idle hands are the devil’s playthings

Long blog silences = impending completion of my thesis.  The next two weeks are going to be cereal.

Friday the 12th – Fly to Minnesota, goat roast with my Kenyan field work friends (TIA)

Saturday the 13th – Best Friend’s Wedding (luckily I’m not in love with the groom)

Sunday the 15th – Fly home

Monday the 16th – Drive Ellie to the in laws to reunite with boyfriend and for their amazing dog babysitting powers (14 acre ranch and puppy are a  full time babysitting job for Ellie!)

Wednesday the 17th – THESIS DEFENSE

Friday the 19th – Job interview at UCSC

Saturday the 20th – Fly to Chicago for a conference

Tuesday the 23rd – Oral presentation at 3:45. Poster presentation from 7-9.

Wednesday the 24th – Probably still drunk

Saturday the 27th – Fly home

Monday the 29th – Friday September 2 – Prep for two day event!!  And also move houses somewhere in there…

September 3rd – Dressage and XC day at WSS

September 4th – Stadium day at WSS

September 16th – All paperwork due to grad studies

This is a good approximation of my affect over the next month

HOWEVER.  Bloggers — anyone in or near Chicago between the 21st and 27th of August?  I will be there and after the 23rd I will probably be a lot of fun!  Conferences are way better after you’ve gotten the presentations out of the way.  I’m legitimately not sure I’ll make it through the oral presentation and the poster on Tuesday, but I can sleep for the rest of the week after that, right?

Also, if anyone local is interested in (/ willing to, we need more help than we can get from only interested parties!) coming out to help with the one-day at WSS I can offer you a place to stay over night and the truly magnificent company of my cat, Ellie, and my super stressed out self.  But!  We will have a beer garden at the event.

pop songs that are secretly about horses

(Prescript: I had actually intended to add a bunch more songs to this post, but I fell asleep instead. I’ll just have to finish it another time!)

I don’t really know what pop stars are thinking when they write their songs, not being a pop star myself.  Though there are, of course, some obvious ones.  But, unbeknownst to many pop stars, they are actually writing songs about horses and riding.

Yes, it’s true.  And here is the evidence.

Case the first: George Harrison, Got My Mind Set on You.

The lyrics include (and may be limited to):
I’ve got my mind set on you x 1000
It’s going to take money. A whole lot of spending money. It’s going take a whole lotta money, to do it right now [child].
It’s going to take time. A whole lot of precious time. It’s going to take patience and time, to do it (do it x 6) right now.

What else takes a firm mindset, money, patience, and time?!

It’s gonna take a whole lot of money…

John Legend, All of Me

The lyrics include:
I’m on your magical mystery ride, kicking [me] out, what’s going on in that beautiful mind
Love your curves and all your edges, All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me, I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning, Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me, And you give me all of you

When we were at a wedding I actually told my boyfriend that this song was about me and Murray.  He was like “What songs are about us?” and I was like “ummm… the one before was about me and Ellie?”

But for real, as many equestrians have already noticed, this song is about a pretty badass partnership, that has both unconditional love and great cooperation.  If that doesn’t describe the best parts of an equine partner, I don’t know what does.

One Republic, Counting Stars

For the eventers out there, the lyrics include:
I’ve been loving losing sleep thinking about the things that we could be,
I’ll be counting stars (like CCI 1*, 2*, 3*, etc.)
I feel something so right, doing the wrong thing,
I feel something so wrong, doing the right thing, (making new habits is hard)
Everything that drowns me makes me want to fly (ok, maybe this is not super relevant)

Who doesn’t spend their nights thinking about the big jumps they might get to jump?  I MEAN REALLY.