2014 Wrap Up

So, this has been an interesting year.  Mostly in the past two months, work-wise, and otherwise, not really at all.  For unforeseen circumstances, I have had added responsibility, and managed to handle it all fairly gracefully, which is both good because it gives me background when applying for new and exciting positions, and bad because I've had to be stuck at the Complex to accomplish it.  I'm still anxious to find a new position for reasons too numerous to list here.  And I hope that I'm not so desperate for something new that it comes across to anyone who chooses to offer me an interview.

All I want for Christmas...

... is a new job, to reduce my stress and my drive.   I'm not asking for more money or power or anything.  Just somewhere that someone appreciates that I'm there doing my best every day.  Somewhere I'm not afraid that every person who comes near me Is going to attack my position, or the cost of my position. 

Somewhere that I'm treated like a person, not just a statistic on a piece of paper. 

That's not asking too much is it?

For some reason I find this interview hilarious.

So, we got business, motherf$#&er?!

I may be losing my mind (re: TSwizzle)

It's a Taylor Swift song, and I actually like it.  Not just tolerate-it-because-it's-catchy-and-it-gets-stuck-in-my-head-for-hours-at-a-time, but actually like it.

I'm afraid for my sanity.  Seriously.

Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin

Ah ha!  Finally another song.  Not bad.

New Gavin!!!

Enough said.

And so it begins for 2014

Once again I am attempting to write 50,000 words in a novel-like format in the month of November.
In other words NaNoWriMo has begun.

So far, I'm making a valiant effort.  Without a real plan in mind I have managed to almost make my word count yesterday, and write enough bonus words today to balance it out so that I'm actually on track.  Be it on an entirely different plan of attack than Saturday.  *Sigh*  This is what I get for not being a planner.  I like to write by the seat of my pants.  And honestly, starting on Saturday, I thought I had an idea, and then it just didn't really work for me.  So I started again.  And I'm not sure that's really anything either, but there might be a niggling of an idea in there somewhere that might actually allow me to write nearly 2,000 words a day for the next month.

I'm determined to win again.  Hopefully that counts for something.   I'll let you know in December.

Daniel Radcliffe does WHAT!?!?

He... raps?  

Huh?  

What??

Apparently he's just good at stuff...

Pretty

I know.  I have a weakness for men who sing and play guitar.  And dance.  And this one also has an accent.  

It's a sickness.

Doesn't mean the song isn't amazing.

Om

I have decided that I need a way to look after myself; my brain, my spirit, my self.  So I have started learning to meditate.  There's a great book that I found for beginners, that teaches you to meditate 8 minutes a day.  I started on Sunday, so I'm not sure how well I'm doing but the book stresses that it's the practice of meditation, so just doing it is accomplishing something.

Anyway, it's new, and maybe I can learn to be more calm, centered, and maybe more myself than I've been most recently.

Nick at night

... with Nick & Knight.  (I know, it's not really clever, but I'm tired.)

The jist of that statement is that Nick Carter and Jordan Knight are touring together, and I saw them last night.  It was exceptionally fun.  They both seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the crowd was actually really good, despite it's general admission-ness.  Ran into an old friend, which was nice, and went with my oldest friend so all in all it was a super night.

Deep

I feel like I'm drowning.  Every time I think I may be able to take a deep breath, fill my lungs, something drags me back under.  I don't know what to do.

There are supportive hands and voices out there,  but the most heard thing is "What are you going to do to change it?"  If I knew that, wouldn't I already be doing it?

And so I continue to tread water, with as much strength as I can, waiting for the tide to change, to give me a chance to save myself.  I cam only rely on that.

Yes or no? What do I know?

I've been following the referendum in Scotland with interest.  Mainly because I do have aspirations of visiting eventually, and I want to know how the vote will affect that.  But less self-servingly, I'm interested in history, and Scotland is part of mine, and has it's own interesting history.

I don't really have an opinion on whether or not "Better Together" is right, but I can understand how a country can be upset at their representation in government when they are an actual separate country, but not have their own government or even equal representation.

Buckets full

I read an article recently about something called the "Book Bucket Challenge."  Essentially, it challenges people to list the 10 books that have most influenced them or left the greatest impression on them.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a big reader, but I'm having a lot of trouble with this concept.  Not that anyone nominated me for the challenge, but it got me thinking anyway.  The problem may be that I read too much, and I generally find something worth taking out of everything I read.  Not necessarily on purpose, but some piece of something always sticks.

Writing it down

They say if you write down goals you have or things you want to accomplish, you are more likely to achieve them.  My current goal is to visit Scotland.

I'd like to take two weeks, rent a car (which I'd then have to drive on the other side. Ack!) And just travel the country, seeing what I saw, and taking my own time. 

So that's my goal.  It's the one thing that I really, really want to do sometime in the not distant future. I've been to Holland for one side of my heritage, and England for a portion of the other, but we're really more Scots than anything since we have a tartan and everything. 

And now it's out in the world.  Lets see how long it takes me to get there.

Deep breaths

So, it's September 1.  Labour day.

For most people, it's not really the start of anything new.  It's not a new year, unless you're a kid going back for the start of a new school year.

I'm taking the opportunity, though I'm not really starting a new year - to call New Year.  It's a fresh start.  I'm going to start eating better, begin a new exercise habit, and try to keep a neater house.  I didn't get everything accomplished yesterday that I wanted to start this way, but maybe it's part of the process to get myself to that place.  I need to re-organize a few things, and get rid of some junk food that it's the house, but I'm starting with a different mind-set and that's important.

I don't have explicit goals to put down here - I just want to improve.  I want to make myself better, which in turn might make my life better.   Control what I can in a way, since I have no control over certain other aspects of my life. If I make myself feel more in control of what I can control, I'll probably be happier.  And maybe I'll feel less like I have no direction.

Super fun and awesomeness

Meghan Trainor.

Excited to hear what the rest of her album will sound like.  Because based on this - really looking forward to it.

First taste of chocolate in Ivory Coast

As a chocoholic, of sorts, seeing the reaction of someone who's never tasted it before is pretty awesome!

We definitely take chocolate for granted.

Word Crimes

This!  People need to listen to this.  This and this and twenty times THIS!!!!

Interesting...

Resistant to change

I'm told at work sometimes that I'm resistant to change.  I feel strongly that I'm not resistant; I just want to have a good reason/explanation for why I should be making that change.  Change for change sake isn't useful for anything.

Then I read this for my Training & Development class this semester:

How can a girl not love...

Lily Allen.  Seriously!??!

Interesting

I'm reading Quiet, by Susan Cain about Introverts in an extroverted society, and found this interesting passage:

"Open plan offices have been found to reduce productivity and impair memory. They're associated with high staff turnover. They make people sick, hostile, unmotivated and insecure."

I may have discovered part of why I'm not so fond of myself currently.  The office has made me this way.

Fail

I tried to do a good thing, a helpful thing.  And it went wrong. 

When I tried to make it better, it got worse.

And isn't that just the way my life seems to work.

Booty Shakin' (ala Gavin Degraw)

Divergent: The Movie and the concept of Girl Power

Saw Divergent this afternoon, as planned.  Good movie, but of course, not as good as the book. I was pleasantly surprised by how much they actually left the same, but there were a few glaring differences that I don't really understand the purpose of changing.  Perhaps if/when there's Insurgent and Allegiant the changes may make more sense.  I will say that Theo James as Four is definitely a better choice than I originally thought.  My mental image may have altered.  Shailene Woodley isn't quite petite/tiny enough for the mental image I had of Tris, since there are comments throughout the book about her tininess, but it wouldn't have been as obvious if Christina (Zoe Kravitz) wasn't even smaller.

Overall, definitely pleased with the book to movie transition on this one.

Divergent: the books- spoilers present

I finished reading the Divergent series last night.  And as usual, as I'm reading along, I'm thinking about how I don't really like the female character.  She seems kind of whiney and a little bit stupid.  Strong and brave but still whiney and stupid. Which is why I was so incredibly shocked to find that the story ends up not really being about her in the end anyway. She was kind of just a means to an end.  And yet, I still felt like crying about her loss. 

Clearly the books have really well written characters, or I wouldn't have gotten that attached. The story itself is really just another of the super common (right now) dystopian society themes, but has a little bit of an interesting twist on the basic.  Enough to make you wonder where our society is headed, what faction would you choose.

Birthday resolutions

1. Go back to yoga
2. Write more
3. Be more positive

It's a journey, right?

I'm going to start taking yoga classes again.  This is going to be what I do for myself for my birthday.  My boss found a 2 week pass to the yoga studio I had previously researched (and never actually attended) in a local Business magazine, and so now I have no excuse to not go for at least two weeks.  So I've checked out the class schedule, and have mapped out 3 classes this weekend that can work for me (all beginner, only one hot, which makes me feel better because seriously, I don't sweat enough without the room being all freakin hot?!?)

Hopefully I can keep myself motivated to actually go to these classes, and keep the intimidation factor as low as possible.

And since I'm on the topic ...

My favourite song of 2013 was:

Totally loving this song right now.

I am such a sap.