Damn it. Damned dirty msn.com. Those bastards, with their enticing free online games.

Suddenly, I’ve become Tommy. I’m a wizard. I sure play a mean Bejewelled.
Like, I’m on level seventeen with over 170,000 points and it’s as natural as breathing. I *cannot* lose.
I keep hoping, praying that I will run out of moves, that the game will end and I can go back to thinking about Robert Browning, but I have achieved a higher plane of gaming skill. All my energy has been funneled into moving tiny electronic jewels around a puzzle board. I am unstoppable.

Here is my current score:
Moira 1, Bejewelled 0.
Essay 1, Moira 0.

**Edited to add: at the end of it all, I surpassed level 20 and had over 270,000 points. And stinking MSN still gave me only 3 out of 5 stars!!! What kind of losers have the time to play this game to over 500,000 points, I’d like to know?**

ps – Oh, and also, I’ve managed to convince myself that if I ever do achieve 5 stars, it will be just like in ‘The Last Starfighter’, or ‘Ender’s Game’ and I will be recruited by an intergalactic freedom fighting mission to go forth and conquer a vile and heartless race of sentient beings shaped like shiny jewels, who can only be defeated by arranging their ranks into files of corresponding colour. So even if this whole “Master’s degree” thing doesn’t work out, at least I will be battling for the good of the Universe. What will YOU be doing? Hmm?