I've decided that I want a Nintendo DS. It would be the first video game system I've owned since my Gameboy (one of the very early generation ones, grey with a greenish and black screen) finally gave up the ghost sometime in late middle school.
I played with one last weekend and had a lot of fun. And they're making a Guitar Hero game for it!
Is this weird? I feel weird desiring video games.


Speaking of consumerist lust, I'm coming to the dark side - I'm asking for an iPod for my birthday.


In other, related news, I currently have about $100 to my name.


Also, I should be working on a paper right now.

( Fill this out. )

I should be doing school work.
We won pub quiz again tonight! Woo!

New Brideshead: potentially a disaster, but definitely beautiful.
I am excited.

I reaaally need to watch the old one again. Castle Howard!

Ha, Andrus Field got a mention at NME.com, because The Hold Steady are playing on it for Spring Fling... http://www.nme.com/news/nme/36353


In other news, it's a BEAUTIFUL day.

I can't believe I've had a paid account for over a year and, yet, have never made a poll.

Poll #1180442
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Which is cutest?

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded.

Bold the ones you've read for pleasure,
Underline the ones you read for school,
Italicize the ones you started but didn't finish (even if you intend to finish them).
Strikethrough the ones you hated.
Add (*) beside the ones you liked and would (or did) read again or recommend.
My addition: (Parenthesize) the ones that are on your "unread" list.


Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey*
Pride and Prejudice*
Jane Eyre***
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
(A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales (didn't read all of them, but read what was assigned to me)
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead (Words cannot describe how much I despise Ayn Rand.)
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
(Dracula)
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
(The Once and Future King)
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984** (chose it myself for a school assignment)
Angels & Demons
The Inferno and Purgatory and Paradise
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray**
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (listened to the audiobook)
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury***
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners (I read one of the stories for an assignment.)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road***
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit (I didn't read it for class, but it was an assignment - Battle of the Books. I need to read it again.)
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
(Treasure Island)
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers


P.S. I have a LibraryThing. It currently only includes books I had with me at Wesleyan this fall and books I have with me here in the UK.

Yet another cool thing that results from my Last.fm data.
(By the way, if anyone else wants to post their versions to their LJs - you have to change the code to HTML. It's really simple, though.)

Random: I was watching Torchwood tonight (the second-to-last episode of the past season, "Fragments") and it struck me: I had no idea Ianto was so young! Jack gave his birthdate as August 19th, 1983 - which means he's 24, going on 25 (as part of Jack's flashback placed the episode firmly in 2008). Somehow, this struck me as interesting.

Tonight I've been listening to stuff on Librivox (The Secret Garden, The Forsyte Saga, Nicholas Nickleby... all of them very well-recorded, too), crocheting, and playing Scrabulous on Facebook. Life is good. And lazy.
Today I went into town with Tom and Pete and had a very nice time of it. Pete showed us some cool places - a bookshop, a candy shop, a bakery. I had the cheapest lunch ever (75p). It was a cheese and onion pasty - pastry crust with pierogie filling, basically. I also bought some scones. Excellence. And I got a book (Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms) for 50p! Good times.

On my immediate reading list right now (as in, sitting in my room waiting to see which one I pick for this evening):
A.S. Byatt's Insects and Angels
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass
Other Voices, Other Rooms (I'm really excited about this one, for some reason)

I've also been reading and re-reading a little book of Wallace Stevens poems. I LOVE Wallace Stevens.

I'm in such a nice mood. And now... I'm going to bed!

I'm not in a very great mood today, but every time I see this, I smile. And so, I give you: astrocat.

Ohhhhhh man I just discovered something really dumb that I did. Yesterday I got up early and rushed over to the library... only to turn in THE WRONG BOOK to York's version of a reserve service... and I JUST noticed.
And I just got the overdue notice now, which sucks, because it's over a day overdue, and they charge a pound per hour or part of an hour.
I SO cannot afford that. Crap.

Daaaamn. I need to get myself dressed and get my butt over to the library to beg for forgiveness now.

EDIT: Okay, York University Library has my undying devotion and thanks. They forgave me.

I am such a dork.
- Evidence: My current Facebook status quotes the Act for the Rebuilding of the City of London, 1667, in a reference to my good housing pick for next year at Wes. As soon as I read the phrase "houses of the greatest bigness," I was immediately wondering how to incorporate it into something... anything... but especially my status. The housing thing was perfect.)
- Related to that, I am actually sort of enjoying my revision for my upcoming exam, despite the evidence to the contrary (ie complaining, being on LJ, playing the best internet sudoku game ever...)

Birds.
- I saw about 20 mallard ducklings today, all swimming around together with a group of duck-parents.
- AND one of my favourite birds on the lake (the great crested grebe) turned out to be a couple (I never saw them together, so I assumed there was only one), and they have babies, too! 4 of them. They ride on their parents' backs, and they're stripy! I love them. SO CUTE
- The goose and coot outside my window have 6 and 5 eggs, respectively. I cannot wait for coot babies.

Other.
- Somehow, despite the rain and absent-mindedly taking the long way and not being able to figure out how to get into the Royal Mail package centre, I had a really easy, really good trip to town today. Everything I needed to do got done, and much more easily than I was expecting. The worst part was the weird acoustics in the cafe at the University's building for medieval studies et. al.; somehow I could not help but hear every word two women all the way across the (large) room were saying, and I was trying to read! I got more work done on the bus.
- I think I got all my classes for next fall. They will be:
~~ Hazardous Earth (natural disasters taught for non-science people = me getting my last science credit, and being able to apply for honours).
~~ Islamic Art & Architecture (more of Prof. Wagoner? Yes, please.)
~~ Intro to Experimental Music (assuming my schedule adjustments today went through. I've want to take this class for a while, so I'm excited.)
~~ Thesis Tutorial (aka ahhhhhhh omfg I really need to get my shit straight for this, I have to have an advisor and a topic by mid-May.)
- I, like the grebes (but without the babies, or the feathers, or the ability to stay underwater for a really long time, etc.) am also a couple now. Or, rather, part of one. And that's pretty nice, you know?

I'm quite tired, but... back to work! Or a shower. Probably a shower.

EDIT: I wish I was at Wes to see the thing in the CFA tunnels. Mostly because it sounds awesome, but also because... FLOOFY MATT. It belongs to Floofy Matt. Aw, I'm going to miss him.

I'm back in York after two wonderful weeks travelling in Switzerland and Rome.

Switzerland was beautiful. I stayed in (very nice) hostels and saw a good deal of snow. Lucerne was really nice, Grindelwald gave me the most stunning moment of the trip (waking up after a snowy night with no view to find the sun shining and my view filled with Alps), Interlaken was a bit strange - any place outside middle American with a Hooters has to be a bit odd, really. Travelling alone stressed me out the first day, but then was good - really good.

Rome was... well, what can you even say about Rome? I was lucky because I was there with my dad and my step-mom, and my dad does not hesitate to pay for good food, good hotels, taxis, etc. Therefore, I had a nice hotel room all to myself and I ate so, so much good food. I'm reaaallly tired of pasta, though, and that never happens! The Roman stuff was great, St. Peter's and all the other Catholic stuff very beautiful, and overwhelmingly opulent. There were priests and monks and nuns all over the place. My last day there I went to the old Non-Catholic cemetery to see Keats's and Shelly's graves, and I made friends with some cats who live there... and that was really nice. I think that cemetery was my favourite place in all of Rome, actually.

I took a lot of pictures - over 1,000, though a lot of those are duplicates where I was messing with exposure or whatever - and those will soon appear on Facebook (for those of you who are my friends there) and on my Picasa.

All that considered, though... I'm really, really happy to be back in York. The whole time I was away, a part of me just wanted to be back. I'm really attached to this place - and I didn't feel a need to "get away" or take a break, because York is my getaway, and also because I'm just generally happy and relaxed here. Plus, I had a lot to look forward to about getting back - my mom coming to visit, for one (big) thing, so I was ready - and counting the days, a lot of the time.
A couple of nights ago I was walking down the street in York with my mom and a friend, and I was just SO happy - almost transcendently so. The three things I'd been looking forward to - seeing my mom, seeing Patrick, and being back in York - were all happening, and it was all just very lovely.

Today my mom and I went to Rievaulx, an old ruined abbey north of York. We walked there from a village a few miles away that had a ruined castle and a really nice cheese and meat shop where we bought possibly the best cheese sandwiches ever made (mine had Wensleydale cheese with apricots). Rievaulx was simply gorgeous. I love me some picturesque ruins. And there's nothing like being out in the English countryside with cups of take-away tea, sheep and pheasants everywhere, a ruined Gothic abbey sitting in the valley in front of you... Yeah. England is pretty nice. I'm glad to be back.

Okay kids.
I'm off to the Continent for two weeks.
Switzerland and Rome.
OMG.

I'm still deciding if Mr. Laptopy is going. The 7-hour train trip from Switzerland to Italy, on which I cannot fall asleep because I don't want my stuff to get stolen, says yes. The risk of getting it stolen in general says no.
But I'll be internet cafeing if I don't take it.

But I won't be available much.


Yeah. Europe. Travel.
I'm leaving behind someone I'm going to miss. But EUROPE!

It's amazing how just waiting can make you feel sick sick sick. My stomach is hating me for too much coffee and too much excitement, it's been going on for dayyyys. And it makes me not want to eat... which then makes it worse.


Anyway.

I have to go to the library, my books are overdue and they actually charge you for that, here. This means I need to get dressed. Boo.

I haven't used this icon in forever. *pets the pretty*

And here is how it went. This is REALLY long, a lot happened.

( Introduction: Getting in, Waiting, The Opening Acts, More Waiting. )

( Mystery Jets Played Music! )

( After The Show. This Is Where My Night Went From Exciting to RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME. )

( At The Club. 'I'm With Them,' and Meeting Some Cool People. )

( Stray Uni Students and Surrealism. )


Definitely a bit of a tale.

And THAT, my friends, was my Friday night.

MYSTERY JETS ARE PLAYING AT YORK.
Not the city - the school. As in at a pub, on my campus.

Next week.



Excited does not even begin to describe my state right now.

(The icon almost sums it up, though.)



EDIT:
So I was just reading Garfield Without Garfield, and I realized something, which led to this important question: Is every square foot of floor space in Jon's house covered by tables and counters? Because nothing seems to exist below elbow level, except near the TV.
I imagine a house full of elbow-height surfaces divided by neat, narrow aisles.

Happy Leap Day, all!

An extra day for your year. A gift of the Earth's orbit. Nice.


I'm in a weird (read: not very great) mood tonight.

But I did have a nice walk.

And a nicer toast-eating event.
One of my buddies came by and just started chatting with me... then left... then came back with crisps... then invited me to have toast with the other guys downstairs.
So I ate toast - including a piece I managed to catch when it was tossed to me from across the room.
And one of the other guys gave me a spoonful of cereal - just held it out. They're very open with their food and drink here, they just hand you whatever. One of them offered me a bite of his sandwich about 10 minutes after I first met him.
They're silly, they say things like that in my subject line, they give me toast, all is well. <3.


AND I saw a preview for the episode of "Shameless" with Bryan Dick in it. Hooray!


I just found a cool website. Pictures of Walls.

We just had an earthquake!

Which is... odd. But really cool.

My dorm is not particularly stable feeling.

I made a new layout for my journal... hooray! It makes me happy.

Earlier I found a missing thumbtack in a chocolate chip, in a chocolate chip cookie, in a package of cookie that had been sitting on my desk.
Interestingly, it was in the second cookie in the package, not the first one I pulled out.

London was really good. I officially like that city.
Recap.

The concert:
- We missed the first band.
- Does It Offend You, Yeah? were pretty good.
- Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong were really good.
- The Cribs were decent (that's how Tom described them, I think it fits).
- Johnny Marr of The Smiths played with The Cribs, and seeing him in real life was pretty freaking awesome.
- It was pretty sweet to be at an indie concert in London, just because I've always wanted to go to such gigs. Good stuff.

The rest of the time:
- Sir John Soane's Museum rocked my world.
- The activities organized by my study abroad program were pretty fun, and the food was good.
- The National Portrait Gallery was sweet.
- Hyde Park is nice.
- London is just pretty cool.
- I had retail adventures in a very crowded, very cheap store and bought: A really cheap, cute shirt and a really complicated necklace with lots and lots of stars on it.
- I also bought: A Leafcutter John album and Bishi's debut. The Leafcutter John is really good, I've not listened to the Bishi yet. A few postcards and a book at the Soane museum. A few postcards and a poster of the Kings and Queens of England (family tree and some portraits... exciting!) at the National Portrait Gallery.

I'm going to London! Soon! Like in half an hour!

Which means:
- The Cribs and Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong tonight!!!
- Sir John Soane's Museum tomorrow!!! (so excited. seriously.)

Yeah. London. Cool.


I reaaaally need to finish getting ready.

Torchwood macros?
Yes please.

( Cut for my extreme dorkiness, Bryan Dick's evil hotness, Ianto's adorableness, and excessive use of the Impact font. )

In other news, the lake outside my window is frozen. I don't believe the weather website, which claims in is 41 degrees out.

VIKINGS. YESTERDAY. VIKINGS EVERYWHERE.
York is awesome. It has a Viking Festival. With loads of costumed people, and a big street market (bigger than the usual one), and a battle re-enactment.