Purple Dog Chronicle

The Right to Freedom

2008-10-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

I've was having a discussion with a friend the other day, and it has been mulling over in my head since, so I thought i would make it my first blog post in quite some time........

Freedom to be who you are, say what you want and do what you want is important and should be attainable for everyone in this world, but are we ready for that?

I have a horrible feeling many arent

Because with freedom there comes one important, but vital, responsibility - the ability to accept the consequences on your actions - the freedom to confront the impact that the actions resulting from your freedom have on other people

And would it be truely freedom anyway if your actions have a negative impact on other people? surely in that case you are therefore restricting the freedom that these people are also entitled to- so in our society is it truely possible to have freedom for everyone?

I think maybe we should aim for a new ideal - the freedom for everyone to live how they choose, with the important caveat - that this freedom is allowed on the condition that your actions do not knowingly impact negatively on the life that someone else has chosen to lead

If you choose to knowingly carry out such an act, then I question whether you yourself actually have the right to freedom - although I do freely admit that this is a point that needs much more discussion and that one person alone could not make that sort of decision

Of course if you unknowingly make a negative impact, whether through ignorance, or genuine innocence, as long as you make the necessary reparition and make an effort to ensure that such an error does not occur again, then I dont see that there should be such a problem

Because surely if you value your freedom then the freedom of those around you should be just as precious as your own

Just remember that if you can violate someones freedom without check then it is equally possible that someone will do the same to you

How would you feel if that happened to you?

a thought provoking article.....

2008-05-12T02:10:00.000-07:00

....or is that a despair provoking article, after reading this i cant help but wonder what hope there is left for us, although by the sounds of it there might be for plants if nothing else its bloody entertaining hehe

on the plus side the comments to this article are genius

no more tree hugging for me i guess.....well unless they're consenting adults anyway....

A long overdue update

2008-04-16T09:59:00.001-07:00

so its been a while since i have posted, so i thought i would take this time, whilst a map i have spent the last day and half georeferencing and georectifying (for those non-geographers this means making the map match up in overlay with another map - it sounds more exciting in technical terms i think) goes ahead and reprojects into a new co-ordinate system. This always takes at least 2 hours on my computer, not entirely sure why - image size combined with working on a shared drive possibly (answers on a postcard please) so i thought i would use my time productively rather than my usual occupations of how long i can balance on one leg, counting the bricks on the wall, balancing books on....yeah ok you get the idea.

this then is a general catch up on what i have been up to recently. since i last posted i have:
- been to France for the weekend, to bosch's parents house in Normandy, several of us went on motorbikes and had a bloody good weekend, spent most of Saturday travelling from the ferry port to the house sightseeing as we went, including Bayeux, Aramanches sur Bain and Omaha beach and had a monster 5 course dinner at a lovely local restaurant - mmmmm so tasty. Boschs pillion seat however is not kind and i walked like John Wayne for a couple of days afterwards.

- worked hard, both at uni work and and work work (which is in uni, confusing huh?)

- and of course, me being me, partied pretty damn hard too hehe

But as far as I am concerned the best part of the past month, and the main reason for me not blogging, is going away for work. To Oxford (added bonus as i could spend a serious amount of time with mum and dad) The main reason for going was to research and copy maps relevant to the work i am doing - and this is the best bit - a legitimate reason to go play in the Bodleian Library - one of the earliest and best libraries in the UK and a damn good map library - i was in out and out geek heaven. It also featured in the Harry Potter films. yes i know the bod has so many more claims to fame than this, most of them better, unfortunately people seem to remember only the most recent achievements of both buildings and other people even if they are not their best so therefore this is the reference i shall make.

The added advantage of gaining access to the bod was that my readers card allowed me access to areas that tourist very very rarely get to see - and it is beautiful in there. The oldest section is actually medieval, called Duke Humfrey's library, and is filled with very old leather bound volumes, medieval painted wood panelling covers the walls and ceilings, with renaissance stained glass windows - absolutely amazing. The rest of the library is beautiful - white washed walls, large, lead filled windows and the best bit, as it is a copyright library every book that has ever been published in the UK, and in many other countries, has a copy here - squeee

and as for the maps, wow, one of the books i worked with was a 1829 atlas - and it was so beautiful, not just the maps but the paintings they included to show scenery from the relevant countries - why cant we get books like these nowadays? America looked a bit funny though hehe.

ok so i've finished geeking now

As for whats coming up, it looks pretty manic both on the work and play front (yes i know but i will be cutting down a bit, honest!) its going to be tiring and ch alleging but hopefully at some points enjoyable and ultimately rewarding. All i have to say is roll on the summer, lots of festivals, fun with friends and max coming over to visit -booooooooom :D, and a visit to Amsterdam too of course - hehe look out summer here i come ;)

spring

2008-03-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

After a week of cold miserable weather I fully expected the first official day of summer to be miserable.

But it has been such a lovely sunny day that I have actually had the windows open for most of the day :) and i cant help but keep smiling at nothing as a result - it finally feels like spring :)

all I have to say now is bring on the summer............

Muse

2008-03-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Muse have a new cd/dvd combo out, H.A.A.R.P - it's frickin awesome, i'm sat here trying to decide whether it is happyness, awe or sheer goddam shivers down my back that are going to kill me first

I recommend getting it, in fact, scrap that, dont think, just get it, if you cant download it then goddam buy it like i did (yes i know that's a shock to some of you), if you havent the money then beg, borrow or steal to get it, if necessary kill - god will not consider it a sin - he wants a copy too (if you feel a bit bad when you take this option - and believe me once you see this dvd it will become an option - my friend the black pope should be able to help with your confession)

and if you haven't heard of Muse - where the hell have you been?!!!!!! go find and listen!

hehe

2008-03-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

emo

2008-03-19T02:42:00.001-07:00

the musaks

2008-03-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

riiiiight ok so the update hasn't quite yet happened has it? lol oops, i was all set to do it Saturday morning, and i kinda ended up at two different parties through the night and not getting home till around 10am in the morning Saturday, as i seem to keep up doing when i end up on random nights.

Met some more random lovely people though that hopefully i will see again, and ah oh dear i think i might have got onto interweb and facebooked people whilst wasted......think i better check that one out :s lol

so it took me this long to recover (it is now Sunday evening) enough to get some motivation up to do anything, doing the sport relief three mile this morning as well didn't help, i got back to my friend Ellie's afterwards and fell asleep on her sofa, so i really must make the most of this motivation that has finally occurred and work on my essay.

so instead of a full update i am going to share some music with you that has been making me happy, and hopefully it will bring some sparkle into your life too!

first off, the silver sun pick ups, my mate Simon posted one of their videos on their blog, and also called me up just to rave about them too - and he's right I'm utterly hooked on this song of theirs, cant wait till i get to his next weekend and can hear their album:

Lazy Eye

also, forgive me if i have gone on about these a bit to you already, Hot Chip, songs of happy sillyness that always having me skipping and singing down the street (and who cant help but love geeks going nuts :D)

Over and Over

Ready for the Floor

Colours

let me know what you think of them

right must get on with this essay! over and out for now :D

Despair for humanity -we really have no hope

2008-03-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

ok so i just found this brief post on the BBC (click here), how, and i really mean this, how does this sort of situation occur? let alone happen for so long?! and how could the husband not even think that this situation wasn't worth worrying about before two years had past?! my brain is actually breaking trying to work this out. and how did she sleep? argh its going to mess with my head all day now :(

lack of posting

2008-03-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

right it's been ages since i've posted anything, i just came to this realisation whilst sat at my desk at work - which means right now there isnt an awful lot i can do about it! damn

have lots to write about as well, which is probably the reason i havent posted - i simply havent had the time, but i will be working on an essay tonight so i am bound to be wanting distractions - so will post you an update within the next day or so

if i dont, feel free to nag

right must get back to work!

My life today

2008-02-27T02:56:00.000-08:00

Is it cowardly of me to just want it to stop hurting already? I thought i was doing ok and then it hit me, thankfully I have an office now so crying at my computer isnt so conspicuous anymore.

Its the feeling of humiliation that gets me the most, that i could care so much about someone who didnt care about me in the same way and not realise.

Ban the cuppa?!

2008-02-15T08:39:00.001-08:00

Ok this article proves that the world has officially gone made as far as I'm concerned!!

1648 or 2008?

2008-02-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the world is a very scary place and I become convinced that all the progress and development in our society has been for nothing if people can still be convinced that someone is a witch as with this story. It makes me so angry, and so sad for the poor woman whose only crime was to probably manage to upset or become a target of someone with more power than herself

And what is it with trying to put our values and morals on to the actions and behaviour of animals?!!! this article is brilliant - a teeneage welfare mom with a difference! read the comments as well, they're really quite funny

A week of extremes

2008-02-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

hahaha max i have bad news for you hun, i have a new job starting at the end of this last one - i will be a professional map geek for a further 12 months :p

i am quite excited by the possibilities of this job. I will be working and learning loads more about database and data mining, hard work but it should be a great experience aaaaaaaand i will be coming to America for a field trip, so i think i shall be coming out a week or so earlier so that i can come and visit the flock :D too good an opportunity to miss ;)

but it has also been abit of a rubbish week, things with the blonde haired boy have finally gone completely pair shaped and it hurts a lot. If i am going to be fair it probably had been for a while and i hadnt realised just how bad. Although as my friend Simon pointed out it will probably be better for me, for all he cared he was so busy focusing on his own happiness and the status quo for himself he had no time for me or to help me. And he always put so much pressure on me (unknowlingly) for nothing to go wrong that they always did.

So a week of highs and lows

luckily with my current job i can work from home, and cos on top of this I have flu as well i have taken a day home working and am not getting out of my dressing gown for love nor money. It also means i dont have to suffer my random bursts into tears happening in public at work. Although the bad side is, as i'm not getting out of the dressing gown i cant really go down to the shop for chocolate - damn didnt think this one through

and hopefully max is going to come up trumps with the Boom idea, cos I definitely dont have anyone else to go with now this has all gone wrong with the boy, and i really really want to go!!!

oh and finally cheers flynn for my card, i like it a lot :)

and many thanks to Simon and Maddies to making me laugh last night just when i needed it!

anyway i suppose i ought to actually do some work really!

Thought for the Day

2008-02-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Cheers Max for this - its a good point

The New Job

2008-02-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

Well I made it through my first day at work and I survived! It wasnt too bad either.

Spent the first couple of hours with no-one really being sure what I was supposed to be doing, had a big long meeting in which theoretically I was told what I had to do but in such a jumbled, disjointed and chaotic manner I am more bewildered than anything, then spent a few hours trying to get jobs started and not really making headway as its all still very new - like it does tend to be when you start a new job.

Lol but it wasnt too bad really, mostly just confusing. It's lovely to have a job where I know and enjoy the company of a lot of the people who work there, and that actually works sociable hours, I have already been home, had dinner, had a nap and then got up again all before the time I would have gotten home from the call centre.

And for someone like me, how can having a job as a map geek be in anyway a bad thing?

Feeling Unloved

2008-02-02T05:54:00.000-08:00

Why does no-one ever bother to comment on my blogs these days :(

apologies

2008-01-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

As you can tell from the last post I am a bit behind on my posting, i am writing them at work but not managing to type them up. Mostly because I have been ill, with flu, properly ill, i hallucinated with fever for most of the weekend. if mum hadnt been there to get me into bed on saturday i'm not sure what would have happened to me.

That combined with revising for an exam and having an unexpected job interview yesterday has left me a little short of time, to be honest my few spare moments have had to be taken over with sleep in order to cope.

But on a really really exciting note i have anew job - a 3 month temporary contract working as a research assistant - w00t just what i want to be doing with my life, so a step in the right direction indeed - i will tell you more about it when i have started on monday

I know this means my saga of call centreness is over before it has really started but i hope you can forgive me on this, the people who i have introduced already are bound to keep featuring in my life so it wasnt a complete waste!!

Right this sick sparkly fairy needs yet more sleep, will catch up with the blogging soon i promise!!!

Thoughts from Sunday

2008-01-31T14:45:00.000-08:00

Note to self: self do not try to set up a wireless network when it has gone midnight and you're really ill, this sort of situation is not conducive to anything going right, least of all anything to do with technology.

Oh and dont forget that apple support line workers are clueless!

p.s Bosch and Oli might have a point (and yes that did hurt to admit that - hope you dont read it) flapping gets you nowhere, especially with technology!!!

The BBC

2008-01-19T10:36:00.001-08:00

As I am sure I have mentioned before I love to check out the BBC news website, not only for the days events but for the more random stories that my attention is often drawn to (for true randomness check out the also in the news section).

Today my eye has been caught, and my heart and imagination captured, by the stories of two men, seperated by hundreds of years. One a medieval knight and the other a WW2 veteran. Both are heroes in their own right, and both have inspired awe and respect in their contemporaries as well as those of us who follow on in time and would love to follow in their footsteps.

Whilst it is important to acknowledge the heroes of our current age, it is also important to remember these by gone heroes for inspiration and to remind ourselves how times have changed.

Which is your hero? Whilst I do favour one above the other I will admit (can you guess who?) my mum kicks both their asses in the hero stakes. Sorry guys.

Procrastinating student over and out

The increasing madness

2008-01-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

There is a psy party in pompey tonight. There wont be another one down here till march and I shant have time to go to London for one till at least feb cos of coursework. Problem is my friends are either interested but cant come or arent interested and therefore wont come.

Sooooo I think i'll go on my own, rather scary i'm not gonna lie, but at least its a positive sign that I feel able to give it a try. Ultimately (and with much discussion) I think I will regret not trying more than I would regret trying and it not being any good. So I'm gonna give it a go, wish me luck!

Thoughts of a Call Girl

2008-01-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hehe bet that got your attention didn't it?

I have a job at a call centre atm, hence the title, it's not great but hey it pays the mortgage and gives me the flexibility to do my masters degree. Essentially though I cant escape that I have basically sold my soul to TLC.

But it does give you the advantage of a great deal of freedom mentally as, if we are going to be honest here, its hardly the most stimulating of jobs. This also results in some of the most random conversations that i have ever had (and speaking as a member of the flock this is quite a statement in itself as i am sure they can verify). So i feel that these combined features will result in a series of blog posts about my working life.

So I thought i would use this post to introduce the main characters who feature in my working day:

MissC - I don't even know where to start here really, so maybe not the best first choice! - a unique, quirky amazing dress sense, kinda hippy meets boho i guess, a very talented artist as you can see in the photo of the mural on my sitting room wall:

A caring friend who has been great to have around even though we still don't know each other that well and amazingly scatty, coming out with some of the silliest and naive things I have ever heard, mostly a result of her young years (so hopefully some good quotes to put on here soon)

Lady J - elegant, ladylike, my sensible side magnified and personified. In fact very much how I could have been if I was a)more sensible (that doesn't make her very sensible just more so than me) b)hadn't had my horizons so dramatically broadened and brain broken by the flock and c)the corruption hadn't been completed in other ways by my blonde haired English boy.
Also very clever, she is law major, and kind of gives me hope as it means I am not the only graduate to be stuck in a job like this!

Wonderboy (ok so I'm listening to tenacious D right now i confess) - I don't know where to even begin describing him - he's amazing. Mad, hyper active, a love of fashion that is only exceeded by his love of music, an amazing sense of quirkiness and a love of outrageous colours (and no, in case you're wondering, he's not gay). A very talented lyricist also. Our conversations are repeatedly punctuated by explosions of passion about something or one of us disappearing from it to write an idea down. A real find.

Sianykins - not really a nickname as she as already been mentioned in the blog. Again a version of myself, in this case frighteningly like me when I was her age (19). Absolutely mental, giggle fits galore are had when I'm around her, loving, caring, very cuddly, cares about things and people almost to a fault. A real lifer of a friend (i hope).

Obviously these aren't all the people I work with, but they are the people who's company I spend the most time in, who I enjoy spending time with and who have made an impact on my life somehow, whether its in attitude, life consideration, clothing advice or simply helping me feel I am not alone in going through what I am, and of course providing me with some real big good ol' belly laughs.

nearly the weekend

2008-01-11T07:02:00.000-08:00

bouncy bouncy bouncy happy sparkly fairy

its nearly the weekend, my friend Graeme who I havent seen for three years is here (and we were up till 4am gossiping and laughing ourselves silly (stifling yawn of tiredness) and tomorrow i am going to two house parties and will be seeing friends i havent seen for time periods ranging from weeks to years

should have a lot to write about on mon :)

have fun, loves to you all

2008-01-06T04:49:00.000-08:00

just to say the sleepover went well and that i want to take this opportunity to show that i can add photos

hmmm add photos - i wonder if any of my other blog posts could benefit from photos.........

argh cant break the addiction

2008-01-05T10:03:00.001-08:00

see what i mean - i start and i can't stop

Just noticed that I am back on the list of the redeemed who post often!! (if you dont know what I am talking about check out the link to the Pontifex Niger) as i remember it the criteria to make it back onto the list is that your post has to make interesting reading - quite a complement then!

yay right now back to work before sleepover time (that really does make me sounds about 5 doesnt it? lol)

todays ramble

2008-01-05T09:52:00.001-08:00

uh-oh its happened again, I start the whole posting thing off again, and even though technically I dont have time to do so, I dont seem to be able to stop posting. This could become a problem!

Hmm so mainly I have come here today to tell you of things that have made my day happy:

1 - I was wondering down some of the streets in Pompey that are away from the main shopping centres, and spent the morning blissfully happy walking in and out of hippy and goth shops, when I came across a proper old school hippy shop filled with all sorts of smoking parafinalia, poi and fire sticks etc, awesome in itself obviously, but not only that but the owner refuses to play anything but old school psytrance, knows the organisers of the psytrances raves down here (and used to be one) and is a visual DJ :D happy sparkly fairy indeed

2 - I spend some of my Christmas money - its taking a while to do - the house is leaving me so broke that to have some money to spend on myself is a rare event so i want to make sure i buy things that i really love, want and need

and 3 - i may have shown some of you a website that I am very much in love with atm called kinky-angel- well it turns out that the only store associated with this website is actually in pompey and is just down the road from me - w00t!

and to finish of my day of happiness, I shall be going to my friend Sians tonight for a silly fun sleepover night, and i get to wear my new fleecy, giant pjs that are covered in pandas!! lol yay

happy happy days indeed

loves to you all

Hello 2008 - a real fresh start!

2008-01-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

Right so lets get this whole restarting the blog thing to a positive start, it can be easy when bogged under to allow yourself to get morbid and start a viciously spiraling downward cycle

But this is a new year, so lets get back to the old school Katie who is showing many signs of improvements on her old self (an increased amount of relaxation/peace, and a developing and an evolving love of psytrance and associated raves being two of them)

For one, learning how to let go completely. And this hard lesson was finally learnt to a whole new level on new years eve, and it was the most amazing night out I have ever had in my life as well – so all in all a good start

I went to a psytrance rave in London, with Oli and his housemates and few other of their friends, and arrrgh it was soooooooooo cool. I had the most amazing hallucinations ever – not something I have managed before or would have coped with without panicking, but I realized all I had to do was truly relax into it and had the most amazing half hour or so (have no real idea of time so this is a guess) and I came out realizing that not only was I capable of that, but all the stress and angst that I have let myself build up was not necessary and that it never will be, and ultimately I will get there.

That and I was overwhelmed by the awesomeness at having lived in a cartoon for that whole time

And then all the philosophical bullshit stopped and I stomped myself stupid and loved every god damn minute of it with my favourite blond hair, blue eyed English boy at my side (or me at his side, depending on how you want to look at it!) along with people whose company I thoroughly enjoy appearing and disappearing at various intervals! Which just made my night completely perfect

I can’t say this lesson has truly stuck yet, I have glitches where I feel true fear at everything, but there is an underlying sense of calm and belief that I think is here to stay

So how else have I changed this year? I have moved countries, taken on two jobs and carried on with my masters degree and bought a house– and I could never have managed this without the support of my friends and family who have helped me to the best of their ability, and cared for me the whole way, even if I cant always see it, I only hope I can find a way to show how much I appreciate them for this

My aims for this hope filled New Year:
- Be kinder to myself – yes I can be super woman, but I don’t always have to be
- To spend even more time with my friends when I can, but to remember that they are always there and this masters degree will finish soon so sometimes that has to take priority!
- To go raving more, I enjoyed it before, and I have now realized that I absolutely love it – I only hope the only people who I know that go to the psytrance raves will let me keep joining them, otherwise damn it I don’t know what will happen on that front argh
- To allow myself just to sit back and smell the roses
- And stop worrying – ultimately everything will all work out as it is supposed to

The only morose thing I have to say is that I wish I'd had this important lesson about letting go before I hurt one of the people that I care about most in this world. I should have just talked, but I was too frightened and silly, so I didn’t, and I hurt them. I just hope that time can heal things, and I hope I haven’t lost all the care and trust they gave me; I value it more than anything in this world. All I can say is that I won't make that mistake again - I can’t. So, now to try and activate my final resolve for the year listed above!!! lol

But all in all, I think this has a great deal of potential to be a very good year. So happy New Year to you all!!!

Update

2007-06-30T21:56:00.001-07:00

So a brief explination as to the radio silence that has been in place for the best part of a month; everything that I have been mentioning looking forward to for the summer has either happened or is beginning to happen :-D

My parents came out to Laramie and visited me which was awesome. I think dad found it rather hard to adjust to just how different america is to england; the people, the attitudes, and most of all the wasteful portion sizes and poor mum had to deal with dad and I being at loggerheads as he chose to take his confusion out on us and I refused to simply ignore it.

Otherwise it was a pretty awesome three weeks - we travelled up to Yellowstone and Teton National Parks for around 6 days and had an amazing time, we hiked some serious milage and saw a fair amount of wildlife for our efforts. But for me the highlight of the trip was the horse trekking up into the Shoshone National Forest that we did from our cabin complex, of course I ended up with the willful and stubborn horse - but it was great fun nonetheless, if a little scary when my horse kept biting the cowboy's horse in front, and he informed me he was stopping his horse from kicking in retaliation!

And of course it was my birthday - which my friends and family celebrated with me and made it by far and away the best birthday have had in a while. Thanks guys :-D expecially for such wonderful presents

Then finally, what has really been the best part of the summer so far as far as I am concerned; I came back to England and have gotten to see my long haired english boy, after what has seemed an eternity of waiting. and it was worth the wait :-D. I am so glad to be back home- i have missed england i must confess, but I cant help but wonder if i would have missed it quite so badly if I hadn't had someone so important to me to miss. It was a lovely first day back, even with me being pretty dappy with jetlag, and I got yet more wonderful birthday presents (well wrapped up as well - impressed much!) and we just spent the laziest day on the planet catching up - perfect.

Well in my jetlagged induced state I am writing this at 6am local time, I think I shal go back to bed now and snuggle next to my warm and much missed boy, I think my posting shall remain intermittent for a while - but I am sure you understand.

Nnight

Spring in Wyoming

2007-06-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

We yet again are having the phenomena known as snow in the spring/summer that seems to happen in places like Laramie - oh joy. And to think my parents couldn't quite believe that they would need to bring winter clothes as well as summer clothing for their June holiday!

Ah well, that's the way things are - no point dwelling on the negative when there is so much positive.

Firstly, my parents arrive on Saturday for a three week stay!

Secondly, that is that the day that Squid gets back :-D

Thirdly, that means three weeks till I go home as of Saturday, and whilst I will miss my Laramie friends, there is too much planned for the summer not to be completely hyper excited!

and finally; I got the first draft of my proposal back, and whilst it was covered in a sea of corrections I am at least going in the right direction and have been told I have made a good start.

all in all, apart from the weather, it hasn't been a bad week!

A New Home

2007-06-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

yay, we have done it!! We now have the keys to our new home a.k.a Flock Hall 2. I am so excited - it will be filled with some of my favorite people in Laramie, and it will be, I hope, a house filled with laughter, love and good food and much fun. I can't wait to finish moving in and for it to really feel like it is our home, even without our furniture in there it is starting to feel that way.

To keep up on our antics the link is to the left - should be some funny stuff going up once we have moved in as we are a mad bunch, although some are crazier than others - huh squid?

My Visual DNA

2007-05-26T14:42:00.001-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Observation

2007-05-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

OK this is my third post of the day, and has anyone else noticed it is rather a habit of mine? I start by posting one blog and I don't seem to be able to stop!! Its like an addiction.

Hmm well it could simply be a thesis proposal avoidance (terrifying the hell out of the sparkly one) and homesickness distraction technique, but I think it might actually be an addiction - kinda like Pringles, once you pop you cant stop (assuming the same ads ran in America and England - if not sorry guys)

Rollerblading Update

2007-05-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

I should have posted this on Saturday, however I never got round to - too many brownies were consumed and I forgot basically :-)

So I went rollerblading with HSBP and Squid on exactly the same route as the one I took in the last rollerblading event, and came out unscathed. There was a little PTSD as I came up to the slope again, but I handled it by walking down the grass at the side of the slope - a good strategy I thought (well I made it the bottom without taking on the landscaping this time)

On the injury front, I still have the grazes and the bruise on my knee is about the size of my kneecap, located just below - and is making yoga a bit like a gurning event for me given the number of times I can be on my knees in a yoga class - not fun.

On another note about the same saturday- I started to learn how to poi - and I like! I am going to buy myself some rather lovely purple fluffy poi - thank you Jim for the inspiration. Well I will when I get paid anyway, I am rather broke right now - booooo I want my poi.

It's an Expat Thing

2007-05-23T15:20:00.001-07:00

OK so the BBC website has a new section - entitled 'also in the news' - and I have to say this is very exciting for me. But no one seems to get this other than my fellow biker Nick, who I must point out is also an expat.

We both use the BBC website as a way to keep in touch with what is happening back at home, and for me it is a relatively unbiased way of keeping up to date with what is happening in America.

But this new section has all those funny stories, like the gay flamigos that have adopted a baby flamingo or the guy who has volunteered to donate his head (after he dies) to be turned into a shrunken head to replace those that the Pitt Rivers Museum (in Oxford) may have to return to their native countries.

I would recommend simply visiting the page in all honesty, it has been keeping me entertained no end since it started.

Quite simply though I think my level of excitement and entertainment is going to occur in anyone else. It is the result of being an expat, I just don't expect anyone else to get it (mostly cos no one else has so far!).

Reconciliation

2007-05-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yay, simply - an agreement to disagree. So simple and yet has caused me more relief and happiness than I could begin to describe.

Back to making many happy plans for the summer - excuse me whilst I go and enjoy the happy day dreams induced by that idea

Heartbreak

2007-05-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

I am so sad, and i think something inside me has died. I have spent some time now trying to build compassion inside myself as I believe that so much less pain will be in this world if we are more compassionate towards one another, and that the only way to cause this to happen is to start with myself.

Someone I care about an incredible amount, has just spent ages telling me how because we have been hurt we must therefore hurt back and destroy. Whilst this has been the accepted opinion for many years, and in part in history caused us to create the first hurt that has resulted in this backlash, I had hoped it was a lesser opinion nowadays.

I fear that I have lost something very special to me before it even started. My heart has died. I don't know what to do.

The Rollerblading Incident

2007-05-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have now officially tested out the Rollerblades that I bought a week or two ago. I woke up naturally at 8 this morning (yes freaky and rather ironic given my last post on sleeping too much) and saw the weather was looking so nice that I simply had to try them out.

And it was a lovely day for it - by the time I go to the greenbelt it was around 10am, so on went the blades and off I went, rapidly remembering that the last time I had bladed was around 10 years ago and I wasn't all that good at stopping even then. But aside for the odd minor hitch it was good fun. There was a rather challenging wooden bridge that was very uneven but apart from that and the odd wobble I got back into the swing of things rather quickly I thought.

So off I went down the Union Pacific loop, little critters scattering to their burrows in terror, possibly as a natural reaction or possibly as a result of the shock of someone English taking up a very American past time, I shall never know the truth on this matter sadly. Then at the end of the loop I came back upon the challenging wooden bridge, but the slope that came up from it, that hadn't seemed that steep when I went up, from this side it took on all new perspective. But I didnt realise this until I was going down, and then it was simply too late too do anything about it. So I increased speed, hit a wooden post and spun off onto the bridge. OUCH

Luckily, although the wrist brace was off (badly timed itch), the worst damage sustained was a scalped and bruised wrist and knee as well as other bruising of course. Oh and bruised pride, as although the greenbelt had been otherwise empty up to that point, at the exact time of my fall along came two cyclists. So, after a phone call to calm myself down a little, I picked myself up and off I went back to my starting point a lot slower than I had been when going the other way.

Two notes to self: pay more attention to hills and buy some damn safety gear (I was so enthusiastic about buying the blades at the time I forgot all about it :S). Well I am going to get on with my day, bruised pride and body and all.

That is all

Hippy Thought

2007-05-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

As a person who is regularly described as a hippy of sorts and is therefore beginning to believe it herself here is a quote to get you all thinking about saving the world, its an important and very true point and if nothing else maybe putting it this way will catch peoples attention on the subject:

'For starters, let's be clear about what we mean by "saving the earth." The globe doesn't need to be saved by us, and we couldn't kill it if we tried. What we do need to save—and what we have done a fair job of bollixing up so far—is the earth as we like it, with its climate, air, water and biomass all in that destructible balance that best supports life as we have come to know it. Muck that up, and the planet will simply shake us off, as it's shaken off countless species before us. In the end, then, it's us we're trying to save—and while the job is doable, it won't be easy'

On the hippy front, I still refuse to go as far as tree hugging, their just not responsive and it only results in heartache for me.

Learning

2007-05-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well ok, thanks guys for the comments on the last blog. I think I might have a go on Squids advice and write things, well not necessarily always from the heart (my British reserve still exists!), but at least as they occur in my head. I will also try the papal review idea - but maybe not for posts that I am putting up late at night!

Todays thought (well tonights thought, but same difference) why is it when your are actually sleep deprived you feel rough but you can keep going. Its when you stop that's when you feel like you have been sledgehammered. I figured I'd allow myself a week of rest after finals hell and the traveling and I have hardly done anything! For example I was going to test out my roller blades, but its either thunderstorming or I am comatose somewhere as my body exacts it revenge. So the lesson learned - don't stop!!!! or maybe just don't push yourself that hard, but I'm a masters student so lets be realistic.

Hmm that brings me onto a second point - the weather in this place. The British are notorious for talking about the weather so bear with me. This place is beyond me - yes it rains a lot in England but we also get some lovely spring and summer days (not to mention winter sunshine) but at least it is relatively predictable. The weather here is beyond anything I can think of, one minute sunshine and heat, the next a snowstorm for a day or two, more sunshine that looks like its here to stay - oh look it must be the afternoon here's a THUNDER STORM!!! argh! (ok so thats predictable at least) - I'm just waiting for the next snow storm, and it will happen I am sure. When someone told me that you just have to wait 10 mins if you don't like the weather here they werent joking.

It doesnt help that I'm not the greatest thunderstorm fan, they scare me a little still - I can just about handle them when I can watch them, but otherwise it is tempting to hide under the comforter (and no that does not make me a baby, my Grandma used to do that too!) , its also most startling when you are meditating to have a crash of thunder right overhead out of the blue - I leapt off my meditation cushion as a result today, and it just wasn't the same after that.

The Debate

2007-05-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hmm ok so there are is a minor issue I have come across in the very short while that I have been blogging that has come up again in conversation with Oli (aka my boy back in England for those in the know).......... I am a physical geographer, therefore the only writing style that I have had to employ in the last 6 or 7 years is a scientific one (which is why I sucked at the few human geography modules that I had to do in undergrad). I am therefore finding it a struggle to write in any other manner, and as a result my blog posts are a real brain drain as I fight with the writing style.

Oli came up with a simple solution, write it scientifically. But I have two issues with that idea - one is that I am blogging as a way to get away from the world of physical geography that I love but stresses me immensely, and second if I start writing scientifically in style it will only become a matter of time before it affects the subject matter. The result is I start writing about landscape ecology/biogeography and then anyone who happens to read/stumble across my blog will be forced to kill themselves to escape the boredom.

So instead any readers will have to deal with my evolving writing style - any feedback will always be welcome, but it doesn't mean I am going to pay attention to it!!

Idleness

2007-05-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well apologies for the lack of posting in the last week or so, not a good start after the first post I know, but there we are - it was finals week, during which (and the previous two weeks) sleep deprivation and stress ruled, but as it turned out it was well worth it -I am a straight A student for the second semester running, not bad for someone who has never achieved that before. So you guys are just gonna have to live with the slight aura of smugness that surrounds me right now.

And of course last week I was off road tripping in Utah and Arizona with Maximus, so a surprising lack of computer access in the course of that week - there will be a blog post about this once I have got some photos from Max and figured out how the hell to add them to this blog!! lol. (to all the computer geeks and experienced blog users give me a break, I'm new to this)

Only one minor rant to add this week - whichever muppet did the lay out for the kitchen in this apartment deliberately chose one that is impossible to clean properly without concussing yourself, ah well the apartment is now clean. All I have left to do is catch up on all the emails that have backlogged - sorry if your one of the people who is waiting for an answer - I'm getting there!

Yay only a matter of weeks now till I get home :-D (mind you I will miss my Laramie friends a lot - same as I did whilst I was roadtripping)

Sleep Deprivation

2007-05-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am currently testing the theory that doing a masters degree is effectively a two year experiment in sleep deprivation and stress tests - I feel that this theory may have some validity. Currently this week I have had four projects and a presentation due on Tuesday (all done i might add) and another project, a take home quiz and my first thesis committee meeting including a presentation are due tomorrow. I am averaging around 4 or 5 hours sleep a night and just when I think it's all going well something occurs to stop me thinking that and cause added stress.
This wouldn't be so bad if I had managed to keep fooling my immune system that I wasn't doing anything insane, unfortunately it turns out my immune system is too quick for that one to work.
Ah well one more day of stress and hell and then its the summer, with a celebratory weekend planned, to be followed by a week long road trip to explore more of this strange country I have moved to. I also have a lot to look forward too in the long term including a visitation from the parents and then going back to the mother country which will include, I hope, a lot of time spent with a certain English boy I have missed a lot. But right now I can't wait to get out of this stress inducing city and seeing more of the famous places I have heard so much about, getting ill can and will wait till I get back home to Laramie.

Hmm that last part of the sentence was strange in itself, can it be that i have now been here long enough to subconsciously be considering Laramie home? maybe it is a result of the amazing friends i have gained in the last month or two - or maybe i have just given up and become resigned to the fact that this is home till I graduate. I would like to think it is the former - friends should always make you feel at home and welcome where you are, but in this tired state who am I to judge what is going on in my head?