So, what's new, you might ask. Well, our house got painted in the night. Finally, this charming 1907 house getting its due, you might think. Oh, wait. It's just a 13 year old's tag that says something suspiciously like "Mr.Tool" (no, that's not it on the left, it doesn't even approach that level of skill. /sarcasm). On the side of the bloody house. In maroon bloody paint. Dude, that so does not match our colour scheme! What a toy.

To cap that off nicely, the new downstairs neighbour, who has yet to put the trash bin out, stole our bluebox. I've replaced that bloody thing three times. If you are trying to start a war with me, bring it on. There will be no more stealing of the bluebox!

In other news, I'm in quite a good mood. I wrote about a 1000 words yesterday, and plan to get a fair bit done in the next few hours. It just started hailing outside, *glee*. The beast has caught 11 mice in the last two months, though one got away and one was rehabed and put outside, just thought I should boast of his hunting skill.

A good day to all of you,
gsh

We are now light years ahead in armor technology. I'm thinking the originators of the device are also grad students. It would explain the detail and thought put into this war-mongering project. The rest of the site is worth a look too.

Questions. Answers.

I can't quite manage an original update, so I thought I'd answer some questions. It would seem, in reviewing my answers, that my mood falls somewhere on the snarky continuum.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
"Oy" with a large helping of "vey".

2. How much cash do you have on you?
Hey, sweet. I just found $6.26.

3. What's a word that rhymes with TEST?
Bless'd.

4. planet?
Haddath, L'gy'hx and/or Zaoth.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list?
Sorry, currently in cone-of-silence thesis mode. Ringer is turned off, existence of phone is being ignored.

6. What is your favorite ring on your phone?
Silent. Or the old standby "ring, ring".

7. What shirt are you wearing?
Pyjama top.

8. What do you label yourself?
I'm still charging my label maker's batteries, so this question will have to wait.

9. Name the brand of shoes you've recently worn.
10 year old Doc Martens, because I like to kick it old-school. Alternatively, I'm too lazy to buy new shoes.

10. Bright or Dark Room?
Soft light.

11. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Thesis work.

12. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
I'll have to hitch up the team and ride into the nearest settlement. Maybe someone there can explain to me this new-fangled talk.

13. Where is your nearest 7-11?
10 blocks west. It is devoid of good chocolate, overly bright, prone to hold-ups and usually the place people go to have their psychotic and/or violent breaks with reality. I don't go often, but if this chapter doesn't end soon, I may start going daily.

14. What's a saying that you say a lot?
"My thesis is about blah blah blah..."

15.Who told you they loved you last?
My charming companion.

16. Last furry thing you touched?
An angry beast.

17. How Many Drugs Have You Done In The Past three Days?
Picture Valley of the Dolls without the 60's dresses, bad moustaches and tragedy. Just kidding, or am I?

18. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
50+

19. Favorite age you have been so far?
All of them.

20. your worst enemy?
Today or in general?

21. What is your current desktop picture?
The Beast.

22. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"Thanks for not making me lunch."

23. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you choose?
A million bucks. Student loans are no longer interest free as of April 30th.

24. Do you like someone?
I like many someones.

25. The last song you listened to?
London Calling.

Little accomplishments, big plans

So the application for exchange is off. This time next year, if all goes well, we will either be in the Balkans, the Emerald Isle or Eastern Canada. I'm excited, but also in a cold sweat about it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

In other news, I've got a new silver daytimer and have filled in all relevant dates that I can remember. If we are scheduled to do something in the near future, maybe consider dropping me a line to remind me to write it in. Otherwise, I think I'm covered until next Monday.

12 days...

...until this chapter is due on my advisor's desk. Interviews are moving ahead and I've sent out more requests. So much work to do. I'm off to make photocopies, return interlibrary loan books and pick up a daytimer whose day is long overdue. Monday night saw me missing an event that I'd been invited to well in advance, received email about and had talked about with Red on Monday morning. Total, catastrophic brain fart. So: day planner. I'm going to pick up one of these. Apologies to Red and JQ for not doing so before Monday.

I will soon be able to stop feeling like something vague and unremembered is hanging over me all the time.

Tuesday's to-do list

-500 words writing on chapter 1, reorganize structure
-final revision of interview questions
-send out more intv requests
-planning committee meeting, noon
-write and send out thankyou letters
-application for Eastern Europe

*grin*

Just got back from my meeting. One word: awesome. We chatted for like 2.5 hours. The best part was that the guy treated me and the things I've done with respect (it sucks that I can't be more specific here, but if you know me, you know what I'm talking about), which is cool because he's a very respected figure in the community. Not to say that I don't deserve the respect, just that its nice that it was accorded. He's open to doing an interview and gave me a heads up on who else might like to chat with me.

Now to write up my notes, do some dishes, make some dins and watch Corrie. *sigh of contentment*

So: today. Meet-up with guy for research. I am excited, but, shall we say, a little nervous. As much as its been described as a friendly "chat over coffee", I fully recognize that it is a test.

Yesterday was nice, but light on the work front. Started off the day with breakfast at Hatch with three charming companions. Spent some time browsing used bookstores, walking in sunshine (what is that weird orb in the sky?) and chatting. From there, productivity hit a speedbump. Did a little work, sent off consent forms and interview request, but mostly watched movies (Serenity and Trainspotting). Serenity was so good. I didn't really like River in Firefly, but I changed my mind while watching the film. And then I had bad dreams, because, you know, Reevers.

In today's good news installment: I just looked outside and noticed that finally, a truck full of Roofers just pulled up. Sweet. Tarp that bad boy! (But watch out for the squirrels, they seem to be mainlining rage these days, and it is their home)

Somehow, I think he'd approve

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Michel Foucault!

1. Michel Foucault can be very poisonous if injected intravenously!
2. If you cut Michel Foucault in half and count the number of seeds inside, you will know how many children you are going to have!
3. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled Michel Foucault.
4. California is the biggest exporter of Michel Foucault in the world.
5. Pacman was originally called Michel Foucaultman.
6. If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn into Michel Foucault.
7. The risk of being struck by Michel Foucault is one occurence every 9,300 years.
8. The book of Esther in the Bible is the only book which does not mention Michel Foucault.
9. Moles are able to tunnel through 300 feet of Michel Foucault in a day!
10. It takes 8 minutes for light to travel from the Sun's surface to Michel Foucault.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Oddly enough, I think some of these may actually be accurate.

Jobs, research, life

So, I got the informal job that I went to see about the other day. Seems pretty straight forward, though Julia has freaked me out abit by saying the the boss will yell at me at some point during the day, most likely for following her own instructions.

In other news, my research is finally hitting its stride. I've updated my site, made contacts in various parts of the world and been contacted (out of the blue) by potential participants (very influential members of the community I am studying) who saw my site and liked what I had to say. I've got my first interview scheduled for this weekend, with the person I most wanted to chat with. Yesss! I wish I could go into details here, but that would pretty much take away the meager remnants of anonymity I try to maintain here. Suffice it to say that I am stoked, way, way stoked.

I am having a bit of a cozy evening at home. I've got the place to myself for a while (waiting for people to drop by), a bowl of organic tortilla chips and chipotle salsa (Que Pasa's new flavour, if you haven't tried it yet, for the love of pete, high thyself to a store and get some) and a nice warm pot of tea. CBC2 is playing some nice violin music, and the room is warm. I am wearing holiday slippers and a pair of woolen stockings. Add a nightcap (drink or thing you wear on your head) and the picture would be complete. I'd be a postmodern Alistair Sims, but hey, that's a good look for me.

Busy, busy

Off to campus to see a woman about a job (sidenote to Julia: it's the one you reccommended me for, yay!). Then, applications to go abroad for a term or two. Ancrene: your tagging me for the meme has stirred happy travel memories and spurred me to action. I'm hoping to go back to Eastern Europe very soon, and it's all your fault (thanks!).

Then thesis work, oh the thesis work. Yesterday was my "I don't need to sleep more than 2.5hours, embrace the hummingbird identity" day, which didn't turn out so hot after all. No writing got done, though I did finish some related tasks. And, on the plus side, my sleeping schedule is relatively back to normal after Monday night's extreme of no-sleep-until-quarter-to-five.

Gotta run!

Today's list

Okay, enough futzing around for the day. I'm putting some classical music on, getting a glass of wine, and getting down to work. The reward will be Corrie at 730, which gives me three solid hours of work before it's on. Before then, I will:

-put final touches on thesis-related site done!
-read and take notes on Inter-library loan books started
-300 words on current chapter 370 written!
-map translation started

More than you want to know about me

Tagged by Ancrene, which made me feel special as it is my first meme and I was kinda hoping someone would invite me to the party.

Four Jobs You’ve Had

1) Dishwasher for a small restaurant that went under.

The chef/owner laid me off and then stiffed me on part of my wages. Even though I hated the job, losing it made me feel really unhappy for some reason. It's rad that not being Protestant doesn't stop the Protestant work ethic from kicking in. That night I went to a Weakerthans show at the Starfish. John K. Samson patted me on the arm and said he was sorry that I lost my job. That, and not having to peel any more shrimp, made me deliriously happy.

2) Guinea Pig

Through my undergrad I sometimes paid the rent by doing medical testing. I did audiology, cognitive process, sleep, psych and others (but no drug trials, since the risk is much higher, though the money is exponentially better). The sleep study was the best, since it paid well (about $50 an hour) and just involved getting a bunch of electrodes put on my head and sleeping or watching movies. The researchers played different sounds and monitored my brain waves. Then the cute young research assistant would wash the electrode gel out of my hair. Purrr.

I also did many consumer focus groups. This is why I never answer consumer polling questions over the phone. I could be making $75 a survey, and you want to call me up and get it for free? Nope.

3) Greenhouse girl friday

I washed half a million pots, planted and propagated, swept up, organized and worked a plant sale (do not get between gardeners and discounted plants! you could easily lose an eye), mixed soil in an industrial mixer, watered and powerwashed. This last task was the best. I'd get suited up in huge rubber aprons, boots, eye/ear protection, gloves and trousers and blast the slime off the 40 foot plant benches. My boss was always apologetic about giving me this work, but it really got rid of my frustrations. Forget yoga, go powerwash something.

4) Graduate teaching assistant

I love theory, and I love teaching. So, I'm a nerd. I admit it.

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over

1) LoTR
2) HP4
3) Ong Bak: the Thai Warrior
4) all the movies in my profile

Four Places You’ve Lived

1) East
2) West
3) Rural
4) Urban

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch

1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2) Coronation Street (especially as the ever fabulous Sir Ian Mckellin is guest starring for 10 episodes as a charlatan hack writer)
3) Angel
4) ER (I know, I know. I am cursed to watch this show until it ends. I can't seem to turn away, particularly as Kovac (purr) and Abby are finally back together. Groan.)

Four Places You’ve Been on Vacation

I thought I'd go with weird places/things I've visited

1) Manmade lake outside Bratislava, at the end of the tram line in an otherwise industrial area. We camped there and listened to Johnny Cash and lots of country western (in english and slovak) blare over the campground loudspeakers at all hours of the day and night.
2) Bone Church, Sedlec
3) Semi-abandonned campground on the highway into Zagreb which we shared with a very large Roma family and lots of mosquitoes. It was about 500 metres away from a Bosnian refugee camp.
4) Musee des Egouts, Paris

Four Blogs You Visit Daily

See the list on the right hand side.

Four of Your Favorite Foods

1) Dark chocolate
2) Organic wine
3) Vegetarian tourtiere, cretons, pate
4) Perogies, burek s sirom

Four Places You’d Rather Be

1) Paris
2) Budapest
3) Montreal
4) High Tatras, Slovak side
5) Croatian coast
6) Anywhere interesting

Four Albums You Can’t Live Without

I'm going to go with songs.

1) Munich, the Editors (I just heard this today, and I looove it.)
2) Take Me Out, (or anything by) Franz Ferdinand
3) A forest, live version, by the Cure
4) We be burnin, Sean Paul

Four Vehicles You’ve Owned

1) bicycle
2) shoes
3) public transit
4) Car cooperative membership

Four Taggees

Anyone who would like to play.

And lo, the water poureth from on high

Woke up to a cascade, nay, a torrent pouring from the ceiling. I think the score is now Rotten Roof (and even more Rotten Landlord):2, broke tenants:zip. Of course, landlord is off on his long vacation, living la dolce vita with our rent money. I have his cell number there, and I may call it. But the dude is a slippery one to talk to. Last time I called with an ultimatum, he kept quiet when I asked questions, hoping that I'd get nervous and let him off the hook by filling the silence with my own chatter. No dice, I've read the Interview Skills 101 handbook too, pal.

The good thing is that I have his email, which I know for a fact he checks often. It enables me to keep the tone reasonable, while establishing a written record of what I have said and his response (or lack thereof). It's evidence baby, and if it comes to a court-based skirmish, he is sa-crewed.

In the meantime, I'd like a new roof please. Or at least a break in the rain.

Things that go crash in the night

Last night was to be the first night of my new schedule. No more 2am nights, waking up at 1030 and getting little done. So I went to bed at 1030pm, finished the Golden Compass (erk! so good, and yet, so disturbing in the way that well-written way kids books can be) and shut my eyes by 11:06. Yes, the sleep of the virtuous.

Until 1am, when everyone in the house jolted awake. I hate that feeling, the one where you wake up suddenly and you're not sure if the sound was your own body breaking or something happening outside of you. Luckily, it was the latter. Some kind of accident had happened outside, and there was a car up on the curb and a guy in a puffa jacket stumbling around. Another guy took off running. At first, I couldn't process what was going on and thought that some kind of intentional violence was going down, so we backed away from the window directly overlooking the scene and got the phone. A large male neighbour approached puffa guy and asked if he was okay, keeping a safe distance. Dude looked okay and then started really stumbling, so I called 911. The thing that I love about my hood is how busy it is, at all times of the day and night. People are really proactive, and will call the ambulances and then come out of their homes to make sure that everything is okay. I've lived in far wealthier places where you could die screaming on the street and no one would twitch a curtain to see what was happening. So when I got on to 911 dispatch, they said that there were already many calls and that they were coming. They wanted to know if anyone was trapped, or if there were downed power lines, which there weren't. Within 30 seconds of hanging up, the fire engines arrived. Then ambulances and police. We went back to bed, but I was all adrenaline-y and the flashing lights made our room look like a law enforcement themed discotheque. It seems that almost everone was physically okay, but I think quite a few people went away in the police wagon instead of the ambulance. The flashing lights kept on until 230, when the last car was towed away.

So I just got up, not at 645 as planned, but at 12. Curses! The upside to this awful start to the day is that a phone call woke me, and it was my dear friend T calling from Geneva. We had a lovely chat, and caught up with each other. And the big new is that I get to be a bridesmaid at her wedding! and the dresses are going to be black! and made in Paris! Sweet.

Now: make tea and toast, and go to bloody work on the thesis!

That's weird, my updates from yesterday are up despite blogger telling me that it wouldn't publish them because of "errors". Well, glad I can post again. I couldn't figure out how to send word: SoS. Blog. down. send. chocolate.

I'm not a big fan of new year's and yet, I feel moved to blow a lot of stuff up. Or watch others do so. Or just find pictures of it online. This year's resolution: less talk, more fireworks.

Back from the wilds (only a couple hundred kilometres away, but the assorted transportation forms + transfers added up to about 8 hours of travel), I spent time running around finishing up the last tasks of 2005. New Year's eve was low key: lunch with the girls at the naam, bought some presents for my friend who was getting ready to leave for Sudan the next day, dinner and bad brandy with a bunch of people at our house. We ate pasta and hummus with homemade pita chips, had a glass of organic red wine (and a bit of "shootin' brandy") and watched Degrassi Jr. High and MST3K (the home economics reel). We laughed a lot, despite not drinking very much. At 10:30 we headed out to another friend's new house, and rang in the new year with sparklers. We stayed awhile longer, chatting and having a good time, and then walked home. I finished up the evening with an episode of season 3 Buffy and a couple of extra strength aspirin. I hardly drank, but I've been nursing a pounding headache since the eve of 2006 (it's still here, to my joy).

It was a nice night and much better than the time a random guy decided he wanted to ring in the new year by fighting me at 5am as I was heading home. Happy New One, everybody!