Started work today. 1 and a half hour commute. Really tired.
More later.
Alrighty. I'm away visiting Sam this weekend. So I'd better go to bed and I'll see you in a bit.
So, I had my graduation ceremony yesterday. I was so nervous! But it turned out to be ok, and I wasn't late, and I didn't fall over, and it wasn't as long and boring as I thought it'd be.
The ceremony was in the abbey, which is a pretty cool place for it. I couldn't see the stage directly from my seat, but they had loads of TV screens set up so we could still watch. We had to walk onto the stage and shake hands with the chancellor and the only thing I could think was:
'WE HAVE A CHANCELLOR?'
I'd never heard of the guy before, some good student I am.
So it turns out that the academic robes are some of the most preposterous and awkward things to wear ever. Not to mention the fact that they're too hot for summer. I was able to keep my hat on only if I didn't move my head at all. But because I felt important in my robes (I liked the fact that we got to wear the blue hoods for masters students, instead of green for the bachelors) I tried to keep them on for as long as possible and went walking all around town in them.
Bad news about the graduation day:
1. It rained the whole time we were in Bath. Proper non-stop rain.
2. My Dad woke up on the morning of the ceremony and couldn't look left. (I've experienced this before, it's difficult, yet amusing)
Photos will come later, when my Mum uploads them from the camera.
We also went around the Roman Baths, which is always a fascinating place. I love watching the water flow through the Roman channels that still work to this day. While there, my parents and I decided that the two words in the English language that are the nicest to say are:
1. Flue
2. Plumb
Try it! They just roll off the tongue.
OK. OK. Here's where I talk about Tsubasa chapter 121. Spoilers ahead.
I liked this:
'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com
I would love to die rampagingly, that would be amazing. But shut up I have no idea what they mean about the prostitutes >_>
Speaking of death, seeing as we're on the subject, in recent months I have discovered two great ideas for funerals.
1. Nick mentioned that he would have his funeral in Rio.
2. Steve said he'd play the Darth Vader theme instead of a funeral march.
Awesome.
I spent most of today trying not to apply for this job that I really want to get (as the thundercats would say, "Procrastination! Ho!", that was the thundercats right? I have been known to confuse them with He-man on occasion). I also went to the hospital with my Dad to get his hernia looked at.
The air was really thick and heavy this afternoon. Then it thundered. It was wonderful. But now it's hot again.
I'm going on a trip for the next two days because I have to go graduate. It should be exciting but I hope my gown isn't too hot. By the time I come back Tsubasa chapter 121 should be out and the next entry will probably be filled with my spazzing or crying, depending on how it goes; only time will tell.
*gasp* And I almost forgot! These CLAMP interviews are interesting.
Here and here.
See especially, the reason for the all the eye loss business, the reason for the xxxHolic drawing style and also by God they can draw 20 pages in 2 days??? They must be machines!
I finally gave in and drew fanart for Ouran High School Host Club; it is definately my favourite series of the moment.
Hikaru, Haruhi and Kaoru (click for big):
I had no particular reason for drawing these three. In fact, it was hard to choose who to draw, because I like all characters and all pairings equally. OK, well I do have a soft spot for Tamaki (aka Daddy), because his dramatics are funny. Also, I lean slightly towards Tamaki/Haruhi, because Tamaki's reasoning for it (that he and Haruhi are the main characters of a love comedy and are thus destined to end up together, while the others must therefore be homo side characters) makes so much sense.
But really I LOVE THEM ALL :D
Ouran episode 13 was good. It had the quality of animation that made the series stand out from the rest in the first place. It really kept the feel of Alice in Wonderland too, as in really weird and not a little scary (seriously, that story freaks me out). But maybe I just really like dream sequences.
xxxHolic episode 13 was OK (Doumeki is great in this story). But I feel that the lack of Tsubasa references in the xxxHolic anime made this episode seem less ominous. In the episode the wings are parasites, which is scary, but they were not made intentionally by someone, as in the manga. But they'll never mention Fei Wong Reed in the anime (and you know it has to be him who made the wings), so if they did mention that someone made the wings, they'd always have to leave this arc open-ended.
So, the final episode of Jyu Oh Sei was a rollercoaster ride. I was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole thing. This was a good series, the plot was interesting all the way through. I think I'm going to have to watch it again :3
It's a little sad that Jyu Oh Sei is over. I won't dwell on it though, because Honey and Clover starts straight afterwards! I can't wait :D
xxxHolic episode 12 was very good for a filler episode. It was both funny and scary (I was reminded of The Ring), just what I'd expect from xxxHolic, good good.
Right, I really have the urge to fanart right now. It'll either be Clow/Yuuko or Ouran High School Host Club (I'm surprised I haven't drawn any Ouran fanart before. What have I been thinking?)
So so, I've been all over the place for the past few days.
On Sunday I left Bath for good and moved back in with my parents. I still haven't fully unpacked yet. Trying to fit ~3 rooms worth of stuff into one room = frustrating. Man, when I stop being so lazy I'm seriously going to throw loads of stuff away. I'm going to become streamlined! I'm a hoarder by nature, but when I don't have any shelf space on which to put my manga I know something has to be done *determined pose*
Also of note was a visit to the freemasons on Monday to get me some voluntary work in their archive, how exciting!
But but, there's still another week to go before the next Tsubasa chapter *whiiiiiiiiiine*
I spent most of yesterday reeling from the new Tsubasa chapter. I'm not quite sure how I managed to do anything really. You'll be glad to hear that I'm better today (but I still can't believe that there's a two week wait until the next chapter).
We went to the cinema to see 'Down in the Valley'. The story was a little slow for my liking, but the movie was very pleasant to look at. Seriously, the colours were gorgeous. I'm ashamed to say that I had a little giggle to myself halfway through when I realised that the clothes that Harlan was wearing reminded me of Richard from Big Brother.
Immediately upon coming home we watched Fight Club, but I fell asleep half-way through ^^;;;;
asdfgh spoilers for Tsubasa chapter 120 like you wouldn't believe!
I've got the drawing bug today. Give me some paper and watch me go! I might try updating some of the really old character profiles tonight (that's if I have an evening; more often than not my evenings get eaten by Big Brother, hahaha *lose*)
So, I finally recieved the results for my degree. I got a 2:1, which is not the best, but by no mean bad either. So yes, I'm pleased, although it does mean that I failed my viva yesterday (so close and yet so far!)
I'm glad I did well enough to get a viva though, it means I was boderline, when most semesters I'd actually just been a middling 2:1.
The good thing is that I don't have to remember any more biochemistry ever again :D
I watched Kill Bill Vol. 1 last night for the nth time. Oh I do love that film; it's just so cool!
There was a sort of festival going on down the road from our house today. It had been going on for hours and I didn't even realise ^^; There was a pretty cool band playing; they had two guitars, a violin and a double bass. I really liked them, they were like a mixture of folk music, spanish guitar and jazz. Also, there was free cake.
So, around Easter time it was Linda's birthday. We made her a video for a present; we all filmed little bits and I put it all together. Part of the video was a montage of us dancing to her most least favourite song in the world, 'Don't Cha' by the Pussy Cat Dolls.
Recently, the dance video found it's way onto YouTube (Steve uploaded it). So I thought I'd share it.
Things to note:
- Steve is dancing in the toilet.
- Nick is dancing with both Linda's pillow and her Russian dolls.
- James got into his "pole"-dancing a little too much.
- My dancing is super (clearly).
The cover of chapter 5 is now up.
I didn't even realise that it had been a while since the last page; I was too caught up with my new layout.
Okay. Okay. I have a viva on Tuesday. Either I have been picked at random for one or, more likely, I am borderline for my degree classification. The viva will determine what classification I get. So, no pressure then. My whole degree rests on one interview *hyperventilates*
I think I shall revise.
It's been a busy couple of days. I haven't had time to draw at all, but don't worry, I'll start on chapter 5 pretty sharpish.
So, on Tuesday evening we took a ghost tour of the city. The thing is, that despite being a rational scientist, I am intrigued by ghosts. I shouldn't believe in them...but I kinda do a little. So I found the tour equally fascinating and scary (apart from the bit about evil ley lines, oh come on). The tour guide was a bit rubbish, and apparently he's been able to contact the spirit world since the age of 4 *scoffs*. If your name isn't Watanuki, I don't believe you.
The scariest bit was where we went down into this dell where, apparently, people used to fight duels. The story goes that the dead people from the duels were laid out in a tent for the family to see them, and that they are still present in ghost form today. The guy said that the tent had been recreated in the form of an extra large holly bush; I immediately thought of those hydrangeas in xxxHolic at this point. The bush is unusually hollow and has a 'door' in one side. We all had to walk into the bush and close our eyes and see if one of the ghosts touched us. The guide urged us to take photos, so I did.
By Linda's shoulder, highlighted by the arrow, is what may be an orb, one of the most commonly seen ghostly appearances. Is it a ghost? Is it a trick of the light? Is it a piece of dirt on the lens? *Geordie accent* You deciiide.
Personally, I'm a little skeptical, but we definately didn't see it when we were in there, and there was no dirt on another photo that I took that evening :/
Also visited were two art galleries, and an example of a Georgian landscape garden (see below). The big house is currently a school so we weren't allowed to see inside D:
We also went to see the Da Vinci Code, which I had been waiting to see for AGES; we just had too many exams to see it when it first came out. I'd heard quite bad things about it, so it actually turned out to be better than I'd expected. There wasn't as much in the way of explantations as there had been in the book, which is understandable, but a shame because they were the most interesting parts of the book. Luckily though, the action, which was tedious and boring in the book, was made more interesting in the film, so it's all good. I particularly liked Sir Ian Mckellen, even though he didn't really look like I thought Teabing should, because he is lovely. Also, it made me laugh when he let them into his mansion by saying "You may pass" (LOTR joke). Also also, I kept thinking of the council of Elrond, when he mentioned that council to decide what went into the Bible *loser*