January 2012
54 posts
Goals
Just so I don’t forget …
22:00 5K
50:00 10K
1:50 Half-marathon
3:50 Marathon
I know I won’t get there on the first try … but I have a full year to get there. Here’s to no injuries and fast running in 2012!
And if you wanna check some of my other less serious goals, check them out here at Face the Challenge, my new blog.
December 2011
41 posts
3 tags
FFAL - England Edition
Did you know …
… that in England, place names ending in -caster/-cester/-chester come from Latin castra (‘fort’), reflect the Roman occupation of England.
eg. Winchester
… that cities ending in -by (Old Norse for ‘settlement’), -thorp (Old Norse for ‘village’) and -waite (Old norse for ‘clearing’) reflect the Danish occupation...
1 tag
FFAL #2
fire/Feuer/feu
(English - German - French): related?
Nope. Fire and Feuer ARE related - from Proto-Indo-European *pur for ‘hot’, but the French feu is from Latin word focus, meaning ‘hearth’.
3 tags
1 tag
Fun Fact about Language
I’m hating the way studying is going right now, so whenever I’m distracted, I’m going to post a fun fact from what I’m studying. Because that’s more fun than drowning in my tears at the amount of work I have to do. And it’s not even my last exam.
Gah.
FFAL #1: in a proposed theory of a single ancestor to all the world’s languages (aptly named...
Wherein I DID NOT get drunk ...
… I swear.
We had a holiday concert tonight that was absolutely fantastic.
I can’t really tell you how it feels, but imagine the runner’s high you get at the end of your run except it occurs with every high note you sing. It was magical. We processed with candles and the church was PACKED with people. So it was fab.
I even somehow got the official photographer to take a photo...
4 tags
4 tags
2 tags
I've been here for 6.5 hours.
I am going insane.
I’ve seen the sun come up and shine through the windows.
It has now set (4:30pm, HOLLA).
But I. WILL. CONQUER. THIS. MOTHER-EFFING CLASS.
1 month of lectures = twelve 1-hr lectures = I will fricking finish summarizing them (… and learning the material … since I didn’t go to class …). TODAY.
(9 pages of slides to go. And then I will relocate...
5 tags
2 tags
GPOYCafe
I’m going to start a new trend. Gratuitous Picture of Yourself in a Cafe. #gpoyc
It’ll probably be a trend of 1. Whatevs. Back to study. Attempting to learn 1 month of new material in 6 hours. Go me.
What sucks is that it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside. I feel like I’m wasting my life away studying when I should be out enjoying the sunshine (haha and this is the girl...
I hate it when you feel sad about something ...
… and you have no idea what about.
Seriously, WTF?
TV Show Recommendations
Kay guys, Christmas break is upon us, which means I can turn TV-watching into a full-time gig, meaning … I need new shows to watch!
Here’s what I’m already caught up on (in alphabetical order):
Amazing Race, ANTM, Biggest Loser, Body of Proof, Bones, BNTM, The Borgias, Burn Notice (~half way), Castle, Chuck, Combat Hospital, Covert Affairs, Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives,...
Donezo.
All apps are in. I am now 300$ poorer.
I have given myself the rest of the day (aka the 2.5 hours until rehearsal) off. I can read (haha, as if), eat (probably shouldn’t be that high on the list of things to do … after all, once some school picks me, I have to be able to fit in a plane when they fly me for their meet-and-greet) and watch TV (except that I’ve already watched...
Productivity Update
2 down, 1 to go.
Submitted the two applications due today.
Want to finish the one that’s due December 31st, because honestly, if I don’t do it now, I’ll be stuck doing New Year’s Eve. I doubt I’ll be very coherent by then. I have this thing, where as soon as school ends, my ability to formulate grammatical sentences goes out the window. I’m like a computer...
One down, Two to go
Where am I, peeps?
No need to even say it.
It’s nasty raining outside, but I’ve got a Double Americano in hand and I’m good to go.
I sent off one grad school application this morning … two to go. Now I’m off to tell Columbia why they should let me get a PhD in Computer Science from them … (made more difficult by the fact that computer science assignments...
Home Alone Tonight
That is, I ran, and my roomie is out and WHAT DO I FIND ON THE DVR????
Home Alone.
aka GREATEST HOLIDAY MOVIE OF ALL TIME.
My night is made.
“This is MY house. I have to defend it.”
Oh Macaulay Culkin, how cute you were before you grew up. And ruined your life.
In the commercial breaks, I’m working on recording “White Christmas”. Got the background track down...
And this is what running looks like ...
(Although this is a not an actual running shot).
This is winter people and I’m sweaty as fuck. And just so you don’t think I give myself a medal every time I go out for a stroll (although that would be awesome), this is my belated Age Group 1st place medal for the Oka 10k way back at the beginning of November.
Yay! (Sad thing is, this is exactly the same as all the other medals, so...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
Just got a very exciting call. But I’ve been sworn to confidentiality, blah blah. Still, good news :)
Writing Cover Letters and Personal Statements
Where else, at a cafe.
… I hate it. Don’t let the creepy smile fool you. Also, I apparently have a ridiculously low body core temperature, because I’m ALWAYS cold.
Anyways.
I end up writing these long essay-type things for my cover letters, and then I realize I have to be more concise, but then if I’m really concise about what I’ve done in the past, I’m...
3 tags
Guess who just got into Law School?
That would be this girl right here :)
… albeit it’s not my top choice, and they want my decision at the beginning of January (aka before I hear back from any of my other life-plans-set-in-motion) … but still - I GOT INTO LAW SCHOOL. WHOOOoo!
The things you realize ...
So I spent 2-and-a-half hours with my prof tonight (night before the final) going over stuff with a whole bunch of other people, and OMG. He’s amazing. He’s a genius AND super nice AND stayed extra time to help me. I really wish I’d gone to office hours before … oh, the night before the final, because I think I would’ve done much better in the class. He also seems...
I was wrong. Running did not help me focus.
Instead I feel like a truck hit me in the head.
I don’t know if it’s the cold (it wasn’t even that cold) or what, but I just got a hell of a headache.
Good thing I’m off a cafe. Again.
Extra-large coffee, thankyouverymuch.
Quick Run
Feeling stressed about my exam tomorrow. Thing is, I have tons of time to study (all of today and tomorrow morning), but I’m just not sure what and how it’s going to help.
So I did a quick run:
2.5 miles (same route as Saturday), 21:09 (~8:26 pace)
Love to see myself get faster, but let’s say this one wasn’t as pleasant as the weekend jog. Still, I needed to push myself...
6 tags
WatchSo I used to play piano … here’s the last recording I made, playing Grieg’s Concerto in A minor with my teacher.
I haven’t had the chance to practice much lately, because duh, I can’t afford a piano, and renting a room still comes to around 50$ a month. Add paying a teacher to that, and I’d be broke. But when I go home this Christmas, I might tickle the ivories...
Another Cafe Day
Early morning choir rehearsal and service donezo! We sang a really beautiful piece today - “E’en so Lord Jesus Quickly Come” by Paul Manz, and it sounded magical. Give it a listen - even if you’re not religious or anything, the music is divine (if sung by a good ensemble, such as the one yours truly sings in ;).
And now, I’m back in a cafe, studying … and...
Someone should come and slap me
So the next time I start spouting bullshit about ‘taking a break’ and ‘resting from running’, someone should come up in here and slap me silly.
It’s all LIES.
I finally dragged my sorry ass out for a run this morning because: A) it was sunny, B) it’s Saturday and let’s be honest, I have the time and C) I’m all out of ‘injury-related’...
Friday Night Funs
So, what do I do friday nights?
Haha, wild times.
Well, my friend and I, in celebration of our lives being crap, decided to make sugar cookies. Look for our new cooking channel on youtube shortly … it’s gonna be a doozy.
Ooops, someone left me with the red icing. I guess this is a reflection of how life is getting me down … I take it out on the poor sugar cookies.
And...
Your Daily Dose of Cafe
Guess where I am?
That’s right. I’m at another cafe. Just handed in my essay, turns out I aced my two exams on Monday-Tuesday, so I’m pleased; and now, to start on the assignment due tomorrow. I plan on doing the bulk of it tomorrow because it requires Matlab, which is only available on the school computers (because let’s face it, I don’t want to buy my own copy),...
I feel like
I should be writing the Official Guide to Cafes, what with the inordinate amount of time I spend in them.
So for all you Canadians out there:
Second Cup:
Pros: It’s well lit (important if you’re doing work); generally spacious and there’s lots of counter space. If you get the flavoured lattes, it’s like sugary heaven in a cup. It’s also my fave place. So lots of...
So apparently I’m aces at getting injured while sitting around on my ass all day. Remember how I wrote about my shins hurting even though I wasn’t running? Well, that’s mostly gone away. Now though, I’ve somehow managed to tweak something in my knee when I was sitting down for dinner and it’s gotten worse.
I mean seriously. There’s people out there getting...
Addicted to Pinterest
Pin ALL THE THINGS!
Very few things are worse than realizing you have an assignment due ….today … that you did not do … same days as your midterm…that you have studied dor but still do not understand anything … and you lose your lipgloss. Mondays officially suck. Thank god i have until 8pm for this assignment …
Source: imgur.com via Ned on Pinterest
A-Conferencing We Go
So Saturday, I presented at an academic conference.
Don’t I look pumped? And happy? That’s because this is AFTER my presentation … and 3 cups of free coffee (I can’t resist … I mean it’s there, AND it’s FREE).
I spent half the time kind of interested and half the time completely dozed off. I mean, I don’t really care about the semantic...
And now I'm stuck.
One of those situations where the person who’s giving you a ride (and whose cell number you DO NOT have) tells you to come to her house …
… and then forgets to give you the apartment number.
So I went. And now I’m back. Hoping she’ll reply to a facebook message. Now that’s a long shot.
No idea what to do. She doesn’t know my address, so my choices are:...
We're off to see ...
… the academic conference.
I have NO idea what to wear.
It’s -8C there.
I have NO idea what to wear.
I’m leaving in 30 minutes.
I have NO idea what to wear.
Oh, and I guess I should rehearse my presentation.
#OccupyCoffeeShop Part Deux
So I finished up at the first coffee shop, then went to class, and now I’m back for more.
Different coffee shop of course - gotta mix it up to be productive, amirite?
Also, I might be the biggest contributor to the food industry around finals. Coffee shops are hella expensive, so you end up spending 10$ a pop … guess that puts me at 20$ for the day …
In other news, this is...
New Way to Get Injured
I fear that I have stumbled upon a new way to get injured. Forget your running-in-bad-shoes, or too-much-too-fast, or what have you. I have found a new habit that will keep you from running:
Sitting on your ass.
Yes, that’s right. After sitting on my ass and watching approximately 20 hours of television the last couple of days, my previously-stress-fractured-but-should-be-now-healed leg...
#OccupyCoffeeShop
It’s finals time for students around here, meaning that the #OccupyCoffeeShop movement is in full swing. And by full swing, I mean you can’t even swing a purse, book, or that secret bottle of vodka you sneak for those extra depressing study sessions without hitting a student who’s hitting the books.
It’s a war over outlets and chairs and tables. Or corners of tables. At...