24 hours of a second hand book sale

Sorry about the hiatus. Busyness mostly. So what O great things do I have to divulge and share amongst the crowds that gather?

Last Friday (I know its a week ago but I really have some catching up to do) I brought 16 second hand books from the Regent 24 hour book sale, hehehehe I got a bit carried away, lucky my flatmate Dan showed up so I dumped them in his car, which saved me carrying them home on my bike. Which actually I wouldn’t have even been able to do because I locked my back-pack into the Wellcome Institute. This happened because I lostified my student ID card, which has the swipeable power needed to access the building, gosh. I lost it at the sale. Arg I stood at the door completely devoid of swiping power and thought... should I go back and look for it? – at the sale where lots of people are, or should I just get a new one and come back for my bag on Monday? The last option seemed easier cause I didnt feel like biking back to the Octagon but I got over it and went back for a hunt. I did nay find it. Two days latter this guy called Sam Benton (who no lives in a different City/Island to me not to mention universe) txt’s me to say that Thida has my ID card. Ha so cool I was quite happy about that. Turns out Thida’s flat0 mate found it in the Octagon and totally recognized my good looks. So Im stoked that someone who knew me found it I mean what are the possibilities! Plus I dont even know the guy that well but meet him last year, so lucky Thida is cool enough that he wanted to still be her flatmate this year! And Lucky Sam is cool enough that Thida has his phone number and I am cool enough that Sam has mine and your cool I guess for reading all about this. *Lucky*. It all just worked out in a web of coolness that I know and you know and together we know. Thanks god.

So 16 books I hear you marvel. Yes I respond intelligently... I mean modestly.

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), read it in 7th form its great.
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen), Its almost time to give Jane Austen another shot
Doctor Zhivago (Boris Pasternak), the movie is awesome but sad at times, im scared cause it will be an emotional read.
Songs from Robert Burns, ummm he lives in the Octagon
Twelfth Night (Shakespeare), it is such a cute edition
Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare), read this in 6th form its very clever
The War Of The Worlds (H.G. Wells), classic SciFi plus it looks short, yesssssss.
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), give me a break it was only $1.50
The Romantic Poets (An Anthology), not really me but Ill give it a go
A Passage to India (E.M. Forster), sounds like an adventure - which were the staple of my childhood reading.
Vanity Fair (W.M. Thackeray), umm could be O.K.
The Voyage of the Beagle (Charles Darwin), could be interesting as a scientist, though it could also be really boring.
Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott), herd this is a real classic, looks hard to read though
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf), ah so good have wanted to own it since I read it last year.
The Way of All Flesh (Samuel Butler), never herd of it but sounds like there might be a morale to the story... hopefully
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens), a cool first paragraph is enough to interest me.

Heck I dont know if Im going to read them all but they were soooo cheap I just decided to buy anything that looked interesting. Most of them cost $1.50, because I went upstairs to the expensive section, these ones were all from a series of great writers and were in hard back, at a normal 2nd hand store they would cost between $6 and $12. There was a volunteer guy upstairs who was really helpful I told him I was looking for literature and he just kept searching up and down the isle and bringing me books! I think the girl beside me was jealous of my Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. A few of the others I got were 50c which is what most of the books at the sale cost. Such a bargain. Even if I dont read all of them at least our flat book shelf looks super impressive now.

In my Hot new pants

I crashed into a girl whilst on my bike, I was turning into a driveway and she was walking along the foot path then she stopped, just stopped and had a good old google at I don’t know what. Maybe I was expecting too much but I thought she was going to keep walking. It seems her expectations were different to mine and she stopped. Luckily I didn’t really crash full on into her, I just hit her back pack and shoved her over a couple of steps, nothing serious she didn’t get hurt or fall over. She did give out a squeal and her friend (who had actually kept walking and was about two meters away – where she should be!) gave me the evils. I apologised and said that I hadn’t expected her to stop. Maybe I was just blame shifting but I didn’t want here to think I did it on purpose! We both weren’t very happy with each other but went on our ways without a fuss. When I told one of the lab technicians about the incident I got right told off. I was told that if that girl wanted to stop on the foot path then she had the right to do that. I thought that was a good call so decided to accept the blame for not giving her enough room. Heck I still don’t know what she stopped to gawk at. Hope it was worth it. Am I a danger to the community? Dogs and daydreamers beware!

Today I brought some new jeans. I have been meaning to for a while because all but 1 of my jeans are ripped at the knees. A couple of weeks ago I was wearing some pants and realised that they made me feel UGLY. They were just way too big for me, I really suck when it comes to getting the right fitting size. Last year I got some socks and undines without looking at the size! They were too small I just gave them away. Also on the topic of UGLY, there was a situation a couple of weeks ago where I needed old clothes, so I took a couple of old T-shirts to this situation. When I put the first one on and looked in the mirror I actually exclaimed out loud “God this must be the UGLIEST shirt in the WHOLE WORLD!!” It was horrifying to think that I actually ever worn it. Uhhh it was sooooo baggy, and the sleeves, oh the sleeves! They went to my elbows! Ahhhhh it was so horrible. It wasn’t even worthy of being used in an old clothes situation. Oh and it was V neck, which is not so bad but really didn’t work with the whole baggyness. Its OK though because I don’t have to wear it and haven’t for along time. Plus now I have some Hot new pants, so I don’t have to wear my ripped jeans (as much) and UGLY green pants can just be for old clothes situations. Its funny how putting on a different pair of pants can switch me from feeling UGLY to feeling HOT. Sorry but they do, well for the moment… until they to become the UGLIEST things ive ever seen. Why do we play this fickle game? I mean I actually don’t try to play the keeping up with fashion game, but somehow it still manages to afflict me with its judgments of cool and uncoolness. Infiltrating its way into my confidence in how I look.

Thanks Sam and Mel for the encouraging comments! I have to say im not out of the place that I wrote about in my previous post, but this is not a new place for me. It’s a place of facing a sense of current and past failure as well as impending failure every day. Its inspite of this still hoping that the future will be different. Its realising that when im discouraged I tend to procrastinate and so have to constantly structure my time to avoid wasting it. Its re-assessing my expectations that were too high and seeing success in reality. Its remembering the big picture, why I’m doing this research. Its hearing from god that he is taking me through this hard time so that I can be prepared for the future. There is a purpose. He has not thrown me away. The battle is remembering and believing these things.

Disappointment and Hope

Ya know I really do struggle to come up with blogs these days. Its Sunday and it seems that Sunday is when I leave blog writing till because Its my day off real work. This morning Pastor Mike0 preached on sowing and reaping it was funny and true and also timely because I have been thinking a little about this subject recently. Mostly in that my relationship with god is not where I want it to be because I don’t really give it the time and focus it needs to develop. Im looking forward to Dan’s sermon tonight which is about desiring god.

I feel like I need some rest, some stillness.

Im glad that I can see my research is going to wrap up soon, so that I can start writing my thesis. I do fear though that I might not make it in time for August graduation. Which would be terrible because my parents already have flights down! I really hope that the writing process will go smoothly and that the marking will be done in time for August. I think I will need gods help to make this happen. There are so many experiments I wanted to do but never got done. But I have been doing this for long enough now and I have to stop somewhere. I should have enough to write about anyway. Still its hard to not feel like a failure. Oh science you illustrious wonder that sucked me in with all your glory and beat me down by confusing the truth and drained my passion with your countless obstacles. Sometimes you have to accept the disappointment and not let it become discouragement which is a terrible scourge of productivity. If I could do this all again I would do so much differently! I guess that is a good thing, at least I have learnt a lot. I have had a taste of what doing a PhD might be like. Not easy that’s what! And at least being a Christian I can find hope in god, if only I would find it more often! Hope is very helpful.

And then...

Poll results for: Which tastes better…

36% Marmite
14% Vegemite
9% They are equally good
41% Both are disgusting

Clearly Marmite is the better in the majority of opinion. Though im sure if you like Vegemite that wont phase you too much, you have probably felt like the underdog all your life oh well don’t take it too hard its just a spread. What’s up with all the people who think they both are disgusting! That’s certainly more haters than I predicted. And really I don’t know what to say to those two people who like both! Before I meet my flatmate Jared I didn’t believe anyone was in this category. Though I guess its not a bad position to be in, you can be easily satisfied with either, and you wont have to offend any Vegemite lovers when caught in a vegemite or nothing situation. Still it just feels wrong.

The newest poll is inspired by a post on Nam’s blog and also because I had apple crumble last night that was really really good (made by the Kevin Tay).

Today I have been playing with the confocal microscope which I just learnt to use yesterday it has been fun. I have gotten some good photos of my cells, and hopefully Ill be able to get even better ones when I go back on Friday.

Now I am off to lifegroup (Dan’s one) which is $2 burger and chips at the cook (seems to cheap to be true) and then Combined prayer meeting at Apo. and then I shall go to Scotts and watch Lost and on the way I will pick up my N64 (which is actually my brothers) which I lent to Stevo’s flat. and then I will come home and do some reading and then I will go to bed and then I will fall asleep and then I shall awake and then it will be Thursday. woop woop.