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Driving in my Saab, on my way to Ireland.

I knew there had to be a reason why Tori wrote that song, if only if it was to piss off James for an hour (there's a Saab dealer by the train station, and we saw about 30 of them - not including the ones for sale, of course). I never believed "I like my Saab. I like Ireland" as an explanation for that atrocity against music for one minute. It was designed to annoy people in Saabland, and oh, it did. Thanks, Tori. Where would I be without you?



On a completely unrelated, random note: who can say they were honestly surprised that Dr Who beat Ant and Dec's unfunny, unoriginal and just overall stupid Saturday show (that's even repeated later in the weekend anyway!) in the ratings 'war' this weekend? A big LOLipop to whomever bet that Ant and Dec would win and lost money. I bet the people at Ladbrookes etc were laughing all the way to the bank over that - and so they should. Anyone who can make that much profit from rich idiots has my utmost respect.

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Dann told me to sign up for this thing so I did. I don't even know what half the big words mean. *flails*

Queendom of Lecari!

As long as they all do what I say, when I say, I don't care. I am superior for a reason.

I stole the Welsh flag because I like dragons, the Cheshire cat is our national animal because Alice in Wonderland is a book to live by, and gafr is our currency because it means goat in Welsh (we trade using Welsh goats. :D).

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My internet's been down, which is why I haven't been able to update for a while. It seems to be fine, though, and in the process my Dad very helpfully updated our internet connection to 2mb, which, as you can imagine, has my Internet now speeding along quite happily. Yay! In the meantime, I've been spending my time driving with my Dad, speaking to family (since my Granny is staying with us for the long weekend), cooking (well, helping to cook), making bracelets with my sister (I've gotten good at it now), and watching films. It's been quite relaxing, really. Today I got Easter eggs, which make everyone's day just that bit better.

Yesterday I was going to see James, but because of it being Easter and all, his Mum didn't really want me coming over. That's fair enough, but I was still a bit disappointed, as I've not seen him in a while. No harm done, though, and I'm going to Newport on Tuesday to say hi, so it's not like I have to wait ages to see him again. I've never been to Newport before, so I'm quite excited :D exploring!

DINOSAURS! (haha, I'm such a geek.) The main points:
A 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex fossil dug out of a hunk of sandstone has yielded soft tissue, including blood vessels and perhaps even whole cells, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. Paleontologists forced to break the creature's massive thighbone to get it on a helicopter found not a solid piece of fossilized bone, but instead something looking a bit less like a rock. When they got it into a lab and chemically removed the hard minerals, they found what looked like blood vessels, bone cells and perhaps even blood cells.

Of course, the big question is whether it will be possible to see dinosaur DNA. "We don't know yet. We are doing a lot in the lab now that looks promising," Schweitzer said.

Horner said he hoped museums around the world would start cracking open bones and looking for soft tissue in their fossils. "Dinosaurs are relatively rare and we certainly think of Tyrannosaurus rex as being really rare — although it really isn't — so people tend not to want to cut holes into the bone or cut them in half," he said. "But to study the cellular and molecular structures of these things you have to do that." The "good stuff," he said, is on the inside.

:D How cool is that? It's like Jurassic Park all over again, except real!

This evening my Dad wants to play a UT2k4 LAN match, so I best get some practise in beforehand. I've not played it in absolutely ages, especially with real people and not bots! Arg. I hope I've not gotten crap. That would be a bit embarrassing, especially when I used to always win! Rar.

PS. Chinchillas cannot climb trees! Despite what the Internet says. It's just not right (like a platypus or midget dogs).

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Some news articles I found interesting:

A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, saying that the state could no longer justify limiting marriage to a man and a woman... the plaintiffs said withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians trespasses on the civil rights all citizens are guaranteed under the California Constitution. -> here
This makes me very happy. At last someone in America is starting to see sense! However, the fact that they may 'ammend' the constitution soon to make gay marriage impossible, really does worry me. Let's just hope that they all make the right decision. I'm also interested to see what Arnie's view on this is - for the California Governor, he seems to be awfully quiet on the matter (which probably means he has some homophobic views locked up in there, but doesn't want people to know because it'd make me cry as he's everyone's hero).

The Senate gave a green light Wednesday to drilling for oil and gas in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, handing President Bush a big victory and dealing a blow to environmentalists... Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said ANWR could produce 1 million barrels of oil a day. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the nation could reduce its dependence on foreign oil just as much by raising fuel economy standards for sport-utility vehicles. -> here
Once again, Bush doesn't bother to try and use and increase funding/research for other sources of fuel, but just ruins somewhere else to get even more oil. It's not like anyone will even get the benefits of this for years, and when they do, the benefits will have gone within a decade. I just don't understand how he can be so single-minded - what's the point in searching for more oil all the time? He shouldn't be relying on it, he's really not thinking about the future - just his time in office and what will win him the American public. It's so selfish and shallow. He shouldn't be searching for oil as though that's going to solve all our energy problems, but as treat it as though it's just giving Scientists a bit more time. He needs to listen to other people's opinions and be really, really looking for other sources of energy. I know at the moment the energy situation isn't desperate, but surely it's better to start and pump as much funding into research before it does? A little forward thinking goes a long way.

On a light-hearted note - you all need to go here (make sure you have Quicktime, otherwise you are missing out). Unless, of course, you're a Star Wars nerd, then you might get offended and eat me. You have been warned. I've seen it before, years ago, but it still makes me laugh :D silly nerds.

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Listening to: Econoline Crush - All That You Are x3

I've been told I have to update my blog more (why I don't know, when I really don't have anything much at all to say) so here's another entry.

My car's a bit scary to drive. It's much more stiff than my instructor's new Mini - the gears are stiffer and it doesn't have power steering. It also has a hole in the exhaust (nothing serious, it's just noisy) that makes it sound like a lawn mower and as though it's going to fall apart anytime soon (though it does mean you can hear me coming from miles away). Drivers here are also so much different to drivers in Bangor - they're all in a rush, and you get much more people overtaking you if you're not driving at the speed limit that you do at home (normally it's just taxi's who are like that). We also had a guy come and fit in the car alarm and immobiliser today, it's really nifty. While my Dad was showing me how it worked, I noticed that the tax disk is a year out of date. Oops.

I think I'm beginning to be more a fan of power metal (like Nightwish, Stratovarius, Iced Earth, Evergrey and Iron Maiden too, I guess) rather than heavier death metal stuff. The videos are usually quite amusing (full of overly dramatic Knights waving swords around and eagles). I can't listen to much in the way of screaming these days (I must be getting old), and Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy scares the crap out of me. I certainly wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alleyway, especially if she screamed at me. :( Although why Tarrie B doesn't scare me in the slightest, I don't know - I think it's because she sings about things I can relate to (yay angst), whereas I would be very worried if anyone told me they could personally relate to "Liquid strengths trapped in your veins, I crave your blood, you must die!"

I've done nothing of value today, really. I need to order a new student railcard from Natwest, and I haven't. I need to contact the cottage landlady and ask if it's still available, and I haven't (I've completely given up on it, and don't want to be told it's gone and be upset about losing it all over again). I need to ask the hospital about temp work, and I haven't. I need to check the state of my finances, and I haven't. I need to wash my car (as it's covered in moss and bird crap at the moment), and I haven't. Lalala. *fails at life*

I find it sad that Econoline Crush seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Their official site has been bought up by a search engine (I absolutely hate it when that happens), and Amazon barely recognises them anymore.

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I have insurance! yay! (well, from midday.) Hopefully I should be going out for a drive today. Tomorrow morning a man's coming to fix an alarm into my car, and if my Dad has time before his conference and before flying to Germany, we'll have another drive around. And, if I'm doing well, my Dad's said I might even be allowed to drive up to collect my Granny from Derby on Friday :D (although obviously we'd not go along the motorway). How awesome is that? I'm so excited! lol, a guy just rang me asking me about my insurance (from the insurance company I've now got a policy with), and then halfway through he said "wait, you've already got insurance with us. Um, nevermind" hahaha. I'm glad to see that they're nice and organised. But I'm confused, because online they gave us a quote of £719, then we rang them and gave them our reference number, and got a quote of about £850, then haggled them down to £720, and I just got an email saying they could give us £689. I wish they'd make up their minds, it seems to change all the time (and not just with them, but with all insurance companies). Arg.

I've had a really good weekend - Saturday I spent with James, from about 11am-10pm, and it was great. Just perfect, really. The day went so quickly, I barely even noticed the time fly by. It's nice to have someone who I can just feel so at ease with (even if he can't even tell what Tori Amos says when singing, and thinks I'm easy and have a fat and ugly face :p) and just feel completely relaxed. Sunday I tidied up my room, and it actually looks a lot better. My parents are really impressed with me, and are now nagging at my sister to tidy her room (which has always been much more of a tip than mine - I know I'm a hoarder (the two drawers full of things I'm keeping purely for sentimental reasons will tell you that much), but she hasn't ever thrown anything away ever, and you can barely see the floor in her room! I also managed to set up my PC, and it's good to have quicker, reliable Internet that lets me use things like Skype and MSN webcams/microphone/games.

It's good to be home. Today I'm going for a drive with my Dad, this evening I'm going to see Gaz, tomorrow I'm going out for a drive and then hopefully seeing James in the evening when he's back from school. Wednesday I'm either seeing Dann or Jenna (I'm just waiting for Dann to get back to me about when he's free), or I'll see Dann Thursday instead. I'm also going to see about getting some temp work at the hospital, to raise a bit more cash (although I wouldn't get paid for another month or so). I've also got to give the landlady of the cottage a call this evening - I forgot to all weekend, which I hope isn't going to have lost me the place. :( (Although the likelihood of me getting it anyway, is slim, to say the least. I guess there's always next year.)

And, on an unrelated note - what the Hell has happened to Gwen Stefani? I know No Doubt's 'Rock Steady' was a huge disappointment (I used to like them, before they turned pop), but I had really hoped that maybe, just maybe, her album might not actually be a mix between R n' B and 80s electro-pop. I downloaded a few tracks - the first being 'Hollaback Girl' and I think I'm scarred for life. I'm disappointed, Gwen, very disappointed. Go sit in the corner until you write some real music. But, I am pleased to have my Krezip, Econoline Crush, Scarling, Third Eye Blind, Rasputina and Tegan and Sara back. And, thanks to James, I also am planning on checking out some more of Charlotte Hatherley's (from Ash) solo stuff, because she sounds like a mix between Melissa Auf der Maur and Bif Naked, and that has to be a good thing.

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Well, things have been stressful recently. I think my brain is about to frazzle and explode into lots of tiny little pieces. I've had exams, research proposals to hand in (then been told they haven't), hassle with accomodation for next year, and lots of let downs. Tomorrow is my driving test. Friday I go back to Harlow. Busy busy. I've also found out that apparently I'm supposed to be doing a presentation about my group's research tomorrow from Kathryn this evening, you'd think they'd have told me and asked me to do something - they all have my email address, I emailled them the other week asking what was going on. They could've found me in a lecture. No one mentioned it. But it's not like I could go and just blag my way through it anyway. Group work starts at 2, and my driving test is at 1.33. Oh well.

Watching a program on ITV, it's so disgusting. I hope that people like this don't actually exist (although, actually, they probably do). It's set in Wales, about the life of a girl who's probably only about 18yrs old, and who's already got a young baby. She has a complete attitude problem - her parents seem to be non-existant (she lives on her own, and they've not made an appearance), with her brother and his stoner friends for company. She's already prostituted her cousin (I think? A girl she knows, anyway), keyed a guy's car, thrown rubbish around a fish and chip shop just because it was owned by a man from Pakistan, and drinks like a fish and smokes like a chimney (around her baby! And so doesn't have any money to pay for things like electricity). Social services is constantly over. She, her brother and her friends all have an attitude problem about people 'invading' 'their' country, but never once have they stopped to consider that maybe they're the ones with the problem, that maybe the world seems against them because they're such nasty, racist, twisted pieces of work. I shouldn't watch this show, as it's only making me angry. But I can't help it.

Also, I thought this was something that people should read and do something about. It was brought up by the guy who headlined at the Comedy Club I went to on Monday night.

Recently due to a complaint from the Christian Voice organistation, Maggie’s cancer charity had to refuse a donation of £3000 because the CVO didn’t agree with how the money was obtained. The money was collected from ticket sales at the play 'Jerry Springer the Opera'. Read more here.

Please help Maggie’s charity get this money back by emailing the office of the Scottish charity regulator who if they receive enough emails about this will have to look into this matter and action will have to be taken. (email address = info@oscr.org.uk)

Of course, they didn't offer to reimburse then with the £3,000 instead - that's how honourable their intentions are. I know not all Christians are like this, but honestly, how can someone do something like this, and call themselves a Christian? Or even a fellow human being, for that matter? I really, really hope that the OSCR step in. They can't let this carry on, and let people bully others, using religion as an excuse. Maybe Tony Blair and Bush should start looking at the hate and 'terrorist' actions people are committing in this country, and try and fix that, before meddling with other country's affairs.

I used to want to go into law, or be a politician - make a difference, make all these thing stop, prove that there is some justice out there. But I know it'd never be any good. What would be the point? People are so nasty to each other, all the time, and they don't even care. How can you change that? Nothing will change, there's nothing I or anyone else can do. And the immense helplessness just makes everything all so much worse.

I think I care far too much.

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Wearing your Halloween costume... on 19th September.

I know I never use this blog to actually write anything particularly sensible, but I will! I promise. Just not right now. To make up with this, I leave you with this comical (non-photoshopped) photo.

If you didn't think Tori Amos was crazy enough as it is, well, I just proved you wrong. Hahaha.

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'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

'I don't much care where--' said Alice.

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

'--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.

'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. 'What sort of people live about here?'

'In THAT direction,' the Cat said, waving its right paw round, 'lives a Hatter: and in THAT direction,' waving the other paw, 'lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.'

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'

'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.

'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'

Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on 'And how do you know that you're mad?'

'To begin with,' said the Cat, `a dog's not mad. You grant that?'

'I suppose so,' said Alice.

'Well, then,' the Cat went on, 'you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'

'I call it purring, not growling,' said Alice.

'Call it what you like,' said the Cat.

The Cheshire Cat so wins in Alice in Wonderland, he gets all the best lines :D

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James's comment on my previous post and boredom encouraged me to draw a picture of the ultimate win. Behold!

*wins at life*

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Things that win:
-texting James late at night with complete nonsense, and scaring him so he nearly has a heart attack and I get an angry/confused text back. :D
-Cadbury's Creme Eggs! by about 10.54543.
-Military-style jackets and dresses.
-goats, with collars! Especially baby ones that have little stumps for horns :D They make me giggle.
-strawberry jam. No raspberry's! (they're evil, I have photographic evidence to prove it!)
-Darwin's Chainsaw of Natural Selection :D (or James's shotgon, "a holy cannon of cleansing power and +2 penetration" lol)
-Tori Amos - more specifically, my signed CD and the "kiss Wayne Knight" line. :D
-the bee!
-Dann's 'maow' and 'chaooooo' and the way he talks about everything in gamer terms.
-pianos and harpsichords, just everything about them.
-corsets, as always! Especially my leather purple/black underbust, it's awsome.
-my sexy boots :D
-platypus's! ROFFLEZ! Freaks amuse me.
-driving :D
-Tetris!
-"Freedom and liberty from Biology teachers!" - Bush invading Biologia! lol.
-pony's! (especially the "no, you can't have a pony" picture :D)
-the Angry Beavers! OMG! STUMP!

I might add to this later, and add photographic evidence.

Yes, this is just random. Yes, I have been eating chocolate. Yes, I did amuse/cheer me up. Yes, that is all that counts. :p

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"He liked my shoes, I kept them on."

Men and Club/bar Etiquette

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I honestly don't understand how, in this day and age, so many guys can still be so incredibly clueless about meeting and talking to girls. On Friday night, I went out wearing a pair of sexy boots, and a fairly ordinary outfit. Now, to make this clear: I never, ever have guys come up to me or make comments towards me when I go out, and I have never had a guy even look at me while out while at Uni. The only thing that had changed about my clothes were my boots, and okay, I know they were sexy (Ceri, a girl on my floor, labelled them my porn star boots and I said they're more for pole dancing), but all of a sudden - whoosh! I was a guy magnet. Even the fireman (there was a false fire alarm just before we got there) made comments about them. Honestly.

Only one guy out of about 20 actually bothered to talk to me, like I was a real person - he asked my name, asked how I was, if I was enjoying myself, who I'd come with. Everyone else would either a) grab my arse, b) ask me to dance (and keep asking for 5mins after I'd said no!), c) drool over me as though I was a nude painting, or d) was too scared to say anything so just hovered around (3 guys just following you around but not saying anything gets very, very creepy after a while). I'd like to point out that the guy who actually talked to me, was the only guy that night who I gave my number to, and the only guy who I actually met up with afterwards. He seemed a genuinely nice, honest guy. He bought me a hot chocolate and we chatted (again, bonus - he wanted to get to know me, he made me feel like a real person), we went for a walk around (again, bonus - I wasn't pressured, as I would be if we'd gone to the cinema, for example), he wasn't sleazy (bonus points all round for that one) and didn't come onto me. He laughed at my jokes and bought me chocolate (maybe that last one's just a bonus for me), and he said when we parted that if I wanted, I could go to his later and watch a film. There was no pressure; again, he respected me as though I was a real person.

Sure, I'm not actually attracted to him and nothing came of it, but at least he got further than anyone else! I think there are many, many guys out there who could take some tips out of his book. I'm tired of hearing guys (and some girls, admittedly) complain how they can't get a girlfriend, just a one night stand or a short fling, but if you go around grabbing girls and pressuring them into dancing with you, that's all you seem interested in. If you want a girlfriend, treat girls with respect. Get to know them. You can't expect someone to enter a long-term relationship with you, if all you ever do is invite them over to yours - that's just bound to give the wrong impression! There are so many things to do, and someone can find something non-creepy in the middle of nowhere, you can find something to do where you live. Guaranteed.

A few important things to note:

Just because a girl is wearing something sexy or unique (or even if she isn't) doesn't mean she wants attention, especially if that attention is grabbing her. I don't like to be touched, let alone by strangers. It really is not sexy. I can't say that's definitely true for all girls, but I bet it's true for most. The next guy who grabs me I am going to turn round and hit as punch as I can. You wouldn't grab a girl if it was anywhere else - it'd be sexual assault. Why is it suddenly acceptable to act like animals once you get into a bar or a club? This also goes for shouting obscenities or wolf-whistling. That genuinely scares me, and I know I'm not the only girl who finds it hurtful and humiliating. Not every girl finds it a 'compliment' (although how it could be seen that way, I really don't know), despite what society seems to have told you.

Stalking a girl around a club is really, really creepy. Don't do it. Just get the balls to talk to her. And, if you stalk her and then she does talk to you - don't then get intimidated or threatened because she seems 'independent.' That's stupid - did you really think a girl's life revolves around you, anyway? (Note: it doesn't.) Again, you wouldn't follow a girl around (well, I'd hope not) anywhere else; why is it okay to in a club or a bar?

I forgot what my point was, so I'll just leave it there.

On a completely unrelated note: they need to make warning beeps for people who don't think about the word 'hot' in hot chocolate, and take a huge gulp of their drink anyway. OH IT BURNS! And because you can't really spit it out, you have to swallow, and now both my throat and tongue have gone numb and sore. :( Talking of my throat, according to my Doctor's note I had tonsilitus, not mumps - but at least that makes my whining sound more valid.

My TV channels have all swapped around overnight. It's odd.