Yesterday finished in a bit of an anticlimax. Although the day had been pretty full of Good Things, I found myself waiting for a meeting that was delayed then never happened, which unfortunately upset the balance of my evening and I failed to get any work done as I couldn't get a long enough run up to get on with it. Annoying.

However, this said, my iPod still appears to be functioning over 24hrs after it's little underwater adventure, I got back my RSA mark, I managed to fit in a meeting, a webspace and domain purchasing session and have a nice round cheque delivered to me.

The RSA mark was slightly disappointing for me, which appears extremely stupid even in my own logic. I scored 66 for a project I launched my heart and soul into in the hope of redeeming at least some of the enthusiasm I used to have for product design (oh so many moons ago). 66 is a 2:1, a high 2:1 if you work out the averages, which isn't bad, and after all, that is what I am aiming for. But better than 66 is 68, or even 70 (the elusive 1st). I have since discovered that other people in my peer group suffered more than me, and I shouldn't really complain; in fact there is only one person from the 3rd year who I know who got a higher mark. This doesn't really console me as the first 4th year who I spoke to (also in my year, but had been on a placement) got a nice fat 82, which you can't shake a stick at.

I think the main reason I can't kick myself over the whole thing is that I actually knew while I was doing the work that my concept generation had been limited; the whole project resting on a single Eureka moment idea, which although inspired, is not jumping through one of those loops the department expect you to jump through. Also my boards were too dark. I knew this after the first printing session - I'd not expected them to be so dark, and despite corrective techniques and using up a quantity of black ink that would rival the size of the Dead Sea, I still ended up having my work mounted on a display board 20cm off the floor on a side wall in a particularly dark cubicle around the back of the presentation stands. That's just pure bad luck.

On other work front I'm getting a bit antzy about MDP1 and dissertation. MDP1; well I'm inspired, just not enough to pick up a pritt-stick and do anything about the three or four reams of paper I've printed out in the past week and a half. All it will take is a bit of annotation and some slapdash highlighter and I'll be done - however there is an emotional barrier (or some bastard object in the way) that I've got to leapfrog in order to actually get on with it. More worryingly, I've got a dissertation first draft to be done; to be done by Friday next week [Gulp]. This is no mean feat, especially when your pen has not had so much even read the definition of dissertation in the dictionary, let alone actually hit the paper with the pointy, inky end. 9000 words, an unsuitable title and not a clue where to start. This is going to be my academic persuasions versus the library doors and last time that happened the library doors won. Overwhelmingly.

One thing that is keeping a smile on my face is that one of my newest clients is being incredibly efficient. I like this. Although I've not had to do much yet allowed myself to do much yet, the webspace is bought, the holding page is up and I've got the whole thing mapped out in my mind, provisionally at least. I've also already been paid for the stuff I've done - all within 24hrs.

Another Good Thing of the past two nights is the brilliant and inspired Space Cadets on Channel 4. Shed the ridiculously long and drawn out exploration of the 'making of', and this is a fantastic opportunity to watch gullible morons do what they do best. I hope this runs it's full length.

If anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about, Space Cadets is what Channel 4 is billing as the "greatest ever televised practical joke". Very basically, they have taken twelve people who auditioned for a mystery show and told them they are going to become the UK's first space tourists. This description misses two vital pieces of information however; firstly these are not normal people, they have been picked for their ability to be influenced and mislead (a.ka. morons) and secondly; they are never going anywhere near space. In fact, they are not going anywhere outside of Ipswitch, despite the premise that they have been flown to a launch site in Russia. The military base is a remote US Air Force station in Suffolk, but by flying their plane in loops over East Anglia for three hours at night, the subjects now truly believe that they are on Russian soil. What a fantastically brilliant idea. Presented by Johnny "The BB was my best gig, but at least this is better than my other recent engagements" Vaughan, it's Big Brother meets Punk'd. If you haven't seen it, you are missing out.

Tomorrow is submission day for my Flash assignment. I'm also going to hand in my Website assignment a week early to ensure I stop tinkering with it when it clearly is finished. More free time means more time to worry about that damn dissertation...