organic products budget allowing. I know it is impossible to completely cut out animal products entirely (i.e. I love the leather belt I have) but at least I can work signficantly towards that line. And maybe one day I'll be a vegan - but I can't really see that happening.

Coolt. Thank you. Just need to track V' jelly now and then I'm sorted...

I've only been at it for just less than 3 weeks - so no cravings yet. Actually, already the sight of uncooked meat makes my stomach turn!

I have given up for two main reasons:

Prententious reason: I work in the are of writing cultural histories of animals and much of my reading borders on theoretical texts on what animals are in relation to us. The lack of certainty in these texts about what constitutes an animal and what we can know about them makes me feel uncomfortable eating them.

Practical Reason: I seen on tv and on the internet the condiitons many animals are raised and then slaughtered in. I don't like it.

I'm still not sure how to cut cheese out (rennet) because I need the protein but it is still about an animal. Hmmm ideal watered down?

I am planning on saving a bit of cash and putting it into the bank account I set up years ago as a teenager for the future (it has nothing in it!)...this is becoming my 'Northern Europe Account'. I plan to spend at least a month touring across Scandinavia with parts of Russia and Germany. I'll spend the most time in Sweden because I am more familiar with it and speak passable/vaguely inteligible Swedish. I have accrued holiday time, but plan to do it before I go into my third year. So I have a year and six months of saving and PhD to go.

Good luck with your plans too!!

Oh god! Stories like yours make me afraid. Why academica, why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *claws at hair*

You're probably right - I suppose having chosen my research topic that I am personally interested in makes it easier to bear when the going is tough. I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing in my twenties though - apart from touring Northern Europe with a backpack.

I was pleasantly suprised by my university ranking on the world and europe scales...

http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm

Not that I had reason to suspect otherwise since my supervsior is fan-friggin-tastic.

I burnt my own personal hole in the Ozone Layer with my fan heater at Christmas. I had it under my desk, and staff would come and glow in its glory.

I'm only six months in, and I'm not leaving. I've given too much already.

Thanks Tricky! lol!

404. What a star! I've printed them out for future use! Thanks.

But then at least you have funding.

You should know that a PhD student should:

'Always kno thy place'