Holidays!

[starbug]

I've just returned from a short sojourn to Italy (Tuscany, to be precise). I've been there before but this time was quite superior to the last...

Food, wine, lounging by the pool, beer and PIMS, sun, thunderstorms (I love those, even when on holiday), wandering through small hill-top medieval towns... bliss.

Anyone else got any summer holidays planned? Where are you off to?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Oooh, I am so jealous! Pictures?

[fnordboy]

My holidays consist of me sitting on a couch trying to watch some of my DVDs on the "To Watch" list.

I have no money (nor real desire I guess) to go anywhere.

[grim4746]

My holidays consist of me sitting on a couch trying to watch some of my DVDs on the "To Watch" list.

I have no money (nor real desire I guess) to go anywhere.

Oooh, I am so jealous! Pictures?

well maybe not pictures but that sounds like the only sort of 'holiday' I have the energy for. I'll have a few weeks off after I'm done at my terrible job and before i start my new job and school but it won't be a holiday. I guess it will basically be moving. I still have to find a place to live and register for classes set things up for my new job and I haven't even started packing. But my current job will be behind me so everyday will seem like a moment in paradise. Also refamiliarizing myself with my university town will be great. There is so much about the city that I love. And I might be able to squeeze a few days in for a trip to Montreal for shopping, music, amazing food and friends I haven't seen in a while.

[starbug]

I'm going to send the pictures in for developing and get them put on a CD so I will add them to my site soon... there aren't that many of italy really, but on the same film are some more of Sri Lanka I never quite got developed.

But my current job will be behind me so everyday will seem like a moment in paradise.

It's amazing how much a truly dreadful job can drag your life down, sometimes without you even realising the extent of it yourself. A friend of mine resigned a job which was fairly low-level admin (and paid like it)where she was nonetheless required to do all her boss's personal paperwork, deal with missed flights (an entire team, once!) from japan at 3am when instead of dealing with it themselves at the airport they would go to the hotel and call her, in England, to sort it, blah blah. She was so stressed, and it's only when she left that she realised quite how much of an impact it had on her wider life. Let me tell you, for around 6 months she was no fun to be around. She expressed leaving as feeling like she'd been unshackled, and a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders so she floated around a couple of inches off the floor, happy and serene.

I hope it's a similar thing for you - sounds like you've got an exciting time coming up! What's the new job?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I totally agree - I once had a job that I REALLY hated. The first thing I would think in the morning when my alarm went off was, "F@#!, I have to go to that f*%^@!& job again." I was miserable all day, and once I left work, instead of being happy about leaving, all I could think was, "F*#% I have to go back there tomorrow." It was a horrid way to live, so I quit. I figured I could find another job and thankfully I was right. The longer you stay at a job you hate, the more your soul gets sucked right out of you. I have seen people stay at places they hate for years, and they just get more negative and bitter as time goes on. The best thing anyone can do if they are unhappy (whether it's work, a relationship, etc.) is change the situation so that they are happy (or happier), and a lot of times that means leaving. Some people are hesitant to do so because change is scary and they see it as quitting. I look at it as trying to make your life as pleasant as possible and cutting your losses.

[grim4746]

I would have quit this job a lot sooner but it was my best shot at saving enough money for school. I don't think I've ever endured such a period of soul sucking misery before. I've kept reminding myself that in this case 'short term' misery=much stronger potential for long term happiness. I'm probably being a bit unfair. The job is bad but I think it's the broader situation that I've found myself in here in this city that has made me so insanely unhappy. I've been isolated and had little free time to meet people and drastically unimpressed with most that I have. I'm so happy to be returning to a community where i feel comfortable and am already established socially. I love moving and starbug out new but this experience has turned me off of that for a while anyway.

sounds like you've got an exciting time coming up! What's the new job?

The new job isn't really all that different, it's still restaurant work but I'll have a lot less responsibility, more money(/hr) and fewer hours. The environment is totally different and a lot of the organizational headaches that have been driving me crazy will not be a factor at all. It's just a part time job to keep me living in technical poverty but not homeless while I'm finishing school. Hopefully it will be a bit of fun too.

[Jody Barsch*]

Just got back tonight from a fly fishing trip with my dad in the Sierras. We went to Mammoth, Yosemite, fished Hot Creek, the Upper Owens, and a few other places. The fishing wasn't tremendous, well, mine wasn't anyway, but it was great being there with my dad, and the scenery was amazing. My dad and I take a fishing trip together every summer, and while I do enjoy fly fishing, and I do feel my cast is improving, it's more just being out of the city and hanging with my dad that I like. I don't have the concetration, or passion, of my dad and most fly fisherman, so I usually get bored, put down my rod and take out a book or some writing, My favorite thing though is rolling up my pants and wading barefoot through the creeks and rivers, looking for good swimming holes. Yesterday we walked down a dried riverbed until we came to a mass of boulders, on the side of the riverbed, from which emerges an underground stream. It's incredible to see -- water just streaming out of the huge rocks, and this little spring is the source for the Owens River and Lke Crowley, it's amazing when you think about it.

[Nothingman]

Fly fishing is great because it affects everyone differently. Some like the challenge of casting, some like the attempt to mimic nature. For me, I just need an excuse to stand in the river and listen to the water go by. I enjoy the focus it takes because it pushes everything else out of my mind. I guess it's kind of a zen thing.

[starbug]

Pictures of Italy, and some more of Sri Lanka, can now be viewed in my gallery at mscl.com if anyone wants to see them. Unfortunately the Italy ones didn't come out too well, but I'm pleased with the botanical gardens ones in the Sri Lanka album.

[Jody Barsch*]

Cool photos Starbug! I loved seeing them. The close up of the orchid and the one of you with the enormous tree are great. That huge palm is a little daunting isn't it. The Italy pictures are beautiful! Looks like a good trip!

[Nostradamus]

The Italy pics are great -- like a classical landscape painting! Also you and Mr. S look so cute! You have a beautiful smile, which, coming from Britain, is no small compliment...

[starbug]

You have a beautiful smile, which, coming from Britain, is no small compliment...

Thank you

The close up of the orchid and the one of you with the enormous tree are great. That huge palm is a little daunting isn't it.

that huge tree was amazing - in fact, that whole botanical garden was amazing. We felt like Lilliputians wandering about staring upwards at everything...

I've also got my next trip planned already: New Zealand! I am soooo excited about that one... in February Mr. S and I will torture ourselves with a 27 hour airline bonanza and then explore LOTR country. His friend lives there and is getting married. We didn't have to be asked twice!

[Jody Barsch*]

May be going to London mid August with the theater students from my school! I would love to go back (Although chaperoning high school kids in Europe might be kind of hectic)! I also have the opportunity to accompany the French students to France during Spring Break (my very good friend is the French teacher, and he organizes the trip). I have never been to France, but if I had to choose just one, both for timing and destination, I'd stick with London (afterall, I owe my dad a catalogue of the permanent collection at the British Museum).

[emmie]

May be going to London mid August with the theater students from my school! I would love to go back (Although chaperoning high school kids in Europe might be kind of hectic)! I also have the opportunity to accompany the French students to France during Spring Break (my very good friend is the French teacher, and he organizes the trip). I have never been to France, but if I had to choose just one, both for timing and destination, I'd stick with London (afterall, I owe my dad a catalogue of the permanent collection at the British Museum).

oh wow, that is so exciting Jody!! my personal preference is France (no offense to any british posters!) but that is probably because I lived in Paris for 6 weeks in the summer of 2002. both places are totally cool and have a ton of stuff to see and do. and even though you'd be with students, it might be kind of refreshing to see things through their young eyes. I am seriously addicted to travelling, so I am the biggest cheerleader of people who get to go to really cool places. that is partly why I chose filmmaking as a career because it would give me more flexibility to travel to new places and hopefully job opportunities in exotic locales!!