Today we started organic chemistry practicals in the DP (Dyson Perrins laboratory). The joy of organic practicals is that they don't really require much thought - you just follow the recipe. This is good, since most of them use copious amounts of ether and other organic solvents which tend to make you a little light-headed. At least you always come out smiling.   In the DP, instead of watching your product disappear into a vacuum pump, you can watch it make swirly patterns as it heads down the sink after you dispose of the wrong flaskful of brown liquid. Brown liquids play a major role in organic chemistry. Today my brown liquid was not as brown as anyone else's brown liquid. This worried me. I got a better yield than anyone else. How smug am I?   I walked home with a blinding headache from inhaling too much acetone, but I didn't mind since I'd inhaled sufficient ether to make the world a better place. I then decided to make the headache go away by doing kendo. Fortunately I still don't have a full set of armour, so I wasn't being hit. Much. Blows to the head with a stick would tend to make headaches worse. Strange, that.
			The characters and situations in this diary are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happenings. Any resemblance to such things is coincidental, or just for humourous effect. All names have been chosen to implicate the innocent.