Why is my blog sitting so narrowly in the middle of the screen? I've played with the "edit HTML" settings to see if I can make the margins a bit wider but it ended up looking weird. I think it would be nice if I could use more of the page, I just need to figure out what dimensions work best I guess.

Time slips from my hands...Wow, I cannot believe it's been so long since I last blogged. Can I not stick with anything? I don't understand why I have to be so overwhelmed all the time that I abandon everything and suddenly all's about work and there's no room for play. OK, I exaggerate, there's room for play, but some things are much more fun than sitting on a desk typing away (which is something I do a lot of during the day anyway), especially now that it's summer and hot outside, and, well, Montreal has too much going on.

On a different note, an MRI last week revealed thinning cartilage under my kneecap, the reason for the debilitating chronic pain I've had to endure for a very long time now. I'm on prescription anti-inflammatory/pain killer meds and started physical therapy. So far so good, pain is under control, knee is still "clicking and catching" but will hopefully improve. Apparently cartilage does not grow back, so this will be a lifelong battle between me and the cartilage, one that I'm hoping not to lose at least before...Well I don't know, an old age when I won't need my knee anymore...120 maybe?

Good things are bound to happen before the end of the year. Exciting plans for the next few months are on the table. I cannot believe it's already July, and we're more than halfway through 2011. Gotta make every day count! Leaving you with beautiful Montreal type summery delicious pictures for now...I will be back...

Wow, I was doing so well for a while there writing, not every day maybe but regularly...Well, what's happened since May? I got a job...I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last wrote! That's half a year, I almost forgot I even had a blog (almost).

Well, nothing's new with me really, except that I have no time to myself at all let alone to sit and write. But I'll start trying again because I feel like it. There probably won't be long posts, but there will be posts. The only thing that's sort of exciting in my life right now is the new addition to our family...Ladies and gentlemen, I have the utmost pleasure of introduciiiiing...P, our cat!
P is like a big grey dust mop, and she's the friendliest cat I've seen in my life. She loves kneading the comforter, the living room sofa, the knitted blanket on the chair, me, M....Actually she's a bit obsessive compulsive about the kneading thing. It's like she cannot help it, when she jumps onto something soft it's automatic, which makes her funnier and cuter (in fact she's going at the blanket right now). We're still trying to figure out what kind of a house she was in before, she's crazy about yarn in a "I know what this is and I can chew the end off of it in seconds" kind of way, she knows when we're opening canned food for her, she knows to climb on our laps when we pat our legs, and she gives funny cat kisses on our noses (chins, cheeks, sometimes foreheads, where ever she can plant her sandpapery tongue really) . She's not scared of humans at all, and she's quite vocal. And her paws are beautifully shiny...Really, I've never seen hair that shines like that on a cat before, she's got satin paws (and she even lets us hold them)!

A Quick Update

I didn't mean to be away from my blog this long...Things have happened within the last month that threw me completely off balance and caught me off guard. A month ago my dad had to have an emergency surgery...The c-word was uttered and some really scary moments were endured, but as of now, he's an official survivor. We're hoping for it to stay that way, although he'll need to be checked every 3 months to make sure there isn't anything else to worry about. It's a weird and scary thought, having to live with that frightening anticipation on a periodic basis, not just for him but for all of us. It's a hard spot to be in, but thankfully I have some wonderful people who saw me through it all and continue to be my support...I feel somewhat better now than I did a few weeks back.

Other news...And this is a good one---I finally have a job! And one that I could never dream of having. I'm starting to do research, in an area that I absolutely love, at the top-notch R1 university here. So that part of my life seems to have somewhat been figured out, and I actually feel much calmer. I am so grateful to the person who gave me the chance, as I know there was no way I could ever have made it into this institution...I know this because I tried before. So now the possibilities seem endless from here on, as I'll be working with people from the academia and industry at the same time. And it just feels really good to be able to say I have an affiliation, and one that people regard very highly. Such a wonderful change for me after all these months...

I once again realize how so many things can change in one's life so quickly and how we should never take anything for granted or fret anything all too freaking much. A part of me says "Well, if you want to have a good life and be happy, you need to plan ahead and know where you're headed...You should have goals and ideals in mind and strive for those ideals, because if you don't, then you have nothing to look forward to"...Another part of me is going "Everyday is a gift, don't plan far into the future, because anything could happen, just live your life and see where it takes you." I think the best approach is to find the middle road, not living just for the day recklessly, but not making plans five years into the future and stressing to achieve those, either...And that's the hard part, finding that perfect balance that gives you peace of mind, keeps you driven, and also happy.

This post I read on the Chronicle today made me think...Why are academicians so obsessed with trying to make their writing as confusing and complicated as possible? This is not so common in my own field as we're a bunch of engineers who don't know how to write eloquent prose anyway, but sometimes I try to read articles in other fields and get a headache...It's not that I don't understand what they're saying, it's just that they're so heavily and unnecessarily worded that it becomes absurd...It's almost like the author knows the only way he can save the article is by making it sound as "academic" as possible lest people realize he's BSing. Surely someone who uses big words like that knows what he's talking about?!? People who have something original to say need not use big words to get the message through, they will be heard just on the basis that they have something important to say. I believe the pressure to "publish" in academia is one of the many reasons why it is like this, you have to put something out there even if you yourself have no clue what you're talking about. Other reasons I can think of are "traditions" in certain fields (which the article neatly summarizes), and there being too many academicians out there as compared to years ago-only so many of those people can actually be doing something that would be considered an outstanding breakthrough in their field and thus need not embellish their writing with big words trying to make it look important.

When I was writing the introduction chapter for my dissertation, I used a lighter, not-so-technical style in order to put my research in context with everyday life and describe what the problem was. I wanted to stay away from the passive voice which is the standard when writing a technical/scientific paper. This was done, so and so were placed here, it was observed that, etc. were not what I wanted to go with, because dammit, I actively led this research and did not want to feel like an outsider when it was my past 6 years I was talking about...But no, I got the chapter feedback saying I needed to make it more technical, like "academic" writing, like it wasn't my research and I was reporting on somebody else's thoughts and findings. In the end, I compromised a bit, maybe took out the references to everybody liking colorful cake decorations or something, but I managed to keep the wording fairly simple, at least in the beginning. I don't know what difference that made, but that sure was the only part of my dissertation that I enjoyed writing...That part was the "voice" that came from me...

Macabre awakenings

Well...For the last few days I've been waking up with Danse Macabre playing in my head. I have no clue why, or what goes on in my brain while I sleep. It is hauntingly beautiful for sure, and funny, too, if you relate it to the poem by Henri Cazalis, but it's not Halloween, so what's up???

A few days of summer in spring

The past two days, the weather has been unusually warm here in Montreal. And when I say warm, I don't mean warm like switch from winter boots to regular boots and leave home the scarf and gloves kind of warm, it was wear your bikini and go out kind of warm. I guess the proper way of saying this is: it was (and still is) hot! Yesterday I had to take that French test which dragged on the whole day, and I was a bit bummed out that it was so great outside and I had to be in a gloomy testing center dealing with the butterflies in my stomach. But between the two parts of the test, M came over and we got to walk around a bit, buy tickets for the Iron Maiden concert in July, and eat crepes at Cafe Paris. All in all it turned out to be a good day (would be a great day sans the exam but oh well...). All the restaurants, cafes, and bars had already put the tables and chairs on the patio, so at night we went to Pub Saint-Ciboire where we could sit outside in short sleeves and drink. I guess that was a rare moment in the history of Montreal for the month of April.

And today we actually were able to sunbathe in the park, after which I got to drink a great Margarita, and then swim in the pool upstairs. Now I want to go out and eat ice cream and walk back towards the park where I can hear people playing the tam tams, but M is so beat he wants to stay in. Maybe we'll catch them tomorrow, it looks like the weather will still be nice then.

Somewhere between the end of my second exam and going to Pub Saint-Ciboire yesterday, M and I rearranged our living room furniture so that I can have my "work station" in a relatively "secluded" spot. That's where I am writing from right now, and I absolutely love this new arrangement.