Are you measuring your pregnancy each week? You should take a photo each week and then we'll turn it into a big, animated gif of you growing bigger and then smaller, like the phases of the moon!

Did you talk to the girl afterwards and give her any personal time?

No, not measuring - I'm mostly just keeping track of which clothes still fit and which don't!

Yes, she flagged me down when I was on the way out of the room and I answered a couple more questions she had about Jupiter and the Galilean moons. :)

She sounds fantastic! Hope she decides to apply to Imperial as she's just the sort of student we need.

Absolutely. I made a (very gentle) plug for Imperial and for the space & astro groups at the end, but I didn't want to belabour the point as I think they were all sold on doing science degrees already.

I'm not sure about prenatal exposure to Bon Jovi, aren't you supposed to be playing whale song or something? :)

Yay to the outreach! That girl sounds like she's going to be a killer, metaphorically speaking, in later life!

Yes, I think it's whale song and classical music. I've been listening to Radio 3 a lot. Got a bit bored of it last night! :P

I hope she does well. She was confident without being arrogant, too, which is pretty awesome.

The (now teenaged) son of a friend of mine was up on stage in a live and VERY LOUD rock performance shortly before his birth. He's turned out fine. His Mum did have to work quite hard to get enough breath in for belting out "Black Powder and Alchohol", though, what with junior pushing her diaphragm halfway up her ribcage... =:o>

so much of this entry made me smile very broadly, especially the last bullet point. :) i'm glad you're in the world, and that there are more like you, and yeah. just that really. :)

:D Thank you. It's good to remind myself, too, that there are a lot of positive things happening in my life, some of which are even of my own making.

Passenger and I recently passed the twenty-week mark together so we are now more than halfway through the pregnancy. I honoured this landmark by listening to this on repeat for a day or so.

You're adorable.

I ran a small, last-minute, poorly organised outreach event at a school in Woodford (east London) today. There were only ten* students in attendance. I was told there were going to be thirty.

That story made me happy for both you and the little girl. :)

I just had my 20 week scan. I'm going to have to listen to it again. :D

Yes, I'm glad I got to be there at a time when it was clearly important to her.

So how soon can I marry that girl? =:o}

Well, legally, now. But I suspect she's got other things on her mind at the moment. Give it a decade or so! :D

But... but... by then I'll be even *oldererer*! [BITES LIP AND STARTS ADJUSTING TEN YEAR BUDGET TO FIT IN A WEDDING RING AND A ZIMMER FRAME]