New, different and procrastination

Well, not new at all, really.

So, whilst procrastinating this weekend (I said it was a good thing for my work for my laptop to have died... I don't get sidetracked by blogs and things) I discovered I could switch my blogger account over to the gmail beta version thingummy. Hence the slightly different looking blog. Which, once I remember and fiddle a bit more (I refuse to let myself until at least Tuesday) I think has at least one good aspect, in that it has kinda sorted out the archiving in the sidebar thingy, which I had been wondering quite what to do with, as listing every month since May 2004 (or thereabouts) seemed a bit excessive... But now it compacts down into years, so all is good. :)

Anyway, enough procrastination... I should go to bed!

Hehehe, my mum asked me if my blog had moved, since I hadn't posted for so long... so I decided that perhaps it was time that I posted something, if only to indicate my continued existence to my parents. ;) I think it's more the fact that I've been busy and also have an annoying laptop that randomly decides it won't charge and the like (which should be fixed very soon). There is also the correlation between deadlines and blogging frequency, which means that probably very shortly I will start blogging an awful lot (about 5 deadlines all for week 8, which is in 3 weeks time). Hmm, how I do love procrastination.

I'm not about to write a diary of everything that's happened recently... that's silly. However, we have started blocking in MUGSS for the Mikado (which makes me happy as my brain needs time to register the moves and then co-ordinate them... plus I require knowing the moves to the words). My other excitement is having bought some (clarinet) sheet music, CDs and DVDs: sales and student discounts are wonderful! :)

This weekend (actually from Friday til Wednesday) I'm going to Birmingham to visit Simon, which should be über fun and cool... if you are in Birmingham and would like to meet up, let me know- I know I'll have lots of spare time, although it could always be spent working. Well, I think I'll stop rambling and go and read some stuff instead. (Plus the computer room is filling up and thus I will boil if I'm not careful.)

Hmm

Despite my blog from blogger being imported to 'My Notes' on facebook (a web community thingummy similar to myspace, except it connects people through school, university, company and regional networks), what I post on 'My Notes' doesn't get exported back.

Lesson learnt? Blog on blogger if want all to see. Unfortunately, I can't be bothered to repeat the same post as I just wrote on facebook.

Boy boards plane without tickets

Right, so a kid boards a plane without a ticket. And this isn't a problem despite recent bomb plots and plane things because the airport was "confident" that the kid wasn't a security risk. Umm, doesn't one normally have to pay to fly? We can't have people fare evading on planes, that's just ridiculous!

Younger siblings are apparently funnier

According to this article that follows from some research or other, I'm supposed to be funnier than my siblings. At any rate, I think it explains why Yog finds me so hilarious.

So... today starts my second week of work. The excitement of the day is that I'm answering phones on a different floor this afternoon, due to miscoordinated leave up there.

Aaaaaaanyway, today marks the start of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon... quite how long it'll last I've no idea. Israel have said their soldiers will still act defensively (i.e. if they are attacked) and Hezbolla have said that they'll only keep the ceasefire if Israeli soldiers get out of Lebanon, which hasn't happened as the IDF are waiting for the UN force/Lebanese army to move south and take control. The ceasefire may be interesting, shall we say.

On a completely separate note, I had a really nice day yesterday. Josh (my nephew) came over for lunch and the afternoon (although I left with Si at 1.30), and then Si and I went to the afternoon prom, which was lots of Mozart with Maxim Vengerov on violin (I have previously spelt his name differently, but that's how it was in the programme). It was a really good (and packed) prom. Afterwards we hopped on the bus towards Leicester Sq and ate at Tokyo Diner- sushi! We then went and bought ice cream afterwards, which was rather yummy too (although Ben & Jerry's in Leicester Sq doesn't have half-baked). That was basically it, but it just felt like an enjoyable day.

Re-vamp

You may have noticed something a bit different here. After a virtual poke or two (or rather someone telling me to change it), I went and changed the template and I may now twiddle some more- it all depends on quite how busy work is, and also the rest of the summer. Comments are appreciated- let me know what you think about the new look.

As I've just said... I have a summer job! Started today (I'm actually posting this from work, as it's rather quiet), two weeks of general admin covering someone who's on holiday I think. Long hours, but at least I get paid for them.

Aside from that, I've been relatively quiet on the blogging side... mainly because there haven't been many big things to blog about. Usual kinda summer break stuff: shopping, seeing friends, etc. Been to a few of the proms with Simon, which have been really nice. :)

Scrabble

So, Simon and I have been playing rather a lot of scrabble of late... He won the first five games we played, I've won the last three- and what a win last night!! I managed to score ninety-six in a single move, with "seafood" on a triple word score, creating the word "dicing" at the same time with a 50 point bonus for using all my letters! Teeheehee.

A first class first year!

Yayyyyyyy! I got a first overall for my first year at uni... all sets me in good stead. :) 72.6% average... the maths results were particularly good, all being firsts, with three out of four of them being in the region of 90%... English weighs my results down a little, but it was ok this year, so we'll see what happens next year...

Yayyyy!!

Oooops

I've just realised quite how long it is since I last blogged. Ah well, just presume I was rather busy. ;) (That or was doing nothing and therefore had nothing to blog...)

It is raining outside, and thus good weather for blogging (and ducks, apparently).

Amidst the busy-ness of roughly the last month, I spent last Monday to Thursday with Simon in the wonderful city of Florence (as well as a few hours in Pisa and über-early hours on the Monday in London). Amongst other things, we learnt that Italians are crazy drivers, which doesn't really help when you are walking everywhere. We also visited many a tourist site: the Uffizi, Accadémia (where David lives), the Duomo (which we climbed! All the way to the top! And such a beautiful view of Florence from the top... wow. Also so close to the largest fresco in the world! So cool... Photos are in hard-copy format, thus not being posted on here until my parents buy a scanner, or I go somewhere where there is one), the synagogue, the oldest church in Florence, the Santa Maria Novella church and museum, the leaning tower of Pisa, the airport and the train station! A thing that annoyed me somewhat is the ban on photos from inside so many places.

Rather surprisingly (or at least, I was rather surprised), I didn't eat any pasta while I was in Florence. I'm not sure if this was Simon's influence, as he likes fish so much, or rather that I discovered last year in Venice that pasta is never a very filling meal out there, as it is before the main course. Ooo! I've just remembered, I lied. I ate one piece of penne.

Yayyyy the university staff pay dispute has finally been settled!

Sun and swim

The incessant rain that was appears to be somewhat less incessant than I thought: it rained early-ish this morning (9ish I think) and has been sunny ever since, for the first time in weeks. Yay! This was a handy coincidence with my plan to go for a swim this morning at the Aquatics Centre, where I did 40 lengths (the wall in the middle was up, so that's 40 lengths of 25 metres). I managed to keep myself at a pace where at the end of each 15 minutes of being in the water I had finished another 10 lengths. No, it doesn't take me a minute and a half to swim 25 metres: I tend to stop in between lengths every few, but this kept me going better than I may have otherwise. I like it there: there are always at least 8 lanes (3 slow, 3 medium and 2 fast) and barely ever is it that busy that you have more than 3 or 4 people in the lane- at some points today I was the only one in the lane, and most of the time there was only one other.

This afternoon entailed clearing out various drawers and things in my room, in preparation for packing up all my stuff. Funnier is the stuff I found underneath the bottom drawers: a puzzle book and a cake knife! (As well as plastic bags and other things...)

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Yayyyy! I've finished my exams... In Manchester 'til Friday, so I suspect much fun and relaxation before then, then I'm going home to London.

Exams went alright: today's was harder than I expected, but still doable (we had to answer four out of seven questions, I know I answered three really well and I answered three others, possibly not as well as those first three I mentioned; they take the best four). Thursday's exam was alright too: a little tricky in places (a different format where you could only leave one question out from the second section, I attempted them all though) but generally okay and doable. I should get my results late June, or possibly later is AUT action continues. (Mrrarggh grrr *wants feedback and things to be marked*)

Yay freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

We won!

Woo! Manchester University won University Challenge!! We won the final 160 points to Trinity Hall, Cambridge's 150. Woooo!

I commented on someone else's, so this goes on mine:

Comment, and . . .
* I'll respond with something random I like about you.
* I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
* I'll name something we should do together.
* I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me (or just me).
* I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
* I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
If I do this for you, you must post this on your blog so you can do the same for other people.

sun = little work done

Gah. The sun makes me procrastinate more and more and not want to do my work. Damn essays and exams. *grumble*

Broken toe

So, after thinking it was broken on Thursday (it refused to bend when my brain told it to and was painful), I strapped my toe to the one next to it and left it to see if it would improve (bending and pain). It did, until yesterday. I was sitting down on the bus, and flexed my toes and suddenly it hurt ridiculously lots and lots... more so this morning. So I took myself down to A&E (it is literally southwards, although not far at all) to get it checked out this morning (oh, the joys of not having many lectures midweek)... and it's broken. Fourth right toe, one of the bones is cracked. It makes the toe painful and swollen... apart from that I'm good. Trying to work out what on Earth I'm going to write for my final English essay of the year and trying to revise too (one complete set of revision notes made!). All fun. ;)

Holidays

Well... back in Manchester for the new term. Something like three weeks of lectures (or two weeks of proper lectures and one of revision thingummies) and then exams and then home!! So soon!

You may have been wondering though about the crazy yellow post below this one. Well, it was posted by a friend one evening at her house, when we were hunting for holidays for this summer. (Woo, hopefully there will be seven of us this year! Such funnnnnn. Which reminds me: Christina, if you're reading this, PLEASE TELL US IF YOU'RE COMING!!) Likely to be somewhere Spanish, semi-beachy, semi-cultural for a week at the beginning of September. All good stuff methinks. :)

And Simon and I have booked to go away together in June. :D We're going to Florence for four days just after Simon finishes uni for the year. Yayyyyyyyyyy! :D

New Post

YELLOW

Right now that's out of system...I have some very exciting news...Christina is officially a donkey's uncle's auntie.

That is all

(posted by Laura aka crazygirl)

please read all fine print before signing on the dotted line ...........................................................................................................
to confirm that you agree with this statement.

Wooooo

Heehee :D Our exam timetables are finally up... and I finish my exams on 22nd May!! Yayyyyyyy!

Why don't I remember my dreams, when everyone else does?

Maths rep!

So, I won my position on the union council for next (academic) year as maths rep. (Something like 48 votes to 25... not many maths students turn out to vote.) All good. :)

Went out with Josh and Adina this evening to celebrate (or rather, that was the excuse for getting out)- they are also school reps on union council next year, like me, but for their schools instead (computer science and law respectively).

Last weekend was the UK Jewish chaplaincy weekend, so Hillel was rather packed with people, especially over Shabbat, with Jewish students from all over the UK turning up and wanting somewhere to sleep: I had three girls sleeping in my room... all lovely, my room just got rather messy and I keep finding bits and pieces of debris left from them and am wondering how I'm going to return half the stuff, since I'm only really in contact with one out of the three of them. We'll see.

The last two weeks have been rather sleep-deprivingly busy, and I am thus rather tired and greatly looking forward to the holidays, when I am sure I will sleep lots and relax and possibly not manage to do the essay that I need to write. Hm. Oh, and obviously see Simon lots too. :)

Anyway, beddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Monty python lego version!! Heehee.

Purim sameach!

Quite possibly the strangest setting for a megilla reading I've ever been in tonight. It was the dress rehearsal for Utopia (opening night tomorrow!!) and so seven of us gathered in the orchestra's dressing room during the set change between acts for a very quick reading of the megilla (the story of Queen Esther for those who don't know). Impressively, we finished just as Act II began, which was fine, since we were all chorus members and weren't needed on stage for a while. But it was rather strange. We were in fancy dress though, given the fact that it was the dress rehearsal. ;) Currently wondering if I'm going to wake up in time to go for the 8.30 reading in Fallowfield in the morning. Hm.

Mid-March and it's snowing again. What's going on?

The Nature of Blogging

I don't particularly want to ramble for ages on this, although I do have oodles to say on the matter. Rather, I will link you to two blogs: one Simon's and the other Zoe's where you can read my copious, lengthy and possibly repetitive comments on the matter. There will possibly be a long post on the matter, once my essay is out the way. The English (which seems slightly like a history) essay takes priority first though. Blogging this as I'm procrastinating as ever. :)

Update

I'm standing for School of Maths rep on student council... funfunfun. Vote for me! (If you belong to the School of Maths...)

Other news: it is cold, frosty, snowy here. Birmingham was similar, if not colder when I was there during the week. It was lovely to see Simon too. :)

Quick decision

Do I stand for union council?

Damn them giving us two days notice before the deadline, and only a day before the nomination forms are out. Grrr.

And if I do, do I stand for general council or as school representative (maths)?
And what do I write in a manifesto?

Arrrggghh.

Microwave usage

I think that all students should be taught how to use a microwave before coming to university. That, or microwaves should only be sold to those who know or have been shown how to use them.

Yep, you guessed it! Once again, my flatmate has managed to burn something in the microwave. Nowhere near as bad as the chocolate incident, this time it involved popcorn... She put the bag in the microwave and left the flat not realising that with popcorn you have to listen out and watch it at all times. You don't leave something burning on a gas stove, do you? *shakes head* I don't get some people.

It couldn't possibly

be spring, could it? For the first time in a while it is actually sunny and bright outside without being freezing... one could almost get away without wearing a coat! *shock* Bring on more good weather!

Sore throat today...

What do you want to bet I have a streaming cold tomorrow?

Plus a four hour MUGSS rehearsal this afternoon... throat did not take kindly to it. Nor did voice.

A house!

We've found a house! And signed for it, paid deposit, etc. From 1st July, it is ours! Yay!

I'm currently trying to place dibs on the yellow and orange room... the walls are so beautiful. :D It isn't the biggest room in the house by far, but still big enough for a double (well, queen sized) bed, which is good. Front of the house, upstairs. The girls who are there this year asked to paint their rooms... and one of the girls chose the yellow and orange and there are extra printed shapes on the walls too, like butterflies on the ceiling and stuff. (The ceiling is mainly white.) *prays that the colour doesn't get painted over by the landlady*

Exciting!!

Back to Manchester

For the next couple of months... I don't think I get any more random weeks off, unfortunately. :( No English lectures or seminars this week though: reading week, apparently.

Knock?

Where in the world is Knock? All I currently know about it is that Ryanair fly there for 99p (plus taxes). Hmm, I think it's a google job.

Scholarship!

Heehee! Wooooo!

Fancy posting a hamster!

Yup... it's proof of my theory about super-intelligent people having less common sense than most ordinary folk. How can you not think it morally wrong? *shakes head* Silly Cambridge students. The tutors don't think to ask in interview what you would think of putting animals in envelopes and then in the post, do they?

Strange

This actually happened on Thursday, but due to mobile stress (as well as others) that evening, I forgot to blog about it. It also happened shortly before I met Kajal, which was very nice, indeed. :)

So, I was standing outside Starbucks in Golders Green at around 3.30pm, waiting for Kajal when along comes a boy I know, who similarly, has arranged to meet people at Starbucks in Golders Green, and is also waiting for them. Now, I've spent a maximum of three weeks with him on camps, all between August- December 1998, as well as having posted messages on a message board, in possibly what could be conceived as quite heated discussion with him.

(Aside to this story, but a comment about the same person: he one time actually said hello to me and used my message board pseudonym in so doing... in public. For this message board I use a nickname I had for a maximum of two weeks of my life, if not less, and he did not know me in this capacity.)

Anyway, we were having the usual kind of conversation, the what-are-you-up-to-these-days one, and so I said I was at Manchester University, and he said he'd just applied there. So I asked what he'd applied for, he told me, and then he said, "Let me guess, you've applied... sorry, are studying English." (He was in that post-application mode where it was still at the front of the mind.) I found this odd, as I couldn't see how he would know such a thing, but nonetheless I responded, "Good guess, maths and English actually, but pretty close, well done. How did you know?" (or some reply of that ilk.) So he said I just seemed like the kind of person who would study English. Now, yes, he knows I am pedantic about grammar to a high degree, but being pedantic surely does not mean that I am quite probably the kind who studies English, does it? Anyway, I was rather surprised and found it rather odd. (And no, I hadn't expressed literary views or the like on the message board. Conversations on there tend to be about religion and politics, or where you live (and being derisive about anywhere else).)

Lost numbers

My mobile has decided to become rather defunct, and thus I cannot reach any numbers (particularly mobile numbers: landlines tend to be recorded in address books, mobile numbers don't get updated nearly so often in there). So, if I had your number in the past (or you fancy giving me your number now), text me (you should know my number: it isn't changing, merely handset replacement), email me (address provided to your left) or 'phone me... but preferably after Friday, once I have a replacement.

200 posts!

This is my 200th post! I don't actually have that much to say, but I was fiddling with blogger and noticed that my next post would be post number 200.

*need to finish essay*

Knitting is detrimental to work progress

I've learnt to knit! The only problem, as you can probably guess from the title, is that I have work (essay and revision, mainly) that needs to be done, over the knitting. I'm trying to keep myself away from the knitting until after my exams (my last exam is on the same day as my essay deadline), and then I'm hoping to get far in the many hours I'm spending on Virgin Trains, travelling between Manchester, Birmingham and London. Fun. :)

Amusing

I bought some cheap eye-shadow the other week, because I wanted to increase the number of colours I had and the quality doesn't tend to affect my eyes in an irritating way, so I figured cheap stuff was just as good. Anyway, look at what it says on the box (and this is it letter-for-letter):

"Eyeshadow is shall colnage beatuy kindney and spirit eye,If your eye furthest able in the chips young blood spontaneous coruscate expression in one' seyes Usage and efficiecy:Eyes-hadow color to equably daub on fluate,have blow up lifelike's effect for your eye."

Reminds me somewhat of that rubbish you get in spam emails. ;)