"You always look so tired."

[eye_of_a_cat]

Apart from the fact that this doesn't ever sound like a compliment, it's just annoying. I thought I was organising my time and work quite well. Apparently, I am organising my time and work quite well - but the effect of this is that I'm existing at some low level of tiredness all the time, that other people can see this, and that I don't even notice. Can't I at least fool people? Bah.

In better news, a student who's usually the quietest and shyest person alive, and who's only just recently started speaking at all without looking absolutely terrified of it, turned up to class yesterday all happy and confident and enthusiastic about discussing things. And she brought grapes, too.

Comments

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Ooh, grapes, how nice.

Maybe you look tireder than you actually are? I have pale skin and permanent circles under my eyes, for instance.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

And enough to share. They're a good class.

I have pale skin, too, so it probably does make me look tireder than I am. Maybe I should wear makeup once in a while...

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

People always think I'm much healthier if I wear make-up.

I'm probably not the palest there is, occasionally I've found foundation that was too pale and I'm sure the blondes can beat me on that one, but I'm pretty pale, yup. I remember getting a cold when I was 14 or so and taking a day off school when I was at the stage where you are sneezing everywhere. I came back the next day feeling slightly wobbly but perfectly up to dashing around as usual, but I must have been white as a sheet, because people kept stopping me in the corridors and offering to take me to the nurse's office.

I gather you're back in Stirling, fancy a chat on the phone some time?

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

I'm vampire pale, I think. I've had to show the photo on my registration card to the nurses at the blood donor thingy because they were going to make me stay there and keep drinking orange juice 'until you stop looking so pale', not realising that I'm never going to stop looking so pale. Heh.

I'm not in today or tomorrow - you around on Friday? I should phone you this time, since I think your phone bill probably suffered enough!

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

You can if you really want, but all my UK calls are free (Toucan Telecom, very useful - and it's only 3p to Israel), so there's not much point! Yup, should be around on Friday. I've just acquired a book of Victorian ghost stories, but it's being saved for later.

[moon-very-thin.livejournal.com]

Well done. I guess the shy girl feels comfortable in your tutorials. That's brilliant.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

I really hope she does - the quiet students bother me, because I don't want to think there's anyone feeling too intimidated by the others to speak, but I hate to pick on them by asking direct questions ("Uh, someone who's not spoken to me yet?" *eye contact drops*)

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

It's actually a compliment. 'You look so relaxed, I wonder when you have time to get all your work done,' now that would be an insult.

Since everyone knows that only people who work 80-hour weeks have hope of tenure, and therefore survival. Working yourself into exhaustion shows that you *might* be worthy of a job. It shows that you're serious, and that you care.

Damn, I hate this system.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

'You look so relaxed, I wonder when you have time to get all your work done,'

I got told "It's great that you can read books just for fun, I never seem to find the time!" yesterday. Obviously, people really dedicated to getting degrees in literature don't waste their time with reading it. *grumbles*

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

yes, JW was rubbing that one in yesterday. He keeps going on about how I put him to shame by happily wading through lots of novels. Yes, but half the time it's work avoidance. Anyway, on being pressed he admitted that he has books in several locations and there are thousands of them, whereas my collection is only about a thousand. No idea where I'm going to put them all in twenty years' time.

[kakodaimon.livejournal.com]

...wow.