Illman

The Giving/Getting Stuff Meme

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:04:20 GMT

For the first five people who reply to me and re-post this challenge, I will send you something. It might be something I've made just for you, or something cool from my collection, it might be a mix CD or a book I think you will enjoy, a graphic or something else that I think you might like. Whatever it is, I promise that I will get it to you in 365 days or less or you are allowed to beat me with a wet noodle ;-)

The only thing you need to do in order to participate is to be one of the first five to reply to this, AND post this entry on YOUR live journal - 'cause its fun to give people stuff.

Answer to this entry if you want the spot. But you have to stick to the rules!

People on the list:

Made It Back!

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:11:24 GMT

I'm home, finally. The trip back was fairly uneventful even though I got very little sleep on the bus. Apparently it's a law of nature that there always have to be little children on the bus.

I got a few hours sleep just now, but I think I'm going to go back to bed after I've eaten something. My cold is still plaguing me, so I'm planning to take it easy this weekend seeing that I have to be back at work on Monday. Better not think of that, it makes my head ache even worse. I have so much work to catch up on for my courses that I can't really take out time to be sick.

But a weekend in bed still sounds nice...Plus I brought back a few interesting books. What can I say, I love academic bookstores ;-)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:19:49 GMT

All done with the academic part of my trip! It's been a good week, but also a very long week. I'm simply not used to working 12 hour days :-/ But I met many nice people at the school and the tutors really went out of their way to help us with the work. I should be home in about 18 hours. I can hardly wait. I caught a cold on the field trip and really just want t go to bed right now (maybe shower before that!), but that's not going to happen as I'll be spending the night on a bus which will be making around ten stops or so on the way to London. (At least on the way to Edinburgh, it was a direct bus). In order to kill the rest of the day until my bus leaves tonight, I bought a day ticket for a nearby internet cafe, which is where I am right now, bought a newspaper and a couple of magazines to read and am planning to hit the supermarket later on for snacks and something to drink.

I didn't get as much work done for s342 as I would have liked during the week, so I need to get cracking next week. And there is of course TV to catch up on. And fanfic of course! I wrote the next chapter of Avenging Angel and hope to post it this weekend. Preferably after I've had some sleep...

Edinburgh: Field Trip

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:00:11 GMT

Today was the (much dreaded) field trip. We went to a place called Aberdour (about 45min from Edinburgh). There we inspected, identified and later counted different species of lichen.

It was about as interesting as it sounds. At least it wasn't raining, although it was was only 14°C and pretty windy. :-/

There was a beach nearby and we did get a lot of odd looks from the locals as we were clambering about the rocks with our clipboards and hard hats! In the afternoon we moved to a second site called Kinghorn, also at the coast. There were had a look at rock formation and learned to identify various types of rock. All in all, we spent about nine hours in the field today, plus another hour of debriefing in the evening.

I'm feeling pretty exhausted from it all. Tomorrow we'll be in the biology lab, examining the effects of radiation on plants.

Edinburgh: Tired and Sore

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:03:40 GMT

It's officially the end of day 2 here at the residential school. My feet are sore and I'm tired, although in regard to both of those, I do not seem to be the only one. It was a lab day today - drinking water analysis methods. Pretty easy for me for the most part since I've done quite a bit of chemistry over the years. Tonight we had a safety briefing which was pretty boring. But all in all, the day was good.

Tomorrow we'll be working on a research project, on what exactly we'll find out tomorrow, that we have to present by the end of the day. Not sure if I'm up for a day of intense group work. I'm starting to feel progressively more exhausted and thing like noise sensitivity are cropping up more and more. In the hopes of dampening the stress a bit, I didn't go to the cafeteria today for dinner, but had some quiet time in my room instead. I'm not sure it's helped, but it certainly didn't hurt.

The weather has improved and the sun has even come out a little bit. There is still hope for the field trip, then I guess ;-) Curiosity got the better of me today when Debbie and I were walking back to the halls of residence and heard some weird noise coming from a dust bin. Of course I went to check it out. So I went up to the bin and had a look only to surprise a squirrel on its search for food. It was probably as frightened as I was. I so didn't expect that!

Edinburgh - It's going to be a very, very long week

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:44:49 GMT

First of all, I have internet, obviously. Plus, all the activities this evening are optional, so I have a bit of time to myself.

It is a bit exhausting and difficult for me to interact with people all the time. I should do some work for S342, but I need some time to unwind first. These long days are really hard for me. We were in the lab all day today, working on an activity titled Rocks and Radioactivity. It was pretty easy, especially the morning session, although it seemed to pass a lot more slowly than the afternoon session. We (my lab partner Debbie and I) got nowhere near done with plotting all the graphs or taking all the measurements for that matter, but I don't think that's so important (for passing the course). I will try and fill in a couple of blanks tonight and have a read through the activity for tomorrow.

It's still rainy and cold. There is a field trip to the coast later this week and I hope that the weather improves by then. The people doing that today came back absolutely drenched. I wouldn't mind the rain so much if the walks between the halls of residence and the teaching labs weren't so far. The breaks for lunch and dinner barely leave enough time to eat, let alone eat and walk back and forth. But all in all, it could be worse. I've had some trouble keeping focused during the afternoon session, but I'm doing okay, I think. But I can't believe that it is only Sunday and that it's going to go on like this for another week! I'm going to be so shattered when this is over.

Edinburgh - Arrived and Waiting

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:36:24 GMT

Arrived early this morning. First order of business was to procure breakfast (easy, plus I stocked up on diet coke aka nectar of the gods), then I set out to find a place to access to 'net.

That proved to a bit more tricky. There are several listed in my travel guide, but the first was too expensive, the second I had some trouble finding, but that's where I am right now. You sure have been busy posting since yesterday!

AS for first impressions, it's much colder here than I expected. Hope it warms up during the week because otherwise I'm going to be wearing lots and lots of layers ;-)

I have to be at the university early afternoon, so I'll still have to find something for lunch in town and figure out from where the bus leaves. All the booklet I got says 'from city centre' which isn't too helpful.

Edinburgh - Leaving Soon

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:46:40 GMT

Everything is packed, at least I hope so, except for the laptop. I should be leaving in about half an hour. I'll probably be way early, but it's better than being late in any case. Not much else to say. I hope I'll have internet access there, but if not there will be more than enough to do to pass the time ;-)

I do not want to go to Edinburgh

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:06:21 GMT

I really, really don't for about a million reasons :-( I'm super-nervous already and I'm only leaving on Friday afternoon. Right now, I'm in the mood where I just know that the week is going to be work-filled nightmare. I know I'll probably feel better about it soon (although that won't change the fact that I can't afford to spend a week without doing any work on S342). Just needed to get that off my chest as I've been moping around all day.

But...movie night today. We're trying to finish two movies we didn't manage last week. Although The Quiet Earth is on the menu mainly because we want to know when they are finally going to get it on ;-)

It's not raining through the roof

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:36:19 GMT

But it's raining in through the windows! The water is coming in on top and below the windows. We put towels there and are now hoping that it stops raining soon. It still hasn't cooled down, it's just a lot more humid now.

Still totally beat

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:48:45 GMT

I'm still totally beat after our visit to the local spa yesterday (aren't these things supposed to be relaxing and all?!). I could go to bed right now. Seeing how much a single day out has tired me out, I wonder how I'm ever going to handle a week of residential school. I know I managed last year, but right now I feel like I just got lucky with the timing. I don't feel prepared at all. I'm not worried about the work itself or the grades. It's more the long days and the constant interaction with other people...

Survived the spa

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:23:53 GMT

I'm still alive, albeit with a monster headache. It actually wasn't so bad, I enjoyed most of it. At least until L freaked out because we met someone from one of her classes. She is totally paranoid about anyone finding out that she had mental health issues...

Personally, I don't really care about that. People have been saying that I'm crazy for years ;-) And it's probably true.

Now, I can either go and see if L has calmed down, or lie down for a while.

Just kill me now...

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:52:27 GMT

I have a sore throat, a headache and an earache and I'm supposed to go to a spa today. Of course, this was L's idea and she is actually inviting me, so it would be impolite not to go, even though spending a day at a spa is very much near the bottom of the list of things to do on a free day. What on Earth am I supposed to do there?! Not to mention that I'm only almost caught up on my studies. Plus, I have fic to write as I ditched almost an entire chapter of Avenging Angel yesterday and now have to rewrite most of it :-/

But what is really awesome is the raw vegan chocolate cake I bought yesterday. It is probably the best cake I ever had. I can hardly believe that it is both raw and vegan! I seriously need to try their raw vegan chocolate bars next time. If they are only half as good I'll be so happy. The last two raw chocolate bars I tried (sometime last year) were beyond awful. I was worried about what I was going to eat at the residential school in Edinburgh, but I found at that there will be a vegan meal choice available as well, I just need to tell them in advance.

Everybody's bored

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:55:52 GMT

It's one of those days when everything seems too much

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:37:32 GMT

I think I really am coming down with something. I still have a sore throat and I generally feel like crap along with being very noise-sensitive. Been dead tired all day and didn't even work up the energy to watch anything but soccer on TV so far. I did manage to get one (rambling) reply done for the S104 group project, but that was about the extend of my productivity today :-/ I so need to get cracking tomorrow if I want to keep up my grades.

Ugh - No way but up

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:25:32 GMT

Lesson of the day : Never open the mail when you're already feeling low! Woke up with a very sore throat this morning and I just found I owe money on taxes. I need to push my disability claim, but I have about a million other things to do as well.

We're doing this group thing at uni and of course, it's not really working. I need to post a reply in the forum, except there is pretty much nothing to reply to. I made two posts on Thursday and I still need to make another one for the second task, plus the replies for that as well. I can't wait until we are done with the biology segment of the course. It is by far the most boring (and at least for me difficult) one yet. We're scheduled to be done with it in early July and there is an assignment and a quiz about it as well. I have the slight feeling I'm not going to do very well on those :-/

I think I'm getting a cold or something like that. I seriously don't have time to be sick.

You always knew I was boring

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:23:09 GMT

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

stolen from wraithfodder

What I have been up to

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:16:51 GMT

Apologies for not posting for a few days, I can honestly say that I have been busy. Mainly for uni, as we have this group project that is due on Friday and of course I only heard about it on Monday. That's what you get for never reading the course guide! I'm still behind schedule and that business with L isn't helping. She was doing better for a couple of days, but has been really down and paranoid since then. I'm almost glad that she is going to see Dr. G. again on Friday :-/ At least I made a 100% on my multiple choice test today! That really pleased me.

I have to start on the next assignment soon as its due while I'm away and I'm not sure I'll have internet access there. But I still have more than two weeks before I leave, so that should be plenty of time to get ahead a bit on both of my courses. I just need to work a bit harder than I have the last few weeks and focus more on S342 than I have previously.

TV-wise, I have accumulated so much stuff, I don't even know where to start. The sound on my laptop is working again, but I haven't really had a chance to watch anything other than soccer since then. The EURO 2008 is good for one thing: I have written a gigantic amount of fanfiction while watching the games! Anyone else watching them? I already look forward to the Olympics.

Avenging Angel (I'm still unhappy with that title!) is nearly finished, but I so don't look forward to editing those last 10,000 words. My other stories are not going quite so well, although I'm still pretty far ahead with the writing, as compared to what I have posted. I really need to post an update to Ghost In The Machine. It's written and all, but it's not been beta-read yet. So on the off-chance that any of you are reading those stories, rest assured more will be up soon ;-)

Disjointed Entry (yes, I couldn't come up with a better subject line)

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:23:40 GMT

Yay, the soundcard arrived and it is working! Now I can waste my time with videos again ;-)

I'm pretty exhausted today (hence in the perfect mood to waste time in front of the laptop). I had a lot of energy yesterday and consequently did a lot of things. More stuff than I know I should be doing and I went to bed too late because I was watching soccer on TV. I didn't make it to the end of the evening game, I only saw the first half, but I saw all of the other game earlier that day. Probably also a gigantic waste of time, but I did get a good 2000 words written during the two games. I should finish chapter 9 of my story Avenging Angle soon and have it ready to be beta-read.

L is doing much better. She isn't quite back to her usual self, but she is doing stuff again. I'm really, really happy for her.

I should get some stuff in town later today. I was going to go with L when she has her piano lesson tonight, but I'm pretty tired already. Maybe if I take a nap, I'll feel better and might even work up the energy to go to the gym or for a run if it stops raining at some point today. I need to do more yoga, not just run. Running makes me feel good, as does yoga, but it feels different and I miss that a bit. I wonder if I should take a real class...But I wouldn't know where. Must find out about that.

Life is a mixed bag

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:04:21 GMT

Went to bed way to late last night. Now I'm tired and sore from running yesterday. After a couple of good days, L is pretty down again. We went to see her GP yesterday, he told her basically to stay home, take it easy and continue taking the medication Dr. G prescribed. I introduced her to EFT last weekend and while she was pretty skeptical at first, she asked me to do some more 'tapping' today. Well, if it helps, I'm all for it, although I mostly get mixed results with the technique. The sound card again didn't arrive in the mail, so I'm still not able to watch videos on my laptop. As for soccer, another one of my housemates was kind enough to move his TV down into the living room for the duration of the games. With that sorted, I have embarked on a number of kitchen projects today. I'm making crackers from flax and pumpkin seed. They don't look very appetizing now, but I hope that once I have dehydrated them, they will turn out edible. I just fear that I might have worn out my trusty blender because it got very hot and started to smell funny at some point when I was making the dough for the flax crackers. I'm now waiting for it to cool down so that I can make the pumpkin seed dough.

I'm now pretty determined to go ahead with my disability claim. My mother send my the forms and a guide booklet on how to fill them out, what records to submit, etc. I will need to talk to at least some of my doctors back home to get the documentation and records I need. The problem is that I have received such a vast number of different diagnoses that I have trouble telling which ones will be best suited for the claim and for which I have the best records backing my claim up. I will see Dr. G. next month before I head to Edinburgh, and plan on asking him what he thinks.

Review Of The Week Thus Far

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:18:44 GMT

Monday: Can't really recall a lot happening that day. Started my no-caffeine experiment. Got my assignments back - both 90%. Went to Dr.G with L in the morning and went to work in the afternoon. It was too hot.

Tuesday: Big fight with L, but then we both had to work (we work in the same place, but usually not the same hours, but someone else called in sick), so we made up shortly afterward. Work seemed to be doing L good.

Wednesday: Had a violent migraine most of the day. It let up a bit towards the afternoon, so I dragged into work. Didn't actually feel too bad that night.

Thursday: My already pretty-much-busted sound card gave up the ghost. I ordered an external one from Amazon, it was shipped the same day. Other than that, big drama, L had a huge fight with her best friend G-L. They finally made up shortly before midnight, at which point I could finally go to bed.

Friday: Neighbour J got burgled last night! Police was here first thing in the morning. Sound card didn't arrive in the mail. Ended no-caffeine experiment without conclusive results.

RL Worries

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:22:14 GMT

L isn't doing well, and I'm worried about her. She's very depressed and somewhat paranoid. I've been staying with her most of the time in the last couple of days, trying to distract her at least a little bit. Hence, the lack of fic (and schoolwork). I promise to catch up on the weekend, not that I have much choice where school is concerned. She is going to see Dr. G. on Monday and I promised I'd tag along. It will mean another morning of doing no work for school, but I'll figure something out. Guess I'll have to work a bit harder this weekend then :-/

Meme

Thu, 29 May 2008 16:31:30 GMT

So to distract myself from rl worries and my general lack of productivity, here is the

1. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?
--> Nobody. I'm not into the whole killing bit ;-)

2. You can flip a switch that will wipe any band or musical artist out of existence.
--> I wouldn't be that nasty.

3. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?
--> Currently, no one. I don't that anymore. I remember getting detention because I punched a classmate (I was 9!)

4. What is the best kind of cheese?
--> Toffuti's Vegan Cream Cheese

5. You can have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your immediate disposal. What does your dream-sandwich consist of, and does it contain the aforementioned cheese?
--> That's simple. Toasted bread with avocado and wasabi paste. I eat this almost every day. I had for lunch today too.

6. You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie-celebrity of your choice. **We are talking no-strings-attached sex and it can only happen once (they will never call you back).
--> Uhm, no one. I'm not really into the whole sex thing. Never understood the appeal...

7. You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Same rules as above. Who is it?
--> see above

8. Now that you've slept with two different people in a row, you seem to be having an excellent day because you just came across a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk. Holy shit, a hundred bucks! How are you gonna spend it? (Saving, investing and depositing do not count).
--> finally buy a pair of decent trainers

9. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you going?
--> Oxford

10. Upon arrival to the aforementioned location, you get off the plane and discover another hundred-dollar bill. Now that you are in the new location, where will you spend it?
--> Go to Blackwellr's and buy books!

11. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. "Be brand-specific" it says.
--> Can I have Vanilla Diet Coke instead? Please?

12. Rufus appears out of nowhere with a time-traveling phone booth. You can go to anytime in the PAST. What time are you traveling to and what are you going to do when you get there?
--> Who is Rufus?! Why don't I get the Doctor with the TARDIS? That doesn't seem fair. But anyways, I'd go to the 1920s.

13. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?
--> Non-violence all the way!

14. What is your favorite expletive?
--> Fuck.

15. One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren't really doing anything, they're just standing around your bed. What do you do?
--> Take a closer look.

16. Your house is on fire! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don't worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what's it gonna be?
--> I know Leland wouldn't like it, but I'd have to chose my blanket. Sorry!

17. The Angel Of Death has descended upon you. Fortunately, the Angel Of Death is pretty cool and in a good mood, and it offers you a half-hour to do whatever you want before you bite it. Whatcha gonna do in that half-hour?
--> Tell everyone who matters that I love them.

18. You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What's it gonna be?
--> Being able to fly should be cool.

19. You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?
--> Many to chose from there. The moment I learned a was going to the Debating World Championships in South Africa!

20. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
--> I have something in mind all right. But I'm not going to tell you. Everyone's got secrets.

21. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check this out... you can move to anywhere else in the world!
--> Oxford, UK.

22. You have been eternally banned from every single bar in the world except for ONE. Which one is it gonna be?
--> I can't remember the last time I went to a bar! I guess being banned from them wouldn't affect me that much at all

23. Hopefully you didn't mention this in the super-powers question.... If you did, then we'll just expand on that. Check it out... Suddenly, you have gained the ability to FLOAT!!! Whose house are you going to float to first?
-->Emily M. We've lost touch and I'd love to see her again.

24. The constant absorption of magical moonbeams mixed with the radioactive vegetables you consumed earlier have given you the ability to resurrect the dead famous-person of your choice. So which late celebrity will you bring back to life?
--> Ulrich Mühe.

25. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn't think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. **Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?
--> Mikko.

stolen from spicy_87

Really Tired, But Can't Sleep

Tue, 27 May 2008 21:10:37 GMT

The heat today was even worse than yesterday.

Between that my hyperthyroidism, I feel like I'm going to keel over any moment.

Certainly can't go to bed yet (and can't open the window, my neighbours are sitting on their balcony smoking weed)

I handed in my S104 assignment, not sure I'm happy with it.

I have two online quizzes in the next two weeks and I still have to prepare for them

experimented with making raw chocolate and was pleasantly surprise after some commercial raw chocolate I tried last year was awful

A piece of my glasses broke off. I can still wear them, but they are uncomfortable. I need to go see an optician and hope it won't be too expensive to fix

I'm still broken up about the closing of liveuk.tv. I'm going to miss The Bill reruns in the morning!

No more TV :-( cries

Tue, 27 May 2008 07:54:09 GMT

Since I don't have a television set, I had been relying on liveuk.tv to watch regular UK TV (as streamed broadcasts).

But apparently, they have been forced to discontinue their service as it turned out to be not quite as legal as they claimed it was...

I guess it's back to downloading then. But I seriously need to get TV before the Olympics start.