hikaraseru , pandarosi , I bloody love you guys ♥



I'll probably post something more about my wonderful weekend with yuka02 , seventen , rosiael , nyametan , and of course hikaraseru and pandarosi later =D

Uuuh, so before I dive into this I'll just let you all know that I'm safely in my funky new DPhil course, and all is more or less good with the world. At least the section of it I directly interact with. I'll do a proper update at some point, but in the meantime I'll give you a nice little slideshow of computerised effigies.


( I hope you like IMAGES )

Two Sims entries in under a week? That's right. My enthusiasm for chronicling the everyday lives of digital avatars of friends knows no bounds. It's like “Big Brother” if it was narrated by that guy who does the voice over for “Come Dine With Me.”

 

( Cut in the manner to which you have become accustomed )

 

 

Today I had nothing in particular to do. So I did this:

1) Currently making a rather shoddy looking Cyclops visor

2) After about four months, wrote another Sims entry

3) Picked out a bike from the abandoned ones that are getting thrown out from my accommodation complex

4) Shaped my facial hair twice in 12 hours

5) Put Duck Tape on everything

6) Watched pizza crisp in the oven

7) Talked about iMacs with my new flatmate and the MCR president

8) This:

Cast your mind back to the distant past. The month was May. You may have been sat in a similar position to where you are now. Maybe you're wearing the same t-shirt. Maybe you lost that t-shirt long ago. Anyway, I'll get to the fucking point. I've got a few weeks to spare, and realised that I should probably do something more productive than waiting for pizzas to crisp and refreshing my Facebook news feed.

Unfortunately, I don't have any Lego with me, so that shot down my first idea somewhat. Then, browsing through some files on my computer, I found a relic of old. A folder labelled “LJ Sims.”

Last we heard from our motley crew of house-sharing adventurers, Richard had burnt half the kitchen to a blackened crisp, leaving Hazel in a condition that could be considered 'unboxed, slightly damaged' at best. JMQ was charming his way through the household, Kath had been strangely inactive since her day of entertaining locals in a hot tub, Lucy was being perved on by a certain housemate and Robin was getting strangely intimate with the intense talking-to-a-volleyball insanity of David. Rach was having a Bad Day.
( Cut, for your pleasure )

Andy TFU - I would go out tonight but i havnt got a stich to wear says:
 hey hey hey
 you need to remember and take heed of a very special phrase

<Major Tom / Kuma> says:
 "Fuck it, it's go time"?

Andy TFU - I would go out tonight but i havnt got a stich to wear says:
 Indeed it is



P.S. I'm back in Plymouth and near a computer 8D

In a few days I'll be embarking on a bit of a tour of the north, and it got me thinking about travelling... for some reason, I think  feel most at ease when I'm going from place to place, which is weird for someone who compulsively falls asleep on most public transport and is terribly paranoid about security.

I guess it gives me a sense of purpose or something. It gives me definite, time-dictated objectives and an array of different places and faces to see. Being stuck in the south west just kinda feels... stagnant. Comfortable, yes, but stagnant. The days are entirely interchangeable and I never really need to be anywhere or do anything in particular, so I get stuck in a routine of inaction. To the point where when things DO come up, it takes a real push before I'll actually do it. Travelling gives me more of a drive to be an 'adventurer'... or something like that. Anyway, it gives me far more to do and far more to write about.

Of course, I've not really travelled the UK all that extensively before, and it's been YEARS since I've been any further north than Worcester. Seriously. So, I may come online in a couple of days to write a post from underneath a Little Chef table, saying how terrible it is at such high latitudes of the country. It's unlikely that you'll find me running back to the westcountry, but who knows. It's another world up there, if the media is to be believed.

I'm also pretty excited about going to Scotland again. I haven't been there since I was a wee bairn, so it'll be a nice game to see if I can develop an accent before I piss off the locals.

Hopefully I'll be able to do a couple of posts while I'm away... though I may need to just take notes and write it up when I get back. Woo!

.... I just felt more of the world needs to see this.

I'm ill. For some reason I always find myself getting ill shortly after returning home, as if my immune system has worked overtime for the last few weeks of term and decides it needs some well deserved vacation whenever I get back to Devon. I thought I'd gotten over it a few days ago (about 12 hours of fever, followed by feeling a lot better) but whatever it is seems to have come back with friends earlier today. Ugh.

Anyway, I won't let this be an illness-post. What else have I been up to?

Halo armour, of course. The whiteboard in front of me lets me know that I've done the feet, the shins, the forearms, shoulder plates, a gauntlet and a thigh. Some of the bits are needing adjustment, as they're for someone slightly smaller than me... but it all seems to be coming together. Hopefully I'll be on the fibreglassing stage pretty soon. The plan is to get it done for October Expo if I can. That'll be a great thing to try to explain to my flatmates to be.

Ah yes, in other news, I got my results; a 2.1. Just what I expected and needed. So at the end of the summer, I'll be back to Oxford for my PhD, and probably full time at that. As a result, I need to get to grips with the room I'm currently sitting in no longer being 'my room' after a few months; phase one was chucking out as much stuff as I could, which probably could do with some work even though I successfully managed to fit my university room into my room at home AND get rid of a couple of the storage units on top of that.

Let's see... what else... ah! I just finished reading the whole of the "20th Century Boys" manga. I started reading it part way through last week on the basis that the Japanese have just made a film of it. They seem to love taking good, successful manga and producing some kind of live-action fecal matter loosely based on it, but I'd heard that this film was actually pretty good, which must say good things about the original material. It's a pretty cool story (I won't spoil it here), has the most characters ever (but they're kept well defined) and spans over about 45 years... I'm amazed at how the artist can make the characters look like the same person while ageing them such a long period of time. Anyway, It was good. Kinda weird at the end, but it was a very entertaining run. Only 265 chapters, too. Get to it ;D

I need to get out of Devon at some point...

So I've been home a few days now, and most of my time has been spent trying to fit my university room into my room at home, and then reduce the amount of stuff in that room to the extent that it can be used by people other than me (as I most likely won't actually be living here anymore in a couple of months). It's gone pretty well and I chucked out a load of useless crap I'd been storing for... some reason I still don't quite understand.

I know I badmouth Plymouth quite a lot, but I could probably do with some visitors D=

Anyway, that done, I've decided to undertake a couple of projects. The first is to get through the mountain of unread books I have. I'm a total bibliophile, but haven't had the time to read lately... so I have a bit of a backlog. The second project is a little more interesting;



So yeah, I'll let you know how all that goes =D

Oh! And I'll no doubt be updating the Sims Project once I've got my files off my laptop. This shall be a summer of projects!

As we draw towards a point where more and more of us are leaving to our respective homes, it's almost like even the most trivial of events can take on a worrying weight and potency. I'm not really someone who can cope with that kind of thing without cracking a joke, getting quite awkward or changing the subject.

I'm not one for 'goodbyes.' Certainly not emotional goodbyes. They suggest far too much of a story's end. It suggests too much of a future that's absent of fun and good times rather than a past that was, when the goodbye is found to be difficult, clearly a lunchtime buffet of the stuff.
Not only that, but we've only gotten to where we are today through various meetings and partings in our past. It may sound a little unsentimental, but everything is transient. Acquaintances become new friends, become close friends, become old friends, become people you only see a few times a year but are still good friends you have a connection with nonetheless. You're built and strengthened with everyone you become that close to, so saying goodbye is not something that should be done with any kind of regret. It won't be long before you do it again with people you haven't even met yet. Sure, it's no bad thing to miss the presence of those you've drawn a close bond with, but I don't want to have my days of transition having sadness as the prevailing wind of emotion if I can help it.

I had a look at some quotes from literary figures that deal with this kind of thing. People often liken partings of friends to deaths. I think it's more like they've moved to a pleasant but out-of-town nursing home. One that doesn't smell of urine, is quite nice to visit and probably has a good internet connection.

So I won't say “goodbye.” If it has to be anything, it'll be “see ya' later.”

So I haven't had much time to post anything lately, first from exams and later from running around Oxford (and into London) trying to see as many people as I can before our group is split across the world and I'm shunted back to the deepest darkest reaches of the south west. I've done a LOT and done a pretty good job of seeing people so far, but as a result my blogging has suffered. So, as I still don't really have time to be writing an extensive entry on my recent activities... I present 'The Week (so far) In Pictures.' Descriptions to come.
( LJ Cut Hates Me )

So that gig went pretty well... we seemed to have a bit of a growing following before we'd even gotten on stage (a few people saw us sound check and word seemed to get around). I think people thought we were bigger than we actually are because we went on last and were the only actual BAND there... everyone else was a singer-songwriter... quality was decidedly mixed.

As for us; best performance of the song about the Spanish civil war, worst performance of One I Love, particularly when I decided to get a little too adventurous in climbing up the fretboard. I think we've decided on a bit more of a direction with our music... Alastair has finally admitted "I just want to rock" so maybe we can stop trying to be quite so shoe-gazy now.

So the past week? Panicked revision. Stressed-Tom has been somewhat absent in recent weeks, but has made a full blown emergence at the sight of past exam papers. I only need to get a 43% average or something to get the grade I need, but that isn't offering me that much comfort. Yes, its higher than my lowest test score so far, and you're always expected to do a bit better in your 4th year than your 3rd year (sticking my predicted percentage around the high-60's/low-70's) but I'm going to need to work hard to be ABSOLUTELY sure. And even then I'll worry.

Hedd finished yesterday, George and Jo finished today, David finishes the day I start... I'm going to be living in a flat of happy, free-to-do-whatever people during the darkest days of my exam period =_=;

Also, I've discovered Twitter. Mostly because it's procrastination (nay...) but procrastination that takes the smallest possible amount of time (yay!). If you've got it, add me. I'm under KumaUK.

Now it's time to hook up with my liquid study-buddy and drown myself in a sea of fearful anticipation.

Thanks to everyone for the messages of congratulations over my successful PhD application~!

Now I'll really need to make sure I get the grades I need and do you all proud ;D

In the meantime, revision revision revision and on Tuesday it'll be my band's first gig outside of an Oxford college... The Jericho Tavern. Radiohead performed their debut performance there... maybe this could be the start of international stardom and critical acclaim for Women in Engineering!

Right, I'm off to my underground study-bunker... incidentally, you may not see much of me on MSN from now until July, so FB, LJ and text messages if you need me!

This is has been a frikkin awesome week.

Okay, time for my Expo post... seeing as how there are a lot of photos flying around already, I'll keep it to a minimum here. And so much happened that I'm going to have to do my shout-outs on a person-by-person basis rather than by event... if I miss you out, or correspond the wrong LJ name to the wrong person, shout at me until my memory returns 8D. As people watching their FLists may have seen, I'm struggling somewhat with LJ-Cut fucking up my text, so I'm afraid it'll have to come like it is.

In no particular order;

rosiael - You're a hero even when you're dressed as Austria, eh? 8D I just know that I wouldn't have had the incredible day that I had (or even met a lot of the people on this list) without you, so thanks for all that you've done~

pandarosi - I feel like I properly started to get to know you this weekend, albeit through the wonderful medium of a failure of a public transport system. I'm surprised we're not still in East India o_o;

kazayami – You did some great work for the motherland this weekend, comrade =D with all the rushing about and disorganised excitement, you still managed to take some really awesome photos... I have a LOT to learn from you.

y2k3nj1_miro – What happens in Okawaris stays in Okawari

hetaliaireland – May your throat be healed of Linkin Park and your Gundam models be carefully constructed and impressively large.

katiedistance – This is the first time I've seen you since we've become EPIC LJ BUDDIES ;D You owned that stage... and I'll forever have nightmares of Italiazilla.

dr_ghost , rwylin_ni and xaerael - I'm so pleased I actually managed to see you guys this weekend, even if it was pretty briefly... well done do Xae on doing so well in BOTH masquerades! Ghostface; you, me and a certain Yukisan have some unfinished business to attend to ;D Rwy... I hope you're feeling better ^^; And good to meet you, unsymbolic =D We'll no doubt see each other again.

yunu – Whenever I see a video of our part of the skit, your face cracks me up every time. It's a facial expression that says 'FUCK YES, I'M THE MAN' with a GENUINE sense of achievement. I'm only ever going to be able to think of you in terms of France-nii-sama.

white_leviathan – Such a crowd-pleaser, Jake 8D Shame I wasn't there to psych you up on Sunday's masquerade, but I hear it went well anyway~ See you at Aya!

lex_is_evil – I fell asleep on the bus home and thus was probably quite bad company 8D And I can't believe you cosplayed as a Nazi again without much fuss XD

lady_unaspi – SIS 8D That was FAR too long from the last time I saw you. It better not be that long before next time >=/ And it was so cool properly seeing most of the [foam]ies together for the first time =D I recently looked at a job in NORTHAMPTON.... so I'm gradually drifting towards you guys, it seems o_o;

firedaemon – YOU FOUND ME! So good to see you again =D I hadn't quite realised how little we see of each other these days until that Richmond event... but now we know better ;D

nert – You did a fantastic job as always, even with your technology fighting against you!

hikaraseru – Oh yeah... we still need to get that ice cream with nyametan ...

bushy_haired – omg that Ryuichi cosplay was just too adorable o_o;;

nosferatu_chan and cape_carnival  – I always group you two together XD You guys were fantastic, constantly adorable and I loved your signs! You should try to take pictures of some of the more arty ones and post them on the SG group~

mocha_berrytan – Massive congrats... your Warhammer group amazing... probably something that people will remember for a long time. And you managed to sustain that accent for AGES o_o

spyramy – Doitsu~! You were a brilliant Germany... also a good Malfoy, apparently 8D

bizzu – I didn't actually see that much of you on Saturday... keeping quiet, eh, Esti? ^^;

starfishyfish – Your cooking shouldn't be that good. What's up with that.

lavi_3 – Dude, our conversation on the way back was DEEP. Haha, I love talking history/politics with people... it's something I don't do so often these days. APPLY TO WADHAM. IT IS AWESOME. If you tell me what course and college you're thinking of going for, I /might/ be able to put you in contact with someone who's already been through it =D

codekallen - I will never get bored of the facial expressions you make. Never.

alexxiel - This was only the second time I've met you... and I hope I'm not too much of an embarrassment to your country (umbrella-ella-ella-EH-EH-EH)

sailor_aikomoon and gunstarvixen – Our respective meetings was PROPERLY brief o_o; At least I managed to bump into you at all... So much rushing around... and I saw Chevi just as they were trying to kick us all out of the building DX Aya? y/y

miss_zetsubou – Man, that sucked that you needed to go before you could get on stage... you were looking so awesome too ;_; I saw some of the photos that you guys took by the river side and it looks like you had a great time anyway!

zaros – Stupid sexy Batman... I'm thinking of using a zentai suit as the base for my new Gordon Freeman, so I may pester you about that ^^;

jjpprob – I didn't see you. What the hell ._.

seventen , frazzy_features and yuka02 – It's a shame you guys couldn't make it... but just think of me taking my first exam while you're FLYING TO JAPAN Dsajjsklf;akjlsf

Wow, that was unexpectedly long. And unexpectedly difficult. Goddamn LJ HTML.

But finally; BEING THE JANITOR HAS NEVER BEEN SO MUCH FUN



Bloody love our Scrubs group. Bloody love the Hetalia group. Bloody love my Flist.

Over and out.

I won't be leaving until 5am tomorrow, but it seems most people are leaving for Expo today...

So just a post to say;

I should have my phone, so give me a call... probably before 3pm if you're not in the Hetalia skit.

Oh, and I'll be there on Sunday too =D