Ohh Vienna

OK, not lynched by my supervisor (yet). Instead (incredibly) asked to be a guest speaker at a symposium in Vienna organised by a group of robotics researchers from Kyoto University to improve their networking with European research.

This is great, but I now have to think of something to say. Also, I will probably miss England in the quarter-finals of the world-cup.

This now adds to my growing list of destinations for this year:

January - Genoa, Italy
February - Nice, France
April - Nijmegen, Netherlands
May - Bloomington, Indiana, USA
June - Vienna, Austria
July - Monte Verita, Switzerland
- Ventigmilia, Italian Riviera
September - Paris, France
October - Genoa, Italy

and I haven't included holidays. (Oxford, Rome and possibly Cornwall)

Guitar God

It's been 2 weeks and I think I've written four paragraphs (short ones at that) of my progression report. 2 of them were today while listening to wailing guitar from the master. An album called simply "Guitar" by Zappa. Chose it because there are no words (which usually just puts me off if I am trying to think of words of my own). Last week was "Coming Home To the Blues" - remembered how great Etta James is, and the genius of Muddy Waters.

Anyway I digress, I was going to tell you about my lack of any useful work.

This whole thing is made worse because a lot of the rest of the time I am looking at the product of other peoples work (e.g. this and her) who clearly have no such problem with procrastination. Or maybe they do - possibly their designated work is lying unfinished while they spout fountains in their non-paid on-line thing - but I doubt it.

Lets examine the evidence:
1. My Sky+ is always full of stuff, so the evenings are easily whiled away (I am watching at least 6 or 7 series at the moment (Dr Who, Green Wing, My Name Is Earl Top Gear, No Angels etc.) most of which are fairly rubbish and I could really do without. On top of that I have all 3 Matrix films recorded waiting for me to watch. (Amazingly I have only ever watched the 1st one))
2. I love my job, as I've mentioned before, but this does not stop me not doing it.
3. I have been doing Killer Sudoku - god that stuff is hard - but that does me zero good at all.
4. If I try to work in the evening at all, my one-track-mind is easily put on it's one-track.
5. The garden needs doing.
6. The box-room decorating needs to be finished, so that my eldest has a bedroom and not a place where paint and ladders are stored.
7. I could be updating my blog, but that hasn't even been done in a week.
8. In fact, look below. Groo = reading comics, Orsinal = playing games ...
9. I have about 8 cups of tea a day - each one can be accompanied by 15 mins of conversation about (insert any one of "football", "what did you do this weekend", "why is there never any milk left in the fridge", "congrats on completing your 800 page thesis, how do you find the time?")
10. It takes me about an hour in front of the 'puter to get ready to do something. And then it's time for tea.

I think I have to come to the conclusion that I am lazy.

I wonder if there is anything I can do about it.

Will let you know soon. If my supervisor hasn't lynched me of course.