Mushroom Risotto

I have never been a very enthusiastic cook, mainly because I can always think of other things I would rather be spending my time on. Tonight, however, as part of my bid to relax and focus on the important things, I decided to take some time to cook myself a real dinner. The result was a mushroom risotto. Mmm. Comfort food. And good fun to prepare, too.

mini-break

I slept for twelve hours last night! something tells me I really need to catch up. So I am. Today I am relaxing, watching television, picking up the crochet work I haven't looked at in over a year, searching for a fathers' day gift and birthday gift for my dad (we share a birthday in July), and doing yoga. Tomorrow I'm taking my grandmother to the botanical gardens for tea, and possibly hiring a DVD for in the evening. Work can start again on Monday.

Infuriating!

I just spent and hour and a half running the files and settings transfer wizard on one of the computers in the lab I manage, only to have the machine crash on me near the end. So I'm starting all over again, and that means I will be leaving late! Ah well, at least I have lunch with a collegue and dinner and a film with a friend to look forward to.

UPDATE
It's 16:51, and I am still sitting in this lab waiting for files and settings transfer wizard to do its thing. I don't get paid enough to do this! I was only supposed to work from 09:00 to 11:00. Two hours have stretched to eight. And I had to skip lunch. Grumble grumble moan. At least it's money coming in, I guess. I am so looking forward to my holiday! this time next week, I'll be there.

good news all round

I submitted a really fun exam I have been working on all week, this evening. It was great fun to do, when I could get out of my head the panic that exams tend to induce. Even so, it's good to have it out of the way, and to have one evening to relax before the next lot of work begins.
And some exciting news, I have had a proposal accepted for the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) conference in Hawaii in November. And I got offered a really interesting job today. I don't yet know whether I will be able to accept it or not, but it is something completely different from anything I have ever done before, and I hope I will be able to do it just for that reason. Not to mention the fact that the confidence of the person who has offered it to me means a lot. She is a really great role-model in all sorts of ways, and I appreciate her belief in me.

photograph. Just for the heck of it

I so enjoyed having those Mapungubwe pictures up at the top of my blog that I think I'm going to post pictures more often. This one I took from the top of the hill above my parent's house in Champagne valley in December. I love this place. So tranquil. It was a dream come true for my parents, and is a haven for me. I'm going there again on the 16th of this month. Can't wait! It was snowing there a couple of weeks ago.

exam blues

I have been really silly this semester. I signed up for three courses and a workshop, none of which I need to take, I accepted two jobs, in addition to my choir, and all that while I'm preparing to move countries! It was plain daft. I have discovered that despite all my determination to make all this work, it simply isn't humanly possible. I am about to fail two out of my three subjects. And for someone who graduated with distinction, and, well, is just not used to failing at anything, this is a big deal. It's not that I've had it easy. I like studying, and I love what I do, but it has taken hard work. Still, I have always been able to find that little extra something that gets me through it. But this time, I seem to have run out of - what? I don't know what it would take to make this happen. I have literally been working flat out all year, and the past couple of months have been the worst. And now my brain has shut down. No matter how much I try to read, nothing seems to make sense. I can't absorb anything. So I'm taking a little break, and reminding myself that really, all this stuff doesn't matter. These marks will be on my transcripts, but they no longer matter. I am going to graduate school, no matter what, and I have a cum laude degree that can't be taken from me. I just have to keep remembering that I really have done all that I need to. And after all, I got an enormous amount out of these courses. I really did learn and read and think a whole lot, and after all, that is the important part. Writing these exams is a formality. Wish me lots of luck. I really need it!

Visiting Mapungubwe

Two weeks ago, I went to Mapungubwe as part of a course I am taking this semester. This week, I am writing an exam on it. I won't post too much detail now, because of the exam. But it was a superb trip, really exciting, and engaging, and deeply emotional, and I thought I'd post a few pictures to give you a sense of it.
The Limpopo River, as seen from our digs for the weekend. That's Botswana on the other side. On the last morning, just as we were finishing breakfast, a whole herd of elephants crossed the river just down stream from us. It was an amazing sight!
This is K2, an older habitation site than Mapungubwe, within the same reserve.
The confluence of the Limpopo and Shashi rivers. To the left, Botswana. To the right, Zimbabwe. And in the middle, a disputed island so small it's barely habitable.

Mapungubwe: the hill, on the left, and a view from the summit. The weather turned as we climed, and it really looked like it might rain. Then, as we climbed down, it cleared almost as quickly as it had come over. We suspect the ancestors were not happy with us.