Random blatherings

Reaction post "The End of Time, Part1"

2009-12-26T20:33:26Z

I liked it, I did. In fact it made me excited and happy and I haven't felt that about an episode in a while, to be honest. So yay.

Wilf was a dear, and he was quite clearly the glue of the episode, but Donna was there too. In the background, to be sure, but enough that it breaks your heart. I couldn't help compare her to some fanfictions of her post-mind~~rape~~wipe, and somehow both iterations came out favourably.

In essence I agree with this review, especially with what he says about the Master: it's just so much more interesting when it's him and the Doctor, evenly pitted against each other, fighting and dancing around the plots and plans. SuperpowerMaster and EveryoneOnEarthMaster is just not as good.

I'm SO SO glad they're doing something about Donna though, and fixing that whole situation. Even if she does end up dying I just can't take the status quo of her any longer ("because the status ...is not quo"). Donnnaaaaaa!

OMG TIME LORDS IN SILLY OUTFITS. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING OMG.

First free day

2009-12-19T19:10:23Z

Today Mum went to Sweden for the Great Christmas Food Shop TM and our annual Axelsson family reunion. I couldn't bare the thought of another day of traveling, so I stayed home and have had an absolultely wonderful day! I waxed my new leather boots, I swept our veranda clean from snow, wrapped the three gifts I've managed to get and didn't have a lot of trouble to think of rhymes. I played some FF8 but failed at finding Marboros - and what is up with that, usually they pop out all the time when you're the least prepared, but today I went in search of them for two hours or something and didn't get a single one. Ugh. Damn Marboro tentacles are impossible to get. Oh, and it's such a good thing I got rid of the now on the veranda, so that the new layer that's been gathering for about two hours doesn't feel put out at having to go on top of what was already there. Now I have just over 1½ hours until my mother comes home again with my oldest and youngest brother. What to do...?

FREEDOM. IT TASTES LIKE KEY LIME PIE

2009-12-17T19:13:27Z

So yeah I had my last exam for this term.

YYYEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!

Now I am rocking to some Christmas music and packing but mostly being on Gmail chat with Soph and writing this =D =D =D Carol-style Christmas music can be difficult to rock to, unless you have the right songs. Which I have. Though they're not on at this precise moment.

So yeah the questions I answered in my exam:
5) Does MIll provide a plausible response to the suggestion that Utilitarianism might be too demanding?
1) Choose two remarks and discuss what you think Locke would say about them:
a) The government has the right to rule us because it has the resources to force us to do what it says
b) The government has the right to rule us because it furthers the general happiness
4) How might we reply to the "amoralist challenge"?

In the order I answered them. Also the order in which I feel good about them, with 5 being best. And the order in the amount of time I spent on each, with 5 being the least.

I AM DONE I AM HOME TOMORROW THAT'S ONLY 50 HOURS AWAY. IT IS CHRISTMAS NOW.

...Think I'm gonna avoid that site for a while.

2009-12-15T18:55:21Z

TV Tropes is awesome.
TV Tropes is a black hole of time-consuming.
TV Tropes lets you discover things about books and shows you never noticed.

Today TV Tropes creeped me the hell out. Like 5 hours ago I read their article on "And I Must Scream", where people have been trapped in fate-worse-than-death scenarios (for eternity). When the Trope Namer squicks you out, you'd think you'd have the sense to stop, but not me. Some were fine, because I didn't know the people to sympathise, but then I clinked a link to a comic where a woman is turned into a newly hatched dragon's heart. It was very...graphic. And just...gah. Gaaaaaah that poor woman.
Then I read about how, in one of my childhood computer games, the "interference" keeping things from being broadcast was caused by a trapped Sorceress broadcasting her thoughts of revenge and death and oh dear god it was creepy because that was in my childhood all along. And think of the implications. That's not static, that's the thoughts of a creepy trapped über-person with magical powers thinking how she wants to kill you over and over and over... and that was in my childhood.

And then I read real life examples, and it just got worse.

This was 5 hours ago and I'm still half jumping at sudden noises *shudder*.

My relief, let me show you it

2009-12-14T13:42:45Z

Today I had my first exam; Psychology! And it was good. Or at least not bad. I'm always worried after exams, my thoughts will go from "that went well!" to "Oh god, well at least I probably won't get a C3". I'm fairly confident I'll get an overall B for this term though, which is exactly what I needed! An overall B for the entire year will guarantee me a place in Psychology Honours, so this is a step in the right direction.

There were four sections, and you had to write an essay on each section. You had four choices to choose from, which made studying quite nice - you could focus in two things in depth and be reasonable sure you'd get a question on it. Which is exactly what I did!
2) Compare and contrast first language acquisition in children with second language acquisition in adults (this was Cognitive Psych)
8) What are the advantages of a within-subjects design? What are potential problems associated with this design and how can these problems be addressed? (Experimental design, the most BORING part of Psychology - and, I believe, and science)
10) Review the hypothesis that sleep serves as a period of restoration (Psychobiology)
13( Consider the following activities: playing snooker, driving, wine tasting. Describe in detail which different aspects of perception are important for these different activities and how prowess, or dysfunction, in one or other aspect of perception might be an advantage, or disadvantage (Perception and Visual Cognition)

Question 2 was obviously my best, while the worst is tied between 10 and 13. For 10 I sort of said "well, some people think that sleep is about replenishing energy, but THESE OTHER GUYS HERE THINK THIS". 13 was so much description, I have no idea whether it's any good or not. Probably not, but I wouldn't have been able to do any of the other Perception ones. I also cut 10 short, because I couldn't think of an ending. I usually do try to sum up what I've said, even in 30 minute essays that are only 1½ pages long, but in some cases I just pretend that the time limit caught me out. OH NOES NO MORE WRITING TIME.

I had hoped there would be a question on Double Dissociation though. I could have been all "SO there's this thing called Prosopagnosia and another thing called Capgras Delusion and THEY point towards THIS. And this thing called Blindsight, WELL!" But the sleep question was alright, I suppose.

ANYWAY Philosophy is on Thursday, at the ridiculous time of 16:30. Why the lateness. Whyyyy. And then on Friday I go HOOOMMMMEEEE YAY ÅLAND YAY MUMMY YAY CHRISTMAS YAAAAY.

/caps lock.

EDIT: I also fixed the heating problem. Well, at the moment it's still off, but I've called the repair people and they should come tomorrow but hopefully today. In the meantime I called a friend who is a senior resident and asked for advice (since it was Sunday evening when I did) and he fixed us some spare portable radiators. I will not call them space heaters, because they do not, in fact, heat space. Space is far away. But they are portable radiators. And they radiate heat. Glorious heat!
And god forbid my flatmates doing anything but NO ~~WE'RE LAZY~~ WE MIGHT HAVE TO PAY. Well no, because it's not our fault it's off. This is what landlords do. Anyway.

(And YAY SOPH AM AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST YAY MY FUTURE WIFE NANE)

I am wearing thermal underwear and sitting with a hot water bottle in my lap. And shivering.

2009-12-11T18:28:09Z

Okay, so sometimes my flatmates annoy me so much I want to kill them. For instance, whenever I walk into the kitchen (oh god oh god I just realised that Christmas means I'll spend three weeks in a house with a clean kitchen oh my god).

But sometimes they're pretty damn excellent to have. For instance, when I'm thinking about leaving my relatively warm and comfy seat to enter said cold messy kitchen to scrounge up some food, they knock on my door: "Hey, we're gonna order pizza with the spend-over-£30-get-50%-off thing. Want one?"

UHMM YES.

Revision status: Good. Only done two hours so far, but after eating I'll sit down and go over Cognitive Psych and Biopsych again, which'll be another 1½, ish. That'll have me done three subjects of four, with two days to go.

We shall call it - THIS POST.

2009-12-10T22:40:03Z

So today I did about ....two? hours of studying. Yesterday I didn't do anything. My Psychology is on Monday. OH WELL. I did get my last essay back - finally, only 4 days before the exam, good god - and got a respectable B2. This means 50% of my grade this term is already a high B, which is excellent. To be guaranteed a place in Honours I'll need to get a B average for this year, so it would be a very good start to get a B for this term. Which would be easier if I actually, you know, studied.

But then somebody had to start linking me some great Harry Potter fanfics, and then I wanted to reread my favourite 37 chapter one, and, well.

This time next week it'll all be over, though. In roughly 191 hours I'll be on Åland again =D with my Mum! Yes! And there'll be gingerbread biscuits and lussebullar and the proper Christmas decorations and my mother being stressed about things and then my Dad will come and my brothers - but not my middle one because he's still being a prat and not talking to my Mum. Because 7 months isn't enough time to get over a fight, you know. Ugh, he is not getting a gift from me at all. Petty, perhaps, but I'll start talking to him once he freaking grows up. Anyway.

For New Years I'll be with my Farmer family and future wife and sister in laws and everything will be happy. Mum forwarded an email correspondence they'd had and was happy that they might finally come visit Åland, which is a thought that makes me happy and fills me with dread simultaneously. Peder and Clarissa are so very....them. And my family is not. Especially my brothers.And last summer my sister made a nasty remark to my mother when discussing this family (which really upset her, actually) and I sort of want to keep her away from them, even while I want her to meet them so she understands that no, we actually just like them is it so hard to fathom? But I always have weird feelings about my sister. I really do need to spend more time with her, one-on-one. On the other, other hand if she isn't there we can give P&C their nice bedroom.

YAY CHRISTMAS. In ONE WEEK YAY.

SUSCDF '09

2009-12-06T14:11:10Z

Scottish Universities Scottish Country Dance Festival. Was so much fun!

Organising transport for everybody was a pain, because first two people said they wouldn't need a ride. Then they changed their minds. It worked out okay though when someone who we hadn't heard from in ages emailed and said that no, she wouldn't be coming. I was happy. Is that bad?
Everything went well on the day though. Everyone met at 11 and we got into our rented cars at around quarter past. I sat in the back of one of the cars with someone also in the committee (Georgina), and we talked for the majority of the way. Friday I'd finally bought new dance shoes, but they are very much still too tight. The leather does stretch, but it takes more than a day, so wearing them still meant I wanted to cut off my toes from the pain. I put them on in the car to help all I could.
We arrived in St Andrews at 1pm, and our car went into Tesco to buy lunch/snacks before moving on - me and Gorgina to the Uni Library to study while the others went to the walkthrough (they walk through the dances that will be on later so you have a clue about what's happening). Since we'd been doing the dances in class, and they honestly weren't that complicated (unlike LAST YEAR. Looking at you, Aberdeen) I decided that passing on the possibility of 5 hours studying was a bad idea. I sat with my Perception and Sensations book, highlighter in hand and dancing shoes once again on my feet. At this point I could just about walk in them without limping, but only if I concentrated. I decided that I would only wear them for our demonstration, and have my brown flats on for the rest of the dances, non-matching colours be damned.
At 6pm Georgina and I had had enough, and since St Andrews library was COLD - I don't know why you'd ever decide to put in single glazed windows, but I hate them, HATE THEM - we went to find some coffee for her and tea for me. Naturally everything closed at 6, so we had to take our cups and wonder around. St Andrews is SMALL. Where do all the students live? It's a mystery. We met up with the other group in a pub and talked until it was time to leave.
We arrived a bit later than we'd liked, so we had to rush a bit to get changed into all our FABULOUS dressed and outfits and put on makeup and (in my case) contact lenses. I had been considering wearing the blue dress I wore for Hallowe'en, but then I realised that I hadn't worn my red dress since Fresher's Week LAST year, and that it would match my hair! (For my hair is cut and has highlights of awesome now) And then Kristen said I could wear an extra pair of dancing shoes she had. YES! They were a biiiit tight, but not so I wanted to disembowel myself, so you know, progress! They were quite worn out and very slippery, but it was such a relief to be dancing in proper shoes again! It really does make a difference. Basically you wear ballet shoes, so they fit themselves to your feet and it's just so excellent to dance in them. Regular shoes are just so clunky in comparison. I had been intending to buy some gel for my hair - it's got quite a severe side-parting to it that does NOT stay when dancing - but Kristen had also said I could use what she'd brought. It turned out that was more for frizzyness, so I had to let my hair do what it wanted. To be honest though my hair will still look okay even if it is untamed, so while it was hardly as elegant at the end of the evening as some ladies had theirs, I DON'T CARE. Wild is sexy, bitches.

So the dancing. Ooooh, the dancing. There's no point in saying the names of them, but it was so fun! The first dance I had with two old people I didn't know, and despite us somehow switching a person every now and then - these things will happen! - it was good. I realised that going to the walkthrough would not have been a complete waste of time, but I did actually know them well enough that by reading the instructions (we get them written in our ticket, along with spaces to write down our partners' names) ASSUMING I was in a set that knew what it was doing. For what was probably the most difficult dance of the evening, I naturally chose a set where only three of us were even paying attention. I know I should be nice to the beginners, but there were four beginners from Glasgow there who had done it in class and gone to the walkthrough. They should have done better.
After that I made sure to be in sets near the top of the dance floor - beginners are shy, see, so they don't like just picking partners and being near the top, where people can see them. That means that the people who know what they're doing and can help you if you make a mistake are all at the top. Not to mention the more experienced dancers that make it way more fun.
The eight of us in the Glasgow demonstration had to skip the two dances before our turn to get changed into our skirts (not the boys, they were in kilts :D) and practice it one more time. Unfortunately there wasn't any big enough open space inside, so we had to go outside in the car park where it had been drizzling. Urgh wet feet. Then Paul made a mistake and we all panicked a bit, because we should have known it by now! My nerves had been fine all day, but just as we were waiting for the band to start playing, they decided to make their appearance known. The dance went fine, though, and lots of people congratulated us afterwards. I had a moment of panic-amusement when I noticed two thirds through that Georgina's skirt was slipping down and her tights were showing. Last year Declan's kilt socks slipped down to his feet because he was too skinny. Yay for having hips! There's only so far a skirt can slip with those!
I skipped the dance just before dinner, which was a WINNING MOVE. The band is always allowed to eat first, but after that there's about 100 people wanting to reach the buffet, and honestly generally not enough food to go around satisfactorily. Skipping that dance means you can get in line early! I had finished my dessert before some people had even gotten their food. Skillz. I has them.

I have to say, the second half of the night was more fun than the first. I didn't have to skip dances to change, and I was dancing with people who knew what they were doing. There was also MOAR SPINNING - for that is the secret to the dances being fun. The best way is if you grab your partners' right elbow (taking care not to squeeze with your thumb) and grabbing their left hand. Combined with the slippy dancing shoes and the right leaning skills you can go SO FAST OMG I LOVE IT. There was also more "circling to the left and back" (which is the technical term) with everyone taking hands in the circle. It doesn't sound like much, but if you and five other people are all skipping to the side as fast as you can and then when you change direction you sort of throw your right leg to the left and yell it is SO FUN and OMG I know it sounds like "whatever" but you have to be there. The atmosphere and the live band and everyone is smiling and having fun and wearing such PRETTY DRESSES and the guys basically all have KILTS and it's SO GREAT and everyone is happy and enjoying themselves. My favourite dance was on the program, too, this GREAT 6 couple one that starts off in the slow music type and then switches to fast halfway through. I LOVE IT. SPINNING AND CIRCLES AND DRESSES AND DANCING UNTIL YOU WANT TO DROP AND THEN SOMEONE MAKES YOU DANCE ANOTHER DANCE AND ANOTHER AND ANOTHER I LOVE IT.

It ended just before midnight. We got people to take pictures of all the Glasweigans, then got changed and went home. We even got dropped off at our houses! In my case, anyway. Some people lived near enough the Uni Main Gate that they were dumped there. I was already in bed by then, though.

Phew. Hopefully pictures and videos will be put up soon. This is why I need a camera of my own. Which I am getting! :D
Oh, and next year chances are high that Glasgow will have to host SUSCDF. Guess who'll be forced to be President next year? Hurk I'm going to have to organise TWO BALLS HALP. I'm thinking I'll learn to delegate REAL QUICK.

OH AND BTW I love Christmas music. :) I'll be home in less than two weeks!

"Time" was SUCH a good episode, after all

2009-11-27T18:50:55Z

I missed that there's no new episode of Stargate Universe this week, and now I am sad.

Sophia says it's "because of Thankgiving". That was yesterday. Seriously, TV people, I need my crack! Give me my SGU!

Fine, then maybe tomorrow I'll actually work or something equally ridiculous in retaliation.

There is no such thing as too much Disney. Nor Stargate SG-1.

2009-11-27T12:31:28Z

Yesterday I got a cold, because apparently getting sick twice in one term isn't enough. It's been more of a nuisance than anything else - not as strong as my feverish shaking ones I had earlier this year (I feel mostly fine now, after all), it's mainly irritation at my nose (dear God, I understand that the ~~spice~~ mucus must flow, but where does it all come from?!) - but I still decided to take it easy today and watch some Disney. So, I plugged Atlantis: The Lost Empire into youtube and sat back.

I'd not seen it before, so didn't really know what to expect. Atlantis. Some cool-looking submarine.
It starts with linguist ~~Daniel Jackson~~ Milo Thatch trying to convince other scientists that his outlandish theories are in fact correct; that Atlantis is real and they should go there. When they finally find it, the leader of the expedition, ~~Jack O'Neill~~ Commander Rourke assures the King of Atlantis that they're peaceful explorers (he even uses that exact phrase).
Commander ~~O'Neil with only one l this time~~ Rourke tries to kill the entire civilization by ~~blowing it up~~ stealing their power source, but is stopped by ~~Daniel~~ Milo. There's a flee-the-lava-using-our-flying-carpet scene in there too. At the end, the Atlanteans are saved, their city given a fresh start, and ~~Daniel~~ ~~Milo~~ Daniel stays in Abydos with his new wife.

Okay, I'm sorry for the Stargate, but seriously. I didn't even bother learning his name until over halfway through, because I just called him Daniel. He even has a whacko grandfather who took care of him and was ridiculed for his theories! He's got basically the same hairstyle, even the glasses. Even the whole "here's a linguist but hey it turns out they all speak English anyway" thing is the same. Hurr SG-1 ripoff hurr.

That being said, it was a good movie. I liked the team, was freaked out by mole, was not very surprised when they turned on him. Didn't quite understand where exactly they were - they went underwater, then into an air pocket place that could reach the sky? What happened to the ocean?And then there was something about a volcano? Ooookay.

This universe is eating my brain.

2009-11-25T22:23:15Z

So today I wasted about three or four hours on mindless internet surfing, then started Philosophy. After about 10 minutes of that I started doodling story scenes instead, and now I have a glorious half-page tall pissed off ferin using bion for the first time in one of my notebooks. The picture is, quite frankly, made of extreme win (apart from the hands. I hate hands. At least you get the idea that she is clenching them), but I am kind of creeped out by it, because she is so very thin. Starvation thin. And it looks realistic. Proportional.

I can draw creepy-starved thin people. Where did I pick up this skill? No, I don't want to know. I'll just decide that it's a result of doodling this thin ferin for about 5 years in my developing art skill level. She has been a staple of my margins in my notebooks since before IB, so I suppose I should be good at drawing her by now.

I really should go back to Philosophy now, though. It's due at 9 AM tomorrow.
Sigh. I wish I could just plan my story all day long.

I should be spending my energy on school, but this is much more fun!

2009-11-20T22:37:03Z

YOU GUYS.

When I was about 15 or 16 I started this fan story for chaypeta 's Terinu universe. And abandoned it after the first chapter, which is probably a good thing (why hello there, Mary Sue!). And the past year or so I've been less and less in that 'verse, since Peta has taken time off for extra Real Life work and taking care of her children and things like some sort of Responsible Person. Until, that is, this months' NaNo, in which she's updating a story with ferins and stupid humans and what's going to happen to Keelan oh emm gee.

*Sob* I had this whole post written and then it went all disappearing on me :(
Now I'm back in that 'verse in a big way, despite there being exams in 3-4 weeks and the fact that I really should have been studying today instead of storyboarding and I haven't done any art consistently for over a year but but I know her age now! And and I think I got the whole rural/city paradox sorted, and a general timeline of the major events in her life, and when flashback-splash-page-mode will end. It is exciting.

What I don't know faaaar overshadows what I do know. When do ferin start producing bion? The story will work even if it's later than I first hoped, but then I have no idea how or when the first time will be. What will happen when she meets Teri & co? How it goes kind of depends on the bion issue. Oh man, what about after they leave the planet. I have no idea how the story will get to the end. Or, in fact, what will happen once they get there. It depends on - things. I'm pretty sure what I have in mind could work, but whether I actually want it to happen is another thing. And her (adoptive) parents - who are they? What do they do? How did they meet? All I know about her mother is that she is curvacious and pretty. Not. Helpful. Her father owns a farm, I guess? He'll need hired help - how do they feel about the resident ferin? Everyone else thinks she's a demon. And, in fact, how does the story go from here on? Why, it switches focus to her parents and the wider world, of course. I don't even know their names. And I cannot draw human males. Her father is going to be a pain.

I feel like just drawing these first six pages at the moment; I'm too tired to plan anything. But that means that really, I'm too tired to draw good too. Also I don't have any kinds of halfway decent pencils here, not to mention a rubber. Which I will need.

I think sleep is necessary.
(Oh, and - I never really watched Star Trek: The Original Series as a child, but yesterday I sat down and watched the 4th movie (with the whales!). I don't understand why Kirk is supposed to be such a womaniser. McCoy is hotter than Kirk. That is all.)

Now to actually so some WORK. Goddamn black hole of a site...

2009-11-19T20:17:27Z

Today's Crowning Moment of Heartwarming?

Astrid Lindgren has a TV Tropes page. And so does Ronja Rövardotter and Bröderna Lejonhjärta! Squee!

mehhayperson @ 2009-11-18T16:09:00

2009-11-18T16:09:06Z

I forgot the workbook for Statistics, so the class is even more mind-numbing than usual - chiefly because I can't spend my time doodling until she stops talking and we actually do something on the computer. Statistical words are going in my brainpan! Quick, someone hit me on the head or they might take root!

Tonight us dancing peeps are meeting in Ruari's flat to make our ball programme. Since the only dances I know the names to are Iona's Cross (which will be in SUSCDF! YES!) and Mairie's Wedding, I am going mainly for the free pizza. And socialising. It'll be at least two hours between the end of Stats and the time to leave, though, and in that time I must read Philosophy things for my tutorial tomorrow. All 60 pages. Uuuuuuuuggghh.

I am not feeling school at the moment. I am really not feeling lectures, revision, catching up, tutorials, reading, anything.
This is a serious issue.

On the one hand I know that Christmas is close, that there's only four weeks and two days before I leave for home, but on the other hand it seems like it'll be FOREVER before I finally get a proper break where I can lark about without having to feel guilty. It feels like the holidays will never come. But then I realise that "oh shit I only have another full week for Psych and Phil lectures, two for Stats, and then there's exams right after aaagh I must study double-u tee eff". Four weeks and two days until I leave means ony four weeks and two days left of this term, with everything that implies.

This week I was going to go to STA Travel again and book my flight to the US this Easter, but I haven't yet. I was also going to find a good agent that can look for mine and Soph's flat for next year, but I haven't done that yet either. God I wish I could just curl up in front of our fire at home and read the new Terry Pratchett and listen to Dad make bad jokes and my mother squabbling with everyone who'll listen and my brother Jesper being all "I will squash you by hugs!" and not realising it and god.

My love for Christmas is bad for my work motivation =P

"The Waters of Mars" - spoiler free

2009-11-15T21:39:17Z

They would have named it "In Which the Doctor has a Mental Breakdown (Again)" except people would get confused by, say, Journey's End, The Runaway Bride, Midnight, Doomsday,......

I have to say, I did not like his speech to Adelaide at the end. No no no. Yes, screw the rules, but it doesn't make you God. And certainly not "victorious". Give me back angsty loser-Nine, please? At least he could make brooding look hot.

*sigh* Ah well. It's getting to the point where I want him to regenerate so he can be put out of his misery and get a whole new fresh outlook on life. Then I can put on my season 2 and season 4 and just watch him be all happy and bouncy with Rose and Donna and pretend Journey's End never happens but Rose and Donna and him live forever in the TARDIS for ever. And ever.

*Gives the Doctor a hug*

I have yet to find a downside. Even my hair is just sort of elegantly messy.

2009-11-15T08:18:09Z

Man my bed is comfy now. I bought a mattress pad to sleep on while my mum was visiting - she got the bed, naturally - and now it's giving an extra layer of COMFINESS to the springs that used to poke my sides while i slept.

That's the only explanation I have to why, when I decided to take a nap yesterday at 18:00, I didn't wake up until midnight. I figured I would be woken by some noise or something an hour later, which is why I didn't set an alarm. When I realised what time it was, I reasoned that if I got up now I'd have too much renewed energy to go to bed until about 3 AM, so I just peeled off my tracksuits and socks and turned over.

Now it's 8 AM. Clearly the key to being able to get up early on Sundays without any problems is going to bed 14 hours earlier. And it has to be said, while I had been intending to watch Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, do my dishes, go buy milk, finish folding my newly-washed bedsheets, sleeping was VERY NICE. The last two nights haven't been as long as usual because of essays and drinking/dancing fun to celebrate the last essay.

Oh yes. Haven't done this yet:
YAY MY MOTHER CAME TO SEE ME (and WHOO SHE BOUGHT ME LOTS OF FOOD)!

YAY I HANDED IN MY LAST ESSAY FOR THIS TERM (and WHOO ONLY ONE SMALL STATS PROJECT THEN ALL I HAVE IS TWO EXAMS)!

YAY MY LAST EXAM IS THE 17TH SO I'LL BE HOME THE 18TH HOME HOME HOME HOOOOME AT CHRISTMAS OMFG CANNOT WAIT!

A friday in the life of Mehhay

2009-11-07T16:15:40Z

If I give everyone I know tshirts from various online places for Christmas, this is totally acceptible, right? Perhaps not very original, but I generally don't give clothes, so it is original for me.

Yesterday was quite a good day. Declan is randomly in Scotland again, and I haven't seen him since the very beginning of September, so getting to spend two hours with him was a lot of fun. I've missed him a lot. He's one of the few people here that I can talk to about anything, whether it's geeky or drunken or other shenanigans. With other people it's like I need to pick my topics - oh no, can't talk Stargate with Rachel. Oh no, can't talk about going out with Fraser. Oh no, can't talk about my growing interest in Steampunk with my flatmates.

(Oh yes, Steampunk. Glasgow Uni has a Steampunk society now, and during Fresher's Week Andy and Sabrina ran into them, and later were totally laughing at them and being kinda mean. Then an otherwise sweet and friendly girl from dancing said it in the same tone of voice as you'd say "pink cockroaches" or something - kind of incredulous, kind of disgusted. What's the big deal? I suddenly feel like I understand what it's like to be gay/black/Jewish/whatever in a society where that's still not really allowed. It's like you can't ever be yourself, or let them know who you actually are. Not a feeling I'm used to at all, and not one I cherish. It would be nice to be able to talk to someone here about maybe joining up, and whether I have time or should try to make the time, but everyone has been so weird about it.)

Then in the evening I went over to my former flatmate's place and tried to cheer her up a bit, since she's had a rough couple of days. Don't know how well it went, but at least I showed my support. We've drifted apart since we moved away, and I've missed her.
After that I carried on to Rachel's flat and we had naan bread pizza and tequila shots. YUM. We introduced tequila to another girl, a tequila newbie, and she liked it. Yay! Since today I needed to research for my last essay, I went home around midnight after having lots of fun.

When I got home, Sabrina lent me her hot water bottle! I'd mentioned to Andy I wanted to get one, since we are cheap and haven't turned on the heating yet but I wake up with freezing feet. And oh my god. So goooood. Sticking your feet under the covers and finding them warm? Excellent. Then finding the bottle still warm when you wake up 8 hours later? Molto bene! No chilly extremeties for me! (Oooooh, Soph, see what I did there?!)
So I need to get a hot water bottle in a bad way. I went online to see if there were any clues as to where you can buy them (there weren't), but on a hunch I found this. Muahahaha. Is it bad that I knew, knew that it would exist?

Yay, tomorrow my Mummy comes! =D =D =D

Tattoo ranting and geeky mentions = good reasons for ignoring work.

2009-11-02T23:25:16Z

Firstly: today I was discussing Stargate Universe with a fellow fan and used the phrase "booped up" (from Erfworld) to describe what the Ancients did in the Pegasus galaxy. I AM SUCH A GEEK.

Second: I've been thinking more and more about getting a tattoo, and although I have quite a good idea of what I want, other people's reactions have made me pause.

Those are the flowers I am named after and a runic inscription of my name. Back when all I knew I wanted was the runes, Declan said "it's a bit egotistical, isn't it?" and I thought "well, better your own name than your boyfriends', and it's not like it's some random Chinese symbol that I don't technically know what it means nor have any real link to".
Then I thought of Linnea Borealis flowers and how much I love them, and love finding them in the forest (we have some growing around our house on Åland, squee!), and thought it would make a nice framing device. "It's a bit redundant to have both flowers and your name," says Amelie "I would keep the flowers, but you could do something else with the runes".

But, well. I don't want to.
I love my name. I love the way it sounds and I love the flowers that share the name. I love the country they stem from and the history of it all, and I love the Vikings and I love that you can find runestones around so much of Sweden. I love that near the summerhouse where I grew up there was a runestone we would say hi to as we arrived - especially if it was from the trip from Holland. I love Sweden - the nature, the people and the language.
And I love myself. I love my compassion and my reason and my quirkiness, and I love all my double standards and how lazy I am - I'm writing this instead of essay planning, after all. I love my strengths and my weaknesses and myself. But sometimes, you need to remind yourself of that. And sometimes, I think it's important to know who you are. Sweden has shaped my ancestors and my parents and it's shaped me, and even though I'm not the person I was 5 years ago (thankfully!) I am still me. In Buffy season 7, Giles tells Willow that "In the end, we all are who we are, no matter how much we may appear to have changed." I'll always be who I am. It's fitting to have a tattoo that basically tells you this, no?
That it'll be on my back somewhere à la the Fruits Basket umeboshi analogy is just an added nerdy bonus. You can't see your good points because they're on your back!
But when it comes down to it, why do tattoos have to mean anything anyway? Linnea flowers look awesome and runes are awesome, and it could be a completely bitching design when it's done. What more is really needed?

I won't do anything about this just now, though. When my mother comes I'll talk to her about it and see what she thinks, and maybe some friends who've got tattoos, and go see the tattoo people about what they could do with it all. Knowing me it'll be a year or so before anything comes of this, but it would be nice to have it done by the summer :)

EDIT: whoa, two cuts. I fail at formatting and cannot figure out how/where things went wrong. Just click the first if you're interested at all :P

This is kind of ridiculous, and should be a much happier occassion.

2009-11-02T09:32:50Z

I 'm kind of annoyed at my mother.
Don't get me wrong. I love my mother, and my father, and all my brothers and sisters; have missed and still miss them all (including the adopted ones). So many times I've wished I didn't have these essays taking my time so I could fly down to good ol' NL for a weekend visit. Now my mother has returned to Holland as well, so I'd get to see three of my favourite people at once. It's a short enough flight.

And that's the problem. My mother's booked and payed for a visit here next weekend. Next weekend. She's here between the 8th and 11th and it would be a glorious four days if it wasn't for the fact that I have a frickin' essay due the 12th what the hell was she thinking?!. At the moment I'm still working on my Philosophy, which is due on Thursday, so I'll only have a week to research, plan, and write my Psychology essay. And four of those days will now also have my mother in them, because my priorities weren't mixed enough as it is.

This is sort of typical though, since the only time my father came to visit was when I'd been in Glasgow for less than a week, and I didn't know the city and I wanted to be with my flatmates and future friends and got a bad cold to boot. So them visiting me at a bad time is pretty standard. And obviously it would be much too difficult to, say, call me and ask when is a good time to visit. God forbid that ever happen. But they know how stressed I've been, and that I have essays, and am struggling to get them done. Parents!

Oh, well. I'll email my Psych Convener and ask if I could get until Friday 13th instead.

SIGH.

Hallowe'en zombie (and poodle) attack!

2009-10-31T15:58:00Z

I was coming from the library and started composing a post in my head when I noticed what a lovely day it was - warm and with clear skies, with the sun starting to near the horizon but still a ways to go. A vast improvement over the weather at around noon, when I was cursing my stupidity for not bringing my umbrella. Seriously, what was I thinking.
In any case, I was intending to write about my Philosophy progress (not much) and how wonderful day it would be to take a dog for a walk, like, say, a certain person's Malamute. I noticed there were a lot of people on University Avenue, and when I came nearer I saw that THEY WERE ZOMBIES. ZOMBIES WERE MARCHING DOWN UNI AVENUE OMG IT WAS SO COOL. ZOMBIE PARADE!!! They have facebook pages and myspace and stuff! I only walked with them for about five minutes, but it made me so happy. ZOMBIES IN GLASGOW, PEOPLE. They were lurching and moaning and one girl had a saw through her head, and there were even kids joining in! :D :D :D

SOPH IF THEY DO THIS NEXT YEAR WE ARE SO IN. WE ARE DOING IIITTTTT.

It was a bit fortunate they were there, as well, since one of the reasons I wasn't getting anything done in the library was that I've been bitten by a plot poodle regarding an old fanfiction story for Terinu that I never finished or even thought through in my mind. Now I have this whole flashback-esque idea with a circular story type thing and even though the story itself might not even really go any further than the beginning of the flashback, it would still be really fun and impossible to write. Or draw. I think it would work better in comic form. The problem(s) is (are) that a) I need more info about ferin and that 'verse but I don't want to bug chaypeta about it since she's so busy now, and b) WHAT AM I THINKING I HAVE SCHOOL. Me doing this would mean I would first have to write the fricking thing, and decide what I want to do, if it's possible within the universe she's set out, and how everything would go, and then I'd have to draw it. I HAVE ESSAYS.

And yet this is what I'm going to be doing until it's time for dinner and showers and getting changed for Hallowe'en. Sigh. Oh yes, my priorities are so straight.

I love that despite having Magical Fairy Jesus powers I don't believe in them

2009-10-26T23:02:01Z

I am not working, and too hyped up by awesome music to want to sleep just yet. Clearly writing in LJ is the answer!

I finished 1 of three handing-in things for school for this term! And there was much rejoicing. It must be said, I was pretty close to not making the deadline. OH WELL. To be honest I could probably have worked around that to not get any penalty, though. I AM (AB)USING THE SYSTEM. Philosophy is technically due this Thursday, but I have an extension until the 2nd. Then Psychology is technically due the 9th, but I have "a few days" extension. I'm not sure how long that is. Until Thursday? Friday? Though I'm sort of confident if I email Margaret Martin about it, she'll let me have until the next Monday. That would be abusing the system though. A week should be enough to do a 1500 word essay. And I have 9 days to do my Phil, so maybe I'll actually get a bit ahead. MAYBE. Although I am technically BEHIND at the moment.... psshht. Whatevs!

The other day when I was walking home from the library I decided that when I get Magical Fairy Jesus powers the fifth thing I'll do is give myself the ability to actually concentrate and focus on work. It will be revolutionising. Then I realised that I couldn't leave it at that, but had to actually make a list.
When I get Magical Fairy Jesus powers I will:
1) Make it so no country ever goes to war again. Oh, and none of this "nuclear weapon" crap.
2) World hunger? What?
3) Cure or provide the means of curing major afflictions like cancer, aids, and....hmm... just completely off the top of my head, Lyme Disease. Not that I'm thinking of anyone in particular. Nope.
4) Make it so no one remembers that I have Magical Fairy Jesus powers. I would be all "Aaaagh stop bowing to me I'm not fricking God!"
5) The aforementioned concentration skills.
and 6) Either myself or cause someone else to start investigating how I'm doing all these Magical Fairy Jesus things, specifically teleportation. 'Cause the way I think of it, is that there's still some Physical force that's helping me do these things, and we can manipulate them so some degree with machines. So, teleportation pods! And they would be available to the masses, not just the filthy rich.

You'll notice that I don't just solve all the problems in the world, but maybe just make some things better and then provide the means for us to do the rest ourselves. I don't believe in some magical person coming up suddenly and fixing everything; we need to strive for something. Like, countries will still be all "I hates you" but unable to go to bloody horrible pointless war over it. They'll have to resort to less gruesome methods, bwa ha ha.

Shit, I just remembered Global warming.
...No, wtf. We need to fix that shit ourselves and get off our lazy Scrooge-y asses and change our lifestyle and maybe build those houses that are basically completely insulated and don't ever need heating or anything but stay the same temperature always despite how ugly they are and how expensive it might get.

So what would YOU do with Magical Fairy Jesus powers?

And I'm hungry. Snacks, or work...?

2009-10-12T14:25:00Z

Yesterday evening I was suddenly able to breathe through my nose without it being blocked or the airflow otherwise hindered by...questionable substances. It was breathing, like some normal person who isn't sick. Suddenly I remembered that yes, this is what it's like to be healthy! It was such a relief.

Today I'm only troubled by some coughing and sneezing every now and then, after which I need to blow my nose pronto. But the rest of the time I feel fine! Yay!
Also today I read in one of the university newspapers that swine flu did indeed come to Glasgow Uni, but it was said in quite an offhand manner and only mentioned them as being reported during Fresher's Week, which was five weeks ago now. My first bout of flu was admittedly at the end of Freshers, but I doubt very much it was anything else than a persistent yet normal flu. This doesn't stop my mother from suggesting I talk to my doctor about having my tonsils removed, but she often suggests ridiculous things like "you should go to the doctor; you've been sick for a long time" or "colds don't come back just because you over-excert yourself the weekend after you got over it; go to the doctor". He just lives so far away! And then you book a time, but the only ones free are a week away anyway. Doctors are useless (sorry, sister).

As for having my tonsils removed, yeah, I don't have time. Reports and things are due in two weeks! And then the Psych essay in another two.

Speaking of, today my Philosophy lecturer said that we should be finalising our first drafts. Hahahahahahaa. Hahaha. Yeah, I haven't started anything yet. At the moment I'm "researching" for my lab report, except clearly I'm on LJ. Oh well!

At least it's finally Friday...

2009-10-09T14:47:42Z

I have had a total of 15 days of school so far. Of these, I have either been so sick so I had to stay home or so sick that I wasn't exactly concentrating very well for 8. That's over half. I feel so ridiculously behind! I've missed/skipped so much! Naturally it can't be just one long-lasting illness either, but two smallish ones that both begin on Mondays. No being sick on the weekends for me!

It had been getting better, but today the mother of all monstrous headaches came along to say hi. I wish I could just hibernate until I'm well again.

"All those hearts laid open/That must sting/Plus some customers/just start combusting!"

2009-10-01T20:49:05Z

Staying at home and listening to the soundtrack to Buffy's musical episode instead of going to a social event with the Psychological Society is totally acceptable.

Today I actually did half an hour of work on an essay! As in the planning, I mean. I realised that since it's October now - and when did that happen, anyway? - I only have 25 days until my lab report is due, and 28 until my Phil essay. Urk. Things haven't been due on the same week for me before. On the other hand this means that I have two weekends to write my Psych essay! Yesterday I did do some note-taking/reading for Phil, but now I think I'll do the other essay question. I feel like "Is any version of the argument from design plausible?" is easier to answer than "Is moral subjectivism a plausible philosophical position?", though in both cases part of me is screaming what do you mean by plausible? I'd really like to get the actual lab-gathering-data-thing for the report done with, so I can get the report itself over with. It feels okay to not do Phil until after the lab report is done (since it's due earlier), but the flip side of this is that I'll feel real stressed until I can start the essay. Does that make sense at all? Of course, finishing the lab report doesn't mean I'll stop procrastinating and start the essay....

In any case, tomorrow I'll work on some Psychology stuff after the lab time. Depending on what we do in it, it'll either be the lab report or my Psych essay. Psychology is just so much more interesting than Phil!

But clearly Buffy pwns both Psychology and Philosophy. Whatever, I'll be social tomorrow after school and studying and stuff.

blows her nose some more

2009-09-23T20:28:29Z

Man I hate being sick. This has been going on since Saturday, too. It is getting old. Sunday was the worst, with pretty much only a fever plaguing me but to such an extent that my body was fooled into thinking it was cold. I was shivering the entire day and night. Then Monday morning, the first day of school, I got up a full two hours before I would need to leave (since I knew everything would take about twice as long as normal) and when I tried to get back to my room from the toilet I got so dizzy I fainted and collapsed onto the floor. Because oh yeah, it's important to drink lots of water when you have a fever, and I'd forgotten. So no Psychology for me!
(It's not easy to convey how ...weak and pathetic that made me feel. It's happened a few times in my life that I've simply....fallen on my ass/face whenever I've closed my eyes, and every time it's such a bad, confusing feeling. You can't rely on your body. You can't assume you can do things, because you might fall on your way. I hate it.)

Today and yesterday the fever has been pretty gone, apart from when going to bed yesterday. I suddenly started getting pains in my eyes and the fever must have returned since I couldn't stop shivering again, even when I realised that actually, it was pretty warm under the covers. After 1½ hours of trying to sleep and failing, I gave in and took more medicine. Should have done that three hours earlier, but I get stupidly stubborn about weird things sometimes. Today was pretty crappy with a headache that didn't go away even with 1000 mg of paracetamol. Siiiiiigh.

My father asked me today whether I have a blocked nose. No, I said, it's a strong, steady stream.
Whatever. This too shall pass.