Leave of absence

I've been mulling it over for some time, but after today's committee meeting (which went very well), I've reached a decision: I'm going on an indefinite hiatus.

We've decided that submitting my thesis in February is not a realistic option, so there is less pressure for me to write until my hands fall off and have a first draft completed by the end of the year (one month? when my data analysis is barely off the ground? Um... no.). That being said, I really need to focus, more than ever, on setting realistic goals and actually accomplishing them. I now want to have my first draft completed by the time I leave for the Olympics, on February 9th.

As I made pretty clear 2 posts ago, I am way too distracted and I need to start cutting back on the stuff that is draining my time. I already spend far too much time on my computer, so I need to cut back on my internet activities. It's taken a toll on my exercising time - enough for me to notice that what was once flat and relatively firm is now soft and... not so flat.

So I am taking a break from blogging and much of the blogging world. I am cutting down on my facebook time - meaning that I'm closing down my farm for the winter and reducing my organized crime activities (can't leave, they'll kill me, I know too much).

However, I know that I mean a lot to all 10? of you that visit on a somewhat regular basis, so if you want to see what I am up to, you can follow me on twitter (@x_ine). Yeah, I thought the concept of twitter was really stupid at first, but I've come to enjoy it. I mean, I found out that Latendresse was traded through twitter before mon chum did! And writing 140 characters at a time = efficiency and I am all about the efficiency these days.

So good-bye for now, and in the words of the immortal Terminator - I'll be back.

peace, love, happy holidays, keep on truckin'

-x-ine

CFL Playoffs

Sunday playoff games featuring the Als make me happy.

Sunday playoff games with the Als decimating their opponent make me very happy.

Reminiscing on the fact that a Sunday playoff game helped bring my family back together again, this time last year, with the Als coming from behind to defeat the Eskimos ... means more to me than words can describe.

Today's game has been nothing short of remarkable, with noise levels reaching over 100 dB at field level - the sound of a Boeing 707 taking off.

Keep it up, boys, we want to see you in the Grey Cup!! (45-18) -- "Win the day." (a fitting slogan)

UPDATE: Als win the day! Going to the Grey Cup, bitches! 56-18 ownage of the BC Lions. Bring it, West Division!

Trying to stay focused

My pal ladylaptop had a great post the other today about secret shame. There isn't too much that I am ashamed of that I keep a secret - I'm pretty much an open book about certain things - especially about my biggest shame: I waste my time - a lot.

On what?

In no particular order:

- wayyy too much TV (One Tree Hill? Desperate Housewives? Gossip Girl? America's Next Top Model? And that's just the tip of the iceberg ... God I'm embarrassing myself, aren't I?)

- Facebook (ahem ...FarmVille, Mafia Wars (I blame mon chum for that one)...)

- Twitter (though reading 140 characters at a time is not so time consuming)...

- Google Reader ... with at least 50 blogs (but they are so interesting and fun to read ... and oh so distracting)

And then there is the stuff of everyday life (exercising, cooking, commuting) - in addition to fun, money-spending endeavours such as:

- shopping (yay Ikea and $1 breakfast ... where I FORCED myself to eat the scrambled eggs and actually enjoyed it a little)

- travelling (I can provide a bullet-point list of all the wonderful places I've been this year ... and still to come: almost one month in Vancouver for the Olympics!!)

- going out for brunch/lunch/supper with friends or family (hi, cousins in Ottawa! And, yes, we loved playing Rock Band with you ... thanks for the fb video!)

The getting-involved-with stuff because there are finally interesting things for me to get involved in:

- workshops (they usually involve free stuff and a chance to learn things)

- PGSS (better late than never, right?)

- the Aboriginal Health Interest Research Group @ McGill

- Public Health and Nutrition meetings

... and much more...

And then there is the not-so-fun, but essential for maintaining my lifestyle stuff:

- TAing (would you believe that the same student I complained about the other week emailed me THREE TIMES claiming to not understand the latest assignment ... then, privately emailed my supervisor asking the same thing ... only to receive a major smackdown from him? Loved that. The student ... not so much).

- invigilating - a necessary evil. The pay is shit, but the extra cash in my pocket is well-spent (see previous paragraph)

- looking for a job (!!!)

- finishing my thesis

Now you may be wondering, why is she listing her thesis last if she is planning to submit in February? (And, yeah, I know, what is the point of looking for a job if finishing my thesis is at the bottom of the list? Keep reading.)

And, that, my friends, is exactly the problem. All the other things seem to be more important than the most important thing right now - finishing the damn thesis. I am having an insanely hard time trying to focus on this most important thing because EVERYTHING else seems infinitely more interesting or exciting than THAT. I even prefer blogging about my inability to focus than actually being focused. And looking back at those big ugly lists ... I am well aware of the fact that 95% of it is shit that I can really do without at this point in time.

I really need to learn to manage my time better... but my motivation seems to have all but disappeared...

I need a HUGE kick in the ass... any takers?

This is what we'd call an EPIC FAIL.

We Will Remember Them...

Lest We Forget.

--

A few hours after the fact, but I was paying my respects and remembering at McGill today - where the 21 gun salute rattled the windows, shook the ground, and set off car alarms.

And to the man who decided that whispering into his cell phone during the 2 minutes of silence was more important than observing said 2 minutes of silence: you are a disgrace. What the fuck was SO IMPORTANT that you could not stay quiet for TWO MINUTES out of your entire day to pay homage to those who fought, and continue to fight, in the name of our country. Nothing, that's what. Next time, do us all a favour, and stay home.

I hope that you all took the time to recognize the sacrifices that have been made so that we can all continue to live free. In the grand scheme of things, there is nothing more important than that.

...

Thanks to the following blogs for recognizing today:

http://www.midnightpoutine.ca/news/2009/11/november_11th_is_remembrance_day/

http://mrscomethunter.blogspot.com/2009/11/lest-we-forget.html

http://habsinsideout.com/main/23894 (Mike Cammalleri)

http://habsinsideout.com/main/24006 (Carey Price)

http://fourhabsfans.blogspot.com/2009/11/morning-skate-remembers-for-november.html

http://2postdocswalkintoabar.blogspot.com/2009/11/lest-we-forget.html

Potholes as Art

Mon chum sent me a link to a really cool website.

http://www.mypotholes.com/

For those of you familiar with the lovely streets of Montreal, you know that there are often times where you fear for your life because you are sure that your entire vehicle will be swallowed up by the MASSIVE pothole directly in front of you.

Anyway, Claudia Ficca and Davide Luciano have decided to make art out of these lovely gaping holes.

Enjoy!

p.s. I am FOR REALS working on a post about sodium. Stay tuned ... by the end of the week, I'll have some interesting stuff to say.

Animal Farm Analogies

Not much of interest to report on here ... besides some personal stuff that is not in the best interests of this blog. Also, I just managed to eat a massive piece of cake, kri-kri peanuts, cold cuts (no bread) and peanut butter crackers within a span of 45 minutes. I now feel disgusting. A very healthy lunch. This is why I need to eat regular meals.

But I digress. Until I come up with some good blog fodder, here is a very interesting look at hockey agents and how they have come to be is eerily similar to George Orwell's Animal Farm.

Shamefully, for me, I have never read a George Orwell novel. For some reason, my advanced English curriculum throughout high school did not feel his books were relevant? I need to get him on my (long) reading list.

Enjoy!

<3 for Montreal

Alanah @ Spacing Montreal talks about why she still loves our fair city, despite la scandale (rather, les scandales), the Mafia, and collapsing infrastructure.

Her first Coup de coeur includes a great video from United Steelworkers of Montreal.

I'll be following to see what she posts next; if you love my hometown as much as I do, get yourself over there, stat!

Soup season

Lady of the laptop, you have inspired me to write a little something-something about cooking.

The cooler weather means a couple things that I don't mind:

1- wearing my sweet, sweet soft mahogany leather jacket (one of my 25th birthday splurges in '08)

2- cute scarves

3- bringing back turtlenecks (to show my solidarity with my love, Tomas Plekanec)

and, now that I have to transition to fleece, tuques, and mittens ... making soup.

In fact, the other night, I made a soup that even mon bon chum enjoyed (and he can be picky). Here's how my glorious cream of leek (!!!) soup went down - all this done pretty much off the top of my head, based on my momma's best-ever incredible cream of carrot soup:

2 cloves garlic, mashed

2 shallots, diced

Add these to a saucepan with some olive oil, cook over medium heat for a few minutes (until fragrant)

Then, add:

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 leeks, chopped

6 cups vegetable broth

2 medium potatoes (I like boiling potatoes), cut into quarters

Bring to a boil, then let simmer until your vegetables are tender (I did 25 minutes or so)

Add, to your discretion:

salt, pepper, whatever herbs tickle your fancy (I chose thyme)

Puree with hand-held blender in the pot (I do not recommend a regular blender, my pal in Mistissini had an unfortunate encounter when she tried to blend a hot soup in one).

Serve and enjoy! (Note: tastes better when it sits for a bit, so I recommend making it in advance).

Being a TA

In order to make some more cash to finance my (kinda expensive) lifestyle, I decided to TA my supervisor's class this semester. Granted, it doesn't pay as well as last year's fun times at the molecular bio lab, but I actually know this shit (i.e., I don't have to frantically wikipedia concepts I had long since forgotten/erased from my memory once I was granted my BSc in Biochemistry).

However, there are still plenty of kids who are, well ... how can I put this delicately? ... just ... not that smart. Rather, it's not so much a question of intelligence as opposed to being able to THINK ON YOUR OWN. There comes a point in your life where people are supposed to stop mollycoddling you and allow you to become a free thinker. It was my understanding that this was the point of university. Yet, here we are. This class is a 500 level ... meaning the students are not noobs. They are typically U3 students (in their last year) or graduate students. And still, I get emails from some of them because they don't understand how to do an assignment with explicit instructions, which is to address the issue presenting by answering 2 questions in 750 words, based on a set list of readings.

Example, on the day that paper is due:

I am emailing you to urgently ask for your help as to I do not understand what to do for the assignment, could you please explain to me in detail what (professor) wants.... (um, no, I could not. Read the instructions). I am wondering if we have to find anymore (readings) because the directions (professor) gave us on the assignment sheet are very confusing (it clearly says BASED ON READINGS X TO Y). Can you please give me some insight as to what to do for the assignment as to I am very confused as to what to do for it. (Sure: LEARN TO READ.)

Am I being too much of an asshole about this? I mean, this person speaks and understands the English language, there is no language barrier, and even came to SEE me about the assignment a few days prior to this email.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make here, not to sound too elitist or anything, but I am starting to feel that they are letting just anybody into university. Newsflash: university (aka higher education) is a privelege privilege (thanks for spotting the typo, @NailaJ! *hanging head in shame*) that (most of us) pay for, NOT a right. Basic education, most definitely. But beyond that, you should truly merit it. And that starts by taking matters into your own hands and learning to figure things out on your own.

Ok, now that I am done expressing my feelings on that ... time to finish correcting said papers as they are due to be returned tomorrow morning.

On being one year older

365 days ago, I published my 100th post, on my 25th birthday.

And here we are, one year later ... and I am now, officially, on the downward slope to 30. As one of my friends put it, 30 is the new 20. I like the sound of that. I also like to say that I'm only as old as I feel ... which would put me somewhere around ... well, less than 26.

My age truly is just a number. I don't feel any older today. I don't feel any more responsible. I'm still in school, still have student loans, and still living (a tad) beyond my means. I haven't settled down (in an official capacity) and I still like to party hard.

The only differences? A few more grey hairs, more permanent laugh lines, and the fact that I will now be teased more than ever for hitting "old age" (i.e., > 25).

Happy birthday to me.