when it's about minus 6degC, it is pretty mild for winter... when it gets below minus 10degC, it starts to make you aware that staying outdoors for longer than 10 mins is a bad idea.... when it drops below minus 15degC, you really want to start to run out of the cold just as you find yourself out in the freeze.... when it is below minus 20degC, all the layers of wool and thermal underwear will only help you tolerate the madness so long as there's no chill or wind... and really, at any level below minus 20degC... people should really move about outdoors only if they have a snow-suit... but they don't make snow-suits like those that cosmo/astronauts wear... i want one!!!
IT IS SO FREAKING COLD...................................................................................
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
~Max Ehrmann © 1927
"May I speak to xxxx xxxx please?" came a caller from the Minnesota Orchestra Marketing personnel just a few minutes ago...
"Yes, speaking."
"Oh... perhaps I'd like to speak to your mother, instead."
"What does this concern?"
"Oh, perhaps it is you. I am sorry. I am......" continuing her spiel on whether I'd like to do an over-the-phone purchase of concert tickets.
i am sorry. i hate this phone-marketing business when people know that one can go online to check on concerts, that i get brochures sent to me, and that if i really wanted to i will make an effort to seek out concerts i like or think i might enjoy. the fact that i haven't been visiting the Orchestra Hall either speaks of my time-commitment elsewhere, or that the programmes offered are just not my cuppa... if truth be spoken, it's the latter. i simply detest the fact that businesses often choose to invade your personal space in the most direct and unpleasant way.
i am getting better at hanging up on these marketing people. it took me less than a minute, despite her desperate attempts, in part aware that she's offended me.
yes, i know i don't have the most adult-like voice out there... it is not necessarily a voice that commands authority... but it is my voice.
... i guess if my mummy had to learn it the hard way... everyone else, including me, myself, and i, will too.
grrr.
i've always had a benign curiosity for all things cosmological... my mummy is quite well-versed in deciphering chinese astrological almanacs but i am no where near capable of figuring out my own destiny. Google's web-tools offer a myriad of little gadgets like a daily horoscope reading that i subscribe for free, which allows me, on occasion, to derive some musings or solace for things not-going-so-well...
Daily Horoscope for Gemini By Rick Levine [from Tarot.com]
Tuesday, January 8, 2008You are probably concerned with serious matters today, which can lure you past the lighter issues that typically interest you. Maybe you missed something or maybe you just got it wrong and now get a second chance. Reconsider what in your life is most valuable to you. Be practical, for you could be required to live with your current choices for a while.
this is slightly freaky... is there a voyeurist out there or have i got a virtual guardian angle? hmm... let's hope i do get a second chance.
i started the new year with sore blisters on the lower back of my feet just above the heel... x-country skiing was quite fun except for the heat it generated! unlike the cold-sweat experienced during downhill skiing associated with keeping the adrenaline pumping and gearing one's footwork in time to prolong the descent, you do get a decent workout from sliding horizontally...
for the last week or so, i was down with a sniffly bout of cold thanks to some upper respiratory bug that's been having a fun journey during the winter season... i seem to be the last one at the lab to fall prey to it's virulent curse... but ah well... at least i believe in the idea of re-programming my natural immune system through recovery!
trying to gear up for the oral defense is proving a little over-whelming... i've not done anything like this before... and everyone's experience is different. i am also regretting churning up the 200 pages of scientific garb which i submitted... it means there's a lot of possible opportunities for intellectual attacks and criticisms that i will have to defend. i guess the hardest bit of it all is to push aside memories of the rather frustrating journey in getting to where i am now... to end it off in a positive light.
a recurrently renewed resolution is to try to get up earlier to enjoy the peaceful mornings... it's quite a difficult one... for most of you will know me as a night owl... oh well. thing is, i love the mystery of early mornings and the quietness that is present in the beginning of a new day.
i want this new year to be more positive than the last. i want to try to do things i love, and find out what i really want out of my insignificant existence... i'd love to surprise myself... dance a ceilidh again, feel loved, be appreciated for what i can do / achieve, and 'cook up a [perpetual] storm' in the kitchen, to travel, read, learn in all different ways... and be. i can't wait for the end of this phd ordeal... i can't wait!