feeling lazy

it is a bit weird that I always feel particularly lazy on days when students might come by to see me... must be a sign. Maybe I am allergic to them. Actually they are not so bad overall, just the odd one who is making some trouble, but that's really it. I am just glad I am not having to deal with anything worse, and it has been fun during this year anyway. I think I will sign up for it again next year... the little extra money is quite nice! Better get in gear now or I'll be late for my own office hour... we don't want that!

half term

it was so busy in town! I tried to get a seat in Starbucks, but no luck at all. And then it also started raining again. It had brightened up quite a bit, but that just shows, never be optimistic about the weather in the country. You'll just end up getting disappointed in the end. Well, I am getting hungry so I think I will start making my dinner. I got some Indian food from Sainsburys and I am really looking forward to that.

I am not having the most productive day today. I would have liked to stay at home and work from there, but they are doing room inspections today, so that would have been a bit disruptive. So I came to the office and did a bit of work. Not really being productive. Maybe lunch and a Starbucks would be good... is it quarter to 2 so maybe that would be ok, not so busy anymore and I could do a bit more work.

Photos!

Here are some photos from the trip yesterday!

Das bin ich mit Oddicombe Beach im Hintergrund


Neil und ich. Warum musste es auch so windig sein, ich seh immer so doof aus wenn der Wind mir so durch die Haare weht.

Neil, seine Mama und sein Papa


Die Bäume auf diesem Bild sehen aus wie am Mittelmeer, sind aber auf 'ner Klippe in der Nähe von Torquay. Wirklich schön.

Hier bin ich nochmal, diesmal sehe ich nicht ganz so doof aus...

Bankholiday Monday

had a lovely day today. Started out with the thought of going to Haldon Forest but then took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up near Newton Abbot which was where Neil's mum and dad were headed for the day. So we gave them a ring and then met up with them and spent a few hours driving around the Torbay area. It was a lovely day out... I am trying to upload some photos but for some reason it is taking very very long. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

just watched The Best of Top Gear and it is just so funny. I wonder who has to ideas of all the crazy things they do. Today they showed the Supercar Challenge they did a while ago. They all bought supercars for under £10,000 and then had to drive from Bristol to a stripclub in Slough. Neither of them actually made it in the end, as their cheap supercars were rubbish hehe, it was so much fun to watch again. Now I am watching something called "Bring Back Dallas". I am not sure what the point of it is... but it is slightly amusing. I guess this is what I need after day of being bored so much that I even ended up doing work! I still can't believe myself, I have never done work on a Sunday when I didn't need to. ok... back to TV watching now.

Sunday and rain

just getting up, even though I have been awake for about an hour. I like lazing around in bed on weekends, well actually I like that all the time, but never allow myself to do it during the week... It's a bank holiday weekend here, and the weather is rubbish. just grey and raining. Oh well, nothing can be done about it really. Last bank holiday was the same... I am meeting a friend later for coffee and that's pretty much all that I have planned for this weekend. Neil and I were thinking of going somewhere tomorrow, but doesn't look like that will happen. Ah well...


later...

my friend had to cancel meeting up for coffee, so I am pretty bored now... watching Friends on DVD and thinking about what to do. I even did a bit of work...

time for a change

I thought it was time to give my blog a new look... so here it is! Not much been going on today. Gave my room a good clean to be ready for the room inspection on Wednesday and just because I felt like it needed it as well. Went into town for a little while as well, but it was just way too busy so I didn't stay very long. Now I have just been sitting here fiddling with the blog and listening to Rigor Mortis and the Mark Steel Lecture on the listen again on the BBC Radio player.

TGIF

gosh this past week has not been the greatest university wise. Well actually it was fine, but I just don't feel that motivated to get things done when I don't know what's happening in a few months time. Anyway... tonight was a really nice evening. I met Neil after work and we went for dinner at Strada, one of the new restaurants in town. Very yummy food! Afterwards we wandered around Rougemont Gardens for a while enjoying the weather and waiting until it was time to meet up with some friends. Had a very nice evening of hanging out and playing poker... I was only £1.25 down, even though I had 4 queens at one point. That was my first 4 of a kind playing poker ever!


later... what a disappointment... Neil just said they didn't actually bake the whole car for the advert in my previous post... and I thought it was such a neat idea.... how easily am I fooled???

car cake? cake car?

just heard about this on the radio news



incredible, some people really have too much time on their hands, and too much money to waste for that matter...

Monday again already

i can't believe it is Monday already again. This past weekend just went by way too fast. I probably should have been doing some work, but didn't do any at all. Weekends are for relaxing! That's how I try to convince myself ;) Didn't do very much else yesterday. Watched a bit of DVD and wandered around town for a while in the afternoon. it was quite nice, not too crowded. Maybe I should just go shopping more often on a Sunday rather than a Saturday as the latter are always really crowded, even now when it isn't close to Christmas at all. Ah well... doesn't really matter at all. I should really get a move on now. Students might come by and collect their essays and other assignments I have and i should get some work done considering that I am meeting with Brian again tomorrow and have not done a thing since I last saw him.

After the Wedding

We went to see "after the wedding" at the cinema last night. Excellent film... here is that the picturehouse website has to say about it:

Continuing in the spirit of Bier’s recent films OPEN HEARTS and BROTHERS, AFTER THE WEDDING is a sensitively rendered film about emotional honesty and difficult choices. Jacob (Mikkelsen) runs a struggling orphanage in India. He is presented with a large cash donation on certain conditions, the first being that he returns to Copenhagen to meet his mystery benefactor Jørgen (Rolf Lassgård). Jørgen then engineers Jacob's attendance at his daughter's wedding and this event presents Jacob with a troubling revelation, which raises a series of heartbreaking dilemmas for all involved. Bier's sure directorial hand, balance and economy, coupled with a first-rate script and finely nuanced performances ensure that AFTER THE WEDDING speaks directly to one's emotions without overwhelming them.

We really enjoyed it a lot. It was very different from what I expected from the trailers, but still it was very good. All about family relationships and things like that. Very recommendable... just be warned it is subtitled

Saturday

today had been a fairly nice Saturday. I got up not too early for a Saturday and had some food while watching an episode of a TV show called "Las Vegas". It has been on the tv in the US for several seasons already, but I only now found it on Lovefilm. It is quite good, set in Las Vegas in a fictional casino, and all about the workings of the casino. So far it has been quite good...
For lunch time I went into town to meet a friend at Wagamama, which was very yummy as always. And cheap as well this time, between us we had to pay £12, which can't be right I am thinking, but oh well. After that I wandered around town for a bit before lunch, went into Monsoon to try on a few things that might be good to get for the upcoming weddings that we are invited to. But still haven't found anything that I really liked. Maybe it is just this years fashion... Anyway now I am home for a bit, but almost on my way out again. We are going to see "After The Wedding" at the Picturehouse tonight. The trailers looked very good, and I hope it ends up being as good. this will be film 18 of this year... when it is only week 20 of the year... it is weird, it doesn't even feel like we have been to the cinema that much this year.

Anyway I better be off

looks like the sun is coming out again today. Makes me feel a lot less moody in the mornings, but I still wasn't ready to get up when my alarm went off a little while ago. Better have a shower though, I need to be at uni for an appointment at 10 and then another one at 11:30...

later in the afternoon:
I spoke too soon this morning! Now it is grey and the rain is back. ah well...

the sun is back

it is unbelievable almost but the sun has actually decided to come back to Devon. this morning it was all grey and sad looking and now it is quite nice outside. it has even gotten warm again and the sky is all blue...

and I took this really nice photo of the cathedral when I went to visit Neil at the shop. It was really good timing, his took his break, so we went to sit outside the cathedral for a bit watching the German tourists walking around. Somehow they really looked German too...

not that much has happened since I last wrote something. Tuesday evening we met with some psychology people to celebrate a friend's birthday at ASK. As always the food was lovely and we had a nice evening all together. Yesterday was a bit of a write off day for me. I got to the office not too early because I had to have an eye test (eyes are fine and I don't have to spend any money I don't have on a new pair of glasses at the moment!) and then almost instantly developed a headache, which still hasn't gone away completely now. Might be a combination between the weather and it being a bad time of the month :( Ah well, now I have just got up and having my breakfast, tea and an apple. Outside it is grey and wet again, and I am not really all that motivated to go out there. But today I have to get to uni at a reasonable hour, office hours are set up so my tutees can come an see me if they wish to do so. Plus my supervisor wants to see some results by tomorrow. I think he is finally realising that he actually is leaving in a month and a half and that we haven't really moved my research that much forward ever since I handed in my upgrade document on the 2nd of February... still not meeting set and I don't really expect to hear back for another while now. It is annoying me a little bit, but I am also getting close to not caring as much anymore. They are all saying that I shouldn't worry and that I surely will be told it is all ok... so I think I should just adopt that attitude myself... it's at least worth a try...

ok I need to finish my breakfast now and then get ready for my day while listening to Classic Gold on the DAB... I guess at 29 I shouldn't really say this too loud, but I just like their music ;)

Hope you have a good day :)

weekend catch up

this weekend has just disappeared way too quickly... not sure what happened. But it might be the fact that the last weekend was a day longer which i really enjoyed. This weekend started quite nice with meeting up at a pub with some travelling 'friends' of Neil's. We had a nice evening there.
Then Saturday I went into town in the morning for a bit to get some drinks and nibbles for the evening and to try on dresses. Talked to my mom on the phone for a while and then went out in the evening to meet up with friends to watch the Eurovision song contest. It was great fun to watch. Some of the acts didn't take it very seriously while others took it very seriously. My text vote had to go to Germany, but otherwise I would have voted for the Latvian entry.
Today I woke up and then instantly wanted to go back to sleep with the grey weather outside. I played DS a little and then got up and had a cup of tea and some food. Then waited for Neil to come and pick me up, then we went to his mum and dad's for lunch and to watch the F1 Grand Prix. The food was really nice, the GP a bit boring, but at least stuff was happening. Lots of cars dropped out of the race due to several different engine failures, and one car even caught on fire briefly after refueling. When I got back home I did a bit of work on my paper and then watched some tv... the best of Top Gear is always fun!
And that was already it... I guess I did do quite a bit...oh I forgot to mention... I managed to already disgruntle my first SIM created in my new DS game... never give them your name!!!

Eurovision

just got home from watching the Eurovision Song Contest with friends. It was a lot of fun watching all those entries from all over Europe competing with each other. It just is an experience. I am off to bed now though... might write a bit more about it tomorrow

Shop Girl

Just finished watching Shop Girl on DVD... not sure why I even put it on my list, but it was all right I guess. A love story with Steve Martin, Claire Danes and Jason Schwarzman, all a bit flat, but quite sweet at the same time. Apparently based on a novel by Steve Martin as well, so I guess he had good reason to be in it. Claire Danes' character was interesting, a tiny little bit like the female lead in Venus, but then again not quite es desperate to be loved. I guess you will have to watch it yourself to decide whether you like it... I guess I'd recommend it for a quiet evening in ;)

Day's been grey again with lots of rain during the day. I didn't get that much work done, but at least heard back from my supervisor. We are meeting tomorrow, so we will see he has to say then. I just want to know if they accept my upgrade and let me register as PhD, and also who will help me finish this PhD... I just really am starting to feel like I need to get away from the academic setting. Sometimes I think that I would quite like to teach undergraduate students, but then I also think that I don't want to have to deal with all this politics that come with that. University departments are quite bad I think, from what I have seen in this country at least. In the US I wasn't so aware of what went on, but there in general lecturers seemed happier than they are here. Here is seems to be all about competition for the best research and who can bring the most cash into the university, while in my experience in the US it was more about teaching students. So maybe I should think about alternative job opportunities outside of academia, or try and go into the student support sector. I have a lot of experience at being a student and also at being an international student, so I think at least on that front I have a lot to offer. Or I can always consider getting into marketing, since that would be semi related to my thesis topic. Neil keeps saying I should write a book... but I don't really know what about... I could write about what it is like to be a PhD student... or I could turn my thesis into a book. Might consider that as my supervisor keeps saying my writing is too chatty, should be good enough for a pop psychology book about shopping then!

I think that's enough rambling for a day!

another grey morning here... not so sure what my day today will bring. I was supposed to have a supervision meeting at 10 am but I asked if we can move that to tomorrow later in the morning, I have just not got as much work done as i should have, and then also meet a student, but now he has emailed me as well that he can't meet. Oh well, at least that gives me some peace and quiet to get a little more work done on that paper and to mentally prepare for the meeting tomorrow. I sent Brian an email the other day that I am having a bit of a drop in motivation lately... waiting over three months for some feedback on my upgrade and also not knowing who my new supervisor will be when Brian leave at the end of June. It is a bit scary with all the rumors that keep going around the department at the moment. Ah well, I guess I should try and be positive, they won't leave me without a supervisor... I think it is time for a cup of tea now and then I should get ready to get going.

Venus

went to see Venus last night. it was a nice little film with a lot of characters who were confused and acted in certain ways for the wrong reasons and then felt sorry for what they'd done. But it was a good start to the film... hardly ever have I laughed that much in an opening scene of a film... Better get a move on and get ready for my day now.

such a nice long weekend

and now I have to get back to work... Well I have already 'wasted' 15 minutes now on the computer since I got up. I am so addicted to the internet. anyway, I really don't want to go back to the office today. But I really need get some work done, Brian wants to see some results. I need to come up with a study idea that actually works, and which is also scientific enough with many complicated questions, otherwise it isn't good enough for the PhD. It makes me feel more and more like I chose the wrong department. The conference I went to last summer made me think that I can do what I have been and it will be ok, as most people there did qualitative research. But then Brian keeps saying that I chose a psychology department for the PhD so I need to use better psychological theory. But why, when all these qualitative papers do get published in all the big journals. Who knows, maybe I just need to be better at networking. So keep your fingers crossed for the conference in October. I should hear from them in the next couple of months... I would love to go, even if it is just a trip to the US. Ok I better go have a shower now almost 8 am...

Bank Holiday Monday

not really been up to much today. Woke up early-ish but stayed in bed for a while reading the Saturday paper... and then finally got up and made myself a cup of tea. Pottered around a bit... and then finally had a shower around 11 and then made myself some lunch. The Neil and I went out for a bit to have a look for a microphone so he could record some stuff for an upcoming radio show he will be doing. Then came home and got three loads of washing done and now I am watching some old episodes of Ally McBeal. I really like Robert Downey's character... he is so handsome some might even say sexy as Larry Paul... I remember how sad I was when he left the show. I really wanted him and Ally to end up together... he is a way better actor that Jon Bon Jovi, even though I used to really like him as well... I know I am admitting to really embarrassing things here ;)

Great West Run

went into town this morning to cheer on Neil who was running the Great West Run, which is a half marathon that takes place here in Exeter every year on the Sunday before the May bank holiday. Neil finished it in 2 hours and 7 minutes, which I think is quite impressive, considering that I would never ever be able to do that. I have always hated long distance running. There were a couple more people who did it as well from the psychology department so I cheered them on as well. After that I had a cup of tea and some food with a friend of mine at Starbucks and then came home. Not much else going on this Sunday... I am glad though that I have tomorrow off as well... might go somewhere if Neil feels up for it

PS: Our friend Sarah took a really good picture of Neil running...

BBQ and Mission Impossible for 1p

went to see some friends and had a bbq with them enjoying the sunshine, although there wasn't quite as much sunshine as there has been over the past few weeks. Still it was warm enough to sit outside while we were eating which was good. After that we were going to see a film, but couldn't decide forever which one to actually see. Then someone decided to have a look at the Virgin film on demand list on the cable tv and we found that Mission Impossible 3 was on for only 1p, so we decided for that. It was fun enough to watch, but way too predictable for me. I had completely forgotten that Kerry Russell has her big movie breakthrough in this film, but I still see her as Felicity. I used to really like that tv show when I was in college, got together with friends in their rooms and just veg out in front of the tv every thursday evening or whenever it was on to watch the newest installment of that show. I guess it was so good to watch because we were in a similar situation, being away in university and trying to make new friend, with the only exception that none of us decided on a particular university based solely on what some boy had written in our yearbook...

took this picture this morning on campus... Very nice sight I thought

The Queen

just got home from seeing the film The Queen. I thought it was quite a good film, but then again that's probably because Helen Mirren got the Oscar for her role. For me it was a bit odd at time as some of the actors really did look like their real counterparts, then of course there was actual news footage which made it even more confusing. Still I am glad to finally have seen the film and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Very recommendable

Knut

I was just looking around the web and found these really cute photos of the polar bear cup that was born in the zoo in Berlin... you just have to have a look at them... so very sweet!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/mar/23/internationalnews?picture=329755939

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/mar/23/internationalnews?picture=329755955

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/mar/23/internationalnews?picture=329756066

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/mar/23/internationalnews?picture=329755961

Das Leben der Anderen

We went to see The Lives of others at the cinema the other day, and it was the best film I have seen this year I think. I knew it would be good just from seeing the trailers before... I don't know but somehow when the trailer for a film is already so excellent and completely captures the main point of the film, the film just has to be this excellent. Anyway this film was set in the German Democratic Republic in the mid 80 and focused on a playwrite/writer and his girlfriend. Very very good and if you haven't seen it, go see it! It really deserved the Foreign Language Oscar so much more than Pan's Labyrinth... and I don't care what Mark Kermode thinks on this matter!