clo_again

Me: What're you watching?
Mum: Law and Order.
Me: Oh, is Jamie Bamber still in it?!
Mum: Which one's he?
Me: Er. The pretty one?
Mum: *thinks* Oh, yes he is!

That's either a compliment to Jamie Bamber or an insult to the rest of the cast.

~

I've really struggled to love the world today. My bad mood hung around through coffee, and reading the excellent Full Moon City, and rearranging my room to make it beautifully tidy and actually liveable. On the plus side, hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow in a better mood and my room will already be beautiful and liveable and I'll know where everything I own actually is.

(Except not that last one, because my storage method is 'cram everything into a box!', so finding anything in my room is a Russian Roulette of boxes. Or maybe more like a babushka doll, with ever decreasing boxes and never anything useful inside. It looks pretty; I have many pretty boxes. It's just not very practical.)

~

This icon has utterly no relevance to this post, especially not the sentiment but it was new and pretty and has Philipp Petzschner getting glomptackled by Jürgen Melzer when they won Wimbledon last year. Here is the most delightful video of it. If they won Wimbledon every day, every day would indeed be a good day.

Me: *covering cake with chocolate fudge icing*
Chocolate Fudge Icing: *falls off spoon to splat on the floor*
Me: If I don't clean that up right now, I will step in it. Let me just fix that bit on the cake.

~five minutes later~

Me: *steps in something warm and squidgy* AS$%&*USH^&^£$£DF$£"^%DA!!%$£"£^!!!!!!
Mother in next room: WHAT?!!
Me: ...Nothing.
Me: I just stepped in my own procrastination.



On the plus side, Creme Egg Cake of Awesome is finished and decorated despite a few Almost Disaster moments. However, it took so long to finish that 'rents gave up and went to bed so it can't be cut until tomorrow and cutting it is going to be AWESOME (at least I hope so :D) so pictures will be posted tomorrow when I have pictures with slices cut out.

Right now I am going to watch Ashes to Ashes (I was cake-occupied longer than I planned; I was supposed to be watching it on time with cake *eyeroll*) with what I feel is a well-deserved Long Island Iced Tea and then maybe Grey's Anatomy because I watched Bones last night instead (I am getting rather fond of Bones and how forgiving it is to people who start watching in series five (?) with only a vague idea who everyone is).

That is assuming I don't fall asleep on the sofa because between reading fic last night and being dragged out early shopping this morning, I'm running on about four hours sleep. Bleh. On the plus side I've added some great Johnny Weir/Stephane Lambiel slash to my memories under the Skating RPS tag for anyone who's interested. There was one in particular that I wanted to rec but I can't remember which. Nevermind, they're all worth reading. ^_^

To Ashes to Ashes! Yay!

eta: It was this Johnny/Stephane fic in particular that I enjoyed. Accidental marriage! Lying to the press! Adorable awkwardness! <3 Really, it's 20,000 words of pure loveliness. Totally worth reccing the heck out of.

Parents are annoying me again. Case in point; the man always used to make me turn over whatever I was watching so he could watch the six o'clock news. The six o'clock news is sacred.

Earlier:

Dad: *watching recorded rugby*
Me: *Twitter reminds her she's following what's going on in Iran* Dad, it's time for the news.
Dad: I'M WATCHING THE RUGBY.
Me: ...Okay?

I would've actually really liked to see the news; it's repeated at ten but they'll be watching something else then. Or you know, sleeping on the couch while 'watching' something but I'll get yelled at for stealing the remote and turning it over. To watch the news. I don't know either, except that he's been a pissy little girl since I got home. Maybe it's a midlife crisis and he can't afford a Porshe to take it out on.

...Mmm. Maybe I'll watch Lost in Translation later. I should really take a break from Tom Ward and Silent Witness or MI5 are going to start wondering why I have such an interest in forensics (because one of these days, Harry and Nikki are going to finally get it on and I'm going to be there to witness it dammit. I mean, to watch the episode. Yes.

I haven't considered writing Silent Witness fic. Honest).

In the meanime I watched more Paul McDermott on youtube, since the people at GNW haven't seen fit to upload the podcast yet (I am bitter! Totally!) and decided that his crotchface routine* is even funnier when you have the sound off because a parental is in the room. Incidentally it's rumoured that the woman he flops over at the end is, in fact, his mother.

And my parents think they have problems with me. Hah hah hah hah.

He is rather distinctly adorable interviewing random people at the Montreal Comedy Festival though. I'm pretty sure we watched this while I was at mayakitten's but thinking about it is making me nostalgic for Canberra so now I'm going to go play on The Sims 2 (I have no money for Sims3. Woe!)

Also no damn supermarket over here stocks Tui beer**. I couldn't even find rice crackers which boggles the mind because I know they used to sell those here. I forgot to check for TimTams but that's three strikes and they're out, I'll be writing them off in favour of Australia. Bah.

~

* I do genuinely want to know if anyone's ever grabbed... what's being, essentially, offered. I would be so, so tempted depending on who was sitting next to me (for example, if I was with parentals then I'd probably die of embarrassment. If it was mayakitten, yeah I'd cop a feel because it's Paul McDermott and she gets it.

If I was there with chickybee32 I rather suspect I'd forgo grabbing in favour of simply undoing his trousers. Hey, he's offering...).


** I've tried ASDA, Tesco and Booths. Next up: Morrisons. Stay tuned.

When people said that New Zealand eats money, they really weren't joking. I was just going to do the (free!) museum today but in the lift last night I spotted a poster for this LotR tour including Weta and... yeah. They actually pick up outside the museum though, so I'm figuring on a couple of hours museuming and then the tour and then some shopping to actually find somewhere that sells NZ jumpers/sweaters because it's really getting cold. Everyone keeps telling me to buy thermals for the south island.

Worse, I think they're actually serious. Where do you even buy thermals from? I don't exactly live in a country where you ever need them.

On a different note entirely, I ordered Paul McDermott's The Forgetting of Wisdom three weeks ago. Thought to ask my parents this week if 'anything had arrived for me recently' and was told no, nothing. Sent an email back basically along the lines of !!!!!!!!???????

And this morning they emailed to say "Well a book called The Forgetting of Wisdom arrived for you a week ago, is that what you meant?"

...And my parents were worried about me on my trip. You know what, I think they should spend more time worrying about the fact they have no clue what's going on.

Now I have to apologise to a nice Amazon marketplace seller for telling her the book hadn't arrived. Sigh. At least I hadn't asked for a refund yet, just double-checked when it was posted, so it is just a matter of grovelling a little.

Parents. There're no words.


(On yet another note, I'm staying in the YHA in Wellington and it's lovely. My view is out across the harbour and kicks ass, plus the beds are the most comfortable of any hostel so far. Nice hostels ftw! I'm a bit sad that I'm only here the two nights but tomorrow I head to Nelson. And in Nelson there's the shop of the jewellers who designed the One Ring for LotR... and they make replicas. No I'm not planning on emptying my bank account at all.

:DDDDDDD)

Tagged by mayakitten

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blog and replace any question that they dislike with a new, original question.

B) Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.


( Memesis precious )

I tag... everyone! Have at it! :)

~

As you can perhaps tell from the icon, I enjoyed Inkheart yesterday. I found the book hard going for the first two-thirds and I probably would've put it down in frustration if I hadn't loved the character of Dustfinger enough to keep turning pages. Likewise Paul Bettany was definitely the best thing about the film, lickable hipbones and all (was it just me or did Brendan Fraser seem a little... lost in this film? He was a good casting choice, he just seemed to sit a little uncomfortably in the middle of everyone as if afraid of putting a foot wrong) but the rest of it made for much easier going than the book. I loved the way they did the writing over everyone. I need to find a god picture of Resa so I can icon her with hers. Or the unicorn, because there's something unspeakably cool about a white unicorn with black text all over it.

So I'll probably be buying it on DVD at some point, if just to icon every second of Paul Bettany. Mmmmmmm.

We also went back to the Yummy Cupcake cafe (:DDD) and I saw Lancaster library for the first time, despite spending three years of uni walking past it. It's actually kinda cool and I really should've looked in there before.

And now for something completely different... ( family rantage )

~

So this entry doesn't end with my self-pity, damageverse has been updated with the next part. If you haven't read it yet, you really should for it is awesome. I'll be checking. There may be a pop quiz. Hm.

Dammit, I meant to talk about Havemercy in this entry and got side-tracked with complaining. Later, when I've actually some of my to-do list; in the meantime, go and buy it. Seriously. Metal dragons. Amazing characters. It's my new crack.

I just recognised the music on the Sky Sports December advert as being from a movie I'd seen recently but couldn't work out which. It took me three rewinds&plays to realise it was from Stardust which I rewatched last week; my music memory used to be pretty good but three relistens is pushing it. Woe for my oldness/job boredom killing my braincells. Maybe I should rewatch Top Gear in work and make it my mission to identify all the music.

In other tellybox news:

Michael Shanks being on Atlantis when I'm channel-surfing past it still throws me. Dear Daniel, stop being in different galaxies to Jack/Mitchell/Vala/Sam. YOU ARE MORE AWESOME TOGETHER. What do you mean problems with character copyrights (except Jack, who should be 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT MORE TIME OFF RDA, DAMN YOU FOR NOT HAVING CLONES)? Though that was like five seasons back, so I wonder if they sorted that now?* Hm. Anyway, quit it. It's confusing and also I'm three series behind so I don't understand what you're doing there so I can't enjoy extra Daniel-time. You're a very annoying space monkey.

ITV2 were showing The Mummy Returns earlier. I forget how big a fangirl-crush that movie gave me for Oded Fehr. Mmmmm. He was not as pretty in Resident Evil 3 (it was too bad for me to remember what it was actually called) and I was sad (and then annoyed when they did something I won't mention in case there's anyon who still wants to see it and be surprised at something other than how bad Mila Jokovich's airbrushing really is). I should look up his other movies because he is pretty, especially with long hair.

On this week's Merlin:

Own up. Who else thought of Harry Potter when they were in the labyrinth? And then probably facepalmed like I did. Yeah.

I would say more (more about the ARTHUR/MERLIN YAY, ARTHUR/MERLIN/RAT BWAHAHA!) ut Casper is glaring at me to demand food and after that I kind of want a nap. Just because there are no 'rents here to tell me not to.

~

They've decided to rent the house they saw today in the Lake District. Apparently the room I'll be in is on the third floor (plus; better view) but has the hot water boiler in there (downside; I shall be demanding a pretty screen to put in front of it, not that I'll actually be there that long hopefully). There is a third small bedroom next to mine which I'm going to make into my library. My parents don't know this yet but they will.

I must go feed Casper before he eats my feet. We haven't told him he's going to the Lake District yet. I'm pretty sure he won't be impressed.

eta: * Obviously they have sorted it because I know Sam wasn't allowed to be in the pilot but she's been on it as a regular since. Although after SG-1 finished. Hm. This is when I would like to work on TV shows, to know what went on behind the scenes.

IT'S SNOWING.

Okay, so it's alternating between hailstones and snow but a few minutes ago it was proper massive floofy flakes falling and it's been doing it for about an hour now and it's just, snow. Near enough to my birthday as to make no difference and I so so hope this is a sign of having an actual proper winter this year with frost and snow. The worst thing about this country is the useless indecisive climate but snow. In October. I am way too excited, something not shared by Casper who wriggled emphatically in complaint when I picked him up from his basket to sleep. He's definitely at the opposite end of the scale to me when it comes to snow appreciation.

The awesome of snow if almost enough to distract me from the fact that I can't find my discs with Word and Photoshop on. Almost but not quite. There's a free 60-day trial of Word that comes with the laptop, so that's okay for NaNo but dammit I want Photoshop on here.

However, I distinctly remember giving the discs to my dad and do not disctinctly remember getting them back. This may be the problem.

I don't have my snow icon here anymore. That should be fixed.

Today I went to Chester to buy a Cheshire Cat. (That thought amused me all the way on the train. Little things...) I saw him before Christmas in a garden centre but let myself be talked into putting him on the Christmas list instead of buying him immediately. And of course, there was no Cat on Christmas Day and it's taken me since then to find an actual shop selling them so I could ask them to order one in. So yay! He's worth the nine month wait and the money that I really shouldn't be spending on silly things right now. £16.00 over nine months isn't exactly much. ;) The whole Disney Traditions collection is beautiful: there's more of them here. I love the Peter Pan over Neverland. Maybe it's worth trying again with the Christmas list option and I can point them toward the shop that'll order them in now... The dinky little Jolly Roger is so freaking cute.

You know, one day I'm going to have a house full of the randomest things. If I can ever afford a house after emptying my bank account over so much randomness.

Although! Worryingly, when idly contemplating the shelf above my desk earlier wondering if there was space for the new Cat, I was quite alarmed to find myself looking at this.

...Don't see it? Look closer. Last time I was in London, I snitched the little plastic guitar-spike that held my Hard Rock Cafe burger together because it was cute and you know, free Hard Rock souvenirs! I discovered it again a few weeks ago at the bottom of my bag and, after trial-and-error, found that Jack's skeleton fingers curled around just right to hold it.

BUT IT WAS A PLOT. It seems he set the whole thing up because he was annoyed at Captain Jack (WHY IS THERE NO SOLIDARITY BETWEEN THE JACKS OF THE WORLD? I need to buy a Jack Sparrow; war will break lose in my bedroom) snuggling so close to Sally and Hard Rock Cafe burger-holders are in fact perfect stabbing devices for action figures. Who knew?

Wesley is lurking ominously too. I found Captain Jack's blaster so he returned Wesley's crossbow but I think there's some lingering anger there. Also, you get a cookie if you can spot what Wesley's pink bike helmet is hiding. I've broken that hand off at least three times and reglued it.

Today was lovely. I was in such a good mood anyway and then the weather was ridiculously nice and even though I missed the first bus and had to wait an hour, the bus stop is right outside my house so it wasn't exactly a downside to have an extra hour to finish my coffee. And it's been so long since I've been on a solo shopping trip, I'd forgotten how much more satisfying it is. Mmmm.

You know, my mood has much improved since Thursday which, perhaps not coincidentally, is when my parents left to go on holiday. There are other factors that stopped me being such a miserable sod as I was earlier in the week but the peace and quiet to leave dirty mugs out of the dishwasher for more than ten minutes, to sit and watch P&P all afternoon, to leave cooking dinner until I can actually be bothered without being nagged to death... it's surprisingly relaxing. Though, the train I caught home was going to Cardiff and the temptation to forget my stop and carry on all the way was immense. Oh Cardiff. Roll on October 25th, though leaving again after just three days... although it'll be my birthday and I have been promised Chinese food so, incentive. Lacking the time and money to move immediately to Cardiff, I'm spending the night in with Mr Darcy because Lost in Austen reminded me how much I love the original series. Colin Firth/wet shirt OTP! And there there'll be spag bol and the second part of Tin Man which is a little sillier than I expected but very good and in general I'm remembering why I love the 'rents being away on holiday. Tomorrow I'm going to dig out the ancient Playstation and see if I can complete FFVIII again before Friday when they get home (that reminds me, Squall and Rinoa felt left out of the action figure spam and demanded to be included, even though it's very difficult to take a picture of the top shelf that doesn't end up with a weird perspective).

So in general, life is good enough for me to be taking silly pictures of action figures.

...Pretty damn good then. :) (Note: not so good that Carabas the purple laptop has arrived yet. But he will. Dammit.)

You know, I've been all for tennis being at the Olympics. It's a sport, more of a sport than some of the things there and I think as a sport, it should feature in the biggest, most unique sporting event in the world. Why should tennis players not have the chance to win a medal along with the horse riders and the swimmers and the runners? Why should they be told sorry, you just aren't Olympic material?

But watching this bronze medal match? With Djokovic and Blake looking like they'd rather walk over hot coals than play tennis? With Djokovic apparently in floods of tears as he walked off court yesterday? It's like, maybe tennis doesn't lend itself to an Olympic structure. Especially this whole bronze medal match idea. There's Olympic spirit and then there's just plain damn cruelty.

Also, I'm getting tired of the commentators putting Roger out to pasture already. Seriously. He's made two Grand Slam finals this year and he made the semis of the AO with glandular fever. Yes, he's having a bad year by his standards but if you shot a horse based on it having a bad year, very quickly all you'd have would be an empty stable. This wasn't his year and yeah it sucked beyond words that it happened to coincide with the Olympics but, christ. You've been kissing the ground he walks on for almost five years. Don't be holding a gun to his head right now, when what he really could use is a little faith. Assholes.

... Guess what? The Olympic tennis finishes tomorrow. Bet everyone on my flist who hates tennis(though if you hate tennis how are you still reading anyway?)/the Olympics is really happy about that.

~

My Uncle kind of hinted that he might show up sometime today to take me for a ride on his Harley. I've wanted to go for a ride on it since he got it last year (or at least the first one. Which he, uh. Totalled. But it was someone else's fault! So it's fine. I'm fine. Um) but I have this nagging feeling that he'll show up just as Roger starts playing and I'll have to say "...Can you come back tomorrow?" I was hoping it would rain to give me an excuse but doesn't look likely. Dammit. A whole year and he would pick today. Hopefully he'll forget, or be busy. Roger winning an Olympic medal is way more important. Actually, mm. I should look into DVDing it actually. I knew there was a reason I spent half an hour fixing the DVD recorder the other night.

Have discovered Paula Cole. Bought the CD for Where Have All the Cowboys Gone and discovered the Dawson's Creek theme song, which I always loved even though I never really watched the show, is on there too. I love it.

I'm so glad it's the weekend. I promise to catch up on everything sometime in the next day or so.

I kind of want to make a Roger soundtrack, only it doesn't know whether it wants to be a Roger soundtrack or a fic soundtrack yet but it's been stewing at the back of my mind for a while and it's about time it decided. Although I do have the pretty much complete Andy/Roger one just waiting for final tweaks and fic in the liner notes, since that was the whole point of it in the first place.

I'm off to finally finish transferring all my old fic onto my fic journal over here at InsaneJournal now, so no, it's not a sudden flood of new stuff. Though I wish the internet worked on my desktop, because my laptop's been on for half an hour and already the fan is running full blast to stop it overheating. Goddammit I wish my stupid brother hadn't just abandoned us to our utterly crappy internet that doesn't work on half the computers in the house. And also, I really need a new laptop. I was thinking the end of the summer but I don't know if I can wait that long. I suppose it's all the same if I spend the money then or now. Ack. Though, this one has lasted four years without any major breakdowns and that's pretty amazing.

Maybe I'll call my brother later and ask him what good laptops he can get me discount on right now, just to compare them to what I liked on the Dell website. And no, I do not need to spend more just to get a pretty pattern on the lid dammit. I really don't.