7.000!

Yay! Today this blog passed 7.000 pageviews!

And then back to reality. Right now I feel that as soon as I've adjusted to a certain work rhythm, one that helps me get things done on time and feel in control of things, right about then, something more will come up. Ironically, at the same time I know that this is the speed and workload  should have stuck to from the beginning ( when I started studying), had I wanted to finish in five years, like you are supposed to. I still can't imagine how that would have been possible. Maybe if I had not changed my major...

It's now set: I'll be attending the Vaasa course this weekend. It will be interesting, the least. On the upside, I didn't have to take time off work to do this, as incoming Saturday is a red day, meaning my workday has been shifted to Friday. But the downside of this is that I'll be going straight from work to riding up to Vaasa in a  crowded car, to attend two days of heavy karate practise. Then return on Sunday night -no rest for the wicked.

Twitter, authors and other things linked to writing

I noticed an interesting thing about my using twitter. On facebook I'll follow (or "like") bands or artists, but on twitter I'm already making a habit out of following my favourite authors. A surprising amount of authors have twitter accounts, not only the youngest, and tend to write much more interesting tweets than most of us.

Speaking of such, I just re-read Atwood's Moral Disorder for the n:t time. It is obviously just one of those books I can return to time and time again, finding new aspects with every reading. I also, pathetic as it may sound, found myself missing some of the characters after I had finished it. So I felt like doing another All-time-favourite post.

Today, I've been trying to finish an essay for the Academic English course, on the subject of adoptive rights of (or for) same-sex couples. The essay doesn't need to be long, and the subject has been interesting to work with, but now I'm just stuck. As I mentioned earlier, one downside of the English course is that I now ten to over-focus on how I write, no less knowing that my writing will be marked and graded. This, of course, slows me down even more (than the procrastination is already doing). And the deadline is tomorrow night. I hate when this happens. (It does, most times.)

Friday and still alive

This has been a busy week! Especially since I missed one workday by chosing to return to Turku on Monday night. But I'm happy with what I've achieved during the week, and for once I'm still on schedule (or I hope I am!) with every project I''m working on at the moment.

I spent last weekend in my hometown, the official excuse being the birthday of a friend. It was very nice to spend time with some of my oldest friends - I do miss them a lot in Turku and wish I could see them much more often! - and so the weekend sadly just flew by. Had lots of fun, though!

The courses I'm taking now are still inspiring, but also loads of work. There are assignments every week, as opposed to that one essay or exam bythe end of the period, as I'm used to. But I think this works for me, at least it stops me from procrastinating too much. Also, I've been rising early in the mornings again, which is good but means I'm close to constantly sleepy. But it does give yo more time to finish things!

Today, I had a first meeting with my professor about my master's thesis (to be), and after some kind suggestions and a bit of discusion we seem to have found something for me to work on, without me trailing off too far from what I did (am doing) for my bachelor's. You're not in any way obliged to stick to the same area, but it does make life just that much easier if you chose to do so.

Its now Friday, and the first snow fell last night. I like it. Wish I could sleep in tomorrow, but it's a normal work-day Saturday.

Mid-week brain-emptying

So I didn't finish the assignment on time (is anyone surprised at this?) but did so today. On to the next one, then. I'm very relieved by the fact that the two web-based courses I'm taking at the moment both have assignment deadlines two weeks apart but placed so that they have every other weekend - one assignment to finish per week. Makes life easier, indeed.

It was nice to have the weekend off, but it didn't seem to be enough for me. Still tired. The darkness makes it even harder for me to get up in the mornings. And as soon as I stop working I get sleepy. Or maybe it did help a bit. Now that I think of it, I've actually been quite effective this week! (so far. It's only Wednesday, after all.) So OK, a brief pause to load the old mental batteries, but could have taken some more of it.

I'm also tired of being broke all of the time, it would be so nice to be able to do or have something extra every once in a while.

Got a few people to show some interest in this year's Christmas party planning-project, good! It's lots of fun but I won't have neither time nor energy to do too much myself this year, so I'll seriously have to remember to delegate. I'll miss out on part of the event myself, as the three-hour exam of my English course is the same day. Oh, joy. The Christmas party normally consists of 3 + 3 hours of practice in the day, followed by a dinner party in the evening. I hope to still be able to attend both the afternoon session and dinner.

Now home for more sleep. Need more loading for tomorrow.

Saturday morning

On Thursday I finally managed to get my ass over to practice on time. It was great fun to be back, there was one more beginner I had not met before and several returners too (people who have practiced with us before but disappeared). I can't remember when last we would have been this many there at one time! Very happy to see this activity.

As I probably mentioned before,  I'll have this weekend off. There was something I had planned to attend but had to decline so suddenly there was a free weekend with no planned events at all. So far it's been wonderful! I loved being able to enjoy a Saturday morning knowing I don't have to go to work. I didn't stay in bed too long, but have been really lazy for most of the day. On the other hand, maybe this means I'll have the energy to start doing things again tomorrow (and if not, I'll still have to). Feels like I needed this anyway. Have done some sketching and done a bit of cleaning up around my apartment, and will probably do more of the same tomorrow. There is a writing assignment (English) to finish, but I just have to find the time for that, too.

To finish it off today, here's one more post worth reading from the zenhabits blog! Enjoy.

On blogging and longing for a vacation

At uni again, and actually working (or... umm...  was doing that until now.) I am taking some quite interesting courses right now, which makes it easier for me to put down the effort. One of them (and this might be one of the most interesting courses I've taken in a long time) is Blogriot versus feminism, just started, where we look at many of the phenomenons around blogging - who does it, to whom, self imaging etc. It's been fun to try analyze other peoples blogs, and very inspiring, but at the same time it makes me realise how... well, boring my own blog can be. I know that this blog doesn't follow any kind of theme, for example. But I'm still holding on to the idea of keeping this one as the "free/unbound" blog, where I can just allow things to appear, grow or die without trying to shape it too much. I do plan to post more pictures, though. Just haven't  allowed myself the time. (And no, I dont own an iphone.) I have probably mentioned my other blog over at tumblr? OK, I know I have. It would in a way have more "potential", if I could just get it out and start updating regularly. I still have no clue at all why I don't. I had actually planned to do so tonight, but now that I've got this far I'm already to tired. Basically nodding off in my chair. Will be heading home soon.

 I think my biggest overall problem at the moment is how tired I've been recently. And with that I mean constantly tired. I wonder if a weekend off again would do me good, or if I should focus more on my eating habits..? Been lots of tea and sweets lately.

And it  looks like I might have an extra weekend off very soon. I asked my job for a free weekend as soon as I heard about the upcoming Estonian course, but the chances of me actually attending are very, very slim. Normally it would bother me to know I'm "wasting" a  weekend off (without having a program or other "good" excuse) but I'm growing more and more fond of the thought even as I write this.

Oh, and the beginners course started well! I think there were about ten new people on the first session, and I'm very happy with that. There might also still be some people showing up later. Unfortunately I missed the second session (I was late, no better reason) but will be all the more excited to see what things look like next Tuesday.

Listening to: Bob Dylan

Premiere tonight!

Sitting in a computer class at uni pretending to work again. I did get some work done, but realized I didn't fully understand the task, so had to email the lecturer. And now I don't know what to do. Tonight's karate session starts in just under 50 minutes, so there's really no time to get started with anything new.Tried to look for something to write about on my other blog but couldn't find anything I felt like commenting on. So typically me, now that I'd finally had the perfect time to do it.

Tonight is our first session of this year's beginner's course. I'm quite excited about this, but honestly also a bit worried. I've heard from very few karate-curious people compared to last year. Of course I still hope that we'll still have at least the normal amount of new guys showing up at practise tonight, and that they've just been less prone to ask about us. And not all people who contacted us last year showed up, by far. But I'll also always react like this, if I've been involved in the advertising. I know it'll be good once I'm there!

Now listening to: Deep Purple. 8-)