North Carolina

So I'm currently sitting on a chair in a motel in North Carolina drinking a (very good) chocolate malt. A couple of hours ago, I was sitting by the deserted motel pool reading. It's all very surreal :) But anyway, I got in late last night, checked into my room and proceeded to veg out. Then had to check out this morning because I'll be sharing rooms with two other people, and the reservation is in one of their names...she was supposed to be here at around noon, but it's now 1.45pm with no sign of her. Ah well, at least the chairs in the lobby are comfy, and this whole motel has wireless internet :) I guess I should have prefaced this all by saying that I'm in NC to attend a week-long workshop that I'm super excited about - Literacy Through Photography. Yay. But you know, I've not even been here for a day, and I miss New York. I don't think I could ever live anywhere that requires me to drive everywhere. I like my public transportation. There are so many fairly empty parking lots around that I am very tempted to change into my shorts and go running around them, but I suspect that would look very strange indeed. Heehee. Instead, I think I'm going to watch some Newsradio on DVD now. How I love my PowerBook :)

Whirlwind

This past week has been a whirlwind one. Have been super busy, and a whole bunch of things have happened, both good and bad. I'm still here though, and today has been a decidedly good (not to mention pretty productive) day. Went to work, had lunch with my boss (because it was my last day of work), went back to work, then went running in the park, then met some friends downtown for a free Dar Williams concert (that was really lovely), and hung out chatting with another friend for much of the night. It made up for the past two crazy crazy crazy days (yes, they've been that crazy).

Oops

For the first time in more than a week, the weather has been decent, so I was going to go out for a proper run, but oops, I fell alseep after I came home from work and didn't wake up til 8.30pm :) Darn. It would have been nice to run outdoors and not be totally gross. I guess I'll stick to an indoor run tonight, but I've been pretty bad about sticking to my time on those. Ah well.

Hot

It's been unusually hot for this time of year this past week, and will continue to be next week. I am supremely annoyed because I was counting on some nice cooler weather before I head home in July. Instead, the weather here in NY is exactly like the weather at home. Urgh. Really makes me wish I had a haircut (but I'm too cheap to go to a hairdresser here, knowing I'll be home in less than a month :) Also, the heat means that my eczema is seriously acting up, and my runs in the park are going much slower. Urgh, urgh, urgh.

Music

I must be truly bored to be posting this, but here are some songs that are currently on repeat on my iPod/in iTunes. Some have been on repeat for a long time, some are new. She Will Have Her Way [Neil Finn], Fair [Remy Zero], Not Alone [Patty Griffin], Rain King [Counting Crows], I Will Take Care Of You [The Bangles], Sand And Water [Beth Nielsen Chapman], Where Do I Begin [The Chemical Brothers], Don't Look Away [Josh Radin], Something's Always Wrong [Toad The Wet Sprocket], Give A Little Bit [Supertramp], Hold On Hope [Guided By Voices]. That's a pretty wide variety of music I've got going on, bonus points for anyone who can spot what they all have in common...Denise, if you're reading this I bet you get it :)

So

I've just noticed that my last four posts all start with the word 'so'. Hmm.

Television

So, you can actually really learn stuff from television [and not just documentaries either] :) Was watching House (which I just started watching and am beginning to like a lot), and learned there's a medical reason for the way my leg jerks sometimes just as I'm about to fall alseep! Who knew! Apparently when you're sleeping, your heart rate slows down and your brain thinks you're dying, so it sends an electrical pulse to try and shock you. Madness, but hey, good to know my brain's working :) And while we're talking about House, Hugh Laurie (who I've always liked) throws me off because every time he speaks I expect a British accent, but since his character is American, he sounds like one (just tying this post to my previous one :) Apparently there's an episode where he pretends to be a British doctor, but really, that's his natural accent. Heehee. And there's an Australian actor on the show who plays a British character. All this accent mixing :) On a random note, we've been in the middle of a minor heatwave the past few days...reminds me why I hate having long hair (yes, my hair is long enough to put into a ponytail now and desperately needs a cut...hasn't been cut in half a year!). Also, have been mainly keeping up with the running, but there've been a couple of days where I've cut back because my knees have started to protest. Ah well :)

Accents

So I'm watching So Graham Norton right now, and Gillian Anderson is on, and I swear, she has the strongest British accent ever! It's very bizzare to hear her speaking with such a strong accent. It occurs to me that I must sound like that to people I know at home (ie. when I speak in NY, I have a different accent than when I speak at home...not that I do it on purpose, it's unconscious really). Wait, there's an actual term for that: code-switching. Maybe accents don't quite fall into the strict code-switching definition, but I'd like to think they do :) Hmm...Gillian Anderson just explained the accent - she lived in England as a child (actually, I vaguely remember that from my days as a crazy X-Files fanatic), so whenever she's in England, she switches her accent back. That's totally like me, I switch back and forth depending on who I'm speaking to :)