School starts again in less than a month now. I suppose come September I'll regret the fact that I've had enough of summer at this point, and that all I want to do is wear oversized sweaters and watch the Inbetweeners and be pretentious. I'll also regret not working on the notes for my summer reading essay while, um, reading the damn book. I still can't believe how fast things have been going for me this year. I want things to slow down when I'm a sophomore. I want to, if you excuse the cliches, seize the day, grab the world by its balls, etc. etc. etc. I've been saying this for years, and when does it ever actually happen? Oh well. A girl can hope.
Today is the last day I'm seeing my aunt until the end of December. I'm closer to her than I am to any of my other not-immediate family members and I will miss her very much. We played Cleudo earlier tonight--a family tradition for us, Cleudo, among a number of other board games. When I was younger, my aunt made up these complex dressing-up games based on the people of Cleudo. I got to look through my aunt and mother's old wardrobes--a vintage wonderland, hasn't been altered in the slightest since the 70s. I'll miss this place so much during the year. Tomorrow we're going to see my grandparents on my dad's side, so it's all a bit subdued round here. In the afternoon we all drove to Gatwick in my aunt's car, to get the rental car we're having till the end of our stay. A silver Ford, nothing special. We then went back to visit my aunt's house briefly, more or less the same with minor alterations, but she has a really nice house anyway. For some reason my grandparents had old Christmas crackers saved, so we got to have an August Christmas dinner.
On Saturday, we all went to what I've decided must be one of the most fascinating places I've ever been to--Lewes. My aunt's a bit of a fan. It's a carefully eccentric little town, full of people who fancy themselves a bit anarchic and different. So yeah, this adds up to a high street with lots of quaint shops selling books and vintage clothes and funny ornaments. Don't get me wrong, though, it's fun. We got to go into a lot of said shops, also a cheese shop, and ate at a Polish cafe. They also happen to have a castle and a museum. Ignoring the pseudo-quirky nonsense, Lewes is really cool because it has a lot of historical significance, particularly early Norman stuff. Also, in the 13th century they had the Battle of Lewes, which led to the first instance of the English monarchy being forced to give up some of their power. Some call it the "Birth of English Democracy". Amazingly people outside Lewes don't seem to recognize this(I'd never heard of this battle before), but the residents are damn proud of it. The museum and castle were really nice. you could see for miles at the top of the castle, it was wonderful. We watched some two-hour Amy Winehouse tribute on TV that night.
On Friday, we went to this open air history museum, which is one of my favorite places around here. it's a set of actual houses ranging from the 13th to early 20th century, and it's arranged to replicate a village. it's so, so nice. There's a lot of really nice buildings--a Victorian school building, a 17th century toll house, a mill which they actually use, stables, cottages with historically-accurate gardens, market stalls, the lot. it's very scenic, very informative too. They also got a new tiny 19th century church from London. We got to look round the entire museum. Also, I bought a book on the history of Sussex. We listened to Imelda May in the car, and my aunt arrived from work in the evening, and we played board games and watched a weird art show on TV.
And Thursday, we were met with our first day of serious downpour this trip. It rained into the afternoon but we drove into a little local museum. It's a part of this town I'd never been to before, kind of tacky but in the charming seaside resort way that looks like it's 20 years out of date. They had a lot of run of the mill history stuff, but then they also had an impressive collection of vintage dolls and a whole area of fashion over the last century. I think the latter was probably my favorite part of the place, especially a lot of the 70s fashion. 70s&90s were my favorite times for fashion--the 80s are grossly overrated in that respect. (in many respects, actually). Also, one of my mom's friends had a piece of art up in the local artists section which was nice. After that we drove to another beach(I'm a bit of an English beach fanatic, yeah), and it was very cold and windy and gray. Also, they have the world's longest bench there! Another good day.
Good lord, guys, the Inbetweeners is beyond an obsession for me. I don't have the energy in me to write about my love for this show tonight. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to see it on Monday--my mother still has doubts about letting me watch this show, it's gonna be total no-go territory for my classy, booky, Oxbridge grandparents. This is a shame but I'll see it soon. Hey, there's a new series of Shooting Stars! I shall get it on DVD--it shall get me through another autumn.
Not really that much else going on. Reading John Betjeman, listening to Them Crooked Vultures, Imelda May, Gaga, Wild Beasts, Arctic Monkeys. V in 13 days! my friend plans to go dressed as a sheep, if his mother will let him, which is very unlikely. it's been a fortnight and I don't want to leave this country. I want not to feel like a tourist while I'm here. I want it to be home, but it isn't really, and I hate it. I'll try to make it feel normal while I'm here.
Boring post, man. Wow. hey, I wonder how I'll blog next year. I've put very little though into that.
Good night, all.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
August Now.
Good God, everyone, it's August. Already! School starts in just over a month. What is this madness?
I'm currently watching Have I Got News For You, still at my grandparents' house. Show of the summer? Maybe? As well as the Inbetweeners and TOWIE? Probably. I've seen this before but I'm only really getting into it now. I'm also way into QI at the moment, I couldn't say why, it just seems to be the cornerstone of my evenings at the moment. I love UK television so much it's pathetic.
Anyway, there have been ups and downs to my time spent in England so far, but overall it's been great. I'm just trying to soak up the atmosphere, the culture, the summer. All the music I'm into, the food, the HMV, the Radiotimes, the unusually and wonderfully warm weather. It's all a lot of fun, and I'd better savor it as much as possible because I haven't got a long time here, have I? August 3rd. Wow.
Today, my mom got a little rental car to last us till Saturday. We're getting a different one for our time after this week. This one is small, and black, and a VW, with a working radio and CD player. Could be a hell of a lot worse, I've found! Like last year's which, if nothing else, was beige. Beige! I know! Like a crime against humanity. In the afternoon we went to a town round here in said new car. Hello, Radio 1! For some reason, I miss you every year. The town we went to is pretty old, and we also went round a small art museum(my mother's choice). Pretty good place, they had a Freida Carlo and Diego Rivera exhibition which was really great. Remarkably, I finally found the John Betjeman book I've been looking for in the gift shop! That was a great twist to the day. We got a drink then walked around the town a bit, found out a fairly well known theater club are doing Sweeney Todd there in September, and I was so incredible disappointed that I'll be back in the States at that point. They had an 11th century church round there, it was amazing, one of the best churches I've ever been into. They even had a guy playing the organ right there, it was an incredible. We walked around the outside, and it turns out some people have houses, right next to the place. We went to Tescos later, came home, had dinner, and watched TV in the night.
I'm currently watching Have I Got News For You, still at my grandparents' house. Show of the summer? Maybe? As well as the Inbetweeners and TOWIE? Probably. I've seen this before but I'm only really getting into it now. I'm also way into QI at the moment, I couldn't say why, it just seems to be the cornerstone of my evenings at the moment. I love UK television so much it's pathetic.
Anyway, there have been ups and downs to my time spent in England so far, but overall it's been great. I'm just trying to soak up the atmosphere, the culture, the summer. All the music I'm into, the food, the HMV, the Radiotimes, the unusually and wonderfully warm weather. It's all a lot of fun, and I'd better savor it as much as possible because I haven't got a long time here, have I? August 3rd. Wow.
Today, my mom got a little rental car to last us till Saturday. We're getting a different one for our time after this week. This one is small, and black, and a VW, with a working radio and CD player. Could be a hell of a lot worse, I've found! Like last year's which, if nothing else, was beige. Beige! I know! Like a crime against humanity. In the afternoon we went to a town round here in said new car. Hello, Radio 1! For some reason, I miss you every year. The town we went to is pretty old, and we also went round a small art museum(my mother's choice). Pretty good place, they had a Freida Carlo and Diego Rivera exhibition which was really great. Remarkably, I finally found the John Betjeman book I've been looking for in the gift shop! That was a great twist to the day. We got a drink then walked around the town a bit, found out a fairly well known theater club are doing Sweeney Todd there in September, and I was so incredible disappointed that I'll be back in the States at that point. They had an 11th century church round there, it was amazing, one of the best churches I've ever been into. They even had a guy playing the organ right there, it was an incredible. We walked around the outside, and it turns out some people have houses, right next to the place. We went to Tescos later, came home, had dinner, and watched TV in the night.
On Tuesday, I went to the beach with my mom, my sister, a couple of my mom's friends, and the sixteen-year-old daughter of one of said friends. They've known each other since they were very young, and I'm dragged along to say hello to them every summer. It's more then sufficiently awkward but I suppose it could be worse. We had picnic by a bowling green, which seems to be the local hangout for the elderly. My sister branded us 'characters'. Also they discussed the time when my mom played George III in a school play, which was news to me. Afterwards, we went down to the beach. I went in the sea. It was typically cold and a much less appealing color than it is on the other side of the Atlantic. Afterwards we got ice cream--how I miss Cornettos--and walked by the coast. This is a very quaint, very old-fashioned seaside town, and it's one I've always liked very much. I'd never live here but an afternoon by the seaside is bliss. I came home listening to Eliza Doolittle, and stayed in for another slow night of TV. A good day.
On Monday my aunt went back to work, and I went to a lake round here that we've been to a couple of times now. It was a fairly hot day, but luckily the place wasn't that busy. We fed the ducks, went for a row on the lake, and got ice cream. (America needs banoffee ice cream desperately). We then walked around a nature reserve a little way down the road from there. I can't say I'm a fan of nature reserves(if one can say such a thing) but at least the weather made that portion of the day bearable. I had a great day, finally had a really good TV schedule that night. God, I love QI so, so much, I love watching it in the evening and must get every single episode on TV right this instant. I laughed so, so much at that episode. Oh, and here's one more funny thing I discovered that day, to do with the show Who Do You Think You Are. I guess it's pretty popular both sides of the pond, but it's a genealogy show where each week they trace the history of a celebrity. They listed the people featured on the show in a magazine, which just happens to include the one celebrity my family think we might be related to. Unfortunately, my mother happens to hate this guy soooo it's a pretty funny coincidence that we might find out for sure whether he's related or not.
And on Sunday, I went to a charity polo game with my mom, sister, and aunt. I suppose this is with a touch of irony but I'm not certain. It raised money for a good charity so I can't complain, though. We got there and walked around the stalls, most of which were pretty typical, but one of them was a 'Silent Auction', where a set of prizes are lined out and you write down a bid and, naturally, the highest wins. Things included football shirts, signed books, et cetera. One of them was a set of things signed by Peter Andre. Yeah. For those of you not familiar with Peter Andre, he's a singer meets reality TV star famous for dating a glamour model and being the dead end of society. He also fell out of the public eye(if you can ever really say he was in it) about five years ago. Now, someone only bid ten pounds for this, so my aunt bid twenty out of sympathy. Unfortunately we've heard nothing yet so I suspect we lost, but it was a very funny moment. Since the place was fairly empty, someone even let us go in the VIP area! Benefits included being behind a white picket fence, sitting on chairs, and being surrounded by people far wealthier and more cultured than yourself. Seriously though, that was a lot of fun. I had fun watching the game, though I can't say polo was really my sort of thing! Overall though that was a different experience, and good fun.
My only additional thing deserving of mention is my interest in the Inbetweeners, which I would say has evolved into a full obsession. I can't wait for the movie in a couple of weeks, also I can't wait to buy it on DVD and watch it back in the States. My mother is surprisingly okay with this, considering some of the language in this show. But yknow, British comedy, censorship or moderation really aren't fashionable things. Although this show probably takes the cake for crudeness, as my mom was speechless for much of the first scene of her first episode the other day! It's an awesome show and I'm loving it, can't believe I never watched it until now! Especially when there's a Mark Corrigan-esque character, wow, it was made for me.
I'm off to a night of yet more comedy TV.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
in which I blog while watching BBC1.
Hey! It's England! And the morning! And the BBC! This is fun! I love BBC in the morning at my grandparents' house. I just ate a croissant. America's croissants aren't nearly as good as those you get in Marks and Spencers, and it's such a shame. My family are discussing whether the thing they can see in the garden is a fox or a flowerpot. I'm watching a cooking show. Could this BE more English?!
I've decided to blog to you intermittently over the course of today, as today is going to be a little bit crazy and rushed. Nevertheless, I'm extremely excited. Jet lag is a wonderful thing, if only because it allows me to get up earlier in the morning and watch crappy TV and go outside when it's cold. This is a great morning. Hey, my grandmother has just presented my mother with three bottles of white wine. Why this is happening at 10 in the morning, I couldn't say.
Anyway, I should back up a few days first.
On Tuesday, I went to Concord in the afternoon with my mother, as she was looking for 'quirky' gifts for some English friends of hers. 11 months she has to buy gifts, and she starts looking literally on the last day. We didn't have very long to look, but she found necklaces in a place we've been to before. I had to get back quickly so I got a drink and we left, when a thunderstorm started. I had a few minutes after getting back, and then in the evening I went to my friend's house. That was a whole lot of fun. It was with some people who I'd only met like once before so it was a bit weird at first, but it got normal pretty quickly. They all swam but I didn't feel like it, so I just sat on the side for that first part of the night and listened to music. After that we went inside and had food, and observed his younger siblings being hilarious(ly awkward). Afterwards we went outside and played Manhunt in the dark and again, Manhunt isn't really my thing but I hung out on the deck for whichever team was convenient at the time. After everyone left I played Animal Crossing for a few minutes. That was a really awesome day.
My family always pack on the last day. it may sound nightmarish, and trust me it is, but since we didn't have to go until the late afternoon this could have been worse. It turned out I couldn't really fit all my clothes in my suitcase, so that was a problem, and there were issues with electronics and what have you, so that took away most of the day, though there was a bit of time after to read. Headed to the airport at about 5 ish. Not too busy and no flight delays, got through security quickly, had dinner, and got on the flight.
It's always fun, hearing English accents on the cabin crew on Virgin Atlantic flights. We got off the ground quickly and were faced with a surprisingly short flight(5 and 3/4 hours. Thank the jet stream). Luckily, I got the good entertainment system this time round so I got to actually choose what I wanted to watch. The first thing I watched was this documentary called the Only Way is Essay, which I've heard loads about. Basically, it follows the lives of a group of 'chavs' in Essex, a place infamous for its poofy-haired, orange-skinned, high-heeled white trash residents. I'm actually from Essex, but I just take that in my stride. The show was brilliant and I can't wait to watch more while I'm here. Unfortunately the Office wasn't on the plane, but THEY ADDED PEEP SHOW TO THE LIST. First year they've done that! It may have taken seven years, but Peep Show has reached that milestone. I also watched 30 Rock(my 2nd time--pretty okayish), Family Guy(getting progressively less clever and funny as time goes by, it seems), the Simpsons(still going strong, if largely ignored, like the opposite of Family Guy), Modern Family(actually not bad), and the Inbetweeners. Oh my god, the Inbetweeners. Everyone in England's been crazy about that show, and this is the first time I've watched it. It's not like comedy genius but, wow, is it addicting. My mind was blown by how awesome Will is...and whoever plays Jay, they're brilliant, that was amazing. But wow, WILL. He's like a young Mark Corrigan, and it's great. Hopefully I can watch more episodes again. The show's like crack. Oh yeah, and my mother accidentally ripped the upholstery off the plastic part of her chair, and there was this god almighty tearing sound throughout the almost-silent cabin.
We had to circle about a bit before landing, Heathrow being insanely busy as always. Getting out of the airport, however, wasn't nearly as bad as it sometimes is. Got our luggage quickly. My grandparents had ordered a taxi for us, so he picked us up and we drove for 90 minutes to get to the house. I listened to Manchester Orchestra and slept for the first time in almost 24 hours. We finally got to my grandparent's house, and I felt dreadful so I forced myself to fall asleep in broad daylight. That afternoon I went down to the corner store, and bought English candy and music magazines. Very interesting to see how things change over the course of a year. We got back and had dinner.
On Friday, we went into the center of town for the afternoon after a slow morning. We're at a tourist-y beach town so naturally we dropped by the beach for a few minutes, which I guess was nice. Then we went food shopping, and went into Boots, where I spotted some lipgloss in every color under the sun, placed with no irony intended among pictures of pouty-lipped women. Then, finally, after 11 months of waiting, I got to back to my favorite store in the entire world...HMV. Oh my god, it's like heaven. Unfortunately I think they're planning to shut down some HMV shops(loss of income, illegal downloading, competition from iTunes, digital generation, you've heard it all before). And I honestly don't know how I'll be able to survive without it in future years. It's like bliss, they have SO many CDs and DVDs and they play awesome music and they have such great deals. I've mentioned the Two CDs for 10 Pounds deal before, and it's great because you can go in there and just buy something you never even considered buying, and you might end up loving it. Also, I got Imelda May's record for three pounds. Three pounds! How about that? Also, the new Kaiser Chiefs album. But looking through the selection, in that moment I just wanted infinite money so I could walk out of that place with twenty CDs--Wild BEasts, Patrick Wolf, Jamie Woon, James Blake, the Horrors, the lot. But two for now will suffice. Oh yes, and my mom bought something by Them Crooked Vultures. Honestly not something I would listen to otherwise, but it's a very slick record. Also I finally found Amlie on DVD! Ahh, the endless list of wonderful things about HMV. One of the things in England I still miss. I think it'd just make being a music fan so much more enjoyable, cause it's something I could do regularly--once a week or something--and I could buy new releases or I could buy old stuff so cheaply, and I would feel like I actually lived in a culture that cares about music. And I mean caring about it in the way that people who are really into music do(not just the godawful pop/emo/shitty gross commercial rock crowds). That would be so, so wonderful. Anyway, enough of HMV for now. In the evening my aunt came by, and I had a great night from then on.
Now, it is currently late in the evening of today. I had a pretty decent day. After that morning I ate lunch outside as a picnic, on these retro picnic mats that are from the actual 70s, and are covered in flowers and swirly patterns and they're just the coolest things. In the afternoon I went shopping at this really cool town near here, mostly to allow my mother to buy gifts for her friends again. So, we went into quirky shops and they had a market, and markets are pretty amazing. We went into furniture shops and I bought stuff at an old-fashioned sweets shop, which I ate secretly in a local cafe. I ended up walking through a lot of the town barefoot. We went swimming at this public pool and it was late so it was really quiet and nice, then in the evening we walked around a park outside. We had curry for dinner and watched trashy TV. The perfect English evening, no?
This is getting pretty ramble-y, so I'll get back to you later in the week. I'll quickly tel you I've been listening to a lot of Arctic Monkeys, Katy B, Them Crooked Vultures, et cetera. Not reading anything terribly interesting at this very second. That's it. Goodnight. Enjoy your summers.
I've decided to blog to you intermittently over the course of today, as today is going to be a little bit crazy and rushed. Nevertheless, I'm extremely excited. Jet lag is a wonderful thing, if only because it allows me to get up earlier in the morning and watch crappy TV and go outside when it's cold. This is a great morning. Hey, my grandmother has just presented my mother with three bottles of white wine. Why this is happening at 10 in the morning, I couldn't say.
Anyway, I should back up a few days first.
On Tuesday, I went to Concord in the afternoon with my mother, as she was looking for 'quirky' gifts for some English friends of hers. 11 months she has to buy gifts, and she starts looking literally on the last day. We didn't have very long to look, but she found necklaces in a place we've been to before. I had to get back quickly so I got a drink and we left, when a thunderstorm started. I had a few minutes after getting back, and then in the evening I went to my friend's house. That was a whole lot of fun. It was with some people who I'd only met like once before so it was a bit weird at first, but it got normal pretty quickly. They all swam but I didn't feel like it, so I just sat on the side for that first part of the night and listened to music. After that we went inside and had food, and observed his younger siblings being hilarious(ly awkward). Afterwards we went outside and played Manhunt in the dark and again, Manhunt isn't really my thing but I hung out on the deck for whichever team was convenient at the time. After everyone left I played Animal Crossing for a few minutes. That was a really awesome day.
My family always pack on the last day. it may sound nightmarish, and trust me it is, but since we didn't have to go until the late afternoon this could have been worse. It turned out I couldn't really fit all my clothes in my suitcase, so that was a problem, and there were issues with electronics and what have you, so that took away most of the day, though there was a bit of time after to read. Headed to the airport at about 5 ish. Not too busy and no flight delays, got through security quickly, had dinner, and got on the flight.
It's always fun, hearing English accents on the cabin crew on Virgin Atlantic flights. We got off the ground quickly and were faced with a surprisingly short flight(5 and 3/4 hours. Thank the jet stream). Luckily, I got the good entertainment system this time round so I got to actually choose what I wanted to watch. The first thing I watched was this documentary called the Only Way is Essay, which I've heard loads about. Basically, it follows the lives of a group of 'chavs' in Essex, a place infamous for its poofy-haired, orange-skinned, high-heeled white trash residents. I'm actually from Essex, but I just take that in my stride. The show was brilliant and I can't wait to watch more while I'm here. Unfortunately the Office wasn't on the plane, but THEY ADDED PEEP SHOW TO THE LIST. First year they've done that! It may have taken seven years, but Peep Show has reached that milestone. I also watched 30 Rock(my 2nd time--pretty okayish), Family Guy(getting progressively less clever and funny as time goes by, it seems), the Simpsons(still going strong, if largely ignored, like the opposite of Family Guy), Modern Family(actually not bad), and the Inbetweeners. Oh my god, the Inbetweeners. Everyone in England's been crazy about that show, and this is the first time I've watched it. It's not like comedy genius but, wow, is it addicting. My mind was blown by how awesome Will is...and whoever plays Jay, they're brilliant, that was amazing. But wow, WILL. He's like a young Mark Corrigan, and it's great. Hopefully I can watch more episodes again. The show's like crack. Oh yeah, and my mother accidentally ripped the upholstery off the plastic part of her chair, and there was this god almighty tearing sound throughout the almost-silent cabin.
We had to circle about a bit before landing, Heathrow being insanely busy as always. Getting out of the airport, however, wasn't nearly as bad as it sometimes is. Got our luggage quickly. My grandparents had ordered a taxi for us, so he picked us up and we drove for 90 minutes to get to the house. I listened to Manchester Orchestra and slept for the first time in almost 24 hours. We finally got to my grandparent's house, and I felt dreadful so I forced myself to fall asleep in broad daylight. That afternoon I went down to the corner store, and bought English candy and music magazines. Very interesting to see how things change over the course of a year. We got back and had dinner.
On Friday, we went into the center of town for the afternoon after a slow morning. We're at a tourist-y beach town so naturally we dropped by the beach for a few minutes, which I guess was nice. Then we went food shopping, and went into Boots, where I spotted some lipgloss in every color under the sun, placed with no irony intended among pictures of pouty-lipped women. Then, finally, after 11 months of waiting, I got to back to my favorite store in the entire world...HMV. Oh my god, it's like heaven. Unfortunately I think they're planning to shut down some HMV shops(loss of income, illegal downloading, competition from iTunes, digital generation, you've heard it all before). And I honestly don't know how I'll be able to survive without it in future years. It's like bliss, they have SO many CDs and DVDs and they play awesome music and they have such great deals. I've mentioned the Two CDs for 10 Pounds deal before, and it's great because you can go in there and just buy something you never even considered buying, and you might end up loving it. Also, I got Imelda May's record for three pounds. Three pounds! How about that? Also, the new Kaiser Chiefs album. But looking through the selection, in that moment I just wanted infinite money so I could walk out of that place with twenty CDs--Wild BEasts, Patrick Wolf, Jamie Woon, James Blake, the Horrors, the lot. But two for now will suffice. Oh yes, and my mom bought something by Them Crooked Vultures. Honestly not something I would listen to otherwise, but it's a very slick record. Also I finally found Amlie on DVD! Ahh, the endless list of wonderful things about HMV. One of the things in England I still miss. I think it'd just make being a music fan so much more enjoyable, cause it's something I could do regularly--once a week or something--and I could buy new releases or I could buy old stuff so cheaply, and I would feel like I actually lived in a culture that cares about music. And I mean caring about it in the way that people who are really into music do(not just the godawful pop/emo/shitty gross commercial rock crowds). That would be so, so wonderful. Anyway, enough of HMV for now. In the evening my aunt came by, and I had a great night from then on.
Now, it is currently late in the evening of today. I had a pretty decent day. After that morning I ate lunch outside as a picnic, on these retro picnic mats that are from the actual 70s, and are covered in flowers and swirly patterns and they're just the coolest things. In the afternoon I went shopping at this really cool town near here, mostly to allow my mother to buy gifts for her friends again. So, we went into quirky shops and they had a market, and markets are pretty amazing. We went into furniture shops and I bought stuff at an old-fashioned sweets shop, which I ate secretly in a local cafe. I ended up walking through a lot of the town barefoot. We went swimming at this public pool and it was late so it was really quiet and nice, then in the evening we walked around a park outside. We had curry for dinner and watched trashy TV. The perfect English evening, no?
This is getting pretty ramble-y, so I'll get back to you later in the week. I'll quickly tel you I've been listening to a lot of Arctic Monkeys, Katy B, Them Crooked Vultures, et cetera. Not reading anything terribly interesting at this very second. That's it. Goodnight. Enjoy your summers.
Friday, February 4, 2011
in which my worry that I have far too much time on my hands and watch too much BBC is made official.
I have come to an awkward point in my televisual fangirl career, in that I've been struggle to decide who is the best-written character ever; Mark Corrigan from Peep Show, Sir Digby Chicken Cesar from M&W or, most recently, Malcolm from The Thick Of it. See, it's my new obsession and it will be of most of my Friday nights for most of the year from now on. everywhere I go, all the 'Best British Shows Of The Deacde" things, The Thick of It is the only contemporary that really consistently gives Peep Show a run for its money. don't get me wrong, Peep Show is half my life, I love it to death and I will probably crumble away when it inevitably reaches its end in three or four years time, but this show is so so good too. I would highly, highly recommend it. Peter Capaldi + Rebecca Front + James Smith equals love, love, unconditional love in my head.
Regardless of preferences for the actual show, Peep Show and all those involved have the better tumblr pages. have you seen 'fuckyeahrobertwebb'? Jesus Christ, the fangirling gets rather troubling there. (and David's so much cooler, everyone knows that, even if he isn't gonna start hosting Never Mind The Buzzcocks any day soon).
OH OH OH I'm so far behind on my once-beloved Never Mind The Buzzcocks episodes it's kind of ridiculous. like yeah, I got though Webb's and Tim Minchin's and Katherine Tate's and as much Frankie Boyle as the average person can stomach, but I've fallen out of my love for it. probably, quite simply, because I would eat my own fingers to get Simon Amstell back there. please, Simon? please? you haven't got anything better to do right? the new episodes get kinda boring and the guests were kinda B list. I was impressed that they got Cee Lo Green, sure. I've been kind of hoping they'll shove some indie 'alternative' guy on there again...or another Dappy or someone. THEY GOT EXAMPLE AGAIN HE IS EVERYWHERE AND I HATE HIM. okay, this paragraph is beyond pathetic in structure and I will end with saying Noel Fielding's still funny and awesome and attractive in a way no one has yet to describe properly.
and yeah I just started watching some of 10 O'clock live which is David Mitchell, Jimmy Car, Charlie Brooker, and Lauren Laverne's new-ish jokey news show and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. like, this sort of thing is worth watching maybe on election night if you think you're a bit above all the usual chaos, but not every week, right? and it's so far left and rather contrived, if I didn't want to marry David I would hate it, I'm afraid. however, I will look further into it for a better opinion. food for thought, hmm. it's the sort of show that's probably very addicting in the end, and I'll regret this whole paragraph. feel like I should be running through the entirety of the BBC lately, haha.
It has been a dull week. Ending up listening to the Streets one way or another, picking up stupid fashion mags, reading the NME, and realizing just how pointless 9th grade English is. developing a sudden desire to listen to the White Stripes a lot, I really do define what is to be hated about the oe-track-minded people of today.
I love Fridays but I did nothing today. it's quite frustrating, since I find free time is rare during the week. I have little planned for the weekend. I'll be spending most of it trying to get my head around Peter Doherty's new blog. he's starring in some shitty French 'art film'(shudder) at the moment. I'm actually very disappointed. for some reason he's doing a one-off tour in the UK and in Germany which isn't fair. has he done a US tour? is he allowed to do a US tour? I'm not so sure. Certainly, the attempt would kill him. but I would really, really like a Babyshambles album out some time between now and the end of time.
Musically the latter end of the year is probably going to turn out quite well for me. sure, we've got the Kills in a few months. after, Elbow, Kasabian(fingers crossed), Arctic Monkeys, etc. plus, I'm expecting more people to go into the studio soon after. Biffy Clyro can't tour the same album for forever(Florence Welch would say otherwise, I'm sure). A Flo album would be lovely too, though she is going to be such a victim to second album syndrome, no wonder she's putting it off. the Killers are getting back together in May. it is a cause for celebration, most definitely.
Health stuff is silly. Ugh, 'All About Me' things really are getting on my nerves. does the teacher really think we take this stuff seriously? although the problem lies mostly with my life, or lack thereof. I have no achievements, no big ones, none that I would really want to announce to twenty other people. same with goals. and hobbies. I sound like the completely dysfunction human being that I am, plus I have a huge list of favorite bands. and art is annoying, obviously there's no better way to make someone feel completely useless at everything.
my initial enthusiasm for this new semester is dwindling...
luckily I know everything we're doing in science at the moment, and world civ is oddly cool. ugh, english english english. it's all vocab and parts of speech and short stories, frankly it is beyond tedious. and last block, every day! it's rather hellish. I did homework for almost six hours on tuesday. I cannot continue like this. I'm hoping for another snow day this week(thursday?). we've got one more potential snow day left before they start taking off spring vacations. with nothing to do apart from whine about my homework for the rest of winter, snow days are still a very attractive idea.
I'm so not in the mood for blogging and I have a new Klaxons CD to listen to.
Regardless of preferences for the actual show, Peep Show and all those involved have the better tumblr pages. have you seen 'fuckyeahrobertwebb'? Jesus Christ, the fangirling gets rather troubling there. (and David's so much cooler, everyone knows that, even if he isn't gonna start hosting Never Mind The Buzzcocks any day soon).
OH OH OH I'm so far behind on my once-beloved Never Mind The Buzzcocks episodes it's kind of ridiculous. like yeah, I got though Webb's and Tim Minchin's and Katherine Tate's and as much Frankie Boyle as the average person can stomach, but I've fallen out of my love for it. probably, quite simply, because I would eat my own fingers to get Simon Amstell back there. please, Simon? please? you haven't got anything better to do right? the new episodes get kinda boring and the guests were kinda B list. I was impressed that they got Cee Lo Green, sure. I've been kind of hoping they'll shove some indie 'alternative' guy on there again...or another Dappy or someone. THEY GOT EXAMPLE AGAIN HE IS EVERYWHERE AND I HATE HIM. okay, this paragraph is beyond pathetic in structure and I will end with saying Noel Fielding's still funny and awesome and attractive in a way no one has yet to describe properly.
and yeah I just started watching some of 10 O'clock live which is David Mitchell, Jimmy Car, Charlie Brooker, and Lauren Laverne's new-ish jokey news show and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. like, this sort of thing is worth watching maybe on election night if you think you're a bit above all the usual chaos, but not every week, right? and it's so far left and rather contrived, if I didn't want to marry David I would hate it, I'm afraid. however, I will look further into it for a better opinion. food for thought, hmm. it's the sort of show that's probably very addicting in the end, and I'll regret this whole paragraph. feel like I should be running through the entirety of the BBC lately, haha.
It has been a dull week. Ending up listening to the Streets one way or another, picking up stupid fashion mags, reading the NME, and realizing just how pointless 9th grade English is. developing a sudden desire to listen to the White Stripes a lot, I really do define what is to be hated about the oe-track-minded people of today.
I love Fridays but I did nothing today. it's quite frustrating, since I find free time is rare during the week. I have little planned for the weekend. I'll be spending most of it trying to get my head around Peter Doherty's new blog. he's starring in some shitty French 'art film'(shudder) at the moment. I'm actually very disappointed. for some reason he's doing a one-off tour in the UK and in Germany which isn't fair. has he done a US tour? is he allowed to do a US tour? I'm not so sure. Certainly, the attempt would kill him. but I would really, really like a Babyshambles album out some time between now and the end of time.
Musically the latter end of the year is probably going to turn out quite well for me. sure, we've got the Kills in a few months. after, Elbow, Kasabian(fingers crossed), Arctic Monkeys, etc. plus, I'm expecting more people to go into the studio soon after. Biffy Clyro can't tour the same album for forever(Florence Welch would say otherwise, I'm sure). A Flo album would be lovely too, though she is going to be such a victim to second album syndrome, no wonder she's putting it off. the Killers are getting back together in May. it is a cause for celebration, most definitely.
Health stuff is silly. Ugh, 'All About Me' things really are getting on my nerves. does the teacher really think we take this stuff seriously? although the problem lies mostly with my life, or lack thereof. I have no achievements, no big ones, none that I would really want to announce to twenty other people. same with goals. and hobbies. I sound like the completely dysfunction human being that I am, plus I have a huge list of favorite bands. and art is annoying, obviously there's no better way to make someone feel completely useless at everything.
my initial enthusiasm for this new semester is dwindling...
luckily I know everything we're doing in science at the moment, and world civ is oddly cool. ugh, english english english. it's all vocab and parts of speech and short stories, frankly it is beyond tedious. and last block, every day! it's rather hellish. I did homework for almost six hours on tuesday. I cannot continue like this. I'm hoping for another snow day this week(thursday?). we've got one more potential snow day left before they start taking off spring vacations. with nothing to do apart from whine about my homework for the rest of winter, snow days are still a very attractive idea.
I'm so not in the mood for blogging and I have a new Klaxons CD to listen to.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
ten things from the past few days
#1.) I have an impending obsession. When I mention 'obsession' it normally involves joining some sort of cult that worships British comedians, mockumentaries, or the world's greatest BBC-engineered one-liners ever. does the obsession fit this pattern? why yes! and it is called The Thick Of It. Brits may or may not have heard of it, it's not super super population but it's not unheard of. Very Peep Show level, yeah. I myself discovered it in my parents' DVD collection, where most good televisual things are found by me. my dad got a Boxset quite recently. It's basically a deadpan kinda mockumentary thing based around low-level politicians. I've only watched a couple so far but it is really, really, really funny. I mean, I'm pretty certain at least half of the political cultural references are going right over my head, but the one-liners are fantastic and I just could not stop laughing. plus, in my history, anything co-written by Jesse Armstrong turns into TV obsession for me. the only sad thing is, I can name basically every actor in that show, one way or another. the UK comedy show circuit isn't huge, anything but, but that's still shows I invest too much time into these things.
#2.) While we're on the topic of mockumentaries, I intend to spend the remainder of winter trying to 'get into' the Father Of All Mockumentaries. Also known as The Office. I know, I'm weird I don't watch it already. either the UK one or the US one. here's a little known fact around here; the UK one came first. I'm spreading this knowledge. I intend to try both. I heard the US one is surprisingly good for a country who don't really do spin off series very well, as history goes. this is the plan.
#3.) February is Peter Doherty Appreciation Month(for me). while the snow piles up and the mid-winter gloominess is at its height, I skulk around my house, wanting knee-length worn-out jackets & trilbys, writing lyrics to Last Of The English Roses over available bare skin during class, and singing along to Fuck Forever when my parents aren't around. it suddenly makes it the best month of the year. like I mentioned last time, the Libertines just got added to V's rumour list? Like, I literally wouldn't be able to handle that level of awesomeness. although I will probs get used to it after the awesomeness that will hopefully by February. ps, I will get at least one oversized androgynous cheap jacket some time soon.
#4.) Tumblr is a godsend. especially those 'fuckyeah' things. like, I know nothing of this site, other than it can provide me with flashy Peep Show things with quotes on them and their are 128 pages of pure David Mitchell-ness. I started my own account, though my total social networking world must reach a limit soon, and I doubt I'll be able to get my head around the website anyway.
#5.) Snow days never ever get bad. ever. like, ours just got announced a few hours ago, hence my writing to you, and we're gonna get up to two feet apparently. I don't care about June. no one wants to do anything in June, teachers included. I'm glad for a snow day. no one else is. bah. I wanna watch Fried Green Tomatoes and play crappy Playstation games and do fuck all. it's fun. I hope for more.
#6.) Out of all the 'arts' teachers in the world, the teachers at my school are the least capable of showing emotion ever. i swear to god my english teacher is a robot. actually, her most common label is 'bitch' but to qualify for that some sense of anger has to be involved, you know? nope. none at all. just a drone. 'write down some vocab, read the story, pass in your homework, or you wrote a three-page letter that took you an hour and a half and you could barely keep your eyes open, okay'. WHAT?! Ditto art teachers. fuck, perspective isn't that hard, it doesn't take 3/4 of the block. and when he wasn't doing that, we were told to be creative with our portfolio folders. creativity is hardly a prominent trait of mine, particular not at eight oclock in the morning. the latter is true for everyone I think. the classroom was awash with soccer balls and pastel-colored bubble writing. he went around kinda nodding at everyone. didn't even pass comment on Little Miss Art Prodigy(who sits opposite me)'s work. nor did he comment on my garish swirls and dots and faded green marker, though that is to be expected.
#6.) the likelihood of finding cool people in my classes are remarkably slim. there's like two girls in my art class I know a bit and they aren't amazing friends. science I know almost everyone one way or another. world civ, everyone hates everyone and the teacher doesn't want to be there cause no one does. english kinda meh. though my expectations are low, that much is obvious.
#6.) 1st health class proves the class probably won't suck. there's a few cool people and it's a tiny class(not even 20 kids I think?) that's kinda shoves somewhere n the math corridor. teacher seems nice. ratemyteacher agrees. it's kinda ugh 1st block of the day. we're doing 'all about us' posters Friday which will be a bore.
#7.) # of teachers who know I'm English- 2/5. that's a fairly good number at this point in time. my english class know, I think. i spoke and they stared for like five minutes, which is normally a telltale sign. it seems petty but it's good to get it out of the way as fast as possible. I hate everyone's moment of realization. growl. it's difficult for anyone to understand this at all 'specially round here, so moving on.
#8.) I will surely collapse entirely under the semester's workload. five hours plus piano plus food plus procrastination yesterday equals my certain death. i cannot continue like this. I may die. I may never see you again, internet.
#9.) Today begins the great Harry Potter reread. I never really got through 1 and 2(too young I guess) and 3 was a bit of a blur. 4-7 I like. at the rate school has made me read lately this is probably my entire literary universe until June, too.
#10.) La Roux is amazing and I will surely die(sorry, should stop with this phrase) if I don't get their album very soon. I've listened to I'm not Your Toy all day. then I listened to a lot of Goldfrapp which was the icing in the synthpop cake. then a lot of janis ian(thank you Tavi Gevinson) which made things unbalanced. that is my music life. oh, except the TV people finally put a V Festival hilights vid up. and they didn't get the prodigy yet? what the fuck? That was like the best time of my life, ever. literally. They began and ended with KoL. and they didn't show Closer. nor did they show Kasabian's Fire, they chose the wrong Skunk Anansie song, they did no Madness at all, Munich isn't a terribly good Editors song, Plan B didn't get his slot, and the fact that they made no attempt to shove an Ellie Goulding thing in there somewhere was nothing short of shocking. good thing is, only a few weeks till 2011's lineup and I'm crazy excited. arctic Monkeys + eminem to headline. rumors-rem, beady eye, coldplay, muse, jessie j, amy winehouse, Pulp. would pay to see everyone except beady eye and coldplay, so good.
good night everyone. hope you have a snow day too. :D
#2.) While we're on the topic of mockumentaries, I intend to spend the remainder of winter trying to 'get into' the Father Of All Mockumentaries. Also known as The Office. I know, I'm weird I don't watch it already. either the UK one or the US one. here's a little known fact around here; the UK one came first. I'm spreading this knowledge. I intend to try both. I heard the US one is surprisingly good for a country who don't really do spin off series very well, as history goes. this is the plan.
#3.) February is Peter Doherty Appreciation Month(for me). while the snow piles up and the mid-winter gloominess is at its height, I skulk around my house, wanting knee-length worn-out jackets & trilbys, writing lyrics to Last Of The English Roses over available bare skin during class, and singing along to Fuck Forever when my parents aren't around. it suddenly makes it the best month of the year. like I mentioned last time, the Libertines just got added to V's rumour list? Like, I literally wouldn't be able to handle that level of awesomeness. although I will probs get used to it after the awesomeness that will hopefully by February. ps, I will get at least one oversized androgynous cheap jacket some time soon.
#4.) Tumblr is a godsend. especially those 'fuckyeah' things. like, I know nothing of this site, other than it can provide me with flashy Peep Show things with quotes on them and their are 128 pages of pure David Mitchell-ness. I started my own account, though my total social networking world must reach a limit soon, and I doubt I'll be able to get my head around the website anyway.
#5.) Snow days never ever get bad. ever. like, ours just got announced a few hours ago, hence my writing to you, and we're gonna get up to two feet apparently. I don't care about June. no one wants to do anything in June, teachers included. I'm glad for a snow day. no one else is. bah. I wanna watch Fried Green Tomatoes and play crappy Playstation games and do fuck all. it's fun. I hope for more.
#6.) Out of all the 'arts' teachers in the world, the teachers at my school are the least capable of showing emotion ever. i swear to god my english teacher is a robot. actually, her most common label is 'bitch' but to qualify for that some sense of anger has to be involved, you know? nope. none at all. just a drone. 'write down some vocab, read the story, pass in your homework, or you wrote a three-page letter that took you an hour and a half and you could barely keep your eyes open, okay'. WHAT?! Ditto art teachers. fuck, perspective isn't that hard, it doesn't take 3/4 of the block. and when he wasn't doing that, we were told to be creative with our portfolio folders. creativity is hardly a prominent trait of mine, particular not at eight oclock in the morning. the latter is true for everyone I think. the classroom was awash with soccer balls and pastel-colored bubble writing. he went around kinda nodding at everyone. didn't even pass comment on Little Miss Art Prodigy(who sits opposite me)'s work. nor did he comment on my garish swirls and dots and faded green marker, though that is to be expected.
#6.) the likelihood of finding cool people in my classes are remarkably slim. there's like two girls in my art class I know a bit and they aren't amazing friends. science I know almost everyone one way or another. world civ, everyone hates everyone and the teacher doesn't want to be there cause no one does. english kinda meh. though my expectations are low, that much is obvious.
#6.) 1st health class proves the class probably won't suck. there's a few cool people and it's a tiny class(not even 20 kids I think?) that's kinda shoves somewhere n the math corridor. teacher seems nice. ratemyteacher agrees. it's kinda ugh 1st block of the day. we're doing 'all about us' posters Friday which will be a bore.
#7.) # of teachers who know I'm English- 2/5. that's a fairly good number at this point in time. my english class know, I think. i spoke and they stared for like five minutes, which is normally a telltale sign. it seems petty but it's good to get it out of the way as fast as possible. I hate everyone's moment of realization. growl. it's difficult for anyone to understand this at all 'specially round here, so moving on.
#8.) I will surely collapse entirely under the semester's workload. five hours plus piano plus food plus procrastination yesterday equals my certain death. i cannot continue like this. I may die. I may never see you again, internet.
#9.) Today begins the great Harry Potter reread. I never really got through 1 and 2(too young I guess) and 3 was a bit of a blur. 4-7 I like. at the rate school has made me read lately this is probably my entire literary universe until June, too.
#10.) La Roux is amazing and I will surely die(sorry, should stop with this phrase) if I don't get their album very soon. I've listened to I'm not Your Toy all day. then I listened to a lot of Goldfrapp which was the icing in the synthpop cake. then a lot of janis ian(thank you Tavi Gevinson) which made things unbalanced. that is my music life. oh, except the TV people finally put a V Festival hilights vid up. and they didn't get the prodigy yet? what the fuck? That was like the best time of my life, ever. literally. They began and ended with KoL. and they didn't show Closer. nor did they show Kasabian's Fire, they chose the wrong Skunk Anansie song, they did no Madness at all, Munich isn't a terribly good Editors song, Plan B didn't get his slot, and the fact that they made no attempt to shove an Ellie Goulding thing in there somewhere was nothing short of shocking. good thing is, only a few weeks till 2011's lineup and I'm crazy excited. arctic Monkeys + eminem to headline. rumors-rem, beady eye, coldplay, muse, jessie j, amy winehouse, Pulp. would pay to see everyone except beady eye and coldplay, so good.
good night everyone. hope you have a snow day too. :D
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Swan And Pedo
hello.
Today I woke up twenty minutes later than I'm supposed to. Just about caught the bus but it was close. You don't really need to know this but I felt it needed saying anyway.
There hasn't been a whole lot happening in the last few days but I felt I should talk here briefly anyway. NaNoWriMo is coming up next week and I'm gonna assume I'll be all like "School! Homework! Write! Sleep! Kill me now!", knowing me, and I'll have to leave blogging to the weekends. So, I figured I might as well drop in now before all that madness happens.
I am kinda looking forward to the madness in a weird way. I did succeed last year with my novel. This one will be longer but I'm a better writer and have a more concrete sense of what I'm writing about this year. It's overly sentimental and a bit fluffy but there's almost content in there somewhere. also I don't write fiction enough compared to journal-ish things and stupid/pseudo artsy/way too abstract things every now and again. So, it's a good way to exercise that not-so skill.
Music dilemma; should I put on Florence, or one CD from my 5-CD Disney boxset that I just rediscovered? That was my first CD obsession. I don't know why. I was never that 5-year-old who watched a Disney movie a day, or had one specific film that they watched every day for like four years. In fact I don't think I've seen several of the super popular Disney movies. I'm like a 21st century failure in that I don't watch many movies. But anyway, I was always endlessly fascinated with the music. I don't think I noticed at the time quite how obsessed I was with some of it. But I definitely was.
I suppose I have time for Disney tomorrow. I can't decide which of the five to listen to anyway.
I am currently in the process of trying to watch every Louis Theroux documentary ever made. honestly love that guy. I actually think I like documentaries more than movies.
Great. So I was the child who liked gritty BBC documentaries I probably shouldn't have been watching over, like, The Lion King? That's just bizarre.
I had a field trip yesterday! We went into Boston and looked and four typed of bridges. The Zakim Bridge and several others right by each other of different types. We were kinda lead by a weaselly guy who thought everyone was paying attention. I swear, I was! Sometimes! I was trying! But come on, they're bridges. There were like fifty kids there and it wads difficult to hear, too. Besides, I've randomly decided I kinda love Boston, and the weather was like 70 degrees plus and there was no rain like forecast. Who couldn't love a late-October day like that? I was far too distracted by pleasantness to look at triangles and all that. I got to eat lunch by loads of seagulls and the harbor. Amazing? yeah! Plus on the way back, me and a few people were doing those "If you were a--" type games. I didn't really like anyone at the trip, but those games are too much fun.
I did establish if I was a drink, I'd be cranberry juice. I w s kinda tapping too far into the questions and taking too long, but I think the juice question is the only one that makes sense. I don't know why I'm cranberry juice, but it seems to fit. Also I answered Germany to every country-related question. Germany rocks.
Only downside is I missed making salsa in Spanish(although the class was nice enough to dump all their random food waste into the bag I brought in containing chips and and stuff. It was supposed to be for the remainder of the food I brought in, to take home. Did I bring in a green pepper and a random satsuma? No I did not.). AND I missed a Science lab which isn't so good since I have to make it up after school tomorrow. Which is kinda very bad. But I did miss gym--always a bonus.
I have a geo. quiz tomorrow and a Spanish quiz tomorrow. Gonna fail both. Especially Geo. No time tonight to remember theorems! Spanish less so. I'm doing well in Spanish. I got an above-average grade on a quiz. Pretty effing amazing considering it's Spanish.
PEEP SHOW MOMENT/QUOTE OF THE POST;
Jez and Superhans have been given a pub by ex-owner and slightly manic friend Merry. They're having creative differences with its name.
"It needs to make a political statement!" - SH
"Does it...really?" - Jez
"Yeah!" - SH
"Okay...but, look...I'm just really not okay with calling it 'Free The Pedos'" - Jez
*SH looks taken aback*
"Why can't we name it something normal, y'know, like...'The Swan, and...Tomato" - Jez
"Yeah, yeah, or compromise! 'The Swan...And Pedo' - SH
<3
Florence Sunday. Can't wait. Halloween stuff probably. Movie night I don't wanna go to Friday.
Also, Uncool by Courtney Love? Total genius. Go listen.
I need to study. Bye.
Today I woke up twenty minutes later than I'm supposed to. Just about caught the bus but it was close. You don't really need to know this but I felt it needed saying anyway.
There hasn't been a whole lot happening in the last few days but I felt I should talk here briefly anyway. NaNoWriMo is coming up next week and I'm gonna assume I'll be all like "School! Homework! Write! Sleep! Kill me now!", knowing me, and I'll have to leave blogging to the weekends. So, I figured I might as well drop in now before all that madness happens.
I am kinda looking forward to the madness in a weird way. I did succeed last year with my novel. This one will be longer but I'm a better writer and have a more concrete sense of what I'm writing about this year. It's overly sentimental and a bit fluffy but there's almost content in there somewhere. also I don't write fiction enough compared to journal-ish things and stupid/pseudo artsy/way too abstract things every now and again. So, it's a good way to exercise that not-so skill.
Music dilemma; should I put on Florence, or one CD from my 5-CD Disney boxset that I just rediscovered? That was my first CD obsession. I don't know why. I was never that 5-year-old who watched a Disney movie a day, or had one specific film that they watched every day for like four years. In fact I don't think I've seen several of the super popular Disney movies. I'm like a 21st century failure in that I don't watch many movies. But anyway, I was always endlessly fascinated with the music. I don't think I noticed at the time quite how obsessed I was with some of it. But I definitely was.
I suppose I have time for Disney tomorrow. I can't decide which of the five to listen to anyway.
I am currently in the process of trying to watch every Louis Theroux documentary ever made. honestly love that guy. I actually think I like documentaries more than movies.
Great. So I was the child who liked gritty BBC documentaries I probably shouldn't have been watching over, like, The Lion King? That's just bizarre.
I had a field trip yesterday! We went into Boston and looked and four typed of bridges. The Zakim Bridge and several others right by each other of different types. We were kinda lead by a weaselly guy who thought everyone was paying attention. I swear, I was! Sometimes! I was trying! But come on, they're bridges. There were like fifty kids there and it wads difficult to hear, too. Besides, I've randomly decided I kinda love Boston, and the weather was like 70 degrees plus and there was no rain like forecast. Who couldn't love a late-October day like that? I was far too distracted by pleasantness to look at triangles and all that. I got to eat lunch by loads of seagulls and the harbor. Amazing? yeah! Plus on the way back, me and a few people were doing those "If you were a--" type games. I didn't really like anyone at the trip, but those games are too much fun.
I did establish if I was a drink, I'd be cranberry juice. I w s kinda tapping too far into the questions and taking too long, but I think the juice question is the only one that makes sense. I don't know why I'm cranberry juice, but it seems to fit. Also I answered Germany to every country-related question. Germany rocks.
Only downside is I missed making salsa in Spanish(although the class was nice enough to dump all their random food waste into the bag I brought in containing chips and and stuff. It was supposed to be for the remainder of the food I brought in, to take home. Did I bring in a green pepper and a random satsuma? No I did not.). AND I missed a Science lab which isn't so good since I have to make it up after school tomorrow. Which is kinda very bad. But I did miss gym--always a bonus.
I have a geo. quiz tomorrow and a Spanish quiz tomorrow. Gonna fail both. Especially Geo. No time tonight to remember theorems! Spanish less so. I'm doing well in Spanish. I got an above-average grade on a quiz. Pretty effing amazing considering it's Spanish.
PEEP SHOW MOMENT/QUOTE OF THE POST;
Jez and Superhans have been given a pub by ex-owner and slightly manic friend Merry. They're having creative differences with its name.
"It needs to make a political statement!" - SH
"Does it...really?" - Jez
"Yeah!" - SH
"Okay...but, look...I'm just really not okay with calling it 'Free The Pedos'" - Jez
*SH looks taken aback*
"Why can't we name it something normal, y'know, like...'The Swan, and...Tomato" - Jez
"Yeah, yeah, or compromise! 'The Swan...And Pedo' - SH
<3
Florence Sunday. Can't wait. Halloween stuff probably. Movie night I don't wanna go to Friday.
Also, Uncool by Courtney Love? Total genius. Go listen.
I need to study. Bye.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Boy Kicked The World, The World Kicked Back A Lot Harder
Can't Stand Me Now - The Libertines
Hello there.
Be prepared for awkward. 'cause I feel like going on a short Pope rant.
So far I haven't actually written about it anywhere and frankly this isn't the time or place for me and my left-winged-ness so I'll just keep this brief. Basically, Pope, screw you. Out of the two of us we can agree one of us believes there's a God and the other does not. You seem to believe one of us is also a Nazi. I'll tell you now that that person is not me, you stupid bigoted dick. Take your crap elsewhere. Ignoring the fact for now that throwing the wor 'Nazi' around 24/7 is sick and disrespectful to actual victims of Nazi Germany, let's add some Naomi logic in here; you seem to think condoms are sinful thus you try to deter the use of them in various places in Africa by saying they spread AIDS, in a sort of attempt to promote abstinence. I swear to God, I actually heard that. So. Assuming someone were Catholic they might listen to you, and if somehow they believe you, well, what if they get AIDS? Yeah, they die. Wait. So who is the Catholic-killer now? Not us Athiests, no, it is in some twisted way, your fault, Pope. Oh, what a Nazi. Dick.
Now that I've got that party out of my system, we can sort of pretend that never happened and get on with our lives. Ahem.
The great thing about high school is how much more exciting it makes the weekends. Like, it may be wet outside and I may not be listening to music(yet. Where's my NME?) it was just really exciting to get into a supremely lazy routine of read, music, Facebook, repeat from two thirty to nine and then blog. Also, it was really great, my sister went out with friends because she actually has a non-school social life, and I was alone with Chinese takeout, series 6 episode 1 and 2 of Peep Show, and my copy of Mockingjay. Oh, it is lovely, Fridays are the best. Superhans, you are such a lovely crackhead. I can't wait for series seven.
Oh, by the way, do you know what I heard this week? Only the best news of the year. If Peep Show is my cocaine, then Nevermind The Buzzcocks is unquestionably my heroin; and guess what. IT IS RETURNING. Just when I was losing hope on that front, hey, there it is again. Well, in a couple months I'm guessing. Hosts include Robert Webb, Frankie Boyle, Mark Ronson, and ohmyeffinggod Tim Minchin. I was sort of obsessed with Tim Minchin in July-ish time. It was great. I love Tim, he's so clever and funny and talented. And hosting? Jesus, it'll be great. Cannot. Wait. New Glee series in a couple days? That's nothing. Give me Next Lines instead any day!
school has been moving along this week. The first five-day week felt oddly unlike a five-day week. It moved fast. There's a lot of elements of the school I really, really truly like, a lot. My science teacher's so cool, she doesn't patronize us and she talks how I'd like to talk if I was smarter. I get to school a half hour before school starts and I go into my hallway and it's super quiet. I like the routine in the morning, I pass three or four friends, sit down outside my class, take out a book or some studying that needs doing and sit there and drift away and watch people flow past. Be the creeper staring at everyone because she thinks that routine's nifty. An hour twenty minutes in science, nearly fall asleep, wake up on the way to geometry, talk to my ever-growing group of people approaching friends in Geometry, walk to Spanish, forty minutes Spanish, lunch and then read as lunch finishes, back to Spanish, Spanish, and then either gym or study. On the bus. Ride home. Homework. Computer. Sleep. Boom boom boom, easy, organised, fun. No one treating you like a baby or making you do skits and no gawking at the clock for a half hour because it's so tedious. No. Plus, everyone's really cool. I don't know why the people from the other middle schools seem so much cooler than in my middle school, but they so are. They're really down to Earth, they don't go on about being so out-there and they're not so homophobic and they don't make half the cafeteria stare at your lunch table(my goal is to find a new lunch table.) because they're just so loud. Stupid people I know. Why can't they be like everyone else at school? Why can't they be nice and weird but not too extroverted? Why is that so hard to ask for in a person? it seems I may never know.
I was gonna elaborate on this more, but it seems I may be in too good a mood. But regardless, I went to a music festival this summer. After every concert I get in bad moods about it being over. And I didn't for V. I only just realised it was because I didn't have time. Now that things are calming down it just sorta exploded. I miss home. I miss summer already. When I walk to my bus stop there are acorns and leaves falling, and I've started to wear jeans again. It makes me really sad. I miss the freedom so much it hurts. Summer walks, music festivals, British TV, shorts and t-shirts, it's so saddening I can't even begin to explain it. While I like school, I wanna go back so badly. I don't like this country, not that I see much of it thanks to homework. I don't want winter to come. I want warm and happiness again, not science and Facebook. Boo hoo. I don't know why I'm contradicting myself all over today, but it so happens I am. It's juat that all I want is July again.
But such is life.
Thanks for reading if you did. I guess I'm off to practice piano or read or sleep. Night everyone!
- Naomi
Hello there.
Be prepared for awkward. 'cause I feel like going on a short Pope rant.
So far I haven't actually written about it anywhere and frankly this isn't the time or place for me and my left-winged-ness so I'll just keep this brief. Basically, Pope, screw you. Out of the two of us we can agree one of us believes there's a God and the other does not. You seem to believe one of us is also a Nazi. I'll tell you now that that person is not me, you stupid bigoted dick. Take your crap elsewhere. Ignoring the fact for now that throwing the wor 'Nazi' around 24/7 is sick and disrespectful to actual victims of Nazi Germany, let's add some Naomi logic in here; you seem to think condoms are sinful thus you try to deter the use of them in various places in Africa by saying they spread AIDS, in a sort of attempt to promote abstinence. I swear to God, I actually heard that. So. Assuming someone were Catholic they might listen to you, and if somehow they believe you, well, what if they get AIDS? Yeah, they die. Wait. So who is the Catholic-killer now? Not us Athiests, no, it is in some twisted way, your fault, Pope. Oh, what a Nazi. Dick.
Now that I've got that party out of my system, we can sort of pretend that never happened and get on with our lives. Ahem.
The great thing about high school is how much more exciting it makes the weekends. Like, it may be wet outside and I may not be listening to music(yet. Where's my NME?) it was just really exciting to get into a supremely lazy routine of read, music, Facebook, repeat from two thirty to nine and then blog. Also, it was really great, my sister went out with friends because she actually has a non-school social life, and I was alone with Chinese takeout, series 6 episode 1 and 2 of Peep Show, and my copy of Mockingjay. Oh, it is lovely, Fridays are the best. Superhans, you are such a lovely crackhead. I can't wait for series seven.
Oh, by the way, do you know what I heard this week? Only the best news of the year. If Peep Show is my cocaine, then Nevermind The Buzzcocks is unquestionably my heroin; and guess what. IT IS RETURNING. Just when I was losing hope on that front, hey, there it is again. Well, in a couple months I'm guessing. Hosts include Robert Webb, Frankie Boyle, Mark Ronson, and ohmyeffinggod Tim Minchin. I was sort of obsessed with Tim Minchin in July-ish time. It was great. I love Tim, he's so clever and funny and talented. And hosting? Jesus, it'll be great. Cannot. Wait. New Glee series in a couple days? That's nothing. Give me Next Lines instead any day!
school has been moving along this week. The first five-day week felt oddly unlike a five-day week. It moved fast. There's a lot of elements of the school I really, really truly like, a lot. My science teacher's so cool, she doesn't patronize us and she talks how I'd like to talk if I was smarter. I get to school a half hour before school starts and I go into my hallway and it's super quiet. I like the routine in the morning, I pass three or four friends, sit down outside my class, take out a book or some studying that needs doing and sit there and drift away and watch people flow past. Be the creeper staring at everyone because she thinks that routine's nifty. An hour twenty minutes in science, nearly fall asleep, wake up on the way to geometry, talk to my ever-growing group of people approaching friends in Geometry, walk to Spanish, forty minutes Spanish, lunch and then read as lunch finishes, back to Spanish, Spanish, and then either gym or study. On the bus. Ride home. Homework. Computer. Sleep. Boom boom boom, easy, organised, fun. No one treating you like a baby or making you do skits and no gawking at the clock for a half hour because it's so tedious. No. Plus, everyone's really cool. I don't know why the people from the other middle schools seem so much cooler than in my middle school, but they so are. They're really down to Earth, they don't go on about being so out-there and they're not so homophobic and they don't make half the cafeteria stare at your lunch table(my goal is to find a new lunch table.) because they're just so loud. Stupid people I know. Why can't they be like everyone else at school? Why can't they be nice and weird but not too extroverted? Why is that so hard to ask for in a person? it seems I may never know.
I was gonna elaborate on this more, but it seems I may be in too good a mood. But regardless, I went to a music festival this summer. After every concert I get in bad moods about it being over. And I didn't for V. I only just realised it was because I didn't have time. Now that things are calming down it just sorta exploded. I miss home. I miss summer already. When I walk to my bus stop there are acorns and leaves falling, and I've started to wear jeans again. It makes me really sad. I miss the freedom so much it hurts. Summer walks, music festivals, British TV, shorts and t-shirts, it's so saddening I can't even begin to explain it. While I like school, I wanna go back so badly. I don't like this country, not that I see much of it thanks to homework. I don't want winter to come. I want warm and happiness again, not science and Facebook. Boo hoo. I don't know why I'm contradicting myself all over today, but it so happens I am. It's juat that all I want is July again.
But such is life.
Thanks for reading if you did. I guess I'm off to practice piano or read or sleep. Night everyone!
- Naomi
Thursday, September 9, 2010
I Got A Day Off.
Hello there.
Thank God for Judaism and its holidays. I needed a break. Not just because school is physically and mentally tough at the moment, but because I've been having difficulties the last couple of days. I really needed a break. I'm not saying the sort of pointless nervousness I experienced in middle school(which was, frankly, extreme) is comparable to high school but like...Tuesday and Wednesday were tough. Well, just Wednesday, but still. it rained in the morning. pretty in the sunrise, but hell, it's rain and I don't want autumn to come. Winter officially terrifies me. It's so miserable. But anyway, we had an essay in the physical science class from the summer reading we did. Question; "Is the main character a hero?". How am I supposed to answer that without diving into some big swimming pool of cliches? answer; I've no idea. So I did the cliched 'a hero can be many things' route, sixty minutes, a page and a half. Crap but not difficult. Geometry my teacher's a narcissistic bitch and had a go at me for doing the wrong side of a worksheet, not that she actually specified which side to do, naturally. I don't know why that got to me, something about the almost public humiliation of it, but whatever way I panicked and couldn't do much else and went my usual route of internal self hatred and anger. This plus a really, really bad Spanish lesson didn't help. I got a C on a quiz. Okay, so that was actually pretty middle of the road, I did hear of Fs, Ds, and Bs, but no As so it's not like a tragic grade, but still, C. And then we played this conjugation game and I suck at Spanish so the public humiliation continued, and then I had to review homework with the girl next to me. I couldn't do half of it. She didn't think much of me, and after my performance in that class, I do not blame her. But it still hurt like hell. it's weird that gym would be some sort of hi light, but so it was--one game I looked like a total fool, and I heard we get graded down for not bringing gym clothes(which I will not be doing, FYI, because the rule is pathetic and because I don't like getting changed), but otherwise it wasn't bad. The whole thing just got a bit much.
Thank Christ for this break. Five days straight will be a nightmare. I keep waking up at four in the morning for no reason. also, homework is too much. I could handle today's, not that we were supposed to get homework, but a whole four days straight is difficult.
One day I need to write something more conclusive about Peep Show. I was getting upset at the silliest things earlier, like my height, which may not be much(five two, if you're interested, not that you are) and I got into this nightmarish loop of miserableness(wannabee emo lyric of the day?), and I was like 'I need Peep Show now'. Not only is Peep Show realistic and genius and clever and possibly the most genuinely witty and funny Sitcom there has ever been in my opinion, it's comforting. Everyone's a bit like Jeremy, a bit like Mark, some more to one than the other. I'm about 5%-95% on the Jeremy-to-Mark scale. Watching Mark makes me laugh and makes me feel better. I am Mark Corrigan. It's okay. He can relate. He can relate about a lot of things. And it's okay Mark is wonderful, not that I am, and you're not on your own, Naomi. I need that quite a lot, just like everyone I suppose. Sometimes Peep Show is all that comforts me. Right now I find it more comforting than music and reading and playing piano and blogging combined. Wednesday I had a bad day and I just had a late-night Peep Show episode. Mark's public humiliation, self hatred, embarrassment, fear, and anxiety is endless; and it's so wonderful to see because our days are so similar. it makes me feel so much better about myself and about the world in general. That is why Peep Show is so brilliant. That is why I watch it so much. That is why I have greatly over exaggerated about a lightweight comedy show.
In other news, today I went to Concord which is one of my favorite places. All quirkiness and history, I love it. I went to one store that was dedicated to stuff that was meant to look antique, largely things centered around birds and eggs and nests. When I look at antiques, first I feel very angry about myself for being overly sentimental, feminine, simple, and easily tricked by stupid things. And then part of me goes 'oh my god. it's an old fashioned weighing machine! I need that!'. Then part of me wonders if I have the money or the means to take something big home. So I go looking for something small. And then I realise I can't pick one small thing that I love more than the others so I pick up the first cutesy thing I find. Then I leave with an expensive notebook with the picture of a worn-out newspaper and a butterfly on top and I wonder what exactly happened in the last twenty minutes. But it's fun, right? Concord is so wonderful and it was so good to relax and do nothing.
Apparently a theme for this blog is choppy paragraphs, so that is the way it will stay. Have you heard of Perfume Genius? He's a music an. I generally avoid the word 'lo-fi' because most lo-fi sucks and I hate the term. But his song Learning is cool and it has quite good lyrics. there are a couple of songs I want but they're not on iTunes USA. Also, I need to add my Pretty Reckless, Editors, National, Skunk Anansie, and Kings of Leon CDs to my iPod but somehow I don't see myself having the time.
Two things, one, 'redundant' is my new favorite word, because I always go for the obvious ones. Two, I have last period Friday study hall which I see as sort of...redundant? That doesn't actually really work, but that's the closest I've got so far. I'm looking forward to it. Shamefully, I haven't been keeping up with reading at all, except in the mornings at school when I've been sitting outside my science class(which happens to be in the freshman hallway) with some other nerd. I need to keep up if I hope to reach fifty books. Also I have a science quiz tomorrow, my first in that class, and the stuff we're doing is more my style than most of the stuff in that class will be, but still, I like my teacher because shes something of an evil genius. Emphasis of evil. I'm expecting another C. Thanks high school; rather than reading fifty books this year, I will get fifty quizzes with C grades. Cheers.*
Well, it's that time of the night where I choose between reading my crap WWII novel, playing Song of India for the millionth time on piano, watching TV, or studying. Oh, it's a tricky one. See you another time, blogsophere.
- Naomi
*that is possibly the first and only time I will ever use that word in that context.
Thank God for Judaism and its holidays. I needed a break. Not just because school is physically and mentally tough at the moment, but because I've been having difficulties the last couple of days. I really needed a break. I'm not saying the sort of pointless nervousness I experienced in middle school(which was, frankly, extreme) is comparable to high school but like...Tuesday and Wednesday were tough. Well, just Wednesday, but still. it rained in the morning. pretty in the sunrise, but hell, it's rain and I don't want autumn to come. Winter officially terrifies me. It's so miserable. But anyway, we had an essay in the physical science class from the summer reading we did. Question; "Is the main character a hero?". How am I supposed to answer that without diving into some big swimming pool of cliches? answer; I've no idea. So I did the cliched 'a hero can be many things' route, sixty minutes, a page and a half. Crap but not difficult. Geometry my teacher's a narcissistic bitch and had a go at me for doing the wrong side of a worksheet, not that she actually specified which side to do, naturally. I don't know why that got to me, something about the almost public humiliation of it, but whatever way I panicked and couldn't do much else and went my usual route of internal self hatred and anger. This plus a really, really bad Spanish lesson didn't help. I got a C on a quiz. Okay, so that was actually pretty middle of the road, I did hear of Fs, Ds, and Bs, but no As so it's not like a tragic grade, but still, C. And then we played this conjugation game and I suck at Spanish so the public humiliation continued, and then I had to review homework with the girl next to me. I couldn't do half of it. She didn't think much of me, and after my performance in that class, I do not blame her. But it still hurt like hell. it's weird that gym would be some sort of hi light, but so it was--one game I looked like a total fool, and I heard we get graded down for not bringing gym clothes(which I will not be doing, FYI, because the rule is pathetic and because I don't like getting changed), but otherwise it wasn't bad. The whole thing just got a bit much.
Thank Christ for this break. Five days straight will be a nightmare. I keep waking up at four in the morning for no reason. also, homework is too much. I could handle today's, not that we were supposed to get homework, but a whole four days straight is difficult.
One day I need to write something more conclusive about Peep Show. I was getting upset at the silliest things earlier, like my height, which may not be much(five two, if you're interested, not that you are) and I got into this nightmarish loop of miserableness(wannabee emo lyric of the day?), and I was like 'I need Peep Show now'. Not only is Peep Show realistic and genius and clever and possibly the most genuinely witty and funny Sitcom there has ever been in my opinion, it's comforting. Everyone's a bit like Jeremy, a bit like Mark, some more to one than the other. I'm about 5%-95% on the Jeremy-to-Mark scale. Watching Mark makes me laugh and makes me feel better. I am Mark Corrigan. It's okay. He can relate. He can relate about a lot of things. And it's okay Mark is wonderful, not that I am, and you're not on your own, Naomi. I need that quite a lot, just like everyone I suppose. Sometimes Peep Show is all that comforts me. Right now I find it more comforting than music and reading and playing piano and blogging combined. Wednesday I had a bad day and I just had a late-night Peep Show episode. Mark's public humiliation, self hatred, embarrassment, fear, and anxiety is endless; and it's so wonderful to see because our days are so similar. it makes me feel so much better about myself and about the world in general. That is why Peep Show is so brilliant. That is why I watch it so much. That is why I have greatly over exaggerated about a lightweight comedy show.
In other news, today I went to Concord which is one of my favorite places. All quirkiness and history, I love it. I went to one store that was dedicated to stuff that was meant to look antique, largely things centered around birds and eggs and nests. When I look at antiques, first I feel very angry about myself for being overly sentimental, feminine, simple, and easily tricked by stupid things. And then part of me goes 'oh my god. it's an old fashioned weighing machine! I need that!'. Then part of me wonders if I have the money or the means to take something big home. So I go looking for something small. And then I realise I can't pick one small thing that I love more than the others so I pick up the first cutesy thing I find. Then I leave with an expensive notebook with the picture of a worn-out newspaper and a butterfly on top and I wonder what exactly happened in the last twenty minutes. But it's fun, right? Concord is so wonderful and it was so good to relax and do nothing.
Apparently a theme for this blog is choppy paragraphs, so that is the way it will stay. Have you heard of Perfume Genius? He's a music an. I generally avoid the word 'lo-fi' because most lo-fi sucks and I hate the term. But his song Learning is cool and it has quite good lyrics. there are a couple of songs I want but they're not on iTunes USA. Also, I need to add my Pretty Reckless, Editors, National, Skunk Anansie, and Kings of Leon CDs to my iPod but somehow I don't see myself having the time.
Two things, one, 'redundant' is my new favorite word, because I always go for the obvious ones. Two, I have last period Friday study hall which I see as sort of...redundant? That doesn't actually really work, but that's the closest I've got so far. I'm looking forward to it. Shamefully, I haven't been keeping up with reading at all, except in the mornings at school when I've been sitting outside my science class(which happens to be in the freshman hallway) with some other nerd. I need to keep up if I hope to reach fifty books. Also I have a science quiz tomorrow, my first in that class, and the stuff we're doing is more my style than most of the stuff in that class will be, but still, I like my teacher because shes something of an evil genius. Emphasis of evil. I'm expecting another C. Thanks high school; rather than reading fifty books this year, I will get fifty quizzes with C grades. Cheers.*
Well, it's that time of the night where I choose between reading my crap WWII novel, playing Song of India for the millionth time on piano, watching TV, or studying. Oh, it's a tricky one. See you another time, blogsophere.
- Naomi
*that is possibly the first and only time I will ever use that word in that context.
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