NORWAY, and and a second attempt at a personal post

I realised that the previous entry was not so personal after all. So, in “dear diary”-style: this morning I caught up with news about the attacks in Norway… I cannot quite find the words to describe precisely how revolting it all is; I beat down on my project as I saw a friend this whole afternoon; my morning was accompanied by the Czech prom that was played in Royal Albert Hall the Wednesday-just-gone.

Many bloggers have written reactions to the events in Norway, and I felt that Clara (note: blog in Swedish) made an excellent point, atop the sympathies: we react extra strongly when the terror and misfortune happens close to us. People are starving in Ethiopia and 48 Congolese women are raped each hour. These pieces of news are reported too, but they sink through the layers of priorities in the face of immediate danger (or hacking scandals). This is completely understandable, but I do feel a tinge of shame that I voice my concerns less when the terror (thrown up in the air, or hidden behind bureaucracy) happens further afield. For now I send my warmest sympathies to friends and their families in Norway.

There is always a way... Norwegian PM: "The answer to violence is even more democracy."

That doorway happens to be the way to a rather charming cafe’s back garden, but life is never that easy.

…speaking of life and easy, I contemplated documenting interesting bits of science communication I have come across when doing research for my project (which leaves me little of the former and does not represent the latter very well either), which is has basis in radio. Would you like that?

Science press offic’ing and the first truly personal post

I have strayed from the title of this blog before, and I think it is very likely because this is my first blogging adventure, and to specify a topic may not have been the smartest idea. Then again, I mentioned at the very beginning that this place was going to be a writing outlet for me, so I will am simply going to do that – write.

You may have noticed that updates are few and far between, but I can assure you that it is not because I do not care, but because time is an issue. Presently, I am being a masters student trying to put together a big project, and simultaneously a press officer at my university; both of which are harder than they sound. (I considered “harder than they look”, but then again I am not making them look particularly easy…) Perhaps here I can make that my link back to the blog topic: being a press officer with some speciality in science.

What I have found, and I did expect this, is that everybody thinks their research is the most important. While I tend to agree on that point – every research story carries importance in one way or another – I do think that scientsts should sometimes realise their own limitations too. The usual process is that we (in the office) receive academic papers, we read them and distil them into a newsworthy story (or at least we try out hardest to do so, depending on the research, but we believe it is always possible), then ask the academic in question for a quote, and then send them a draft to proof read.

The tricky, twitchy bit : we reserve the right to veto the final copy and remove any tampering we do not think represents the University well enough. That includes re-wording quotes. We NEVER change the gist of the quote, nor do we displace the emphasis, but if it sounds, for instance too cocky, we are allowed to tone it down.

This is a part of what I have learned so far at work. Apart from the fact that it is commonplace to be, figuratively, on an IV-drip of coffee during working hours.

Something like this, but even more hard core. Oh yes.

Finally, a word on running, considering I started mentioning it here. I am now on week 9 of the Couch to 5k plan, and deeply recommend it to anybody who is interesting in kick-starting their fitness regime/willing to listen or read. I have found it a very rewarding experience, and will definitely continue running. I might even go back and use the week 1 podcast, but do running intervals to keep upping my fitness level.

Hope everybody is enjoying summer.

Food Diary – June 30, 2011 – and… general feelings about this month’s food

Well, that was that, quite simply. A quick glance through the folder containing photographs of this month’s intake shows a most peculiar lack of correlation. Apart from the contstant coffees, of course. I like to think that I have generally eaten ‘lighter’ foods this month, and even my thrown-together meals (a.k.a. Lazy-Girls Dinner, maybe I could make that into a fast food company?) do indicate a change of season. For instance, there were a lot of baked-potato-based meals in November, whereas in June those were likely to be a salad or an omelette with miscellaneous things tossed in.

I may be wrong, as I have not tabulated the foods yet, but I think there were a lot fewer biscuits this month too.

Slightly delayed: the final day of the experiment.

Breakfast.

Coffee (with milk), toasted cinnamon and raisin bagel.

I tried to make a smiley-face with the day’s snacks.

Two brownie-muffins, a BrunchBar and a banana.

Lolcat-jokes are unacceptable.

Cheeseburger!

I think I have found my caffeine rhythm: one serving first thing in the day, second serving about an hour into the working day. Then the final, VITAL just-after-lunch serving, or my consciousness has no chance in the afternoon. There may be a cuppa after work too, but that is optional.

Cuppa tea.

After work, there was an impromptu-meet-up with a friend. They were handing out free chocolate at the cafe. Who was I to say ‘no’?

Appletiser and some dark chocolate.

Lazy Girl’s Dinner. Could not be helped. After which, I was ambushed by my housemate and presented with Maltesers. A LOT of them.

Tomato, olives and cheese on (oat) toast, with basil; orange juice, maltesers (not the whole box).

Water count: ~2l. Good end to the month there. Since I have been discussing it throughout: I am now starting week seven on my running plan, and am beginning to feel like an actual ‘runner’, so to speak. I still recommend the plan vigorously to anybody who wishes to do something about a lack of exercise in their life, and will definitely carry on running after the plan is completed.

I will tally up this month’s food as soon as possible, but this next immediate week will be rather busy for me, so I apologise for any delays in advance. Hope you have been intrigued (for wont of a better word) by the experiment!