(I stole this idea from the fabulous Pioneer Woman, I confess!)

 

1. I am procrastinating from studying for tomorrow’s Research Methods exam (paradigms and signs and rhetoric, oh my!).

2. I just had a lovely homemade London Fog. Have you discovered the London Fog, aka Earl Grey tea latte? Ideally, you should have vanilla syrup (I get mine from Starbucks at about $10 a bottle). You steep earl grey tea with vanilla syrup for a few minutes, while you steam/froth/heat up some milk. The BEST way is, of course, to steam it, but warm milk will work in a pinch. Portion it so you’ve got no more than half a mug of strong tea, if not more like 1/3 of a cup, then pour the warm milk on top. Leave the bag in for more lovely spicy earl grey flavour!

3. Tea is an invaluable study aid. My friend and co-student Erin agrees that there’s just something about holding something warm that can keep you going!

4. I’m listening to Josh Groban sing in Italian at the moment. No, I’m not a huge fan, but I do enjoy some of his stuff. And I may have performed You Raise Me Up in public.

5. The new Apple OS 5 is downloading to my iPhone 4 as I type. 34 minutes and counting. I’m so excited to try out iMessage and iCloud and the new notification and camera options. But I’m also a bit apprehensive, ’cause when Johnathan (my boyfriend) updated his 3GS to OS 4 way back when, things didn’t go so well. I hope none of you have horror stories about OS 5!

6. I’m trying to clean my oven without oven cleaner tonight. I found a method that just uses baking soda and water. I wouldn’t have gone chemical-free if I had had any Easy Off, but alas! More time and “elbow grease”, as my mom used to say, for me!

7. I use exclamation points way too much.

8. This year, I have put a significant amount of thought into what I want to dress up as for Hallowe’en. Hallowe’en is a relatively new holiday for me: my family didn’t celebrate it when I was growing up because of its association with evil. Yup, really. We didn’t dress up and we didn’t give out candy and we didn’t collect candy. I still don’t collect candy, at least, not door-to-door, but I got to give it out for the first time last year! And I’m hoping my costume idea works out, is cool and not too slutty, and that Hallowe’en isn’t too cold of a day! Oh, and that I actually have a place to go where I might need a costume.

9. I wish I had the time to make my own bread. From scratch. Sigh. Someday.

10. Actually, I really wish I had more time in my life for domesticity, period. Seriously. I wish I had people to cook and clean for! I dream of it. Third-wave Canadian feminist, not so much. Haha!

11. Even though I have apples, applesauce, and apple crisp in my fridge, I bought more apples today. I just can’t help it! I love it that they’re so fresh and juicy and delicious… and that they’re in season and so they’re cheaper than usual. And, again, I am excited about cooking and baking!

12. Spaghetti squash is a truly marvellous thing.

13. ELEVEN MINUTES TIL OS 5!!!

14. If my boyfriend saw me procrastinating like this, he would certainly say, “That doesn’t look like studying!” And I would say, “Oh hello, Mr. Broken Record!” And he would reply, “Hi, Ms. Repeat Offender.” Yup, it happens a lot. But procrastination works for me. Usually. And keeping this blog up to date is important for my soul. And my career. So there.

15. I recently wrote about NATO’s involvement in Libya and why it hasn’t become involved in Syria for my faculty’s student publication, the mitZine. The print version is on stands this week, and as soon as the digital version gets released, you’ll see something new in my portfolio! Stay tuned…

16. Okay, it’s 11:36 and I should really get back to tropes and critical discourse analysis.

Ciao for now.