Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/dreams.html


Olivia's inspirational quote for the day! =)

And on a happy note, I found a bank that did not make me want to go out the door in disguist when talking with them--they were able to give me good information in response to my questions, they knew more than me about what they had on offer ( its a bit disconcerting to feel like you know more than the person who is talking to you about accounts, especially when you know only what you read on their website...) and let me know exactly what additional information and steps are needed to get me what I wanted. They listened when I explained what options I was after in an account and sat down to see what was possible. HOORAY!

All of this breakthrough possible since I found Bruce Springsteen radio! Which goes to show that a bit of music or something to lift your mood and motivate you ( whatever it is that motivates you) can go a long long way!

Excellent Jo Jo!!!

I find the whole issue of funding an interesting one. So many different things on offer. The US only recently became more generous with the LOAN funds for post graduate work, about a year and a half ago, and so I was well pleased to be able to take out loans to fund my education--it was not a choice I had at the start. Going in debt at this point in life is not a thrilling prospect, on the other hand, it is my one life, this is a dream I have, and I will do whatever it takes to make it happen. I realize people have an aversion to student debt, but if the choice are loans or no PhD, I would take the loans--over time the money should pay itself back not only in terms of real dollars/pounds/euros/name your currency but in the things that you cannot really place a price tag on--fulfillment, accomplishment, more enjoyment of what you are doing, etc.

You don't know if you don't try. Applying costs nothing, or relatively little. If you have interest, make the best case for yourself in your application and go for it!

That is fascinating, Chris, both the area of study and your response to the information. I would love to hear more about the area of study! I am not a strict vegetarian, because I will eat certain kinds of meat once in awhile (usually mixed in with something like pizza or Chinese), but in general try to avoid animal products when eating. I used to drive past a dairy farm on the way to work, and it was heart breaking to see the little new born calves chained up outside calf houses, deprived of their mother, so the mother could produce milk. UGH. When I can, I try to get soya milk rather than dairy milk because of this.

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/cockneyf.htm

This article is very interesting for all that I do not understand some of the pronounciation symbols--about how RP accents reflect some influences of cockney accents! And it has a bit in there as well about " the intrusive R"--that is the official name of what I was trying to describe, when an "R" sound is added when one word ends in a vowel and the next one starts in a vowel--and an "R" sound is put in between!

HAH! The INTRUSIVE R!! It almost sounds like something from a Johnny Depp Pirate film---arrrr!!!!

I think you start to hear the different accents when it is "necessary" in your involvement in that society/culture to be able to understand more defined differences--the longer I am in the UK, the more able I am to place the accents that I hear--while I could always hear the difference between Geordie and Home counties accents, I would not have been able to place where each was from. So I think that you start to hear the differences when they aid your navigation of the culture/society.

Incidentally, speaking of Geordie accents, I find the northern English accents the easiest to understand and the most pleasant to listen to!

Getting involved with the sports looks a bit complicated based on the information I received, and not sure it offers what I am looking for---just fun recreational sport...I would feel a bit self-concious taking to the basketball court on my own as well... and there is a somewhat hefty fee to join some sort of gym looking facility. Not sure if anyone in my department does sport, and if they did, its not likely to be the women. I have seen people going off to yoga, etc, but thats not what I am looking for. Nothing against yoga, just looking for an adrenaline sport.

Equally interesting are the times though that people do not "hear" my accent--they cannot hear my accent as different from another speaker of English. It is the same for me, I suppose, when I hear Spanish being spoken--I can understand it at a conversational level, but I do not "hear" the accents of different speakers ( usually) nor would I be able to place them geographically with Spain, Central or South America, etc. But an ear attuned to accents can pick up those differences, as with British regional accents, pinpointing you down to a specific village! ( or so I was told!)

I don't know that as an American, I would rate most of the regional accents as hard to understand. There seems to be a sort "in" accent with younger people that sounds like a variant on East End London--whether the speaker has ever been close to the East End or not, or even to London.

I think the whole concept of accents is fascinating. I know that its a whole academic field unto itself, but just think of the utility of an accent. It tells the listener so much about you--where you are from, where you are not from! and in my case, easily marks me out as "not British", which saves a lot of explanation sometimes as I am trying to negotiate my way through unfamiliar terrain like getting a bank account!

Once I was put out of a taxi in Glasgow because the driver, a native Glaswegian by the sounds of him, could not understand where I wanted to go! I was feeling very chuffed that I could understand the Glaswegian accent and make my way around with ease--only to be put out in the rain!!!

errr.. ENFP! I mean!

I am looking at international law and children's issues ( my PhD is in law)but it is heavily focused on what happens to people ( ie it gets to become cross disciplinary and has lots of sociology and anthropology and psychology in it!) and not just focused on the legal instruments themselves. So its perfectly an ENTP PhD!

What is yours?

Yes, accents can change how the language is heard and used! I had people in the US asking me what language was spoken in England, before I left...I was like um......English! One thing that you hear in the US that you will never hear the inverse of in Britain is--"You are in America, speak English"--you will never hear, " You are in the UK, speak American!"

http://www.careerfulfillment.com/learning_styles/lrn_11enfp.htm

another interesting page on personality and learning style--ENFP again--me! Which is interesting, and true--it says I like exploring ideas, being able to explore, dislike lots of rigid, rote formality--which is a demotivator--dislike learning on my own ( so for me its important to get to do some people involved things in my research)...etc...