Holiday in Burma - Act I: is it going to be a holiday?

The New Year had begun with a massive Challenge, a 2-week trip to Burma/Myanmar with the family.
We left Perth at 8.30am on NYD. You would be surprised by how many people were queueing at Perth Intl Airport at 6am on the 1st of January. It's been the first NYE I have gone to bed before midnight, and to be honest didn't feel that sad. At least the 200 other passengers must have done the same, though many looked hungover, like the immigration police officer at Perth, who checked at our passport and boarding passes, and whispered expressionlessly "youse on holiday?.."

Santa Cop is coming for you

24th of December, Christmas in the air.

Everyone is happy, busy shopping for last-minute gifts, smiling and wishing a Merry Christmas to each other.

This morning, I go to the post office to send a belated present to a friend. I decide to take the bike, for it's a beautiful sunny day, and everyone is out in the car - so parking would be a massive headache.

Why I left Facebook

It's been two months since I closed my Facebook account.

I'd been feeling increasingly unwell on FB. I couldn't stand how much time I spent on it (loads!) and for what gain (zero!). I couldn't stand people's narcissism. Most of all, I couldn't stand the feeling, after having 'checked' FB, of having my neurons covered in some kind of sticky molasses. I was just cranky all the time.

I decided to close the account after careful consideration. Which was funny, because the more I kept asking myself 'What am I going to lose?', and the less I could think of anything.

The W-word

Most of the things we like to do, take time. I'd like to run faster. I'd like to write a lot. I'd like to learn Portuguese. And how to play the guitar. This stuff takes practice, and practice takes time.

And time is such a precious thing. I did not realise that until I turned 28, and left Italy. There are so many things to do out there, and yet we end up repeating that we "have to" work, and trying new thing looks like an impossible task.

I wish I could do it, but I don't have time for it - who has not said this at least once in life?

Peer-review my ass

Warning: Contains rants.

One of the fundamental goals, or rather THE fundamental goal, for an academic is to get published on peer-reviewed journals. "Publish or perish", they call it.

"Peer-reviewed" basically means that, in order to get published, your paper gets reviewed by 'peers', i.e. other academics who work in your same field and who, therefore, are deemed competent judges of the quality of your work. It is a quite controversial system (read this), to say the least, but it seems to be the only one that can guarantee "academic quality", i.e. that only valuable stuff gets published.

The Way of the Dragon XXX

A period on non-blogging, non-running, some writing, defined by family commitments, heatwaves, sport crisis, existential crisis, photography classes. I have been watching quite a lot of TV at night, but after the attacks in Paris last week, there isn't much to watch, apart from the hourly reminder that we're all gonna die because ISIS is going to kill us all. So, watching TV is not really that relaxing.

Don't dispose of the disposable!

I have just received my new contact lenses in the mail. I find it funny they're called "Lacrima", which in Italian means "teardrop". It makes the whole process of putting on contacts quite emotional. I buy the monthly disposable ones - you use them for a month, then chuck it away and get a new pair on.