Every cloud...

...has a silver lining. It's amazing how many different things you can find to do when you're laid up. I really shouldn't reveal this about myself but I have a habit of keeping a 'to do' list from day-to-day. Everything goes on there. I even include mundane activities as essential as 'shave', 'shower' and 'eat dinner'. I think you get the message. I can't remember when I started doing this but it has been going on for a long time; maybe since I was 16 or so. I'm not sure that it really makes me more productive but it certainly makes me feel more productive when I see all those basic things with a line through them at the end of the day. Yes, I know it's pedantic (oh, I hate that word) and possibly slightly OCD, but I still do it nonetheless and can't see myself stopping anytime soon. Let me take you through my (almost completed) list for today:

1. Shave: That's fairly self-explanatory I'd imagine.
2. Wash: It's 'wash' instead of 'shower' because I need someone (Ji) to help me with my splint if I'm to have a shower. I'm still able to give myself a good scrub - no need to worry about my personal hygiene!
3. Prep for my lessons: I usually try to do this the day before but this class is very straightforward and doesn't start until 10am so I have plenty of time in the morning.
4. Teach: Yeah, just the one class these days lasting 50-minutes. I only had two students this morning.
5. Breakfast: I did warn you that my list is full of banality... I still have the Weetabix Ji brought me back from her last trip to Hong Kong. What a great start to the day.
6. Korean: Meeting Ji's family last night resulted in sufficient guilt to encourage me to dust off my vocab notebook and spend some time with the 'Let's Speak Korean' videos on YouTube.
7. Guitar: I'm one of those people who attempts to self-teach guitar from time to time but never gets too far. I did take lessons last summer so I'm slightly better than the past but still not anywhere near good enough to play in public. One of my New Year's Resolutions is actually to sing at an open mic and accompany myself on guitar. Still a long way from that...
8. Songs: With rehearsal coming up on Tuesday night I want to be well-prepared and go some way to making up for my no-show last week. I have about 8-10 songs to get ready so it takes nearly an hour a day to go through them properly. I'm not going to start mentioning what we're covering but one of them is the toughest song vocally I've ever attempted. It's going to take a lot of work but will sound brilliant if we can pull it off properly).
9. TOEIC prep: I'm trying to get a head-start on the program starting at the end of August. I suggested a .pdf book of printable exercises to my boss (to buy) but I'm not holding my breath.
10. Lunch: Ramen and tuna; lunch of kings.
11. Emails: I'm keeping up-to-date with everyone much better now that I'm house-bound. It has actually been brilliant catching up with everyone's craic. One friend just lost his job after going on an impulse trip to London to surprise his new girlfriend. Now that's romantic! Costly, but undoubtedly romantic.
12. News: I listen to BBC Radio 5Live every single day to keep up with all the news back home. Strangely enough, I never really listen to or read news from Ireland... While browsing the news on bbc.co.uk I came across the brilliant Fergal Keane again. He's an Irish journalist I first encountered when I read his, 'A Stranger's Eye, a Foreign Correspondent's View of Britain' by chance, which was simply written but so full of a love for humanity that it really stayed with me. His recent article about the Somme memorial is full of his trademark ability to not just describe but to help us feel. What a talent.
13. Read: I'm still reading 'Foe' by J. M. Coetzee. I'll reserve judgement until I finish it, which I think is only fair in general.
14. TIME: I am a regular reader of 'Time' magazine since Ji started giving me her subscription. I think it's valuable to read international current affairs from another perspective and I find it helpful in providing basic information about what's going on around the world.
15. Blog: Here I am.
    
16. Dinner: Ji is on her way as we speak and I believe we're having spaghetti bolognese tonight. Yum.
17. Ji: Yes, I include seeing my girlfriend on my 'to-do' list. Feel free to judge.

Well now that I've shared my innermost thoughts (ok, not quite) with the entire planet I think I better sign off for the day. I'll probably blog over the weekend, due to the fact that I can't go out and have a drink (on my birthday weekend!?). Boo hoo me. Have a great day everyone, whatever you're doing.