Well, in the past month my life has gotten, how would one say, interesting. Interesting in the sense of complicated and diverse.

In the wake of my thesis I went into a bit of a lull (I think I am still in the lull but things have prompted me to exit said lull for a few moments). Firstly, I had to figure out what I'm going to do with my life, or barring that, what to do next year. I decided on a Doctorate. I originally wanted to do my doctorate in Leiden, Holland, but I could not find good comprehensive bursaries for my stay (at least 4 years, at approx. 700-1000 euros a month... ouch...). However, I did notice that there were several readily available bursaries offered here in South Africa for a period of between 6 months to a years study in Leiden, all expenses paid. So I thought, why not do it at Stellenbosch, and do a year in Holland? Not a bad idea. Then I got to thinking about what I need for my doctorate. I really feel I need French and German. There is just too much written in these languages for me to ignore it. So I've decided to spend next year acquiring these languages. I informed my promotor and the departmental head, and guess what... a few days later he says he's arranging a stay for me in Berlin including a 2 month language course and 4 months research opportunity. Awesomeness indeed! Unfortunately it would seem the language school starts in February, which means my Holland trip to see my aunt is thrown into a bit of a loop, but I think I'll play it by ear and see what happens. On top of that, a week before I had a lovely time conjuring up a doctoral proposal in a night (which usually takes about a year to complete), for a bursary I was applying for. I'm actually rather confident in the proposal (obviously I'm not going to hand it in for the final proposal, but for the bursary application it should be fine).

Recently I also got Champions Online. What an awesome game! More character creation options than The Sims 2, more variety with powers than any game I've ever seen. Really worth a look if you're curious. Also keep an eye out for Hyperboy if you do! The Champions sparked a desire in my soul that I've always had (you will notice the sparking of desires is a trend in this journal). I decided to buy a few comics, at a comic store in Cape Town (across from a DnD store actually). Unfortunately all the comics I wanted were sold out (Adventure Comics!!! Superboy is back!!! Rock on!!!) but I went with a Teen Titans compilation (awesome comic), and back ordered the ones I was looking for.

Work has been boring as usual, since a lot of our department is overseas. This has caused immense boredom for me at work, and caused me to rack up an internet bill. I was playing card games like solitaire for weeks on end, when I decided to employ my time with something more intellectual, namely chess. I've always liked chess, but I've never really had the opportunity recently to explore it. So I bought Chessmaster 10th edition (also an amazing game, recommend it!). Wow. What a revelation. The tutorial section of the game takes you step by step through strategies, tips, the basics, openings, endings, you name it. I basically had my primary chess strategies ripped apart in the span of a day. It was humbling and at the same time really really awesome. My game has improved exponentially (although I've only been playing against computer players. I should try more humans). I also like it cause the tutor, Joshua Waitzkin, has such an interesting philosophical approach to chess. It really opened my eyes.

And on to the third and final urge: I started WoW again. I don't know what it was. It just happened. I had to play again. Admittedly, I suffered the same problem as I did when I left: I didn't know what to do. But I did a bit of searching on the internet and the answer was unanimous: Dude, what isn't there to do? And they're right. I've been putting off things, cause I'm not in the mood for a little bit of grinding. So I've decided to take it step by step. I haven't purchased Artisan Flying yet (gasp! I know!). 5000g was a little steep for me. But now I'm gunning for it (I think I'm going to get a letter from the Pandaren asking me to sign the Kyoto accord to stop my strip mining of Azeroth's resources). Currently I stand on 1750g, with several auctions on (including the lucrative Titansteel, going for 100-130g a bar, yes bar, not stack). In between mining runs, I'm doing Wintergrasp (really clever idea since it gets you the best honour, and the marks and rewards buy really good gear). So I'm actually feeling a sense of accomplishment in all this. I also started the Sunwell Plateau raid with a group, but we were wiped on the third boss. The group was a bit disorganised, so it wasn't much surprise. I'm also eyeing the Netherdrake (yes, I know, a lot of quest grinding). The only sad thing is my guild is basically non existant. Every now and again I'll see or hear from a friendly face, but its not the same. The world is not what it once was... but one day things might change.

So thats the life of Donovan in a flash.

P.S. It's my birthday on the 16th. Don't forget to light a candle