Tuesday, February 24, 2004
It's a small world after all... OK enough Disney songs, but GEEEEES, isn't it?! Last Saturday I was walking along Rose Street with 5 other blokes to go see the Rugby (Calcutta Cup). In the opposite direction strolled Dave... forgotten his last name... but he used to go out with my flattie, Karen, and used to flat with my ex, Shaun! He kind of 'dropped off the planet' for a couple of years and no one had heard anything from him... turns out he's here in Edinburgh - gees. So swapped numbers and probably go out this week for a coffee.
Anyway... the rugger was FAB! The pre-game entertainment with a parade of pipers, flames and lighting effects were very dramatic. Clive Woodward was a grumpy bugga about it all, but it really geared the crowd up and the atmosphere was awesome!
From the rugby, I had to do a quick stroll with the masses to get home (sersiously, the crowd from Murrayfield stadium hit the streets and stopped traffic - quicker to walk home!). Quick change and turned into Irene Cara of FAME fame... yes, Kirsten's fame party. Was a great crack. Unfortunately, it was in Giles' flat, so I had to put up with him all night being a bit of a dickhead, but we're used to that now ;) Och, he's nae bad; just a hopeless flirt with anything female, so the poor 18 year old Spanish students were seriously hit on. All in all a fab crowd of people and we all looked pretty silly and had a good laugh. Far too much afro action though!!
Sunday was a little slow in the morning....
Managed to haul myself over to Ben's to watch Ireland whip Wales' ass at rugby then we ran STRAIGHT UP Arthur's Seat to the peak, and then ran up and down all the other peaks about the place, a lap of the base of the seat and then home... Oh my aching legs on Monday morning... got out of bed and nearly landed straight on the floor. FAB run, though - the most amazing sunset!
Better go for another jiggety jog to ease off the old muscles
Ciao
Kel
Anyway... the rugger was FAB! The pre-game entertainment with a parade of pipers, flames and lighting effects were very dramatic. Clive Woodward was a grumpy bugga about it all, but it really geared the crowd up and the atmosphere was awesome!
From the rugby, I had to do a quick stroll with the masses to get home (sersiously, the crowd from Murrayfield stadium hit the streets and stopped traffic - quicker to walk home!). Quick change and turned into Irene Cara of FAME fame... yes, Kirsten's fame party. Was a great crack. Unfortunately, it was in Giles' flat, so I had to put up with him all night being a bit of a dickhead, but we're used to that now ;) Och, he's nae bad; just a hopeless flirt with anything female, so the poor 18 year old Spanish students were seriously hit on. All in all a fab crowd of people and we all looked pretty silly and had a good laugh. Far too much afro action though!!
Sunday was a little slow in the morning....
Managed to haul myself over to Ben's to watch Ireland whip Wales' ass at rugby then we ran STRAIGHT UP Arthur's Seat to the peak, and then ran up and down all the other peaks about the place, a lap of the base of the seat and then home... Oh my aching legs on Monday morning... got out of bed and nearly landed straight on the floor. FAB run, though - the most amazing sunset!
Better go for another jiggety jog to ease off the old muscles
Ciao
Kel
Monday, February 23, 2004
An epiphany came to me last week... I DO want to do this PhD! Yey! I've been grappling with the notion that I came to Edinburgh basically because it was an amazing opportunity. Any one interested in a career in research would be gaga crazy not to take up the offer... a full time job in one of the most historically and culturally stimulating cities of Europe, an interesting research topic of medically 'unexplained' symptoms an above average salary and a fee free PhD (say that three times fast)!
However, I have never been one to seek out a career as such (over mountainbiking, marathon running, travelling, socialising etc. etc.), so the drive to pursue the PhD recently has dwindled. I kept flogging myself with the whip of guilt for not staying back late week nights to write feverishly on my thesis. I read case notes all day and I must tell you that writing into the evening is the LAST thing on my mind. All I can fathom doing is going for a big cob web clearing run and speaking to some one! Any one! Well, just about...
So no more beating myself up, the writing will come. Instead, as a wee diversion, I will be doing a spot of teaching... and THAT is what I see myself doing as a result of gaining my PhD (if and when that happens!?). I have been asked to tutor some first year medical students again in April, a fun little case-based learning session. I have also taken on a 3rd year medical student to supervise her SSM research module. I've suggested a little project I was interested in on 'ambiguous medical diagnoses' and she was keen. Finally, one of my colleagues who organises 1st year medical teaching said he would be very keen for me to collaborate with him to incorporate the concept of medically unexplained symptoms in the curriculum. I'm excited by these little diversions from my case notes.. and I get to talk to people! Woah!
With great inspiration comes much exasperation as, some what unfortunately, I got this email from my supervisor today...
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 17:35:18 -0000
From: Michael Sharpe
To: "Kelly J. McGorm"
Subject: Re: Agenda for tomorrow's meeting
thanks
BUT NO TEACHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your time is finite.
M
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, I have never been one to seek out a career as such (over mountainbiking, marathon running, travelling, socialising etc. etc.), so the drive to pursue the PhD recently has dwindled. I kept flogging myself with the whip of guilt for not staying back late week nights to write feverishly on my thesis. I read case notes all day and I must tell you that writing into the evening is the LAST thing on my mind. All I can fathom doing is going for a big cob web clearing run and speaking to some one! Any one! Well, just about...
So no more beating myself up, the writing will come. Instead, as a wee diversion, I will be doing a spot of teaching... and THAT is what I see myself doing as a result of gaining my PhD (if and when that happens!?). I have been asked to tutor some first year medical students again in April, a fun little case-based learning session. I have also taken on a 3rd year medical student to supervise her SSM research module. I've suggested a little project I was interested in on 'ambiguous medical diagnoses' and she was keen. Finally, one of my colleagues who organises 1st year medical teaching said he would be very keen for me to collaborate with him to incorporate the concept of medically unexplained symptoms in the curriculum. I'm excited by these little diversions from my case notes.. and I get to talk to people! Woah!
With great inspiration comes much exasperation as, some what unfortunately, I got this email from my supervisor today...
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 17:35:18 -0000
From: Michael Sharpe
To: "Kelly J. McGorm"
Subject: Re: Agenda for tomorrow's meeting
thanks
BUT NO TEACHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your time is finite.
M
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday, February 21, 2004
OK... check this guy out; especially 'Dirty Beats'.... Audrey... Mum... you may want to give this particular piece of advice a miss; not your cuppa ;) Roni and I have a running date tomorrow on my mp3 (scroll down on the last link to hear a snippet...)
Monday, February 16, 2004
Been a while. I think only you read this anyway, Sly, and I just spoke to you on the weekend and sent you an email, so no new news... nice record for me to keep though.
This weekend contained a modicum of excesses.
First excess: excercise.
I've made a rather slow and impatient recovery from patella and achilles tendonitis (apparently due to too much running on the soft golden sands of South Australia over the New Year). As such, I've mainly been blowing my brain out with boredom exercising in the local gym. Thank God for my little MP3 player and some good music like Ice Cube 'put your ass into it' ;) to make such exercise tolerable. Sure ain't any nice male bodies to look at there, more a profuse supply of painfully anorexic teenage girls.. Friday night managed 2.15 hours on the cross trainer. Saturday I kept Ben company on a picturesque 21 mile run (I cycled to measure the distance) across the Forth, along the River Almond and through Cramond back to my flat to pass out via Portobello and Holyrood Park.
Aside from the aesthetics of it all, Ben's well on his way to running the Rome marathon in under 3.5 hours! Me.. more like 4.5 hours if I manage it at all! Yesterday I managed a 12km run around the Meadows and Holyrood Park.
This leads me into my second excess which finishes tonight: alcohol and vegetarian dinner parties.
I should add the 12km run on Sunday morning was done on 2 hours sleep after a non-Valentine's day meal with friends which turned into drinks at the pub and dancing in the gay bar CC Blooms until close and back to another friends for vino and bizarre chat. Fab night! Been hankering to go to CCs for the last year. Similarly to Adelaide, the one and only true gay bar in Edinburgh is really the one and only place to shake your groove thang and not get sleazed on.
Saturday night Mary made five of us a thai veggie curry and yummy cherry pie for desert. Last night Ben cooked up a Thai storm including a magnificent feed of flavourful herbed veggie, satay prawn, succulent lamb and creamy mushroom curries. Great night with 9 of us chatting away eating and sipping on vino. Tonight I've been invited to vegetarian dinner party #3 with mate, Sonya and her veggo friends.
I really need to go to the gym tonight and work on my excesses!
This weekend contained a modicum of excesses.
First excess: excercise.
I've made a rather slow and impatient recovery from patella and achilles tendonitis (apparently due to too much running on the soft golden sands of South Australia over the New Year). As such, I've mainly been blowing my brain out with boredom exercising in the local gym. Thank God for my little MP3 player and some good music like Ice Cube 'put your ass into it' ;) to make such exercise tolerable. Sure ain't any nice male bodies to look at there, more a profuse supply of painfully anorexic teenage girls.. Friday night managed 2.15 hours on the cross trainer. Saturday I kept Ben company on a picturesque 21 mile run (I cycled to measure the distance) across the Forth, along the River Almond and through Cramond back to my flat to pass out via Portobello and Holyrood Park.
Aside from the aesthetics of it all, Ben's well on his way to running the Rome marathon in under 3.5 hours! Me.. more like 4.5 hours if I manage it at all! Yesterday I managed a 12km run around the Meadows and Holyrood Park.
This leads me into my second excess which finishes tonight: alcohol and vegetarian dinner parties.
I should add the 12km run on Sunday morning was done on 2 hours sleep after a non-Valentine's day meal with friends which turned into drinks at the pub and dancing in the gay bar CC Blooms until close and back to another friends for vino and bizarre chat. Fab night! Been hankering to go to CCs for the last year. Similarly to Adelaide, the one and only true gay bar in Edinburgh is really the one and only place to shake your groove thang and not get sleazed on.
Saturday night Mary made five of us a thai veggie curry and yummy cherry pie for desert. Last night Ben cooked up a Thai storm including a magnificent feed of flavourful herbed veggie, satay prawn, succulent lamb and creamy mushroom curries. Great night with 9 of us chatting away eating and sipping on vino. Tonight I've been invited to vegetarian dinner party #3 with mate, Sonya and her veggo friends.
I really need to go to the gym tonight and work on my excesses!
Monday, February 02, 2004
When is one's sanity called into question? One might give the example of going mountainbiking in a blizzard... like Ben and I did on Saturday. Regardless of weather warnings, we ended up doing the black route (the most difficult of Glentress Forest). I don't know about Ben as he disappeared from view, but I pushed my bike up about 2 miles of the exposed bit to the summit. Could not feel my forehead or fingers. Once we made it to the top, the 'Escape Route to the Hub' (warm, cosey place that serves hot coffee!) was all we had in our minds to get the hell down and out of this God awful foul weather. What WERE we thinking... or not thinking! Bizzarely, we were not alone. Met up with several aquaintances/regulars in the Hub.
Did get pseudo hero/moron status for attempting the black route. The others did the red route which was sheltered more by the forest. We all made each other promise if we saw any one of us up there in those conditions again we were to send each other packing home (with no cake)!
At least I got some skiing practice in for my holiday in February! No brakes and no gears made for a 'skillful' single bike slalom down the hill. Yaaaahoooooooeeeeeeee!
Did get pseudo hero/moron status for attempting the black route. The others did the red route which was sheltered more by the forest. We all made each other promise if we saw any one of us up there in those conditions again we were to send each other packing home (with no cake)!
At least I got some skiing practice in for my holiday in February! No brakes and no gears made for a 'skillful' single bike slalom down the hill. Yaaaahoooooooeeeeeeee!
