Jumble of Thoughts #002

Posted on 22 January 2012 by liljan98

Another short post, if only to let you know I’m still alive. (In case you were wondering and don’t follow me on twitter, where I’m a bit more active at least.)

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Best news this week: @PatrickDempsey joined Twitter. I didn’t think I would live to see that day :-) When he was asked about Twitter / Facebook etc. in interviews before he always explained that he’s not interested in any of it. But something or someone obviously has changed his mind and explained what a great PR thing Twitter can be. I expected Paddy to use it for promoting stuff he deeply cares about (racing, the Dempsey Center in Maine etc.) but so far he actually has tweeted more from the set and I love it. So much more enjoyable than I ever expected it…

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I’ve watched the second Sherlock Holmes movie and the third episode of Season 2 of “Sherlock” and enjoyed both a lot. They are both unique in their own way and I can’t wait for Sherlock Season 3. Such a great piece of television.

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Jumble of Thoughts #001

Posted on 11 January 2012 by liljan98

I think in 2012 I’ll be going with “Jumble of Thoughts” as title for this random collection of thoughts and reviews and stuff from my life :-)

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I guess it was a good decision to not make a “write more blog posts” resolution on New Year’s Eve :-) How can it be 11th January already and not a single post written on this blog? Probably because I’m leading a boring, boring life at the moment. But on the other hand, when don’t I?

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At least I’m on a good track with some my “promises” so far. Yoga? Check. Mediation? Check. Thai massage? Check. I didn’t manage to go to the gym yet, which means I will have to do that next week and the week after that. I’ve got theatre plans scheduled for the 22nd or the 28th. I’ve got a lot scheduled for this month, mostly work-related unfortunately, so a visit to a museum most probably will have to be squeezed in somewhere and it will be a short visit. Besides the full schedule, the stupid weather with lots of rain seems to be the biggest obstacle for any geocaching this month. Let’s just hope that we will get some rain-free and more important nice days later this month. Continue reading →

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2011 in Retrospect

Posted on 31 December 2011 by liljan98

There are only a few hours left of December 31st, so it’s about time I write my recap of 2011. I don’t know why, but by now I seem to have read more personal recaps about a crappy 2011 than about a happy 2011. And mine will be right along the crappy 2011 year line. Well, not all of it was bad, but all in all I’m glad that year is done, because 2012 can only get better. (Yes, I know, it could also get worse, of course, but I’d like to consider the glass half full this time).

My 2011 started with an MS attack, an MRI that revealed that my MS is progressing much more than my symptoms show and the difficult decision about changing therapy. When I finally made up my mind about the new therapy and started it, I had another MS attack in June. From that month on the MS kept silent and I don’t have any side effects from the new meds (still worry about the risks every once in a while, but I guess I’ll always do that). But basically the first six months of 2011 were defined by this disease and all the scary, worrying, annoying aspects of it. There were some pretty dark times and that’s my main reason to rejoice that 2011 is coming to an end today.

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20 + 1 Things About Me…

Posted on 28 December 2011 by liljan98

@DresdenPlaid did this Getting To Know Me Post yesterday and I liked the idea and decided to quickly follow in her footsteps. The “About Me Page” of this blog already includes some (random) facts about me, but I liked the idea of coming up with a few more…

01. I collect pretty coffee mugs but still use only 3 or 4 of them regulary. One of my favourites is this one.
02. I’ve been a “shipper” since I’m 11 years old.
03. My shoe size is 41/42 (EUR) respectively 7½ (UK).
04. My favourite kind of gummi bears are reds and greens.
05. Four out of ten times I leave my apartment and wonder if I really have locked the door. Two out of these ten times I most probably go back to check.
06. I consider not having killed any of my three indoor plants within the last year a huge accomplishment.
07. In 1997/98 I’ve watched “Titanic” on the movie screen at least five times.
08.  I always liked Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series more than her Famous Five.
09. On days off, I often check blogs/twitter on my phone, while still lounging in bed.
10. I’m an expert in worrying myself into a puddle of anxiety over tiny insignifcant details.
11. Everytime I get money from an ATM I internally bitch about how handicapped we lefties are in a right-handed world.
12. 20 years ago my secret dream job was “tour manager of a pop or rock band”. I still think I actually would be good at it.
13. I’ve never smoked a cigarette (or something else) and never even tried to.
14. My favourite numbers are 4 and 7.
15. I can only sew on a button, when my life depends on it.
16. When I was not quite 11 years old (March 1986) I was a pupil at  a primary school in the Dudley area in England for three weeks.
17. I think that sorting books alphabetically (writer’s last name) is the only right way to organize book shelves.
18. I don’t eat meat, but I eat fish occasionally. I still call myself a vegetarian, because it’s so much easier than to explain the distinction.
19. My most nerdy guilty pleasure is just sitting there and watching the Defraggler progress screen.
20. I prefer odd to even numbers.
21. I’m 36 years old and still don’t own a coffee set (with matching cups, saucers etc). That’s why I could only invite you over for a casual cup of coffee. But at least I’ve got enough mugs to choose from :-)

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Traditional Hockey Talk Around Christmas

Posted on 24 December 2011 by liljan98

Before I head over to my Mom’s place for the traditional Christmas family gathering, I felt the need to write about hockey. Like I seem to have been doing often enough around Christmas / end of the year on this blog or previous versions of this blog.

Over the last few years it seems to have become a Christmas tradition to watch a hockey game of the Iserlohn Roosters (the hockey team located closest to our home town) on one of the days before Christmas or on one of the holidays, depending on the season’s schedule. Even though I’m a fan of the Cologne Sharks foremost, I also always want Iserlohn to do well (except when they’re playing against Cologne, of course). Because half my family are Iserlohn fans, because of regional solidarity and because of the nice group of Iserlohn fans I’ve met through my brother. We’ve been to several world championships together and it always has been a lot of fun.
Another incentive for me as a Cologne Sharks fan to watch the game last night, was that Iserlohn played against the Metro Stars from Düsseldorf. Cologne and Düsseldorf are bound in a love-hate-relationship (in the tongue-in-cheek “we love to hate them” kind of way) not just in sports, but also a lof of other things. So for a Cologne fan it’s always nice to cheer for a team that’s playing against Düsseldorf :-) Unfortunately Düsseldorf won the game last night, but we had a lot of fun regardless.

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Promises for 2012

Posted on 18 December 2011 by liljan98

On “The Daily Love”  I recently read an interesting article about making promises instead of resolutions for 2012. I liked the distinction between vague resolutions and specific promises and decided to not make new year’s resolutions this time, but a few promises instead. And to use this blog to be held accountable for keeping them by also promising to write a post about it at the end of each month.

Usual new year resolution for me had been or would be “lose some weight”, “work out more”, “eat less chocolate” etc. The typical stuff. And I’m not saying that I won’t try to do some or all of that (because it would be a much healthier lifestyle). I hestitate to make a specific promise in that regard though. Maybe because I know how bad I was at keeping those promises/resolutions in the past. Yes, I know I shouldn’t expect failure before even trying.
But I think the main reason to choose different promises this time is, that my main concern is less my physical health, but much more the state of my emotional and mental health. I’ve written several posts this year about my procrastination, about me feeling listless and about me worrying too much and all that stuff.
The 8 week stress reduction program I recently completed, helped me to get some perspective and to find ways to deal with the stressful situations my own mind tends to put me in. I’m determined to work on that more, especially as by now I realize that I’ve already started slacking in regards to any kind of mediation or yoga practice. And that I’ve already started to not live up to my own resolution to be more active and to just “do” more new and interesting things and with that have more positive experiences.

These all are aspects of my life I want to change, and I hope that making promises in that regard will help me to achieve this. So here are my seven promises for 2012, starting with a clearly physical health-related promises after all, but  I don’t consider this a contradiction to the statement at the beginning of this post :-) .

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Make the lambs stop screaming!

Posted on 14 December 2011 by liljan98

weekend seminar  ++++  Christmas shopping  ++++  monthly visits to neuro practice for bloodwork (Monday) and Tysabri I.V. (on Friday)  ++++  various trips to university library to get the right books and be able to finally start working on termpaper over christmas break  ++++  impromputu workdinner (including performance review)  ++++  being in charge of labeling and shipping 450 office Christmas cards  ++++  several end of the year work meetings  ++++  scheduling all kinds of work meetings for 2012  ++++  organizing at least two different work-related retreats for January 2012  ++++  work conference call from 7 to 8.30 PM …

I can’t wait for this week to be over!

[Now off to finally eat dinner and fall into bed aftwards]

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Miscellaneous, 27 November 2011

Posted on 27 November 2011 by liljan98

In 2012 I have to think of a new and better title and maybe format for these posts with random bits from my daily life.

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I’ve been suffering from a strange fatigue lately, which means I might be getting a cold. Or something else? I don’t know, but I don’t like feeling so sluggish all day.

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For reasons unknown “The Scottish Prisoner” was already available in Germany (two weeks before it’s published in the US). I got my copy on Monday, finished reading it on Wednesday and loved every moment of it. So much in fact that I spend some time every day to re-read my favourite scenes as if I want to keep them memorized in my mind.

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I enjoyed the Take That “Progress Live 2011″ DVD almost as much and watched it (or at least had it turned on as background entertainment) a few times. I don’t like that most of the talking that happened on stage (introducing songs, fooling around etc) was cut from the CD though. The stuff the artists say between the songs is half the fun of concert CD, isn’t it?

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My Very Own “The Scottish Prisoner” Advertisment :-)

Posted on 19 November 2011 by liljan98

In 12 days Diana Gabaldon’s new novel “The Scottish Prisoner” will be published in Europe and I can’t wait to read it. Why? Well, I admit, first and foremost because I will finally meet my favourite fictional character again: Jamie Fraser (from the Outlander series). This new novel was originally supposed to be titled “Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner” like most of the stories from the mystery series which feature Lord John Grey (also from the Outlander series) as main character. But obviously Jamie claimed his 50% of the story and was awarded with this stand-alone-title. Nicely done, Mr. Fraser!

My infatuation with everything Outlander-related aside, I think “The Scottish Prisoner” might be an enjoyable read even for those who don’t know anything about the whole Outlander saga so far. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s going to be worth reading for anyone who likes complex, interesting and likeable characters. Who likes reading tales of complicated, passionate relationships. Who likes the occassional awkward moment caused by a lot of unresolved tension. Who likes historical fiction. And who likes a writer who has the guts to start a novel with “It was so cold out, he thought his cock might break off in his hand” Getting interested? Well, you should be, allthough I think, there probably won’t be more sex than that in this novel :-) .

Even though this new novel is part of the Outlander saga, I think it’s safe to say that it won’t be necessary to have read any or all of the seven Outlander novels or any of the Lord John stories to understand and enjoy this one. After all it’s not the next book of the series, but instead takes place much earlier in the Outlander canon.
From what I know of the plot and have read in excerpts like the #DailyLines, Diana Gabaldon (aka@Writer_DG) tweets regularily, the characters’ background and their relationship to each other will be explained as the story progesses. Like it’s supposed to be in any good novel anyway. But of course those who have read the Outlander series have the advantage of a more detailed knowledge of the background and especially will know how things between these two men will turn out in the long run.

“The Sottish Prisoner” is set in 1760, a time, which is only a tiny tiny part of “Voyager” (3rd Outlander novel), which in the first 250 (out of the overall 1059) pages gives account of what happened in the 20 years since Claire and Jamie seperated in 1746. Jamie’s life between January 1758 and September 1764 for instance is covered in only two pages. A few more moments are described in some of the Lord John stories, which are set between 1755 – 1764, but most of these six years still remain in the dark, which of course is a perfect opportunity for Diana Gabaldon to shed some light on it now. As the avid Jamie fan that I am, I can’t wait to read every single additional piece of information about this time in his life. Yes I’m that crazy about him. I admit it!

So, what is it about these two complex, interesting and likeable characters and their complicated, passionate relationship, that I think will make it worth reading even for a Outlander novice? An overview about the characters and their situation might explain it. So, let’s travel back in time to April 1760 and meet the two protagonists: Continue reading →

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Miscellaneous, 18 November 2011

Posted on 18 November 2011 by liljan98

Since my last post I spent a lot of my time putting together a post about Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey. I’m not sure if I’ll manage to live up to my very own expectations of said post. I try to not stress myself out about it.

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I’ve stayed home from work yesterday and today, because I’ve got a stiff neck. It’s getting a bit better today after I used heating pads and such. But every once in a while I sense and hear a tiny crunch when I turn my head to the left. Not to mention the acute pain in that moment :-)

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I’ve got my Tysabri IV this morning. Seeing how progressed the MS of the other Tysabri patients is, makes me humble and grateful for my situation.

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