Things I am looking forward to:

karate class

potentially being in a gospel choir again

finishing second-year biology (so much bloody memory work)

Things I am not looking forward to:

so much bloody memory work

searching for a job

not being around kids much

Hello there,
It's been a while, mostly because I've been busy and life has actually been interesting (I tend to write when I'm bored/have time to think). I wanted to give an update, but I'm not really allowed to talk much about work on here. Suffice to say, I am learning a lot about leading people.. The kids arrive on Monday - we have about 17-18 signed up. I am TIRED already! Ahhhhhh! I think I'm gonna look for a less crazy job in September.

Been taking bio - I love my one course - ecology/anatomy. Not so much into cell biology (it is really complicated). Today I have to write up my two major assignments.

I got myself published :) It is just a fairly straightforward little article about someone in one of our programs. I'm still working on my short story.. actually not very actively working, but I showed it to a great friend and got some advice about it.

That's about it. I haven't completed much else on my bucket list. I might learn how to juggle next.

music, writing, waxing, animal murder

I bought Dark Side of the Moon a week ago and listened to it with my Dad. He told me that my Uncle Steve has the original album on record! Crazy, eh? This is something I probably never would have known if I hadn't bought the album myself, and is confirmation to me that I am doing the right thing with this whole "project." I enjoyed the album itself. It got me thinking about Abbey Road and all the conceptual stuff that has come out of there. I've been there - it is such a normal place, but it has significantly changed the paths of music time and time again. I wonder if this is a British thing - or something unique to Abbey Road.. or both. I think I can tell from the music that Pink Floyd was using drugs that speed up the mind (rather than the slow stuff the Beatles were on). I wondered while listening: is it possible to come up with crazy things without being on anything? :)

This week I am working on a short story to submit to a contest. I need help with editing it - I haven't really done this sort of creative writing since high school, and I want to make sure I avoid cliches or amature mistakes. Would anyone be interested in reading it?
This week I am also going to wax my legs for the first time. Bought the stuff already - the instructions have instilled in me a great fear! But it must be done.

Finally, I have added a new thing to my list. People always ask me if I am vegetarian (I think because of my hippie vibe thing). I am not, and I always say that my belief is that if you are going to eat meat you have to be willing to kill and prepare it yourself. I've never done this before. I've never even gone fishing. So this summer I want to see if I am capable of this. I'm not sure how to go about this. I think I would like to start with a chicken because it is small and I eat it the most. Does anyone know of a chicken farm where I could do this? I think this would be a really challenging and important addition to my list.

Tall, Dark and Mongolian

Today: finished Pride and Prejudice and had Mongolian Hot Pot :D

I've had an aversion to Jane Austen for many years due to my love of Russian Lit. Tolstoy has always seemed superior to Austen and I never tried to get past the first chapter or two of P&P. Two things about Austen:
I was surprised to find that I really liked it - enough that I think I'll read the rest of her stuff. She is good at explaining how people are feeling. And I like her sense of humour.
Secondly, Darcy is really overrated. Not that he isn't a good guy, but I'm pretty certain most girls in reality would find this kind of guy boring and awkward. All my life I've heard fellow ladies rattle on and on about how they want to find their Darcy. They don't. They want charisma. They want Wickham. I think I want a cross between the two. Someone who's willing to throw caution to the winds and run away, but who decides to get married first.

Mongolian Hot Pot! Wow! Great stuff. Kind of like Korean Hot Pot. If you've never had either, I will take you out for it :D
In short, everyone is given their own pot of soup stock and there is an all you can eat buffet of stuff (vegetables, fish, tofu, noodles, dumplings etc) to put in your soup (which is boiling on a mini cooker in front of you). And they give you plates of thinly sliced uncooked meat which goes in as well. Amazing! Dinner takes the whole evening and you kind of make it up as you go along... Made me realize I know very little about Mongolia and so Wikipedia, here I come...

This whole experiencing new things has truly inspired me and made me all happy and excited about life. I am currently perfecting my list - everyone I talk to gives me suggestions, so it is getting longer. I just found out today that this is called a Bucket List. Somehow never heard that term before.

First ever visit to burger king today.
First ever real heart palpatations this evening.

life to the full

I've been listening to this BBC radio programme online recently, called "I've never seen star wars." The idea is that famous comedians come on to the show and try a bunch of things they've never done before. It's inspired me to start on a list of my never befores. Which I will try to fulfill over the summer.
- eaten a big mac
- waxed anything
- driven. car or motorcycle
- listened to: Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, Joni Mitchell...
- actually, looking at the Rolling Stone top 100 albums, I've missed out on a lot. I think I will try to listen to the top 15-20 this summer. Also willing to take suggestions.
I have this sort of laissez-faire approach to music.. which means I've also never been to a genuine rock concert, I mean one with good bands. I've never been to an opera either.
- tatoo
- bought alcohol for later use (I know this sounds weird..what to say)
- read: War and Peace, any Jane Austen, Meine Kampf
- seen: Titanic (the whole way through), Chinatown, Pulp Fiction, Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

That's the list so far.

I've sort of been inspired to go to this tomorrow night, but I have no one to go with so far. Anyone interested?