Niki's Niche

ohhhh man. I've been working on this paper for about 10 days now. I'm finally at the end but I'm totally stuck. I hate conclusions, I've already written 18 pages on the subject, and it's a review, not an argumentitive piece or something with a hypothesis. Everything I try feels redundant. I just want to go to bed!

In other news, mike got kicked in the head on sunday in soccer (while standing up) and the ref told him it was his fault. Weird thing, I thought that would follow the same sort of logic as getting rear ended in a vehicular collision. you know.... it's practically always your fault if you rear-end someone, just like it's probably your fault if you kick someone in the head who's standing up. how do you get your leg up there in the first place? someone else got bagged, and i took a powerful shot full in the chest too. the other team maybe needed to calm down a little!

i didn't think it could happen so quickly, but i'm starting to realize that a lot of those ph.d comics apply to me!  wow. 

in other news, mike has two goals already!

So I joined a band last week (a month later than everyone else).  And I just found out our first practice test is next week, and the concert is in a little over a week.  Yikes!  I am not prepared for this!

In other news, Mike and I joined a soccer team :)  40 games for the next 6 months or something like that.  Fun fun!

There are no raccoons here, and the funny thing about that is we had to ask.  We should have been able to figure it out... we don't have a garbage bin, we just put a net on top of the bags!  That would never fly in Toronto :) 

Also, we tried out the fireplace last night.  We bought some of those fire logs that are treated and burn for 3h instead of having a real wood fire.  We thought it would be a lot easier, and most of the time it was good, but we had to leave to watch the game at someone's place.  So we poured some water over the last of it and it smoked out the house!  Oops.  Had all the windows open today and it smells a bit better.  Hopefully we can figure something out, since the fire was nice.  Wood stoves are superior, though.  


( Here's a pic to warm you up! )

So we've been here a little over a month.  Pretty good so far, our place is great, and I finally have internet access in my office.  I'm starting in concert band on Monday and we're going to have to have people over for a house-warming bbq!

It is coming up on midnight, and I need to be in early tomorrow to show someone how to use the lab's freeze dryer, but before I go...

Some Observations about Newfoundland:

-They don't seem to have apple cider.  In Ontario we used to buy packets of powder that you add to hot water to make apple cider (or cran-apple cider).  We can't find them anywhere!

-No Beer Store.  But they do have something called the Liquor Store.  We haven't found anywhere you can buy a two-four either!  On a side note, we haven't figured out where to take empties back. 

-And while I'm on about beer, Molson makes something called India Beer that is only available here.  It's pretty good!

-Crazy weather.  Today it rained, hailed and snowed (at least 1 cm) and the snow is sticking around even though it is 3 degrees outside.  Currently we're also experiencing 100 km/h winds.  It is NOT a good day to be outside.  

- Virtually nobody bikes.  That might be because of the weather though.  And the people that do often are extreme the other way (there's someone in the department who biked every day the university was open last year).

-There is live music everywhere you go!  Lots of bars host jam sessions midweek where you can bring an instrument and join in.  Whether it is blues, traditional or something else, there are lots of people willing to play along. 

-Did I mention the weather?

-It is a fantastic place to get up close and personal with wildlife.  Or close enough anyway.  For those of you that have seen the trip photos, the moose we saw last weekend were distressed (it is the season) and making lots of loud noises at each other.  And we had fresh bear tracks down the trail on the way back to the car, and fresh scat at our campsite (event though we're clean and thorough, with everything up a bear pole!).  We're pretty sure that Yogi came by and checked us out both nights we were there, but we didn't want to shine a flashlight in his eyes to make sure.  Good fun. 

And that's all I have for now!

now there are only days before the wedding, and what do you know... i take a soccer ball right to the face.  just my luck!

Since we told everyone we're leaving Toronto, life has taken on a bit of a different flavour.  We've been out for lots of last-fling type celebrations: end of school, Laura coming home and leaving, Mom's moving, and all the wedding planning.

This weekend Mike's family had their annual reunion.  I've been every year since we started dating, and next year I am really going to miss it!  On the Saturday night they held a little shower for us, and gave us a book with sayings and translations to help us out over there. 

It is really quite exhausting, but on the other hand it is fantastic to know that over the past few years we've really gotten to know quite a few wonderful people.  It is going to be really hard to leave.  But the times, they are a-changing!

I have a big presentation today (my first at an international conference) and I am very nervous!  I can't wait until 2:45 and it is over.  Wish me luck!

Back from the bike ride!  It was fantastic, challenging and felt great all in one!  Total distance 282(.6) km in 3 days.  Here's the low-down (pictures on facebook):

Day 1: Toronto to Guelph
97 km in a ~35km/h headwind the whole way.  Pretty intense, and there was about a half hour of torrential rain we got caught in just outside of Milton.  Of course it stopped just as we found a restaurant to have lunch and wait it out in.  And then we spent the rest of the day wet (bike shoes are waterproof except for where your foot goes in... mine were buckets of water for the rest of the day).  Lots of hills, we had to get out of the depression Toronto is in, and then climb the escarpment.  Also, there's a lot more glacial terrain out there than I had expected (read rolling hills).  Due to bad weather we didn't stop as much as we should have, and as a result I bonked somewhere between 70 and 75 km.  What a terrible feeling, I barely unclipped, and then basically collapsed on the side of the road.  Country people are wonderful: the 4 or 5 people that drove past us all pulled over and offered help.  The Twix bar I had in my pack, some gatorade, rest and walking up the next couple hills got me in good enough shape to finish the ride without calling a cab!  I would have walked the whole way rather than do that though.  

We got into Guelph, and walked around a bit.  The campus is beautiful, and there are some lovely old buildings downtown.  It was very dead though, I guess most people were somewhere else for the long weekend.  Fueled up on pub food and a few pints, and then fell asleep pretty early!  Muscles in repair mode from the intense ride.  

Day 2: Guelph to Brantford (via Cambridge and Paris)
68 km.  A bit of a headwind in a few places, and we came around one corner to discover a gravel road and  steep uphill.  I walked that one, since the gravel was very loose and I am still getting used to the new bike (not yet confident enough to stand up and pump for instance). From Cambridge onward we had a pretty good tail wind and were really cooking!   A really wonderful day over all.  Quick stop in Cambridge for coffee and cookies, and a few extra km to allow sight-seeing and lunch in a pub in Paris (the only open restaurant on the holiday weekend).  A few big hills, but mostly going down!  We got into Brantford early, and took a cab downtown.  Big mistake, there's nothing there.  We were too embarrassed to get the same cabbie on the way back (who asked us why exactly we wanted to go there but took us anyway) so we walked back.  It was a nice stretch of the non-biking muscles!

Day 3: Brantford to Toronto
117 km.  Calm!  We were hoping the westerly wind would keep up since we spent the whole day going east.  Oh well.  You win some and lose some.  Some great downhills and good timing all day long.  A few extra km on the waterfront trail in Mississauga put us over 100 km, which is great because I've wanted to see if I could handle it for a while.  The hill in High Park was murder, seeing as it was at km 115, but a lot easier than I expected too.  Happy to be home, we have dinner at our local pub and pass out (I slept for 12 h solid, and was very groggy at work today).

Awesome!  I'd do it again without the bonking any day!  

So the movie was awesome!  I think I'm going to see it again with my family later this week :)  In other news, during my browsing of wikipedia that I often do after watching movies or tv I like, I have two discoveries to report:

1.  Walter Koenig also played Bester on Babylon 5.  This makes 2 old school sci-fi actors on the show I didn't realize until my browsing, the other being Bill Mumy (aka Will Robinson).  Awesome.

2.  I nearly edited wikipedia for the first time.  But I am not ready to submit to the level of nerdy where my first wikipedia edit corrects something about the star trek canon.  Maybe if it isn't fixed in a week. 

That's it for now!

I have found a dress!  And it is far more bridal than I would have expected.  Very nice though.  Hooorah! 4 months for manufacture and then alterations begin (yes, I know, I am cutting it close).  And although the bridal store I went to is online, they don't have my dress in their listings, so no sneak peaks!

All right!  Thesis written and submitted and presented.  TA duties complete.  And now one exam down and one to go! 

I hope I can make it to soccer Thursday so tomorrow will be a music study-mania.  Soccer is my life!  I can't wait to be up to two times a week plus kick-about.  I never would have expected it!

chemical spill in forestry today means i spent the better part of an hour freezing my butt off outside.  we just assumed someone had pulled the alarm =S  everyone is safe so i guess that's good.  but now I am super behind on my stuff!

Finished my last essay of undergrad, and submitted to turnitin.com! 

Nearing the finish line:

March 31
GGR201 Last lab assignment
Thesis first draft

April 9
Thesis final version

April 14(?)
Thesis oral presentation

April 20
GGR exam

April 24
MUS exam - last exam of undergrad!

I have some outstanding marking (3 labs left), and will be running 2 trips to the Don Valley Brickyards, so although it looks light, the next few weeks are going to be busy!  Add in Science Rendezvous preparation, Science Fair judging, a reception and Semi-Formal, and it will be a few sleepless weeks until the end of the year!

i am teething and it sucks :(

On Thursday I scored!  Woohoo!  Had  three good tries and finally buried the last one.  We needed another one, as it ended 2:1, but we are improving.  I don't know what else to say... I have nothing to write about anymore!  Tidying up, not going to the gym because of the snow, and studying for midterms.  I am restless, and can't wait until graduation and the beginning of a new chapter! 

Yesterday I finally hit the gym again.  2.5 miles in just under 27 minutes (constant running at 5.7 mi/h) and it felt good!  Well, not good, but you know.  It makes me feel like running again today.  But I have to lay off since tomorrow is soccer!  I run at a bit of a slow pace, so that'll be the next improvement.  But yeah!  4 km!  Nearly half way to 10!! 

It'll be difficult to get even to 3 miles since the treadmill automatically goes into 'cool down' mode after 25 minutes, and it cuts your pace a set increment every something like 30 seconds.  You have to stop the treadmill, wait a few seconds and then run it back up to the speed you would like.  And getting up to 3 miles (4.8 km) in 25 minutes means running at 7.2 mi/h which is pretty highly unlikely for me ;)  I want to train for 3 miles in 30 minutes, and I guess I will just have to deal with the 'cool down' mode.  Oh well. 

Finished it up with some weights and 1000 m on the rowing machine.  I looove rowing!  If I could own one exercise machine (not including the trainer) it'd be a rowing machine.  My skinny little arms are finally taking some shape!

In other news, the Mike and Nicole Month of Concerts ended last night with Flogging Molly, the Aggrolites and Dub Trio (which was a very artistic experience).  At the risk of sounding like an old fart, it was REALLY loud.  Ear plugs next time, I am kinda freaked about damage to the hearing.  And Mike was (and continues to be) VERY sick.  So it was a bit of a rotten night, if you ignore the awesome music.  But awesome it was, and now it is time to write a review for class!

So, I am taking a music appreciation class, which is in a funny way the last class I need to graduate (I need one more 0.5 humanities credit).  Music, Media and Technology (how music is affected by tech... especially recording tech, and the media).  It is the coolest thing ever!  I should have minored in it!  We have a midterm, exam and one assignment.  That assignment is a two part-er:

1.  Go to a concert.
2.  Write a review.

The only catch: the music must have been composed after 1900.  Awesome.  

So I had a look at ticketmaster.  It isn't every day you HAVE to see a concert, so I figured if there was something good I would splurge.  I came up with two I can't decide between, so I got tickets for both.  They are:

1. The Planet Smashers (Saturday Feb. 14)
2.  Flogging Molly (Tuesday Feb. 17 - reading week for me, maybe for you too?)

And the whole point of this is:  if you want to come to either, let me know!  The more the merrier :)

 Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope 2009 is filled with good fortune, fun and friends!

another semester down, one more to go.  and san francisco tomorrow! i need to pack :)