Only One Can Know How It Feels

Plain White T's- Hey There Delilah

Hey there Delilah
What's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl, tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Times Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true

Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice, it's my disguise
I'm by your side


Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me

Hey there Delilah
I know times are getting hard
But just believe me, girl
Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar
We'll have it good
We'll have the life we knew we would
My word is good

Hey there Delilah
I've got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I'd write it all
Even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all


Oh it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
and we'll just laugh along because we know
That none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame

Hey there Delilah
You be good and don't you miss me
Two more years and you'll be done with school 
And I'll be making history like I do
You'll know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there Delilah here's to you
This one's for you

Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me.

Home Sweet Home?

Just arrived back from LA - a fantastic trip. It always breaks my heart to leave M, but I guess it is a good sign.

Goodnight to you all!

Living the Dream

Los Angeles

 – the city where everyone wants to make it but everyone don’t. The city where the gym is the new religion and Botox is as self-explanatory as facial cream. Where spending is the norm and another credit card is used to pay off the last one. Where fat-free and skinny latte is in favor. Where there are as many cars as inhabitants. Where there is no water in the rivers. Where people sell books in the café’s and sings in the street in the hope of being discovered – or is it to survive?

They are truly living the dream

(I was ordering a latte the other day and the female asked if I wanted normal milk – I said yes please – and she said good girl – I said I am a real woman)

Love in San Diego

San Diego

UCLA

Schulich School of Business may be a high ranked MBA program but the campus cannot by any means compare itself to the one of UCLA. Located in Beverly Hills in a lush area of greens and with magnificent buildings it is absolutely incredible… Judge for yourself.          

Delays…

In addition to being accepted into the airport you also need an aircraft to transport you to your preferred destination. In the moment we do not have plane as the assigned aircraft had problems with the breaks…

Safety first – we are waiting for news about a new aircraft.

The Problem of Entering the US

So after spending two hours on public transportation to Pearson International Airport I was denied entrance to the US due to the fact that I did not have a VISA… Complicated as it is the form you usually fill out on the airplane now needs to be filed electronically before travelling and it costs you 14 $ - probably covering the current deficits in the US budget (=ESTA - and yes I should have know that). Luckily if you manage to fill it out you are granted direct access to the US. Thank god for my computer, visa card and the wireless internet at the airport which made me successfully fill out an application (while my hands were trembling and my eyes filled with tears because of the stress). In between I called M in desperation to make sure I filled in all the questions correctly…

Well, after actually being granted access I was hand-picked in the security zone for having a Swiss army knife (seriously, what was it still doing in my hand bag?). Seems I have inherent some of my mom’s luck when it comes to airports. Anyway, knifeless I am now waiting for my flight which leaves in 45 min. I just wonder what adventure waits for me when returning to Canada again…

Enjoy your weekend!

Btw my blog has now had 1000 page views – congratulations to all readers for choosing this amazing blog!

Second exam done…

And finally I am in almost holiday mood. Tonight we are going down to Kalendar for dinner and then for some drinks. I could really use a glass of wine and a decent meal…

Tomorrow I am going to the US with only hand luggage – try to beat that (Air Canada recently changed the rules and you now have to pay for each bag you check in). Luckily I have a small scale brought by my parents so I can easily monitor the weight of my luggage :-) And honestly - what could you need more in LA than a bikini? (maybe the body for the bikini as well...)

Signs of Nature

First exam done…

First exam is handed in and I can just about to enjoy my one hour break with caramel latte and bagel until I have start preparing for the next. And how did it go? Absolutely no clue, strategy is a deceptive topic where you can never be totally right or wrong. Let see what the professor thinks.

But for now, the exam has left my hand, and I am dropping the strategy book and embrace my carbon finance book.

Btw, yesterday we had a second fire alarm. Apparently someone who was cooking too optimistic. This time I actually saved my engagement ring. The goose was however still in the closet…

Exam Procrastination

I am sitting in the library (luckily the fire alarm has not gone off yet). Tomorrow I have my first exam in “Business Strategies for sustainability” and the day after an exam in “Sustainability and Carbon Finance” – although I love both courses I find it very hard to actually study for the exams…

Anyway so today I started thinking about my upcoming birthday in less than one and half month and what I potentially wished as birthday presents (less peace on earth, more rainforest and less carbon dioxide emissions). However lost the thought of birthday presents after reading one of the papers for my class in business sustainability:

“ That… consumptions is no longer restricted to the necessities but, on the contrary, mainly concentrates on the superfluities of life… harbors the grave danger that eventually no object of the world will be safe from consumption and annihilation through consumption” (Arendt 1958)

And since I am planning to be on the top of Maslow’s pyramid…

“The need for self-actualization, according to Maslow, becomes preeminent after the other four more basic needs are satisfied. It would seem that of the needs, self-actualization has he least predictable impact on consumer behavior. A person driven to achieve personal growth is more likely to spend a frugal life, perhaps retire to an ashram or monastery, than invest heavily in goods. The kind of persons Maslow used as models for self-actualization – Thomas Jefferson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Albert Schweizer – were not big spenders and in many ways strove to become independent of the market”

Clearly it is on the top of the pyramid the big thinkers and genies are. Forget designer bags as symbols for indicating your superior and social worth and enhance your self-esteem. The real players strive for self-actualization – which actually requires less goods.

In sum – I need nothing for my birthday (except a greeting card I can recycleJ)

“Several researchers have shown that excessive concern with financial success and material values is associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem, presumably because such concerns reflect of “contingent worth” predicted on having rather than being”

I hope I inspire

Quotes from the great article “The cost and benefit of consuming” by Mihly Csikszentmihalyi in the Journal of Consumer Research

Weekend

It has been an interesting weekend. Saturday I spend my day in my favorite part of Toronto –Queen Street West, fixing my hair and then strolling around in the unique boutiques ending up at my favorite lunch place Kalendar in Little Italy.

Due to massive amount of work the evening has been spent home trying to fit as much as possible into my head before it is too late. Decided to go to the library yesterday to get a change of scenery but just as last time the fire alarm went off only after I had been there for 2 hours. Coming back home again I decided to entertain myself with the amazing movie called HOME and go to bed early.

At 12.30 am the fire alarm goes off ones again (this time for my building and not for the library). Lying in my bed with my nightwear I am anticipating it to stop but it does not. So what do you do… I took my time and go dressed, put quickly some make-up on and took my precious computer and walked all the 15 stairs down (together with everyone else) meeting people only in their nightwear and towels. It turned out that it was false alarm but one of the key findings here is – how the hell could I be so slow (let say if there was a real fire)?

And why did I not save my goose or my engagement ring?

Practice makes the master…

Fantastic Song

Tracy Chapman - Promise

If you wait for me, then I'll come for you
Although I've traveled far
I always hold a place for you in my heart
If you think of me If you miss me once in awhile
Then I'll return to you
I'll return and fill that space in your heart
Remembering
Your touch
Your kiss
Your warm embrace
I'll find my way back to you
If you'll be waiting
If you dream of me like I dream of you
In a place that's warm and dark
In a place where I can feel the beating of your heart

Remembering
Your touch
Your kiss
Your warm embrace
I'll find my way back to you
If you'll be waiting
I've longed for you and I have desired
To see your face your smile
To be with you wherever you are

Remembering
Your touch
Your kiss
Your warm embrace
I'll find my way back to you
If you'll be waiting
I've longed for you and I have desired
To see your face, your smile
To be with you wherever you are

Remembering
Your touch
Your kiss
Your warm embrace
I'll find my way back to you
Please say you'll be waiting

Together again
It would feel so good to be
In your arms
Where all my journeys end
If you can make a promise If it's one that you can keep, I vow to come for you
If you wait for me and say you'll hold
A place for me in your heart

Saturday Evening Entertainment

Spent part of my evening reading this fantastic article on National Geographic's about biofuels. The world is truly an interesting place.

Good night!

2011 Full time MBA ranking

According to the Economist 2011 Full time MBA ranking Schulich School of Business is ranked 9th in the world... Sorry IESE.

Rank	Business School	Country
1	Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business	United States
2	Chicago, University of - Booth School of Business	United States
3	IMD - International Institute for Management Development	Switzerland
4	Virginia, University of - Darden Graduate School of Business Administration	United States
5	Harvard Business School	United States
6	California at Berkely, University of - Haas School of Business	United States
7	Columbia Business School	United States
8	Stanford Graduate School of Business	United States
9	York University - Schulich School of Business	Canada
10	IESE Business School - University of Navarra	Spain

In Less Than One Week,

I am in LA with my beloved M and this enormous hard work is left behind (while new work is waiting around the corner). I so look forward to go there and spend my day as a solar panel by the pool while M is at university. We have made plans to visit one of the biggest outlets in LA but due to the general space constraint when living in a suitcase there will not be too much shopping (but there will be some). Biggest problem right now is that I need new glasses, my old ones lost one glass and when putting it back in it is not properly fixed anymore. We will see how that goes…

Anyway today is a haircut day and brought some materials so I can spend some hours studying at Starbucks having my favorite latte and scone – there has to be some quality of life left.

Enjoy your weekend!

Friday Morning

And I cannot wait to dive down in the books ;-)

Yesterday turned out to be quite a turbulent day, today I am planning on taking things a bit more relaxed. However with two upcoming exams and one assignment, Friday does not seem to offer too much entertainment.

Which is ok, since I am going to treat myself with a haircut tomorrow. Last time was in Calgary in June and I am now desperate for a haircut. Might even hit the movies afterwards.

Let’s hope I get a lot of work done today.

First thing on the schedule is econometrics and linear regression :-)

A Taste of Montreal

Montreal

We had a perfect weekend in Montreal with amazing weather and interesting food. We went to a great meat place where we had smoked meat and of course we tried the famous poutine (which we all agreed would have been better if we ate it drunk – wait until you see the pictures). The Montreal city is older than Toronto, hence there are more beautiful buildings and areas. There is also the prestigious University McGill which is located downtown, and we Schulich students are very jealous of their central location. We went back to Toronto on Monday, which was the Canadian thanksgiving so obviously we were trapped in traffic jams. On top of that the window on the bus was broken and the bus driver fixed it permanently with some scotch tape. You got to love public transportation…

It is still approximately 20 degrees here, truly Indian summer, however with two upcoming exams and three assignments there is limited time to enjoy the weather.

While I was studying...

A man died on the construction scene outside my university

News article here

It is a thin line between life and death

In Motion

Toronto From the Bright Side

Inspiring Words

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."

"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."

Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple just joined my grandma

Rest in peace, the best of us always have to leave first. But we know where you are - in our hearts.

Things We Do In School

"We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate" (Sustainability and Carbon Finance)

The Home Movie

For those of you who lost count..

Believe it or not…  it is now more than 6 years ago I met this handsome guy on the dance floor at a less elegant pub in Zürich. What I then thought was a one night entertainment with a good looking foreigner has turned out to be the entertainment for a life time (hopefully).

What I learned is that everything happens when we at least expect it.

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2011

Nuit Blanch is French for a night you never go to bed. Apparently that was such a night here in Toronto yesterday. It mainly consisted in contemporary art exhibitions and live entertainment such as artists painting live a live band… It was interesting but unfortunately the night was very cold (down to 5 degrees). The winter jacket was on...