19 January, 2009

I should just never talk

So, I was watching this:



and thought it would be great to post it on my facebook page... So I did, saying something along the lines of "thankfully I don't have computer problems, but I do still feel like 'whoopa whoopa whoopa whoopa' right now." And lo and behold... with two days until I practice-present my exit seminar (1/2 hour presentation on my WHOLE THESIS) to my lab group, and one week and two days until my actual official thesis defense, my laptop power cord has decided to make strange noises and produce excessive amounts of heat (versus normal).

So... PANIC! I am now off to see if London Drugs stocks a reasonable facsimile for me to use in the interim while I contact (*ahem* find) warranty people, and finish my thesis... 9 days... AAAAA!

18 January, 2009

if only procrastination was a feasible form of employment

I should be working on my exit seminar. But instead, I am going to copy and paste a meme I've read on countless blogs over the last little while... Except I think the line "things you haven't done and don't want to" is a little harsh. There are often things that I just don't think about doing. ... like I would never have said I absolutely WANTED to go to Hawaii, but having gone was really lovely. ... so I'm not shutting the door on my plain font listings. I've also added [square bracket comments].

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font
I've double-fonted some stuff... things that I've already done, but want to see/do again. Because sometimes once just isn't enough!

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower [again and again and again!]
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea [wanting to see it depends on how close I am]
14. taught yourself an art from scratch [woo hoo knitting!]
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables [have in the past, want to again]
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train [more like tried to sleep]
21. had a pillow fight [... broke the record player needle too!]
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice [though I'd like to try actually poling it too]
29. seen a total eclipse [lunar, yes, solar, no]
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplaces of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language [Italian, by immersion, it was great!]
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied [oh, to not be a poor, starving student!]
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo’s david in person [want to go back!]
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt [from the middle of the forest no less!]
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistine chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling [and I should again]
52. kissed in the rain [snow, yes, rain, no]
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia [particularly Volgograd, for some odd reason]
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood [though I'm not sure they'd take me, and I'm pretty scared actually]
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar [does roe count? if not, I guess I'm lying!]
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london [I'd like to pay better attention if I see it again]
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle [that'd be fun once]
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox [so PLEASE, no shingles, it's terrible]
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee [wasp yes, bee, no.]


Interesting... This could lead to all sorts of introspection!

But, instead, I'm going to leave you with this:

17 January, 2009

random blog survey thingy

I just stumbled across this poking my nose in on the other blogs that participated in the Week of Colour (I love looking once all the photos are up!).

It was a short survey, and regardless of my misgivings has some interesting commentary... but of course my "rainbow" is shaded brown, I'm all about nature and getting my hands in the dirt!

Your rainbow is shaded brown.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You appreciate the roughness of nature. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

week of colour: consolation red day!

yeah, there really is no such thing, but I took too many photos of red things to not post them. Or at least some of them... Today is the kind of day that lends itself to photo-scavenger hunts, but unfortunately, after getting home from the farmers' market and lunch, I don't have time for that any more, I must work! So, it's consolation red day for two reasons: that I took so many red photos, and that I'd MUCH rather be out wandering about taking more photos than inside working on my exit seminar.

At any rate, I loved the opportunity to focus on detail, and start noticing things more. I shall do my best to continue that trend in the future. I just about always put my camera away over the winter, because a) so much of it is dark, and b) so much of it is indoors that I forget to take photos entirely. The week of colour, however, reminded me that there IS a lot to see, even in the neglected indoor places of my life.

photos!

Edwards Coffee 1
coffee can on my book shelf, holding random stuff.
Red Leather Books
red books from a whole series of literature classics my grandparents used to own
red chair
a chair-so-uncomfortable-you-can't-fall-asleep-in-it at the campus library
Rutherford
said library
Mazankowski heart centre
the appropriately red heart institute (and a yield sign)
Christian Icicles 4
icicles on the eaves of a local church

16 January, 2009

week of colour: plaid/stripe friday

Okay... I slept in. It wasn't intentional, and, in all honesty, I didn't *actually* sleep in, I just didn't get going until WAY later than intended. This week has been both a flurry of activity, and a slow daze for me. I submitted my thesis to my committee, settled on a defense date, and have been trying to (now) convince myself that I need to make my exit seminar presentation... because I have to give a practice presentation of it on the 21st next week... one week from d-day, which is then two days from thesis deadline for the grand faculty of graduate studies and research. Either I get it all done and submitted on the watermarked 50% cotton paper by the 30th of January, or I fork over an extra $1400 in tuition. D-day approaches! aaa! And yet what have I done today? Printed off a copy of my thesis for faculty approval (of formatting only), and that's about it! Oh, I had a divine half-cinnamon bun and fruit salad brunch with my lovely boyfriend, and I got caught up on the grad student gossip. Yep that sums up my day.

Were it not for the Week of Colour, I'd probably be getting less done! And I have to say, I'm loving noticing things. It is absolutely marvelous that I am now wandering around taking note of things like the fantastic striped corduroy trousers I saw one woman wearing this morning as my guy and I walked to our brunch restaurant. I still say I need a consolation red day though. Despite not particularly loving the colour red, I totally thought Leya had posted red in her list of days over at Curious Bird, where all the other gorgeous blogs are linked (go check 'em out!). Alas, I was wrong, hence my lacking of blue on Monday. So maybe red will be getting a consolation Saturday post 'cause I took so much of it.

In the meantime, my three stripe/plaid photos!

12 plaid stripe friday
My grandparents' plaid wool/mohair blanket from Scotland... which I now love, but used to hate 'cause it's so darned itchy! It makes a perfectly delightful warm lap blanket for sitting on the couch, or a shoulder cover for reading in bed.

13 plaid stripe friday
My grandfather's old hankies came in all sorts of polka dots and plaids. These were two that were going to get lumped in to the red photo day. But hey, plaid works! There's also a red and green and a blue and red plaid hankie to match the yellow and red one here. My grandparents had awesome hankies, I may have to post more photos of them later. Who knew you could get souvenir handkerchiefs?

14 plaidstripe friday
As it turns out, this is the homage to grandparents day for me in the Week of Colour. This is the table cloth where I'm living. My roommate's master-weaver grandmother made it for him. It is gorgeous, and we show our love and appreciation for it by spilling milk on it, and dropping bread crumbs and various and sundry vegetable bits.


As an aside, I have completely confused my boyfriend with this week. He has access to (and regularly checks out) my flickr pages, but he doesn't know about my blog just yet. So he's looking at this week's photo uploads with quite the quizzically-raised eyebrow. I don't know what exactly to say, other than to laugh at his confusion. I'm so mean!

15 January, 2009

Week of Colour: pink thursday

I used to despise pink. Being the only girl in a family of boys (with a grandma and aunt who loved all things girly) meant that I got all kinds of pink stuff regardless of how loudly (or often) I railed against it. eventually they caught on, but it took years, and I think my parents had a large role in communicating my distaste for pink to others. Then... since the end of my undergrad, I somehow magically turned back towards pink. Granted, not baby pink, but serious raspberry and deep stain-your-lips cherry. It's in my clothes much more than I ever anticipated, and I'll find pieces of it in other things too. It's amazing what happens over time!

Anyway, none of my photos for pink thursday are clothing, but I thought it was funny all the same. Severe hatred of pink to actual enjoyment (if not seeking out) of the colour.

9 pink thursday
My grandma embroidered table cloths for my aunt, my mom and herself. The corners are coated in ornate roses like this. Elsewhere are curlicues of gold filligree, or french knots of tiny white flowers. It's beautiful handiwork. (even if my flash was a little intense!)

10 pink thursday
Anyone else remember this game? Hungry Hungry Hippos was a blast when I was 5, but now... it's too darn noisy. Even if the kids playing it are just loving it. What happened? When did I get old? hahaha! I didn't think 26 was old enough for "Be quiet! Stop making that racket!"

11 pink thursday
Winter sunrises are ALWAYS gorgeous. And I think part of that might very well have to do with the fact that I'm awake for them! 8:30am is most definitely an easy time for me to catch a sunrise. (Granted right now I'm just as likely to still be in bed, too, but whatever, at least I don't feel like the sun has been up for HOURS!)

14 January, 2009

a question

The National Galleries of Scotland have joined Flickr (which is super super cool in and of itself), and I was perusing some of their images when I came across this one:



and the title for this image is: "Captain Robert Barclay-Allardyce, 1779 - 1854. Celebrated pedestrian.

What I would like to know is how does one become a "Celebrated pedestrian"??


That is a title worth pursuing, if you ask me!

Week of Colour: yellow wednesday

Ironically (?) enough, last night, totally unrelated to any photos of yellow, I got Yellow Submarine stuck in my head as I waited for the pedestrian crossing light to turn in my favour and let me run home in the cold. It kept me in motion, so as I didn't get too cold, but boy, I must have seemed strange standing in the dark at 6pm humming "we all live in a yellow submarine!"

Anyway, today is yellow. I have three photos. I'm glad I planned the colour excursion in advance a little and found images for this on Sunday (for most of the colours, really). And I say I'm glad because I haven't had the time of late, and the lighting is quite disappointing. With the sun rising at 8:20am and setting at 4:40pm, there just isn't enough time, and it's so grey with all the snow we've been getting... When the clouds are thinner, the light is marvelous, but right now, it's a little dim.

So, photos:
6 yellow wednesday
I'm making a baby hat for a little one who is due this week (I should really get on that, wow!). It's nice to be knitting again, after such a long hiatus. You'd be surprised how much a thesis sucks your time away! (and then not having tv makes it hard to find idle hand time for knitting, too!)

7.1 yellow wednesday
I have a bendable giraffe that I've had since I was a little kid. Bendable toys are great (and I think highly underrated as toys). This guy has followed me ever since childhood, hanging out on boom box antennae, and various lamps. He's now on a lamp by my desk.

8 yellow wednesday
The Wild Rose Brewery is a local brewing company (well, ok, so our civic rivals, but whatever). They have really neat-looking bottle caps, like their logo is made out of neon light tubing... and just enough yellow to be legitimate! They also have creative beer names like Velvet Fog, and Wraspberry Ale.


Alright, there you have it, happy Wednesday everyone! Colour week has been fun, and I've absolutely loved looking at everyone's photos. I can't wait until Friday comes for all the plaid and stripes... it'll be like we're in Spaceballs... that whole sequence where they hit warp speed, then yellow, etc. and eventually Plaid!

13 January, 2009

the Week of Colour: purple tuesday

There's no purple tuesday song... Ruby Tuesday, yes, but not purple... alas, photos only. And today I had a difficult time. I have two with designs for a third coming later (I hope!). So, without further ado, (preambles take time, and I have to head to the dentist soon!), my two purple photos. The third photo ought to appear mid-way through the day.

3 purple tuesday
My mother's amethyst ring, which she gave to me years ago, saying she never wore it, and that it was bent anyway... And then I wore it to Ukrainian Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncle's place last Wednesday and my mom had no idea it had ever been hers! *sigh* mothers! hahaha!

4 purple tuesday
Yarn! I haven't bought yarn in a while, and then I went to my LYS and browsed, and found myself coming back to this purple thinking "this is exactly what I need." I don't really like purple, you have to understand, but I have a winter jacket that is 100% purple (on sale, really warm, things just sort-of happen sometimes), and ever since I got it, I've been trying to reconcile my lack of purple love through knitting things that compromise: a little purple, a lot of brown and green... that's my goal with this yarn. I'm thinking a triple-strand loose-knit (these are GarnStudio skeins, just shy of sock-weight, so I can do it!) on big needles. Not only would it be warm, but I think the colour combination would be great! Or maybe I'm misguided... I'll post the rest of the yarn some time after colour week, if you really think it's heinous, let me know!


Photo number 3 will come later today!
*edit*
photo 3:
5 purple tuesday
no, I wasn't planning to take a photo of a toothbrush today, but, seriously... how fortuitous is this? I was on my way to the dentist, having forgotten to brush my teeth this morning, and so I bought a new toothbrush and scrubbed away in the parking lot... taking a photo before defiling my new purple find. And no, I didn't dig through the racks to find a purple one. I was actually planning on taking a picture of my mittens, but meh... toothbrush will do just fine!

11 January, 2009

the Week of Colour: blue monday

I am participating in a lovely idea courtesy of Leya of Curious Bird. I've always admired her visual sense, and her crafty abilities, and finally decided to join in on the fun. She has kick-started a week of colour. And since I'm trying not to dissolve into a giant puddle of thesis-related paranoia, I thought I'd play along and try to keep a sense of creativity amidst the otherwise crazy and overly systematic thesis finalization process. I've set myself a goal of three photos per colour/theme per day. We shall see if I actually manage to make that work!

woo!

So, the whole shebang starts off with blue Monday. And, to be honest, I kind-of left the blue to the last minute. I wasn't thinking about it. Blue is just too easy for me. Everything is blue. My drawers, my clothes, my socks, my storage bins... but none of that is creative or fun. And none of that is conducive to nice photography. Plus, let's be honest, who wants to see a stack of blue jeans or a really pill-y navy blanket that I love to death but... well... love doesn't translate into good photos! So, I only have two photos today. I'm already falling short of my goal, aaa! hahaha! But I'll make up for it. Just wait 'til after the photos.

1 blue monday
an enameled blue necklace from Burlap Sac that I bought at the folk fest this summer and still can't decide if I'm keeping or giving away.

2 blue monday
and my blue Swatch. I didn't realise that the "S" in Swatch stood for "Second" instead of Swiss... I guess I need to have another watch then, eh? ;) As my most pricey (and longest-lasting for the amount of work it goes through) souvenir from my solo European adventures, it's been good to me for 3 full years now, only one battery change required, and I wear it every day. ... and I'm not nice to my watches!


Conveniently, Leya chose Monday to be blue, and, well, there's this lovely Jeremy Fisher song called Goodbye Blue Monday (this is just a sneak peak .wma link), but it takes Youtube a long time to load it and it's slightly fuzzy-sounding, so if that fails, check out Cigarette instead! I wish they had Goodbye Blue Monday in full, it's a great song.

Goodbye Blue Monday: