I'm guessing I've had a hit from the US government because I'm linking to Michael Moore, but I'm not sure about the hit from Slovakia. I just don't know how I got that one.
I've been watching a lot of Strong Bad emails from homestarrunner.
Strong bad emails are silly and funny, and I like them. My favourites are Trogdor and the Japanese anime one. But they're all cool.
My car is booked for a Warrant of Fitness tomorrow, so let's all keep our extremities crossed that it passes with no big repair jobs.
Other than that I don't really have any news. There's a nice new thread on RPG net about worst game ever, that's pretty fun to read. It's hot today, and I am at work. I cannot go to the beach right now. I have no ice-cream. *sigh*
I had a pear for afternoon tea. It is a new kind of pear with red skin. Tastes exactly like any other pear I've had. Why do all pears taste the same? What's the point of making new breeds of fruit that all taste the same?
This has been a random Jenni entry. Keep up the good work.
Last night on the spur-of-the-moment caused by Elric not showing up to Tuesday roleplaying, hence being unable to play Buffy, I ran Wuthering Heights roleplaying. It was spectacularly silly/funny/fun. At least for me running it anyway.
The system is here, thanks to Evil House Monkey for showing it to me. Good monkey!
So, I got the guys to invent their characters, complete with Rage, Despair, something floating in the wind and of course, a problem. Or four in the case of poor Helena.
So, we had Theo Molvington, 43. A widower, who owns Molvington House. His problem: he is a rupublican, his coat floats in the wind.
Then his ward, Miss Helena, 17. She is very small. Also a republican and cursed with both a terribly rage and a desire to play the piano for at least an hour a day. Her hair bow floats in the wind.
Theo's friend from London Eustace Chipping-Worthingdale, who is as ugly as a warthog and an MP as well. His red hair floats in the wind.
The story was...well...Theo had invited Eustace to Molvington House to stay and also set him up to marry his ward Helena. She was repulsed by his hideous visage at first. Theo was in the depths of despair as it was ten years to the day that his beautiful wife died, somewhat mysteriously.
Eustace seems entranced by Helena's tutor Miss Thatchcoat, who is the very image of Theo's dead love. He is of course, most distressed by her appearance.
He is also distressed by the myriad portraits of his dead wife in the house. He covers these up with black velvet curtains. There is a strange howling outside on the moors.
After a piano recital by Helena, the four take advantage of the ceasing of the rain to take a turn in the gardens. Helena walks uncomfortably with Eustace holding her elbow. Theo must walk with Miss Thatchcoat who is concerned that she has somehow offended him.
They turn a corner of the hedge maze and find the statue of Theo's bride. Theo descends into a violent rage, hitting the statue with a stick and then running off into the maze, screaming.
Miss Thatchcoat faints dead away and is carried back into the house by Eustace, causing girlish flutterings in Helena's heart. Eustace tends to the fainted lady, hoping to win her heart.
Milton, the butler goes out into the maze to retrieve Lord Molvington. He finds him sobbing the centre of the maze. As they return to the house, a carriage pulls up. An unexpected guest! Walter St Clare, poet from London.
Walter claims to have sent a letter announcing his arrival that morning, but Theo recalls no such letter. Walter enters the house, and Helena's heart flutters still further, she has read his Romantic verse, he is extraordinarily good looking!
Over dinner Eustace insults the poet, who loses his temper and challenges him to a duel. Eustace names the time of the duel to be tomorrow on the moors, with two pistols each. Helena is quiet for the duration of the meal, plotting how to sabotage the duelling pistols. Theo is quiet, lamenting his lost wife, reminded by the Triptych of her that adorns the formal dining room.
In the night Theo is visited by her ghost, who says she was murdered, and he must avenge her and then join her. He vows to do so. Helena tries to sabotage the pistols but cannot tell which are the most "London" and "Fashionable" so refrains, unwilling to risk the lives of both men.
Eustace doses up on Opium.
In the morning, preparations are made for the duel, Theo loads his wedding-gift pistols for revenge, having been told that the howling is the dead wife's messenger, and will point out who is reponsible for her death.
Eustace talks to Miss Thatchcoat who is unimpressed with him. She cites that her heart belongs to another and her name is not really Thatchcoat. Eustace is too deep in his own despair to follow up on either of these things.
Helena and Walter walk on the Moor together. They vow their love for each other, and Walter asks if she will marry him if he wins the duel. She accepts.
After brunch on the moor, the duel takes place. Walter gives his floating scarf to Helena. It looks grim for Walter, as he has nothing to float in the wind, but it is Eustace's death day. They fire off their pistols, Walter's hits, Eustace's goes wide. Walter fires again, Eustace aims high on purpose and dies. There are many speeches regarding his death.
Walter stares at his own hands in horror and Helena says that her heart has changed since that morning, nothing indeed, is the same.
Suddenly a huge ravenous beast bounds up, howling. It sets upon the Butler Milton and tears him apart. Helena cannot bear the sight of it, Theo takes this to mean Milton was the murderer and watches him die. Then shoots himself to be with his love, shooting the beast as he dies so that the others may live. Walter goes mad with the shock and pain. The ghost of Eustace tells him to run away across the moor, and this he does, with Helena's doll-like body tucked under his arm.
~fin~
Quotes:
Helena (re the stool she needs to reach the piano keys) You need stools to gain power
Theo: I despair of these days when a woman needs a stool!
Eustace (conversation over tea): The farmers are the backbones of the economy. A pity we can't break more backbones.
Jenni (to Theo, re his dogs): Their naive happiness leavens your woe temporarily.
Eustace (to Helena): Your Uncle is mad in the maze!
Eustace (to Miss Thatchcoat on his final morning on this Earth): Due to circumstances beyond my control i,e, I am a pompous ass, I may not be able to lunch with you today.
Eustace, dying: Bitter visogomy! Like a lemon not yet ripened, placed too soon into the tea!"
There was also a lot of despair and fretting from Theo.
I notice that most people who have posted today are kind of scatty and unfocussed. I blame the weather!
Actually the reason I am scatty is that I was supposed to have this morning off, and had planned to: do my exercise ball video, the grocery shopping and go to Wilson's for an $8 bag of frozen seafood so that I can make seafood chowder this week.
Then just as I stepped out of the shower the phone went and I had to go to work. Nut bunnies. I had other things to do! I wanted to go to the chemist, which is by the supermarket, and call about getting my car a WOF and possibly finish my book. Hoom.
Now, I'm sure if I hadn't been called to work, I wouldn't have got *all* these things done, but I could have done *some* of them, and then I would feel better.
The weather is very scatty. Warm but dark. Raining, but not much. Stoopid.
I have too many things to read...Must finish Michael Moore book...I am getting there, and quicker than I had thought, but still.
Giffy, Margie and Regs are all moving in together and I am jealous as I'm sure it will be heaps of fun. I'll just have to visit a whole lot.
Then again, after a conversation about wetas, mice, rats and other rodents this morning with co-workers I don't want to move back into a house for a while. Apartment living has this incredible No Bugs Benefit, and I really don't miss bugs. You just have to deal with the Body Corporate in Apartment Buildings, and they can in fact be worse than bugs.
See how random this entry is? It's scatty!
as a teenager, I was not immune to angst. Which shouldn't surprise anyone, really. I never cut myself (too scared of the pain and mess), I never attempted suicide (though I used to think of how I could do it), what I did do is write my will, on refill in ballpoint. Outlined how I'd like my funeral to be, how my worldy goods should be distributed, and what they should say in school assembly if I died.
I wish I'd kept one of these wills, as I can't really remember very much about what I said. I know I bequethed my teddy bears to my mother. I think I probably left my books to Regs. I can't really remember what was more important to me than those things.
I also know that I didn't want to school to be forced to sing Amazing Grace at my memorial assembly, because we had been made to sing it a couple of times, and I objected. It being a public school and that being a religious song. I think I requested a song be played instead, but I have no idea what song I would have chosen to represent me back then. Something cheerful and therefore ironic I suspect.
Anyhoo, I haven't got a will now, so if I die, I want my funeral to be like Jim Henson's. I read about it in a book called What a Way to Go by Adele Brown. He said that his funeral had to be happy, full of stories about him that were funny, and no-one was allowed to wear black. Any colour under the sun but not black. Carrol Finney attended in her Big Bird costume and sang "It's not easy being green".*
I'd like to be remembered that way, thanks.
*I don't see how a bird that is clearly yellow would know, but there you are. It happened.
Reading: Stupid White Men by Michael Moore, loving it, although it's scaring me very much.
Song in my head: "I guess that's whay they call it the blues" by Elton John. Reminds me of my childhood, singing along with it in the car and not knowing what the bit rolling like thunder under the covers really meant.
All my internet time spent: on RPG net. I can't help myself, I have to post there, I can't leave well enough alone. I must gain more dragon levels. (Achieved by posting messages...) Must share my opinion with the roleplayers of Wellington....Argh!
Also reading: The Amber Spyglass with Lee. It's only my second time, and we just started it last night. I really like it but he does add a whole lot of extra characters for the last installment. I guess cause of all the killing off he also does. Hmm. Too much silly description though, he needs to learn when enough's enough.
Plans for Weekend: Sass's birthday bbq on Saturday and visit mum for scrapbooking on Sunday. Shopping Saturday morning, will NOT buy Hellsing, even though I want to, as my car needs it's WOF.
Ate for lunch: sushi, very good.
Happy because: a regular library borrower said that with my hair long and brushed I look like Audrey Tatou from The Spanich Apartment and Amelie. *glow!*
Got these links off RPG net...the first is this bunch. I can be seen in Evil House monkey's game leaning forard, head in hand drawing. I am having fun in this game, honestly!
If you scroll down you can see Luke doing a silly dance. Aheheh. Keep scrolling to right at the bottom to see the incredible death/demon gate special effects.
The other one is here, There are heaps of cool photos on here, I really like how Debbie got into so many of the first photos. If you scroll down about half way there are some with Giffy in, looking slayer-esque and two pictures of Margie. Keep going to the group of Women up on 'stage' and there's me and Evie. I look decidedly uncertain in the first one, and I'm almost completely obscured in the second.
It's a pity there are no photos of the climax and us all standing around chanting. Oh well. Now got right to the bottom and look at the group shots. I am front and centre, charmed sisters on one side, Leo (husband) on the right and slayer to the front of me. Excellent.
This morning I read a book in storytime called Maisy's Rainbow Dream. I believe I've mentioned Maisy Mouse before, as a rule I find the pictures cute and the stories bland.
Maisy's rainbow dream on the other hand is fantastic. I like to call it "Maisy takes drugs" because the images in her dream strongly ressemble cartoons from the Beatle's druggy Yellow Submarine era. Lots of striking colours and weird variations of the norm, like a teapot with legs, or a turtle whose shell is a slice of watermelon.
Fantastic.
The other thing I've done today is join Central RPG net, after Morgue linked to me there. I have since been obsessively reading and posting there. It is extremely active right now in the Post kapcon excitement. I'm really enjoying it.
I have been inspired to run a couple of games after Kapcon. I want to run a Jane Austen type game where the characters all have the goal of "land a good, rich husband". I also want to run an Engel game, but not before I've actually read the book!
I have vague ideas in my head, one based on a Studio Ghibli short I watched called "On your Mark". It's very beautiful and made me cry. Because I'm a big sook. Just lovely.
I also want to play in some of the games I missed out on at kapcon. RPG net is full of this! I especially want to play Tomb of Horrors and Donna's Little Fears game. I like Little Fears. I might want to buy it.
I wish I didn't want to buy things, it makes saving so hard!
Finished reading: The Other Madonna which is a fantastic Young woman novel, set in Australia where the main character is extremely human, emotional and irrational and seems to be able to heal with her hands when she wants to.
Very cool.
Saturday, first thing I played "Time of your life" which was a Brit gangster game in the manner of Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels. It was pretty crazy fun, although I couldn't get my accent right for it.
I played Lance Farrell, the driver. I managed to have the brilliant idea of sending two mooks that we'd interrogated to the mother of the Scottish gobshite we knew. Parcel post. Well, I didn't think of posting them, I just came up with who to post them to.
Quote:
Me- He's a kung fu robot fucker!
Ian- I've got someone who deals with kung fu robot fuckers.
My second game was Little Fears, in which everyone is a kid. I played Jo who was the gentle, kind twin to Chris, who is tough and quite mean.
The game was called the Underbed, and was very fun. One of the things that came up were carnivorous rottweiler-eating monkies. They never actually showed up in the game, but we talked about them a lot.
Quotes:
Jo (to Chris) Look! Now you're king of the dust bunnies!
*Marcus sneezes*
Chris- don't sneeze on my bunnies!
Chris- don't you know about Lord of the Rings? Didn't they make a book of that?
Lindsay- The movie's only just come out, they haven't had time to make a book yet.
My third game on Saturday was a game of Nobilis, which is where everyone is a minor diety, the game was Butterfly Ball which was gorgeous, fantastically run. I played the incarnation of Mischief, as I have mentioned before.
I danced with the hooded one, the god of murder, and to match I made myself a hodded robe like his, but pink! And bunnies came out the back, and they hopped around the dance floor and there were lots of bunnies.
Then later I changed the bunnie to badgers and got them to interview people about the murder.
Oh yeah, the game was based around Cluedo. We had a cluedo board to show the house and we were each one of the pieces. It was cool fun. I kind of sort of solved the mystery and I was nearly killed at least three times. Excellent fun.
After that was the Live game, which was a high school ten year reunion. My only sadness about it was that Phoebe and I were so busy Doing Stuff that I didn't get to mingle with all the weird and wonderful guests.
The special effects were amazing, expecially the Evil Power Point presentation from Gil Bates "What is happening? *click* I am going to kill you all. *click* what can you do about it? *click* Nothing! *click* Bwa ha ha!"
The other cool thing was the demon possession of Debbie Giltrap and the body rising up and guts coming out. It was very cool.
Naturally the Charmed ones saved the world, and the myriad other super people around helped us, and it was great.
Sunday morning I played in my brother's game of Godlike "Last Orders". Godlike is set in World War Two, in which a lot of people have manifested talents. i.e. super powers. I played the only woman in the team Captain Karen Taylor, who had the power to be completely undetectable, and super luck. It was very fun. I just love Godlike as long as I don't have to make the plans.
Plus, my character survived the encounter with the intensely hard to kill mega Nazi Talent Fafnier, so that was all good.
We actually succeeded in our mission objectives too, which is more than happened to some other teams that have played that game.
Quote:
Mike on a Russian officer trying to speak German, but very nearly failing: "You're only just sure he's not still speaking Russian."
My final game for the weekend, but by no means the least was a Buffy game called Mumford Hall. I played Aleisha Smiler, who was more or less a poor little rich girl. This game was fantastic.
It was spooky and creepy and I got to scream rather a lot, and also to play a character that had little to no interest in finding out what all the supernatural stuff meant. I just wanted to survive!
I also got to make a bad judgement call in my terror.
Got a couple of quotes from this one, the first being the best I think:
Billy- "That guy is dead, I checked his pulse, there's nothing. I got his room key by accident, let's go and check it out."
Maddy crying says "I'll borrow one of Aleisha's teddy bears"
Aleisha: "I'll lend you Bradley, but I need to have him back eventually."
There were a lot of undercurrents to the story that really made it cool. That and the exterminator called in to take care of the giant bug problem was the Crocodile Hunter. Excellent.
On top of all that fun, winning the prize has ensured that I will definitely return to Kapcon.
Yayyy! This evening I was awarded the prize for the Best Player at Kapcon, out of the whole convention, me!
Hee hee I am sooo happy! I think most of the nominations were from a game of Nobilis yesterday afternoon in which I played the diety of Mischief. I was insanely frenetic according to Evie, and made an awful lot of mischief. The guy who won Best Gamemaster for the convention is the guy who ran that Nobilis game, so that was pretty sweet, too.
For a prize I chose a lovely hardback gold coloured roleplaying game called "engel" in which you get to play warring angels. I can bet on at least one of my friends (Seraph...) wanting to play in it. Go figure.
Kapcon was cool fun. I mostly played in spooky games, that were really truly spooky. Matt Cowen's Buffy game was very scary, revolving around giant bugs as it did.
So, I am pretty gamed out, but I didn't manage to lose my voice at all, which is impressive, and I am not too tired. Unlike a lot of other people I didn't stay up very late last night after the LARP*. I came home and went to bed. Brilliant. I am going to sleep in tomorrow morning though. That'll be sweet.
*Live Action Role Playing.
I had a mental block re:substitutions, so I might tackle that one later.
Today is the first day of Kapcon and I just woke up from a dream where I couldn't stop falling asleep. Hum.
Watched Citizen Kane last night, and got really bored. Mostly because I found it very hard to hear what they were saying, and thus follow the story, It had some bits that made me laugh, but I'm unconvinced about it being Best Movie Ever.
Lee got some more Azumanga Daioh for me, so I watched an episode of that and enjoyed it ten times as much. So Silly!
A few years ago I dreamed that I was a geeky, gawky teenage boy, who had to try and save the world from beautiful alien women.
They weren't really beautiful women, they had just taken on that form for the initial attack. I was a very poor hero. I had a bunch of friends including a black haired girl I was in love with, and we found out about the aliens just before they attacked.
I was in the Wadestown library when I was forced to fight them. At first I was far to scared, and hid under the table by the photocopier. Then I realised that someone had to fight, so I climbed up on the table and shouted something heroic, like "You'll never win, alien scum!" and tried to throw the photocopier at them. It's amazing that I picked it up at all, I guess it must have been the adrenalin. What isn't amazing is that I didn't manage to throw it, but dropped it instead, hitting no aliens.
The aliens laughed at me derisively and upturned the table I was standing on. I fell and was hurt and they left, unconcerned about any further threat from me. I spent the rest of the dream hiding on top of some cupboards hoping no one could see me, and praying I wouldn't die.
I still feel like there's gunk in my throat. Mostly when I've just eaten something or had a drink, my throat is tickly and I have to clear it.
Also my nose is quite runny today, but I'm gonna blame that on the sun and the pollen, but not the boogie. That would be weird.
-song in my head. "Josie and the Pussycats, as performed on the album Saturday Morning."
-reading "The Garden of Evil" which is a novel based on Charmed. I'm only reading it for research since I'm playing Piper. Man, Piper is annoying. Actually I find them all annoying, so there you go.
-Craving risotto. That and ice-cream. I just had a chocolate trumpet at afternoon tea and I wants more ice-cream, precious.
-keen to scrapbook when I get home. When will it end?
Big news of the day: Lee's sister has had her baby! Welcome little baby!
I am looking forward to meeting her. Fingers crossed we get invited over tomorrow.
After Evie's comment I went and looked at the watery card from Card Captor Sakura, and yes, that does look difficult. I mean, why do mermaids need wings?
Then I thought I'd check cosplaylab to see if anyone had done her before...I managed to find this cutie, who hasn't done that card, but another one. Gorgeous!
Not the magazine.
Inspired by a comment Suraya made, I have a new idea to liven up this blog, and my life.
An idea I am sure to regret.
Here's the idea: Challenge me to make a costume! I can make updates about how the costume is coming and then post a picture of it at the end.
What do you think? Bad idea?
I'm playing a PC game again. It's been a while since I've wanted to play anything except neopets, but I decided I wanted to play this one because of all the girls on cosplaylab.
I am of course, playing American Mcgee's Alice. Which is a spooky, dark gothic version of Alice, grown up and insane. Wonderland is all in her head and all frightening. It's also confusing, and I've hit a bit I can't figure out, so it's internet walkthrough cheating for me.
I am enjoying it, although it's pretty scary and I can't play it for any length of time. I really enjoy the weirdness of it, and Alice is very cool. Very like Susan Death from Terry Pratchett, who is my favourite female character of his apart from Magrat.
The cheshire cat is cool too, he sounds like Tim Curry, or Jeremy Irons.
Lee saw an article on the web, or possibly it was emailed to him disputing a lot of the facts in Bowling fo Columbine. He believed it implicitly...which is a pity.
It is easy to believe that Michael Moore might be making things up, since he is quite a coercive interviewer and tries very had to get people to say what he wants. Still I didn't want to believe that he'd just lie to us, and thankfully, neither did he.
Everything new I hear about the film Mona Lisa Smile makes it sound better and better. I suspect it may be the coolest movie ever.
Reasons: It has Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Julia Roberts in main parts. I like all of them a lot. Well, Julia Roberts less, but I have a lot of respect for her all the same.
Then I heard that it was a kind of Dead Poets Society about girls, and I thought cool! I love Dead Poets!
Now I find out that not only does Tori Amos have two songs on the soundtrack, she actually appears in it! She's a wedding singer, and looks rather fantastic.
I am so hanging out for when it opens.
Yesterday Lee and I saw Peter Pan. I thought it was really very well made. The kid who was Peter Pan was annoyingly cocky and endearing as he needed to be. It was such an amazing performance for a kid. All that emotion and power.
Hook was also fantastic, very debonair and actually quite sexy. No over the top red coat, which was good, and it was the same actor who played Wendy's father which I thought was a great touch. The whole movie had subtle sexual overtones which I thought were right on. Nothing the kids will pick up on, but essential to the story, which is Wendy growing up, leaving behind childhood and becoming a woman.
I thought the 'secret kiss in the corner of your mouth' as metaphor for woman was pretty hokey and a bit bizarre, but there you go. The whole story is based around kisses anyway. Wendy gives one to Peter, and Tink gets angry....They changed Tiger Lily a bit and she gave John a kiss at one point.
The humour was very good.
All round, if you think you'll enjoy Peter Pan told well, go and see it, but if it doesn't appeal at all, don't bother.
I did a beginners balance ball workout video this morning. The problem is that if it's taken by a yoga/pilates expert, she's always going to do things that beginners can't.
It was good though and I'm all stretched.
Is how you could describe my costume for Evie's live action roleplaying game. It was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer anime. I am a 16 year old witch.
I wore my black and pink pleated skirt, blue puffy sleeved top, brown waistcoat and a brown bob wig. I decided to go with matching socks in the end, the blue/white/pink ones.
The game was great fun too. Exceedingly funny, and I got to do quite a lot of magic. Including the "drawing power from the earth" rutual which involved a funny dance. Plus, when I used my wand for spells I shouted what I was doing. "Amazing Izumi Force Field!" Izumi was my character name you see.
Fun fun fun and Kapcon next week.
Last night we watched some more of "The Awful Truth" second season. I haven't seen any first season, but the library only bouht the second on DVD. It is so hilariously wonderful.
My favourite epidsode was about Ficus plants running for congress. You can read about it here. The best bit about it was after Michael Moore cleared the first few hurdles in getting his Ficus campaign running, a whole bunch of other people in other parts of America started running ficuses too.
The idea being that the politicians running have been there for years, are uncontested and they don't achieve anything. Ficus plants are another choice, and they can't do worse than what's already there.
It made me want to vote for a ficus, but I think MMP means that we don't really need to run a ficus. We have enough choice.
>>Edited...
I feel stoopid. Why didn't I link to Michael Moore? Well, now I have. He's cool.
Svend sent me a link to a neopets blogger. She's very cute and sweet and her Kau adds to her blog. Plus, she's a Lord of the Rings fan, so that's all good.
Via her (kinda sorta) I found this guy who draws funny and silly cartoons about animals, which are poorly drawn. I find them very funny, although Lee wasn't quite so impressed.
I finished Across the Nightingale Floor last night. I love it so much! Some things that I really wanted to happen did, and some that I really didn't want to happened too, but that's OK. Fantastic fantasy writing with superb main characters. It's by Lian Hearn by the way, if you want to try and track it down.
Evie's Buffy Anime LARP is on Saturday, and I just don't know what to wear. I am tempted to go school girly, but then I'd want to dress like Joanna and my character for Saturday is very different to her. So I'm thinking of flowy brown earthy clothes, i.e. my new waistcoat!
Will have to try some different things on and make a decision. What a hardship that will be.
Here's one more link, I found it through Neil Gaiman and have been showing and telling it to everyone, so I'd better add it here too. Boy stuck in Toy Machine.
Just fantastic. He managed to get in but not out again. I'm pleased he didn't panic. I think I would have if it had been me, but then I wouldn't have climbed in in the first place.
Or should that be "Aaaah Wellington..." this time last week I had just got up and my whole plan for the day was to go swimming, which I achieved. It was a blissfully sunny day, barely any wind. Gorgeous.
Today it is raining and dark and well, not cold exactly, but I am wearing long pants and a jersey. And my boots. So not hot either. This is supposed to be summer, dammit.
*moan moan, whinge whinge*
Across the Nightingale Floor is really cool. It's got very exciting now, so I have to read it a whole lot. I'm coming up to the end, and then I'll buy the second one and read that.
Oh and by the way, I'm still a bit sick! I've got gunk in my throat that won't come out, so I have to clear my throat quite often, and last night I was unreasonably exhausted from work, so I'm blaming sickness on that too.
That and I got to sleep in all last week, so threw my body clock out a bit.
I'm taking berrocca and drinking lots of fluids, I'm just not eating very sensibly.
For those of you who have watched Hellsing: (Excellent horror anime)...which Hellsing character are you?
I suspect the test is flawed because it said I was Integral Hellsing, who is a total hard-ass bitch...or maybe I have a very bizarre self-image and I really am like her?
"Please dispose of this package thoughtfully" has always amused me: You are allowed to litter with this package, as long as you think about it beforehand.
Saw Love Actually on Sunday and I loved it to bits. I think they handled the swapping between stories rather nicely, and there was only one storyline I think should have been removed. (Colin going to America. Too silly for the rest of the movie.)
I didn't blog about it til now because I wanted to reread all the stuff I'd read about it already, such as Iona, Morgue and the Selfmade critic. They all make good points, like Iona was right that there shouldn't be any fat jokes. (Also, what was with calling that character fat? She was thin! Maybe not a stick like Keira Knightley, but still! Not fat!). I also do not understand why Christmas should be a time for telling the truth/telling someone you love them. And yet...it filled me with happiness and joy.
The schmaltz got me. I love it. I even think the gratuitous use of pop songs was good. I came out beaming and full to the brim with warm fuzzies. I like when movies put me into a good mood. It's a good thing.
Plus, as I said to Lee during the movie, *I'd* marry Keira Knightley, she's lovely. Although I'd talk her out of the HUGE train on the wedding dress. Actually her whole storyline kind of reminded me of Othello. Black guy marries white girl, his whote best friend goes all nuts. Jealousy, etc.
Maybe it was just me.
My new year's resolution is the same as ever. Be better with money.
i.e. actually save money this year instead of frittering it away and always needing more.
This year I have a proper goal. I want a new car. My car is a hand-me-down, my sister bought it second had about 6 years ago and it is beginning to fall apart. I want something bigger and nicer and newer.
So. Working hard and saving a lot. No more trips into town on a Saturday morning just because I can.
I am unlikely to win lotto, because I never buy a ticket and I hear you need one to actually get the money.
BUT if I *did* somehow win lotto, here's what I'd do.
Pay off the mortgage on my parent's house and my own.
Buy a nice car (see above).
Pay off my student loan. (nearly forgot that one...it's not very exciting after all.)
I would give my sister and brother an amount, a couple of thou I guess, because I'm sure they would gve me some if they won.
Then I would buy a second house, a holiday house in some fabulous place. How much am I winning? I'd like a place in Parnell, that'd be grand, Ponsonby is lovely too.
I'd also buy some smaller things...the complete Sandman by Neil Gaiman, Cowboy Bebop manga, Angelic Layer and Jim Henson DVDs.
Lots of books, presents for people and lots of clothes from Annah S.
I don't think there would be anything left after that...
it's good to dream.
Our holiday was great. We sat around and read books and played lots of games. We had an almighty Beanie tournament, which I am unable to tally up the results for as we had two Jasons and if there was just one playing we just said Jase, which isn't very helpful at all. Will see if I can figure it out.
There were two games of Trivial Pursuit which I didn't participate in due to hating Trivial Pursuit, and a game of scrabble which I played in a team with Lee and we won by 6 points. There was also my first ever game of Risk, which had to be cut off so people could sleep, but I was clearly in the lead of. It was Lord of the Rings risk, and I was a green elf team that owned Rohan initially and worked out from there. Jason was a black orc team that seized control of the shire very early on.
It's good fun. I want to play it again with all the weird Lord of the Rings stuff added in. Will be fun.
Also played quite a few games of Cranium which is hilarious. Great moments include Jason's virtuoso play-dough lobster, and impressions of John Travolta.
Evenings were also filled with rounds of the celebrity game (where a name is stuck to your forehead and you get yes/no questions. We had some big arguments there, such as "Is Paris Hilton a model?" and "Is Alf animated?"and "Does the Pink Panther have a movie about him?" got a bit heated, actually.
I managed to read "Molly Moon's incredible Book of Hypnotism" by Georgia Byrne which was kid's fantasy of the middling variety. Kind of annoying, but kind of good too. I was pretty upset when she hypnotised a retinal scanner.
I also read "Indigo's Star" by Hilary Maccay which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's the sequel to "Saffy's Angel" which I read earlier and loved. I also read "Fray" by Joss Whedon, which is super-cool. I now want to cosplay her.....just checked cosplaylab and no-one has done her before. I think that may be my next costume. I could wear it for the first day of Auckland Armageddon maybe?
She has black/purple hair with pink tips, I could get mine dyed, that'd be cool.
Right, holiday recap. I went swimming in the lake twice and it was very cold, but the days were so hot that it was worth it. We went to an outdoor heated pool in Tokaanu which was too hot for the hot day, and I got sunbruned shoulders and back, which was very annoying. I have a nicely tanned driving arm from coming home yesterday. It clearly ends where my tshort started, and is more tanned than my other arm.
Went to Taupo for shopping and I got a cute white singlet and a tiny fitted brown courderoy waistcoat that will be useful for costumes. It was only $5 so it's OK for that to be my reason.
The place we stayed was absolutely gorgeous, surrounded by bush so you get all these birds and a view of Lake Taupo and absolute quiet at night. Not to mention Absolute darkness, which is no good when you're trying to find the loo. I even got some scrapbooking done out there. Aheheh.