New excitement in KW

Google streetview has launched in 15 Canadian cities, and, of course, KW (Waterloo being IT headquarters to Canada and the WORLD) is included. It looks as though most of the pictures were taken last spring. Now you can spy on where I live, and where you live too (if you live in any of those areas). I am also fiddling with Google Earth to plan for some travels, which is really fun, especially the 360 degree views.

Is it comps or the apocalypse?

I have no idea who’s reading right now, but I figure this is a good enough record of this PhD experience in a car town. I signed up to the All But Dissertation (ABD) survival guide, and have finally taken the time to read the monthly newsletter because no more messing around, I really need to. This month’s is about focusing on what is important and cutting out the rest. A few lessons I’ve learned this week:

1. Take matters into your own hands when nothing is happening. After waiting around for responses to my emails, I recruited my final committee member myself. It ended up not being so bad, and now, in theory, I can get my comprehensive question soon and be done by December 11 (theoretical deadline).
2. Leaves in a river. I have been meditating for years, but I was just taught a mindfulness technique, good for when you are short on time and energy and there are many frustrations (i.e. PhD land). Picture a river. Imagine your thought/feeling as a leaf, place it in the river, watch it float away and say “it’s just a feeling/thought. feelings/thoughts come, feelings/thoughts go.” And voila! You feel better. The only problem was that once I was so frustrated I imagined two people as salmon, and the river was Alaskan with grizzlies at the bottom….
3. Sip water. Apparently flushes out cortisol.
4. Exercise, flushes out cortisol. Joined the yoga club for once a week yoga, and I’ve been following a running training program. But now I’m sometimes needing to go running to burn off all this nervous energy that I have a lot of lately.
5. Read PhD Comics as needed.
6. Give in to urges as necessary. I have moved on from South Park as all knowing wisdom, and have been watching “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “District 9″ (okay, dystopian I think more than apocalyptic), “9″ is tonight. My comps are coming. I want to watch movies about the end of the world and how hopeless  humans are. Is there a connection? Dunno. Maybe because I study ’sustainability’.
7. Evidence of hopeless humans: not only is KW entirely car dependent (only students, drug addicts and people with mental illness ride the bus), but it turns out that there is no parking for longer than 3 hours in my entire neighbourhood. No joke. No where. So…all cars, but NO parking. Except on private property. I get it, but I don’t.

Back From Hiatus

It has been brought to my attention that it’s been a while since I posted. Frankly, I think you can tell from my previous post that I really didn’t have many words of wisdom to share. And, there have been some new developments in life. But now I do have some new words of wisdom to share, so I will post.

1. Do not expect any degree of organization from student driven initiatives. This could be conferences, or funding proposals. In particular, do not expect funding from funds controlled by undergraduates if you are a graduate, even if you pay into that fund. In any dealing with student led initiatives, expect about 6 emails back and forth just to figure out when/where to meet to discuss how to clarify the “issues” you/they have. Then expect several awkward face to face meetings reestablishing basic criteria which should already have been established. Expect to get your way so that they can save face in front of professors/staff in the end, despite countless lost hours of useless exchange.
2. While you can attempt to write a review paper on a topic that hardly anyone has researched, expect *it* to take a long time, *you* to feel disorganized, and that *no one* will understand you. Feelings of isolation will keep you down.
3. Do not expect a linear relationship to work. Instead, think like systems thinking. A whole lotta nothing can get done, and then *WHOOOMPH*! Emergent properties lead you to have a brilliant paper on your hands.
4. Sometimes when you are having a down period, you can hit the “reset” button. As in, stop exercising, go to bed early, do what you need to do to feel good. This helps previous emergent properties emerge.
5. Do volunteer for small, radical events. You will make the cooler friends.
6. Avoid the killers. As in, people who repeatedly *insist* on bringing severe (as in death causing) allergens to parties after being told not to bring said allergen to a party. These same people have a tendency to try to overwater plants. Overwatering kills, people.
7. Do fall in love, but not with undergrads. Because a) they will be smart (hey, you’re both in grad school!) and b) no one notices if you are late for school in grad school. It’s your own damn schedule If they are an undergrad, and not mature (as in, not older), everyone will look down on you, but sort of quietly without you knowing.
8. Have friends/significant others with cars. I have essentially only taken public transit once a week for the past 6 weeks. HA! This way, you can feel morally superior about helping others reduce their emissions while being lazy. Muah ha ha.
9. It is important to have a back up bar, in case your first choice is closed or full. This is *very* important in KW.
10. Don’t expect the waitresses to know what “stout” is. Yes, I am embarrassed for them, and I am planning a social marketing program to educate the waitresses here.
11. Do go to the local churchical second hand shop in search of a love seat. Because you might find an amazing, vintage, irregularly shaped turquoise love seat for your office, and since they are churchical it only costs 25 bucks, plus 25 bucks delivery, plus tax. Yes people, 54 bucks for said loveseat.

Now that you have my words of wisdom, please go forth and prosper!

New Years Resolution? Race Horse Diet

I came back to KW a bit nervous on Sunday, but by Monday was totally feeling ready to get back to it. I was emailing,  setting meetings, following up, and generally getting everything in order to make some decisions regarding how I’m going to spend my time over the next 8 months (comprehensives, publications, coursework, conferences). I had some new years resolutions somewhere in there too.

I promptly got sick. I made it to a few classes and meetings, and then slept 16 hour days for a few days. I watched Season 6 Episode 1 of The L Word (this has been a serious addiction in the past, and now they have Lucy Lawless of Xena fame) and this episode of South Park, which kills me. Some academic I am.

New years resolutions

Maybe actually old years resolutions. I have managed to not have a bout of chronic pain in my hands in about 18 months, and my fingers are looking pretty good these days (amazing) so my resolution is to keep pushing myself in the outdoors. I’ll be cross country skiing this winter, I will keep running, and to fuel this, I will keep up with what Madamoiselle M calls my ‘racehorse diet’ of oatmeal, bananas, lots of salad, nuts and seeds, whole grain everything, miso, little dairy or sugar. I dunno how it happened, but my acupuncturist is impressed with the results.

I came home to lots of love filled cards and packages through mail. I have so far written two cards to be mailed, but a new years resolution is to send mail to my dearest friends.

I was scared to come back to a place where beats and a beer is the one thing I can’t find on any given night, like I can in Toronto (or Montreal for that matter). I will pay attention to my own music needs. Keep up the music exchanges in the mail and harrassment of the good DJ’s I know.

I also bought two comic books with my gift certificate at the Beguiling. I got Exit Wounds and Blue Pills, both unconventional love stories. Not a bad place to start the new year.

Walking tour

It seems to have taken a while to get into the Kitchener groove. My human geography prof took us on a walking tour of the city, and that helped. The history is really fascinating, and reminds me of Montreal in many ways as Kitchener was an industrial town inhabited by factory workers. The city is now working to revitalise the downtown while maintaining its history as part of its identity.

Lang Tannery revitalisation

Sculptures of suitcases in Victoria Park, to celebrate immigrant history. Original city hall clock tower in the background.

1916 photograph. Kitchener used to be called Berlin, but had an identity crisis during World War I.

Kitchener is now celebrating its industrial history with machinery sculpture (in front of Kaufman lofts, formerly a shoe factory).

What’s green and shows a lot of leg?

Kitchener-Waterloo, of course!

Good news for me, the Region of Waterloo is implementing green bins this fall. Fruit flies will have but one spot from which to annoy, as the green bin will conquer all other space attractive to them.

Also green, this year’s Oktoberfest parade had a cute “green” float. It was the prettiest float in the parade, amongst the SchneiderS (TM), large stuffed bears, and kegs on carts.

Don't Litter Bug

There were also legs and liederhosen.

Lots and lots of legs. In terms of leg exposure, I am sure Oktoberfest parade could rival Pride.

Dads in liederhosen

I did not manage to take a picture of the leather liederhosen, which are quite popular. (Which also rival Pride).

Some thoughts on the parade: I felt a bit conspicuous as I did not have a kid, a lawn chair, liederhosen, or one of those funny green hats. Everyone else at the parade had at least one of those things. Also, I discovered that the parade is serious business. It starts early (830 AM), I think so that it’s done by 11 and then you’re supposed to drink all day and eat sausage and sauerkraut and other SchneiderS meats. I drank juice and ate crackers, and then headed home to mark papers.