Birthday.

Ok. My brain says it's breaktime. According to the scent coming from the vent, someone's frying sausages or something like that. I'm not hungry, as I've already filled my stomach with Chinese green tea. That variety is kinda interesting, really. It has a sort of faint smell of seaweed. Not really a flavor you associate with tea, but still tastes good. I've got the song O Fortuna in my head these past few hours, and considering the hectic schedule I've had lately, I can definitely see a connection between these two...

So anyway, as I had a little get-together with a handful of my friends yesterday (I'll have another one with my family tomorrow), I didn't feel any guilt in studying today. Besides, I don't have that much time left for my 3 upcoming deadlines.

Hokai. Here goes. I've got my final Translation hand-in on Tuesday. I'm virtually done with it now, so it's just a matter of touching up the word count and sending it to the professor. One thorn taken away from my side. Now two to go.

I've got an exam-qualifying test on Wednesday in Hispan.Lit. (*shivers*) which I've been studying for all day. I also need to get a few things on the clear about that test, and as the professor told us we could email him if we did have any questions, of course I did last Thursday. He hasn't answered yet, so I figure I'm gonna go to his office on Monday to get everything straight. Mind you, strangely enough I had that same problem in handing in the manuscript for me and a classmate's oral presentation in that same subject. We'd emailed it to him as requested, but it appears that he hasn't received it. I have no clue what's going on, as for many of the other students, they haven't had that same problem. We'd used two different email addresses, and still he hasn't received it.

Note to self: Bring memory stick on Monday.

And then there's an essay in Spanish Pragmatics that I have to hand in the following Monday. And as the topic is relatively broad and we have to make our own investigation, I have no clue where to start seeing as I have so many other things to juggle at the same time. Agay (as in the Filipino word for "ouch"). I've got time, though, and technically speaking I don't have to hand in a complete one, as I'll have enough time to run through all of my assignments for the final hand-in on June 3rd. And then there's exam reviewing - my first 2 exams will start exactly one month from now and I really should start like RIGHT NOW... Oh well.

Sorry about this ranting, I just had to let it out. Things have been really hectic lately, resulting in me neglecting many of my friends. My deepest, sincerest apologies, but this semester is one of those ones where you just plunge into it and not really getting much of a chance to get to the surface to get some air.

Anywho, for all the birthday wishes I've already received, thank you so much - you guys really made my day! :-D Just some bright spots on my cell phone and on fb (metaphorically speaking, obv.) sort of scattered all throughout the day and evening out the dreary business of studying. I really, really appreciate it!

My, aren't we speaking in metaphors today, btw? ;-) I always get like this when I've spent a whole day studying. And this day has gone by so fast, it's almost scary!

So yeah. Awesome. Just feels like any other day, really. I woke up this morning thinking about all the things I was going to do to today and about 2 minutes later I finally remember it's my birthday. It's never taken this long before. Just goes to show how busy I am these days, I guess. But although I'm busy, I really enjoy the stuff I'm doing. I mean, I can sit here trying to sort through my texts of Don Quijote and not realize I've spent 3 hours already. Of course it depends really on how much you get to read in that period of time. If we're talking about 3-4 chapters including a few small breaks inbetween, that's good. If we're talking about one sole chapter - not as good.

Anywho, my nerdy self is definitely shining through in this post. Yarr. Besides, I'm getting tired of sitting here. My butt's getting sore now. Time to stretch and get away from this stuff, as I get a clear "NO MORE!" from my brain. And said butt.

And to top this post off, here's a clip from one of my all-time favorite comedians, Craig Ferguson. Host of the Late Late Show - and he's SCOTTISH!!! For those who know my fascination for Scottish accents (yes, there's more than one!), this should come as no surprise. He's officially American now, though. But he still has that pizzazz to him that some American comedians lack. That little Monty-Python-esque, random-y touch that I love so dearly. Anyway, here he is. This is a somewhat long clip (about 7 mins, I think), but to me it's well worth watching!





Signing off (contently),
Elise

A little exam prep relaxation.

It's almost Christmas, so it's high time that I post a Christmas vid here. Found this treasure just now. And yes, it's with Scottish sock puppets.



I'll let this vid speak for itself, as I am too tired to elaborate on it. :-)


Signing off (*zzz*),
Elise

*pants*

More... time... please... Lord...

2 study groups today. Hispan. Lit. Need to know when the authors/poets lived. Literary eras.

Systemic Functional Grammar. Need to get definitions sorted. Know how to analyze, describe problems in analysis. Beneficiary? Receiver? Target? Scope? Range? Difference between these, please???

I need more energy. I need more time. 2 days (plus the rest of this evening) before the double Judgment Day.

I'm tired yet slightly panicky (well, not exactly panicky, but neurotic nonetheless; I always am, but this time a little more than usual). A slightly unfortunate combo.

Ayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayay. Ayúdame, por favoooooor.

Time is ticking out. And I'm not sure if I like it. I'll like the aftermath of this double Judgment Day, but for now I need to make sure I know it all to be able to survive it and not run away screaming like a maniac. Or, alternatively, crying like a baby. Either reaction is NOT good. In fact both are negative inscribed appraisal, i.e. bad. Uy.

Enough whining already. Pucker up.


Signing off (whimpering),
Elise

Exam theme song? Whatthe... huh?

Long time, no blog. Let's just say I've been really quite busy these past few weeks. I started with my exam reviewing in the beginning of this month and feel rather good about that, as my first exams will be on Dec. 4. Uy. So, where's my confidence at? My reply in this case would be "no comment". A great big part of me just wants to get this over and done with.

Meanwhile, a small tradition of my unconsciousness has been to find a theme song for the days before and during the exams. Yes, it's a rather peculiar tradition of mine, which I really wasn't aware of until a few days ago, as so far I tend to get a song stuck in my head for no apparent reason throughout this time. It just pops up in a few weeks before exams. And it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with them or have anything related to overcoming an obstacle. My first semester here in Oslo I had a S&G song in my head, "Feelin' Groovy". Now this one has at least a connection with destressing, at the very least. Then there was... what was the song for my second semester, again? I kinda appear to have forgotten. I think it was a tie between A-Ha's "You are the One", Bananarama's "Nathan Jones" and Ylvis's "Reven på hønsejakt" or something. Now, I don't remember much of my 3rd or 4th semesters, but according to my YouTube list, I must have listened to Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" or something of the likes in my 3rd semester and Elvis and Céline Dion's "If I Can Dream" (still love it!), George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" (do-do-do-do) and a Josh Groban drum solo in my 4th. What's strange, however, is that I still haven't managed to find my song(s) for this semester. Wuzzupwiddat?

So far I've been going all Ralph Wiggum and John Lennon ("Ah-no-le-reeshee-gad-blee-bloochigoo", cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eONdc_qR3Mg; and the song in this clip didn't really appeal to me either). So yeah, I'm still searching for that one song. Or those songs.

Well, there's always Rob Thomas's "Little Wonders"... Or maybe not. But then there's Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move", which is also a very nice one... Maybe so. Josh Groban's "Caruso" or "Hymne a l'amour"? Europe's "The Final Countdown" (*whimper*)? Queen's "The Show Must Go On" (õ.O)? Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights"? Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up"? Yeah, I listened to that last one earlier today whilst doing yoga and I think that would be a potential candidate. Or maybe the Thrills' "Big Sur"? Potential choice as well. It'll come to me in due time, I reckon.

The Thrills' "Big Sur":


Kate Bush & Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up":


Not that this is the thing which should worry me the most. Of course.

Right. Off to Bedfordshire. Big day tomorrow.



Signing off,
Elise