'Tis A Tale, Told By An Idiot

Did You Know That Cinnamon is Actually a Bark?

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:09:01 GMT

...cos I sure didn't.

I finally, FINALLY got to go and see Juno. Damn you, small-town-artsy-fartsy-cinema with your high prices and whimsical scheduling! You are very lucky that you employ only cute ushers that let me in for half price or I should have to shun you and take my business to evil multiplexes.

My opinion is this: Diablo Cody didn't deserve the Oscar. Her script tugs at your heartstrings and some of the quips are fun, but it's far too 'quirky' for its own good. Any less likeable actress playing Juno would have began to seriously grate within ten minutes and the 'kraken from the sea!' line would have probably sent me screaming from the cinema. That being said, it was ultimately extremely fun to watch and left me feeling considerably better than I did after watching Michael Clayton. It didn't hurt that the colours were bouncy and awesome, Allison Janney was there being so awesomely Allison Janney and I actually want to buy the soundtrack. This film and Kimya Dawson were made for each other.

So, I liked it. It still doesn't knock Saved! off the top of my personal Best Films Starring Adorable and Precocious Actress As Gutsy Teen Knocked Up On The First Try, but it makes a valiant attempt. (Having written that, I really want to start compiling that list properly).

~*~

There was a lecture for prospective entrants to Oxbridge at college today, which was largely composed of our psychotic Oxbridge advisor - the fact that we have an Oxbridge advisor tells you everything you need to know about my college - yelling horror stories of straight A* applicants that were rejected and had to go to Kings. These diatribes were normally followed by muffled shrieks of terror from around the room and people crumpling to the floor. The lesson is this: never put nervous high achieving artistic types in a room with neurotic high achieving scientific types. The artists cry and the scientists hit each other. The college Poetry Society held an unofficial memorial service for their potential. A requiem was read. I've never been more certain that I want to go to Edinburgh.

Today's task for you is this: tell me your horror stories from applying to university! Psychotic advisors? Crushed peers? Bring it on!

The End

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:50:11 GMT

Time: 5 hours 25 minutes, allowing time to make a cake

Reaction?

OMFGAH *flumps*

First of all, I can't believe she pulled off Snape and Lily. I never, ever thought that that could be done convincingly, but it worked for me. In fact, the whole Snape revelation worked for me. It all got slightly convoluted over the ownership of the Elder Wand and I did have to cross-reference pages a bit when Harry started waving it around and yabbering about Malfoy, but in the end I think that she managed to work in the Deathly Hallows pretty well, although it did, inevitably, feel a little contrived, as they were only exposed in this book.

If you look at this book, it's almost unrecognisable in comparison to Philosopher's Stone. I really did get the sense in this one that Harry, Ron and Hermione were adults, or at least on the verge of being so. The lack of real R/H romance fitted, I think, because having waited all this time I think that both of them are strong enough to have put more pressing issues first. The little hints we constantly got were enough for me - but we did see the kiss. Prompted by house elf welfare :D

The Malfoys were, I thought, beautifully written. They were still essentially twisted, but it was very clear that they weren't inherently evil, or Harry's arch nemesis(es? i?). Narcissa's deception in the Forbidden Forest was excellent. Dudley was presented similarly, I felt, and his slightly stereotypical character is the better for it.

I loved the "cameos". Everybody in the series seemed to be running in and out of this book, from Umbridge to Aberforth to, of course, Grindelwald. I never thought that Grindelwald would be anything more than background, but there you go. When I think that some of the things in this book, like the Cloak and Grindelwald and Dumbledore's duel, have been mentioned since the first book, I wonder how she didn't grow crazy just waiting to write it all out in this seventh book.

Dumbledore's background was beautifully exposed through Rita and Elphias, and I'm delighted that it put a shade more darkness into his nature. He became a more human character, emphasised by the fact that people kept advising Harry not to blindly follow Dumbledore's plans. In the end he turned out to have been largely right, of course, but there are far more flaws in his character than there were before, which is perfect.

This being a Rowling book, though, those little bits of comedy did always creep in inbetween the philosophising and the duelling. I think I'll write a little list of my favourites, in no real order:

Trelawney batting crystal balls at the opposing army
Kreacher braining Mundungus with a saucepan. Actually, Kreacher overall, he was hilarious
Harry having to avoid a man convinced that Harry was his son, at the Weasley wedding. I can't even explain why that made me so amused
Ron's birthday present
Aberforth trying to pass his goat off as a stag

The Battle at Hogwarts has to be one of my favourite parts of all seven books. Classic fairytale, with all of our characters battling the Dark forces, but mixed with quest as well. Hogwarts was the only place to end it all and the gutsiness of the students and teachers was just heartening after this grey, gloomy book. Percy's return was a lovely bit of light in that, as well.

I didn't cry in this book, I'll say it now, but then I've never cried at a Potter death. My three guesses for deaths - Harry, Hagrid and Neville - were all completely wrong, but I'm still surprised that no more major, major characters died. Remus was fitting, I think, the last of the Marauders. I was surprised at Tonks and it seemed an odd decision to me. Fred - well, I think we all knew a Weasley had to go. When I think about it logically, one of the twins was the right option. We have too little invested in Charlie, it would ruin Percy's redemption, Bill has already faced his bit of danger and tragedy and Ginny or Ron's deaths would be too melodramatic.
I think the entire fandom predicted that Creevey was a goner though.

The "spark" in Dumbledore's eye was explained. Yay.

As for the epilogue? I'm a little pleased that 'Rose' was always the name for Ron and Hermione's first child, in my head (and yes, I know it's odd that I had one). The ending was very ficcy and rather fluffy, but I think that was appropriate. Normal life, after all the madness. Teddy Lupin will, doubtlessly, spawn a million fanfics and I liked the quiet little nod to Malfoy. All in all, Harry is happy. The end.

Gilmore Girls. We love you

Wed, 16 May 2007 15:37:25 GMT

I just managed to get hold of the last (last! I cry) episode of Gilmore Girls.

Cut for spoileriness.

WHERE THE FRICK WAS PARIS?

OK, that really was my only major complaint and I thought that I should get it out of the way swiftly.

Other than that, I adored it. I thought that slightly too much time was spent setting up and not enough time focused on Lorelai and Rory interacting more emotionally, but this has never been a show that flings around the three magic words.

(Speaking of magic words, I really, really want to know the four words that Amy Sherman-Palladino had planned to end the series. Come on, Michael Ausiello...)

I thought that the ending scene was perfect. A pretty huge anvil, of course, linking back to the first episode but Luke's really has been such a huge part of the show and the girls' life, and I think that if there had to be any secondary leads in the final scene Luke was the right one. For a moment I thought that they might have some sort of emotional sendoff with Christopher and that would have just been far too...Christopher.

Also, Lorelai wearing the necklace with such confidence is going to inspire a thousand 'Missing Moment' fanfics. Very much a missing moment - you'd think that after years of only-on-Saturday-nights-and-holidays-darling kissing that we'd have got a decently sappy makeout scene, but apparently not. I really didn't like the way that they made that long shot over the party, partly because it cut away from Luke and Lorelai but mainly because my version of the episode cut out the ad breaks and it was a peculiar transition that won't sit well on DVD versions.

Lauren Graham, once again, hit every single ball in Stars Hollow straight out of it. Slightly muddled metaphor, I know, but really. The woman is amazing. Her scene with Richard was lovely, the one with Emily even better. As for Lorelai watching Rory sleep and tucking her in - it was so beautifully done and, once and for all, confirmed my belief that Season Eight would never have worked. Rory is going off into the world as a working adult, a working reporter, and Lorelai, having taken care of her and nurtured her for so long, has to let her go.

So now she has Luke and Alreadybeingproducedinamillionfanfics!Hypothetical Babies.

Goodbye, Lorelai Gilmores. I'll miss you.

Another Update

Tue, 15 May 2007 23:02:46 GMT

My darlings,

Just checking in to say that, to all of you going through exams, GOOD LUCK! For me it's one down and what feels like millions to go.

Now would be a good time to suddenly grasp the relationships between lines, tangents and normals.

So I'm on study leave and so have, semi-officially, left school. The last day was Monday. People cried, people cheered, people sang "I've Got A Brand New Combine Harvester".

I got the school award for Outstanding Contribution To Drama. That was nice, because I wasn't expecting it at all. There's a shiny trophy, but I don't get it until the Presentation Evening in the autumn when it's all engraved and spiffed up.

I haven't the brain power to write in complex sentences. My fanfic work this evening looks like it was written by a nine year old.

Once again, the goodest of luck to you all! Chuck in lots of semicolons and four syllable words and they'll never notice that you haven't a clue what's going on.

The Trailer

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 23:27:18 GMT

I haven't read any other opinions on the Order trailer yet, so I'm going to post my original opinion - later on I'll probably come back and add to this.

I was never particularly thrilled with Imelda Staunton as Umbridge, and I'm still a little dissatisfied - there's something too neat and normal about her, and it seems that apart from the Reese Witherspoon pink she could be any uptight middle class matriarch. That being said, the clips in the trailer looked very Umbridgesque and, knowing Staunton, I will probably come out raving about her. I did adore her separating the canoodlers(?) and straightening ties.

As for the new "darker elements" - thank Merlin. I've always thought that Order was by far the darkest book, including Half-Blood Prince, simply because it's so very relevant. Tyranny, conspiracy, lies, distrust and rebellion run through that book and they are instantly grab onto the reader and suck empathy out of them, willingly or not. Order, for me, marks the end of the "Harry Potter goes to magic school!" plot, which I think wound up quite stylishly with the very traditional quest format of Goblet. In Order, though Hogwarts is the microcosm in which the struggling, oppressed world is portrayed, the story is far more concerned with wider themes and the wizarding world as a whole. For the first time things such as the Ministry of Magic and student friendships stop being quirky or formulaic and take on a far more important and realistic position in the tales. From what I can see, the film has at least grasped the essence of that, even though it can't live up to the book.

As for 'Voldemort at the station' and the 'voices' which I presume are supposed to be in Harry's mind or dreams - yes please. Harry does so much of his growing up in this book, symbolised by it containing his first awkward romantic entanglement. He becomes far more of a leader and his personality, strength and values are tested, to their eventual benefit. Though the trailer didn't show us much of CAPSLOCK!HARRY, I'm sure he's simmering away under there.

On that note: the new hair. I'm sure you're all aware that I do not approve of the loss of floppiness, but I'm going to do an English geek turnaround on it and interpret it as a symbol of Harry's aging and toughening as well as the more serious themes taking the place of more aesthetic issues. I know that the poor guy probably just wanted a change, but such overanalysis pleases me!

For our Ronnikins, no apparent wibbling. Could this possibly mark some sort of swansong for the trademark Scaredofbadthing!Face? Probably wishful thinking, but I did love his line to Hermione.

Speaking of Hermione - eh. She is blonde. She hugs Harry. She is scholarly. Big leap.

Right, off to rootle through other evaluations!

Fangirlery

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:32:59 GMT

I seem to be having a very fannish week - for one thing that I didn't say in my last post was that I finally managed to pluck a plotbunny from the ground and it resulted in this. It's an Anne of Green Gables universe fic, Nan/Jerry and just a bit fluffy.

Ok, quite a lot fluffy.

But it's writing and that's an advance on most of my year so far. Of course, I suddenly reconnect with my muse when I ought to be learning about ten pages of French for my oral exam.

And yes, I know that last sentence was dirty.

Oh dear me

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:02:49 GMT

I just looked at this for five minutes before realising what made it special.

Picture

Oh dear.

Valentines

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:12:36 GMT

So, in honour of Valentines Day, I'm copying out one of my favourite poems:

A Woman's Answer To A Man's Question
Mary T. Lathrap

[Written in reply to a man's poetic unfolding of what he conceived to be a woman's duty.]

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing
Ever made by the hand above—
A woman's heart, and a woman's life
And a woman's wonderful love?

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing
As a child might ask for a toy,
Demanding what others have died to win,
With the reckless dash of a boy?

You have written my lesson of duty out,
Man-like you have questioned me;
Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul
Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall always be hot,
Your socks and your shirt be whole;
I require your heart to be true as God's stars,
And as pure as heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef;
I require a far better thing.
A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts;
I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called home,
And a man that the maker, God,
Shall look upon as he did the first
And say, "It is very good."

I am fair and young, but the rose will fade
From my soft, young cheek one day,
Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves,
As you did 'mid the bloom of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep,
I may launch my all on its tide?
A loving woman finds heaven or hell
On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,
All things that a man should be;
If you give all this, I would stake my life
To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot do this — a laundress and cook
You can hire, with little to pay,
But a woman's heart and a woman's life
Are not to be won that way.

Spring Update

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 17:49:09 GMT

I just realised that I never posted over Christmas *slaps self on wrist*. So here is a nice Spring Update...and I had better get some newsy comments from you lot!

Mock Exams are done and the run-up to the June GCSE's begins. My predicted grades are all A and A* except a B in Science - apparently you have to actually understand the difference between covalent and ionic bonding in addition to being able to spell it.
I've got interviews for two sixth form colleges over the next fortnight, so hopefully I won't wake up on September 1st with the sudden remembrance that I forgot to send in any applications...
We had ONE MORNING of snow earlier in the week, to everybody's deep joy. Cue the normal amounts of snowball fights on the school sports field, broken collarbones and all modes of transportation breaking down in Britain's general inability to cope with weather
My parents have decided that this summer will be the last family vacation I have to take with them and so we're going to California - San Francisco to see some cousins, L.A. for general touristiqueyness and Monterey for the sleep
But between leaving school and that, seven friends and I are planning a trip youth hostel-ing around Cornwall for a week. Yay Cornwall!
I have to go and get a prom dress fitted :/ Ew, dresses
And last but not least, tonight I'm going to see The Decemberists in concert! Speaking of which, I need to get dressed...

So...newsy comments! *cracks whip* Get to it!

Goodbye for Now

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:11:30 GMT

I've been away for a long time now without any reasonable explanation, and I'm sorry for that. However, I probably won't be around for quite a while and you all deserve an explanation and definitely an apology.

Things started catching up and I stopped spending as much time online. Homework, family, friends, fluctuating computer access - they all contributed, but as it went on I realised that I could go a day, a week, a month and more without needing to be online. You have all been absolutely amazing over the past two years, but with the sub exploding in membership it became increasingly hard to keep up with friends and it started to seem like a chore for which I was doing the bare minimum, rather than a pleasure.

So, I'm officially taking an RL break. A lot's changed in these two years - I have wonderful friends, horrible exams, straight A's that I'm desperately trying to keep hold of and the next few years of college and A Levels and university applications that have suddenly crashed in on my world. I've had so much fun with all of you these past two years but I don't think I can put the same amount into this life that I used to. And for that I am so, so sorry.

I'll come back from time to time, of course. To nitpick the films, to freak over Book Seven when it arrives, to update myself on your lives and to update you on mine. But I won't be here everyday and I won't be in the sub chats, bar an occasion or two.

I'm going to miss you all. I love you.

P.S. Dan Radcliffe on Extras had me scarred for life

Sharpening the Pencils

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 15:09:52 GMT

I think that my first day back at school for the last year of mandatory secondary school education can be summed up by one incident.

Our sixth tutor (like a homeroom teacher) in five years talking about hormones and, later, drum and bass clubs.

My tutor group forced the first tutor to leave the school after a term, the second to go part time, the third to transfer to the Science department, the fourth to go part time (and he travelled around South America on a bike and spends his winters camping) and the fifth to leave after a year. I will be intrigued to see how this new addition turns out. Especially as he's shorter than a good two thirds of the class.

Exam Results

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 21:25:14 GMT

So, GCSE results came out at my school today.

I got the A I needed to take the sixth form UCAS Maths course next year

I passed Latin with a high C, better than I thought I'd get

I passed AS Level Critical Thinking with a C, three marks off a B - and if I bank the results I should be able to resit them at Christmas and see if I can get a B.

...

Not bad for a fifteen year old, hey?

I'm going to go eat a whole cake now.

Hark, an Update!

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:43:34 GMT

Because locked_door998 can be a little bit scary and is holding me to my promise...an update!

The principal reasons why I haven't been online lately are...

1. Firefox exploded and I couldn't use Explorer or Opera for extended amounts of time without hitting things

2. The Hallmark Channel are playing repeats of Gilmore Girls and House every day - and my TiVo-stylee box gave up, meaning that I have to actually watch them at broadcasting time

3. Three hours a day are taken up walking to the swimming pool, swimming two kilometers and then walking home again. I've been doing this everyday and have managed to render my hair dry, crunchy and broken but my leg and arm muscles much improved

4. In true teenage cliche style, my body won't function without at least eleven hours sleep a night

5. My brother has to be physically ripped away from the computer, source of all MP3-ey goodness

6. DOCTOR WHO

Always a minor obsession but the gift of time has allowed it to blow into full scale fangirl level. Re-watching the "new" series (Ninth and Tenth), fanfiction, the Confidentials, interviews on YouTube, the audiobooks, the DVDs of past Doctors and a fairly entertaining evening spent with Sarah and Ali staring mindlessly at David Tennant in Casanova leave seriously little time for any sort of life.

~*~

Of course, this also means I haven't written any of my three essays or completed my Textiles design project.

Hey

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 20:48:16 GMT

I'm still alive, just busy. More news later, I promise.

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:54:09 GMT

Am in Dublin! Very little time left on this Internet card, but I'll summarise:

Downside of fourteen 15 year old girls travelling in Dublin - drunks and many variations on the new catchphrase, "Hullo girls, would ye like to take me home with you?"

Many streetshows. One, last night, involving one of our classmates with a chainsaw three inches away from her arm and a baseball bat being juggled over her face.

Stalkerish artsy photos make me happy

Have developed obsession with fresh vegetables

Overall having good time!

is hit by flying sporks

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 02:00:56 GMT

I may be signing my fandom death warrant, but I'm going to say this anyway.

I hate Pirates of the Caribbean. Both films. I hate Keira Knightley. I hate Orlando Bloom. And I hate Keith Richards impersonators.

I am perfectly acceptant of eyeliner and rum, however.

P.S. And also, Bold all of the following TV shows which you've ever seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime. Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode of it. If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).
24
7th Heaven
Absolutely Fabulous Patsy daaaaarrrling
Adam-12
Aeon Flux
ALF
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
American Idol/Pop Idol/Canadian Idol/Australian Idol/etc. I watched the original. Pop Idol. Will Young *nod* I rulez at geeknez
America's Next Top Model/Germany's Next Top Model I got twisted into it by a friend when there was a marathon on
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Babylon 5: Crusade
Battlestar Galactica (the old one)
Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
Baywatch
Beavis & Butthead It's my brother and his best friend. I'm not even kidding. They point and laugh at things. A lot.
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boy Meets World
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bug Juice
Chappelle's Show
Charlie's Angels
Charmed
Cheers
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dallas
Dancing with the Stars
Danny Phantom
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
Davinci's Inquest
Dawson's Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadliest Catch
Deadwood
Degrassi High
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dharma & Greg
Diff'rent Strokes
Doctor Who
Dragnet
due South
Dukes of Hazzard
Earth 2
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Family Guy
Family Ties
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Frasier
Friends
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan's Island
Gilmore Girls (I've seen every episode ever shown in Britian, but not overall :( )
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Good Eats
Green Acres
Green Wing
Grey's Anatomy
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Hannah Montana
Happy Days
Hogan's Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Iron Chef, Japanese
Iron Chef, American
Hart to Hart
Hell's Kitchen
JAG
Jackass
Joanie Loves Chachi
Joey
John Doe
LA Law
Law and Order
Law and Order: SVU
Laverne and Shirley
Little House on the Prairie
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Malcolm in the Middle
Married... With Children
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission: Impossible
Monk
Moonlighting
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
My Life as a Dog
My Three Sons
My So Called Life
My Two Dads
NCIS
Night Court
Nip/Tuck
Northern Exposure
Numb3rs
One Tree Hill
Oz
Perry Mason
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prince of Tennis
Prison Break
Profiler
Project Runway
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (British) And Russell T Davies owns my soul
ReGenesis
Remington Steele
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Saturday Night Live
Saved by the Bell
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sesame Street
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
So Weird
South Park
Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants
Sports Night I hate the fact that I have seen all the episodes. You know why? THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE!
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor
Taxi
Teen Titans
That 70's Show
That's So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Jeffersons
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Love Boat
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mighty Boosh
The Monkees
The Munsters
The Mythbusters
The O.C.
The Office (UK)
The Office (US) *Dude. You stole it and didn't even take Gervais with you*
The Pretender
The Real World
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody *pause* WHY HAVE I SEEN THIS SHOW MORE THAN ONCE?
The Twilight Zone (the original)
The Twilight Zone (the newer one from the 1980s)
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
The Young Ones
Third Watch
Three's Company
Top Gear
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Veronica Mars
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Will and Grace
Wings(Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)

✓ I miss somebody right now. (I don't know who, though)	× I don't watch much TV these days.	✓ I own lots of books. (Hell yeah!)
✓ I wear glasses or contact lenses. (Well. I'm supposed to. The opticians flooded with sewage and hasn't found out that I lost them two years ago yet.)	× I love to play video games.	× I've tried marijuana.
× I've watched porn movies.	× I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship.	✓ I believe honesty is usually the best policy. (In general, yes)
✓ I curse sometimes. (Way more than I should. Especially blasphemy)	✓ I have changed a lot mentally over the last year. (A lot more outspoken and less likely to put up with people)	× I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.

* * * * *

× I have broken someone's bones.	× I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal.	× I hate the rain.
✓ I'm paranoid at times. (I am ALWAYS paranoid)	✓ I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free. (Why wouldn't you?)	✓ I need/want money right now. (I want money to put in my Buying Brie A Laptop For Sixth Form Fund)
× I love sushi.	✓ I talk really, really fast. (Only after Gilmore Girls or Sports Night, though!)	× I have fresh breath in the morning.
✓ I have long hair. (Well, mejum-long)	× I have lost money in Las Vegas.	✓ I have at least one sibling. (Alas, woe is me, my mother thought that only-child-ship was bad for people. It would have suited me.)
× I was born in a country outside of the U.S.	× I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.	× I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.
× I like the way that I look.	✓ I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months. (Unfortunately, yes. Because it would have hurt a lot of people if I hadn't. I wish I hadn't been told that secret though.)	✓ I am usually pessimistic. (Makes me stronger. Like the coffee.)
✓ I have a lot of mood swings. (Generally between "hyperdancing" and "redragtoabull")	× I think prostitution should be legalized.	× I slept with a roommate.
✓ I have a hidden talent. (I can recite the times tables up to 127. I spent every assembly in primary school practising. If that's a talent...)	× I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.	✓ I have a lot of friends. (It goes in circles though - core friends, second circle, third, strange hangers on we can't get rid of....)
× I have pecked someone of the same sex. (PECKED?)	✓ I enjoy talking on the phone. (It's fun. I can cook pasta, sew jeans, type, write and do crossword puzzles at the same time as well)	× I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants.
✓ I love to shop and/or window shop. (Window shopping involves less trying on and general changing room agony)	✓ I'm obsessed with my Xanga or Livejournal. (Mainly other people's. Damn voyeuristic tendencies...)	× I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
✓ I have a mobile phone. (If I didn't, my parents wouldn't let me out of the house. I mean it.)	× I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.	✓ I've rejected someone before.
✓ I currently like/love someone. (I'm fifteen. I think I'm supposed to.)	× I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.	✓ I want to have children in the future.
✓ I have changed a diaper before. (Every one of my cousins has children, I'm some sort of built in babysitting service)	× I've called the cops on a friend before.	× I'm not allergic to anything.
✓ I have a lot to learn. (About everything)	× I am shy around the opposite sex.	× I'm online 24/7, even as an away message.
✓ I have at least 5 away messages saved. (Indeed. "Eating mucho pasta", "Yelling at the Sky box" (like TiVo) "Imitating small mammals", "Finding my keys" and "More coffee. Now. Grr")	✓ I have tried alcohol or drugs before. (Alcohol, not drugs. And in private, not in the park at the end of the road with a bottle of cider like some names I could rattle off rolleyes)	× I have made a move on a friend's significant other or crush in the past.
× I own the "South Park" movie.	✓ I have avoided assignments at work/school to be on Xanga or Livejournal. (It's known as procrastination and I should have put it under my special talent)	✓ I enjoy some country music. (Dolly Parton. Jolene. Strange country love.)
× I would die for my best friends.	✓ I'm obsessive, and often a perfectionist. (But only about the most random things, like needing to have my nails all the same length)	× I have used my sexuality to advance my career.
× I think Halloween is awesome because you get free candy. (Not in Britian ya don't)	× I have dated a close friend's ex.	× I am happy at this moment.
× I'm obsessed with guys.	✓ Democrat. (Well, liberal. Can't vote for Democrat, am fifteen year old British citizen.)	× Republican.
× I don't even know what I am.	× I am punk rockish.	✓ I go for older guys/girls, not younger. (Younger always seems un peu weird to me)
× I study for tests most of the time.	× I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I've ever met.	× I can work on a car.
× I love my job(s).	× I am comfortable with who I am right now.	× I have more than just my ears pierced.
✓ I walk barefoot wherever I can. (I hate socks, they're horribly horribly restrictive. In summer I rarely wear shoes, even on the street)	× I have jumped off a bridge.	× I love sea turtles.
× I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup.	✓ I plan on achieving a major goal/dream. (OXBRIDGE! Here little fairy....)	✓ I am proficient on a musical instrument. (Proficient on the violin, semi-proficient on the saxophone, hammering away at recorder and piano. That makes me sound so much more talented than I am)
× I hate office jobs.	× I went to college out of state.	× I am adopted.
× I am a pyro.	✓ I have thrown up from crying too much. (But normally when I'm coming down with an illness anyway. I'm not one for crying, more for storming around, hitting things and then watching Breakfast at Tiffany's with a bowl of tomato soup)	✓ I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved. (Let's not get into that)
✓ I fall for the worst people. (Best friend. Vow of singlehood. Bad. Bad. headdesk)	× I adore bright colours.	× I usually like covers better than originals.
× I hate chain theme restaurants like Applebees and TGIFridays. (No, they're fun! Never been to Applebees, but TGIF's make me laugh)	✓ I can pick up things with my toes. (It's a talent I'm developing. Leaves my hands free to type and play with my hair)	✓ I can't whistle. (Well, not properly. I can do this strange bird-imitation whistle, but not a proper pitched one)
✓ I have ridden/owned a horse. (Never owned (they were too much work for me to go through the "Daddy, I want a pony" stage, which I saw from riding and working at them for seven years. And frigging expensive things too))	× I still have every journal I've ever written in.	✓ I talk in my sleep. (Talk, yell, cry, walk, converse, dance, fight imaginary ninjas. And the last one is not even a joke.)
✓ I've often thought that I was born in the wrong century. (From five to twelve I was convinced I belonged in the nineteenth century, until I found my internet addiction made that difficult)	× I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.	× I wear a toe ring.
× I have a tattoo.	× I can't stand at LEAST one person that I work with.	✓ I am a caffeine junkie. (Mainly Diet Coke, which is so not good because of the metabolism and the aspartame and the general rotting death)
× I am completely tree-huggy spiritual, and I'm not ashamed at all.	× If I knew I would get away with it, I would commit at least one murder. (Er...I don't know. I believe it was Delleve who once said that I could commit murder, but I probably wouldn't)	✓ I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical, the better. (I love collections! They are insanely fun)
✓ I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner. (On occasion, especially if my brother and mother are having The Hair Fight)	× I'm an artist.	× I am ambidextrous.
× I sleep with so many stuffed animals, I can hardly fit on my bed.	× If it weren't for having to see other people naked, I'd live in a nudist colony.	✓ I have terrible teeth. (Terrible terrible teeth. Well, they're not falling out but they're by no standard Colgate commercials)
× I hate my toes.	✓ I did this meme even though I wasn't tagged by the person who took it before me. (Tagging pains me. Tis elitist and...mean. Yes, that's it. Mean.)	× I have more friends on the internet than in real life.
× I have lived in either three different states or countries.	× I am extremely flexible.	× I love hugs more than kisses.
× I want to own my own business.	× I smoke.	✓ I spend way too much time on the computer than on anything else. (When there's games and the net and Word for school and MSN Messenger to talk to friends and the Sims, why wouldn't a person?)
✓ Nobody has ever said I'm normal. (Many things, but never normal. Normal hair, I think, is the closest I've ever got)	× Sad movies, games, and the like can cause a trickle of tears every now and then.	× I am proficient in the use of many types of firearms and combat weapons.
× I like the way women look in stylized men's suits. (...random...)	✓ I don't like it when people are unpleased or seem unpleased with me. (That and a hatred of confrontation makes living with my family extremely awkward)	✓ I have been described as a dreamer or likely to have my head up in the clouds. (Yes. Fortunately another part of my brain is normally listening and can parrot back without me being involved. Annoys people no end.)
× I have played strip poker with someone else before.	× I have had emotional problems for which I have sought professional help.	× I believe in ghosts and the paranormal.
× I can't stand being alone.	✓ I have at least one obsession at any given time. (I have an addictive personality, which is one reason why I don't plan on ever trying narcotics or cigarettes.)	× I weigh myself, pee/poo, and then weigh myself again.
× I consistently spend way too much money on obsessions-of-the-moment.	× I'm a judgmental asshole.	× I'm a HUGE drama-queen.
✓ I have travelled on more than one continent. (Only Europe and North America, but still!)	× I sometimes wish my father would just disappear. (No, I like my dad.)	✓ I need people to tell me I'm good at something in order to feel that I am. (A part of me is sure that thinking you're good at something without affirmation is just being boastful)
× I am a Libertarian.	✓ I can speak more than one language. (Well, with varying levels of competence. My French is better than expected but by no means excellent and my German is atrocious)	✓ I can fall asleep even if the whole room is as noisy as it can be. (I fell asleep in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and slept through nearly all the battle scenes. Nuff said.)
✓ I would rather read than watch TV. (Depends what, though. I do love my television and my books in different proportions, but it goes up and down)	× I like reading fact more than fiction.	✓ I have pulled an all-nighter on an assignment I was given a month to do. (And I got an A on it too. Moohaha)*
✓ I have no piercings. (Not even my ears. I've tried magnetic earrings and it just doesn't suit me, so why do it? It's kind of a novelty now anyway, so few people don't)	× I have spent the night in a train station or other public place.	× I have been so upset over my physical gender that I cried.
× I once spent Christmas completely alone because there was a miscommunication on which parent was supposed to have me that night.	× There have been times when I have wondered "Why was I born?" and may/may not have cried over it.	× I like most animals better than most people.
× I own a collection of retro games consoles.	× The thought of physical exercise makes me shiver.	✓ I have hit someone with a dead fish. (God I shouldn't admit that in public. I was young and hyper and...it was a fishslap!)
× I am compulsively honest.	× I was born with a congenital birth defect that has never been repaired.	× I have danced topless in front of dozens of complete strangers.
× I have gone from wishing I was a girl to revelling in being a boy to feeling like a girl again in the span of five minutes, and not cared a whit for my actual sex.	× I am unashamedly bisexual, and have different motivations for my desires for different genders.	✓ I sometimes won't sleep a whole night or eat a whole day because I forget to. (I frequently realise at seven in the morning that I haven't been to bed, and have forgotten to eat before someone reminds me)
× I find it impossible to get to sleep without some kind of music on.	✓ I dislike milk. (It's horrible, horrible stuff. Similarly natural cream. It just makes me gag - flavoured milk can be OK though)	× I obsessively wash my hands.
× I always carry something significant around with me.	× Sometimes I'd rather wear a wig in day-to-day life than use my own hair.	× I've pushed myself to become more self-aware and thereby more aware of others.
× Even though I live on my own I still cry sometimes because I miss my mother.	× I hand wrote all the HTML tags in this document.	✓ I've liked something which a majority of people claimed was either bad or weird. (And I can't remember the proper name. This horrifies me)
× I have been clinically dead for a brief period of time.	× Instead of feeling sympathy/empathy with people and their problems, I simply become annoyed.	× I participate/have participated in auto drag races and won.
× I do not 'get' most comedy acts.	✓ I don't think strippers are money-greedy or slutty for dancing. (If you can make money that way, go for it.)	× I don't like to chew gum.
× I am obsessed with history/historical things and can't wait for someone to build a time machine so I can be the first to use it.	× I can never remember for the life of me where I parked the car.	✓ I had the TEEN ANGST thing going for at least 2-3 years. (I'm fifteen and living in The MySpace Era. So, yeah)
× I wish people would be more empathic and honest with each other.	× I play Dungeons and Dragons weekly.	✓ I love to sing. (Well, warble would be more accurate. I warble nearly all the time. Warbling now. Sandi Thom's "Wish I Was A Punk Rocker" in case you're interested)
× I want to live in my mother's basement when I grow up.	× I have a custom-built computer.	× I want to create a certain someone's babies, even though there's a 0% possiblity of ever achieving it.
× I would be in a relationship with one of my pets if they were human.	× I've gone skinny-dipping.	✓ I've performed in three plays. (And a million more. Plays are fun :D)
× I enjoy burritos.	× I'm Irish and loving it.	✓ I have a thing for redheads. (Not even Weasley based - I've wanted to be a redhead since I can remember and for some reason seeing people with red hair cheers me up - piece of brightness)
× I am a twin!	× Most of the times, I'd rather do something intellectual instead of doing something generically 'fun'.	× Once I set out to finish something, I always stay at it until it is completed before I move on to something else.
✓ I wish there were a way to erase past mistakes. (How can you not? So...many...stupid...moments...)	✓ I sleep more than 12 hours a day. (If given the chance, yes. I have a strange Marmite love/hate relationship with sleep)	× I wish I could be prouder of what I've accomplished, but it's never enough.
× I need more time to myself.	× I wish I was more open-minded.	× I hope that I go really prematurely grey.
✓ I download songs from the internet. (Legally! Napster! flails)	× I've just reenacted chapter 58 of Death Note with my best friend.	× I say random things to freak people out.
× I'm still a little mad about the ending of Death Note.	× I love playing Truth or Dare.	✓ I love listening to slow music, but I hate singing to it. (There's no fun in singing slow music, it needs PUNCH to it.)
× Music helps me remember that I am not alone.	× Playing my favorite sport makes me temporarily forget my problems.	✓ I think this survey is particularly long. (It really is. Almost four in the morning mate,)
× I prefer my LJ friends to my real-life ones.	× I can only hate someone that I love.	× I've ordered an extra two shots of espresso to an Americano at Starbucks.

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 06:53:34 GMT

For Your Daily Dose of Hwuzzahstupid?

Stellar quotes include:

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Now we have a separate Department of Defense internet now, did you know that?

Do you know why?

Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can't afford getting delayed by other people.

A Query

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 02:07:33 GMT

Quick Question: Does anybody know if Region 1 DVDs will play on computers here in the UK, if not DVD players? Just wondering before I contemplate dishing out all my money on importing the Sports Night boxset which is unlikely to ever be released here.

Huh...

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 17:23:32 GMT

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2251371,00.html

OK...is this just an example of an outside view of the fandom or was I the only one who knew there was a hefty chance of Harry dying? The prophecy not a clue to anybody else?

TV

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:52:41 GMT

So the second series finale of House aired on Thursday. I am most unhappy about this, for it looks like being ages before Britain gets series three and I don't know if Five is planning on reruns. They better be. I am going to miss my two hour block of medical drama on Thursday nights, though I still have Greys Anatomy. The O.C. finished as well(and I wept. Like a baby) and Lost has become so ridiculously drawn out that I'm very bored with it.

On the brighter side of TV, the Hallmark channel is rerunning the five seasons it owns rights to of Gilmore Girls, an episode every day. On watching episodes again, I understand why everybody is crazy about Jess/Rory (first time round I thought y'all were batshit insane). Fingers crossed that these reruns lead up to the sixth season being shown in the U.K. - I know I've heard terrible things about it but I do miss the girls.

Furthering my love for the Hallmark channel, they've been running all the special features made on The Waltons at the weekends. Admittedly I have four recorded on VHS from a stage in my life when Channel 4 ran it on the weekends after Little House on the Prairie (I cried when those shows got taken off the air. Still miss them, really) but I have never seen The Waltons Crisis and have always needed to. If my brother gets in the way of me seeing it, he is getting an apple pie to the head.

P.S.Why is it that I'm so set on getting into law or politics, but after about eleven PM if you ask me what I want to do for a living I just want to teach English to teenagers?

P.P.S. Proper entry tomorrow, I promise. I'll even throw in some pictures of the huge annual city festival that's going down over the weekend :D

P.P.P.S. Dude. I just remembered that The Waltons.com was probably the first fansite/fandom I ever visited and that it's still there. And that I used to be able to play the theme tune on piano. I would try again, but my family has never been receptive to me hammering out Seventies TV themes at 2:30 in the morning.

P.P.P.P.S. Due to my Sky (like cable) being mucked up and me being unable to access it for a while, it turns out I have missed two Waltons specials that I have never seen. *runs around in circles wielding apple pie* THIS DOES NOT END WELL

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:28:59 GMT

I'm watching JKR on Richard and Judy! *hugs television* And here is what we know so far:

She wrote the final chapter in 1990 but it has been altered - one character was given a reprieve and two more died!
At least one character's death was thought an unhappy event by her husband
She is going to kill off main characters rather than supporting cast
She is still writing Book Seven

P.S. By the way, she looks very pretty and I want her necklace!

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 22:12:55 GMT

I think birthdays are the proper times to make resolutions. They never work in January. Therefore, I am posting some resolutions I made on my birthday here so I can come back to them and hit myself if I violate any:

Do my homework, and on time to - one of these days my teachers will realise I never give my homework in and call me on it. Hasn't happened in four years but it will. At some point. And if not, tis good to do ones homework.
Find a job - I need one, especially this summer. Something simple in a shop would be good, failing that, waitressing or something
Read more - I'm working my way through the BBC Top 100 Books in the hopes of getting me back into reading and reading lots of good, high-quality books. So far out of the eighty or so I hadn't previously read, I have read Catcher in the Rye and A Town Like Alice, both of which I enjoyed (the latter more than the former). I've also read The Bell Jar, which is a classic and fantastic even though it isn't on my list
Clean my bedroom regularly - I think something is living under my bed
Be nicer to people - Well, it never hurts does it?

An Addition

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:54:26 GMT

A Random Addition - If I am not mistaken, the World Cup started tonight. I surmised this from the yowling coming from my living room. If anybody wants me I will be hiding in the garden with a laptop, the Gilmore Girls boxset and a pitcher of iced mochas.

Once Wimbledon and the Tests reappear, I may have to flee to Switzerland with the rest of The Times's female target audience.

So, Now We Are Fifteen

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:47:48 GMT

Birthday: Firstly, THANK YOU ALL for wishing me my felicitations *huggles* I have many balloons and cake!
Utter and final proof that I am an incurable nerd - for my fifteenth birthday I request and receive a flash storage key, this top and this one and several DVD boxsets of various fandoms *huggles presents*
Of course the one and only UBERpresent is that a group of my friends organised themselves and are buying me two fish and a tank (because solitude and bowls apparently drive goldfish mad). This makes me amazingly happy because they knew how much I wanted some sort of non-allergenic pet. And, of course, because I get to pick it out and Ali is insisting on decorating the tank with all manner of rainbow gravel, miniature balloons etc. I will have two very Liza Minnelli-esque fish.

Required School Moan: I have six coursework projects and one set of exams to sit. No. Pressure. At. All. So somehow I need to simultaneously research precipitation in acidic reactions, wire resistance, the Korean war, pressure groups, French grammar, the quadratic formula and Elizabethan ideas on fairies without analysing A Midsummers Night Dream's relevance to the battle on the 38th Parallel. If anyone asks, Kim Il Sung was King of the Fairies.

I now have a picture of Corpus Christi College stuck on my homepage so that I actually do my homework and don't spend my entire life reading comics.

In Which She Is Girly And Rambles About Hair

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 03:02:13 GMT

A combination of abbers44, likeafox and my day makes for a post about hairdressers.

I hate having my hair cut, I really do. I don't mind the cutting so much, although I always hate my fringe when it's first cut because it looks so weird. I just hate the small talk. Small talk isn't a strong point of mine anyway but really it's just so inane and I would rather sit there and stare off into the distance plotting dastardly deeds, which is a far better way to spend one's time.

So today I had to go to a different hairdresser (my old one fled the city) and my immediate thought was "YAY! NO SMALL TALK!" because she seemed to get that I'm not a talkative person, especially at ten in the freakin' morning. Goody, thinks I, I might be able to sit through sessions now.

Of course I get home and it looks like my three year old neighbour has been cutting my fringe. Literally, it was ragged and half of it wasn't actually cut. I think it was some attempt to put back the sides to grow it out, but why on earth would you want to grow out all but the centre of a fringe? In an attempt to look like a horse? It was insane. The mother, of course, freaked and sent me back to another cutter to redo it, so now it looks normalish, but tis most annoying. Is there some sort of connection between chatting the hindlegs off a donkey and cutting hair like you've had any sort of training?

Out of interest, does anybody know the average rate of hair growth? Mine grows pretty fast but I've never thought to measure - I might do.