Day off from revision today and I found myself actively looking forward to having an opportunity to tidy up my room, folding etc. the pile of clean laundry on my bedroom floor, emptying inbox etc. Suddenly I realised that I was looking forward to these things and I was like, oh dear, did I just hit 35? Felt just like my mother.

Two other things to report from this week. Mostly getting over fear described in recent post. And also, the finality of finishing Mass Effect has finally made me successful at spending less time sitting in front of the computer: I have been reading for hours and hours and it’s great. Also, not reading trashy fiction but what you might call ‘literature’. Over the past year I have found that I have got to an age where classic books are not just better intellectually than other stuff, where one thinks “that was hard work but worth it”, but actually better all over—more enjoyable to read as well as more worthwhile for my mind. This is really nice.

Secondly one of my tutors this week spend some time myth-busting me on Oxford graduate philosophy versus US graduate philosophy. She is American, and thinks that the Oxford course is definitely not better than the American ones and of course if you go to the US you always get fully funded. Of course other tutors tell me the Oxford course is by far the best—usually ones who have never left Oxford. So it looks like I shall be applying to the US and to Oxford. Tutor also said, given the bad situation with humanities right now, that I should aim for the top but if I don’t get a place anywhere it’s probably best to just go for my alternative career path rather than trying for longer to get into the embattled humanities.