Productivity

By 8:00 this morning I'd completed 19 practice quizzes and exercises for my Greek medical terminology class.  Oh, and the quiz.  By 8:00.  How's that for productivity?

Actually, I'd planned to use my bus commute to school today to review the multiplicity of flash cards I've made over the last three weeks, and then do the practice quizzes and exercises after class, before writing the quiz.

But, turns out that I woke up an hour and a half earlier than I'd planned.  And, it is Friday, so I didn't really want to hang around school any longer than necessary.  I got up and started tackling the practice exercises, telling myself that if they didn't go well, I'd wait, review on the bus as planned, and then do a few more practice exercises after class, before writing the quiz.  (It's an online class, so I just had to write the quiz sometime between 6 am and 10 pm.)

Turns out the practice exercises went far better than expected.  So, I took a deep breath, put my flashcards and textbook away, and tackled the quiz.

With a very satisfactory A- result, I might add.

Not bad for someone who isn't a morning person!

This means that my bus ride is mine to enjoy.  There will be pleasure reading happening today!

It also means that after a couple of weeks of spending time daily with greek flashcards, I'm taking the weekend off from Greek!  Hooray!

Bus Etiquette

Ian posted a fabulous list of bus etiquette tips yesterday.  Go read it, leave him a comment, and then come back here and tell me your favorite public transportation story in my comments.

I've had many, many adventures on public transit.  I actually have a tendency to attract truly bizarre and awkward situations like a magnet.  I was once even the victim of a "random act of evangelization"on an early Monday morning train commute.  But that's a story for another time.

My latest story, you ask?  Well, one day last week I had the immense pleasure of riding the bus with a young gentleman who was proudly (and loudly) proclaiming to the world that he'd been twice expelled from his designated high school - once because he was high on mushrooms and bit the assistant principal.  (I'd have doubted that last bit of his story as posturing and bravado to impress the cute girl he was talking with, but his friend volunteered it, not him.)  He then went on to expound at length on the topic of his new vocational high school - the only one in the city that would admit him given his umm, history.  He spoke at length about his theory that the trick is to make friends with a couple of the teachers - preferably at least one who is also an administrator.  He should have, after all, he informed the bus at large, been expelled at least four more times from the vocational high school, but he was "untouchable" because he was friends with Mr. So and So, who was in charge.

Despite my collection of stories, most days I really don't mind that transit is my method of travel.  I even spend my time "bus reading" - finding it a meaningful way for me to create space for reading and thinking and prayer.  But, if you'd caught me on that day last week, which continued with a truly lovely set of teenaged boys hitting each other in a show of machismo, to see who could make the other flinch, while cursing loudly every other word, I probably would have quite comfortably discussed with you how little in that moment I cared about global warming and the troubles of multi-car families for traffic and the environment, and happily day dreamed of the days when I drove my own car in relative peace.

Random Things

A whole variety of random thoughts crossing my mind this morning:

• The clicking sound that high heels make is totally a thing that makes you feel empowered when you're wearing them.  It's a fun sound.  Until you're not the one wearing the shoes, and they're the only sound in an otherwise very peaceful hallway.  Then the sound is just annoying
• Getting books out of the university library to write term papers is going to be a pain this semester.  They're in the process of moving the entire library from one building to a new one.  Why, you ask, are they moving the library?  Well, it turns out that the old library tower is quite literally sinking into the ground under the weight of all those books thanks to some construction faults way back when.  The books that have been moved to the new building are on floors that students can't access yet.  You have to request them, and wait 24 hours for a librarian to retrieve them.  No easy trip to pick up 5 books this semester.
• Yoga.  I'm thinking about yoga.  I have hated exercise my whole life (with the possible exception of all those years of synchronized swimming.)  Yoga is the first thing I've ever encountered that not only do I not hate it, I actually like it.  I can make it through a 90 minute Hatha Yoga class without looking at my watch and wondering when it's going to be over.  This is a revelation for me - that there is something that will not only help with my stress level, but will help keep my body in good health, AND I can actually enjoy it!
• I will spend close to 4 hours on the bus today, transiting between school and various appointments.  I wish it was a bus reading circuit, but it's not.  I will however likely manage to do (or at least get a good start on) the ethics reading for next Monday's class while riding the bus for all of those hours.
• I am a back row student.  Always have been, probably always will be.  I like the quiet and the anonymity.  I like that there's no distraction of someone moving and making noise behind me.  It's just my preference.  Plus, if I'm not into the lecture, I can do something totally other than the work for that class far more unobtrusively than if I sat at the front.
• An oatmeal raisin cookie and a bottle of juice is a viable breakfast, right?  Because that's definitely what I had today.  I figure, it contains oatmeal and raisins - both normally part of the breakfast genre.  And fruit juice - lots of healthy stuff in there, right?

Bus Reading

Barring last weekend's failed attempt at bus reading involving a migraine headache and motion sickness, spending three hours or so on a weekend riding a bus circuit has become one of my favorite ways to relax, and to find time to read, think and pray.

So, I thought I'd give some tips on the best way to have a bus reading experience.

• Pick the right length of loop.  Only you can know how long this is.  Mine is about three hours.  
• It must be a loop.  Transferring takes away from the relaxation factor.  You're preparing for the transfer, making the transfer, and then waiting for the end of the route.  The interruptions to the thinking time will not do.
• Make sure, if at all possible, to sit in your favorite seat on the bus.  Mine is on the left side as you're facing the back, the first bench seat in front of the back doors.
• A sunny day is the best.  Or a grey day where the sun somehow manages to poke through.
• A variety of reading materials is essential.  At least two to three options.  You're probably only going to read one, and depending on your speed of reading and your ideal loop length, you're probably going to read almost all of that one, but at least for me, I never know for sure which book it is that's "right" for that day until the loop starts.
• Resist the urge to check email or facebook on the phone.  I check mine once or twice.  I limit it, because I get on the bus so that I'm reading with focus, away from a screen.
• Notice the route.  Put down your book and let the things you're driving past stir you to pray.
• Snacks are necessary.  I recommend chocolate.  Also, a bottle of water.
• A journal and a pen for both the journal and for marking key passages in your book (well, obviously not if it's a library book!) is also helpful
• this is a solitary thing.  I was thinking the other day how much I'd like to share this particular pastime with some dear friends, and realized it wouldn't be the same if it wasn't solitary.  I'd never manage to have a friend there and not be conscious of them and what they're doing, even if we didn't sit together and weren't talking.  The solitary time is what makes it an introvert's dream escape.  There are people around for people watching, but they're mostly quiet, and most won't talk to you.

Mostly though, I think think bus reading has to be personal.  It works for me in a way that sitting in a coffee shop or a library or a bookstore wouldn't.  It has the right mix of people and lack of distraction.  It's a place and a way to spend time that lets me relax and enter into my own heart.  Into my love for words and ideas.  Into praying for the important things and people in my life.  Into dreaming and longing.  And my place to do that on the bus is just that, my place.

I hope each of you has one of those places, too, and I'd love to hear what it is for you.

Out

An update on some of the things going on in my life is long overdue.

But that will have to wait for later.

I'm off to engage again in the habit I picked up last weekend.  Riding the bus, reading and praying.  It's absolutely something that cannot be permanently added to my day, especially once I'm back at work (starting November 15th!).  But for now, for this week, and maybe next, those three hours have become precious time to pause.

When I get back, the plan is to sit at my computer and catch up on all sorts of items - everything from emails to blog posts.  I have a number of posts for here brewing in my head.  Things I'd like to get written today and ready for days when I need something to post and just can't quite come up with anything on the spot.

The sunshine we've had all week seems to be fading, and I'm recognizing again today that winter is on it's way, and soon.

And so, I'm off to take advantage of that little bit of sun, and sit and read and pray, touring the city.