Oahu moments

View from Waikiki (1 block from our hotel - a hotel we luckily got upgraded to, since the room we had booked in the original one was broken somehow). Yesterday was a day of contrasts. Leaving this (approx -25):
And arriving to the opposite temperature here (approx +25):


Today we rented a car, visited church (the building was amazing!), and went around Oahu. My favourite place was the Laie temple, built in 1919, reminding somewhat of the Cardston temple.


We also saw pineapples at a plantation and studied the vegetation quite a bit.
It is evening time, and David keeps falling asleep due to the jetlag.

Winterpeg -07

It's early December, and we have the winter I dreamt of when I was little. If there were hills, I'd surely go play in the snow. -28 this morning, and yesterday snowing without end - sounds like an excellent time to go to Hawaii. So, on Saturday, it's time.. :) All according to plans formed when I was 4. It's actually a rather special feeling, to have something come true that was planned so long ago. This morning, the sun was surrounded by icy halos, very pretty :) I ccan still see one over the tower through my window. It's Sinter Klaas day today! D and I realised we needed to combine our traditions somehow, so we'll simply do both Sinterklaas and Julafton!

In other news: LOADS of lab reports to grade.

it's an entire galaxy!!!

Saturday evening, a friend and I decided to try out a telescope I got for the Let's Talk Science program a while ago. Since it is November, and Manitoba, being outside at night becomes far more agreeable when dressing right, so even though it was just around zero degrees, I equipped myself with three layers on my legs, and 5 on upper body (including wool, fleece and a downjacket as the crowning piece. A friend of mine let me "inherit" a pair of horse skin mittens. They are amazing - they manage to keep my hands warm, an accomplishment previously unheard of. Anyways, you get my point; it's important staying warm.
After learning the little quirks of the telescope, we managed to observe the comet Holmes (presently bigger than the sun..!) which due to its size actually was best observed through binoculars. Maiko was very impressed: "WOW! WOW! That's totally awesome!" etc. Slightly paraphrased perhaps. I was equally ecstatic about it. We also checked out Mars, the halfmoon, and M31 (the Andromeda galaxy). Now, a galaxy is cool. There's not many things cooler than a galaxy. And M31 is a very pretty specimen. From a small telescope like ours, it looks however mainly like a fuzzy elongated... fuzzball. The following conversation thus took place:
Maiko, upon observing fuzzball galaxy for first time, slightly disappointed: "That's IT?"
Heather, somewhat exasparated: "It's an entire GALAXY!" This gave me the giggles... But it turned out an eye-opener for me too. Maybe I've grown too used to what's going on in my life. What is it really we are looking at? From where? And how? Every trial of writing down that feeling of incredible awe turns out halfbaked. But seriously... it's an entire galaxy!!!!!

klag och mindre klag

Det är lustigt hur man aldrig hinner/orkar skriva nåt här, pga tidsbrist, och nu när jag verkligen inte har nån tid, så måste jag klaga om det. Hur ska man nånsin kunna fixa färdigt allt det här i tid? (med "det här" avses förstås hela iden att bli doktor). Mummel.

Reflection: If I communicate with someone from home, the next thing I do will be in Swedish. If someone interrupts and my brain changes language, when I continue writing, this happens.

Anyways, small interesting things going on: Yesterday we had 16 degrees, this morning snow lay on the ground. I'm going to Hawaii this winter. Twice. And home during reading week in February. Research is going forwards (YES!) but oh so slow (gaaaaah). Soon, if I can get the optical data right, I will have finished mass modeling for NGC 3556 from scratch. That is about time. It doesn't help either, that spontaneously, softwares I need to use, decide to stop working, or working in a different manner than what I am used to. The plan is to have this done by tomorrow, as well as instructions on HOW to do it written out and 14 lab reports graded. Also, I need write a thesis chapter and start a paper.

The Hawaii trips, btw, are first a honey moon in December and second observing at JCMT in January.

Och - jag har köpt en trevlig kappa.

Saker jag vill göra NU: webalbum med alla bilder från i höst. Skriva ned allt som pågått också. Måla 2 tavlor. skriva två artiklar. Vara färdig med allt mass modeling tjafs. Ha första kapitlet helt färdigt. vara förberedd för observationerna i januari. Ha tid att öva dans. Beställa Hnolulu-hotell. Göra en ansökan för en "award". FLYGA!!! Och plugga på flygandet. Det som hinns med? inget utom mass modeling, som ändå aldrig blir färdigt, och små korta stunder av vilande (såsom detta). Därav det inte ens sporadiska skrivandet på sista tiden (det blev svenska igen, för jag pratade med min far samtidigt.. )

A second chance!

Monday was an interesting day, mainly because what took place in my head already before the day had started. I had this extrmely real dream, that consisted of me waking up, getting ready, working a full day at school (granted, I worked with some highly unusual stuff this day, compared to my really normal days, but in the dream it was normal, so I didn't question doing a bunch of electronics work, when I really should be writing on a paper or a telescope proposal). At about 4 pm, I finally remembered that I was supposed to have done a bunch of Let's Talk Science presentations in Astronomy at a highschool in the north part of the city, something I got booked for a long time ago, and I had totally forgotten it. Oh, the anguish! I felt so bad, I had totally left the teacher on her own, without notice, and had not fulfilled my promise. It was a terrible feeling. I complained to people about it, and tried to get myself to get hol dof the teacher, so I could apologize. "I wish I could do this day over again", I said, really sincerely wishing for it. Next thing I know, I wake up in my bed and it's Monday morning. The gratitude I felt was immense! I got a second chance! I coul;d make it all right!

I have tried to describe the strength of my feelings in the above paragraph, and remembering it all, I just shake my head. I have strange dreams (last week, my friend's car go stolen by a giant crab, as a revenge for us having (by mistake) stepped on a regular sized crab who had no business walking on the streets of winniepg anyways. In a dream, that is. just emphasizing the previous statement). So, this Monday, I kept having a very pleasant feeling of happiness, for being able to do what I had promised, while I most likely otherwise would have been fairly stressed about it, since it took a large chunk out of my day.

To all my fans out there (who am I kidding.. ;), sorry for not having updated this place for a while. Things went busy int he end of the summer; I went home, got married, went on a trip, and came back to loads of work, plus the pleasant work of getting used to a new room mate. It's all very excellent, and very personal, so I'll write more on that another time. For now, let it suffice to say, that I've been living a fairy tale for the last year, and I still am. Also, fairy tales are totally normal lives, with same amount of trouble, worry, joy and whatever (because it is always what you make it to be), but the surrounding story is one of great amazingness. It is indeed a story to be told, but... another day.