Japan!

Hi from Japan. As the Japans say. In Japan. Where I am. 

Had a thrilling day. Arrived. Made it to Tokyo station. Made it to Yotsuya station. Made it to hotel. Wooooo!

Couldn't check in. Aww. 

Went to Harajuku! Woooo!

Had Maccas for lunch!

Went exploring around the Meiji shrine!

Got really tired of walking lots. 

Went to hotel. 

Checked in! Wooooo!

Napped. 

Went to Shibuya! Woooo!

Saw Hachiko! The statue! On on of his celebration days! Got a selfie with Hachiko! Woooo!

Walked around Shibuya!

Had culturally immersive dinner at Outback Steakhouse! Wooooo!

Went to hotel!

Struggled with Tokyo Disney online booking system! 

Credit cards were not accepted. Aww. 

BED BED BED BED BED SLEEEEEEEEEEEPING NIGHTY NIGHTS. 

Adrienne Trivia

Do I dance when I eat delicious food?
a) Yes
b) No
c) 'Dancing' would be a generous term for the seizure-like movements I am capable of making
d) Yes, sometimes with accompanying vocals
e) a, c and d are correct (and you wish b and b only was correct)

When I drink alcohol I become:
a) more fun!
b) more interesting!
c) less socially awkward!
d) super nauseated!
e) Batman!

Do I sing sentences when they:
a) make me happy
b) are awkward
c) give me anxiety
d) are bad news
e) all of the above plus some other times probably?

What city was I born in?
a) Winterfell
b) Hogsmeade
c) all of the answers are lies. Including this one.
d) Atlantis
e) the USS Enterprise

I think fashion is:
a) super cool and important
b) super uncool and shallow
c) confusing and intimidating and how do I wear this thing?
d) affordable
e) an industry which treats all women and body shapes as equal!

I'm in:
a) Gryffindor
b) Hufflepuff
c) Ravenclaw
d) Slytherin
e) the bathroom, crying, because I didn't get my letter to Hogwarts

On planes I like to sit:
a) in the aisle seat
b) in the window seat
c) in the middle seat (hint: it's not this one)
d) on the floor
e) in the bathroom, crying, because I didn't get my letter to Hogwarts

My middle name is:
a) Rose
b) Ruth
c) Ricky
d) Ronald
e) Brian

Approximately how much sleep do I need per night in order to not actually fall asleep during the day?
a) 6-7 hours
b) 7-8 hours
c) 8+ hours
d) 8++++++++++++ hours
e) all of it. Give me all the sleep. I neeeeeeeed it.

When are the only times I blog?

a) all of the below

b) sometimes when I remember

c) when it's April

d) when I have more important, assessmenty things to be doing

e) mostly, never

okay okay okay

obligatory post which has no interesting content because i have spent all day writing an essay and this is the worst worst worst eugh. but hey hey japan tomorrow woooo but also not until i've written this essay and yes i'm mostly done but i still have to write my whole section on amputated limbs which first requires understanding about amputated limbs (obviously i know what they are, but understanding them in the context of the rubber hand illusion) which first requires doing many readings. then i have to write my reference list and conclusion and cut down my words and this is going to be a rly great twelve hours hahahaha that laughter is verging on hysterical it'll all be sweet but maybe not. i mean. i'll get it done but i feel like so far i've just written a literature review????? with like, three interjections of 'original thought' that may not even make sense but whaaaatever it's all i got. this is great. it'll be great.

see you on the other side (if there is one) (also probably not because i'm going to japan y'all)

THE LACK OF GRAMMAR IN THIS POST WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY OUR SPONSORS:

• Sleep Deprivation!
• Overwork!
• Last Minute!
• Anxiety!

WITHOUT THESE EVER-PRESENT, DISTRESSING AFFLICTIONS, WE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SUCH SUB-PAR CREATIVE PRODUCTIONS. WE THANK THEM LOTS, BECAUSE THE ALTERNATIVE IS TO CRY.

A million angries.

Eugh.
So like our neighbours have a dog and a cat, and they've gone away for two months? I think so far they've been gone about six weeks. And they asked their daughter and her boyfriend to drop by twice a day to feed the animals, give them attention and take the dog for walks.
My mum and I offered to help, too. The neighbours said it should be fine, but they gave the daughter our phone number in case they couldn't make it or something.
The first week, the daughter and the boyfriend came twice a day, every day. They came, fed the pets and left. Not really any playing and certainly no walks. So my mum took to taking their dog, Ellie, on walks after she takes Arty.
After that first week, they texted my mum one night, asking if she could feed the pets as they wouldn't be able to make it. Mum fed them.
Since then, the daughter and the boyfriend have come maybe 10-15? In A MONTH, where they should have come SIXTY TIMES (morning and night) to feed the animals. They've just stopped showing up, except for occasional, once a week drop-ins. Obviously, after the first night that they didn't come, mum and I have been checking whether or not they've come and if not, mum's gone in to feed the pets herself.
But this poor dog, who is super friendly and loves attention and cuddles, has just been left. She's got so depressed. She cries all the time. She's stopped getting all happy and jumpy and excited when people go around to see her. She's lethargic. She's taken to pooping on the concrete, because the daughter and the boyfriend haven't cleaned up the poop on the grass AT ALL in the WHOLE TIME. She's pulls her blankets out of her bed. She's distressed. And these people have just stopped caring for her (and the cat).
And now? Mum went over this morning to check on them, and there's no dog food left. But the daughter or boyfriend have been this morning because the mail got taken inside. But there's no new dog food? Why? Because they've started feeding the dog cat food! Responsible pet care, right?!

EUGH. I get so angry! I cannot understand how people could take on this task (when there were others offering to help) and when there are LIVING ACTUAL THINGS depending on their care, and then just like not do it???? And these people are actual PET OWNERS themselves! They have their own dog! So they clearly don't just hate everything, they actually 'care for' a dog of their own! I fundamentally just cannot understand how someone could just NOT go feed an animal, for DAYS ON END. And then feed it cat food, which can make dogs sick.
EUGH.
And this poor dog's whole personality has changed. I mean, we've tried to spend time and play with Ellie and everything, but there's only so much we can do.
People suuuuuuuck.

You know what I think is the most adorable thing about me? And by 'most' I mean 'kind of' and by 'adorable' I mean 'maybe a little bit pathetic'?

I get really excited as my page views on the ol' blogster (this thing, this thing you're on right now) go up and up. Then I realise it's me. It's just me. I end up rereading my own posts and making small changes to the alignment of things in the layout and checking and making sure that a new post looks okay and proofing it, so the page views just tiiiiiick slowly up and I'm like, freaking out that REAL PEOPLE are REALLY LOOKING at my REAL BLOG. But they're not. It's me. Hello, me! Stop getting excited about the presence of yourself, you dork! No one will notice or care that the alignment of the 'Who's that girl?' box has changed by ten pixels!

There is actually an option (I think) to exclude your own page views from the count, but the thought of how much my total number of views will go down TERRIFIES ME. Which is super dumb because I actually don't really care? This is a kinda journalling thing for me that I like sharing with my friends and whatever, but I don't care about getting more views? In fact, getting a whole bunch more would actually probably freak me the crap out. But it's this awful reward thing that internet teaches you to want, that views is the PRIZE and everyone should want it. And I don't want to want it!

Dem views doe.

I was going to write "On another note" and then keep writing things, but I realised I'm already tapped for creativity, which is only going to get worse as the month goes on, so NO MORE THAN ONE TOPIC PER POST is a rule a probably won't stick to but should try to.

Day 3: The Struggle is Real

It may or may not surprise you to learn that the hardest part about blogging every day in April is the part where you have to blog EVERY DAY in April. Especially when my life as it stands currently is simultaneously super boring (What'd I do today? Worked! Do you want me to regale you with stories about the data validation I did all day? Probably not!) and super hectic to the point where actually writing anything seems a huge task for which I can't set aside any time. AND YET HERE WE ARE.

So, to celebrate the fact that I am going overseas again on Monday, I would like to share with you all the countries I've been to, in the order of my favourite to least favourite. Now, I love Australia as much as the next pretty-ashamed-of-our-current-political-climate-but-unable-to-escape-the-nationality-listed-on-my-passport Australian, but it's not on the list. Not because I don't care about it, but because I would probably put it at/near the bottom and then people wouldn't like me.
Also, some of these are also quite low because I haven't been there very long (heyoooo, Vatican City and Singapore) and some, like Italy, are low because while I LOVED LOVED some places in that country, others were ehhhhh. So here we go!

Mexico

USA

Norway

Switzerland

Scotland

Republic of Ireland

Spain

The Netherlands

Malaysia

Monaco

Germany

Czech Republic

Canada

Japan

England

Fiji

Northern Ireland

New Zealand

France

Italy

Vanuatu

Indonesia

Austria

Singapore

Vatican City (sorry!)

Desk tour!

So while I was WORKING VERY HARD today at work, I thought to myself, "Hey, my desk is cool. Let's blaaaaaagh pictures of it!"
That's what this is. That's all. Appreciate this insight into my soul.

Hollaaaaaa

It's BEDA time. So let's BEDA.

I mean, it is already April 2. But it's still April 1st in the US and starting BEDA on April 2nd is almost becoming a tradition here on theonlyadrienne. So is not completing BEDA, so we'll see how that goes :D

I will also be going away for 8 days, where I may or may not be able to blog but ah well. I may even write posts but not be able to post them. I mean, it's unlikely but you never know.

And so begins the long haul of having to try and think about what to write for BEDA every day. Will I frequently resort to lists, or short posts that contain nothing other than a brief acknowledgement and assurance I am alive? Will I start writing a story that I'll never even consider finishing? Will I grumble and complain about things? Will I break new ground on theonlyadrienne blog and put up delicious recipes? Will I give you recommendations on how to improve your life by reading specific books? Will blogspot become a place I fear to venture because of the shame of yet another failed BEDA?

WHO KNOWS. Certainly not me. Place all bets now to be in the running to win a fabulous prize!*

Now I will try go off and try and book a room in a small town in Japan using a poorly translated website (THANKS, Google). This is a venture bound for success!

Wish me the luckiest of luck for BEDA! I know I'll need it. You know I'll need it. The lint in my pocket knows I'll need it. Which is especially amazing given I am not currently wearing pockets! Or wearing clothes with pockets! Or wearing lint!

(*Prize to be determined and may or may not corporeally exist.)

GULP 2014

Heyyyy, cool cats.

My life is a major hot mess right now - I have a BILLION things happening and some of them are HARD and some of them are just TIME CONSUMING and some of them are GREAT.
So this year:

• I'm talking a full psych course load, so all my courses are psych courses, including a research course which is simultaneously super exciting and incapacitatingly terrifying woo yeah alright!
• I am playing basketball, which is activity, so fun! Also hard, because apparently stopping playing a sport for 3+ years means that when you come back to it you might not be as good???? It might almost be as if you haven't played for 3+ years??? Who decided on that rule?? 
• I'm (still) doing cake decorating, for three hours a week, and literally no other time ever at all because despite really enjoying it I seem incapable of actually using my acquired skillset to produce anything that isn't made as a requirement in class! I don't know if I'll continue this because man, it's fun and I am completely uncreative otherwise, but it's a long time. And I already have very few nights free, what with night classes and such.
• I'm helping develop the ANU virtual clinic which is an online mental health clinic for ANU students (and staff??). This should be totally awesome and really cool experience. I say 'should' because I don't actually really know what it involves yet, other than attending workshops (which will be catered ... but I'm definitely there for the experience).
• Working 2+ days per week haaaaaaaaaa I totally have sufficient time-management skills to handle all this!
• Probably some other stuff.
• GULP!!!!!!! The title of this post!! a.k.a. what I will spend the rest of it talking about!!!!

So late last year, ANU posted a thingy about this pilot they're running of this program. This thingy contained delightfully little information, which I was hoping was due to them intentionally withholding information so the details would be revealed post-interview/acceptance but actually seems to be due to the fact that they actually just don't know anything. Specifics - who needs 'em?

What this means though is that I can't really give you a very detailed idea of what GULP is, but here are the basics:

A group of 11 ANU students and 11 students from the University of Minnesota have been chosen to participate.

Each ANU student has been paired with a UoM student.

We work together to develop ourselves as leaders and our cultural awareness.

We fundraise for our project.

In the middle of the year, we begin developing a project for implementation in a community in Malawi, Africa, which will help address a local need.

We complete the development of this project. *fingers crossed*

We go to Malawi for 2 weeks at the start of 2015, and complete the project in that community. 

That's basically all I've got at this point.

So far this year, the ANU students have been down to the coast for a weekend, to get to know one another and start to work as a group, as well as start planning our fundraising activities. The UoM students also went away for a similar thing.

Each group also made a video to introduce ourselves to the other group! Ours can be seen here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Y13AIF1kCyOENNZU5LWWd5dFU/edit?usp=sharing

The weekend was really fun and I think we all connected really well as a group, which is awesome. And CHEESY.

Since then, we've had one informal meet-up (to discuss fundraising further) and two formal meet-ups. The formal meet-ups have a) included the UoM students and b) not been very formal (much to the displeasure of the receptionist who works at the ANU office we use for the meetings - HA!). Both of these have been really fun and a good way to see everybody all together.

As part of the program, we've had to do a couple of tests, to determine our 'strengths' and our cultural awareness. These have been ... interesting, although I don't put a lot of value into those kinds of things. While they certainly have their place, well ... I know me better than some half hour test and also none of these things are stable and also those kinds of tests are never perfect. But discussing them as a group has been good!

Oh wow this was spectacularly uninteresting for people who aren't involved and not even very funny.

SORRY. Hopefully you enjoy the video?

Eh, who cares? 

(Me. A lot.)

Kindles: Why you should have one, but you don't.

I have a Kindle. I've had one (different ones; I just got the Paperwhite for Christmas) for three years.

I love reading. I love books. I love curling up in the sun or lying in bed in various uncomfortable positions reading.

I love my Kindle.

And I am so sick of hearing stupid arguments against them.

Number one argument I always get:

"But I like the feel of books!"

Yeah? Me too. And the Kindle knows that (well, Amazon know that). It tried to emulate a book. Of course, it doesn't entirely succeed. I have a very book-like cover, which helps, but yeah, you don't turn the pages and you don't risk paper cuts and you only read on one side of the page and you don't have to struggle to hold really heavy books up above your head while you're lying in bed. I understanding that book reading is a sensory experience for many - it isn't like playing computer for an hour to fill time. It is enveloping and involves stimulation of all senses (except taste, unless you read books reeeeeally differently to me) and etc. but the Kindle doesn't detract from that experience; it offers an alternative. 

"I like the smell of books!"

This is dumb. I didn't get a Kindle and throw out all of my old books. I still have my books. I still buy books in physical form, not as an e-book. I still have many resources available to have a good long sniff if the need overwhelms me. And it frequently does. Whiff away, my friends. Maybe I should invent Eau de Old Book Smell and it can be sprayed periodically from the back of the Kindle so this can stop being an excuse. Copyright Adrienne May 2013. 

"The technology age is taking over! Man the battle stations! Fight for the paper book!"

I have shamelessly stolen a large number of ideas from Maureen Johnson, which I highly recommend reading (after this, so you think all of these ideas are MINE). She's a young adult fiction novelist; when not writing, she's generally being about 80% crazy. Give or take.

Anyway, objecting to a Kindle purely because it's new tech is like so silly. That's pretty much the defining thing of our current age: huge leaps in technology, changing the way we live. That and climate change.

"I just think ebooks suck and real books are the best, and if you read on an ebook, your experience of reading is inferior to mine." [paraphrasing]
Aside from this being a completely arbitrary and elitist argument, it's also so 100% not the point. Are people reading? Are they enjoying the reading? This is important. This matters. 'Are they reading in my preferred method?' is not a question I have any interest in addressing. Nor should you. Your experience does not have to be my experience, and how successful your experience is does not determine how successful mine will be.

I'm not trying to convince everyone to go an buy an ereader. Though I think they're great and I think people disregard them too easily, you wanna stick to paper, you still to that paper! I will, usually, be reading a paper book too! But it's like DVDs, right? It's a new thing, that built on an old thing and made some aspects easier/more interesting to use. That's not saying I think books will go the same way as VHS tapes, certainly not as fast, but man, don't diss Kindles if you don't know. Personally, I'm sick of having to defend my status as an Avid and Enthusiatic Reader to people who think the fact that I own a Kindle means I somehow don't like books as much.

Also  you get to name your Kindle. Mine is called Like a Kindle in the Wind.