Well, I have had a lot of thinking recently and you have been neglected my poor blog. So this will be a big one, covering a range of topics.Firstly, I shall start from the end (ie most recent) because it is in my head right now… the rest will follow no particular logical order, because that would be to logical 
Snail Mail
So… today I received a parcel in the mail! I love to receive snail mail, although slow & expensive (trust me I sent something recently), it is so great in this digital world to get something tangable, its great when its something you’ve ordered on eBay or to that effect, but its a whole other ball game when its from someone that means a lot to you. And its great when there’s chocolate in it… even better when that one piece of chocolate is the only piece you’ve had for 2 weeks and you’re planning that it’ll last the rest of the month!
Something I find amazing is the funny things that us humans do. Like our mentality about special things. We decide things that are special (either by their value/availability or based upon an experience/relationship) and then when we experience these special things, guess what — we feel special!I guess it is this yearning we have to be loved (and to love, don’t forget!) by actual human being. For example, you could have your homepage set to lovepoems.com (surely that exists) and every time you open up your internet you receive a love poem from it… big woop-di-doo… but if you were to receive it from someone, the human factor makes a world of difference.
Rowing
So… where am I at with rowing at the moment. Well, 2.5 years too late, I finally saw a very competent Chiropractor and he diagnosed the problem right this time. Long story short, we have been trying to fix the wrong thing for 2.5 years, and we finally are on the right track and I’m feeling much better for it.
With my back getting slowly under control I am able to start rowing again. Whilst being careful not to go at it too hard, Woodsy (my pair partner from last season) and I have decided to get back into the pair for Nationals.
That involves getting back down to weight (hence my lack of chocolate and food in general). Without sounding scary and anorexic the only good thing about getting down to weight is the test of self-control. Just like the training, waking up early, sacrificing things (socially and financially) — it is all part of the game, and the more self-control you have, the better you play the game. So it is incredibly satisfying watching those numbers drop daily, even if you do feel inhumane sometimes.
I’ve also opened up Pandora’s Box by changing clubs for nationals just before leaving to go overseas. Lots of politics! I shouldn’t need to prove my loyalties because I have done that many times over. Enough about that.
Henley
But I won’t be worry about weight much longer because I am looking to go to Henley again with Macquarie Uni Rowing! Robbie (the coach) and I are trying to round up the troops (which is very difficult with the transient nature of Uni students) to get a University crew together.I have put my hand up as Team Manager (organising flights, food, accommodation etc), caterer (cooking the meals etc) as well as fundraising. This is going to be a wretchedly hard job, but something I need to do (or have done) and it’ll make things MUCH cheaper for all of us.
That thing called University
Well, things are winding up to the start of semester where at that point I am having to fit even more into my life because results are SO important this semester, as well as getting as involved as possible on campus. The reasons are as follows: exchange (getting all the subjects transferred etc, having enough money to do it), Honors (getting good enough marks, getting accepted, trying to do it overseas), Masters/scholarships (getting all the right marks, leadership opportunities, community work and sporting success under my belt to apply successfully for a [hopefully] Rhodes scholarship).
My subjects… I’ve had a bit of luck with this recently getting exemptions, credit etc… but still praying that I get my multimedia subject credited for my exchange so I can graduate… in short, the people at the Media department have been getting to know me pretty well 
My thesis… I think I’ve finally decided on a thesis topic too! In short I am thinking of writing about the affects of media representation on participation in sport (a comparative review between sports and countries). I am hoping to even get the backing of Rowing Australia, the Australian Sports Commission, or something to that effect — ‘twould be great for networking too!
My workload… I’m doing a 15 credit point load this semester (Full time is 12 credit points), so that is going to be very challenging, especially if I’m working 2 days a week and training min 20hrs a week. Not to mention all the time I am spending shuffling papers (writing applications, getting things aproved etc), organising my trip overseas and playing team manager/fundraiser for Henley (oh… did I mention somewhere in there – a life?? Well, that’s on hold )!
The Students Guide to the Galaxy!
I’ve been thinking about this for about a year now and never thought of going ahead with it. Basically I would love to organise, edit and publish the first edition of my idea of the “Students Guide to the Galaxy”. It would essentially be a bunch of articles written by students for other students around the globe, ranging from classic things like time management and socialising at Uni (or equivalent) to more controversial topics (I’m open to ideas 
). So I pitched it to the guys at the Student Publication at macquarie and am trying to get their support, so stay tuned whilst I get things in the running
Work
I will quickly brush by this… U@MQ work is still hectic, I am still underpaid and don’t know how I am going to decrease my hours, still get work done and still save enough money for overseas. Web design work is getting hard to do with managing clients who don’t want to pay enough and aren’t willing to do their part of the agreement (provide things properly and clearly).
On my mind
So what’s on my mind… too much! Lots of long term stuff, really missing people that are overseas, but still lovin’ life here in this beautiful country – lovin’ knowing that all this is going towards something constructive and things that are going to be amazing experiences (even if hard).
Next few years
Over the next few years it looks like I will end up being all over the place, It’ll be hard not settling down and getting comfortable for more than a year and a half.
Vancouver
Well, I can wait to go! The anticipation is almost killing me! It looks like I might be there for a year if all goes well, studying the whole time (which will hurt the pocket), but hoping that will knock over my honors by August 2009. Still lots to sort out!
Oxford/Rhodes Scholarship
Basically all that I’m doing at the moment is working towards this Rhodes Scholarship to go and study at Oxford in 2010-2011; one of my life dreams that I’ve had since the age of 14. And I’m not just wanting to do it because I wanted it at 14, I want to do it because I see it to be the most Amazing opportunity if I can do it. It would be so hard to have my life on hold for a further year – imagine if I am in a relationship – actually no, don’t. I don’t know how I would cope. Long distance sucks – like I’m very sure that it is amazing to know that there is someone somewhere else on the globe that you really care about and cares for you too, and with technology etc, it helps (not enough if you are a physical-touch-love-language person like me) – but argh… it is almost harder knowi…. ahh stuff it I’m not going to think about that anymore.
But, Oxford is still something that really excites me, and if this all works out right… then it will all work out right… how that looks, doesn’t bother me if it works out right.
So… I’m sure this is one of my longest rants!!
Maybe I’m going to start getting more than a couple of hours sleep that this is out of my head.
