The exploring mouse

Leaves are green.

2010-07-14T15:07:00.001+02:00

No! Really? I thought they were pink with yellow polka dots… This week has had its ups and downs, which is OK if they are normal little ups and downs but not ok if there are more downs than ups and the downs are DOWNS and not downs. From Sunday: I had a hugely productive, satisfying weekend, because I set myself goals, but little ones. I met every single one of them. So I felt productive, and

Trust!

2010-07-10T17:15:00.002+02:00

I have always had issues with that gigantic thing called “trust”. Probably because I have been hurt so many time by people who were close to me. From family doing the whole “teasing a shy girl will make her less shy” routine (it only made it worse, until I grew up enough to tease back) to friends in school sharing confidences, turning on me or worse. So, understandably, I’m not entirely

Unhappy times.

2010-07-06T02:34:00.006+02:00

Right now I'm not a very happy person (in fact, its 2.45am, I've been awake since 1am, and I cant get back to sleep...). I'm hoping that blogging will help!On my mind:My Msc. Its not going too well at the moment, and I'm very stressed out. More so today (actually yesterday), because one of my pieces of equipment shattered into roughly 10 000 000 pieces, and I'll have to get another one made.Ill

Uh, help?

2010-07-02T20:42:00.003+02:00

So, it turns out that I'm pretty useless at social etiquette (who would'a known??). This past week, I went to a wedding - KCB's mates were getting married. Now, not I didn't know the bride and groom from a bar of soap...Typically, when I have no idea what to do, I froze with a (probably awkward) grin on my face (and may have mumbled a congratulations, but I cant be sure in the panic of the moment

Milk expedition...

2010-06-29T15:21:00.001+02:00

For an exceedingly funny see Luke's account of our expedition to find some milk.

Malawi (part 2)

2010-05-26T18:35:00.006+02:00

In short, Malawi was beautiful. As I said before, the official reason for me being there was to do a tree project, while the unofficial reasons were to visit KCB, and to have a holiday (by that stage he had been away for about 3 months, which is a long time in my books...) and to have a holiday.I was pretty shattered after the bus trip, and the day after we got there, we rested. We were staying

Im working on it!

2010-05-20T20:09:00.002+02:00

So, Helen has promised that I will be posting lots more on my trip to Malawi. I really am working on it, but in the meantime, I'm working harder on getting better. I seem to have picked up a random virus or something on my travels. Or I picked it up in dear ol' Jo-burg, I cant decide which is likelier!So anyway, I will be posting as soon as I can!

Malawi/Mozambique trip: Part 1

2010-05-15T16:06:00.014+02:00

The bus tripFor the record, I have no problem slating this particular bus company, because, quite frankly, they need to jack up their service and stop being such a dodgy bus company. Even the "regular" travellers on the bus had a horrendous time, and swore never to take this bus again! Since I have been back, people who heard about my trip have told me that they never, ever use this particular

Before I start with the trip reports...

2010-05-12T18:51:00.004+02:00

I feel that I need to express my utter dissatisfaction at my lifestyle at the moment. Particularly my life in JHB. I am totally unmotivated to do my masters, I feel like I'm not achieving anything, I feel that my social life is pushing on my decision-making abilities, with too many people that I want to spend time with, and too little time, and poor "saying no" abilities on my part.Most of me

I'm back!

2010-05-11T18:38:00.004+02:00

With a million stories to tell (ok, maybe not a million, but enough for a lot a lot for me to write).Im back from a super awesome trip to Malawi, where I officially went to go and count trees, and unofficially went for a holiday, and to visit KCB (yes, his name has changed yet again. I've stuck with this one in my head for a while now).I used a bus to get there, which is an entire blog post on

One reason that animals are bad...

2010-03-17T17:24:00.002+02:00

That reason is that they die. Sometimes, inexplicably, other times, because of old age. Either way, its horribly upsetting, even if you have tried your hardest to remain emotionally distant. I was thinking earlier about the kinds of people who are able to remain detached, and thus, their suitability to study to study animals, but then came to the conclusion that they probably wouldn't care enough

When the view becomes a nice bonus (TMIT)

2010-03-11T10:09:00.000+02:00

I am really not sure why this particular experience sprung to my mind, but I thought it was valuable to air the memories, so to speak.About four years ago, my family and I went on a camping trip to (in my mind) one of the most beautiful nature reserves in South Africa, Ndumo. The situated on the northern border of KZN and Mozambique, closer to Swaziland than the sea (see map).The roads were

Suggestions, please?

2010-03-10T18:13:00.002+02:00

Since the last time I blogged about Frank (aka Ernest), he has become significant in my life. And thus deserves a new name.I havent been able to come up with anything other than "Snacker", but then, I was really hungry at the time, and it probably isn't the best name for him. So, any suggestions from other bloggers?

Bringing out my inner engineer

2010-02-24T17:56:00.001+02:00

I havent been bloggin in the past little while, becuase I have just been way, way too busy... Small dramas, when added together make a big drama, and I have been struggling to right myself after it has all passed. The subject for today comes from one of my experiments: I am building a maze, but needed infared beams and detectors to tell me when an object has passed a certain point. Now, for

Topic #1

2010-02-06T14:13:00.002+02:00

Here is my list of helpful topic suggestions: Walking in circles in liftsThe Moral Compass in the Southern African Context: Principles Gone Awry Perfect Low-light Pot Plants for the Office How to change a fuel pump Why the world might actually be flatHow different the world be if there was no chocolate?Sometimes we see our bodies as separate from ourselves. Have a conversation with your body.

Update

2010-01-31T18:11:00.001+02:00

The write-a-thon (well, thing where I write and publish a lot) has yet to commence, because I have just been way way too busy at the moment. Ernest (I need a better name now) is leaving next week, I've been doing field work, going to birthday parties, doing varsity admin type stuff... So. I will try and publish at least one topic next week, K? Happy sunday!

Not really panicking...

2010-01-26T11:11:00.003+02:00

But at the same time, I'm panicking... I realised this year, that I have just 1 year left in which to do my masters (well, much less than a year now). To complete it, I need to:Record and score all my behaviour data (barring recording 1 section from 1 population)Finish measuring vegetation, and analyse all vegetation, including the measurements that were taken a few years backDo all the stats on

Topics, please!

2010-01-25T21:37:00.002+02:00

I need to get myself in a writing frame of mind again, but have no idea were to start! A while ago, a friend was in the same position, and i gave her a topic to start off with. I'm not sure if she ha carried on with her writing, but i think that having a topic to write on really does help a ton.So: Please please please comment with any random topics for me to write on, and ill post them on my

Poetry!

2010-01-03T22:52:00.001+02:00

I really like this poem - and found it again tonight, and thought it would be appropriate to publish..."I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.I must down to the seas again, for the call of

Happy new year!

2010-01-01T13:59:00.010+02:00

Or Not...Last night, I discovered that I really don't have many good reasons to be staying up till all hours of the night, waiting for the clock to strike 12. I mean, what is the point of celebrating the new year, if it is going to come anyway? And why should everyone make a point of staying up to see this "momentous occasion" in?I was questioning the reasoning last night, as I was trying

Utter confusion reigns

2009-11-22T16:53:00.004+02:00

I wrote an entry a while ago, On etiquette. In it, I described the worst type of unreliable character one could ever hope to meet... Well, my 'friendship' with said character (lets call him... Ernest, shall we...?) has sort of continued since then. I am sure of neither his intentions, nor his feelings with regard to me, and thus, felt the need to blog about it.Since the etiquette post, I saw

Of teaspoons and soapboxes

2009-10-27T20:55:00.006+02:00

I have had quite a few things on my mind this past week. Amongst other things, I am getting my first laptop (YAY!), my parents and grandparents had a holiday, a Halloween dress-up is coming, nothing is happening with my project (a bad thing). So, instead, I have been thinking about the ills of the

On etiquette!

2009-10-21T18:34:00.003+02:00

First thoughts: what a weird looking word. Second thoughts: What a loaded word...I had a dinner party over the weekend, because I had my house all to myself, and also because even though I enjoy hosting events like these, I hadn't had one in about a year. So I emailed out invites with two weeks to go to my chosen date-of-party, to see who would be keen... I had most of my responses that week, and

Diving weekend, and The Perfume Lab!

2009-10-12T21:54:00.004+02:00

After a seemingly crazy week last week (which ended up being absolutely marvellous), I had a weekend to match. It was marvellous, of course!I'm doing my 2*(or advanced) diving course, and this weekend was the weekend to catch up on dives, do some of the specific dives that I need to qualify, and generally relax. I have returned home failing on the last - I have such sore tummy muscles! (Diving

It's spring!

2009-10-07T18:47:00.003+02:00

Every year I used to anxiously wait for Spring to arrive. I would watch the trees for buds, and wander around the garden, inspecting the plants for any signs of growth. When Spring finally sprung, I would revel in the beauty of the flowers, the warmth, the lengthening days and the smell of flowers that would permeate our garden and our home. Even last year, I took spent some time in my garden,

My new favourite word ...

2009-10-04T11:28:00.002+02:00

... is "snaffle"!It's an informal verb, and means "to illicitly take for oneself". I have a very food-orientated Labrador, and this word describes his actions very clearly...

A hectic week, and fabulous weekend...

2009-09-29T12:19:00.005+02:00

* Names have been changed to preserve any remaining dignity of the people concernedDue to Heritage day last week, I had to cram a 5 day week into 3 days (the public holiday was on a Thursday, and I was going away). So I frantically tried to achieve all my goals for the week, I burned and watched many DVDs of mouse behaviour, freaked out completely a few times when some of them wouldn't work,

10 things about me!

2009-09-18T17:25:00.003+02:00

Helen nominated me for the "10 random things about me" award. While I think this is rather hard to do, I will try my best!!I've tried most activities. While this excludes smoking weed or taking drugs, I have attempted to play the saxophone, hockey, tennis, cycling, gym, rock climbing, diving, rock music, indie music, computer games, programming, gardening...I secretly like teasing people.At any

The "Get Wrecked special"/ "Waffles underwater club" weekend

2009-09-14T12:14:00.003+02:00

Seven of us went down to Durban this past weekend to dive wrecks, the uShaka aquarium, have a cabaret dinner, and generally have some good times :) First things: all of us got some kind of simile or metaphor attached to them (except me, of course). So:Paolo is like... an old man with a metal detector, a chicken, and a Raggie in a cave, waiting to pounce.Anthea is like... a turtle warmer.Chris is

On the down swing

2009-09-08T20:33:00.003+02:00

So my last few post have been rather depressed, and that is probably because I have been. It has been a difficult time especially in my masters, and, although things are not currently (as of this afternoon) going wrong, they aren't exactly going right either. I know that because of the current spate of going-wrongness, I am inclined to see the glass as half empty, but hopefully after a break to

New resolution

2009-09-06T11:31:00.003+02:00

Things seem to be going badly for me in all sectors of my life. I can't just give up - that just isn't me.I heard this song on the radio the other day, and thought that it fits me pretty well (especially now). I know the lyrics are about dating, but the chorus is the important bit. Its by Aaliyah - the song is entitled "Try again". Just so I can come back and read the lyrics often, here they are

Its not just Fridays, its Thursdays too!

2009-09-04T06:50:00.002+02:00

Why is it that when a whole bunch of maybe-not-so-cool events happen in a short space of time, I pretty much self-destruct? And its not like the good stuff isn't happening either - yesterday I reached the half-way point in my vegetation sampling (yay!).So: 6 out of 10 DVDs that I have burnt for my experiment over the past week have, for some reason, failed. This wouldn't be so much of a disaster,

SCORE! I didn't die!

2009-08-31T14:59:00.002+02:00

One of my aims that I put up on Friday was "to not die". At least until next week.The reason that I suspected that I might die was that I was going rock climbing for the first time. I'm a co-ord. I generally forget my left and my right, and most times don't know how to co-ordinate movements when using both arms and legs... The good news: I didn't suck as badly as I thought I would. More good news

In the spirit of TMI Thursday

2009-08-27T10:02:00.002+02:00

Warning: Do not eat while reading this! Or read this after eating! Or eat after reading this!Last night, as I was preparing my supper-for-one (which, incidentally was a toasted egg, salami and cheese sandwich), the cats that I am cat sitting were eating their food. I flipped my egg, and one of the cats started vomiting. Right there, in the kitchen. Almost in the food bowl, and half in the water

Sunshine and happiness

2009-08-26T07:00:00.003+02:00

This is a sunset, but hey, it still involves the sun. And its pretty!But I actually wanted to talk about sunrise and the merits of getting up early. Lately, I have been sleeping in at every opportunity I get - the joys of working hard and stress, I suppose. But today, in an effort to beat traffic from the place I'm housesitting at, I got up super super early and left the house about 45 mins

On religion

2009-08-24T18:14:00.001+02:00

I've been wanting to write about this subject for quite some time now, but never got around to it. I have a lot to say, and not too much time, so I figured that I would start, then carry on when I have it on my mind next.I'm a Christian. I used to go to church regularly, I even went to cell group, and was a youth leader at one point. I've organised a youth camp, a prayer weekend and been involved

Tough as old boots but maybe easier to swallow...

2009-08-23T17:54:00.004+02:00

So, Friday was a bad day, to put it mildly. Since writing about stuff helps me to let go, here goes.I half wonder about my ability to be a scientist, and all that happened on Friday (see here) made that self-doubt ten times worse. I wonder if I will have the ability and staying power to finish this degree, and if I do, I wonder about my suitability as a PhD candidate (I still don't know what I

Its just not my day...

2009-08-21T18:24:00.003+02:00

In fact, this week has been just plain awful. Today, however, is the worst. Nothing is going smoothly, and it is a battle just to get simple things done. For instance, one of the dvd recorder machines that I'm using was working perfectly well. Suddenly, it switched itself to black and white mode. I fought with the stupid F%&*#@$ thing for approximately half an hour. then gave up, only to find

YOU! yes... you.... STOP LITTERING!

2009-08-20T17:11:00.002+02:00

*begin rant*Don't you hate it when people just drop a piece of paper or wrapper and walk off? Ok, maybe sometimes it is unintentional, but a lot of the time, people will just drop their rubbish, even if they walked past a dustbin 30sec ago. WHY??? Why is it so hard to carry your rubbish with you until you get to a dustbin? Do people think that the unsightly wrappers, bottles, pens and plastic

And in other news

2009-08-16T18:16:00.002+02:00

I heard the most arbitrary item on the news the other day. It went something along the lines of " And in an effort to alleviate the crime in the area, one block of flats bought 30kg* of butter to smear on their drainpipes." I get the feeling that this was somewhere in China. Why is it that it is entirely possible that this actually happened??I wonder if it worked... * I don't recall the exact

No Reservations

2009-08-13T10:44:00.003+02:00

I consider myself to be rather reserved. That is, until I get to know people, but even then... Anyway, last week I discovered that when I am under a lot of pressure, I talk. A lot. For example, in the last two weeks I have practically told my life story to about 5 people (including a petrol pump attendant!). I'm pretty sure I freaked the poor guy out, and left him there wondering if he should

Crazy, crazy week

2009-08-08T17:26:00.004+02:00

I haven't posted for some time, because of the above-mentioned craziness. I have had the 'flu for the past week and a half, which made my already busy schedule hecticer (real word...). For the record, I'm still sick, although I am getting better now (albeit slowly).Last week I:Tutored twice, and prepared for these two tuts.Went to one tutor's meetingWas a teaching assistant for one lab (on ferns)

NOOOOO!

2009-08-04T17:58:00.002+02:00

I just had a horrifying realisation: The number of posts of the scary student answers blog (which I also contribute to), has exceeded the number of posts on this one.Actually, it's not all that bad. I'm just being a drama queen, which may possibly be allowed on this occasion (I'm sick with flu).

My! Grandma! What big teeth you have!

2009-08-01T12:17:00.001+02:00

Or, in my case it was My! Grandma! What a big nose you have, and what a big noise it makes...Im not being nasty, just being honest, and blunt (as usual). It was my grandmother's birthday yesterday, and since my grandfather is still in hospital, we decided that rather than her staying by herself for her birthday (it was her 80th, after all), we would fetch her and bring her to our house to spend

A Day of Disasters

2009-07-30T17:43:00.005+02:00

A day from hell...So yesterday was mine, and it was so so not pleasant... It started off with a nasty encounter with Mr S*. The previous day I was meant to get equipment from him, but when I went to his office to try and collect it, he wasn't there. Eventually when I did find him, he told me it was too late, and thus, I would have to come back in the morning, at 8. This was not ideal for me,

...something smells like roast chicken...

2009-07-28T17:17:00.004+02:00

So, although I was really looking forward to my physio appointment on Monday, afterwards I realised that there is a serious downside to it.The Massage OilI don't know what it has in it, and surprisingly, I don't care. The thing that I do care about is that fact that it makes me smell like roast chicken.That's right, I feel like a walking roast chicken for a day, until I have had a very good

Peaches and posture

2009-07-21T17:58:00.004+02:00

On the weekend, I decided to go scuba diving. In my ignorance, I thought it was just a fun trip to Miracle waters in the Magaliesberg, with no real training (I'm also currently doing my 2* diving course). However, our official diving weekend was cancelled, so I just thought I was going to do some dives to within 18m.It wasn't and we didn't. A fun weekend, and dive within 18m, I mean. Instead, an

Live life as hard as you can.

2009-07-12T16:05:00.000+02:00

Because you might die tomorrow.I was reminded about mortality yesterday when I went to visit my grandfather, who is in hospital. I don't really want to discuss the details, so I will just focus on the effect that it had on me.I wound up thinking about the baggage that we carry around with us, both emotionally, and physically. Now, we can't take any of the physical stuff with us when we die. If we

Olifants backpacking trail, part 1

2009-07-12T16:00:00.000+02:00

Pre-blog disclaimer: This is an extremely long post, and shall be split into one entry per post... Names have been changed to preserve anonymity!This is an account of the amazing holiday I have just come back from. I went to the Kruger park on a new-ish trail that they have opened up, where you have to carry your own backpacks, food, tents, etc. For the record, there are other, much more

Olifants backpacking trail, part 2

2009-07-12T15:58:00.000+02:00

Day 2: Journey to drop off, and first days' walk.The following morning, I woke up at an insane hour (it was still dark), as we had to be at Olifants camp (40 odd Km away) by 7.30 am. At this stage, I was feeling substantially anxious - about the people, the difficulty of the hike, and the weight of my pack... I had decided to take both my fleece and the windproof outer shell (I get cold easily),

Olifants backpacking trail, part 3

2009-07-12T15:56:00.001+02:00

Day 3: A looooong day, with amazing scenery and an exciting river crossing, as well as "toilets"....At the beginning of the hike, Dave had given us an auger (to drill holes in the soil to go to the loo in), a spade, and the first aid kit. These items had to be divided up by the group to carry, since we would all be using them (except the spade, which was used for clearing the fire evidence every

Olifants backpacking trail, part 4

2009-07-12T15:54:00.001+02:00

Day 4: Tracking lions, and getting up close and personal with elephants and hippos.The excitement following morning started when Leah showed me a lion print. As I was on my way to find a nice, private spot... Needless to say, I finished up pretty quickly! The prints were really fresh, and were probably made by the lion we had heard during the night. Imagine how safe we felt - with nothing but

Olifants backpacking trail, part 5

2009-07-12T15:50:00.001+02:00

Day 5: The River Crossing, beer, and civilisation.Early the next morning, we got up and I discovered how cold the night had been: enough to put a decent layer of frost on my tent. We were now actively searching for a place to cross the river, as we needed to be on the opposite side of the river to meet our lift back to civilisation. None of us were overly pleased with that prospect, and tried to

On plagiarism

2009-07-05T19:38:00.004+02:00

I decided to do a search for "Olifants Backpacking trail", interested to see what it turned up, and who else had written about this amazing experience. I was startled at first, then annoyed to discover that some idiot plagiarized the last entry by changing words, adding a few, and passing it off as their own work. Their final blog post is most definitely not how I would have portrayed my trip.

A name for our cactus!

2009-07-02T14:19:00.003+02:00

Please, please please suggest a name for our lab cactus here!There are prizes to be won too, including a digital hug from all of us in the lab, as well as (wait for it...) a custom made badge for you to put on your blog. As well as other stuff.There is a photo of our darling cactus, to make it a little easier, and we will put up a poll at the end of it.Thank you!!!!!

Introvert/Extrovert quiz!

2009-07-02T12:49:00.002+02:00

A quick post, and short quiz! I promise I haven't given up writing about my Kruger trip.... You Are 40% Extrovert, 60% Introvert You're a bit outgoing, a bit reservedLike most people, you enjoy being socialBut you also value the time you have aloneYou have struck a good balance! The link is here, if you want to do it!

More about socks

2009-06-17T20:10:00.004+02:00

The previous post started out as a desire to write about socks, and expanded... well... into the most arbitrary thing I have ever written. In the most arbitrary fashion. However, I realised that I missed out the most important thing about socks: They are awesome.Socks are awesome because:They keep feet warm and toasty in weather like this (cold and unfriendly weather for feet).They come in the

Socks

2009-06-12T16:03:00.007+02:00

Apart from cake, socks are one of the things that make the world go round. In my earnest opinion, one should not wear shoes without socks, and thus they are indispensable items (unless, of course, one lives at the beach). However, socks can be worn without shoes. This phenomenon is known as "the Slipper Sock", and is generally manufactured to be thicker than normal socks, as well as having

Eat, Pray, Love

2009-06-10T16:57:00.006+02:00

I started reading the novel the other day. Within the first few pages, I was completely wrapped up in the story. I somehow managed to empathise with the writer, even though her life and even social circumstances are almost the complete antithesis of mine. A third of the book is devoted to her time in Italy, where she allows herself pleasure - not sexual, but rather she allows herself to do what

More motorbike grumbles...

2009-06-08T17:03:00.004+02:00

I have to gripe about motorbikes. Well, not motorbikes per say, but more about their drivers. Last week I was moaning about motorbikes and traffic circles, and now, I feel that I need to vent about motorbikes some more...Don't you just hate it when a motorbike comes zooming past you, but the only way that you know that they are somewhere in your vicinity is by the sudden roar, followed by a fast

And now, Windows plays in its little box...

2009-06-05T13:54:00.005+02:00

After hating windows for ages, I finally got Ubuntu on my varsity computer. The only reason why I kept using Windows is because everyone else uses Word and Excell (Microsoft office), and I have found that changing between OpenOffice docs (the open source version of Word) and Word docs requires much formatting, and the OpenOffice version of Excell sucks (especially the graphing functions...). So I

Traffic grumbles......

2009-06-04T13:50:00.004+02:00

This morning, while I was on my way in to varsity, I almost had my second (ever) accident. This time, it was most definitely not my fault, and most likely stems from the fact that a lot of people do not know how to use traffic circles...So I was in the process of turning at a traffic circle, and I had almost completed my turn, when a motorbike came zooming up to the circle, and turned into the

A fit of sulks. Grrrr.

2009-06-01T21:36:00.005+02:00

Or a hissy fit. Well, whatever it was, today has been the most awful day I have had in a very very very long time. I can explain part of it, but the rest welllllll must have been due to the compounded-ness... Let me explain. I think it all stems from the fact that I have not had a good night's sleep for a very very long time - every night I wake up twice or three times drenched in sweat. So I

Pennyroyal tea

2009-05-29T17:53:00.001+02:00

The theme for this blog entry was supposed to be tea, but I got distracted with Nirvana's song "sit and drink penny royal tea....." (end of musical interlude)OK, so the entry is actually about tea. And coffee. Well, beverages in general. And sugar. I am now fully used to drinking tea, coffee and generally most things without sugar. I now think of having my tea without the sugary goodness (bleeurg

If the clothes fit, wear them?

2009-05-23T18:03:00.002+02:00

I have a bit of a dilemma. In the economic recession, do you buy the expensive clothes that fit and potentially last a long time, or do you buy cheap clothes that generally dont fit, and tend not to last very long? All this comes after yet another trip to the shops to buy a pair of jeans... Nothing fitted except a rather expensive pair of Levi's... And I'm not sure if I can justify the cost of

Getting there

2009-05-23T11:03:00.002+02:00

Yes. Its official. I am getting used to the no-sugar thing, even though I still have moments of "I want seriously strong tea with a drop of milk and one-and-three-quarters of a teaspoon of sugar". I managed to refuse the temptation of a chocolate the night before last. Im getting there!Now, all I have to deal with is writing and finishing my introduction (and ulitmately my proposal) and get some

semi-bad day, ctd

2009-05-21T14:57:00.003+02:00

Im so tired! I want a cup of tea! And a large slice of chocolate cake! Im my proposal have only been furthered by four lines so far :( I want my bed, and for my headache to go away. Its a pity that I said that I would meet someone for coffee tonight! Sad sad times!

Sugar failure

2009-05-21T13:55:00.001+02:00

Sigh. Last night, the temptation of chocolate was just too much for me. I caved in and had a Lindt hazelnut ball thing. My family is wicked in that regard - they are very persistant at offering me chocolate!

Day 2 without sugar

2009-05-20T17:12:00.002+02:00

I want a cup of tea!!!A nice strong cup with a dash of milk and one-and-three-quarters teaspoons of sugar. Preferably with a piece of shortbread or a rusk. That's what I am craving soooo badly right now.Up till now, it has been relatively easy to leave out refined sugar from my diet, although I discovered to my horror yesterday that the yoghurt that I thought was perfectly innocuous actually was

A word on hairdressers...

2009-05-19T16:48:00.002+02:00

This afternoon, I went to get a haircut. It has been a good six months since my last one, so I really did need it. I had decided to try my dad and brother's hairdresser, because my usual one is getting extremely pricey. So I tried and I tried and I tried again to get hold of this lady, but to no avail. Then randomly, a few days after I had given up on the whole idea, she returned my call!As a

More awards!

2009-05-19T08:48:00.005+02:00

I am awarding myself the "car breaker of the year" for 2009. Maybe it is just bad luck, but two cars have failed on me already this year. The first was my trusty clio which, when I was driving home at night from wits, decided to die. And I couldnt get it to start for about 30 mins. The arbitrarily, it decided to work again, and I could get home. Since then, my parents banned me from driving the

There is no charge for awesomeness... Or attractiveness!

2009-05-16T11:27:00.005+02:00

The title of this post comes my favourite quote from Kung Fu Panda - right in the beginning of the movie, Panda is having a dream about being the most famousest (Samwise Gamgee from LOTR - sorry, its a movie recollection day!) kung fu warrior in all the land. He saves the people (well in this movie, animals) from the evil foes that threaten death and destruction in the land of Um... Japan? Anyway

Decisions!

2009-05-15T17:17:00.002+02:00

What a week! I had hoped that my supervisor would totally like my proposal that I handed in last Friday. Well, on Monday he came back to me and gave me some horrible news: my introduction didn't match my aims! So I am back to the drawing board - officially "proposing" again! I feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall a bit, but luckily I'm wearing my stubborn boots again, and am

A week's worth of strangeness!

2009-05-09T12:40:00.001+02:00

I don't think I have had many weeks that have been as exhausting as the past one. The reason that it was so tiring was that so many things happened in such a short space of time (five days is actually really short). Starting on monday, when I recieved a gift of three t-shirts from a friend who had come back from England. In what seems to be true lab tradition, I had to model my new items of

On being happy, and a biologist moment

2009-05-03T21:18:00.001+02:00

An incident that just happened got me thinking about exactly how normal I am... I had just had my shower and was gathering up my towl, when I noticed a small creature running toward my big toe. So I bent down to take a closer look. Now no normal (well at least, not many) female would have done that. But what was so cool about it (or at least, I thought so) was that it was a very small earwig! Not

Exploratory awesomeness

2009-05-02T11:01:00.004+02:00

At this time of year I usually get itchy feet: For the past few years I have gone to the 'berg for an hike at this time of year. Although winter time is not usually associated with good times on a hike (especially in the 'berg), I have found that it is possibly one of the best times to go, even though you may have to cope with snow, no visibility and general frigidness and the problems around

Random song questions

2009-04-29T16:40:00.001+02:00

I recieved this via email, and decided to try it... Its very funny, but a lot of it really doesnt make sense! I put my own comments in brackets at the end of each question.The rules are:1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle. 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE

Club songs, puzzles and endorphins

2009-04-28T11:05:00.001+02:00

I decided that this past weekend would be a good time to relax, so I took both Saturday and Sunday off (it was a long weekend, yesterday was a public holiday, and i decided that it would be devoted to making biscotti and working on my proposal). So on Saturday, when I didnt feel particularly inspired by the breakfasty-type things in the kitchen, I made chocolate muffins, which took me through to

Friday's Fungi Fun!

2009-04-25T13:19:00.001+02:00

Yesterday started out with me feeling very bleak for two big reasons: The first was because I wasn't able to go to the Kruger, which would have been a really good break from absolutely everything, and the second (which incidentally was linked to the first), was that I would have to TA the CLS fungi lab. If I had gone away, I would have gotten Luke to fill in for me, and although I would have felt

All things, pleasant and unpleasant

2009-04-24T11:54:00.001+02:00

This week has been decidedly unpleasant, although there have been some bright spots along the way. Firstly, I had a nasty confrontation type thing on Monday, which made Tuesday horrible. Then Wednesday was voting day, which was just a nasty, patchy day, where I didn't get anything done because I was waiting for the voting queue to get shorter as the day went (it didn't) - I had to go and stand in

Testing... one.. two... three!

2009-04-21T14:37:00.001+02:00

Just wanted to test if this actually works :)

More about the diving trip!

2009-04-21T10:58:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I posted an entry about the awesomeness of the dives and the suckyness of the social side of the trip. Now I'm going to describe the epicness of the trip (well, it was for me, anyway!) Since I signed up on the trip, I had no idea how i was going to get from JHB to Sodwana and back - I had tried begging and pleading for lifts (obviously to the wrong people), but to no avail. Eventually

Diving, with no narcoleptic tendencies

2009-04-20T17:11:00.000+02:00

Last weekend, I went to Sodwana bay to complete my 1* scuba diving course. I had been warned that I would get super-hungry, super tired, and would probably fall asleep on any vaguely comfortable surface, at any given time. None of the above happened to me - I hardly had an appetite, and hardly slept at all, the whole weekend!I had the most awesome weekend -I really had a blast under the water.

Proposal, continued...

2009-04-11T13:53:00.000+02:00

My last (which was also my first) post left me feeling cold, with a nagging feeling that I was not doing enough work, which was entirely accurate. I had already missed my first deadline on the proposal that I'm supposed to be writing, and the second is looming. So I should be doing more work and less faffing, but somehow it just isn't happening! I can't blame anyone else but myself - I have spent

The start of my blogging career...

2009-04-07T15:20:00.000+02:00

The difficulty in actually writing the first line of my very first blog is somewhat daunting, and nearly put me off. But I just did it, woohoo! People who have blogs keep telling me about the awesomeness of blogging, and today I decided to try it. "Clear the thoughts and cobwebs from the head", they say...This year will be a very busy year for me - I'm starting my masters (yes, I'm working on