i am finishing my phd. just like i am getting a pet bird.*

It is inevitable. It is ordained. I cannot wait.


*These are not my lorikeets. They hang out with me, because they know my hip hurts and I get cranky without them. I also give them super-yummy sunflowers...which is like crack for lorikeets. Don't judge.

hopefully-soon-to-be-dr.lindsay says incessant pain should be treated with incessant drinking

Seventy days. Ten weeks. Two months AND a half.

Gosh, when I look at it that way, I don't know how I've made it this far.

Constant pain is overrated. I feel for all the others out there that have to deal with this sort of thing everyday. It su-hhhhucks.

The doctors have given up on me. Boo. They physios, while slightly nicer and more personable, also don't know how to help me. Boo.

I'm sad because it's not the way I wanted to remember my last days in Australia.

And the whole situation is not conducive to dissertation writing or working long hours.

...Or moving... Or vacationing...Or flying in planes...or anything really.

camels and galahs make super vacation-companions

If you couldn't tell from the last post, Vincent and I went to Uluru and Kata Tjuta last weekend. It was surprisingly cold for the desert in November, but I think that ended up being a blessing in disguise. Who wants to hike around a huge rock when it's 40+degrees outside!

And of course, what would an Australian vacation be without a nice sampling of local flora and fauna. We didn't see any dingos, probably because we weren't carrying any babies or pizza with us. But we were beautifully serenaded by a flock of galahs that were chillin' out by our cabin.


Then on the last morning, at 5am, we went and trekked through the bush on a camel to watch the sun rise over Uluru. I can now say I'm not a fan of 5am, but I am a super fan of camels.


For those of you interested, here's more photos. Enjoy!

those rocks be huge yo!

Central Australia, otherwise known as the Red Centre, is a unique place. It is vast, quiet, inspiring, and...well, red.

It is home to two great monoliths: Uluru and Kata Tjuta.




These rocks are big. I'm not talking, "Oh, wow, look at that big rock."

It's more like, "Me and Vincent walked around the base of this rock, and it took us 3 hours" kind of big.

Every single person should visit this ancient place at least once in their life. But maybe just not all at the same time. I think it'd take away some of the atmosphere.

9 Craziest Foreign Policy Statements from Saturday's Republican Debate - The Atlantic

::ahem::

9 Craziest Foreign Policy Statements from Saturday's Republican Debate - The Atlantic

wow. so that's what that feels like.

Sigh.

My hip hurts. Again. You know when I tore my labrum two years ago and I complained about that hurting. This hurts waaaaay more. And all the time. It's actually shocking and exhausting how much it hurts.

It's been like this for over a month now. I finally went to the doctor. And after a bunch of scans and a really traumatic cortisone injection, my hip is still filled with fluid and extremely painful. It hurts basically all the time when I'm awake. I reckon it hurts when I'm sleeping too, but these days I'm usually too drunk to care. I know that sounds sad, but it works way better than any of the meds I've been offered. Eh.

What's dumb about it all is that I am so SO close to finishing my PhD that I can smell it. (It smells of homemade scones and really pretty flowers). But since I can barely sit for more than five minutes, progress has stalled. ::shakes fist at sky:: Seriously?

Hips are overrated. Boo!

melbourne is delicious with running and beer

Last week I ran a half-marathon. In Melbourne.

* The photo is blurry, because we were all running really fast.

This is pleasing to me for several reasons. First, I love Melbourne. Second, I've been training for this race for-&*$#^!-ever (That's 1.4 years in people time). And third, I ran it under 2 hours!

As an additional perk, I got to stay for the week after to hang out with my dear friend Gab, who left me last year for greener pastures (or at least Victorian ones). We had a blast.

We also did a lot of linguistic-y things. We are very dedicated PhD students.

Also, I have a very fast submission date approaching--which cannot be moved, because Vincent and I must go to New Zealand in January for vacation. Priorities people.

Amen Brotha'

Quote of the day:

But more than anything, Obama is a product of the US political machine - from Harvard to Chicago to the White House. And you don't go through that meat grinder and come out at the other end with many principles left intact.

--Mark Levine, Al Jazeera op-ed piece about the future US veto of the Palestinian state-hood bid

so that's what it's called

In Australia, people don't use a final serial comma in their writing. Honestly, I find the practice to be an eye sore. But I thought it was just me. I thought I had internalized the 'wrong' rule and that no one had ever bothered to 'put me straight'. But then today I was informed that there are just two ways of writing lists--one with a final comma and one without! Whew.

I just grew up using the Oxford comma!

For those of you who were as confused as me, please see this enlightening visual aid.

Thank you Language Log.

"one in eighty-five thousand"

Yup, that was us last Sunday. Vincent and I, Agnes, Isa and Erik, Ruth, and Andrew and Anica fended off the masses to find our places in the 2011 City2Surf. We felt soooooo special and unique.



As the first official race since my surgery, my goal was simple: don't die and run pain-free. Vincent had a more ambitious time-oriented-goal, that I could not even hope to keep up with. Where's the love, right?!

The 14km (8.7 mile) route started in Hyde Park and made its way through the bays of Sydney ending with a 2km descent into the northern end of Bondi Beach. A bit hilly for my taste...well, rather, for my knees. But the 84,999 other people helped make everything exciting, so I told my knees to hold it together.

We all ran well. Vincent ran very well-- 1:01:01! I did alright too with 1:25:06--I'm happy because that's a sub-2 hour half-marathon pace, which is what I'll be aiming for in a month and a half! (Plus I didn't die and nothing hurt!)

The lovely morning was followed by pizza and beer in the afternoon. Sigh, can it get any better than that?

Next up: the Melbourne Half-Marathon on October 9th! Let me know if you're keen to join!

rain rain go away

It rains a lot here. And I'm not talking the occasional drizzle or afternoon shower. I'm talking about buckets and buckets of water pouring from the heavens for DAYS.

Even though today has brought a rare afternoon of sunshine, the luck is not to last.


brought to you by the Sydney Morning Herald

NB: Yesterday, the same calendar had at least two more days of sun.

NBB: 'Low chance of rain' and 'high chance of rain' mean the same thing in Australian English.

NBBB: Come to think of it, so do 'chance of rain' and 'complete and utter sunshine', so really--maybe we're in for a month of winter paradise.

Time will tell. . . time will also beckon my Methods chapter toward completion. A week and a half baby!

puffins are dangerous!

And so are infectious air-borne diseases... and clownfish. I am not making this up. They were all items listed as prohibited from being brought into The People's Republic of China. Don't worry though, pet poodles are okay! If you subject them to a quarantine with needles and people in masks. What a relief right?! What is a country if it doesn't have poodles!

i got one!

Meet The Esteemed Monsieur Brightsworth. He's a baby lorikeet (you can tell by his dark beak) that seriously needs some flying lessons. I'm taking donations--because really, I'm quite concerned about him. It can't be good.

Flying or not though, I love him. Thank you to whoever sent him, because now I surely will be finishing my dissertation on time.

::ahem::

distractions!

How am I supposed to submit a dissertation in December when I have to deal with this awesomeness on a regular basis. It's asking a bit much I think.

Vincent's convinced I spend half my day feeding lorikeets and praying a black cockatoo will come perch on our balcony.

He's only half right.

I mostly see galahs (the birds in the photo!) at uni, walking around eating grass and being super cool in the most laid-back way possible. They are the epitomy of suave if you ask me.

And now they are chillaxin' right outside my flat eating gum balls!

::sigh of contentment:: Dissertations can wait--who wants to get me a parrot?!

have you ever faced death and lived to tell about it?

I did this afternoon, when I came face to face with the fiercest most unforgiving animal on the planet. The saltwater crocodile. Even typing the name gives me shivers of fear.

See. Behind it is Mary holding my beer. She isn't afraid because she's hardcore, and NOT because it was a baby and only like a foot long. It was also NOT because the zoo-dude had a good hold on it and had assured us a few times that it couldn't actually kill us at that size. While I wanted to believe him I knew better, so after patting his belly (the croc's not the zoo-dude's), we made our way to visit the friendlier and super adorable echidna!

Oh yeah-- THEN, we got to eat some good food and listen to the amazing and absolutely inspiring Jane Goodall speak about the environment and chimpanzees and Tchimpounga Sanctuary in the the Republic of Congo!!

A big thanks goes out to Mary for the gorgeous afternoon!

spelunking is underrated.

Since I was a little girl and my family visited some caves in Colorado, I always had a part of me believe that I was destined to be a famous and legendary spelunker. Many years have passed--but yesterday Vincent and I headed up (with Agnes, Jae and Steve) to visit a very, VERY large cave system in New South Wales--Jenolan Caves.

And it is here that Steve, Vincent and I had our very first adventure caving experience. It was...AWESOME. In only a few hours, we abseiled into a sink hole and managed to squeeze, slide, crawl and pull our way through ::dramatic music:: "The Plughole." The name is fitting--several times, our eccentric but enthusiastic guides convinced us to go blindly feet or head first into very very small dark holes...promising that we'd be fine and that it was mostly un-probable that we'd get stuck or fall into a crevice. But they assured us even if we did they had a landline in "The Chapel", and so they could always call someone for help if needed.




See what I mean?

Luckily, we didn't get stuck...or fall into a crevice. And apart from some bruises--we all arrived home able to enjoy :ahem:: a couple jugs of White Rabbit.

So maybe my legendary spelunking career is just beginning--I guess the next test will be an all-day trip into the belly of Mammoth Cave... where explorers still haven't found the bottom. ::even more dramatic music::

happy 2nd anniversary to us!

Picture taken at Edith Falls, Nitmiluk National Park, NT.

This year we went to the Northern Territory for our second anniversary. It was spectacular. And since we lived through it--Vincent has to put up with me for another year! BOOYAH!

the territory in the north

The top end has intrigued me ever since moving to Australia. It's true outback, full of terrifying nature and gigantic scenery. I had to have a go at it before I scared myself out of it.

We went for five days to Kakadu and Nitmiluk National Parks. We hiked. We swam. We cruised around wetlands and rivers. We saw animals both big and small. We admired plants. We didn't die.

Kakadu is a listed World Heritate site for both cultural and natural values. Culturally, it is home to the Bininj; they've lived in the area for about 50,000 years! Nature-wise, Kakadu is a kaleidoscope of habitats including wetlands, mangrove swamps, and lowland and sandstone rain forests.


My favourite here was the wetlands; we took two boat cruises and got to see all sorts of interesting things. Highlights include three estuarine crocodiles and jabirus! And I mean, look at that view--nothing can be more serene.

Nitmiluk is where Vincent and I got down to business, with our 'major' hike of the trip*. We woke up super early (mostly due to our still traumatized memories of the Royal National Park incident) and headed out. Our goal was a 12km hike to Butterfly Gorge where we could swim and enjoy the company of butterflies. For reasons I will not recount here though, we ended up not being as early as we had originally planned. Looking back, this was the most fortunate of events. Because we were already late--we decided to make a quick stop to the park's info centre to check on our route. You see, we had been planning to hike there, go swimming, and come back. But the ranger promptly informed us that although the trail was open there was to be absolutely no swimming...or going near any water. They had some hikers a few days before spot a saltie around the area. That was enough for me. I get chills just thinking about it--we were totally going to go swimming.

If we had, we most probably would have been eaten by a 6 metre long crocodile.

So, instead--we did the hike stopping about 500 metres before the waterfront. Then we headed back. But because Vincent loves swimming, and because it was 37 degrees without a cloud in the sky--we decided to add to our trip an extra four kilometres...leading us to this!


This pool + waterfall was high up the cliffs of the gorge so it was crocodile free! Whipeeeeee! So beautiful. The water was fresh and the rocks around were shaded. A perfect way to refresh for our hike back.

Luckily for us, this wasn't our only chance to hike to a waterfall and go for a swim. But, I'll save those adventures for another day. You can see a picture summary of our trip here!






* We did do a total of about 11kms around Kakadu but it was all split up in little bits and we got to ride in an air-conditioned 4WD in between.

the natural order of things.

::michael jackson music on tv::
Vincent ::dancing::
Lindsay: Stop that. It's not natural.
Vincent ::mimes::
Lindsay: That's better.

auckland*

George and I just got back from a "conference" in Auckland. No really, we did. We both presented about our PhD research and learned lots of new interesting and linguistic-y things. I also learned about coffee. And fish and chips. And West Auckland. What an informative three days.

We stayed with George's super-awesome-friend/OF tour guide, Sarah. HI SARAH! This is her (middle)...with George (left)..and me (right)**.


We were chillin' after the conference at a Festival Garden which is short for "Beer Festival Beer Garden." I know right. Divine.

The best part of the weekend was our tour of West Auckland to a few very VERY famous spots:



I'll paypal any of my American readers FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS if they can tell me why these places are significant.

It was a great weekend--one that I'm sure I'll have to repeat at some point with Vincent. Next year. I have to write a dissertation first.

* that's in New Zealand by the way.
**Notice that range on Lindsay's hip--3 more weeks to 10 kms!

the beautiful positive.

So many horrible and tragic things happening these days. Here is my attempt to find the beautiful positive*. It's the smallest leaf I've ever seen; and it's growing on my balcony!

*trademark Pascalle West.

a recent conversation.

Me: You have to make dinner tonight.
Vincent: Where do you want to go?



(To his credit though, he actually went and made dinner.)

help out bru!

Christchurch, NZ just had a horrendous earthquake. They need your money--ahem, your help.

DONATE HERE

i'm stressed out.

Ask Vincent. He knows.
I won't bore you with details though, because I like you all more than that.
Instead, I'd like to share my balcony with you this morning.



Notice all the lorikeets who came to give me a "you can do it!" motivational chirp as well as all of my very very cool plants.

quelle chaleur!

For those non-metric people, that's 103.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lindsay is going to wait for the rain before heading out on her first post-op 7km run (four more weeks and I'll be around the loop at Centennial Park).

In the meantime, I'm going to day dream about air-conditioning and wish I was somewhere with it.

priorities

recent conversation with Vincent; we were discussing the possibility of our building collapsing from a weak foundation:

Vincent: If you could save one thing what would it be?
Lindsay: My harddrive (that has my PhD on it).
Vincent: Oh. I would have saved you... I see where I stand.

Oops.

the great frog appeal

Photo by Robyn Moore*

Apparently, frogs are going bye-bye in a way that rivals the great dinosaur extinction. That is very bad for the earth. Help save them if you care about your (real, imaginary, future, or other people's) children. You are also allowed to save them because you love the planet!

Let the Amphibian Avenger tell you more about it





*I don't know who Robyn is, but dang, she can take great photographs of craz-diculous frogs!

tasmania, part 2

Imagine with me. A lovely tasmanian forest. A bright, sunny morning. Echidnas and wallabies search for breakfast. A yellow-tailed black cockatoo makes her presence known overhead. Peaceful, right? I'd even suggest serene.

It was not to last.

The first one was an baby one, they encouraged. Just 10-15 meters. Easy-peasy. And it was. It was fun and delightful. The second one was not so bad either, although at the end of it we were suddenly 26 meters/85 feet off the ground discussing the "sturdiness" of the platform we were standing on. Hm. Hands a little shaky, we moved on. This time, it was a short run, very short--do not be fooled, they warned--this was one of the fastest. To be sure we didn't miss the end we had to break ourselves until half way. Vincent took that as a sign to be a bad-ass. Dad too. I took it as a sign to value being alive. We forge ahead and meet the longest one. We have to traverse a river valley--400 meters/1,313 feet long--and look for gigantic crayfish. I didn't see one but I didn't die either, so I'm marking that as in the "win" column. And at the very end we had to simulate a free fall and resist the urge to grab onto anything. I did anyway. Eh.

Even so, I think it's safe to say we'd all do it again--what a great adventure.

tasmania, part I

Hiking in Tasmania is serious business...hilly business.

Hike #1: Wineglass Bay/Hazards Bay Circuit; Freycinet National Park.

12.45 kms / 7.74 miles
4 hours 8 minutes



A classic Tassie "walk." We had to basically go up a mountain to get to the Wineglass Bay lookout (worth it) and then hike all the way back down again to get to the beach (also worth it). Then we made our way through a swamp to Hazard's Beach and back around the mountain to get back to where we started. By the end, my legs were shaking. My dad looked pretty beat too. Vincent showed off by carrying all the water the whole way and not even breaking a sweat. Hm. I guess that's what hip surgery and old age to do people. Vincent's day will come.

Tiring as it was, the scenery and weather couldn't have been better. Little did we know how our hiking-luck was going to keep up!

Hike #2: Crater Lake/Lake Lilla Loop; Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

approx. 5 kms / 3.1 miles
approx. 2.5 hours

I didn't bring my super-awesome-gps-running-watch on this hike, because we thought it was going to rain. Thinking back, I don't know why that stopped me since it's water proof for up to 30 minutes in metre-deep water. Next time. In any case, this hike was a bit on the fly because our originally planned hike turned out to be an un-maintained trail which would require a little extra "gear." My father and Vincent took that as a sign that I was trying to kill them. They decided we would choose another hike. No trust. Thus, we did Crater Lake/Lake Lilla loop, which basically, once again, took us up a mountain to Crater Lake and then down to Wombat Pool and Lake Lilla.

Cradle Mountain is basically an alpine rain forest! The scenery is impossible to describe--I'd never seen anything like it. 1/3 of the plant life on Tasmania is found only here. They also have wombats...and tasmanian devils.

Hike #3: Dove Lake Circuit; Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park

5.89 kms / 3.66 miles
1 hour 56 minutes



Our last hike in Tasmania. Sigh. This was our easiest hike with the least elevation change and the shortest route. It was me, dad, Vincent and Bec! The view was beautiful and the weather held out for us. But we had to bundle up it was probably in around 4C/40F in some places/at some moments (my estimation). We walked right to the base of Cradle Mountain, which of course is the main attraction!

I'm secretly (or I guess now, not so secretly) planning another trip. Lemme know if you want in!