It's Going To Be A Beautiful Day, So Do The Bluebirds Say

Erm... stuff?

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:41:08 GMT

I met someone! At a coffee shop, last week. Saw him there again today, and we chatted. Then we went and walked around downtown. He's pretty cool. It's weird, normally I'd be attracted to him - he's got dark hair and glasses and he's sort of indie and sweet and amusing - but I'm just not into it. I do, however, like hanging out with him. So I might be making a friend? Which would be really nice, because I don't know many people in Asheville anymore.
Well, no, I KNOW people - today I saw two people I recognized and have spoken to once or twice, and someone I hung out with in high school, and that was just in 1 or 1.4 hours downtown. Tw3o were at the same grocery store. BUT I don't have anyone to hang out with.
We might be going to see "The Dark Knight" tomorrow with some people he knows. We also mutually chose some movies at the video store today... so in the next few days I might be seeing "Control," "Eagle vs. Shark," and/or some episodes of old school Doctor Who - the one with the scarf. Yeah, that video store pretty much ROCKS.

Um, what else. My hair cut went well - I just got about 3 inches cut off, nothing fancy - I just wanted to get it back to looking healthy. I really, really liked the stylist, and definitely want to keep going back to her. she was really fun, and she did a good job.

I should go to bed. I've been feeling really out of sorts the last few days, just tired and bored and hormonal. Sleep would be very good, but I'm not tired... boo.

Also. I am developing an interest in Stephen Fry that I feel will likely blossom into a full-blown obsession. Be warned.

AND! I'm going to see Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) in Chapel Hill in a few weeks!
AND Old 97's here next Thursday. General music joy abounds!

I finished my iPod bag, for real now, and I also made a hat over yesterday and today. It's really cute, if I do say so myself. It has loopy fringe. However, it's small, circumference-wise (I pull my stitches really tight, and need to learn to compensate for it, because my hats always end up too small), but tall. I put it on my head earlier and it looked like the strangest top hat ever. I'm hoping it will fit my little sis like the toboggan it's meant to be... though I may keep it and pin it to my hair at a rakish when I'm feeling especially silly. It could be the leper's bell of the hopeless, inoperable ridiculousness that fills my brain.

Speaking of ridiculous, I think I'm going to go check out Dr. Horrible's Sing-along blog (FINALLY). Then I shall sleep.

Today was a long day

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:53:16 GMT

Today!
I:
- Finished a hat I started crocheting last fall AND finished an iPod bag (well, finished other than buying a button to fasten the closure) for my sweet little blue Edwina (the iPod I got for my birthday).

- Went to visit my ex-boyfriend's mom at her yarn shop. Oh, I love yarn. And her! So that was fun.

- Made an appointment to get my hair cut tomorrow. I'm nervous - it's been 10 or 11 months since I last had it done, and I'm going to someone new, because my stylist moved away. She's at the same salon, and I've already been to two stylists there and liked them... so here's hoping it goes well!

- Went shopping. Oh, did I shop. It took me hours - gleaning from bargain stores is a task - but I ended up with some really sweet stuff. Such as two pairs of skinny jeans that actually don't look horrible on me. In fact, they look good. I really thought that was impossible. Also got a nice new bra, and a pair of SPARKLY Vans slip-ons. I've never had the old school slip-ons before, and these ones are... glittery. So YAY for that! Also, I got a pitcher to make iced tea in. Which is important when one lives off tea, but also lives in the South, where it is hot. Really hot. Everything was SUPER cheap, too. Nothing over $15, and that was for the jeans, which were 70% off. Everything but the pitcher was way discounted.

- Made Annie's Mac & Cheese, which I hadn't had in six months.

- Watched the new Project Runway and ate ice cream from the carton with my mom. Wheeeee.

- Got an e-mail from one of my favourite people back in the UK! Exciting! He's a great correspondent, I was laughing really hard while reading it. Aw, I miss York people.

Erm... yes. I have to get new glasses. Appointment next Tuesday. So it's as close to makeover central in my life as it ever gets. I'm nervous about the glasses, because I LOVE mine, but they're getting really worn out, and they need new lenses, anyway. I also get new sunglasses! In my sunglasses, which are about 4 years old, I can't really distinguish individual leaves... or read signs as well as one would hope, when driving.

Music Meme!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:45:35 GMT

Step 1: Arrange your library by Artist.
Step 2: Starting at the top of your library, hit each letter of the alphabet and write down the first song by the first artist whose name starts with that letter.
Step 3: Post all 26 songs to your LJ - no matter how embarrassing or revealing!

A: A-Ha "Take on Me"
B: The B-52s "Cosmic Thing"
C: Cadence Weapon "Lisa's Spider"
D: Daft Punk "One More Time (Aerodynamic Remix)"
E: E.M. Forster "Mr. Andrews"
F: The Faint "Birth"
G: Gael Garcia Bernal, Sacha Bourdo, Alain Chabat & Aurelia Petit "If You Rescue Me (Chanson des Chats)"
H: Hal "Worry About the Wind"
I: I'm From Barcelona "This Boy (feat. Lonely, Dear)"
J: The J. Geils Band "Centerfold"
K: Sari and Mari Kaasinen "Me Kaymme Joulun Viettohon"
L: La Bottine Souriante "Reel du forgeron/ The Blacksmith's Reel"
M: M "Belleville Rendez-Vous (Version Française)"
N: Nada Surf "There is a Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths)"
O: Richard O'Brien "Overture"
P: P.Y.T. "We're Dancing"
Q: Queen & David Bowie "Under Pressure"
R: R.E.M. "First We Take Manhattan"
S: Sade "By Your Side"
T: T.S. Eliot "Lovesong of J.A. Prufrock"
U: U2 "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
V: Vampire Weekend "Mansard Roof"
W: Andrew W.K. "Party Til You Puke"
X: X "Los Angeles"
Y: YACHT (feat Christian Kindschy) "I Love a Computer"
Z: Tom Ze "A briga do Edificio Italia com o Hilton Hotel"

I've just finished uploading all music to iTunes and fixing the duplicates and all... my computer was converting WMAs for hours yesterday. So hooray! Music meme.

I have to go get a new driver's license today. I lost my last one on the trip home.

Woo!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:49:09 GMT

I'm back in the US!
I'm really glad to be home, but wow, I really miss the UK already. I like the way life moves there, the way everything looks, everything.
BUT last night I got to have a massive burrito from my favorite burrito restaurant (HOORAY) and I love love love seeing my Mom and my cat and my ridiculously ancient dog.
And now I'm sitting on my bum watching Mythbusters, which I missed a lot. I love this show.

My luggage tried to kill me - often - for most of the trip home. I have some big bruises, and I'm sore. I had to re-pack my baggage twice to make the weight limits - once at Heathrow and once at Newark. And I got in right under the wire for my flight in Newark... then got to the gate to discover it had been delayed an hour. I got back to NC around 12:30am Tuesday night.

I saw Sweeney Todd on the plane. It was pretty sweet, though hella bloody. I love Tim Burton. Oh, and the guy who played Anthony? Beautiful much? I had one of the those "omg he's pretty as heck and I recognize him!" moments... he's a model who did one of my favorite editorials. And that voice... Also on the plane I watched "Sean the Sheep" (love that show) and listened to the Laura Marling and the newest Kings of Leon CDs in full (have I pointed out that I love Virgin Atlantic).

Today I'm going out to replace my cell phone - my old one just about snapped in half right before I left the US in January - and to get some new flip-flops and the new David Sedaris book (joy!). Also, I'm going to try driving for the first time in six months. Hopefully that will go well, as I have to drive 2 1/2 hours tomorrow to get to my dad's for 4th of July celebrations.
Looking forward to seeing my dad et al. I spoke to my little sister on the phone yesterday and my GOSH has she grown up. She can really carry on a conversation. I can't wait to see her! Six months is a long time for a 4 year-old.

Erm, yes. Home! I'm looking forward to this summer. I've missed being here, and I have some things to look forward to. Beach, thesis research, working on hobbies.

Things I'm Not Actually Writing in My Final Paper, But Wish I Was

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:37:15 GMT

Gardens were pregnancy tests to see if, as Ruskin and Morris believed, modern society had truly been knocked up by evil, resulting in it being pregnant with doom.
This of course implies that, in Morris's mind at least, socialism was the morning after pill that could save civilization.

Yes, yes, I am a huge dork. Thank you for noticing.
I love art history.

EDIT: There was something else... something involving my elbows being mittens. Or William Morris's elbows being mittens. Or something. Oh dear.

(I uploaded this icon specially for this entry. It was way too appropriate not to.)

A bit of Patrick for your afternoon.

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:00:33 GMT

I love him so much.
Plus... Westphalia! (the van)

Back to paper-writing now.
I think I might buy a teapot this afternoon.

Serious amounts of Wonderfulness

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:33:28 GMT

This Interview at You Ain't No Picasso basically explains why Doveman are such an excellent band. Contra dance and gamelan and setting Wallace Stevens poems to music. Excellence.

Today I went to the Lake District with my class. It rained. I stared out the bus window, mouth agape, in shock at how wildly beautiful it was. If you ever need to understand the picturesque and the sublime, the Lake District is the place - obviously, that's where a lot of the writers on the picturesque and the sublime got their inspiration.
We went to the most beautiful house, too - an Arts and Crafts masterpiece. Also jaw-droppingly nice. It was all carved wood panelling (done largely in rowan leaf and berry motifs - which made it even better, considering my personal attachment to that plant), simple stained glass, and window seats and Inglenook fireplaces, which I am wildly in love with. Always have been. If I could make my own house, it would be small and furnished almost exclusively with built-in furniture - window seats and Inglenooks, dining table with a banquette, beds set into walls, and book shelves book shelves bookshelves.
Also today, the only church designed by one of the great Arts and Crafts architects, full to the brim with Morris & Co. stained glass designed by Edward Burne-Jones. Impressive, to say the least. And so gorgeous. I love Burne-Jones with a wildly colourful, flowery, mannerist passion. Oh, and one of the angels in the main east window looked quite a lot like Evan Simko-Bednarski (Wes people, you'll know of whom I speck). Which was strange. I took a picture, I'll get it uploaded and share it around, see if other people see the resemblance...
The day ended with us all stood on the edge of Lake Windermere, being dripped on by trees and stared at by swans, drinking wine from plastic cups. It was a nice way to end the class, and it was our last real meeting. Which is too bad in some ways, but good in others. I was getting really, really tired of Gothic revival churches (which was a great thing about today - only one Gothic Revival thing, the rest was Arts and Crafts!), and spending so many hours in the bus with a small group of people was really starting to grate on my nerves.
Oh, and I went to Carlisle today, in passing, which was exciting only because it made me think of Bryan Dick. (yay!)

It was a 7am departure again this morning. I'm tired, but not sleepy - maybe because I just had a huge cup of tea. I've been watching Michael Palin tour about Eastern Europe, and a book quiz which made me feel both intellectual and not well-read.

I did well on my exam last term, I've found out - so that's nice! Hopefully I can get down to work on my paper for this term and do well again.

Hm. Time to turn on something instrumental and get under the covers with my book on William Morris and garden design. It all sounds rather pleasant, which is good, because it's work for my paper.

Epic 1930s Fail

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:10:12 GMT

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Poor (Failure)

Take the test!

Geez, I thought I'd do a little better than that...
Fails to wash top of milk bottle before opening it. I mean, really??

In the second try, I've received a 36 - Poor. That's a bit better.

JOY

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:51:11 GMT

Seriously. This video is made of pure happiness.

A bunch of women holding cups! (Cups-come-lamps)

Sat, 31 May 2008 12:31:45 GMT

I dreamt about Vivienne Westwood last night. It was weird.She made me tea.

I made a Doctor Who macro a few nights ago. I personally think it is made of win. It really only makes sense if you've seen the new mid-season trailer, though. I posted it Here at ihasatardis.

I took more than 220 pictures over the course of 7 hours on the trip to Fountains and the churches on Thursday. Not sure how I managed that.

I went into town with some people last night, and it was great fun. It was a nice night out, warmish, and we went to cool bars, and my friends are awesome. I am still making new friends here, which is one of the many reasons it is seriously going to suck to leave.

Did I mention that I saw Mystery Jets on Monday?
Well, I did! They played a gig in York. It was excellence. I love them SO MUCH.
I'd write a full review, but... I'm tired. So I'm just going to give you the review I sent to thisroyalcity.

The concert was excellent! Wheeeeeeeee Mystery Jets. They put on a good show. Always so happy and fun! It was the best crowd I've ever seen them with (really excited), and the band sounded excellent... Eeeeeeeeeeee.
I couldn't see Kapil AT ALL (the stage was really low and had a low ceiling, so there was a tiny window between ceiling and people's heads through which one could see the band - as one can see in the pictures I took), but at one point he was standing on his bass drum, facing away from the crowd, banging on things... I could see him then... I could see Blaine and Will and Kai's faces some of the time... other than that, I just had to enjoy the sound, but it was good to be able to see Blaine singing, at least! And his hair, I could see his hair.
Ha, at one point Blaine started talking about the hair of a guy who was standing near me - he was tall and had quite a head of hair, rather in the style of the lead singer of The Horrors (but not QUITE as extreme), and Blaine was like "I like that guy's hair... he has a lot of it" or something like that and it was funny... I wanted to pat the guy on the back and be like "Blaine likes your hair! That's a serious compliment."
I'm a bit disappointed because Blaine might have abandoned the old practice of drumming on trash can lids and pots and things.... but he had to have been drumming on something last night, because he had sticks and at one point during the encore he was knocking on the beam in front of him and dust was falling...
At one point in one of the songs Blaine had William sing a verse of one of the songs, and William seemed a bit flustered, and he was laughing into the mic, which was SO CUTE. He is so happy, he always looks like he's having a great time on stage.

So, yes. There's that. kind of incoherent. It was a good show.

To do next week: two presentations, one seminar, one paper tutorial, one 13-hour study trip, one 2,500 word paper. Damn.

He looks like a miniature Edith Sitwell

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:04:56 GMT

My thesis topic got approved! That's a huge weight off my shoulders.
My Simon Bookish CD I bought on eBay arrived today! It's AWESOME.
I have hay fever for the first time in ages! It's not very bad, but it bothers my nose...
I know there was some other stuff, but I've forgotten what! Um...

Oh, oh, last weekend I discovered the pure joy / cheesy awfulness that is Eurovision! It was very exciting. I feel heavily indoctrinated in the ways of Europe now.
My favourite was Bosnia & Herzegovina. Then France, then Spain.
The ONLY good thing about Russia was that I got to see Evgeny Plushenko.

I've just been looking at Imelda App's website. She's Patrick Wolf's mom, and I never realized it was her who did the paintings of him in uniforms. I really like her stuff... especially the stuff linked from the top of the page, of her latest show. It's like a strange and beautiful narrative... a strange narrative featuring Patrick and his huge white cat.

Oooooh something else. In other art news, Ryan McGinley has reappeared in my life yet again. My pseudo-step-brother posted a link to Sigur Ros's new video a few days ago, which I went and looked at... and who should it be "inspired by and in collaboration with" than Mr. McGinley himself? And who should have taken the photograph used on their new album cover, but... yes, him, again. I was thrilled! I love him so much, and I like Sigur Ros, and I'm not terribly surprised that they've collaborated, and... it's just so nice! You can see the video Here, but be warned - there's plenty of nudity, though all very nice and, very McGinley. Nothing like some naked people in the woods! Yay!

It's not hot here, per se, but it's sticky. Very humid. It's been raining. The warmth is nice, but the stickiness is kind of ugh.

Today I went to Fountains Abbey again today, with my class! Hooray for that! We visited two churches near there, and got our admission to the Abbey paid for so we could wander around and have our lunch on the grounds. I wandered off by myself, which was nice - it's so pretty there, and it was nice to just be out on my own. It was a fun trip, generally... mostly because we all got punchy by the end, and we were laughing pretty hard. Oh, exhaustion and too many Gothic-revival churches... I'm so tired now. I really like my seminar group, they're generally fun, friendly people.

That's a lot of update. I'm done now.

Oh! Oh! Also. Yesterday I bought a tea cosy (for my non-existent teapot, which I will own in the future) and a hot water bottle. The hot water bottle came with a sweater... hot water bottle cosy... that has a Union Jack on it. I am officially more English than the English.

Electronics

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:47:33 GMT

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.

Meme for YOU

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:13:00 GMT

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
A.

2) What was your dream growing up?
A.

3) What talent do you wish you had?
A.

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
A.

5) Favorite vegetable?
A.

6) What was the last book you read?
A.

7) What zodiac sign are you?
A.

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
A.

9) Worst Habit?
A.

10) If you saw me walking down the street, would you offer me a ride?
A.

11) What is your favorite sport?
A.

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
A.

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
A.

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
A.

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
A.

16) Do you have any pets?
A.

17) What if i showed up at your house unexpectedly?
A.

18) What was your first impression of me?
A.

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
A.

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
A.

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
A.

22) What color eyes do you have?
A.

23) Ever been arrested?
A.

24) Bottle or can soda?
A.

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
A.

27) What's your favorite place to hang at?
A.

28) Do you believe in ghosts?
A.

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
A.

30) Do you swear a lot?
A.

31) Biggest pet peeve?
A.

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
A.

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
A.

35) Do you believe in God?
A.

36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
A.

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

PRETTAH

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:31:08 GMT

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

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

Woo.

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:22:11 GMT

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.

So, I Feel Like Making a Poll

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:49:58 GMT

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

View Poll: #1180442

Oh, books.

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:31:28 GMT

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.

Pretty cool!

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:50:27 GMT

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!

Yeah.

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:53:11 GMT

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

Ooooooops.

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:39:37 GMT

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.

The Greatest Bigness!

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:10:12 GMT

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.

Wheeeeeeeee

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:11:42 GMT

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.

Wow

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:34:23 GMT

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!

Ugh

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:30:22 GMT

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*

So Last Friday Night Was... Interesting. To Say The Least. Also, It Was Amazing.

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:24:30 GMT

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

Introduction: Getting in, Waiting, The Opening Acts, More Waiting.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Mystery Jets were coming to campus to play a free (!!!) acoustic set. I was, of course, very excited for the whole week leading up to it.
Two of my friends – Tom and Mark – and I headed over to the venue (one of the campus bars) around 7:15. The thing was meant to start at "7:30;" there were two opening acts. Mystery Jets were not to be on until 9 or 9:30. To say the least, we were early. And yet... the venue was full, so it was a one in, one out kind of deal. However, it had just filled up – so we were #2-4 in line. The first guy got in pretty quick – he called his friend and got tagged in, with his friend leaving so he could get in. We stood outside for maybe 10 minutes before 1 or 2 people left and the door guy came out, looked at us, said "It's just you three?" – yes – "Go on in." so we were in, and there was nothing yet going on.
What ensued from there was a lot of waiting, really. Legs stiff, backs aching, ears ringing from the music being played while the gig got set up. Waiting. A York student (who never said his name, though he later told me it was Barney) played his guitar and sang. People in the crowd talked. His set ended. Another long set up, and then the other opener, The Voluntary Butler Scheme, took the stage.
He was a one-man band using a mix of keyboards, guitar, bass drum, cymbal, ukulele, kazoo, and looping of voice and all the instruments... and he was awesome. Quirky and sweet, just the way I like 'em.
The crowd continued to be really awful – talking, occasionally shouting "Zootime!" to express that they wanted to see Mystery Jets. But a few people seemed to really enjoy The Voluntary Butler Scheme, and I was thrilled with him. I couldn't stop smiling.

Then we waited some more. There were two guys next to me who were really drunk and obnoxious. I recognized one of the them as the guy who won the competition to have Mystery Jets stay with him that night, but didn't say anything, because I only recognized him from Facebook stalking. Mystery Jets came in and started setting up – by this point it was around the time their set was meant to start, 9:15ish.
It took them a long time to set up – it ended up their "acoustic" set wasn't actually all that acoustic. Keyboards, amps, the lot. Though Kapil only had bongos and The Voluntary Butler Scheme's bass drum and cymbal. As they set up, messed with the (terrible) sounds system, etc. the obnoxious guys tried constantly to get their attention – by shouting their names and pointing/ waving over and over and over again. Pretty annoying.
I got really tired of standing in one place – by legs were stiff and my back hurt, as they always do when I have to stand around for a long time on hard surfaces. So I left Tom and Mark in the crowd and went to talk to Rob, the guy from The Voluntary Butler Scheme. He was really nice, I like chatting with him. But then the lights went down so I had to backtrack it pretty fast and reclaim my spot in the crowd.

Mystery Jets Played Music!
Mystery Jets FINALLY started playing after 9:30, maybe around 9:45. Late, since they had to be in town for a DJ set around 11. But still, it was a really good set. They played about half old and half new songs, and they all sounded really good. Fairly different from the recordings, in some cases – the encore, "Alas Agnes," was especially odd for some reason.
They played:
- "Diamonds in the Dark"
- "Two Doors Down" (from the new album – they've apparently only just begun to do it live)
- "The Boy Who Ran Away"
- "Half in Love With Elizabeth" (newish)
- "Flakes" (newish)
- "Young Love" (the new single – they got a girl out of the crowd to sing Laura Marling's bit, and I wished desperately that I could sing, because I know all the words.)
- "Alas Agnes" (encore. I think it sounded so weird because there were no real drums in use.)

I think my favourite was "Flakes." I love Blaine's voice on that song so much, and he sounded really, really good.
Blaine forgot the words to one of the songs. I think it was "The Boy Who Ran Away." They played and played and then stopped and Will went "I think someone just fucked up big time!" and they tried to start back and Blain couldn't remember how it went, exactly... which was endearing really.
Their stage banter and communication with the audience was pretty good, they were funny.

After The Show. This Is Where My Night Went From Exciting to RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME.
After the show I sort of hung about aimlessly until Rob-aka-The-Voluntary-Butler-Scheme was free, and then I talked to him more and bought his EP. (For a "special student price" because he felt guilty selling it to me for 4 pounds? He gave it to me for 2.)
Mystery Jets were just hanging out in the venue, sitting on these couches that were in a room that was sort of divided from the rest of the space... so I went over, after working up my courage. I really wanted to talk to Blaine, since I have before, but he was being swarmed, so I just... stood there awkwardly. And then Kai went by, so I told him how much I enjoyed the show, and we started to chat. He was super-friendly and seemed interested in talking to me... which was really cool. We talked about the gig, the new album, my being American, my having seen them in Brooklyn last fall, how they were coming back to York in May, him being a bit ill, them deciding not to stay the night in York. Also, at some point outside the context of this conversation, Kai walked by, looked down, and told me he liked my shoes, that they were cool. Which made me really, really happy, because I was wearing my beloved flowery lace-ups.
The height of this conversation, however, came when we were talking about the DJ gig they wee doing that night, and Kai asked if I was planning to go. I told him that I wasn't really, as it was in town and it seemed like I might be stuck in line outside the club and not get to see it. So he told me I should come with them.
Let's repeat that. He told me I should come with them.
My response: feeling slightly like I was blathering, asking if I could bring a friend. He said yeah, sure.
So after that... I waited around more. Tom decided not to come, he was tired, but Mark stuck around. I talked to Rob some more, and just hung out, sat around, watched Mystery Jets, trying to get to a point where I might have the courage to talk to the other guys. Poor Kai really did seem sick – at one point he was lying on the couch beside Blaine, all curled up, and Blaine was patting his head. Which was cute. And at another point he came back into the couch room (while I think Mark and I were the only people sitting back there), flopped onto a couch with a big sigh, then maybe a minute later got up and left again.
Eventually it seemed like we really were heading out – Mystery Jets had taken out more of their equipment, though some was still coming, and The Voluntary Butler Scheme was heading out, too, having reclaimed some equipment he leant to them. I helped him carry out some of his stuff, then Mark and I stood around with a little crowd and Mystery Jets outside the venue, mostly listening to them talk and joke. And then... it was time to go. Kai asked me if I was coming again, I said yeah, I thought so, if I could get to town, and he said they'd give me a ride ((something like that, just reiterating what we'd said earlier). So we all got in the van – them, me, Mark, the two obnoxious guys who had won the band for the night, another York girl and guy... but the van only sat 9. Three seats up front, three behind them looking backwards, a table, then three more seats facing forward. There was a big shelf-thing behind the third seats with plenty of room for a person to recline – which Kai did. But still, the driver would only take 8 plus himself, so several people got out. Mark was the last one to sacrifice. The doors closed and it was: Will and the driver up front, the two obnoxious guys (who had calmed down a lot) and the girl facing backwards, then Kapil, Blaine, and me, with Kai behind us. Kai's head was behind mine, so I spent a lot of the ride turned around talking to him. Despite Blaine being right next to me, I was nervous and shy of him, and didn't say much to him. The girl ended up making up for how loud and obnoxious the guys had been earlier. She was just plain vulgar, really, being very very loud and talking about sexual things all the way into town. "'Danger wanks, her mother's sex toys, odd things about ex-boyfriends odd... it all came out, loudly and everyone else just sort of joked along with it. And the band explained something they made reference to on stage - "cranking." It's apparently crying and wanking at the same time. Classy. I found it hard to shout out with everybody else, so I talked to Kai, mainly. He kept making little comments, and I did, too, and he laughed at what I had to say, which made me feel good.
Kapil kept putting his elbow on the switch for the van's inside lights as he leant on the windowsill... the guys all seemed pretty tired, but were having fun, anyway.
Talking to people after the show and the van ride was really the high points of my night, I think.

At The Club. 'I'm With Them,' and Meeting Some Cool People.
At Fibber's, the club / indie venue where they were doing their set, we all piled out onto the sidewalk and made our way past the line (which wasn't that long, actually) so we could get in. There was some confusion – the security people apparently were not aware of the DJ set, or something. I talked to Kapil while we stood there, he seemed impressed with my having seen them in Broolyn, as well. Then someone more in charge came out, and Will counted us off – "there's 8 of us" – and we went in. Got our wristbands, didn't have to pay – "I'm with them." With the band. Pretty cool.
Inside everyone dispersed, really. The loud girl talked to me some, making my ears smart – conversations in clubs don't work out that well. I talked to the York guy who opened the gig, met a few people, but then I was alone – no one there that I knew past the one girl I saw who's in my class, and the people I’d just met that night. So eventually I made my way over to the DJ booth, gave Kai a smile and thumbs up on the music – they did play some good stuff, pretty basic dance stuff, a lot of old-school things, which was fun. Just good things to dance to. So then I just... danced a bit. I was holding all my stuff, as I didn't know what the deal was with coat check there, so that was a bit awkward, but all right.
After a few minutes I looked over and saw another person dancing by themselves – a young guy who was really getting down, looking like he was having a fine old time, so I made my way over and danced beside him, trying to get myself to loosen up a bit, dancing-wise, and enjoy myself. Which I did. He was there with a few friends, a girl (who was American and spent some of her childhood in North Carolina, very cool) and a guy I didn't talk to very much. We had drinks, and danced, and talked... it was really good, just a bit of friendly dancing, and some sideways looks between the guy (Patrick) and me. They eventually decided to go, and invited me along back to their place, which I turned down, but Patrick and I did exchange numbers. Him: "Do you want my number?" Me: "Yes." I had decided just to be direct, but then forgot the other part until a minute later: "Do you want mine, too?" The answer was yes. I also told him he should call me soon, because I'm leaving the 18th to travel for a few weeks. He has since done so.

Stray Uni Students and Surrealism.
As we danced, I noticed that nearby one of the two obnoxious guys from the gig was sitting at a table, head down, wasted or just really tired. (I'm still not sure which it was. Might've been both.) I referred his friend to him, hoping he was okay. His friend talked to him then disappeared off to dance again, and the guy ended up lying down on the bench where his table was, all curled up. People kept pointing at him, it was pretty pitiful. So after Patrick and his friends left I asked him if he wanted to go back to campus, since he didn't really seem to be enjoying himself, and I was ready to get out of the noise – my ears hurt, and I was tired. I managed to spill his whole pint of beer on him in the process of asking him, but he still said yeah, and after a failed attempt to find his friend, we left.
He ended up being surprisingly nice, and polite, considering that he had been so annoying and rude at the concert. He kept apologizing for obsessing over my being American, and the accent – though I'd been told people in the UK could really love American accents, he was the first person like that I'd met. So we talked about America, and about music, and the gig, and our names (he had a very awkward, confused moment in which he tired to figure out if I knew his name or not), his new job working at a music venue in Sheffield, which had exhausted him... and at about this point, I figured out that he wasn't a York student, he was just visiting his friend to see the gig and meet the band.
And this, it soon became clear, was a problem. An "Oh, shit, what am I going to do with you?" sort of problem, because all the dorms on our campus are controlled by keycard access – meaning he couldn't get back into the place where he was staying until his friend came back to campus.
Oops.
So I invited him in, and we sat and talked for a while. I found his perfectly pleasant, really. We had a lot in common in terms of music and British comedy.
Then he fell asleep on my bed. First on top of the covers, but then he actually got under my duvet... to which my response was "um... no." I made him get back on top and gave him my fleece blanket, as he was complaining about being cold. At my protestations about him sleeping in my bed he informed me that there was plenty of room, but that was another big "um, no." I went down the hall and thanked my lucky stars that my friend Annemarie was still awake, and willing to lend me her extra mattress (she lives alone in a double room). So I got him off my bed and onto the other mattress, where he slept heavily all night, all wrapped up in my extra blanket. He'd left a lot of change in my bed, and I put it on his mattress beside him.
Really, it was all quite endearing, and also hilarious. I accidentally brought home a stray.
I really struggled to sleep that night – there was a stranger in my room, it was really hot, and... there was a stranger in my room! And his phone rang on and off for several hours after he disappeared into sleep land, and despite my repeated nudgings and (soft) kicks he wouldn't wake up enough to answer it and tell his friend (who I assume the calls were from) that he was safe back on campus. If the phone hadn't been on his person I would've answered it and told the guy that his friend was asleep on my floor, and that he could either come collect him immediately or leave him until morning.
At 9 or 10 the next morning Mike sat up in bed, quite awake finally, and I, also awake, sat up and greeted him. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Good morning."
Him: "Yo." (pause) "I'm going to go make a call and figure out where I am." (He leaves my room)
Me, thinking: I could've told you...
He was gone for a while, so long I had to make sure he hadn't left by sitting up and checking that his shoes were still there. Then he returned, with a bit of a crash – he hurtled through my door with an "Oh, thank God!" as he'd been unsure that he'd chosen the right room. After that:
Him: "Halifax College." (where his friend lived)
So I took him outside and pointed the way. He was hung-over, and he did this blinking ‘ouch the sun hurts' sort of thing when we came outside.
Him: "Thanks (mumbling)... Thanks." (walks away) "Have a nice life!"

And that was that. My stray disappeared off into the world and I went to have a big cup of tea, because I was not going to fall asleep again.

The most hilarious thing about this whole episode of Mike-on-my-floor is that I have no idea if he remembered the night before at all. There's a perfectly good chance that he woke up having no idea who I was, where he was, or how he'd gotten there. I was an agent of intense surrealism in his life, and that makes me rather happy.
Also, if Mike"s friend was at all pissed about me accidentally kidnapping him, I'll never have any idea, because they don't know who I am.
So yes, more strangeness.

Definitely a bit of a tale.

And THAT, my friends, was my Friday night.