Aristotle is doing my head in.
I’m sitting here with a home exam for a course they, the University, call Increased Course in Classical [philosophical] Problems. [My hack-ass translation... whatever hack-ass means... can't be good.]
I’m supposed to answer a question on what life is (and in that what it is to have a soul) in an Aristotelian sense. The answer just grows and grows, soon it’s an essay in itself, and I still have 4 questions (one more on Aristotle and three on Descartes) left.
Hand-in in 9 days and one would think that’s enough time. It might be, but I also have a 20 000 character exam in Relativism due in about two weeks time, on which I have written 0 characters.
It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks.
Today started so well.
I sat my ass down in-front of the computer and started to study.
After an hour or so, It all went downhill.
Camilla and I went into town, looking for sneaks. Didn’t find any. Instead we ended up having coffee and wienersemla and went shopping for some kitchen stuff. I got two nice Weiss-beerglasses. (Trying ‘em out tonight.)
Could not get my study on when we got home either. Went for a dog walk and then cleaned the apartment instead. in-between we had dinner and just before typing this I had a Tomas Special. A new kind of sandwich I’ve created. Soooo good.
All in all a pretty uneventful day (and I’m guessing this read was a complete waste of your time).
Now I’m just going to kick it with a beer.
Today saw the falling of even more snow.
Not something I like, especially not in the face of us here in Gothenburg having the snowiest winter since ever.
And now it has started to rain.
It’s going to be a fun couple of days.
I have been sitting here, in our (Camillas and mine) office (the smallest room of our apartment, but office sounds cooler; more grown up) all day. Anxiously waiting for the grade of my re-exam in Formal Logic to tumble in on either my e-mail or my user on the school’s website.
It hasn’t.
So, I will wait, being just as anxious, tomorrow.
I bought myself a pair of kicks today. Over at the sneakersnstuff sale. Something like 85% off. A pair of Nike Zoom Ashiko (the link shows the shoe but not in the right color-way), mainly for walking the dog in. I’ve also seen that they have two cool synthetic Nike’s over at Shelta Sneakers… a pair of Air Max 1:s and a pair of Nike Vandal High Supreme Vintage (Neon Pack). Also (and this is turning out to be a whole lot of Nike) their getting in a pair of Nike All Court Canvas Low Quickstrike tomorrow. Man, I do not have the funds for this. It used to be hard shopping for all synthetic sneakers, now it seems there’s nothing but!
And why am I telling you all of this; all these sneaker dreams of mine?
Well, as I wrote on my Twitter-feed, if my grade in Formal Logic ever turns up, and it turns out that I’ve made the highest grade, I’ve promised myself a little treat: A pair of Nike Air Jordan Alpha 1 iD, in a color way that I’ve spent way too many hours designing. (The iD is a custom shoe! The price is there after.)
So. When is someone going to swoop in, yes, swoooop in, and give me a sponsor deal on sneaks?
Got a message on my IM-client today.
It was from my friend Johan.
It read something like: Damn, you blog very little!
Correct. I have blogged; written here, very little the past week. Let me give you the run down as to why.
20100217
Having a full day of lectures and dog walks, I just, as night came, wanted to take it easy, watching the Porto-Arsenal game in the Champions league. I was carrying a bit of a cold to. Arsenal lost, they lost in a poor way and then, to add insult to injury; to make matters even worse, the idiots over at Viasat Fotboll (the channel showing, commenting and ‘after-showing’ the game) were complete and utter… well idiots, as they always are. There should be a law prohibiting them from acquiring football rights. Also: The referee was crap.
So I went to bed mad. Really mad.
20100218-19
I woke up at 0500h on Thursday morning not feeling all that great.
An hour and about 5 visits to the bathroom later I concluded that a bug had found it’s way into my stomach.
Ironic! Why?
Well, the day before I had talked to my friend AG on the phone. He asked me how I was. I told him I had a bit of a cold. He then asked me if I had steered clear of that bug going around, the one making everybody vomit and more. I said yes. Only have the cold. The proceeding 48h was spent trying to eat, running to the toilet, having massive head aches and worrying about the exam in formal logic, and whether I could cram some study for it, or even make it there.
20100220
I have a beef with Västtrafik (the local public transport company), but we’ll get to that soon.
Not having slept at all due to my condition, I drag myself out of bad for a last encounter with the mug before I (try to) go to school; to the exam. There’s a snow storm you see…
…
No.
I haven’t got the strength to write this post. (Nor do I think you have the energy to read it.)
Summary. The past couple of days have been shit. I did the exam. Hope I passed it.
All I really wanted to say with this post was: I’m back on track.
Still sick. And, it sucks!
Made a mistake by going to school yesterday; like the good student I am. Sure, we only had one lecture, but the effort of hauling ass to school and then sitting there trying to focus, listen, take in… and then hauling ass back home, was too much. Have school tomorrow, two lectures, not quite sure what I am going to do.
On top of this I really need to study for my re-exam (it’s a word) in Formal Logic coming up on Saturday. Yeah! Saturday! At 0900h in the morning.
Studying Formal Logic means using ones brain (right).
My brain is like mush. When a brain is like mush it can’t be used right.
I can’t study Formal Logic.
Guess that last part is a valid conclusion. Even if it is not, I will have to try to study. I’ve got a long way to go before Saturday and I do not want to fail again. 1. Because then I will get mad (at myself). 2. I will have to take the test a third time – and there’s just not time for that.
In a re-hash from my twitter feed:
As the saying, here in Sweden, goes: You women talk about giving birth. If you only could feel what it feels like when a man has caught a nasty cold!
Yes folks, it is true. I have the cold from hell. The ‘two golf-balls up your nose’-kind; the ‘eyes will pop out at any moment’-kind. The worst kind. Because of it, I slept like crap last night, if at all. The lack of sleep was not a total loss though. At 0400h ‘Henry Poole is here‘ began on TV. Nice. A feel good movie when feeling crap.
Also, since I feel so sorry for myself, I bought myself some comfort food; some (self) pity food in the form of a big bar of chocolate, ice cream and a Coke.
There has been a request from my sister to post picture, or pictures, of The Boo; Camilla‘s and My dog. So what better way to end todays blog than with just that. I give you The Boo, the day after we got him home! (Who’d have thought that this little guy would grow up to be a 35kg/70lbs bear!)
I have a cold. It’s not fun. I can’t breath through my nose. I like breathing through my nose…
I miss breathing through my nose.
Today I had a long conversation with a neighbour. About cats, dogs, other neighbours, violent neighbours, neighbours she had complained to the landlord about, neighbours with guns… her rheumatism.
When the talk was over she said “Thanks for the talk Stefan.”
I did not correct her, thinking that I maybe didn’t hear her right. Thinking she might have said something else.
We said our courtesy goodbye’s. Then she said: “Thanks again Stefan.”
I did not correct her.
I wonder who Stefan is?
It’s been really nice weather here in Gothenburg today, which makes like a little easier… I guess.
I would like to be able to breath through my nose now, please.
Just checking in to say: I know, I know.
I know I have not blogged for a couple of days. That’s because the days are packed. So much school stuff going on. Mostly reading but also studying my ass off for the exam in Formal Logic that I have to take again, next friday.
Not much else going on. I’m feeling a cold coming along. Tomorrow I’m going to cut my hair (or the hair cutting person; Evelina, is going to do it). Smalls things like this can be found on my twitter-feed.
Ok. Now I have to nurse this oncoming cold with an early night; a few extra hours sleep.
I feel good.
I feel on top of things.
I probably should not say, write or even think that. Because I probably will jinx it, the feeling.
It’s strange. The work is piling up at school; February looks like a tough month, and granted, the first question for the exam in relativism (handed out yesterday) made me freak out a little. Still, I feel I can manage.
Maybe it’s a defence mechanism that I have. A mode that sets in when there’s too much to do, and the only way to cope with it, or to cope with the failure, is this mode. If that, however, would be the case then I have never had too much to do before in my life (and I know I have) because this feeling is new.
So tomorrow it starts:
The studying of Formal Logic. The reading of Relativism. The reading of Decartes. Researching Rawls’epistemology.
Bring it on! It’s under me!
Got this clip-tip (yeah, it’s a word and I’m the originator – feel free to use it but do not forget to mention my name: Original T), below, from Lars-Martin. It’s a pretty good song, with a cool rapper and nice gi… No… wait… It’s a ten-year old, McDonald’s fed, kid rapping (or whatever) with some little girls dressed as prostitutes dancing behind him! WTF is up with that!? Can someone call America (because I’ll bet you that’s where he lives, you do not get that fat on Cuba or any other Caribbean/West Indies island… unless you’re an American tourist) and tell them to stop feeding this kid! Also tell them to put some clothes on the girls. Not that I’m a prude or anything but come on! They’re ten! Don’t have them dancing around like in a porno flick!
If your also wondering what he’s singing (no, I do not know Spanish) the best pointer comes from MattyDCFCMatty on the youtube comments; the chorus goes: Got-ta eat-ta my burrito-o (and if I’m right, and I think I am, he got-ta eat-ta the girls burritos aswell).
Today, in the midst of reading Descartes and about Relativism I had a bit of a work out.
It has been a while and what better way to start getting in shape then on a whim.
So whim workout it was.
First off I rode a bit on our (Camillas and mine) excercise bike.
That was not too hard.
Then I decided to try my luck with some push-ups.
I did nine.
And no, not in a row.
3 sets of 3.
And no, not resting my lower body on my toe-tips.
But, on my knees.
My upper body, mainly my arms, are shaking like birch leafs in the summer breeze.
The non-shape I’m in is laughable.
That has to change!
Seventh Revision; Gigantic Rock, Göteborg, 2010-02-01
Hi!
My name is Tomas Halberstad.
I am 31 years old.
I live in Göteborg, Sweden, on the island of the Hisingen.
I live with my girlfriend, Camilla, and our dog, Bosse.
I am a student and a songwriter.
I study Theoretical Philosophy (used to study Practical Philosophy) and write pop-songs.
I started this blog in order to publish my music. The idea was to write, record and post. (That hasn’t really happened but it might.)
I dislike social networks, mainly Internet-based ones but I still use them, arbitrary but there you go, live with it. If you want to find me on any one of those go to the biggest one; it’s called Google. I’m on Google.
I like my little family, food and The Arsenal, also sneakers and beer.
Should work out more but it seems to be an on and off thing with me.
Oh, and I suck at Formal Logic.
The ‘on a personal level’-crap does not want to end.
Got back an exam today. The exam I took in Formal Logic. It had a big fat U written on it. U as in Underkänd, U as in fail. I know I’ve said that Logic was/is not my thing. This just underlines it, in red. Big fat red.
Maybe it’s for the best.
As I walked the short distance from the tram stop to the school-house today, knowing I would get the result of the exam upon arrival, I thought: If I pass this course I’ll hand in my exam to the teacher and ask to do it again, because if I pass this course; my passing would be a big fat joke, a stroke of luck. This because I do not know any of the things one should know when having passed this course.
Now, in reality I would not have done the above. The thought rose out of the utter disbelief in myself and this subject, as a pair.
Sadly, life has a way of taking care of situations and things like this; hence my not passing.
This means I have added three weeks of work to this semester, and not three weeks added on. No. Three weeks taken out of nights, weekends, holidays. And I really need to pass this course, otherwise I might not get into the courses I want to take next semester…
Study-wise I've done what I set out to do today.
This is a good thing.
Come NOV and DEC I'll have so-o-o much to do. 4 hours ago
Super! Mail 'em, song by song or [death]... RT @RobOlausson: Rough mixes and preparations for @tomashalberstad upcoming album. Vocals next. 4 hours ago
Fuck sake x2!! RT @gunnerblog: Theo has gone to hospital for x-rays on his right ankle. 4 hours ago
Time for me to do the dishes.
Then I'm going to start reading, Toolbox for Philosophers [my translation], time to get this thesis running. 14 hours ago
