I'm just a girl (2)

Take this pink ribbon off my eyes
I'm exposed and it's no big surprise
Don't you think I know exactly where I stand
This world is forcing me to hold your hand

'Cause I'm just a girl, little 'ol me
Don't let me out of your sight
I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite
So don't let me have any rights

Oh...I've had it up to here!

The moment that I step outside
So many reasons for me to run and hide
I can't do the little things I hold so dear
It's all those little things that I fear

'Cause I'm just a girl, I'd rather not be
'Cause they won't let me drive late at night
I'm just a girl, guess I'm some kind of freak
'Cause they all sit and stare with their eyes
I'm just a girl, take a good look at me
Just your typical prototype

Oh...I've had it up to here!

Oh...am I making myself clear?

I'm just a girl
I'm just a girl in the world...
That's all that you'll let me be!

I'm just a girl, living in captivity
Your rule of thumb makes me worry some
I'm just a girl, what's my destiny?
What I've succumbed to is making me numb

I'm just a girl, my apologies
What I've become is so burdensome
I'm just a girl, lucky me
Twiddle-dum there's no comparison

Oh...I've had it up to-
Oh...I've had it up to-
Oh...I've had it up to here!

- No Doubt

I'm just a girl (1)

I might be a little concerned with my hair
I might need comfort more than my share
I might seem to follow fashion but claim that I don't care
My heart is your best friend when it rules my head

I might want to talk a lot but don't ask me why
And I'll get impatient if you don't reply
I might always search for something wrong, I want you to deny
And if you love me just stay close and hold me when I cry

Don't try to understand me, I'm just a girl
One of the greatest mysteries, you'll find in this world
I'm not hard to handle, I'm just a girl
I'm just a girl

I don't seek money but I want your time
'Cause I'd give my life for you, when you are mine
And it hurts me more than I can say when you pull away
But if you love me you should tell me everyday

Don't try to understand me, I'm just a girl
One of the greatest mysteries, you'll find in this world
I'm not hard to handle, I'm just a girl
I'm just a girl

You might think I'm too demanding
But you're just not understanding

I might like to take advice, but go my own way
And it's when I hurt the most I swear I'm okay
And it's always when you least expect I say I want to stay
It might take just a single kiss to steal my heart away

Don't try to understand me, I'm just a girl
One of the greatest mysteries, you'll find in this world
You think I'm an X-File, but I'm just a girl
I'm just a girl

Don't try to understand me, I'm just a girl
One of the greatest mysteries, you'll find in this world
I'm not hard to handle, I'm just a girl
I'm just a girl

- Bachelor Girl

There is something seriously wrong with me...

We are now in week 14 - the last week of classes for the session. Today I have my last tutorial for my Tuesday group in the first-year history of science subject I'm tutoring. I bribed my students to turn up by offering chocolate chip biscuits (home-made, too - they're really good!)

Anyway, we're looking at Thomas Kuhn today - scientific revolutions and how science progresses, etc. I had a bizarre dream last night. I was teaching this class, and not only did I forget the biscuits, but Karl Popper, Kuhn's arch-nemesis, turned up and and took over my class. He dominated the discussion and wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise! Keep in mind that Popper has been dead for 17 years, so if he did appear in my class, it would be a miracle. But aside from that, why wouldn't I want to hear from someone as famous in HPS as Karl Popper? I'm sure he'd do a better job teaching than me!

All very strange. It makes me worry...

Against religion

Nice. Very nice.

Click here.

Greg Clarke leaves CASE

Click here.

I look forward to seeing what the future holds both for CASE and for the new Christian Studies Institute that Greg will be directing.

An even more important question...

Why am I having so much trouble focusing on my conference paper?!

A very important question...

Are peppermint Tic Tacs not as strong as they used to be, or am I just getting used to serious mints?

Milk & Honey

I am soon to embark on my third annual adventure in the green and pleasant land that is the UK, and lately I have been engaged in the very pleasurable activity of planning the exciting things I will see and do. I'll be away for six weeks, and for most of that time I will be working hard - attending conferences, presenting papers, networking and researching archives and manuscripts, but I'm planning to have a little fun along the way - particularly in the evening, when the libraries are closed.

I heard about a bar called Milk & Honey last year, but I didn't get around to going there while I was in London. This time, I'm determined to go. It's a very exclusive bar:

Milk & Honey opened in Soho, London, in April 2002 and remains dedicated to bringing unrivalled drinks quality and service to a discerning crowd of grown-ups.

Access to non-members is by reservation only until 11pm (and in practice restricted to the early part of the week). For members and their guests the bar is open until 3am six nights a week. No reservation is required for members, but we advise that you always call ahead.

It also has a list of house rules which appeal to me, particularly the fifth one:

No name-dropping.

No hooting, hollering, shouting or other loud behaviour.

No fighting, play fighting, no talking about fighting.

Gentlemen will remove their hats. Hooks are provided.

Gentlemen will not introduce themselves to ladies.
Ladies, feel free to start a conversation or ask the bartender to introduce you. If a man you don't know speaks to you, please lift your chin slightly and ignore him.

Do not linger outside the front door.

Do not bring anyone unless you would leave that person alone in your home. You are responsible for the behaviour of your guests.

Exit the bar briskly and silently. People are trying to sleep across the street. Please make all your travel plans and say all farewells before leaving the bar.

This is a place that is very serious about its drinks:

If you're in the Red Room, you'll be served drinks containing jagged wedges of ice. We cut these by hand with an ice pick from a twice-frozen block of ice made from mineral water. Ice like this is denser, colder and clearer, and chills your drink perfectly without diluting it too much.

As mentioned above, it's very exlusive. One can purchase membership, but the number of members is limited. So, one must join the waiting list, and then wait until a member leaves or a membership lapses. It's £50 to join the waiting list. Then when you're offered membership the annual fee is £300 for one membership card which also includes three guests. Insanity!

The original Milk & Honey is located in New York, and is open to members only.

Milk & Honey opened in New York in January 2000 and is located on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Entrance is by referral and appointment only. Many New Yorkers assume that M&H is an urban myth but access is easy for London members seven nights a week until 4am.

There is no way I would ever take out membership in a place like this, but there's something about it that appeals to me. I like the seriousness of it - this is not a place to hang out in the hope of spotting celebrities, or a place to pick up. And the rules crack me up, particularly the one about gentlemen not speaking to ladies without permission. It's very Jane Austen!

All I ever needed to know about life, I learned from The Princess Bride

1) Never trust poor lost circus performers.
2) If there are rocks ahead, we'll all be dead.
3) Shrieking eels always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh.
4) Inconceivable doesn't mean what you think it means.
5) Thibault cancels out Capo Ferro (unless the enemy has studied his Agrippa).
6) You use different moves when fighting half a dozen people than when you only have to worry about one.
7) Plato, Aristotle, Socrates...morons.
8) Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
9) Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
10) Anyone who says life isn't pain is selling something.
11) Mocking someone's pain can get you thrown down a ravine.
12) Never say you won't survive just because no one else ever has.
13) R.O.U.S.s DO exist.
14) If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything.
15) Love cannot be tracked or broken.


16) When a job goes wrong, you go back to the beginning.
17) You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
18) Mostly dead is slightly alive.
19) True love is the greatest thing in the world (except for a nice M.L.T.)
20) Chocolate coating makes everything go down easier.
21) Real friends will help you storm a castle gate guarded by sixty men.
22) Mawidge is a dweam wiffim a dweam.
23) If you didn't say it, you didn't do it.
24) Death cannot stop true love, all it can do is delay it for a while.
25) War is a prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition.
26) People in masks cannot be trusted.
27) Lies do not become of men of action.
28) List everything among your assets, even if it's just a wheelbarrow carting an albino.
29) Scaling the face of a giant cliff is not as easy as it looks.
30) You should never trust the word of a spaniard.


31) If you see a boat following you in eel-infested waters, it's probably not a fisherman out for a pleasure cruise at night.
32) When jogging someone's memory, don't jog too hard.
33) Yelling a single phrase over and over makes you recover from certain death.
34) When asked a question for posterity, be completely honest.
35) There's not much money in revenge.
36) It's good to know someone on the Brute Squad.
37) After taking a miracle pill, don't go swimming for at least an hour.
38) Do good work and maybe they won't kill you in the morning.
39) When you're about to be killed by a pirate, just say the reason for you to live is true love.
40) Being nervous and concerned are NOT the same thing.
41) Always think everything could be a trap, and you'll still be alive.
42) Sword fights are always the best way to resolve an argument.


With thanks to the "Hallo. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." group on Facebook.

Any others??

Endorphin rush

I had a great workout at the gym this morning. I hadn't worked out for a week, because I'd been unwell, but my trainer, Elizabeth, did not go easy on me! Working out with a personal trainer once a week is not cheap, but it's worth it. Elizabeth works me hard, but she's so nice that I don't mind. Doing lunge-drives, holding a 5kg plate, legs burning... how many left? 4?! OK, just because it's you...

It's great as well that she doesn't just care about my physical well-being, but about my spiritual well-being as well (she's a Christian). She asks how I am emotionally, how things are going with the special man in my life (hi Matt!!) and how my PhD is coming along.

She's given me homework for next week. I have to finish my first conference paper before I see her next Thursday. Then I have to finish the second one by the following week, and the third one the week after that. She's tough! Good news though - I'm actually making progress on my first conference paper this afternoon. Hurrah!

Hmm. I think my lats are going to be sore tomorrow. Why did I ask for more weight?!

Studying is bad for your health

Click here.

OK, so that's not really what the article is saying, but everyone knows it anyway!

I received the email about this on Monday, and I was a little concerned given that I work in this building. I guess, though, that I probably haven't been here long enough to be really worried. Still, I knew this PhD was bad for my health!!

Tee hee!

Donna sent me this:

The mystery is finally solved.

How does the small arrow on your computer monitor work when we move the mouse?

Haven't you ever wondered how it works?

Now, through the miracle of high technology, we can see how it is done.

With the aid of a screen magnifying lens, the mechanism becomes apparent.

Click on the link below and you will find out! The image may take a minute or two to download and when it appears, slowly move your mouse over the light gray circle and you will see how the magic works.

Follow this link and find out the truth.

I would have been more impressed if the arrow was carried around by a team of mice...

Progress or Providence?

Michael Ruse on the Creation-Evolution struggle.

Hurrah!

I've finished marking the take-home exams for the Science and Religion subject I tutor online - just in time to wander down to the School of Physics for Greg's lecture. Now, if I can get all the Cosmos and Culture tests marked tomorrow, I can spend the rest of the week on my conference papers, which will make me very happy indeed...

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain...

While the rain in Tasmania falls in... bottles.

You can now buy Tasmanian Rain water over the internet. Only $24 for four bottles. That's 24 US dollars - it's a New York-based company.

Tasmanian Rain is uniquely pure rain water captured on the pristine island of Tasmania, Australia, where the air is scientifically proven to be the purest in the world.

The air travels over Antartica and 10,000 miles of ocean, eventually reaching the most western point of Tasmania, called "The Edge of the World." There Tasmanian Rain is collected without ever touching the ground.

There's simply no other water like it.

Hmm.

Grrr...

I am staying at uni late tonight for Greg Clarke's lecture on "Where Richard Dawkins is not a scientist." Greg is also speaking at my church on Sunday night on Dawkins ("Are Christians deluded?" Details here.) but I'm sufficiently interested in Dawkins and enough of a fan of Greg Clarke to go to two lectures in one week.

Anyway, the lecture tonight starts at 7:30pm, so I'm hanging around until then, attempting to finish some marking and prepare for tomorrow's tute. I just took a walk up to level 5 of the Botany St carpark to bring my car down to the carpark outside my office (which was full when I arrived at uni today at the ridiculously late time of 11am). After parking, I noticed that the passenger-side mirror was askew. This surprised me, because although I parked quite close to a concrete column this morning, and it's not unknown for me to hit my mirror on such columns, I didn't recall this happening. Surely I would have noticed?

So I got out of the car, and attempted to move the mirror back into position. Crack. It broke. It's kind of in the right position now, but I can just see it falling off to the side while I'm driving down the M5 East at 80km/h (sadly, this has happened to me before - other mirror, though!) Not happy at all. I don't want a new mirror! I'm happy with this one! And I particularly don't want a new mirror when I didn't even realise that I was breaking it. Fair enough if I realise what has happened at the time, but it's not much fun to discover it 6 hours later! Grr. And why is it that when I'm already in a bad mood, these kinds of things happen to make me even more annoyed at the world (and myself, for that matter)?!

Well, this kind of reminds me of one of my favourite scenes from Babylon 5 (in an episode I happened to watch on Saturday, actually). Captain Sheridan is in the garden with the Minbauri ambassador Delenn, and they have this delightful little exchange:

Sheridan: Why is it every time you finally get things calmed down and everything's going great life decides to kick you in the butt?

Delenn: But what?

Sheridan: What?

Delenn: You said that life decides to kick you, but...

Sheridan: No! It's umm... it's, it's a part of the body. It's, ahhh... oh, you have the damndest gaps in your vocabulary!

Delenn: In preparing to come here, I was not taught the more colorful aspects of your language. It was considered inappropriate for one of the religious cast.

Sheridan: Yeah, well, you're missing out on a lot.

Delenn: So I gather... (mumbles to herself) Butt. Butt... I butt, you butt, he or she butts...

Sheridan: No. It's a...

Delenn: Butt butt, butt butt.

Sheridan: You sound like a motorboat.

Delenn: Motorbutt? I do not think I like the sound of that.

Sheridan: Well, I don't blame you. I'm against the whole idea.

Delenn: Then we're in agreement.

Sheridan: Absofragginlutley!

Ah, at least that makes me smile!

105 Things

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here - it seems to be a trend in the blogosphere. (See lists of things about Nixter and Craig, for example). Since I'm having trouble focusing on my work at the moment, I decided to give it a go.

1. I am a PhD student.
2. I need to finish my PhD this year.
3. My scholarship ends in August.
4. I am in the School of History and Philosophy of Science.
5. My PhD is on natural theology in 17th-century England, and how it was related to natural philosophy and theology.
6. I have been interested in science and religion for a very long time.
7. I don't remember when I first got interested in Galileo, but he's now my biggest soapbox.
8. I used to have debates about creation and evolution with my science teacher in year 7.
9. I used to be a dogmatic young earth creationist.
10. I doubt that I knew that is what I was.
11. I'm now a fairly indifferent theistic evolutionist, if I'm forced to label myself.
12. I'm passionate about science and religion because I am a Christian.
13. And I'm interested in science.
14. I still have the first copy of New Scientist that I ever read.
15. That was when I was in year 12, in 1998.
16. I was particularly fascinated by an article on quantum entanglement.
17. I wish I had studied quantum physics.
18. There are many things I wish I had done.
19. There are many things I wish I could do.
20. I wish I could read Latin.
21. And speak Russian.
22. And play bass guitar.
23. I think that my church does not have enough female guitarists.
24. My church has no female guitarists (that play at church regularly, anyway).
25. I play piano at my church during the evening service.
26. I have played the piano since I was in year 2 - 1988 - 7 years old.
27. I completed all the AMEB grades, but failed to pass the AMusA exam.
28. Twice.
29. I was pretty bitter for awhile after failing my AMusA a second time.
30. I hardly played the piano for ages.
31. I'm back to enjoying playing, when I get a chance.
32. I wish I had more time to play the piano.
33. I wish I had more energy to play the piano.
34. I wish I had practised scales more when I was a kid.
35. I love playing Mozart, because it's so light-hearted and fun.
36. I love playing Beethoven, because it's so emotional and I can bang out dramatic C minor chords.
37. I love Mendelssohn's Rondo Cappricioso, but I can't play the second part nearly fast enough.
38. Ditto for the Poulenc Toccata I played for my second AMusA exam.
39. My cousin Andrew plays the piano extremely well.
40. I enjoy playing piano with him.
41. And having my lovely sister-in-law Tegan sing.
42. And seeing my great-aunt Nina dance around the living room.
43. I love singing.
44. I can't sing.
45. I love dancing.
46. I'm not very good at dancing.
47. I have a DVD of all Kylie Minogue's music videos.
48. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a DVD of all Kylie Minogue's music videos.
49. I like to dance to Kylie Minogue.
50. Particularly the dance routine she does in the music video for "I Wouldn't Change a Thing."
51. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I like to dance to Kylie Minogue.
52. At the moment I am procrastinating from writing a conference paper on the Boyle lectures.
53. This is a paper I will present at a Science and Religion conference at Lancaster in July.
54. At the end of June I will be heading over to the UK for 6 weeks.
55. I am very much looking forward to this.
56. I am in denial about how much I have to get done by then.
57. I would love to live in England for awhile one day.
58. I'm not sure if I could handle the winter.
59. This will be my third trip to the UK.
60. The other two trips (last year and the year before) were both in summer also.
61. This time I am looking forward to spending a week in each of London, Cambridge and Oxford.
62. I am particularly looking forward to visiting the Eagle and Child in Oxford and the Eagle in Cambridge again.
63. I am also looking forward to doing research among manuscripts in the British Library and other libraries.
64. I am hoping to look at Henry More's letters in the library of Christ's College, Cambridge.
65. I was so excited last year to visit the Royal Society of London and hold in my hands commonplace books written by Robert Boyle in the 17th century.
66. I was also excited to see the site where Boyle lived in Oxford and where he performed his famous air-pump experiments with Robert Hooke.
67. I am such a nerd.
68. While I am away, I will miss my family and friends.
69. I will also miss my lovely boyfriend, Matt.
70. My boyfriend is also a nerd.
71. But he's a different kind of nerd.
72. I met my boyfriend through my blog.
73. It still feels a little strange to say that I have a boyfriend.
74. But I am very happy.
75. Writing this list is helping me kill time before heading off to the gym.
76. I joined a Fernwood Women's Health Club just over a year ago.
77. I try to go about 5 times a week.
78. I have a personal trainer, Elizabeth, who is fantastic.
79. I like going to the gym.
80. I am very happy to be going to a female-only gym.
81. My favourite class is Body Pump.
82. There's something about lifting weights that is very empowering.
83. I plan to get back into Body Combat classes at some stage.
84. I try not to be too concerned about my physical appearance, but I still am.
85. I am looking forward to having a spiritual body!
86. I became a Christian when I was a little kid.
87. I asked Jesus to come into my heart.
88. I did this just after my bath, because I thought he would be able to get in more easily if I wasn't wearing any clothes.
89. My understanding of Christianity has progressed since then.
90. I can think of three significant times in my life where I have reaffirmed my faith.
91. The first was when I was about 12 - for perhaps the first time, the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection really hit me, I made a conscious decision to follow Jesus, and I was baptised.
92. The second time was in late high school - I felt that I'd been slipping a bit in my relationship with God, and I went down the front at an evangelistic service.
93. It was an incredibly emotional experience.
94. The third time was in my first year at uni - encountering strong intellectual opposition to my beliefs, I had to think through what I believed and why, and decide whether I could be rational and have faith in God.
95. I decided that I could.
96. Kirsten Birkett was an extremely important role model for me at this time.
97. My favourite book of the Bible is Romans.
98. My favourite chapter is Romans 8.
99. I know that this is rather unoriginal.
100. I don't mind!
101. I am not very good at quiet times and maintaining a personal prayer life.
102. I love reading the bible and praying with other people.
103. I am in a fantastic bible study group this year.
104. Fortunately the leader, Tim (also our associate pastor) managed to exorcise the spirit of Tuesday weakness from me via email, so I actually managed to get to bible study this week.
105. This wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.
106. I think that means I'm far too good at talking about myself.
107. And I can't count.
108. If you made it this far, thank you - I hope you didn't get too bored!

Five songs I'm loving at the moment

Some people may think that I should be embarrassed to admit to liking some of these songs... but I'm not!

KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See


Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape


Nelly Furtado - Say It Right


Gia Farrell - Hit Me Up


Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man


Hurray for girly music!

Are you ready to rock?

Here is a rockin' photo from my brother Tim:



If you like it, you can vote for it to be included in a photography magazine. Click here.

Little Birdy rock!!

A woman's work

Perhaps mothers should start charging for their services!

Click here.