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Grabbed by the Goblins
16/05/2003 07:48 pmSpent the last few days in the dusty dungeons of the Min of Fin slaving over a hot abacus when a most horrid thought dawned on me. I cannot get my green scaly little paws on THAT BOOK without first passing the nasty hurdles of 3 exams, two group projects and three itsie bitsie but nevertheless nasty assignments.
That's still another 50 percent of Statement Analysis 222 left to acquire (666 is a more accurate description!) 60% of Corporations Law ie the end of Semester exam and 70% of Accounting Information Systems.
A most scary thought indeed! Izzie has always been a turtle at heart, never one to cram at the last minute but rather to plod along slowly and steadily. But this time there is a bit of a problem. I am convinced that motivation, enthusiasm and hard work nearly always produce better results than talent without these magic ingredients. Of course, in combination with talent they are a most potent combination indeed. As most people tend to be interested in what they are good at, the combination occurs reasonably often.
So What's Izzie's problem.. very simple.. I have lost interest! The 'green light' did have some side effects and this one is getting more and more pronounced.
When I decided to save up the deposit to buy my little lair and started looking into ways of growing the nest egg as quickly and safely as possible, I started reading and researching about investments, compound interest and stuff and found it most enjoyable and fascinating. Soon ickle Izzie was listening to business reports on the radio and going to the local University cafe on Tuesdays to sit for a few hours reading all the financial sections from the weekend and Monday papers. I even ended up applying for and being accepted into an accounting course in the very same place. After all Izzie did not want to spend the rest of her life doing house elf jobs. And the other option available to us girlies of finding a Prince Charming to look after her and live happily ever after was ... well.... totally and utterly unthinkable. But the house elf job pays the rent so Iz decided not to indulge in the unaffordable luxury of studying full time and instead opted for part time instead.
In spite of adopting the title of Auntie Scrooge with great relish and muttering "Humbug" at Christmas time, I had seen too often the disastrous effects the love of money had on other people to ever feel tempted to succumb to it myself. Not having the insatiable need to impress people I don't even like and having not much desire for material possessions other than chocolate, books and more books, and lots of coffees of course... to me the main purpose of having money is to have more time, independence and most importantly more choice. I had stayed in some very dodgy jobs at great cost to my mental and physical health simply because I was too poor to escape them and swore it would never ever happen again. One Heil Hilde (The 'Heil' bit I added myself but she really was called Hilde) comes to mind from my darkest days in Durmieland (Germany)
I did not realize how much this nasty creature had poisoned and possessed me until she suddenly disapparated.
She also took with her all those other Dementors, nightmares, anxiety, panic attacks and the whole consortium of crazy creatures which were making my life a misery.
But of course, once I realized there was nothing more to be afraid of and that it really would never happen again, this interest in money as a form of security was also no longer necessary. Fear is a poisonous emotion but a pretty good force for motivation.
Of course, I am infinitely better off now and much happier but will have to find another way to get regain my interest in accounting.
I wonder if any other of you folks studying out there have also hit the 'wall'. It is supposed to be quite common for mature age students in particular to lose interest at about two thirds of the way through. And it looks like Izzie is no exception.
But the real reason Izzie is here today... apart from to explain the reasons for likely absences is that today was the full moon... time to get howling and hairy :)
Yesterday in the city was a celebration of 'Vesak' at about 7 in the evening. Izzie was ever so curious... had read a bit about it before but never met any real Buddhists before.
Was most delighted to see that they celebrate the full moon too. Well I dont' think it is any old full moon but the one in May.
Particularly nice was the procession with paper lanterns around the Shrine. There was lots of flowers and incense and sort of looked like a Hindu ritual.. or as one of Izzie's Christian friends likes to say contemptuously of Catholics "It's all Smells and Bells" But Izzie just happens to LOVE smells and bells.
The way people worshipped and stuff gave a rather different impression than the very airy fairy philosophical sorts of stuff you see about Buddhism in the books. The map is certainly not the territory. But I guess you get that range of concrete ritual and abstract
philosophy in every religion. I am always attracted to the mystical elements of whatever belief system it happens to be.
There was one thing that Iz found a bit.. er disconcerting. There were a lot of banners and flags around the shrine.... all in the same colours... Blue, white, yellow, orange and red but not necessarily in that order.
Izzie just had to ask.. where is the green??? :(
Apparently all these colours have symbolic significance. I asked a few of the organizers about it and did not say why green was missing but did look at ickle Iz in amusement with her green hat,shoes, scarf, coat and dress... Did I mention my bag?
Ah well I guess I will just have to become a Muslim instead!!!
That's still another 50 percent of Statement Analysis 222 left to acquire (666 is a more accurate description!) 60% of Corporations Law ie the end of Semester exam and 70% of Accounting Information Systems.
A most scary thought indeed! Izzie has always been a turtle at heart, never one to cram at the last minute but rather to plod along slowly and steadily. But this time there is a bit of a problem. I am convinced that motivation, enthusiasm and hard work nearly always produce better results than talent without these magic ingredients. Of course, in combination with talent they are a most potent combination indeed. As most people tend to be interested in what they are good at, the combination occurs reasonably often.
So What's Izzie's problem.. very simple.. I have lost interest! The 'green light' did have some side effects and this one is getting more and more pronounced.
When I decided to save up the deposit to buy my little lair and started looking into ways of growing the nest egg as quickly and safely as possible, I started reading and researching about investments, compound interest and stuff and found it most enjoyable and fascinating. Soon ickle Izzie was listening to business reports on the radio and going to the local University cafe on Tuesdays to sit for a few hours reading all the financial sections from the weekend and Monday papers. I even ended up applying for and being accepted into an accounting course in the very same place. After all Izzie did not want to spend the rest of her life doing house elf jobs. And the other option available to us girlies of finding a Prince Charming to look after her and live happily ever after was ... well.... totally and utterly unthinkable. But the house elf job pays the rent so Iz decided not to indulge in the unaffordable luxury of studying full time and instead opted for part time instead.
In spite of adopting the title of Auntie Scrooge with great relish and muttering "Humbug" at Christmas time, I had seen too often the disastrous effects the love of money had on other people to ever feel tempted to succumb to it myself. Not having the insatiable need to impress people I don't even like and having not much desire for material possessions other than chocolate, books and more books, and lots of coffees of course... to me the main purpose of having money is to have more time, independence and most importantly more choice. I had stayed in some very dodgy jobs at great cost to my mental and physical health simply because I was too poor to escape them and swore it would never ever happen again. One Heil Hilde (The 'Heil' bit I added myself but she really was called Hilde) comes to mind from my darkest days in Durmieland (Germany)
I did not realize how much this nasty creature had poisoned and possessed me until she suddenly disapparated.
She also took with her all those other Dementors, nightmares, anxiety, panic attacks and the whole consortium of crazy creatures which were making my life a misery.
But of course, once I realized there was nothing more to be afraid of and that it really would never happen again, this interest in money as a form of security was also no longer necessary. Fear is a poisonous emotion but a pretty good force for motivation.
Of course, I am infinitely better off now and much happier but will have to find another way to get regain my interest in accounting.
I wonder if any other of you folks studying out there have also hit the 'wall'. It is supposed to be quite common for mature age students in particular to lose interest at about two thirds of the way through. And it looks like Izzie is no exception.
But the real reason Izzie is here today... apart from to explain the reasons for likely absences is that today was the full moon... time to get howling and hairy :)
Yesterday in the city was a celebration of 'Vesak' at about 7 in the evening. Izzie was ever so curious... had read a bit about it before but never met any real Buddhists before.
Was most delighted to see that they celebrate the full moon too. Well I dont' think it is any old full moon but the one in May.
Particularly nice was the procession with paper lanterns around the Shrine. There was lots of flowers and incense and sort of looked like a Hindu ritual.. or as one of Izzie's Christian friends likes to say contemptuously of Catholics "It's all Smells and Bells" But Izzie just happens to LOVE smells and bells.
The way people worshipped and stuff gave a rather different impression than the very airy fairy philosophical sorts of stuff you see about Buddhism in the books. The map is certainly not the territory. But I guess you get that range of concrete ritual and abstract
philosophy in every religion. I am always attracted to the mystical elements of whatever belief system it happens to be.
There was one thing that Iz found a bit.. er disconcerting. There were a lot of banners and flags around the shrine.... all in the same colours... Blue, white, yellow, orange and red but not necessarily in that order.
Izzie just had to ask.. where is the green??? :(
Apparently all these colours have symbolic significance. I asked a few of the organizers about it and did not say why green was missing but did look at ickle Iz in amusement with her green hat,shoes, scarf, coat and dress... Did I mention my bag?
Ah well I guess I will just have to become a Muslim instead!!!
