WOOHOO!

Not Taken.

... well at the moment anyway. In other words, I arrived safely in London and made it to my hotel without incident. Well unless you count the fact that I didn't realise it's a bank holiday here today and therefore I had to pay public holiday rates for my taxi from the airport - ouch. I know I could have caught the train instead but I've previously had pretty bad experiences dragging around luggage in overly crowded stations - and that was with Husband there to do most of the heavy lifting!

When I arrived at my hotel my room wasn't ready yet, so I left my luggage there and wandered up the street to the British Museum to kill time. It was even better than I was expecting. The building is awesome and the exhibits are very detailed and interesting. My lack of sleep during the flights did start to hit me though about halfway through and I stopped paying attention and taking photos. I may have to go back another day.

I did take my own photos of the museum but the people taking photos for the British Museum website obviously did a much better job!

In other news, I have an update from my last post where I said I had no researchers to meet with. I am now meeting one tomorrow morning and another the next day, and I have another person I'm supposed to call soon too! Aargh. I'm really not great at talking to strangers anyway, but I'm sure this will be worse considering they're extremely smart and important and I'm trying to convince them they should hire me. So after getting back from the museum I had a nap and then went back to studying for my meetings (I hope there won't be a test!).

It also turns out a couple of my friends will be in London as well in the next few days, so things have worked out quite nicely in that regard. I also really like the suburb I'm staying in. So overall, if I pretend I don't have scary meetings coming up I can say so far so good and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week!

Even more spit.

I haven't spoken about spit in a while and I thought it time to remedy that. In case you're new here, part of my PhD research involves collecting saliva to assess particular hormones released when people are distressed (because I stress them out - muah ha ha haaaa). In case you're not new, well sorry you're having to read about this again!

Not my actual samples, but it kinda looks like this [via].

Yesterday I finally ran the assays for the rest of my samples. I've been waiting a while for this as it's supposed to be my last study of my PhD. Unfortunately it's taken over a year to get to this point, as for some reason watching a distressing film and spitting into a tube does not seem to be a popular experiment to volunteer for. In case you are very grossed out at this point, I will mention that the samples all get irradiated to kill any germs and we still wear gloves anyway. So no touching of spit actually occurs. Also to make sure I don't gross you out I definitely won't talk about all the FLOATIES in the samples...

... err anyway. Now I'm a bit nervous to actually run the statistics - what if it doesn't work? It has been my plan to finish my thesis by November 12 (AKA arrgh-no-more-scholarship-must-hand-in-dreaded-thesis-day). However if my experiment is a total dud I instead will have to run another one or two experiments, taking my PhD into mid next year. I do not particularly care for that option.

Either way I will keep you all updated since I'm sure you're all dying to know what I've found in people's spit.

P.S. Totally unrelated to this post, something quite unexpected happened - I was voted the Featured Blogger for August over at 20SB! Thank you so much to the people who voted for me, I really appreciate it. An extra special thanks goes to Little Missy Me who nominated me: you're awesome! :)

The end of productivity...

...well hopefully not, but it is the end of Productive June today. At least I'm ending it on a somewhat productive note, as I am in fact at uni today (yes Saturday) working on my thesis - well besides this quick break I'm obviously taking! As it is so quiet in the PhD office on the weekend (usually only 1-2 other people come in, but I'm often alone) I find it less distracting, but also since I know I'm depriving myself of relaxing/having fun I think I may as well use the time properly and actually do work. 

My writing is going reasonably too. Many people gave me the advice "just write 500 words a day", and I have to say, now that I have finally taken that advice it actually works. I've been (nerdishly) plotting my word count in an excel spreadsheet graph, and I find it encouraging to see the progress. It also spurs me on to at least get to 500, and once I do that I usually end up writing more. It's also helped me to worry a bit less about the looming deadline of November 12 (to be henceforth known as "arrgh no more scholarship must hand in dreaded thesis day" ...too long?), as I (also nerdishly) calculated exactly how many words I could have written by then if I write around the same amount most days. It seems feasible I could have a thesis by then! The other cool thing (well cool to me anyway) is that since I'm doing so much thinking/reading/writing about my topic, I'm really starting to enjoy it again. Additionally it's encouraging to re-read things I first read in my first year and barely understood, and find that now not only do I understand it, but I can critique it.

One downside however is the increasing pile of papers and mess my desk is accumulating. I think this PHD comic sums it up pretty well:

from here

Well sorry if this was totally boring but hey this is pretty much my life at the moment - so thanks for calling my life boring :P

Wales

...I got accepted to the neuroanatomy course in September! This is the most excited I've been in ages. The course sounds super interesting (even if it is only for 1 week), and I'm so grateful that my flights will be reimbursed and accommodation is sorted. The scary part is the flying (which, while I'm better at I still don't love), and the potentially organising meetings/job interviews while there. 

That's my main news for now, so here a picture of a castle near the place I'm going in Wales - perhaps I'll get to cross off my 30 before 30 item #17: visit another castle!

Penrhyn Castle near Bangor, Wales [via]

P.S. Did anyone see the Transit of Venus today? I did, it was awesome, and made me decide to add an astronomy degree to my just-for-fun medieval history degree I plan to do when I'm an old retired person with nothing else to do. If you missed it, don't worry, it happens again only 105 years from now :P

Well here's what happened.

I didn't mean to take a 5 week break from blogging, honest. It's not that I was super busy, or super unhappy or unwell or something. I just didn't have a lot to say, and then I kept thinking I should wait until I have something super important or interesting to talk about. I still don't really. However I just thought I would write an update (that is potentially non-important, non-interesting, sorry) anyway. Like previously, I've broken it up into three categories:

[via]

Science: Some good news and some good/scary news. The good news is that my first first-author paper has been accepted for publication (old news for twitter followers)! This is a relief, as it had taken a while for it to get accepted somewhere. It will be out next month. The good/scary news is my PhD scholarship has been extended for 6 months. Good in that I will not be poor for the next 6 months, but scary because the confirmation email also included the date the scholarship stops: November 12. This then gives me a very specific date to try and finish my thesis by, and it really doesn't seem all that far away now... gulp. As for the fact that I have no idea what I'll do after that, well that's the especially scary part.

Spouses: Yep, still got one of those (although he's been slightly MIA recently since the release of computer game Diablo III). It's actually Husband's birthday tomorrow, and we're going out to play laser tag, which should be fun / slightly nerdy. We're also going out on Saturday night to a Brazilian BBQ place, which essentially involves being served larged quantities of meat.

Silliness: Well on a whim about two weeks ago I did something I've never done (or planned to do) before: I gave myself a haircut. I decided I was sick of how long my hair was, and impulsively grabbed some scissors and started hacking. After I did the first snip I regretted it immediately, but obviously had to continue. Towards the end I decided I should be sensible about it and used my hair straightener so I could make sure it was all even. It went from being half-way down my back to just above my shoulders. My (post-hoc) reasoning was that I'm contemplating getting a more drastic haircut (see picture below), but I hate going to the hairdressers (I'm sure they're very nice people but I really don't like all the pointless chit-chat). This way when I do go there's less hair to cut and dye, and therefore I'll be there for less time (??). 

[from my pinterest]

Well enough about me:

What have you been up to lately?

Have you ever done something strange/impulsive and you're not really sure why?
Is anyone else afraid of going to the hairdressers?

Dear Teenage Lozzz123

So after enjoying both Kirsti and Gina's letters to their highschool selves, I thought I would jump on that bandwagon when I realised I had plenty to say to the teenage version of myself. How this younger me will actually get this letter however, I haven't decided. I'm either thinking time-travel phonebooth...

[via]

...or letterbox that can deliver mail to the past. 

[via]

(Highschool Lozzz123 loves Keanu Reeves, so it's only fitting that I should use the time travel movies he's been in as inspiration).

Dear Teenage Lozzz123,

I May Regret This...

Starting in March, besides my PhD, during the week I will also be teaching a 2nd year Psychology course, and also helping out and lecturing a bit for a Masters night course. I also applied (and got accepted) to do a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education at uni. Also, I put my hand up to be Postgrad Rep (a person who liases between the students and faculty to highlight relevant issues etc.) this year. Perhaps you may be thinking: 

Go crazy? Don't mind if I do! [via]

"Lozzz123 - are you going CRAZY!?"

To which I say - yeh, probably. However, the course is free for university staff, and it's actually only 4 hours of class every fortnight. It's a great opportunity to learn how to be a good lecturer/course coordinator before I actually may get a full time job doing that (it's interesting that this is not compulsory and although pre-school, primary school and high school teachers all need specific degrees in teaching, most university level teachers don't have any teacher training except perhaps a 1-2 day course, but that's a completely different issue)! As for the Postgrad Rep, I'll be sharing the responsibility with another PhD student too, and besides a meeting or two each week and emailing/talking to any students that have questions it shouldn't be super time consuming. And well, all the teaching/helping/lecturing is good money.

Considering I'll be trying to fit testing for two experiments and trying to write up my thesis in there too (and well, having a bit of a life possibly) it will make for a busy and slightly stressful year.

The thing is though, I actually seem to function better when I have so much stuff to do, that I don't have a choice but to do it NOW. As mentioned previously, when I only have one thing to work on without any immediate looming deadlines, I seem to flounder, get bored easily, and just generally procrastinate and not do much at all (unless you count non-uni activities like cooking and running, which I don't).

I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew this time...! 

27.

So today I am officially in my late 20s (I was still trying to convince myself 26 counted as mid-20s). I know that's still not overly old as such, but it still feels like a bit of a bummer. However, having said that, I have noticed myself thinking lately some people in their early 20s are still quite immature. Who knows what people a few years older are thinking of me! 

I guess my point is, although I often lament 'being old', I actually am quite happy with my life right now. I've nearly (well hopefully) finished a PhD, and will (again hopefully) be on my way to a grown up person's job. I can then start considering other grown up things like buying a house, which will be very exciting. Also, as scared as I am to admit this - I'm looking forward to having babies in the next few years (I bet my mother is pretty happy reading this since she sometimes points out cute baby clothes for no real reason - hint taken Mum!). Mostly so I can create some science nerdlets (this is a new word I just made up which means mini nerd - oh I just googled nerdlet and apparently I didn't make it up, hmmph).

Anyhoo, since my main birthday celebration was Friday (at a Greek restaurant - yum), it's a bit of a quiet one today, except we are going bean-bag shopping. Yes that is what I requested as a present. Hopefully I get this one:

[source]

This, my friends, is a Snorlax (a Pokémon) bean bag. It is clearly awesome. Sadly I think it's a one-off, but you never know! 

P.S. Fun fact: I sometimes call Husband 'Snorlax' due to his sleeping antics.

That's boring. You're boring everybody. Quit Boring Everyone!

Well now that I've prepared you for what may be a potentially boring post I will continue (though hopefully I haven't biased you towards viewing it as boring by saying that - am I over thinking this? Have I had too much caffeine? I'd say so). Anyway...

A while ago I read this article about nesting in the office. Some argue that having a clean and clutter-free work desk leads to more productivity, while others suggest that 'nesting' (having personal items, and work organised in a way that is however you want) can make you feel more comfortable and at 'home' and therefore that is more productive. I personally agree with the latter. I am so glad in the PhD office that we each get our own little cubicle that we can decorate however we want. Here's mine in case you're interested: 

Astute/regular readers will notice my 'motivational' Productive June Poster - Sleeping is for Unproductive Losers.

Much to my surprise, that plant (named Artemis Esq.) has been alive in my care since 2008!

This is Percy. He is my favourite solar-powered toy. His little head and feet move and everything!

As you can see, when it comes to decorating I am a seven year old child. I like lots of bright colours and toys. Some people may find it distracting to have all this stuff on their desk, but it just makes me feel like it is my place. Most of the time I forget it's there while I'm working, but it's a good quick mental break (and eye exercise people!) to look around at a variety of fun things.

What do you think? Is 'nesting' productive or unproductive? 

P.S. Thanks to those of you who submitted questions for my valuable 'advice'. I will work on answering some soon! There's still time to ask questions also - HERE!

P.P.S. I have a facebook methingy now! Take a look and be my friend please :)

Where have you been young lady!?

scolding old lady from here

Well firstly, thank you for calling me 'young'. Sometimes I feel quite old at 26, so it's nice to be called that (don't scoff older people). Secondly, don't be concerned, the rumours aren't true: I did not actually turn into a zombie and I haven't been roaming the streets in search of brains ever since. The fairly boring truth is that our internet at home has had a lot of issues of late (still dodgy unfortunately), and I've been trying to be studious at uni and not write blog posts when I'm supposed to be PhD-ing.

So just a little bit of a recap on what I've been up to of late, based on three areas...

Science: Well, unfortunately still nobody has been signing up for my experiments. I suspect it's due to all the strict preparation requirements to give a saliva sample to test for cortisol; you must wake up between 6am and 8am, can't have had alcohol 12 hours prior to the experiment, can't have had caffeine a few hours before either, can't have eaten in the last hour, can't be on most types of medication, can't be a smoker... etc. The waking up between 6am and 8am would be my biggest problem along with the no caffeine, so even I wouldn't participate in my experiment! I'm hoping at the beginning of next semester when all the keen beans (i.e., nerds) are excited about experiments, I will get more participants. In the mean time I've just been trying to write papers and parts of my thesis.

Spouses: I only have one of those, but things are going good! It's actually our one year wedding anniversary on Sunday - woohoo! Our main celebration was actually when we went to the Blue Mountains a few weeks ago, but we're still going to have a small celebration this weekend by going out to dinner Saturday, and some sort of outing Sunday (we're thinking the zoo). Since the first year is traditionally supposed to be paper, I have made a present which I will show you after my Husband's seen it. 

Silliness: Not too much in the way of silliness lately. At least on a large scale. You'll be happy to know I still manage to fit in a small amount of silliness into each day. Or if I can't manage it, sometimes Husband contributes which is nice - not that long ago he decided to show me he could jump backwards down the stairs (our apartment is at the top of three flights of stairs). I, more concerned than impressed, yelled out "don't" and at that exact moment he went tumbling down. Thankfully no trips to the hospital were required, just a slightly bruised ego.

Well there you have it. 

 

What have I missed/what have YOU been up to lately? 

Exciting News!

Well, for me anyway. I'm not sure how exciting you'll find this information, but it's my blog and I'll say what I want to hehe. It's also not so news-y for people who also follow me on twitter since I've already mentioned it there. But oh well. By the way, before I go any further I'd like to state NO I'm not pregnant.

Since I got back from New York earlier this year, I've been thinking it would be cool to go on a longer trip to the US, as New York is the only place I've been there, and Husband hasn't been at all. However it didn't seem like it would happen any time soon. Then yesterday morning I had a dream I was organising going and talking about which places to visit. When I woke up (at 4am mind you) I was very sad to find out it wasn't real. As Husband was getting up for work at the time (poor him) I sleepily asked him if we could go next year and to my surprise he said yes! So of course this meant it was extremely difficult to get back to sleep because I started calculating in my head how much money we'd need and could save, and my list of places we could go. I finally got back to sleep a bit after 7am. When I got up again a bit later, of course I wasn't really able to get much work done. I did however make an excel spreadsheet of the order of places I wanted to go to, and how many days at each place (yes, I know how nerdy this sounds).

"I want to go to there". [map from here]

Poor Husband when he got home from work got bombarded with all my plans. When I'm really excited about something I do seem to go a bit overboard and start organising right away (if only that excitement would return about uni work!). I've very begrudgingly nicely conceded however that he is welcome to think this through for himself and change my plans accordingly, since it's his trip too!

As it stands however we'll probably be going mid September next year, for nearly two months, getting back in time for Husband's brother's wedding in November. There is one potential glitch in this plan however - which is when will I be submitting my PhD thesis? I'm hoping that having a definite deadline of when I'm leaving the country will help me to actually finish up by then. As the time gets closer, I'll have to re-evaluate how likely this is. 

For now though, I should probably stop imagining all the places we might go, and get back to uni work, or maybe I won't be finished in time! I will post later on where we plan to go once Husband agrees with me helps decide our itinerary :P

Are you finished YET?

Seriously, how is it SEPTEMBER already! Where has the year gone?? Before I know it, it will be Christmas. It also means that it is nearly the end of the 3rd year of my PhD. Which is weird. In the last couple of weeks quite a few people have started to ask me the dreaded question: "So when do you think you will be finished?". I had actually hoped I could dodge that question for at least a few more months. I understand people are just asking out of interest (which is nice of course), but this is what I hear when I get asked that: "you SHOULD be finished soon - so hurry up!"

It's easy at this point to think about how much I haven't accomplished in this time - mostly due to some unexpected delays in running experiments (seriously, sign up 1st year psych students - I need participants!). The truth is however, in this time I still have actually learnt a lot. Just this week, I gave a lecture for the 3rd year Psych course, I submitted a paper to a journal (which is in a lot better shape that the last time I tried to submit it somewhere I think), and I also updated my C.V. and realised how much experience I've gained at teaching and presenting at conferences. The thing that surprised me the most, is actually how confident I have become that I am able to do these things, and that what I have to say is important. It definitely is also easy to just focus on the experiment/thesis side of things; but if you do that, you forget that a PhD is much more than that - it's an apprenticeship to becoming an academic. 

So although, no, I'm not ready to finish up very soon (probably another year I think), I can still be quite pleased with how much I've grown this past year. That makes it just that little bit easier to not freak out at the 'dreaded question', and look forward to what is to come.

Even still, I think I might purchase this shirt just in case.

Lie to Me

[I'm a bit sad this show was cancelled; source]

Unfortunately, lie detection isn't always as easy as it is made out to be on TV and in the movies. A lot of lie-detection methods aren't overly reliable, and as such many aren't admissible in court proceedings. However, at the conference I recently went to in New York (details here) I got to hear about some exciting lie-detection research that is very promising.

Early warning signs your child may turn into a nerd.

[via]

Rainier: (talking about the new movie he's in) My son returns from a fancy east coast college and I'm horrified to find he's a nerd.
Kent: Hahah, I'm laughing already.
Rainier: It's not a comedy. 

Case Study: L, started off as a seemingly normal child, but as time went on started to become a little too interested in spending all her time reading. Favourite books were those teaching about science, and often led to impromptu experiments such as making a barometer. Attempts to get her involved in sport were soon considered futile. Often claimed when she grew up she wanted to be a doctor. Her favourite poster was not of a celebrity, but of the solar system. Would often stay awake worrying about what was there before the universe started. Even though she received roller blades one Christmas, she turned out to be much more excited about the microscope set she had begged for. She could then be seen for hours outside collecting specimens (mostly leaves because bugs are gross), dissecting them, and staining them to look at under the microscope. There was a period of optimism once she became a teen that she would turn out normal (with a short duration of being interested in girly things like lip gloss and backstreet boys), but alas, these disappeared once she decided to read psychology textbooks for amusement. She is now a PhD candidate, and all hope is lost for her not being a nerd.

You too can buy a microscope set for your nerdy kid here. Though why encourage it, really.

As illustrated in this case study, you can see that the nerdiness only grew worse with time. It is important to recognise nerdy behaviours early on and act accordingly.  

Possible outcomes of having a nerd as a child may include: them having a PhD, winning a Nobel Prize, making millions of dollars from patenting an awesome idea ... scary stuff.

Cool and/or nerdy apps

Since I recently bought an iPad, and also own an iPhone (no apple did not sponsor this post) I thought I would mention a few apps that I think are pretty cool - but keep in mind that I am a giant nerd (and have never proclaimed otherwise). As such you may not find them as interesting as I do if you aren't as similarly nerdy. 

Star walk even works in daytime!

Star walk - hold the iPad up to the sky and it will tell you what constellations you're looking at! This app is extremely well made, and very fun to use. It is very pretty - everyone I show makes this noise: "ooooooooh" - but this app also is very clever and makes me feel like a back up career in astronomy is possible yet!

Pocketshrink - this one is specifically for iPhone. The point is that you can use these apps to diagnose yourself with 3 different disorders: ADHD, Panic disorder, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). I generally think using the internet or an app to diagnose yourself is a bit dodgy - however I actually know some of the people involved in developing it, so have reason to think it's fairly legit (Hint: if you're using your iPhone to check if you have NPD, and also at the same time using it as a mirror, you probably do have it hehe).

Ted - "riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world". Ted talks involve a huge variety of speakers on a wide range of topics, and are well worth watching if you want to be challenged, entertained, or amazed (or all of those). I was excited to find out Ted also comes in app form, so you can take it wherever you go and watch when you have a spare few minutes.

Wikipanion - Although I constantly warn the students I teach to never cite Wikipedia as a reference, I do actually use it a lot to start my search on a topic. Wikipanion makes this very easy when trying to search from my iPad. It is very easy to navigate, and quite intuitive. Much better than trying to search the website from the iPad or my phone. See also Howstuffworks - This app includes over 40 000 articles, and 12 000 videos, as well as quizzes. Informative and also amusing.

Brain Pro - The anatomy of the brain is simply amazing, and this is a great app to explore this. You can view the brain from different angles, at different depths, and using different brain slices. You can make little pins pop up on all the different brain areas (just like when I was in neuroanatomy in uni) and each pin will give you information about what that brain area does. There are also quizzes (that aren't easy I'll tell you that much!), not to mention that it's just really pretty. Awesome.

[pic via]

Some of these apps I've mentioned are free, and a couple are on the slightly pricey side, but I do think they are worth getting. As you can probably tell, I did go a bit app crazy, and my credit card definitely noticed! At least the ones I've mentioned are somewhat educational!

What are some cool and/or nerdy apps you think are worth checking out?

10 Reasons Why Doing a PhD is Awesome

1. Legitimate excuse to sit around discussing ideas

2. You get to research an area you're actually interested in

3. The expectation that you will travel to international conferences (often with the uni paying - woohoo!)

4. It's largely your own schedule (can choose when experiments are, when to tutor, when to get up even, when to work from home)

5. Funding: scholarships, research costs, travel

6. You're still considered an apprentice so you're not expected to know everything yet (phew).

7. Don't have to leave uni and be a grown up

8. Nobody cares (well I don't think anyway) if you wear comfy clothes every day

9. Everyone else in the PhD programme is just as nerdy as you so it becomes normal - you get to realise nerdiness can be cool

10. At the end you get to be called 'Dr' :D

[source]

The Husband Questionnaire

Even though my blog is 'science, spouses & silliness' I think I tend to focus on the silly part the most. So today instead I have decided to talk about the spouse part. While reading through a friend of mine's blog: Lord Girl - I came across a challenge (based on this website) to work at making my husband more of a priority. Obviously I think any successful relationship is a two-way street, but it's not going to work at all if I try to change his behaviour instead of looking closely at my own. But of course I had to put my own psych spin on it and have thus come up with my own questionnaire for him to fill out: The [husband's name] Questionnaire.

Here are a sample of some of the questions:

As if I didn't already know what he'd like me to cook!

• What are your favourites out of the meals I've cooked?
• What are some meals you'd like me to try cooking for you?
• What things do I do that make you feel the most respected?
• What things can we do to make our house a haven?

Also I wrote a list of things I do in our house and relationship and have asked him to rank order them in terms of importance so I know which I should prioritise. For example, there is no point in me spending ages cooking elaborate meals for him every day, if say he'd really just prefer I use that time to spend with him!

A true psych questionnaire requires administering it to many many people to be able to do statistics on what the average person is like. However in this case I don't care about the average person - just my husband (who could be a total outlier for all I know)! Though I do think that I can check test-retest reliability by asking the same questions again in a year's time haha. However priorities do change so the reliability might be low too but that's ok!

Gosh I am just unable to escape being a nerd, hey.

Something Cheerful.

I have been a bit mopey of late, not due to anything particularly serious, more just a combination of a couple of small things - such as my paper for my first experiment being rejected by a second journal. However I don't particularly want a blog of complaints, so instead I choose to focus on a few of the things that made me smile this week:

[source]

• Babies. My friend gave birth on Friday night and yesterday Husband and I had the privilege of going to meet this new little person in hospital. It still astounds me how one day someone just has a big stomach and the next time you see them they are holding a baby (obviously a lot of pain occurs in the mean time, but the result is pretty good!). You know what gets me every time? Seeing their tiny tiny fingernails. I don't know why but it just makes me marvel at how amazing the human body is.
• Seeing knights at uni. During O-Week (orientation at the start of semester) there are a lot of stalls for people to join various clubs and societies. I was particularly amused by the Quidditch Club and the silent disco. Also seeing the knights getting ready for a fight (I'm assuming Medieval Society) was fun. It's days like these that I really enjoy being at my uni. 
• Smells. Nice ones obviously. I came across this article about a group of people who are trying to recreate smells of the past. Interested in what type of perfume Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut wore 3500 years ago? They're working on it. Awesome.
• Fingerprint scanners that can stop Zombies getting in. Very clever!
• Walking on the beach. There is a beach a bit over 20 minutes walk from my house. Yesterday was a lovely clear day and a good friend and I went for a long walk. It was great to catch up, and to see blue everywhere (my favourite colour). Thankfully my knees are also a lot better than they were so walking was fine (I'm ignoring the part where I got a giant blister hehe).

[source]

 

...why was I grumpy again?? :P

What makes you smile when you're grumpy? I'd be happy to think about more cheerful stuff!

P.S. Check out this website: 1000 awesome things. Always cheerful.

If I believed in past lives...

London

I'd probably say my lives all must have taken place in the UK. It's difficult to explain, but even though I've only been there twice, for about 3 weeks total, I often feel pangs of home sickness for it. Looking at pictures of England, remembering my trips there, and watching certain TV shows (e.g. Time Team), make me miss it badly.

Windsor Castle

In particular, I love the history. One of the best things we did in London was the Jack the Ripper tour. While quite gruesome, learning about all the gory details, I loved hearing about London back in the 1800s. It's probably also why Sherlock Holmes is one of my favourite movies (also check out the Sherlock Holmes Pub in London - pretty cool). More than that though, I love the castles.  Some of my favourite places so far in the UK are Windsor Castle in England, and Cardiff Castle in Wales. One of my 30 things before 30 goals is to visit more castles. If I had the time, I would spend ages researching ancient and medieval history from that area. In fact, one of my favourite subjects and the best mark I ever got for an assignment at uni was actually for the medieval history course I did (so why you ask, did I do a science degree and am currently doing a science-based PhD? Well that's a story for another time). I almost considered joining the medieval society at uni (nerd alert!), however the guy I was speaking to about it was just a bit too into it that it creeped me out. I also tried to convince Husband that we should get married in medieval attire, but he didn't really go for it (though I almost got him to agree when I said he could wear a suit of armour)! Maybe this is a little sad to admit, but hearing the icecream man truck go past (which in Sydney plays Greensleeves) also makes me a little nostalgic. 
 

Awesome Stonehenge

When Husband and I went to the UK as part of our honeymoon in November, it was freezing. Call me crazy but I have to say I actually like the cold weather and much prefer it to Sydney's heat. In fact my two favourite days while over there, (visiting Windsor, Stonehenge, & Bath; and going to Cardiff Castle) were the two coldest days of my entire life. It actually snowed in Cardiff while we were there and it was amazing.

 

Snow at Cardiff Castle

So how come we don't move there? Well to be honest, I've thought about it. Perhaps as a post-doc after my PhD (which is usually 2-3 years in length). Husband even said he wouldn't mind. However at the same time, my whole life is here in Sydney (family, friends, church...).

So for now I'll just have to dream, and somehow organise nearly every future trip to involve a stop there.

Sigh.