Bluebird Blog

300

2008-01-28T15:07:00.000Z

This is my 300th post on Bluebird. By rights it ought to have come a long time ago, but as has happened with many a blog, the fervour appears to have petered out a little, and I so rarely have a decent period of time in which to write any more. I used to apologise for not posting for ages, but this time I don't think I will. It makes me a little sad that I don't blog as frequently as I used to, and it makes the fact that the blog has been alive for nearly 4 years seem a little bit of a cheat. But all the same, I won't apologise. I blog when I have time, when my mind isn't fried with history trivia, when I'm not drowning in rehearsals, or organising trips for large numbers of people to Copenhagen (22 to be precise). Not that I don't like being busy, I absolutely adore it. Without busy-ness there is boredom, with it there is joy and fun and occasional stress which makes the later fun even better. I wish I could post more often, but I can't really. So from now on, from this 300th post, I won't worry about posting frequently. I hope people will still occasionally glance at the page and notice that something has been written.

There are multitudes of interesting blogs on the internet, and I hope they all reach their 300th post, and then keep going, with lots to say and exciting issues to relate and discuss. And I shall potter along slowly, as I tend to do.

Have a lovely day chaps, now I need to go and drown in another rehearsal. Hurrah! xxx

Nearly done

2008-01-16T15:50:00.000Z

Hurrah! My long essay is at last nearly ready to be handed in! The deadline is Friday, high noon, and I am definitely going to finish this afternoon, so that is marvellous. Whether it is of great quality I am not entirely sure, but I definitely think it's enough to get me at least a reasonable 2.1. We shall see, shall we not? Either way, it is nearly done, and then it will be taken away from me, and the world shall immediately become a better and more shiny place. Yay!

In other news, Rex Futurus seems to be toddling along happily: it is the 'other' (by which I mean not CULES) production that I am in this term. It is very weird being in a play that requires real rehearsing, although it is still lots of fun. And at some point I will be given a song to sing, and that will be nice. For those of you in or near Cambridge, you should definitely come and see it: it's in the Round Church between the 5th and the 9th February and it will be brilliant, if I do say so myself.

I have to organise the choir tour to Copenhagen this term: I am quite terrified. However, I have been reassured that it will all be fine, and I have all the places to sing in organised, and an almost definite place to stay, and I know which company does the cheapest flights. So it will be alright I am sure, and I won't go crazy with stress.

The next post will be my 300th on this blog, and I will have been going for absolutely yonks. I don't know that I'll think of anything vastly interesting to say, but I shall do my utmost. For now, everyone, have a lovely time wherever you may be xxx

Home! (briefly)

2008-01-07T16:25:00.000Z

Hello! I am in London! I didn't die on the airplanes home, nor in the car from the airport, nor on the train to Leeds, nor on the way back from Leeds. I am doing well! There are now about 250 photos of Australia on facebook if you would care to look. I understand the number might be vaguely intimidating... It gave me an excellent means of procrastination though, as did putting lots of photos (real ones) in photo albums (real ones). Despite this, I am at last writing the conclusion to my long essay, which currently stands at 4900 words. It may be slightly long, but a bit of editing should fix that alright. Quite frankly, I think I rock rather.

Leeds was fabulous. We didn't do much, given that I spent large periods of time half asleep. We did however go to York for New Year's, which was great fun. Fiona's mother cooked us an incredible and very large meal (down Calvados after the main course and you'll have a whole lot more room than you thought you did), and then we went off to a pub for a short while, and then to the minster to say hurrah, and then back to the pub and then home again. It was all very jolly, if quite cold. Although, having said that, I did end up carrying my coat and unzipping my jumper. I think I am probably insane though, so no one should pay any attention to that.

On Friday I saw Emilia, which was lovely. We had lunch and went for a massive wander around Hyde Park to feed the squirrels and see the Christmas markets. Gluehwein and German sausages are both excellent ideas. Then on Sunday Adam was in London so we had lunch (I do that a lot) and went to see I am Legend (very good, if horrible), then came home for dinner and Scrabble. He won, but not by THAT much, and we both did very well given the hideousness of the letters. Oh and I watched Sense and Sensibility (the new one) and it was pretty good, though no one is attractive enough. Tuh.

Ooh and I have a new laptop! It isn't quite as pretty as the old one, but I am sure it will be marvellous. I'm not switching it on until I go back to Cambridge (probably Wednesday), but then I can update you from its very own self.

Anyway, now I am going to finish the first draft of this damn essay, print it out and scribble all over it. Constructive scribbling of course. xxx

Hanging around

2007-12-28T04:16:00.000Z

Hurrah for airports with free internet connections! I am currently sitting in Sydney airport, finally at the end of my holiday, waiting for my flight to start boarding. In about twenty minutes I believe... And then I shall be home in England in just under 24 hours. I have had a marvellous holiday, and when I get home I'll write up properly what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks. There has been much to do, and Christmas of course :D. All of my family were most lovely and fed me enormous amounts of food and took me to interesting places, so that was good. Oooh and also for Facebook there will be my approximately 250 photos. So that'll be something to look forward to no? *giggle*

Love and hugs, from Australia for the last time (for now)

xxxx

Catching up

2007-12-13T22:57:00.000Z

It occurs to me that my last post was shockingly, for me, inadequate in length and detail. I am therefore going to attempt to put in a little bit more detail about the trip so far (still awesome!) and then when I get back there will be multitudes of photos to prove it all was true and amazing. So...looking back... *floaty music*

Wednesday 5th:
I arrived, after a looong time on aeroplanes. In fact after travelling on an Airbus A380, which was very shiny and new and monstrously enormous. My dear aunt came and picked me up from the airport with Cameron, my cousin's little daughter. Then we drove to her house where I stayed all day and slept lots, due to jet lag-ish tendencies. The evening brought take away and Cameron's Christmas carol concert in school, which was very cute. And then I came home and fell asleep. An unexciting day I feel.

Thursday 6th:
I got up nice and early and went into Sydney on the train. I went and gazed at the Opera House and the Bridge and said oooh and aaah in a loud voice because that is of course what you have to do. Then I went round the botanical gardens, which were very beautiful, and the grounds of Government House, where I met six very cute little ducklings and their very protective mother. Then off I went on a ferry across the harbour, when all of a sudden the sun started blazing. I arrived in Manly and wandered around the beach and ate copious quantities of ice cream and got quite impressively sunburnt. Stupid weather fooling me into thinking it was going to be cloudy and then burning me... Ah well, it has mostly gone brown now :). And then the ferry back again, and I wandered off into the Rocks, which are very attractive and right under the big bridge, and then into the city which is very much like a financial district, and then off home for a fantastic BBQ next to the pool. I love the hot winter weather...

Friday 7th:
My aunt and I drove for seven hours from Sydney to near Walgett, to my cousin Jonny's farm where, as I mentioned in the last post, it was 42 degrees. And Jonny was out in the sun fixing a bulldozer. Insane. We went and sat in the air conditioning until it cooled down a bit, whereupon we lit up the anti-mosquito flames, sprayed ourselves with anti-mosquito goop and went and sat in the BBQ pagoda thing for another cook out. Which was actually divine, Jonny had been soaking the steaks in red wine sauce for two days. Mmm... And we drank lots and lots of wine and ate lots of food and watched two incredible thunderstorms on either side of us, with lightning every five seconds. Just a shame none of the rain came and fell on Jonny's farm, since he hasn't seen much for the past five years. And then the stars came out and they were more indescribably beautiful than you could possibly imagine. Never before have I seen stars like that. It was amazing.

Saturday 8th:
Off to Lightning Ridge with us, to see the opal mining communities. They have completely destroyed the land around there, it is barren and full of white mounds of dirt where no one has returned the waste to the shafts. I contributed to the destruction by buying a couple of opal necklaces, and then we drove around the place looking at the tiny art galleries and strange houses (you'll see what I mean when the photos go up...I mean really strange...) which were around, before having lunch. Then back to Jonny's farm for a drive around in the landrover. The farm is absolutely huge, and completely amazing. If dry as a bone except where the special dams are. And there are 4000 sheep and 1000 lambs. Is amazing. Oh and some cows, and wild goats. In the evening we went out to a funny pub in the middle of nowhere and then a restaurant where various young men who clearly hadn't seen a woman in months came and tried to chat me up. It was fun. We saw multitudes of kangaroos.

Sunday 9th:
Out on another drive so that Jonny could fix something with his tractor, and then I drove the landrover home. It was very exciting. I nearly killed Jonny's friend James by driving on the wrong side of the track (I wasn't expecting another car to appear!) but apart from that I think I did pretty well. Particularly considering that the gear stick was so huge and so stiff I could barely move it. It was great fun barrelling along though. And then Jonny took me out on his quad bike (which he uses to round up sheep!) to show me the shearing shed and we chased some emus. Poor things, they are very silly. We followed them around and they ran all over the place and crashed into each other and generally looked a bit foolish. And then Auntie Marguerite and I drove the seven hours home.

Monday 10th:
Back into Sydney and to the zoo, which I said a bit about last time. It really is an amazing zoo, and you get to take a boat there and it is great. And not TOO expensive, considering how lovely it is. And I saw a free flight bird show, which was just amazing, they had eagles and condors and hawks and pink cockatoos and galahs and many a thing. And all the animals were divine, koalas are practically too cute to be real, and I saw a joey in its mother's pouch and oh it was all very wonderous. Photos there will of course be on facebook. In the evening we went to bed early for rising ridiculously early the next day.

Tuesday 11th:
Arose at 4:30am in order to catch a flight to Cairns. The flight takes about 3 hours. This country is too big for its own good. At Cairns airport I was met by my cousin's wife Sandy and their two children, Jessicka and Daniel. And yes, that is Jessicka with a k. I have no idea why. We went to the shops for a bit and then came back to see their very nice house. Everyone here has a pool! Is amazing! The afternoon was one of relaxing a bit, and then in the evening we went out to the Boat Club (like...yachts rather than rowing...) for dinner and I tasted kangaroo (basically the same as venison) and had divinely delicious king prawn linguine. Oh, and got bitten by lots of mosquitos. Horrible things that they are.

Wednesday 12th:
I went off to the jetty in Cairns and got on a big boat which took me out to Green Island, a tropical paradise on the Great Barrier Reef. It was utterly beautiful, and boiling hot. This time I was sensible enough to smother myself in sun cream. I had a bit of a wander around the island and then went to the beach. I walked into the sea, and it was warm. Properly warm. It was amazing. And so, so clear, and the beaches were white and it was basically completely idyllic. And not too busy, because it isn't really tourist season yet. And then we went out on a glass bottomed boat, which was absolutely amazing: we saw sharks and corals and turtles and giant clams and thousands and thousands of fish. And then I returned to the main island and walked through the rainforest for a bit. In fact, I walked around the entire island in about 40 minutes. And then back on the boat and heading for home, where we had a very nice Chinese meal from the shop at which Daniel works.

Thursday 13th:
Another day full of busy. I got on the Kuranda Scenic Railway with Daniel, and we wended our way up the mountains and through all the rainforests and across the Barron Gorge to the village of Kuranda right up at the top. The views were absolutely amazing. In Kuranda we looked at the many tourist shops and Aboriginal art galleries and beautiful clothes shops, and we went to a butterfly sanctuary. The butterflies were absolutely glorious: the Ulysses was enormous and bright, irridescent blue. *sigh* You don't get bugs like that in England. Oh and Daniel bought me a very pretty shell necklace. For a twelve year old he is remarkably unobnoxious. In fact, he is very sweet. Also, I can't believe it's only 9:40am, I've been up for ages... Anyway, then I went back down through the rainforests on the cable car, which was even better than the railway. I got off at a couple of stops to wander through the forests and read the information given. I went right from undergrowth to upper canopy. It was truly glorious. And in the evening we went off to the cafe where Jess works and had a very nice dinner, before returning home and watching Better Off Dead. Which was pretty funny, if a bit silly and very predictable.

Friday 14th:
Today. There hasn't been much of it yet. The general plan is some relaxation before getting the aeroplane back to Sydney this evening. And then tomorrow I am driving (well my aunt is driving) to Canberra, where I will stay put for a week and a half before returning home. My life will probably be less hectic and I might even get around to sending some Christmas cards. Anyway, it will be great. I shall attempt to write another post at some point, but my aunt doesn't actually have internet (Dark Ages!) so it might not happen. We shall see!

Much love xxx

Down under

2007-12-10T08:26:00.000Z

Hello my lovelies! I am having an absolutely marvellous, marvellous time in Australia. Today I found out that a baby platypus is called a puggle. A puggle! That quite frankly made my day. I spent today in Taronga Zoo, which is absolutely fantastic, and of which I have many photos. I saw kangaroos (including one with a joey in its pouch!) and emus and elephants and giraffes and wombats and multitudes of other beautiful animals. And this weekend I was in the outback and I saw lots of wild goats, and my cousin's ENORMOUS sheep farm and I got to drive the landrover and I went round on his quad bike and it was all magnificent. And when we arrived it was forty two degrees. When it got to Sunday I thought it was quite cool given that it was only thirty two. Ooh and Sydney is an utterly beautiful city.

Tomorrow I am going to Cairns, where it is currently thirty degrees and sunny. Hurrah! And that's on the Great Barrier Reef. And then I'm going to Canberra to see yet more family. Hurrah! It's hot...and December...bizarre...

Love! xxx

Going to distant lands

2007-12-03T11:54:00.000Z

Hello my lovelies. And so the end of term has come, and I am at home. There are multitudes of photos on facebook to document my various doings, and it has indeed been marvellous. And I am not in London for long, for tomorrow I disappear to the wonderous land of Australia for almost a month! It is most exciting, if somewhat terrifying. I shall be visiting Sydney, Canberra, Walgett and Cairns, and flying on Singapore Airlines. I am certain that it will be fantastic, if somewhat exhausting. It is also the reason that I will not be posting for quite a long time. I get back from Australia on the 29th and go to Leeds on the 30th, so if you do not hear from me until well into January, I apologise.

I am currently reading up on things to do when I get there. I am very excited. Talk soon! xxx

Birthday

2007-11-23T16:44:00.000Z

Tomorrow is my birthday! Yay! I am highly excited. Although I am going to be 20 (TWENTY!) which is a bit crazy. Never to be teen again... But it should be jolly. Emilia is coming all the way from Exeter to visit for Saturday and Sunday, and I am having a big dinner with many a friend and then a party afterwards and it should all be very lovely. Even if I am practically going to be ancient.

Birthday!

Yay!

Love xxx

Stolen phone

2007-11-18T15:38:00.000Z

Well last night my phone was stolen. *sigh*. And yes, it was stolen rather than lost. Some people are not nice. But anyway, if I appear to have been ignoring you, or if my phone seems perpetually off, this is why. At some point, when I have a new phone, I will attempt to contact everyone with its number. So yeah, no phone and no laptop. I'm practically living in the Middle Ages! Entirely uncontactable... *sigh*.

Love to all xxx

Good grief...

2007-11-17T12:29:00.000Z

...it's nearly the end of term already. This is very odd. It has all gone ridiculously quickly. It does, however, mean that I only have two essays left to write. Hurrah! And one of those will be disappearing tomorrow. Woo! Although, given that tonight is the CULES annual dinner (even MORE woo!) and there will be enormous amounts of food and large quantities of drink, it may not be the best essay I ever write. Also, I have to read in church tomorrow morning. Perhaps I shouldn't drink too much after all...

On a completely different topic, I'm thinking of being a lawyer. Who thinks this is a good idea? It sounds pretty interesting, and it certainly keeps you busy. Plus, in all the firms I'd like to apply to, they fund your law exams, pay you a minimum of £36,000 a year while you train, and then a minimum of £60,000 as soon as you qualify (after two years). So. Who thinks this is a good idea? If it were ONLY selling my soul for the large amounts of cash I wouldn't do it. Probably. As it is, I think it all sounds rather marvellous. Of course, there is the whole issue of getting INTO the job in the first place, which is ridiculously competitive, and probably dominated by law students. But still. I can give it a go, right? I'd be a solicitor, so more with the building up the cases and negotiating with clients and things than standing in court booming out in a loud voice, but research is my thing and it seems to involve a lot of that.

Ooooh also, I bought a pretty dress. Yes, yes, another one. I know, I have far too many clothes. But I needed a new dress for the annual dinner! Is black tie! And it is very pretty, dark brown and very swooshy. There will almost certainly be photos up on facebook in the very near future.

It's my birthday in a week exactly. I'm quite excited, although it is vaguely crazy that I am no longer going to be a teenager. It will be nice to have a party, and to see my dear Emilia who is trekking all the way up from Exeter to visit for the weekend. Also, I'm going to Australia in two and a half weeks. That is not very long. I am also very excited about that, and am, at some point in the near future, going to book myself a tour of the Sydney Opera House. I wanted to climb up the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but while I think it would be utterly amazing, I do not currently think that it would be $220 amazing. *sigh* Well, when I'm a hotshot lawyer I can go to Australia again and do aaall the expensive things. Having looked at the weather in Australia at the moment, I realise I may boil to death. Well, probably not to death. But it will certainly be pretty damn warm. Yay! Although, how weird is it going to be to have a warm Christmas? I think we might have a barbeque on Christmas day. Bizarre...

Love to all xxxx

I...can...make it...

2007-11-11T16:56:00.000Z

Okay I am now getting really quite ridiculously hungry. And it's only 5 o'clock. That is silly, I had both breakfast and lunch. Mmm breakfast and lunch. However, I am proud to report that I have now written a grand total of 2,217 words, so I'm well on the way to completing the essay. Sadly I don't think I'm going to get all the information I wanted to in, but that is often the way. I shall do what I can. Also, Ireland in the medieval period is a pain, there aren't enough sources and there weren't any towns. How do you compare urban development when there aren't any towns? Grumble...

Procrastination

2007-11-11T16:15:00.000Z

Well...everyone does it once in a while right? And I have now written a whole 1591 words of my essay. Although this does mean I will probably write at least 1200 more. *sigh*. I won't procrastinate for very long, honest. I will get the essay done and it will be great. Well. Possibly.

Ooh I managed to get some photos up on facebook at long last! They are all very beautiful, and I highly recommend you go and look at them all and comment lots and make me laugh. Because then I get lots of emails and can therefore almost legitimately procrastinate a little bit more. I am determined to get the damn thing written by 6 o'clock. It may happen. Then I will be hungry and wanting dinner, and I really don't want to come back to it later... But yes, photos!

Yesterday was the choir party I eventually got around to organising, and it was lots of fun, although I drank slightly silly amounts of wine on a not very full stomach. But I am not hungover, so who cares? :D. Soon, however, I will be twenty, and everyone knows that once you hit that grand old age alcohol starts catching up with you and you have to go to bed at 8 o'clock every night. I must enjoy life while I can!

Okay, essay. On with it! Ooh also, Snow White is going beautifully. Did I mention before that I am in Snow White this term? It is lots of fun, although I do spend about twenty minutes lying on the floor not moving. It's sad being dead... Also, I have a solo in chapel on Monday. I am absolutely terrified. I may cry. Love to all xxx

Photos

2007-11-05T15:30:00.000Z

Well...I came to the Turing Room today in an attempt to finally put at least some of the 175ish photos I have on my camera onto Facebook. However, the computer won't let me do things with my camera unless I am an administrator. Which I am not. Therefore, there are still many photos on my camera and none on Facebook. At some point this will be rectified, though quite when I can not be sure. They will be good photos though. In one I'm having my head chopped off.

In other news, autumn is divinely beautiful in Cambridge. I went for a loooong walk today, almost to the CMS (maths faculty) and then back through St. John's, and then to Downing to hand in an essay and then back to King's, and everywhere is filled with glorious autumnal colour and leaves swishing everywhere and it is all highly exciting. I hope it snows in January again. That would be exciting.

In other news, I checked the weather in Australia today. It is currently in the high teens/low twenties in Sydney and Canberra, and a little damp, and in the low thirties and incredibly sunny in Cairns. In none of these places is it anywhere near the height of summer, as it will be by the time I arrive. I may boil to death the instant I step out of the plane onto Cairns soil. My cousin who lives somewhere out in the bush lives near no large enough town for the BBC weather centre to recognise.

In other news, it was my first anniversary with Adam yesterday, which was very lovely. I spent the afternoon writing an essay, which was somewhat unfortunate, and he grappled with Graph Theory, but in the evening we went to Varsity, which was great. We ordered the Cyprus Meze, with the full intention of getting dessert afterwards. Given that we were then served three enormous courses of random Greek dips with houmous, salad, fish, cheese and meat we changed our minds. It was all highly delicious, if ridiculously filling. Then we went back to his and falumphed in front of a couple of episodes of Angel. It was good. Also, he gave me a book which I wanted, a pair of very pretty earrings and three lots of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat: one with my name, one called 'amour' and one with lots of alcohol. Mmm...

In other news, it is fireworks night tonight! We intend to go to Midsummer Common and watch the glory that is the Cambridge fireworks. I look forward to it. Hurrah for celebrating the death of a man who didn't really have anything to do with a plot but was a scapegoat!

Love to all xxxx

BOO!

2007-10-30T10:39:00.000Z

Lookit! Lookit! I am posting! I apologise for not having done so for so long, it is much more difficult when there is no computer in my room and the only time I actually use a computer is when I check my email on Adam's or wander on down to the Turing room to write my essays. *sigh* It is looking likely that I will be getting a new laptop for my birthday though. Woo! So...only another three and a half weeks to wait hopefully... Anyway. Enough on the sorry state of my technological affairs.

I am having a marvellous time, as I tend to do, with far too much going on to actually say something about everything. The major recent highlight was the Buffysoc. Hallowe'en party on Saturday, which was fantastic fun. The theme was 'Red, White and Black: the Republic of Buffysoc.' and people came dressed up in beautiful ways (I was the white stripe of the flag, with hair straightened and lots of make up and aaaaall dressed in white; very sexy) and we ate delicious themed food and drank delicious themed food and had a huuuuuuge flag stretched across the wall. It was great. We don't have parties often enough any more, we should do so more often. Also, I am drinking far more sensibly this year. It is odd. Also, ONE day in the future I will actually get around to putting the 160ish photos on my camera onto a computer. I currently can't due to the fact that I very intelligently left the cable at home. Silly Helen.

Soon (Saturday) it is Adam's birthday and just after that (Sunday) it is our first anniversary, so this should be an exciting weekend. I am also planning parties for choir, formals for history, dances and many other things. It is good. Now, however, I have to look at my long essay and hopefully write a bit of it. And not decide that what I have already written is rubbish. That would be nice. See you all soon lovelies xxx

It nearly worked...

2007-10-17T18:34:00.000+01:00

Well. I have had a very lovely couple of weeks, despite lacking a laptop. And then I took said laptop down to London, and it was fixed! And it worked! But then blogger decided my blog was a spambot, so it wouldn't let me post to tell the marvellous news. Now, however blogger has let me back and that is marvellous! However, my laptop is dead again. You know what? The world of computers has something seriously against me... At some point when I'm not just about to go out to dinner, and when I have a computer/am not sitting in someone's room ignoring them by using their computer I shall post properly xxx

Laptop update

2007-10-06T14:44:00.000+01:00

We are now fairly sure that my laptop is well and truly gone. I am almost certainly going to have to get a new one. *sigh* This means I currently lack both internet and music in my room, and am going to have to spend hours in the library/Turing Room tomorrow writing my essay. I don't like writing my essay in places that aren't my room! Grrrrr. Stupid technology, it's all out to get me. Oh well... I shall return with hopefully more cheerful news, for life is fairly cheerful when not concerned with the computer xxx

cry

2007-10-03T23:32:00.000+01:00

My laptop is dead. Completely dead. It won't turn on. At all. I am crying inside. I probably won't be able to blog for a while, or get on MSN- I am currently stealing Adam's computer briefly. xxx

Toodle pip, and a plea

2007-09-28T00:06:00.000+01:00

I probably won't have time to blog again before going off to Cambridge (hurrah!) and things tend to get a bit busy when I'm actually there, so I am not entirely sure when I shall next appear. Therefore I come to say goodbye, and have wonderful times wherever you are. I have now done lots of packing- three boxes, one bag and a laundry basket completely filled, and a suitcase nearly entirely filled. I am doing well. Though I seem to have mislaid my basque, which is highly irritating, because it was pretty. Anyway. The packing is nearly done, and I also managed to write 922 words of my essay, so that is good. Tomorrow I intend to write at least 1078 words, so that I am up to 2000, a satisfyingly comforting number. I think this is quite possible, because today I spent hours and hours trying to write a decent and not ridiculously long introduction, whereas tomorrow I am putting in facts and thoughts and things, which tends to be easier. So wish me luck! I guess it doesn't matter terribly, as is only a first draft, but still.

And now onto more serious matters. I'm sure you all know what is happening in Burma at the moment. If you don't, then read or watch some news. There are people protesting for rights and a way of life which we more than take for granted. These people may be killed, or imprisoned, or they may just disappear. They are brave, brave people, fighting for something they believe in. So if you could, please sign one or more of the many petitions which are floating around the internet, particularly those on the government website. I don't know if it will help, but at the moment there seems to be little else we can do. Please help in any way you can xxx

Boxes

2007-09-24T20:07:00.000+01:00

I just made a box, and am in the process of making another one. I even managed to put some books into the first box, and am choosing books to go into the second one. You know what this means right? Ah go on, you must be able to guess. Yup, you are correct. Nearly time to go back to Camland! It is now nearing the end of Monday, and I am going up to Cambridge on Saturday. That means there are only four full days of not being in Cambridge left! Yay! It would be difficult to describe just how excited I am coherently, so I'm just going to go with 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!' and be done with it. Also, it turns out that I am singing with choir at matriculation dinner on Saturday, which means not only do I get to sing and see people have joy, I also get a free three course dinner with booze included. Hurrah! And Adam is coming up on Sunday, which will be yet more marvellous.

I actually did some work today, I was very proud. I have now done all my reading and organising of notes for my long essay, and I even started making a basic plan. For an essay which is due in on the 18th January next year, I think that's pretty good. My intention is to finish the plan on Wednesday and have a stab at actually writing the first draft on Thursday, and possibly Friday. Then I can tweak it over the term and the time I'm actually at home over Christmas. What organisation!

Anyway, I should get back to my boxes now. They are calling xxx

A Wedding

2007-09-22T23:28:00.000+01:00

It occurs to me that I don't care what anyone else thinks in the whole world. Weddings ROCK. I haven't had so much fun in ages. Well. I have had lots of fun, but not that very specific sort of fun. I had forgotten just how much I love dancing. And when the older members of your family are dancing too it doesn't matter WHAT you look like and it is all wonderful and fun and full of jollity, and my uncle Ken actually smiled for long periods of time and it was amazing and I'm quite hyper now as you can probably tell from the extreme length of this sentence. Anyway. It was great. The ceremony was very pretty, and now I want a nice white dress for myself, and then the dinner was very nice too, and then the party was lots of fun and I actually got to talk to some of the cousins I so rarely see.

Next term I am determined to do more dancing of the crazy random disco type. I shall be in the cellar bar more, I am certain. I shall have to find some people to take along with me... This may require some plying with drinks first... But no matter, it will be great. And I already promised to go clubbing with someone, so that too will be marvellous.

All in all I am as happy as pie, and I should really get to bed at some point in the not too distant future, because I have to get up in the morning, but right now I am full of joy and goodwill and general loveliness and won't sleep for ages. And I love you all very much, and am fully aware that this is even more saccharine than my posts usually are. But I don't care, so ner. And I'm totally going to get married some day. And I'm going to have the best dress ever :D xxx

Leeds

2007-09-17T22:41:00.000+01:00

I disappeared completely from the world of the internet for a whole four days. Crazy no? I'm sure you can hardly believe it. However, I had a very good excuse for so doing, for I was in the far distant lands of the north, in the Danelaw some might say, in the frozen wastelands which make up the city of Leeds. Okay so it wasn't THAT frozen. Well. Today was a bit chilly, and the wind was crazy cold, but it wasn't frozen as such. Either was, it was utterly lovely. Adam lives in a nice suburbany bit of Leeds, so there is lots of green and there aren't too many cars, and he has a wood out the back of his house through which we walked on a day more clement.

Anyway, we did many things. On Friday, the day I arrived, we took the bus from the station to Adam's house, whereupon we collapsed in a minor form of exhaustion for a short while, before heading out to Roundhay Park via a place which sold the most enormous sandwiches I have ever seen. We had a meatball sandwich between us, and it was plenty. The park itself is highly beautiful, we sat on a hill and watched the world, and we went to visit the lake and a castle folly and we walked and walked and walked. And then we went to a tropical animal centre place, which was small but very nice. If ridiculously warm in places. We saw snakes and terapins, mice and tarantulas, iguanas and parrots and many other pretty things. And then we went home via the woods, and Adam's mum cooked us a very nice dinner, and then we went to a pub in town to meet with some of Adam's friends, all of whom were very lovely and we drank lots and watched England get slaughtered at rugby and it was great.

Saturday held the delights of York and Fi who resides there. We saw the minster, which is exceptionally beautiful, if sympathetic to Nazis if the floor patterns are anything to go by, as well as the ruins of St. Mary's, which some foolish young teenage girls climbed up and jumped off with abandon and cans of beer. After sitting in the park awhile we wandered down the Shambles and to the market, where Fi bought some fish, and then we made our way to her house, where much chatting and laughter and general civility was had, and then a bottle of wine was produced, in prelude to, as Adam and I were astonished to find, an exceptionally delectable three course meal, with sparkling wine as accompaniment. I am greatly of gratitude and happiness, and we wandered home absolutely full and even more satisfied with the general joy of life.

On Sunday Adam was kind enough to take me along to Temple Newsam, a divine Tudor-Jacobean mansion house, where I oohed and aahed appropriately at each of the thirty rooms which are on view to the public. It was really a most magnificent place, and I swooned frequently at the general magnificence and wonder. Then we went to the cafe and had a little snack and some pear juice/tea and then had a wander around the extremely beautiful grounds, which are open free to the public. Though don't tell, because it would be sad if they got over run. The walled gardens were glorious, if rather fading from their summer heights, and the 'natural' landscaping of Capability Brown (best first name ever!) was beautiful. On return to town we went to another cafe, where I had beautifully rich hot chocolate, and then we went to a lovely Chinese restaurant for dinner, where we ordered food far in excess of what we could eat, all of which was scrum. Then homewards, and since it was not too late, we cracked open a bottle of wine (booze happened quite a lot for such a short space of time...), listened to lots of music and then watched some Scrubs. (Elliot. J.D. This time? Just don't do it. Really. BAD PLAN).

And then was today, and I packed my bag and we wandered into town for the last time. This time on the itinerary were the Royal Armouries, which tell you and show you lots of weaponry and armour (surprisingly enough) from throughout the ages and in various parts of the world. It was all very interesting, and we got a nice display of swordsmanship from a couple of chaps who used the word 'now' far too frequently. And then we went to another cafe for hot chocolate and refuge from the cold, and then we had an early dinner, and then I had to come home.

A lot happened in a veeery short space of time, and it all went far, far too quickly. Faster than any other part of my holiday. But I had a marvellously lovely time, and I thank Adam for it, despite the fact that I know he doesn't read this. Now I am somewhat sad, and should probably go to bed, because in the morning there is work. Photos shall go on Facebook at some point. Love to all xxxx

Squildish

2007-09-13T16:17:00.000+01:00

Squildish is the language spoken by the Squilds of Squilden. It is a very fascinating, though rather complicated, language, and I think you should all take time to learn it. I believe Richard knows where you can attend classes. The Squilds have a rich and interesting culture, and their daily lives are generally busy and productive. Squilden is a land not too far away, but not all that near, and has a small population of approximately 20,000. In Squilden, every one knows each other's name. There is basically one small city, along with a couple of very tiny villages. Despite it's diminutive size, Squilden has an extremely strong economy and the quality of life is high for all. There is little poverty in Squilden, but few people are super-rich. Everyone is very comfortable.

Doesn't it sound like a delightful place to live? One day I think we should visit. They don't have an airport, but if you take a flight to one of the Scandinavian countries, boats are readily available and organised ferries leave frequently.

In other news, I'm going to Leeds tomorrow. Hurrah! I cannot wait. I will be gone for four days and will be indulging myself in large amounts of history. Woo York! Hurrah for the Adam and hurrah for the Fi. In other other news, Richard is leaving on Saturday. This is very sad. I mourn. But I must not end on a sad note after such a happy post. What other other other news is there? Hmm...it's sunny! And warmish! And marvellous too. And I'm soooooo nearly finished work it's great xxx

Size Zero

2007-09-08T23:26:00.001+01:00

The size zero phenomenon is horrific. It isn't a particularly new topic, but it was brought to my attention relatively recently, by the unlikely but magnificent source, Mitch Benn. He has a song about a size zero model:

'Well she's up on the catwalk twice nightly
Wouldn't say she's as skinny as hell
But it's true that she makes Keira Knightley
Look a bit like the late Orson Wells.
And the press wonder if she's bulimic
And if she's ever eaten or supped
But you know what they say in this business:
Whatever goes down must come up.

She's a size zero
With a midriff the size of her wrist
She's a size zero
If she gets any thinner she'll technically cease to exist.

Well they call her a dreadful role model
In the papers but also we find
They complain that the kids are all too fat these days
How I wish they would make up their minds.
Fashion writers blame fear and anxiety
And call her condition obscene
But they won't be caught dead with a fat bird
On the cover of their magazines.

So she's still a size zero
'Cause this year it's hip to look dead
She's a size zero
Or she could be a normal sized girl with a really big head.

She's a size zero
She's almost translucent it's true
She's a size zero
And if beauty's skin deep, she's beautiful all the way through.'

It's a good song. I recommend it, and many others of Mitch Benn's creating. But what he says is true. These girls, size zeros, do in fact look skeletal. That's not attractive, right? Please, all sane men and women out there, tell me that that is not attractive. But you know, if we think that's going just a little far, we could go for the slightly fleshier look. You know, ribs always were my favourite feature in a woman. They really bring out your cheekbones. According to Wikipedia, an American size 0, or English size 4, is a woman with a bust of 31 inches and a waist of 23 inches. The waist measurement was actually slightly larger than I was expecting. My waist is about 25 inches. Then, however, it occurred to me that when you take 2 inches off a circumference it's actually quite significant, and that most of these women, being models, will be about a foot taller than me, and should therefore be proportionally wider. But no. Because apparently looking as though a child could snap you in two is beautiful. Showing off the delicate nature of your bones through your skin is attractive. Having knobs instead of curves is intensely sexy. I just don't get it. I thought breasts were supposed to be sexy? I think they are anyway. And none of these women HAVE breasts any more. Because if they did, they wouldn't fit into size zero clothes any more.

And this terrible trend in society, I just realised, is even affecting me, albeit in a very minor way. I weigh myself pretty frequently, and get quite distressed if I go over 9 stone. That is a bad thing. I also, above, was going to write that my waist was 25/26 inches, but I stuck with 25 because goodness, 26 doesn't sound quite as skinny as I would like to be. This is also a bad thing. I know perfectly well that I am slim, and reasonably attractively so. I do not need to be any slimmer than I am. In actual fact, I'm pretty happy with what I look like, which makes me unlike a lot of girls I know. And yet, even so, despite the fact that I have rapidly grown in confidence over the past couple of years, there is still that gnawing little feeling in the back of my head that I really ought to try a little harder. Luckily I like chocolate and cheese far too much to ever let that little voice get its way. But really, it shouldn't be there at all.

I was pleased to see that the Madrid Fashion Week 2006 refused to let any model with a BMI of under 18 participate. 18 is damn skinny. But it's a start. A start that was triggered by two deaths (Luisel Ramos, 22, died of a heart attack after trying to survive on a diet of Diet Coke and lettuce leaves, and Ana Carolina Reston who died of renal failure after attempting to live on only tomatoes and apples), but at least a start.

Sleepy

2007-09-05T20:52:00.000+01:00

I am so, so tired. It is vaguely silly. I'm at that stage of tired where you don't get hungry any more, and you get headaches, and you are pointlessly emotional. Stupid tired! But it is only 9 o'clock, so I can't go to bed yet or I'll wake up in the middle of the night. Also I am very concerned that, as has happened for the past three nights, I will suddenly get miraculously unsleepy as soon as I get into bed and eventually fall to slumber at 2am and have another 5 hour night.

*sigh*

Stupid tired.

Paper shuffling

2007-09-03T15:14:00.000+01:00

You know how people say that working in an office is just moving paper around? It's so true! This morning I spent four hours with seven separate piles of papers, taking one sheet from each pile and putting them into envelopes. This I did with approximately 150 envelopes, or possibly a few more. *sigh* Surprisingly enough though, envelope stuffing was not nearly as dreary or as soul destroying as I was expecting it to be. Nor did it make me fall asleep, despite the fact that I got a grand total of about four and a half hours sleep last night. Stupid sleeping patterns. It DID give me a rather sore shoulder, but apart from that it was the sort of activity that allowed to me to sit and let my mind drift. You can get a lot of thinking done in four hours. Also a lot of silent singing. It would have been outloud singing, only there was another person in my office.

The reason for all this paper? Admissions. You would not BELIEVE what a stressful time is had by the people on the other side of the university system. So much to send off, to sort out, people withdrawing, people changing their minds, people doing resits, syallabuses to work out, timetables to get sorted, professors to shout at... It's a busy, busy world. Anyway, I hope the students who receive their welcome packs in a couple of days damn well appreciate it. Speaking of which, Chris, your friend is doing Mechanical Engineering. I sent him a letter today. I know where he lives...mwahahahaha.

Sorry, that was a little weird. Anyway, paper shuffling is only in the mornings. Every morning. Woo! Afternoons are still taken up by computering- making answer sheets more beautiful is the order of the day. So to that I should probably return now. Tonight I am going to Rose's to make modern art and have my hair cut. But not much. If anyone can tell it's been cut, it means it's too short. I'm very protective of my hair... Love to all xxxx