Looking forward to Friday!
Schedule for presentations is up, I'm in one of the final time slots on Friday morning. Phew, and phew. This gives me 4.5 days. I think I can handle it.
I just finished week 3 of P90X and I have to say, I'm feeling really good about the program! I find the workouts really fun and fast (except plyometrics which makes me want to die). My only real setbacks have been 1) bout of food poisoning last week; 2) stress cravings for chocolate wafers and gummi bears. This week is a 'recovery week' with no strength training, but lots of cardio exercises. Then begins phase 2. I am thinking I will put the workouts on my laptop so I can do them while travelling, but we'll see how well that plan succeeds.
Mom comes in 1 week!!! This is very very exciting news. The volcano is cooperating, so far *knocks on wood* and as obsessive planners, we have each day filled with things to see and do. If only this distasteful weather would let go its stranglehold!
I'm thinking this summer is going to be a really good time to start planning my thesis. Especially given the cities I'll be in, it would be nice to have an idea about research I need to do in preparation. My Hungarian friend Janka lent me a book called 'Sense of the City' which was, funnily enough, part of an exhibition at the CCA (Canadian Centre for Architecture) in Montreal a few years back. I'm interested in urban planning, but not in a huge scale. I'm more interested in the way urban planning encourages/discourages people from using public space, the details people come into contact with that give them a sense of belonging in their neighbourhood and city. One of my old bosses said that people engage with their neighbourhoods using personal 'landmarks', like a significant building, a park, or a corner store. Thus they map their cities using these landmarks and the city becomes a part of a person's background information, stored away in their heads but not in a conscious way.
On the other hand, I could propose garbage and recycle bins at public parks in CPH.
And speaking of trash, just a random thought on all the kvetching I do here:
"Having a positive outlook on life should not include turning a blind eye to the negatives in the world. As the old maxim goes, ignoring a problem won't make it go away. Yet, this is exactly what many "positive" people do. Their positivity comes from an artificial, lopsided view of the world. They go on this way until the negatives grow large enough to pop their bubbles of all that is bright and beautiful."