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While I was studying for quals, I made up a list of 20 things that had to be done after quals was over, then spent most of spring break attempting to get those things done. Today, I'm finally feeling a little bit better since only 6 of those 20 things are left on the list and only two of them are difficult to do. (I apparently was supposed to have slacked off after quals... whoops.) Since those 20 things included everything from doing my taxes to writing a fullbright application, it was a pretty daunting list, so I am very glad I am nearly through it. I am also glad that the conference presentation which I did earlier today when well and is over. (And even more glad that they had the funding to feed us... I will do a lot for a free lunch and dinner apparently).
I took one day off over spring break and went to Milwaukee where I had never been before with a friend of mine. We hit the zoo, which is huge and full of peacocks. I have never been to a zoo when there's still snow on the ground but I guess it was no surprise to see the polar bear happily frolicking about. In fact, everyone but the African animals seemed to be enjoying the weather. After nearly starving ourselves trying to see the whole zoo before lunch we headed into the Milwaukee proper to visit The Safe House which is a restaurant for spies complete with a secret entrance (which they don't tell you about... I am still shocked that a restaurant that doesn't even have its name on the outside can stay in business) and exit. It's a fun place with good food, but we nearly collapsed from starvation because the wait list was so long. Once we finished there, we visited the Domes which are basically botanical gardens which I thought would be bigger than they are. Nonetheless, that allowed us to head back home in good time where I got back to work.
I'm having a hard time going back to bujinkan here. On the one hand, I'll be testing for my 5th dan in august while I'm in Japan so I should stay in practice, on the other, training in the gym twice a week in the early afternoon has made me both more productive and made me feel better about my fitness level. I feel like I waste a lot of time at the buyu class since it's two hours three times a week in the late evening or saturday morning which is when I generally get a lot of work done, and I also hate the way I have to teach the class so often now that the main instructor has left. Plus, I have to pay for the honor of teaching *sigh* But I feel guilty about abandoning them. Meh.
I somehow found the time over spring break to mainline Person of Interest which is rather accurately described as "what if Bruce Wayne and Batman were two different people who teamed up to fight crime." I'm really impressed by the way the show has so many strong female characters and treats its female characters with dignity and respect. It's also fun to watch a show with less plot holes than some of the more popcorn series I usually watch (I'm looking at you Castle).
I took one day off over spring break and went to Milwaukee where I had never been before with a friend of mine. We hit the zoo, which is huge and full of peacocks. I have never been to a zoo when there's still snow on the ground but I guess it was no surprise to see the polar bear happily frolicking about. In fact, everyone but the African animals seemed to be enjoying the weather. After nearly starving ourselves trying to see the whole zoo before lunch we headed into the Milwaukee proper to visit The Safe House which is a restaurant for spies complete with a secret entrance (which they don't tell you about... I am still shocked that a restaurant that doesn't even have its name on the outside can stay in business) and exit. It's a fun place with good food, but we nearly collapsed from starvation because the wait list was so long. Once we finished there, we visited the Domes which are basically botanical gardens which I thought would be bigger than they are. Nonetheless, that allowed us to head back home in good time where I got back to work.
I'm having a hard time going back to bujinkan here. On the one hand, I'll be testing for my 5th dan in august while I'm in Japan so I should stay in practice, on the other, training in the gym twice a week in the early afternoon has made me both more productive and made me feel better about my fitness level. I feel like I waste a lot of time at the buyu class since it's two hours three times a week in the late evening or saturday morning which is when I generally get a lot of work done, and I also hate the way I have to teach the class so often now that the main instructor has left. Plus, I have to pay for the honor of teaching *sigh* But I feel guilty about abandoning them. Meh.
I somehow found the time over spring break to mainline Person of Interest which is rather accurately described as "what if Bruce Wayne and Batman were two different people who teamed up to fight crime." I'm really impressed by the way the show has so many strong female characters and treats its female characters with dignity and respect. It's also fun to watch a show with less plot holes than some of the more popcorn series I usually watch (I'm looking at you Castle).
