I hate it when I manage to maneuver myself into one of those emotional downs. I see them coming and sometimes just can't stop myself digging myself in deeper.

Case in point today - everything feels as if it does not make any sense and I should just give up. I was unproductive and went home early (thanks to overtime I've done last week I could) and instead of trying to turn things around, here I am online, googling stuff up and realizing that I should have submitted that giant proposal last year (no matter that I could not have had for reasons of both mental health and research status) instead of waiting for this, because of course I have a year less than I thought (and thus a try less) because they count years in that strange way of theirs and no matter how long I stare at the document, the 2011 is not going to turn into 2010. Ugh, ugh.

Anyway, objectively this all is not a problem and I have a great job lined up (while several amazing people I know do not), it's just:

  • I did not get enough sleep last night. By own fault, I was reading on my phone instead of reading my book and then, you know, turning the light off at some point. Instead there I was, at 2 AM, wide awake.
  • I had a full weekend: which was amazing with visiting an LJ friend in Utrecht and a game night before that, but I also did not have time to relax and my kitchen still is a mess.
  • I'm somewhere around ovulation which usually makes me feel bloated. And right now I feel the 1-1.5 kg fluctuation I have during the cycle dearly both in how my body feels and in how it looks.
  • I've changed shampoos and my hair needs time to get used to it, so today, while it still looked OK, it just felt awful and did not bring out that (expensive but very good) haircut I got last week at all.
  • I spent too much time on social media. As usual: everybody else is successful and I am not. (I mean, no matter that they are freaking in a different subject and I could not have even applied for that stuff they got? Or that I would not even want their jobs?)
  • ♥ got a rejection for one of his application. (Yes, for this particular ones it was to be expected but ugh ... Why can't it just fall together perfectly?)
  • My friends are going to that amazing conference but I can't because I am not part of the team (wrong country, pax, wrong county, you cannot be part of this collab, no mattr how good you are ...).
  • I went to lunch with colleagues whom I do not especially like. And who. Did. Not. Vote. AAARGH. (Local elections in the Netherlands, EU citizens can vote on the local level in the municipality of their residence.)
  • I misjudged some cooking times (and the size of my pan) and now the curry I made to eat for lunch during the week is less than perfect and I keep thinking back to the perfect one I made the week before the last week but I still have two portions left.
  • I realized I sent the people in T. who are preparing my contract for the job there the wrong tax number. I can still rectify it, but ARGH. Also reminds me of the apartment search (which cannot commence until I know whether I am moving alone or with ♥).
  • I missed pilates today, see the lack of sleep, but now it makes me feel even more like a failure, see also the feeling bloated, especially given how this resulted in the less than fun lunch and did not result in much more progress done on the current project that would have happened if I went.
  • I offered a friend to stay in my place while we are in Madeira and am now having waves of "what if she now has the worst ever impression of me because there is dust in the corners and it's generally just a shitty rental place?".
  • There are another two proposals coming up and then the Spanish PhD candidate is coming and in between we are hiring the student for the next year and I need to do things for colleagues I promised ages ago ... And when I am supposed to work on my own science projects? You know, the ones that are the only thing that matters for evaluations?
  • Oh, and it looks like I forgot to submit the abstract for that one conference I changed the mind about going to. Fuck. (Still have time to submit a late poster and I did not expect to get a talk anyway ...)
  • And my left upper tooth hurts. It's likely some annoying bit of gingivitis that is going to go away in a few days (and I've just been to the dentist last months and had X-rays done less than a year ago and everything was fine) but anything teeth-related sends me into panic-mode.
  • And don't forget that allergic reaction I got at the moment on my stomach. It itches.

I know most of the above things are untrue or no matter for worries or or or or. But right now, it all just feels too much.

It all just needs to get out.

And now that it is, I guess I will put my big girl pants on and go and make myself feel better. I did already make a herbal tea (cacao husk tea - and of course I freaked out because this was the last cup but made myself search and actually found another package, neatly stashed away from my last big tea buying spread; enough for until T.) instead of a coffee (re:sleep or the lack thereof) and washed my hair. It's not as if there is someone else who can pull me out if it but me myself.

And perhaps I leave you with this essay here: This Is What ‘Self-Care’ REALLY Means, Because It’s Not All Salt Baths And Chocolate Cake - which is not always right (and I am generally very tongue in cheek about motivational speakers and their writing) but an interesting point to start thinking and also very quotable.
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I've been to Potsdam (3 days for work) and Berlin (4 days for fun) but then I brought back a cold and all my plans to post about the trip disappeared into bouts of coughing and trying to force myself to get out and do stuff while absolutely not feeling like this. Anyway: this was a good trip, I'd be glad to repeat it (and chances are good that more in the same format to the same places are upcoming). Some random, somewhat illustrated impressions:

** Potsdam **


photo )


Isn't this what people imagine science to look like? (Admittedly, I took the photo to be able to refer back to it later and to ask more questions.)
Potsdam was good. Several hour-long discussions. Good general conversations. Good vibes. A talk that was supposed to be 45 minutes (and I've given a somewhat longer version of it in 45 minutes), but took almost two hours because people kept asking questions. Got answers to some questions that I did not have.
I will be coming for more work in the next years.


** Berlin **

Berlin was also surprisingly lovely - that the first time I did not think "this is not a city I could live in". Well, maybe also because we stayed in the inner parts, but even those I did not like as much before. But then again, the first time I've been to Berlin was in 1999. The city changed a lot since then (and got more expensive).

It felt as if we had a rather lazy holidays - we ended up with a very nice hotel next to Alexanderplatz (if you ever want a recommendation) that just invited one to sleep in. It looked good on the photos when I booked, but I did no expect it to be that big or that modern. And I just love places that have a kitchenette - several rounds of Moscow Mules may have happened. And I am now seriously considering a Nespresso machine.

*~*~*


photo )


Two dinners with [personal profile] shiny_crystal, once of them in a really cozy coffee house - I really hope we'll manage to see each other more often. Twice Korean food (bibimbap; spicy soup and sushi-like rice rolls and fried dumplings). I just love it. And there is no Korean place in Leiden D: Very good Syrian fast food. Oh, and mocca coffees. One of them - at the Syrian place - very stylish.

*~*~*

The Jewish museum is, in a way, even more impressive at the moment, when the upper two levels of the Libeskind building are closed. The last time I've been there I've been too busy with the permanent exhibition there to fully appreciate the building itself; it did pack a punch this time, with me standing there, gasping.

But also the condensed exhibition on the lower level, nothing but a few exemplary last letters, a sewing machine whose owner will not return to pick it up again because he was murdered in Auschwitz. The list of things Jewish refugees were allowed to take with them, even before the world war started (one set of silverware - a spoon, a knife, a fork - per person; nothing they bough after a certain date years ago; nothing of special value which did include things like, say, a photo camera ...). And of course it ended with me standing there, crying.

(But seriously, if you have any chance to visit any of Libeskind's buildings, even if it is not the Jewish Museum in Berlin or the Bundeswehr Military history museum in Dresden, do so - they did not disappoint yet.)

*~*~*

And the next day we went down, into the documentation center at the Holocaust monument. I avoided this one very much on purpose before.


photo )


There was this entry in the short timeline they presented there, that scarily resonated with this article [in German, about mass accommodation for refugees, to be the new normal soon]: Neue Härte: Geht es nach den Sondierern, wohnen Asylbewerber künftig in Massenunterkünften – abgeschnitten vom Rest der Bevölkerung that I read on the very same day :( [eda: in case you are interested - the actual text of this disgraceful decision is in the "Koalitionsvereinbarung" on page 107/line 4994]
(It did very much through me back here, to my own refugee experience and what they suggest sounds a lot worse than even that was ...)
And there was another that I pointed out to ♥ that this was the point where my grandparents on both sides just god evacuated on time. A few days (hours?) later and there would be no me.


photos )



Oh, and than the first room and ... and ... Just read the above, OK? Just read it. I could not make it past this room, but I had to read every single of the entries. Some several times, in the different languages. Trying to understand, unable to.

*~*~*

What else? A visit to the Bundestag. German history museum, which was rather meh to me but ♥ liked it quiet a bit. Pergamon museum, which is still and again amazing. We spent most time in the Islamic arts section upstairs this time - they do have a very nice project in the different museums where they build connections: here is an albarello found in Germany and the other museum has some from the Arabic world which likely influenced the European ones. This was the first time I've seen this kind of network being build and I loved it (and had I had more time, it would also led me to explore more).

*~*~*

photo )


And last but not least (never least) books. Some random ones, some long thought after, some inspiration from [personal profile] shiny_crystal.

trinities[*]

Feb. 17th, 2017 06:59 pm
pax_athena: (touchy)
  • Three things on the news that make me despair[**]:
    • American politics
    • Dutch politics
    • Poll numbers of the German Greens
  • Three things that gave me warm fuzzy work feelings:
    • The support of my colleagues for my candidacy for the staff association
    • That talk invitation (that also makes a very awkward trip a lot easier)
    • Witty e-mail conversations with a bunch of my favorite people
  • Three things this weekend that I am looking forward to and am somewhat intimidated by:
    • Fancy lunch with someone I only ever met at a couple of conferences (and who isn't in science anymore) but who shares my love for good food later today.
    • Good-bye party of a colleague tomorrow.
    • Meeting with a local LJ-friend (*winkwink*) the day after tomorrow.
  • Three things I ordered online recently:
    • A blender (because the one I bought wasn't working properly - I have better hopes for this one).
    • Two pairs of jeans and two black turtleneck sweaters (keeping only a pair of jeans, unfortunately; I needed a good black turtleneck more, alas ...)
    • 10 books (all by women, all but one foreign)
  • Three trips in March:
    • Rosenheim
    • Paris
    • Naples
  • Three homemade things in my freezer:
    • Cauliflower soup
    • Pasta bake
    • Minipancakes
  • Three things on my phone that make me happy:
    • WhatsApp (because friends far away)
    • Pokemon Go (because Generation 2 Pokemon since today!)
    • That new word-game in "Peak" where I reached the legendary status now
  • Three museums I've been to so far:
    • Sieboldhuis Leiden (Japanese Museum) for the Kunisada Exhibition
    • NEMO Science Museum Amsterdam (OMG! Live chain reaction!)
    • Fries Museum Leeuwarden for the Alma-Tadema exhibition


[*] Of course, if I use the word "trinity" I mean this one, which is one of my usual recommendations if people ask for a great self-contained series within the DC universe.
[**] No, discussion not welcome.

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