Thursday, August 30, 2007

It never ends


Jin spoke in his previous comment that he thought I had other work to do - and he was right. At this stage in the research I have 5.5 cm worth of material printed out on both sides of paper. I haven't even tried to count how many articles that is.

I'm currently still reading and making notes, but me and my co-researcher (a wonderful fellow student) are supposed to finish the first stage and submit our work for ethical evaluation by the end of September if not earlier. To tell the truth - I do think we're running a bit out of time. So there shouldn't be time enough to complain.

I do love the subject matter of this research. I've been given quite a few raised eyebrows and half-hearted ahas - a student of veterinary medicine even hinted that I'm ridiculous in doing this, that it's no real research. But we (myself and co-researcher) soldier on. We think it's totally worth it and you bet we'll make sure this research is the best we can do right now.

Labels:

posted by Nadezhda | 15:39 | 2 comments

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Yes!


One down, one more to go. Two actually, but one almost doesn't count. Feeling good about myself is something I want to repeat more often.

And the books I ordered from Amazon.de finally arrived. Another yes!

Labels:

posted by Nadezhda | 12:06 | 5 comments

Sunday, August 26, 2007

So (because) you think you can


These are the results of the poll. I do kindly invite those brave four people who think I'm infinitely boring, to give me suggestions on how to improve (that is, if they have the guts to post a comment). Those 5 people who think this blog is still boring, despite being well written, are encouraged to pluck up their courage and write a comment also. Haven't I always encouraged you to give me more feedback?

I'm very flattered by the fact that 26% of the readers are very happy with how this blog is doing. And I totally can relate to the relative frustration of those 10 who like this blog, but fear it isn't updated frequently enough for their liking. I do try to post more regularly, but there is the tiny problem of being limited in the time I can spend on the computer. Things aren't helped by the fact that I have two more exams in the coming weeks.

I do promise I'm going to try and publish more often, but the possible downside is that there will be more shorter posts. I do try to avoid (as much as I can resist the temptation) posting a few videos or photos, just so the blog is updated. You might have noticed that I also don't post the results of various Internet quizzes, personality questionnaires etc. I do try to deliver quality content. If you have any suggestions or comments, even questions - you're most welcome to post a comment.

Labels:

posted by Nadezhda | 11:20 | 7 comments

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Drop dead difficult

Tina asked which exercises I did and here's the answer.



I love the fact that they only take 8 minutes (a piece), you can watch them online (not on some videocasette, which always hides in unlikely places) and they're dead effective. Every body is different, to be sure, but I find these exercises challenging - you have to fight a bit to keep going once the lactic acid flushes over your body.



This one is really easy for me, but I keep doing this set of exercises, because I like to have toned arms. No bulging biceps for me, although I use a small water bottle (0,5 l filled with water) as a weight.



I don't do this one much, because it targets a lot of the muscles the first one does and I don't like overworking them. Plus I'm now jogging regularly, so there's no real need to have so many leg exercises.



This is a bit too difficult for me and I follow a different routine for abs, so I haven't really done this one properly in a while, but it is in the same set.

And to wrap it up:


Last time (Thursday) I finally went for a longer run: 3,5 km. I did well; at this point I'm just glad I managed to run for 32 minutes non stop.

Labels:

posted by Nadezhda | 14:44 | 4 comments

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Greh za zajtrk

Adam in Eva sta sicer grešila z jabolki, jaz pa sem danes za zajtrk grešila s figami. Med tem, ko so zgornje tri krasotice že na toplem, ugotavljam, da sploh ni tako slabo imeti sorodnikov na Primorskem. Potem se namreč lahko sladkaš še cel teden. Zaloge, kot je razvidno iz spodnje slike namreč še lep, sladek čas ne bo zmanjkalo.

Sicer pa sem v torek spet tekla (2,4 km; 164 in 22 min 37 s). Opažam, da vedno, ko tečem s partnerjem, tečem počasneje. To žal ni posledica tega, da bi me partner upočasnjeval, pač pa da začnem teči prehitro, pulz hitro zraste, potem pa moram - če želim s tekom nadaljevati - tempo močno upočasniti in globoko predihavati. Ko tečem sama, sem namreč bolj pozorna na to, da začnem teči počasi in tempo kasneje, ko sem že ogreta, stopnjujem.

Danes grem spet. Upam, da mi bo uspelo narediti tudi kako vajo za moč - odkrila sem namreč super vaje, ki vzamejo samo 8 minut, a so (vsaj zame) hudo učinkovite.

Labels: ,

posted by Nadezhda | 09:28 | 4 comments

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Se7en

Finally, finally, I got down to business and wrote what are supposed to be seven random things about myself. Thanks to Clumsy (whose blog is set to personal so I can't link it) and Anamaria. Better late than never, right?

I tried to make these "random facts" as personal as I can, because I doubt you're that interested in my jam preferences.

1. I don't believe in love at first sight. I like people because of who they are rather than how they look. I don't like to rely on first impressions (because they tend to be inaccurate), although sometimes that's all you get.

2. I believe in social fairness. I think that if I earn more, I shouldn't have a problem with giving (the society) more. I don't think it's unfair, because I don't think money brings happiness. Yes, it does tend to make you worry less, but it doesn't make you happy or content.

3. Although I type reasonably fast, I still rely heavily on writing by hand. Mostly because such notes are quicker to make and more memorable. I also tend to print out articles and reading materials. It's not very tree/environment friendly, but when reading from the computer screen for a longer period of time, my eyes start to itch badly.

4. I used to be very insecure. In my younger years I was on the receiving end of bullying and female aggression, (because I was a model student and thin). This later event was perhaps one of the main reasons why I don't trust people easily and while I'm quite friendly, open and make acquaintances easily, very few people know me well.

5. In addition, I based my self-esteem on my academical achievements for the majority of my life. Having had a very disappointing experience in med school, my self-esteem hit rock bottom. After that I recuperated and started seeing things more realistically. But because of that stroke of bad luck (and deeply rooted guilt stemming from it) and the cycle of over-exhaustion followed by procrastination, my achievements at med school never were what I want them to be. This is the source of much pain to me, because being a good doctor is the most important thing to me. I have no clue how I am going to get out of it.

6. I've never had a really deep connection with my parents. That's mainly because my father was often working long hours and my mother is a very different person than I am. For as long as I can remember, she tried to mould me to her liking, but I have - for as long - resisted, since I have very different ideals and wishes for my own life. The abyss between us exists to this day. And while I know she loves me and deeply cares for me and all her attempts were made out of desire to push me further(which I appreciate), I've never had the feeling that I'm being accepted just as I am - that no one wants me to be different.

7. I shun women who publicly claim they're feminists. I think most women have very little idea what feminism is and those who do, are very often militant feminists. I have yet to meet a woman, who - on first meeting her proclaims herself a feminist - and doesn't fall into one of the two categories mentioned above. Those, who are in my opinion true feminists, don't even talk about it, don't feel the need to explain it to everybody.

Because this is so late, I can't really name 7 people to continue (everyone seems to have done it already!), but I would like to ask Hirkani, Krtek and Belgothiel to continue this.

Labels: ,

posted by Nadezhda | 21:56 | 13 comments

Friday, August 10, 2007

Watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates, 2007)


I've never been a fan of the Harry Potter films. What I love and appreciate about the books - the complexity of the plot and certain characters - just never seems to be conveyed in the films. And when I heard that the last film, Order of the Phoenix is actually the shortest of all filmed so far, whereas the book is the longest, I already thought I might not like it.

But I do have to admit, that for the most part of the film, they really summed up the story nicely - they kept to the books, left some stuff out, but what they kept was mostly true to the books and I was relieved they weren't compelled to change anything or just make it up, like they did with many things in the previous films.

I do understand that they try to make these films attractive and interesting to watch, but what they don't realize is that sometimes they really do exactly the opposite of what is in the books, which does really annoy me. For example: in the books much time is spent on how vitally important it is that Muggles don't see wizards doing wizarding stuff (like flying on a broomstick), yet what they do in the film - insert a full scene where the Advance Guard flies with Harry right over the Thames and very close to some boats - exposed, in full view of Muggles.

Quite a bit of time is spent on the DA and Umbridge (who, by the way, is just superb!), but they also manage to mention how powerful a witch Ginny is becoming and they hint more heavily at what's going between Hermione and Ron; even give a tiny bit of a hint as to Neville's past. They have the time to deal with Harry's first love interest, Cho and give some screen time to Grawp, Aberforth and Kreacher. They have Luna also, which is just fantastic - the young actress nails Luna's character. (Something of a lesson to the actors of the trio!)

I really disliked that they cut the end, which is the most important thing in the book, short (a feat they did with Goblet as well). In fact everything was happening very fast and I wonder whether a person who hasn't read the books would have a clue as to what was going on at all.

Again, Dumbledore was abysmally acted (he sure has energy and drive, but none of Dumbledore's politeness and diplomatic ways), and despite many praises from other reviewers I really disliked Bellatrix. She was too twisted for my taste. I have never seen her (in the books) as someone who is off her rocker. Yes, she has made a decision for a life-long devotion and service to Voldemort, but that doesn't make her crazy by default. I think Helena Bonham Carter missed with this role.

In general, I wouldn't have seen this one if boyfriend wasn't keen on going to the cinema. And as of now, I have no intention of seeing the last two films, either.

Labels: ,

posted by Nadezhda | 09:51 | 0 comments

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Slovenski Francozi

Kratek obisk Londona pred dvema tednoma je bil - klišejsko ali ne - balzam za mojo dušo. Ljudje se opravičijo, če ti v galeriji zastrejo pogled na sliko, opravičijo, če te na podzemni stisnejo ali žoknejo s komolcem in vedno, vedno stojijo v vrsti v istem vrstnem redu kot so prišli. Gre za osnovno dejstvo, da priznavajo, da si v njihovi bližini in da s svojimi dejanji vplivajo tudi nate. Zato se jim zdi primerno, da ti povedo, da vsega ne naredijo namenoma.

Nikoli ne bom pozabila dogodka, ko je nek Londončan v trgovini do čakalne vrste prišel z napačne strani in je, namesto da bi se postavil v vrsto, prišel tik pred blagajno. Ko je spoznal svojo napko, se je obrnil in šel na konec čakalne vrste. Kaj takega se v Sloveniji ne bi zgodilo nikoli. Ne, ker v naši mali balkanski državici so ljudje prepričani, da je življenje borba in da se je treba obupno grebsti, vrivati in gristi (ne da bi pomislil na druge), da v življenju kam prideš. Da s takim vedenjem prizadeneš (ali vsaj negativno zaznamuješ) druge ljudi se menda nikomur ne zdi sporno. In ljudi prizadaneš, ker se obnašaš, kot da ne obstajajo. Po domače: narediš se Francoza. Res tipična slovenska navada.

Dva dni nazaj sem šla na pošto. Pri okencu je že stal nek gospod in čakal na uslužbenko, dva metra stran od okenca pa je stala neka gospa in si nonšalantno ogledovala razglednice; ni dajala nobenega znaka, da stoji v vrsti, da jo sploh zanima, kaj se dogaja pri okencu. Mislia sem, da morda čaka gospoda pri okencu, da opravi in gresta skupaj dalje.

Postavila sem se v vrsto za gospodom. Gospa tiho in ne reče nič, ogleduje si razglednice. Ko se je poštna uslužbenka vrnila, se gospa postavi v vrsto vzporedno, pol metra od mene. Spet ne reče ničesar. In ko gospod pri okencu opravi, se gospa dobesedno zapodi k okencu, ter uslužbenki hiti razlagati, kaj bi rada. Jasno je, da mi v svoji strahopetnosti ni namenila niti pogleda.

Razjedilo me je do konca. Je tako težko reči "Gospodična, grem lahko pred vami, imam samo eno pismo?", (ko sem se postavila v vrsto) "Gospodična, tudi jaz čakam v tej vrsti", "Gospodična, me lahko spustite naprej, bom hitro opravila..."

Ne, taka osnovna vljudnost je za Slovence preveč. Delajo se kot da te ne vidijo in ne opazijo, čeprav sama vem, da to ni možno. In ko naredijo kaj narobe, nikoli niso toliko junaka, da bi rekli oprosti ali žal mi je.

Žal to ni edina taka izkušnja. V Cankarjevem domu se v vrsto za plašče ob koncu predstave tradicionalno vrivajo vsi. Od študentov v kavbojkah do uglajenih gospa, ki za vratom nosijo pol draguljarne. Vsi gledajo stran, nikoli te ne pogledajo v oči, ampak se vsakič, ko se vrsta premakne, zrinejo bolj proti ospredju. Kot da jim tista minuta, ki jo prihranijo z vrivanjem toliko pomeni. Nikogar seveda ne briga, kaj s takim nonšalantnim ignoriranjem sporočajo okolici. In da jim, ko bodo sami prejemniki takega obnašanja, to ne bo prav nič všeč.

Gospe, ki se je na pošti s tako malo takta in vljudnosti vrinila predme, sem ob odhodu poslala ubijalski pogled. Samo upam lahko, da bo drugič bolj premislila, preden se bo grebla za ukradene minute.

Labels: ,

posted by Nadezhda | 11:38 | 3 comments

Monday, August 06, 2007

And again

Went running tonight as well. Average pulse 166 (better!), time for 2,4 km 20 mins, 28 sec (worse!).

My current heart rate monitor is slowly dying -- in the beginning it shows grossly inaccurate heart rates and changes by 60 or 80 hbpm in two seconds. I'm thinking of buying a new one (the prices for Polar F6 on e-bay are tempting indeed; - I blame ill-advised for giving me the apple of temptation), since this one is really basic - it only shows heart rate and at the end it calculates average heart rate and shows total time. I'm now thinking about running more seriously and I'm especially tempted to do a combination of running and walking so as to increase the distance slowly.

With my current heart rate monitor I'm unable to time myself to 3 mins or 1 minute or any other time frame. I'm wondering what you, other runners, have done to time yourself? Which is the most basic model of a heart rate monitor that also shows time (at the same time as heart frequency)? And I definitely need a reliable monitor, since I've had problems with heart rate in the past and I cannot afford to buy something that might not show HR accurately.

Labels:

posted by Nadezhda | 20:49 | 11 comments

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Running like a pro (almost)

Went running again tonight and I did so much better than on Wednesday! Usually the first time is pure bliss, but the second time is a nightmare. Everything hurts, I can't seem to catch my breath, my breathing and moving is out of sync...

But today was a charm. A relative charm, since I'm still light years away from the form I used to be in. I did a grandma-style slow jog, but my average heart rate was 168 nevertheless. I believe that the heart will adjust given sufficient practice and time, as every time I stop running for a while the heart rate jumps back up to what it used to be.

Anyway, there's still a lot of coordination of the legs&breathing to do and it's not yet as much of an enjoyment as I remember it to be, but I (hope I) will persevere.

P.S. Now you can tell me what you think of my blog in a brand new poll. I used to think that embedding a poll in my template would be easier, but with a bit (OK, a load) of help from boyfriend, the thing now seems to work.

Labels: ,

posted by Nadezhda | 21:46 | 0 comments