Sunday 27 September 2009

Slow Weekend!

This weekend has been a bit more slow than I had hoped! I was kind of down yesterday, but has had a much better day today, which feels really good. Not least because I have a pretty heavy and intense week ahead of me, and it is always good to go into an intense week not feeling exhausted from the beginning! :)

I've been doing some cleaning and clearing today, I'm still having my "redecorating-the-bedroom-and-therefore-a-lot-of-other-stuff-as-well" project going on, it's slow but coming a long a little at least.
The cleaning part is also good to have done (I have a little left though) as I'm going to have to have someone come here this week to fix my bathroom lamp ... and it's a plus if they can come in through the door, right?! :)

Like I said, this week will be intense, partly with practical matters I will have to do and get through, and partly with my thesis, as I have to write almost half of it this week ... that feels a bit scary actually! I have looked at it quite a bit this weekend, and I have a base structure for it - but I'm not sure if my questions really work out in the end. And I don't really have time to write half a thesis only to find out that it's not working and I have to start all over again! *gulp* Still, all I can do is get into it and hope it works out in the end!

I hope you all have had a really good weekend! :)

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My Life At The Moment!
Currently reading: God and the Origin of Evil (F. Lindström)
Currently watching: The X-Files, season 4
Currently listening to: Audiobook: It (swedish)
My Plans for tomorrow: Uni! (and some telephone calls)

Friday 25 September 2009

Catching A Cold?

I'm not sure, but I think I'm catching a cold ... I haven't been feeling great for a couple of days now ... and I soooo don't have time to get sick now!! I just hope I can cure myself over the weekend, when I don't have to stagger out of bed at 4 a.m.! :)

Apart from that, I'm still walking around on little clouds from the exam on Tuesday! It still feels almost unreal - did that actually happen?!? - and I'm really really motivated to make sure my life is getting back on track now!! September has been better (a lot!) than August, and I'm hoping for October to be even better yet! :)

Not much is happening, I went to Uni this morning, but didn't feel well. I found one book at the library that I was actually allowed to borrow (most of the literature I'm using is reference books that has to be read on spot), so I got that and went home about 11 o'clock!
I slept for a few hours, but had some stuff to deal with in my diary which has taken up most of my afternoon! I find it difficult to get to grips on what I really think and feel - and that makes it a bit complicated!

I hope you all will have a great weekend!

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My Life At The Moment!
Currently reading: God and the Origin of Evil (F. Lindström) - Streiten mit Gott (J. Ebach)
Currently watching: The X-Files, season 4
Currently listening to: Audiobook: It (swedish)
My Plans for tomorrow: Cleaning and getting started on writing my thesis!

Thursday 24 September 2009

Holy Hannah!

Oh my ... a lot has happened the last few days, so I guess I should try to give you an update. Hopefully I can get on with regular blogging now, but for that to work, the update is pretty necessary!

I had an oral exam and a thesis-tutoring on Tuesday and I was in complete state of panic regarding the exam. Things have, as you may have noticed, not really worked out great lately, even though I have had some wonderful moments. I haven't found a working routine or been able to find focus and discipline on my studies, which has been very frustrating!

I did have a bit of luck on my exam, but I also actually noticed that I do know a little about my subject, I can think pretty fast, and I can draw conclusions that I'm not always prepared to do ... Turns out I did really well on the exam, and I got a Pass With Distinction (VG)!!!!! I had anticipated a failing grade, so that felt absolutely fantastic!!!! Also, this was the last so called "reading course" I'm allowed to take in Old Testament Exegesis (you are only allowed to take four such courses in each subject - and I've done my four now *sob*), so it was extra fun to actually end it with such a good exam! :)

After that we discussed my first grade thesis that I will be writing over the next few weeks. I had prepared some preliminary thoughts on what I wanted to, and the professor accepted it right away which felt really cool!! He gave me some ideas on literature (but most of it is in German, which I find quite difficult!!), and we discussed what I'm going to do next, and when to meet for our next tutoring!

The day was almost to good to be true, it felt unreal!! I have had some really good moments so far this fall as well, but this one is really outstanding!!! I took the entire day off yesterday and now I'm feeling really motivated to just "get on with it"!! :)
I was at Uni this morning, but I have a cold about to break out and I got a headache so around lunch time I gave up and came home. I ended up sleeping for over 2 hours (yikes!!) and after that I have done some more studying, and gone though my economy - which was NOT FUNNY!

I'm off to Uni again tomorrow, but now I have to start winding down and mentally preparing for tomorrow!

Sunday 20 September 2009

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY 2006-2009!!


I can hardly believe this blog has been going on for three years now! :) Have to say though, that a lot has been happening in those three years as well, and even though I'm not feeling so great right now, most of what has been happening has been positive and quite fantastic!!

Unfortunately my goal of reaching 20,000 visitors did not happen, but I blame myself entirely! Had I had more time and energy to really promote my blog, I think it might had been possible, but as things have been, I haven't been paying much attention to this blog lately!
Hopefully I'll get back on track with my life and thereby also bringing this blog to life a bit more!

Anyhow, I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU to all my readers, I'm amazed that this blog has been going so well as most of my internet projects tend to flop big time, and it feels wonderful that this blog has worked out the way it has!
Thank you all for visiting my blog and taking part in my life that way - I hope you will continue to visit me and I hope I can make this blog even better in the future!
(oh yeah - any suggestions for improvement are more than welcome!!)

Saturday 19 September 2009

A Strange Week!

Sorry about the lack of updates, but this has been a very strange week ...
I still don't feel really great, so I'm sorry to make this a rather vague entry - but I just don't feel comfortable to let it all out right now!

My studies aren't going great at the moment, for some reason, I just can't seem to find the rhythm and discipline to make it work - and I have an exam (and a discussion about my first level thesis!) on Tuesday! Can't say I'm looking forward to that one little bit, although I have no illusions at all about passing, I just don't think that's possible, unless I get really really lucky!!

I went to a post-graduate seminar on Tuesday, I'm going to present my master's thesis there next year, so I'm supposed to follow at least some of the seminars. I don't think I will go into details here, because the seminar affected me for various reasons and that's been a bit tough to cope with.

At the moment I feel like I'm living in a bubble, until Tuesday afternoon! Most everything feels strange, but at least I will know more about how to plan my semester and what to do when after Tuesday - right now I just feel like I'm drowning in stuff to do, with the discouraging result that I'm getting nothing done!

Sorry about the not-so-funny entry ... this hasn't been a good week or a good day! Hopefully it will improve!

Monday 14 September 2009

Yay it's Monday!

I guess I am a bit weird, but to tell the truth, week days does work better for me than weekends! :)
I've spent most of today at Uni, studying all morning, trying to get some materials for the post-graduate seminar tomorrow ... that turned out to be a bit complicated, and I guess I'll just have to attend and hope it will work out! *gulp*
There was also a "course" in how to make good scientific searches in the library, various data bases and search engines etc, and that was really useful!

However, I do feel rather uneasy as my studies aren't going so well right now! It feels like I never get anything done, and I have SO much to do ...
I am also extremely tired all the time, and that makes it even harder to get lots of things done. I guess there's not much I can do except try to dig in and do whatever I can!!

But now, I'm off to bed - early morning tomorrow, and I need some serious mental preparation for the post-graduate seminar tomorrow ...

For my Swedish readers: if you're interested, I'm trying to get my theology blog started again: http://teologitankar.blogspot.com

Seeya!

Sunday 13 September 2009

Same Old Pattern!

I'm quickly noticing I'm back in my regular pattern, where I kind of hate weekends, but enjoy the weeks! Well, Lena usually tells me I'm nuts (*lol*) when it comes to my studies, guess I can just be nuts all together, right?! :D
For some reason, I can't seem to get weekends I'm happy with no matter how hard I try, and it's actually starting to get to me! I'm studying 150% this semester, and the beginning of next semester will be a LOT worse than that - so I really need to make to most of my weekends as well as weekdays!!! I don't mean I need to study 24/7 (although maybe I do ...), but I need to take care of other things during the weekends ... and right now, I can't seem to do anything at all during weekends. *deep sigh*

To be honest, I'm really happy about the fact that it's Monday tomorrow (yup, definitely nuts!), but I still need to find a way for the weekends to work out as well ... *shakes head*

This week is pretty okay, the first half is pretty intense. Apart from studying a LOT, tomorrow I need to find someone at the Department - badly!! - so I hope I can reach her, and I also have a "lecture" in the afternoon where we'll go through the various Library Databases, to help us search for material when writing essays and such.
Tuesday will be difficult, as I'm attending the "postgraduate seminar" (I'm really horrible at these translations, somehow I need to really learn how to transfer our educational system and terminology to English!!!) ... I will present my master thesis there next year, and it's a really great opportunity to attend - but I know nothing about it whatsoever and I'm quite anxious about it. Still, I really want to do this, so I just have to work my way through it!

I'm hoping to do some more translating tonight - it feels like this reading course will never end! - before going to bed ... early morning tomorrow!
I hope you have had a better weekend than me! :)

Saturday 12 September 2009

Week 1, The End!

Whoa, I didn't think it was that long ago I updated this blog ... sorry about that!
This week has been extremely intense and filled with ups and downs, so I guess I've had my head full of other stuff!

So, what actually has been going on? *thinking*
On Monday I attended the first of a lecture series on how to write a thesis. I went on these lectures last fall, but they are really good so I figured I'd go this semester as well. The guy giving the lectures is fantastic, and you get tons of good advice!

I've been studying at the Department at least half days all days of the week, some whole days as well. On Wednesday night, we had the Kick Off for the fall semester. I planned to go, and I also managed to convince a friend of mine to stay as well. I can't say that I'm enjoying myself 100% (I felt the same last semester, which was the first Kick Off I attended), but I do want to go! I feel at home at the Department and I want to stay there as long as I possibly can, and part of that is attending stuff like Kick Offs! :) There were a lot of photos taken as well, and I noticed they are up at the website ( CTR - Centrum för Teologi och Religionsvetenskap ) alreday! *not funny!*

I had a seminar for my first level thesis (Old Testament) on Thursday afternoon. For some reason, my morning had been really terrible, so I was quite anxious about the seminar ... but it takes no more than five minutes around these people and the atmosphere they create for me to feel completely at ease and just enjoy what is going on. Most of the seminar was a 'lecture' given by 'my' professor (assisted by the NT professor) on how to write an essay, tips and advice and thoughts on that. This was actually the third time I attended this - I got a comment about that - but it's a fantastic lecture and I really enjoy it, even though there wasn't that much new for me.

Yesterday I studied during the morning, ended up forgetting to find someone at the Department I really should have talked to (not good!), took a trip to a mall outside town where I found some new clothes (really cheap too - yay!!), and actually took the night off! :) Very nice!!

This morning I have mostly written in my diary, trying to catch up and deal with everything that has been going on now - which is A LOT! I have also tried to catch up online a little, and now I'm hoping to have an efficient afternoon, both when it comes to studies and other stuff!

I have a tough week ahead of me too - but I think I'll save that entry for tomorrow! :)

I hope you all enjoy your weekend! :)

Monday 7 September 2009

Week 1, Day 1!

Even though I spent quite a few hours at Uni last week, my semester really started today. Last week was mostly practical meetings and trying to figure out what/where/when/how this semester will turn out.

This morning I did some cleaning up in a messy kitchen, before going to Uni around lunch. We had the first of about seven or 8 optional lectures on thesis-writing today. I have attended this lecture-series before, last fall, but you get a lot of tips and hints and the guy running it is really great, so I figured I'd go this semester as well.
It worked out really well, we were 8 other students there, but I didn't know many of them before. Despite that, I could actually be "active", I contributed to at least one discussion, and that feels really fantastic!! I still have a great long way to go before handling seminars and discussion groups in a good way, but at least I'm getting better - and that's something, right?! :)
I have come to realize that when it comes to "personal" things, like practical matters or personal viewpoints, I can speak up and take part in the discussion, but when it comes to pure knowledge - as in opposition seminars, where you have to discuss and comment on factual matters - I haven't come as far. I always feel inferior in those situations, and feel like everybody else knows so much more than me, so I won't make a fool out of myself in saying something and sounding like an idiot!
I really need to work on that during this semester, because I will be attending the post-graduate seminars, and I don't think I can get away with not saying anything there ... *GULP!*

Anyway, the lecture was really good, and I ended up talking to a couple of girls afterwards as well, one of whom I haven't really spoken to before, so that feels really good! :)

I was quite tired when I got home, but I have continued cleaning a little bit and also cooked, so at least I'll have dinner for ... probably the entire week!

Tomorrow will hopefully be a full-Uni-day, as I really have to dig in deep now in order to get this semester to work out in a decent way.

I hope you all had a great start of the week! :)

Sunday 6 September 2009

A Slow Weekend!

I know I have tons of stuff to do, but this weekend has been really slow, and I'm trying not to beat myself up about it! Last week was really overwhelming and I think I needed some downtime as well - although I hope I can get started and find my focus and concentration soon ... because I really will need it during this semester, that's for sure!

My studies will be SO intense this semester, and apart from that there are other things I need to do. There are some practical matters to consider, they will change all the windows here, which to be honest will be quite a big deal with Zorro. They're gonna be here for at least two whole days, and I guess I have to spend all that time locked up in one single room with Zorro ... doesn't sound that much fun, does it?! *sigh*
I'm also redecorating my bedroom which turned out to be a bigger project than I had anticipated, so that will take a while to finish. I also need to work on stuff like coping with seminars, especially since I now will attend the post-graduate seminars ... hardly feel at home there, will I?

I really hope I can get started for real tomorrow morning, I have to be honest had a fabulous week (with a few exceptions) and almost everything has worked out exactly the way I wanted it to and hoped for ... so I really hope I can make the most of this semester and turn it into a really good one! :)

Saturday 5 September 2009

Nature Photos 2005-2008

As a contrast to the boredom of my studies and all it's confusion I thought I'd share some beautiful nature photos with you!
I hope you like them as much as I do! :)

2005:



Beautiful flower! :)





From a park caring for animals under the threat of extinction.





The West Coast of Sweden.






Winter Wonderland - in the summerhouse! :)


2006:



Summer sunset at the ocean!





Cool looking pelican at St. James' Park, near Buckingham Palace! :)




A moose coming to visit at the summerhouse! Gave me quite a scare actually! :D





Trip to the West Coast! :)


Winter Sunset at the summerhouse!

2007:



A cool - and controlled - fire! :)





Beautiful sunrise - taken on my way to Uni! :)





A truly beautiful rose, grown at my father's house!




Nature pictures from the summerhouse:




From the animal's park again. We convinced my older sister that the tiger (in the second photo) really was Shere Kan from the Jungle Book! :)



Creepy looking hornet's nests ... found under the roof to our porch, when we made a new roof!







Cool looking clouds!



Various nature pictures from 2007:



2008:


Ocean Pictures:





A beautiful rose!




The Turning Torso Building in Malmö! One of my favourite photos, I love the angle of the photo! ;)




More ocean pictures!


Pictures from Sofiero!





You gotta love the green!! :)




RAINING!!





More nature/ocean photos: