Things I can't find in England

Cheerios without sugar coating and non-thong undies. I'll never understand the female fascination with underwear made out of dental floss;) Seriously, I have to do some power shopping just to find panties that cover my boo-tay.

Boycott the Salvation Army, not Target

There has been a lot of talk over the past few years about Target not allowing the Salvation Army to collect outside of their stores. I've always been in full support if this as 1) I don't like to be solicited by charities and 2) After working for a non-profit organization and seeing how much of donations are wasted and/or spent unwisely, in the future, I will only give time, and not money. It turns out, however, that part of the reason Target will not allow the Salvation Army to solicit on their property is that the SA is an anti-gay organization in that they won't allow any sexually active gays & lesbians to work for them. Go Target!

Cracking a mental block

I have been sitting in front of the computer for the last three days avoiding working on a presentation I have to give next week. It's been driving me nuts. Was just having a serious mental block towards the project itself. It includes a lot of marketing models that I find a have a hard time with, as they require some kind of brain functioning that just stops me in my tracks. So, last night (and this is cheesy) I took a post-it note, wrote "Just Do It!" and stuck it to my desk. I spent part of this morning procrastinating, but just started on it again now. I did have quite a bit of background work done, so it shouldn't be too hard. I find it very difficult to put a lot of work into projects here and only get mediocre grades back. The reward doesn't seem to equal the effort, and I'm not sure if it can just be put down to this being an entirely new subject area and way of researching than I'm used to or what. Anyhoo, back to...Tourism Australia.

What do you think?

Copied from a post on www.waiterrant.net:

"Nothing’s more dangerous than a girl under the age of twenty five. That’s not a misogynistic statement mind you. It’s just a fact. Ask any guy over thirty. For that matter, ask any girl."

Thoughts? Why is the age of 25 important? When did things change for you? Do you know what he means? Or is this the rambling of an old fill-in-the-blank?

Modified to add: I think this one much better, from the next post:

"Sometimes men and women get hung up on each other’s sharp edges.
But sometimes they get hung up on each other."

Things I'm looking forward to....

when I go home for a week in April:

• Good food and American sized portions!!! Mexican, Ethiopian, and who knows what else.
• A good haircut that doesn't cost me $80 and lasts more than a month
• Driving:)
• A nice hot bath
• A proper pedicure in a massaging chair with a whirlpool tub (possibly...)
• The usual...seeing friends, family and cat

Dreams and holidays

Just woke up from a dream that a couple classmates and I hopped on a plane to go to Belfast for the day. I was really excited until I realized upon arrival that I couldn't find one of my shoes and for some reason couldn't get out of the airport (one of those immobility due to freezing type dreams). Anyhoo, the excited to be able to travel quickly to different countries part was pleasant. I have a list of places I'd like to go while here, although I know I won't have the time or money to do all. They include:

• Prague (will be checked off the list in April)
• Brussels
• Paris (been twice, but it's a repeat visit destination for sure!)
• Northern Ireland, including bits of ROI I haven't been to before, such as Donegal and the Aran Islands
• Isle of Man (found a good article on it while researching a presentation yesterday...how I get sidetracked!)
• Perhaps a quick weekend trip to Cornwall
• Maybe: Spain, Greece (although these almost definitely won't fit into my time/budget here)

Happy March!

I can't believe it's time for spring to be appraoching. I've been in England six months today and while the time has gone fast in a sense, it sure seems as though I've been here a long time. It's been stressful on occasion, but the good far outweighs the bad. I don't think my life could be going better as I approach 30. I'm well on my way to completing an MA, I've made some excellent new friends and met a fantastic man, have travelled to a few new places, and more are on the way. Who knows what's next...other than sunshine and warmer weather!

And speaking of marching, our university's tutors will be going on strike next week, as will many others at other universities in the UK. At the moment, they only have one day of picketing planned, but who knows. The strike is over (lack of) fair pay increases and the students have the opportunity to go out and support them on the picket line, so a few of us will be there.

Blog etiquette and bowling

Was just about to post about Friday's night out bowling with classmates and tutors, and then thinking about whether or not it is ok to post pics of other people on your blog without asking them first. I guess in this day and age of technology, one would assume pics of themselves might end up on the net, but what is the etiquette around these things I wonder. Regardless, here are some pics...if anyone is sensitive about having their pic up, I'm sure they'll let me know;)

Finally got a good grade back. Got a 68 in Marketing; looking forward to having the paper returned with some feedback. That one was a real bitch to complete, so glad it was worth something in the end. As much as I say I don't care about my marks, well...it is nice to get a good one;) Also found out that some of my frustrations/concerns around my dissertation research may be unfounded and got some research done on a presentation due in a couple of weeks, so today ended up a productive day:)

What's the big deal anyway?

Ok, so a United Arab Emirates company who has bought out a British company will now run several port authorities, which were not even in control of the USA previously. Why does everyone have their panties in a bunch over this? It's a bit mystifying to me and smacks of paranoia and racism, to my mind. When are people going to realize that just because a select group of people from one nation, religion, etc commit an atrocity that this does not mean the majority should be punished or perceived as a threat? What are they going to do next, put all the Arabs in the US in relocation camps??

Bugger

I'm itching to listen to a CD that has gone missing:( If you're not familiar with the Magnetic Fields, they're a great Canadian band well worth a listen. A bit folksy, a bit cheesy, but fantastic. Must remember to purchase vol 2 of the set I have when I come home (cheaper there!).

Killing time procrastinating on finishing my dissertation proposal. Oy vey, I think an MA in English lit would be so much easier than all this research on tourism. Give me Camus or Lessing over this any day!!!