Juno - yes, many rich eccentrics! And some rich sane people too!

The Duchess of Portland has a HUGE collection of natural history specimens and a menagerie in her garden. She was a true Enlightenment woman and hosted intellectuals and reasearchers in her huge home, Bulstrode Park. Sadly, her children didn't catch the collecting bug (which has been in her family for generations and they had problems with their own debts). So when she died, the collections were sold and the menagerie ran into ruin. If the collection has been left intact it would rival the British Museum as an example of Enlightenment collecting.

I met my lovely boyfriend one month into my PhD. I really value his support -he has been a great sounding board and his is always encourage. I obviously wish I could see him more - but people with 'normal' jobs probably wish the same. I think the PhD enroaches as far on your life as you let it....

Somebody should have done their research.

Funding cuts like this really hoot me off....there is no reason why funding for academia and research should be cut - it is all very well trying to plug a shortfall, but when you see where the literal billions of £ of tax payers money is alternatively diverted (i.e. Olympics, Dome *ahem* etc) it makes my blood boil.

...I thought a bit of a light relief thread was in order. I would love this Swedish cheese classic played at my funeral or on my PhD graduation day - whichever comes sooner! ;-)

Vindarna vänder oss 'The wind turns us'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRz7a25LCb0

List your favourite songs here people?

I am researching into natural history collecting and menageries in seventeenth and eighteenth century England and Scotland. I am interested in relationship between these phenomena and the political happenings of these centuries - Civil War, Interregnum, Glorious Revolution and so on... I am part. interested in the relationship between Dutch natural history collecting and that of England and Scotland....

All the PhD's I know as friends are in the same uni, but in different faculties - I don't have a desk because I am, shared between departments. In one department I am one of 2/3 first year PhD's and I kind of get lost in the other one. I'm not lonely per-se because I see familiar faces sometimes and audit a MA class my sup' gives - but I am lonely in respect that I realise that nobody else is doing my topic and it would be nice to have an office to go to.

I did it!

Thank you so much!

Phew!

Your instructions were so much clearer than the 'help' file on Endnote. Other than that, I'm loving endnote.

I have a library of primary sources on endnote and want to export them to a word file for my sup' to look over. I have tried doing this, and failed - and the help doesn't make any sense to me.

Can anyboyd help?

I'm only six months in, but I think on completion I would give my supervisor a natural histroy print/illustration from a late eighteenth century/ nineteenth century book...hmmmm better get saving!

Don't be worried...yet. Be happy and proud in the meantime. Plenty of time to be neurotic like the rest of us when you start!

Lycka till! Good luck!

I'm green with envy.

I'm halfway through a pillarbox red merino-cashmere blend scarf. I order my stuff through 'laughing hen' online.

So relaxing....

Everybody should take a day off, afternoon off or have a holiday - six months is a long time to go without a bit of slack. If a monthly supervision goes well...I normally do nothing in the afternoon, jus to celebrate. Especially today since today is a Friday afterall. But that assumes my meeting will go well....

Beowulf rocks! But I have only read the e-book version of it on my Palm Pilot (or rather the Palm Pilot I sold after I realised how much better paper and a pen was). So I shall re-read a paper copy of it!

It takes concentration though, what with being used to modern english!