2006

[raven]

Urgh. So everything is, basically, pretty awful. I don't know why exactly. I'm falling to bits over maths, as per usual, but just because it happens all the time doesn't mean I have to get used to it, or so the theory goes. I am very very tired of falling to bits over maths. Particularly as most people think it's funny, which is fair, because quite a lot of the time it is funny. Arts student doing pure maths - that's funny; arts student being as laughably awful at it as you might predict - that's also funny; and even I can laugh at myself, sometimes. If you get something wrong by not one or two but by a magnitude of -10,000, all you can really do is laugh. And I guess other people have a perfect right to laugh at me, because I am awful.

But right now it's not funny and I'm tired of it, and, this is the good bit, term hasn't even started. I have to write a 2500 word essay in noughth week, and I haven't done any of the background reading just because I've been spending most of my time since I got back from India doing maths. I don't want to stay here forever, or at least I don't think I do, but the thought of going back fills me with fear. I'm just going to be rubbish at everything, again.

Also, I want to see people before I go, meet all the friends I hadn't had time to meet yet, but I don't think that's going to happen if I continue being awful at maths. And to make things just that little bit worse, I still don't have any clothes. My luggage is still lost in Munich or Delhi, no-one seems to know where, and I don't have the money to buy clothes so I just don't have any. I have the pair of jeans I had on when I came back, one red skirt I didn't take, maybe three t-shirts, one jumper and one bra. That's it. And that it will have to remain, as I'm probably not going to acquire money enough to replace things for quite some time. Lots of other things are gone too - four or five books, my fountain pen, some beautiful antique siver jewellery I was given in Rajasthan among other things - but I'm trying not to think about those.

2006 is really not going well.

Comments

[gwynnega]

So sorry you have to deal with icky maths! I hope your luggage shows up, and soon. ::hugs::

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Thank you. :)

[tau_sigma]

Maths can be awful. But, y'know, getting something wrong by a factor of -10,000 probably says you're closer to being right (and correspondingly doing better) than if your answer is out by some random number such as 2.431.

So sorry you're feeling that way about going back to uni. *hugs* I'm sure you're not rubbish at everything there, although I can imagine it might feel that way when surrounded by people as clever as yourself. Other people have told me that (at least on my course) things make more sense towards the end of the year - here's hoping that's true, for both our sakes!

Hope things get better, and that your luggage turns up. *hugs again*

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Urrrrrrgh. Maths is awful. It really is. I envy you people who can do it. I actually didn't think of that, regarding the magnitude of error. What gets me is that my errors are always because of stupid things like minus signs and inverse logs and partially deriving the wrong thing. I was just as bad at GCSE, which was the last time I did maths.

Here's to things making more sense. *toasts*

[robette-wild.livejournal.com]

Oh, my dear, that's horrible. Maths is icky, and everyone I know that's doing
PPE is saying nasty things about the maths. But don't worry about going back and being awful - I'll be there too, and I promise you that no matter how terrible you are I will always be worse.

Sorry about the luggage as well. :( I forsee much usage of the free washing machines in the first week.

At least it can only get better, right? <3

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You're not awful! *stamps foot* You're the opposite of it!

Washing-machines! *cries* I do hope things don't get worse...

[kuteki.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better I not only completely understand how you feel but also have done hardly any revision and feel terribly guilty. *hates on maths* And how can this holiday that seemed impossibly long be so near the end? It's not fair. :(

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Maths is evil, and yes, where did December go? *wails*

[calapine.livejournal.com]

I find the whole Maths thing amazing in a scary sort of way, yes. ::hugs:: And much hoping they find your luggage, yes. Tut.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*hugs* "Scary" is the right word. Maths, she is evil!

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

I was always decent at math, for a certain value of decent; I was in the advanced classes throughout school and always pulled good grades. Then I did Running Start, which is to say I effectively started college two years early, and I had to take two classes there. The first went all right. The second was precalc, and I died a miserable, horrible death after spending hours with tutors and just... not... getting it. I got a C-. Worst grade in my life (although it was later repeated in Mass Media Law, which was a horrible trial (no pun intended) of memorizing case titles and years and all that unnecessary business when the only essential thing we were required to learn -- and yes, it was required for the major -- was "plagarism is bad"). After that I gave up math forever and ran screaming for my botany and astronomy classes to fill out the science requirements.

Ironically enough, my math grades are the ones that look the strangest on my high school transcript. All the classes I took at BCC counted for completing my high school years, and one course I took in middle school counted at the high school level, so as far as IHS was concerned, I had five years' worth of math credits from three different schools when I was actually on the high school campus for a grand total of two years.

If the math on THAT makes any sense to you, let me know, because it certainly hurts my head. ;)

I'm sorry about the luggage! how maddening.... *hugs*

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

My story mirrors yours. I was good enough to get top grades at GCSE, but then I didn't do any more maths after I was sixteen, which contributes to the awfulness of my calculus.

Airlines are evil. *nods* As is maths!

[amchau.livejournal.com]

I am sorry about the icky maths and the patheticness of airlines which lose luggage. I wish I could help.

*considers writing girl!Doctor fic in which there is, for some inexplicable reason, only one skirt in the TARDIS wardrobe*

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Sadly, no-one can help. People trying to teach me give up in despair after a while.

Which begs the question: why are there skirts in the TARDIS wardrobe at all? I guess female companions must have taken some along, but don't they take them away with them later?

[amchau.livejournal.com]

I don't know why it happens, but it might go something like this...

Rose was reading quietly in a corner of the TARDIS's central room, enjoying the quiet hum of journeying, when the Doctor streaked across the room wearing nothing but a sarong and a black bra. She (it still felt strange to use that pronoun for the Doctor, but in this state there could be no question about its correctness) began to hammer on the edge of the control panel.

"Why, oh why, you peculiar old machine," the Doctor began, "is there only one skirt in the wardrobe, and it's bright red?"

The TARDIS just kept humming to itself, calmly taking them to wherever they were going next (the Doctor had mentioned a name, but Rose hadn't caught more than the first three syllables).

"I thought the TARDIS was infinite?" Rose said. The Doctor ignored her.

"Provide full historical dress for my companions, oh yes, but for some reason you want to force me to stay in trousers. Well, take this." With that, the Doctor pulled at the knot on her sarong and it fell gracefully to the floor. The bra took longer to remove-- a formally male Timelord being unaccustomed to the arm-twisting required-- but soon enough it was off.

Rose did her best to hide her hysterical laughter behind her book.

"See?" the Doctor crowed. "You'll change you mind if I go out to meet some aliens dressed like this!"

She swayed slightly as the whole TARDIS seemed to swerve around some hairpin bend of the space-time continuum, and then steady onto a new course. The engine noise continued as before.

It was another four hours before they arrived at their destination. Rose peeked her head out the door-- the Doctor seemed unaccountably shy now that the moment had come to follow through on her threat.

When she had looked, Rose turned to the naked Doctor. "Doctor," she said, struggling to keep a straight face, "fancy playing some volleyball for the nice photographer?"

The Doctor stared at her, and then looked outside for herself.

"Nice one, old girl," she said to the TARDIS, "but I do declare I'll enjoy myself while I'm here." She strode out into the nudist colony.

Sighing, Rose went to strip off.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

OHGOD. That is too perfect to be true. That nasty ol' TARDIS!

(Please crosspost this to girl_doctor or I will be forced to do it for you. Though it might be worth explaining the lack of skirts, 'cause then the nudity would be gratuitious.)

[amchau.livejournal.com]

Reposted, my dear. I am home. I am tired and cannot use complex sentences.

[troyswann.livejournal.com]

Aw, I can so relate to the math thing. I know someone who actually had herself tested to prove that she's literally math-disabled. I'm sure I'm math-disabled. I used to cry and cry. But then I graduated and it was over. Hang in there, man.

I think of Blackadder trying to teach Baldrick to count:

Blackadder, with his props on the table: If you have three of these beans, and you add four beans to them, what do you have?

Baldrick: A very small casserole.

And no-one could blame you for being out of sorts when your stuff is spread all over creation.

But I did very much enjoy your tales of India, as I enjoy your tales of pretty much everything, so obviously your prodigious talents of observation and description are taking up the maths spaces, is all. :)

*hug*

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I love Baldrick so much. That shall be my all-purpose answer from now on - instead of "42", it shall be "a very small casserole!"

My stuff is still spread all over creation! *cries* But you have cheered me up greatly because you are awesome. *loves*

[rosariotijeras.livejournal.com]

*huggles* Like the above, I understand about maths totally. I'm a full three years behind most of my peers in maths.

And quite frankly, I have a lot of clothes that I don't wear that I would send to you, but I'm fairly sure that a) they wouldn't fit, and b) the eensy amount of cash I have wouldn't be enough for postage, considering everything that you need!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*pets* We need a maths-is-evil support group. 'Cause it is.

Hee, thought that counts and that. At the moment I am just doing a lot of washing!

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Maths is just horribly wrong as it is. My dad still insists now that its easy and I just think back to how I managed to drop 2 whole grades from my GCSE coursework to the exam and just think no, the whole Maths thing is shit. I was never taught my times tables, and I've found it really hard to pick even that up since. I can't add up some things without a bit of paper and a pen. So what hes saying really offends me because it makes out i'm a moron for not being able to do it. When I know I'm not.
*hugs*
xx

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I used to teach maths for GCSE (heee, irony!) and one thing I did for everyone was to make them write out all their times tables, from 1 to 12, on a sheet of paper, and then recite them morning noon and night. It works if you do it consciously. But then that's not maths, it's just memory.

I think the worst thing about maths is that there are some people who do find it as easy as breathing because of the way their brains are wired, and then it seems physically impossible for them to realise that we're not all like that. *sighs* In conclusion, maths is evil. :)

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Very! :D
xx

[me-and.livejournal.com]

I could help with Maths if you want: I've always been able to cope with calculus fairly well, and I'm not bad at explaining things...

[me-ves-y-sufres.livejournal.com]

Maths. Ack. You have my sympathies, it is a horrible subject and it has reduced me to tears of frustration many times. See, this is my excuse for being awful at them: I wasn't in secondary school or primary school very much, and humanities subjects are easy to blag your way through if you read a lot, but not maths. Therefore I ended up with a C in maths and a C in statistics at GCSE. Much to my relief- if I didn't have those two Cs, I would've had to re-sit my maths GCSE at college in the first year, and ohgodthepain.

So, yeah. I understand hardly anything about mathamatics after all the lessons I've missed, which is a shame. It all looks so pure and logical. :( But I have problems with stuff as basic as long division and fractions and simple algebra. Unless I had the time and inclination to go right back to the level of learning my times tables all over again, I'm resigned to being a lazy humanities student for the rest of my life.

(I'm one of those people that shudder a little in recognition whenever I see those "face your gremlin!" adult education ads. I tell you this only so your pain may be lessened.)