Spring is in the air

We've been treated to a dazzling amount of light today. The sky seems so high above, the air is cool and clear, and the (apparently) ever-lasting snow cover sparkles under the rays of the sun. On a day like this, one should go out to nature and laugh out loud in reckless joy of living!

To celebrate Spring I organized the window sill anew...



...bought a yellow primrose...



...and put the loveliest cook-book in the world on display (Christmas gift from miss P).



(I did this quite some time ago, but it was to honour Spring. I'd just forgot about the pictures.)

Giving up coffee, day 3

Still going strong. I thought I'd take up Rooibos.

Giving up coffee, day 1

Tomorrow is the official beginning of Lent. My big sacrifice is to give up coffee, my solace in a life crowded with deadlines and continuos assessment, and today I began. So far, things are spiffy (as P.G. Wodehouse might say), and no withdrawal headache is mine. Hooray!

The reasons I'm giving up coffee are numerous, but among the most important are

1) that I can prove myself I'm able to do it

2) that coffee is something it's really hard for me to give up, so doing it would count as a sacrifice - otherwise it wouldn't really be Lent

3) that I know, deep down, that coffee is bad for you, so de-toxicating my system every once in a while is not such a bad thing.

Demonstrating

Today I took part in the first real demonstration of my life. University students in Tampere and Helsinki displayed their opinion on a certain legislative proposal of the Ministry of Education in Finland: this proposal, if realised, would severely damage the autonomy of universities and introduce an 'experimental tuition fee' for students coming in outside EU - among other things.



I hope our voice will be heard, all the way in Helsinki.

Scatterbrain

At times I feel like there's too much going on in my head and that I need a break from it all (anybody interested in swapping heads?). It's difficult to keep track of my to-do list (not that it exists in any concrete way), and maybe that's why there seems always to be so much I should be working on. Time is very stealthy. It pretends to be ample, and then suddenly it vanishes into thin air and leaves you unprepared and hopelessly late.

Tomorrow I'm going to write down everything I have to do in way of studying. See if I won't.

Self-marketing

The most dreaded time of the year is here. The leisurable days of autumn are gone and one must turn one's look towards the future: where to find employment for the coming summer? Applying for a summer job is probably the worst thing I know, and that's why I put it off - hopefully not until it's too late, though...

This year I have decided to treat myself to a proper holiday, instead of working myself to near exhaustion like last summer. There's less money involved, of course, but I'd rather scrimp and save than be destroyed (even if that means I have to skip the cottage in the Isle of Wight).

Me, driven to madness by job applications. (This is the picture I plan to enclose to emphasize the fact that I really do need work.)

Shoes

I like shoes. A friend of mine once said that to her, Spring arrives with the clickety-clack of high heels on pavement - and much as I like winter, I'm also eagerly waiting for the opportunity to put on my spring shoes!