Whew. I still haven't stopped to take a break yet. Oh well, it's the best way I suppose.

So, you know how I said I got a new job?
1. My old job ends in just under two weeks time, so I'm busily trying to get all my loose ends tied up before then.
2. I'm also busy getting everything together and making phonecalls to get my new job sorted. Hopefully I'll get a contract to sign sometime soon :D

And, I found myself a new flat! It's not too fabulous on the inside, but it'll be MINE. MY OWN. I WON'T HAVE TO SHARE WITH ANYONE ELSE HAHAHAHAHA.
Also, it's unfurnished, so I get to choose some furniture for myself. Hopefully I'll have just gotten the bed sorted, woo!

Of course, after that, I just have to deal with the moving all my stuff and the changing my address for everything and why are there so many things that I have to try to remember to do?

In much more exciting news. Mariya is coming to start her MBA this week \o/ She moves into her new home on Saturday, but for two days before she'll be homeless, so the two of us are going to have a nice jolly around London. I'm looking forward to it! A final fling with the big smoke before I have to move on to more boring sedate parts ;_;

So, yesterday was finally the big wedding day, and the second time I've been a bridesmaid in under 12 months!

I am glad to report that everything went wonderfully smoothly. The weather was lovely; the guests all had fun; and I didn't trip and send Theresa flying as she walked down the aisle.

Also, there was much eating and dancing and getting to play dress-up, which is always great fun.

Photos!

Deborah and I in our bridesmaid dresses, which you can't see at all because of our shawls (it was cold!). There was another bridesmaid, Theresa's cousin Sarah, who is 12 and absolutely adorable, but sadly I don't have a decent photo of the three of us together.

The cake!

The happy couple, cutting the cake.

The first dance. Afterwards there was a BARN DANCE in which there was lots of skipping and lots of frantic stepping on toes and lots of very tired and sweaty people afterwards :D

Me, Theresa and Deborah, three friends together! I really like the way this photo echoes another one of the three of us, which was taken seven years ago, at our school leaving ball.

Isn't it funny how things change, and yet stay the same?

Hi!

After a hectic week last week, I am back! And I'm back with news!

Guess what? I got a new job! Woo! All going well, I should finish my old job and start my new one in the next few weeks.

The only thing is, my new job isn't going to be in London, so I've got to move away from the big smoke. I'm kinda sad, and I think I'll miss the place, but I'm also kinda excited about moving somewhere cheaper.

So, after that news, I think I promised to show you some photos? From way back when?

Here we go!

My Holiday

We went to deepest darkest Shropshire. It's a nice place if you like hills and craggy landscapes. Also, I saw a stag's head.

Theresa's Hen Party

Was a roaring success I reckon. I also got some beautiful socks out of it, which I will have to show you at some point (they are so beautiful).

We were very sophisticated and had afternoon tea.

And then I was very sophisticated by wearing my free flower garland (from Chiquitos!) in the "Rambo fashion"

It's the wedding this Saturday! How exciting! (I'm having nightmares about my bridesmaid dress not fitting.)

Gundam00 Second Season Complete Mission Fanbook

Because Mariya is so good to me, she got me this for my birthday. It's got some nice pictures in it (and some crazy Japanese stuff that I can't read, but is nevertheless crazy), and I promised Mariya that I'd give her a poor, camera quality, glimpse of the best parts.

Front cover (very serious)

Allelujah and Lyle. WHY ARE THEY BLUSHING. I find it quite disturbing for Lyle to be blushing at Haro like that.

Once again, Haro steals the show! The Christmas in which Allelujah gets wasted, Setsuna gets a gunpla and the person who forced Tieria to dress up gets a smack in the face (he doesn't look happy).

And finally, a picture I like to call Hahaha, no, it's not fanservice, really, whatever gave you that idea? For some reason, schoolboy Tieria weirds me out more than schoolgirl Tieria.

Hiya! Today I'm running in the door to run out again. I'm rather busy at the moment. Here's the lowdown:

1. It's Theresa's hen party this weekend. The one I've been organising for the past four months or so D: Hopefully the weather will hold out for us and it'll be fun! The organising has been stressful, let me tell you.

2. I'm looking for yet another new flatmate. (Ellen's moving out to move in with her boyfriend.) So I'm fielding calls about the room left, right and centre. Fingers crossed we'll get it all sorted out next week.

3. I've spent the past few days frantically cleaning (see above).

4. I've got two job interviews next week! Woo! I have to write a presentation for one of them. Golly.

5. Work has been hectic recently, because I've only got 3 and a half more weeks before I finish my current job (see above).

5. And the weekend after next there's a bank holiday in which I'm running home to my parents house to get a haircut so I'll be ready for the next weekend which is Theresa's wedding :D
And then after that, maybe I'll get the chance to sit down.

6. In the meantime I've been trying to write a crazy fanfic which is a crossover of Mononoke and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell D: Yes, you heard me. Dear God why.

So, um, yes, busy is probably a good description.

And now I have to go pack clothes and other such hen party paraphernalia.

p.s. I had a lovely time on holiday, thank you! We got chased by dogs and I also fell on my coccyx and now it hurst when I bend over \o/
Photos at some point in the future!

Oh man, I am so tired today!

Here's the deal:
- I finished writing my job applications! *weak cheer* Now all I have to do is wait and see if I get an interview.

- I'm going on holiday tomorrow! For a week! I'm really looking forward to relaxing and sleeping-in every day. So if you don't see me around here for a while (well, a week), I will probably be in a field somewhere.

STOP PRESS!

Here's some exciting news. Mariya's just got a new blog!
http://marishasdress.blogspot.com
In it, she really puts my wardrobe to shame. I tend to spend as little time as possible deciding what to wear for work each morning, and it shows! Boy does it show!

I have been really busy recently.

Here are the essentials:

1. So I didn't get the job. Never mind, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
2. I'm currently applying for more jobs. Filling in application forms takes so much time D:
3. I went to a music festival with James and Steve. It was well fun, and we only got rained on once. Also there were nachos. Awesome.
4. I had a birthday last week. I am now half-way to 50. Good golly. I went to see Theresa, and we baked cakes :D Also, I bought a ruddy lovely new skirt, which has made me realise that my current tights situation is dire.

5. Song of the moment, to keep me going through the applications, is aNYway by Duck Sauce, to which it is impossible not to boogie.

I had a job interview today!

But I have to wait until next Tuesday (possibly Wednesday) to find out if I've made it to a second interview.

It's all quite nerve-wracking.

Wish me luck!

Howdy!

Do you want to know what I'm loving at the moment?

1. Psychoville is brilliant.

I'm not sure if it's as funny as the League of Gentlemen or if I'm just finding it funny because I know what to expect (which is creepiness, and boy, do they deliver it in spades). Either way, I was laughing hard at the 4th episode.

So dark and yet so good.

2. Here's a song:
Fire by Kasabian makes me want to rock out in the best possible way.
(Vlad the Impaler deserves a mention too, because it contains Noel Fielding being a goth in the video.)

3. And last but not least: My copy of Yun Kouga's Dear Meisters Comic & Arts came through the post today \o/

Look at it! Look how pretty it is! It's very nice. If you like Yun Kouga and Gundam00 you will not be disappointed, let me tell you.

I had previously bought Yun Kouga's Gundam00 Design Works, but this new volume is, without a doubt, better. This is because Dear Meisters contains all the artworks that were in the Design Works plus loads of new artworks from the second season!
So, I am a little miffed that I have had to pay again for some of the illustrations I already own, but I am glad that I bought this book, because I'm glad to see all the new artworks.

And those new artworks include, not only coloured pictures and character design sketches, but also the minicomics for each meister! Each comic is absolutely adorable, and I really don't know who will give me the most cavities. At the moment, I think it might be a tie bewtween Moe Tieria:

And baby Lyle with a plaster on his nose:

One day I will get out my Japanese dictionary and try to read these properly! But for now I will just look at the pictures and cry tears of sugary joy.

Good thing the first:
I got a job interview! It's in a couple of weeks! \o/ \o/ \o/

Good thing the second:
I just bought myself this.
Oh God, I can't wait for it to arrive. If it's anything like the first season Yun Kouga artbook, it's going to be wonderful. But I think it also contains bonus comics (including young Neil and Lyle! Together!) so it sounds like it's going to be even better. NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT IT HAS NAKED TIERIA IN SPACE ON THE COVER!!!
:D :D :D

Whew! It's been a while, hasn't it?

I seem to have been particularly busy recently. Let me give you the lowdown.

1. So it's that time of year again. That time of year when I find myself in need of another job. My contract runs out in September, so in a desperate bid to not be unemployed when the time comes round, I've been applying to jobs. Or should I say, 'applying to job'. Because the job market is looking a little less fruitful this year. Damn you recession! Damn you!
But as I pointed out: if it comes to it, being unemployed won't be so bad. It'll be like being a student again, only without all the stress and coursework or the price tag of a few thousand pounds. Sounds alright to me.

2. I found myself at the Globe again last week. We went to see As You Like It for Susan's birthday. It was fun, and decidedly cheap at only five pounds per ticket. Standing for two and a half hours is slightly taxing though. My feet fared bravely throughout the whole thing, until it was time to go home when they decided to 'stuff that for a game of soldiers' and promptly gave me cramp.

3. I had to work late on Thursday evening, helping to set up my first proper exhibition. It was, sadly, the most exciting thing I've done in a while. But, I mean, come on. They had canapés! How is that not exciting?

4. And I've just been to see my parents all weekend on account of it being my Dad's birthday. I did the dutiful daughter thing and bought him lovely presents, all of which I would like to steal for myself at one point in the future. So we spent the weekend sitting in the sun (and the heat! Golly, I'm fanning myself with an actual FAN at the moment! It's proper summer now!) and later sitting in the pub through a thunder storm that went on for ruddy ages. That was one serious storm let me tell you; it's rare to see one last that long! And it had proper thunder claps too. None of that low rumbling nonsense.
We spent most of the time doing evil laughs and shouting things like 'It's alive!' hoping to catch the thunder at the most dramatic moment. You will be glad to hear that we failed miserably on that front.

And now for some breaking news (shut up I know it's three days late):
I am still quite shocked. It's sad news. Yes, he was mental, but he also made some great songs and boy could he dance well.
Little known fact: this was the first single I ever bought. And don't tell me you never tried to recreate the video by standing in a door frame with a fan blowing in your face. I KNOW YOU DID.

Good Lord, why haven't I posted about this already?

Literal video version of Total Eclipse of the Heart
This is my favourite thing at the moment. I've almost memorised all the lyrics.
Slo-mo dove~

In other news, I've just had a new flatmate move in today. He's called James, like the flatmate who just moved out. Which is handy.

An old song, but shockingly relevant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UymKurTBdhw (Warning, it's a bit sweary so NSFW)

I walked to and from work today, and now I'm really really tired. I feel like I could fall asleep right now, but I have to force myself to cook dinner. And it's walking to work tomorrow as well *tired sigh*

While we're on the subject of the tube, here's a clip of Michael Mcintyre telling it like it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es2l4yUBY6M (If you keep watching, the bits about talking on the phone are funny too.)

Other things:

- I discovered a type of music called Balkan Beats during my trip to Germany. It's rather fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAdkIQbKtPc

- I am looking for yet another new flatmate. It's taken over my life this past week. I hope we find someone nice to move in.

I've just returned from a long weekend visiting Nick in Germany. Steve, James and I flew over on Friday afternoon, and we had a fantastic time, despite the fact that Nick doesn't live anywhere particularly interesting at all <3

Highlights of the trip include:
- Being harangued by a multitude of dogs.
- James shutting his foot in the car door.
- Teaching Nick's German friend, Toby, all manner of English swearwords (although he was already very competent with a highly inventive 'Drink piss out of my ass!')
- Finding out that Nick is very good at speaking German, apart from the German word for kitchen roll, which apparently makes him sound like an idiot.
- And I got some new shoes, which are lovely, and were only 10 euros! But they hurt my feet in a really big way. orz

But enough of that. Let me give you a massive photo-spam of my trip \o/

We arrived on Friday afternoon, and spent a while nosing around Nick's flat.

James and I were very miffed that neither of us were anywhere to be seen on Nick's photo wall. Where's the love Nick? Where's the love? You should print this photo out and add it to your wall, then James can be on it after all! (You'd do this if you were a good friend.)

Nick's flat is actually really nice. And full of really nice stuff. And he rents it for cheaper than I rent my shared, skanky flat in London ;_;
This sofa was my bed for the next few nights.

Steve and James shared the air-bed, which was, as we later found out, really really noisy whenever anyone moved.

Once we'd settled in, and Nick had made us a very nice dinner, we put on our party clothes! We went to a club in town, which was hot, small, undeground, and reminded me a lot of all the hot, small, underground clubs we used to go to in Bath together. There was much dancing and chatting to Nick's friends.

The next day we went to the market to get supplies.

While there we saw a stall that was selling soup and sausages. It was very tasty, but also very very filling.

Then it was off in the car to Wiesbaden, to do some shopping and some wandering around in the sunshine.

While there, we had ice-cream. Mine was much larger than I expected (but no-way near as large as some I saw), and I shocked myself by finishing it all.

Then we drove back to Nick's place and wandered out to dinner. I was wearing my new shoes (and subsequently nearly dying) by this point. But the schnitzel was nice (if confusingly garnished with a multitude of radishes).

Then we went to Toby's, house, where we admired his collection of hats. And his axe. Which didn't make Nick look like a crazy lunatic at all.

From there we took a taxi to another club in town, which was less small, and underground, and looked more like a disused prison (which was slightly disconcerting). It was a jazz/disco/rock and roll/boogaloo night, and it was incredibly fun to dance too. Although there were some people there who looked like the jazz had gotten into them a little too much. For a while, we worried that the jazz might get to us too, but luckily we were all spared from too much rogering by the jazz beast.

After a quick stop off at (apparently) the most left-wing (but definitely, the most smoky) club in town, where some very drunk people tried to chat me up in a language I don't understand, and Nick was bought a beautiful rose, we wandered (or in my case, limped) home.

Nick's beautiful rose is beautiful. Steve, meanwhile, was working the whole 'sunglasses while indoors' look.

The next day we drove to the lake for a barbecue. For a while, we worried that we were going to burn the whole place down, but in the end it was ok.

The weather was lovely, although there was some mighty pollen in the air, and I felt like I had two mucus-tipped feathers stuck up my nose the whole time.

Nick and Steve went for a dip in the lake. Although Steve was a silly boy and did himself a damage when he jumped in. Like the good friends that we are, we laughed heartily at his misfortune.

Eating a lot of meat is a very tiring business.

After that we went back to Nick's place to eat the most exciting salad in the world and then went for a quick drink before calling it a night.

Sunday was mostly spent pottering around Nick's flat and looking for an archive that didn't exist, before heading to the airport to catch our flight home.

The flight wasn't so nice, and kinda turbulencey. I normally like flying, but not this one. When I got back I heard about that flight from Brazil that they lost yesterday morning, and suddenly I felt very glad to be back on solid ground.

I've taken the rest of the week off work. Hooray! So now I've got to spend my time shopping, resting my poor poor feet, and going to my granddad's birthday party \o/

It was a lovely bank holiday this weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect... for a change.

I went to visit my parents.

Among other things, we watched Eagle versus Shark, which is always a wonderful film, and The Hunt for Gollum, which was shockingly well done considering it was just a fan-made thing.

Also, we walked through some beautiful countryside and, at the end of it, had a cream tea in a little village hall <3

In other news:

Latin status: Rapidly deteriorating.

Conjugating verbs, I can get. That's fine. That's easy. But who the hell thought it was a good idea to conjugate nouns? I've never had to conjugate a noun before! Shit's ridiculous! Bloody Romans.

...What the hell's a genitive anyway? Sounds dirty if you ask me.

So, after my first Latin tutorial I-- haven't actually learned how to put a sentence together yet-- but I can now conjugate a few verbs! Check this out:

Edificare

Edifico
Edificas
Edificat
Edificamus
Edificatis
Edificant

Shit me, I'm almost fluent!

(I keep trying to pronounce everthing in a Japanese accent, which is as sad as it is embarrassing because my knowledge of Japanese is pitiful. Note to self: Dare = To Give. Dare =/= Who. ORZ)