Last Thursday I wrote about finding a store that sells cute stationery, and how I couldn’t buy any of it because my bank card declined. Well, as Holly asked, I did indeed go back to that store last Friday, and there was success in purchasing an adorable pencil case and pens (and a headband and some hairclips).

Cute, right?!

Pink and green pens of the skinny variety. I think they need to be to fit into the skinny pencil cases.

These pens are probably the finest I’ve ever used, which is handy for writing teeny-tiny notes on my lecture powerpoint copies.

Anyway, the rest of my week went like this:
Saturday — Hung out with some of my family, including niece and nephews; studied; relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather.

Sunday — All my siblings and 3/5 of my nieces and nephews came over for lunch. Haven’t done that in awhile, so it was really nice; the still-gorgeous weather made everyone lazy (the good kind). Only downfall was that I definitely started noticing I was getting sick with a sore throat, runny nose and cough.

Monday — Nothing much worth noting, except that I almost forgot about my English tutorial and was about 5 minutes late. Opps!

Tuesday — I didn’t have class until 1pm, but I arrived slightly late because my bus was having issues and we needed to change at the depo. I had to sit on the floor of my psychology class. There are two streams for psych: 1-2pm and 5-6pm; many of the 5-6 people try to sit in on the 1-2 lecture which leaves those of us who have a right to be there, without a seat. Needless to say, it’s very annoying. Upside of Tuesday was watching an adorable guy drawing all the way into the city.

Wednesday — I was feeling like hell by this point; coughing, nose and eyes running, headache, sore throat, etc. As a result, my first class was pretty unpleasant to sit through, but as the day went on I started to feel a little bit better, or to just cope better, I guess.

Thursday — No classes so I stayed at home. In the evening there was an emergency with my 3.5-year-old nephew. He started having a seizure after feeling sick most of the day. My mum and I rushed to my sister’s house to look after my 11-month-old niece so my sister and her husband could go to the hospital with my nephew. The ambulance was there when we arrived and the driver was able to tell us that the seizure was caused by a very high fever that came on very suddenly.

They came home around midnight after getting tests done, etc., and my nephew was mostly his usual self. We still don’t know exactly what’s causing the fevers, but with so many viruses and such floating around at the moment it could be anything, I guess. I’m just relieved he’s ok, though he is still having fevers, but my sister is able to ensure they don’t get too high.

Friday — Today has been alright. I’m just feeling absolutely shattered from this cold, which started to become quite chesty yesterday, so I’m going to the doctor tomorrow. I only had sociology, and my first sociology tutorial, which went well. I think out of all my subjects, sociology is the one I’m having the hardest time grasping properly. It’s incredibly interesting but it’s a bit like having bullets of information fired at you from an automatic weapon that never actually runs out!

I’ve got several email accounts and wanted to consolidate everything to one address, so please change whatever email you have for me now to:

sj.granger37@gmail.com

Thank you!

Although I’m not a new student in the big scheme of things, I am new to attending university, so things are somewhat different. I’m sitting here going over my notes from lectures and readings and I feel like I’m going round in circles because I’m so occupied with the thought of am I doing this right and have I missed anything??. Have I got the important information? Should I combine notes from lectures and their related reading(s)? How exactly should I format notes, especially when it seems like there is more than one logical order?

I realise that there isn’t really a ‘right’ way to do it because everyone is different and one must do what works for them. But I don’t really know what works for me, yet. So, those of you who are, or have been, students, how do you go about organising your notes, what do you do when you feel a bit frazzled by everything?. Also, any other advise you might have will be very much appreciated.

Thank you!!

I have a stationery addiction. I can’t help it, but even if I could I wouldn’t want to stop. I want need a new pencil case because my existing one is a little too chunky, so when I was in the city today I went looking for any and all stores selling cute stationery. There is one I went to on Queen Street (main street of CBD) that sells cheap Japanese goods, but their cases were rubbish, then I remembered this gift shop I went to in 2006, so I went to find that.

Oh my fuck, stationery heaven! And Hello Kitty, and bento boxes, and Sanrio plushies, and STUFF. I maybe peed my pants a little from the excitement (not really; that would be weird). I spent ages picking out the perfect pencil case and then I found a headband for $3; I stopped there because I knew I did not have much money left.

In fact, it turned out that I did not have enough money to buy anything. My card declined. Twice.

FOR SHAME!

I’m going back tomorrow, of course.

A few days ago I came to the realisation that taking STATS 102 this semester was a bad idea. Although I am about 95% sure I will end up majoring in Psychology (which requires me to take STATS 102), there is still the chance I will fall in love with a different subject and major in that instead, thus rendering STATS 102 pointless. Courses don’t come cheap and although taking that course would still count towards my Bachelor of Arts degree, I don’t need it for anything other than majoring in Psychology. It’s just not worth it, yet.

On Friday I swapped STATS 102 for PSYCH 108, and I was fortunate enough to get the last place in the 1-2pm class! I feel like this is the better plan for this semester, especially after all the orientation stuff. It’s so easy to start studying and feel that there is only one path you will go down, but that’s not always going to be the case, especially with a BA as there are so many subjects to choose from.

Anyway, I’ve had a nice weekend so far; am making the most of this “carefree” feeling because the next 12 weeks are going to be very busy.

I had orientation today! Welcome talk, a campus tour and then some seminars in the afternoon. We paired off into groups of 10 with 3 guides who showed us around and who we can stay in touch with (as a group and individually) for the first 6 weeks of uni, which will be useful. On the tour I realised I was quite well-informed already about a lot of stuff, and way more confident and calm that I used to think I would be, which was nice!

Tomorrow is my faculty orientation with a welcome from the Associate Dean, Steve, who also happens to be my hot Sociology lecturer. Then there are some seminars, too. Then on Friday I’m doing a Statistics workshop so that’ll be good because I’ve not done Stats in a loooong time and was never very fond of it at school.

Soooo yes, I had an awesome day and am very excited about starting on Monday. I know there is so much support – academic and personal – available to me if I feel overwhelmed at any point. I think I’m definitely going to look into a lot of the workshops available to help me out.

I feel very grown up. lol

This song amuses me greatly. The video is from the 2002 movie version starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger.

-White drop earrings with blue flowers bought from Howick Village Market
-White embroidered blouse bought off TradeMe
-White polka dot blue belt from dollar store
-Black pencil skirt from Shanton
-Black pantyhose
-Not pictured: Black ballet flat shoes

Blouse closeup

Make-up closeup

I wore this for about an hour before going out, but it was too cold and wet for a skirt in the end! I traded it for a pair of gray plaid trousers teamed with black brogues and a black, double-breasted coat. My friend, her boyfriend and I went to see The Hangover. I’m so pleased it wasn’t one of those stupid-funny films! It was intelligently funny and actually a great story.

Last night was the perfect night for snuggling on the couch watching a romantic movie — the weather was wet and very windy (our chicken coop was blown over, but the chickens are all fine). TV One aired The Very Thought of You, a nice romantic comedy with Joseph Fiennes, whom I’ve decided to marry. He’s adorable and very sexy.

My bank has just released the Flexi Debit Visa card, a Visa card that is directly connected to one’s debit account, meaning you can buy things wherever Visa is accepted with your own money as opposed to using actual credit. This is a god/dess-send for people like myself who wish to buy online (or overseas) but realise an actual credit card would land them in a black hole of debt! I can only spend what I actually have, and I no longer need to ask my parents if I can borrow their credit card to, for example, go on a shopping spree at Etsy.

Of course this doesn’t mean I can slack off on being responsible with my finances. If anything, I have to be more vigilant, otherwise I’m liable to sit at my computer merrily clicking ‘Add to cart’ and ‘Go to checkout’ until I start frothing at the mouth and my bank account is drained like the last delicious drop of Merlot.

But I digress, this post isn’t actually about that, I just wanted to explain the above to bring me to this: I finally have an iTunes account and the first three songs I’ve bought are all Michael Jackson ones. I’ve not posted about his death because, well, everyone else was, however after listening to these songs I feel compelled to say something. When I was little (very little) the Jackson family was pretty much my favourite bunch of musical people ever. I adored Michael’s solo music, loved The Jackson 5 and was obsessed with Janet from age 5-9. It was difficult to escape them, especially with older siblings who were also fans.

As I got older I discovered other music and, although my appreciation for the Jacksons was still there, I didn’t avidly follow any of them. I’m still like that, but have many fond memories of listening to Michael and Janet and being wonder-struck whenever I saw either them on television, especially for live performances. There is no doubt that Michael was an amazing performer who knew how to put on a show for people and make them feel amazing. I’m saddened that he died at 50; he should have had much longer than that.

Mainly, though, I feel bad for his children. I’m of the opinion that he was likely never inappropriate with children, but I don’t want to write about what he may or may not have done, or about anything “odd” he’s done. I just hope his own children will not be put through any more stress than what they will already be experiencing now that he is gone. At the end of the day, he was their father and it seems to me like they adored him as most children adore their fathers, and that is all that actually matters.

So, to Michael. Thanks making awesome music and for your contributions to the music industry.

Embedding is disabled, so please click to view video

This is my favourite Snow Patrol song. I think it’s beautiful and brilliant, and it’s probably the most fitting song to describe a situation I find myself in. Maybe that’s why I love it so much? The addition of Martha Wainwright is wonderful because her voice is so lovely; it really helps to express the meaning of the song by the way it melts into Gary’s.

I find a map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms and state lines
The distance from A to where you B
It’s only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I’d find your face
My fingers in creases
Of distant dark places

I’m miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms