Saturday Six

Six great things about this week:
1. My parents were visiting!
2. That meant a road-trip to the island!
3. It was sunny two days in a row
4. I got smoked salmon in the mail. om nom nom.
5. I finished the book I was reading, read two more, and started a new one.
6. Friends, family, food, wine.

Six things I am looking forward to for next week:
1. Meetings about my thesis! Hoping to get my hands on data.
2. Starting to write my thesis. It's going to be a process, and the sooner I start the better. I think.
3. A friend defends her thesis on Friday. That means party time.
4. My current room mate moves out, I get a new one!
5. I washed and re-waterproofed my rain coat. Hopefully there has been an improvement!
6. Volunteering with Let's Talk Science

"fall"

the rain is back.

Taking Stock {1}

One blog I follow posted her own version of this early this morning, and I thought it might be a good way to get ready to head in to fall.

Making: Progress. Kind of.
Cooking: Chicken noodle soup. Just add water variety.
Drinking: Lemon ginger tea
Reading: The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared (first book on my kobo!)
Wanting: To not have this cold, summer to go on for ever, and to travel.
Looking: Forward.
(quit) Playing: games with my heart
Wasting: Time in bed watching One Tree Hill
Sewing: Dreams
Wishing: For all my room mate troubles to go away
Enjoying: The last days of summer before the rain comes
Waiting: For Saturday! parents come to visit
Liking: Wool socks on cold basement floors
Wondering: What speed dating will be like.
Loving: This collection of Disney princesses wearing their boys' clothes
Hoping: To find answers to the questions
Marvelling: At how lucky I am
Needing: A hug
Smelling: Nothing. Sinus infections suck.
Wearing: Bare feet and Birkenstocks.
Following: My dreams
Noticing: How quickly the weather is turning from summer to fall
Knowing: That everything will work out in the end.
Thinking: About life, my thesis, and adventures
Feeling: Under the weather
Bookmarking: Slow cooker recipes
Opening: Doors and opportunities
Giggling: Over wine and chick flicks. or I will be tomorrow at least.

BirkenLove

I saw this article in Vogue a few weeks (months?) back and kind of took issue with it. On the one hand, it was great to see Birkenstocks (and sandals with actual support in general) being touted as something more than uniform for folk-festival-attending-hippie-dippy types. On the other hand, it was horrible to see them being touted as a "high fashion" choice - but only in fancy prints and certain styles. The article was then brought back to my attention when a blog I follow "caved" and bought her first pair - and seemed seriously conflicted about it.

I've been wearing Birkenstocks since Grade 12. It took me (at least) 12 months to find the perfect pair.

They had three straps (Florida is the style, if you were wondering) and came in a fantastic orange pattern. They also happened to be on sale for $66 at the end of the season, and to this day (7 years later) I've only ever seen one other person wearing Birks of the same pattern. They are one of a kind, have been completely resoled, and I had a strap fixed too. I will do everything I can to wear these babies forever.

I also own two pairs of two-strap (classic Arizona style) and a pair of clogs (I'm a four-season Birk-wearing girl), and am constantly lusting after some new pair or another. I have a problem.

And so, to see Birkenstocks coming to light as the "it" footwear of the moment by a group other than high school seniors, college kids, "hipsters" (defined however you should choose) and all around casual people...kind of hit me somewhere.

Birkenstocks are, to me, more about a lifestyle than a fashion choice. I wear them because I a- need the support, and b- think they are easy and go with everything in most situations. I feel like they should be an easy choice - not something stressed over and debated. You should love your Birks. Love your Birks and they will love you. Birkenstocks should not be about finding a pair in cool patterns, with some glitz and sparkle. Find the pair that fits your foot, fits your style, and fits your day-to-day life.

As a friend said to me recently "I'm just not laid-back enough to pull them off, so I stick with my flip flops." They don't work for her, and she doesn't push it. To me, that's what it should be all about.

Insomnia

I wrote this last night, while suffering from an extreme bout of insomnia. I figured it would be safer to give it a re-read in the morning instead of posting right away.

It is now 2:30am.
My brain will not stop running, and despite the physical exhaustion that brought me to bed 5 hours ago, I am still awake.
What plagues me this evening? Many things. I give you a list, the first of many, I'm sure.

1. Wishing and hoping about things I can't change, that are out of my control, and from days gone by. Lost causes are best thought about late at night, right?
2. Why can't I sleep? (The ever popular question of the insomniac)
3. I wonder how my meeting is going to go tomorrow? (It's at 11)
4. I guess I can have a coffee in the morning, but that doesn't bode well around 3 in the afternoon, and that's when I'm in class tomorrow.
5. Oooh...what do I want to wear tomorrow? Gotta keep up a good impression for class.
6. Ugh. TAing.
7. I guess I can watch another episode of The Big Bang Theory?
8. Mmmm...they're eating Chinese...what am I going to have for dinner tomorrow? What about lunch?
9. Is it tomorrow yet? Oh wait, it's 2:30am. That is, by definition, tomorrow.
10. If I go to sleep now, I get 5 hours of sleep.
11. Or I could push my alarm back 30 minutes...that would be good.
12. I wonder if there will be a lot of people in The Den tomorrow, I could take a nap.

What is it about Sunday nights that bring such strong insomnia?

Small Goals for September

With a new school year comes new challenges, new adventures, and new accomplishments. In honour of the new month, season, and school year, I've decided to come up with a few small things I'd like to get done this month:

1. Read a book (for fun) a week - I already finished one, so here's to three more!
2. Run 5k
3. Do 5 full push-ups
4. Start statistical analysis of my thesis
5. Create an outline for my thesis and start filling in major points

Writing and Thinking

I started my new courses last week. One of them (stats!) will be great, the other one I am dropping.

I initially registered in the second (qualitative research methods - I know) because it lined up with my thesis project, which initially comprised only of interviews. However in the last two weeks I have completely overhauled my project, and it now only deals with statistics. Having never really done qualitative research, I decided it would make sense for me to at least audit the second course, so that I could benefit from the readings and the discussion. The course even sounded amazing in the first class. But the professor doesn't let people audit her courses, so that's that. I have one more week before I have to drop it, so I will attend that class and get all I can out of it, but for now I only have one beautiful thought to share from that class:

Writing is a way of improving our thinking. 

This was really the push to start this blog. I constantly attempt to keep a journal, but only succeed for a few weeks before I forget and my writing drops off. As I move into the big fat scary writing phase of my Masters degree, hopefully this space will allow me to keep a slightly organized journal of my ideas, if not my personal life, and will lead to keeping a better personal journal offline. I'm currently hesitant to wedge this blog into any "genre" of blog since I don't know where the content will go, or what I will find a passion in. Maybe we'll figure it out on the way, and maybe it will just remain a conglomerate of my own thoughts (and hopefully some of yours!) as I move through this year of my life.

As I have learned in life, some of the best things happen with no planning, but you have to start somewhere.

Begin at the beginning...

...and go on til you come to the end, then stop.
~ The Red King
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Welcome to the blog!
I am A, but you can call me Al.