Imagine How Deep The Sea Would Be If There Were No Sponges

stolen from Emerald,

From jade_sabre_301 :

01. Comment to this entry saying 'ICONS!' and I will pick 6 of your icons.
02. Make an entry in your own journal and talk about the icons I picked!

( Iconses )

( Dva (See, I learnt some Russian) )

Finally, I have got round to posting about Siberia. Yay me. And so: ( This is Siberia ) By the way, I have absolutely no idea what's going on with the spacing of this entry. Sorry for the eye confusion.

So the last couple of days were the London MarmFish Meet-Up. sarkysnarky 's already done a lovely run-through of what we did, so here is my (illustrated) shorter version:

( Marmalade Fish in a Park )

Wednesday will have to wait for tomorrow, as I am falling asleep now, too.

Just a quick note to say I'm back! I actually arrived in England last Wednesday, but I am lazy.

It's strange to think that this time last week I was eating lunch in Cafe Pushkin, and stranger still that we actually went to Cafe Pushkin in our paint and mud covered adidas bottoms and matching holiday camp tshirts.

Home has taken some getting used to, what with being able to read signs, and having to look both ways before crossing the road (what are these huge metal things bearing down on me? Why are they honking?) and typing and texting and stuff. I keep thanking people by saying 'spaseeba'. And getting a funny look. :D

A Siberia post... or posts... will be forthcoming. At some point. Maybe before the end of the summer!

To all the people I promised postcards: Siberia doesn't do postcards. Honestly. I eventually found one (free) set at the base camp, of which I promptly stole a pile, and then realised there was nowhere to buy stamps. I had a similar problem in Moscow - where they do sell postcards, but I couldn't find post-office. And I had a third problem - somewhere in Siberia, between our first and our second campsites, is my little pink notebook with 16 assorted addresses in it.

So. Um. I have postcards. Your addresses are four pages back in my email and I will hunt them down and send them from here. :)

Oh, also, my phone memory has been wiped, so can my f-list that have my number text me please? That is, if you want me to have your number again.

I wanted to do this, and I know I'll forget when I get back (TOMORROW, I LEAVE TOMORROW!!)

So:

1. Pick 10 11 12 of your favorite books. (Well. Series, anyway)
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books!




1. The queen waited.* Sitting at the window, she watched the lights of the town glow in the last of the long twilight.

2. ''Now is it 'Diplomacy is the art of war pursued by other men, or was it the other way round? 'War is diplo-''

3. The pipe under the sink was leaking again

4. The temperature of the room dropped fast. Ice formed on the curtains and crusted thickly around the lights in the ceiling. The glowing Filaments in each bulb shrank and dimmed, while the candles that sprang from every available surface like a colony of toadstools had their wicks snuffed out.

5. ***** ****** was an unusual boy in many ways.

6. Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch-hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage.

7. I have never spoken to *****, but I am sure that behind her extremely annoying personality she is a beautiful human being.

8. They say that the prospect of being hanged in the morning concentrates a man's mind wonderfully; unfortunately, what the mind inevitably concentrates on is that it is in a body that, in the morning, is going to be hanged.

9. ''If only I knew what to do with you girls!'' said Dick in worried tones.

10. The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like slightly sticky plaster-dust.

11. The rabbit had been run over minutes before. Its pink eyes were glazed and blood stained its clean white fur. Unnaturally clean fur, for it had just escaped from a bath. It still smelt faintly of lavander water.

12. Ho Chi Minh City in the summer. Sweltering by anyone's standards.




Oof, that was hard. Way too much to choose from.

* I'm sure most of my f-list could stop there and get the book, but I thought I would continue.

also - SIBERIA TOMORROW!!!!!!! Sort of. In 24 hours, I will sleeping in the common room in school. in 48 hours, however, I will be on a plane from Moscow to Barnaul!

There will be an official chat on Sunday, everyone's welcome! Come along to join in the chat, introduce yourself, or just listen and lurk.

The Chat will be held in The Conspiracy Room (the password can be found on this post) on Sunday, at:

9-10pm BST
4-5pm Eastern DST (US)
3-4pm Central DST (US)
1-2pm Pacific DST (US)
8-9am MONDAY NZ Time. Possibly. But don't count on it.

This should be able to help for other timezones.

Edited because NZ isn't 23 hours ahead.

Gen is back! In two senses - the Conspiracy of Kings will be out in under a year (yay!) and my copy of the Thief arrived on Friday. After 15 months, after travels to Newcastle, Lancaster, Seaford and Oxford without me, finally it has returned! ^_^

I'm very happy. And I hope littlered2 and hollomaphone enjoyed it. :)

Plus, yesterday I had one of Ben's Cookies, which are the bestest cookies in the entire world.

Also, try this: Click to let PR spread the word.

Fantasy, vampires, and free books. :)

Siberia is in a week!! Aaaaaaaaah!

Um, so, who would like a postcard? I can't priomise a Siberian one, having no idea what the postal system is like out there, but at least a postcard from Moscow. Currently I have one address, but if anybody else wants a postcard I will happily send. :) Provided I don't lose your address and I have money.

I have had a very fun week of life since I finished exams, with Alton Towers, giant unicorn-cows, barbecues, my Leaver's Ball (involving HUGE amounts of concealer to hide the, um, bruise on my neck), and the discovery of the magical cure of batteries. Which actually work. *amazed face* Oh, and the most gorgeous lemon cake ever. Which I ate before remembering to take a photo. So... maybe I should make some more? This seems like a good idea.

ALSO, I need to link everyone to here. My entire f-list must have heard of sarahtales, either because I met them as a result of her fandom, or because they introduced me to her fandom, or because they are awesome people. Or they have heard me mention her before. ^_^

This is a short story of the backstory of her recently released book, The Demon's Lexicon, but you don't need to have read it to get the story. No spoilers at all. Just a very good story.

I am free! Finally! Five weeks of revision and a week of exams and it is over! I think I did OK.. I calculated what I think I got, and I believe I just scraped an A (480/600) in all three. Now I shall put it out of my mind until 20th August. :D

I am, however, exhausted from revision and from no sleep because I am panicking about revision but I have three months to sleep! Except for Siberia, obviously.

I'm at a bit of a loss about what to do - I feel slightly guilty at the back of my mind that I'm not revising - but it's great! I just spent an hour on the internet! Not working!

Here is a problem: I haven't read a book,* apart from The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (read it!) for three weeks. This is very sad, and needs changing please people. And recommendations?
s:
To make this post less pointless, here are some pretty pic spams (I got a new camera in May and have been in a photography mood):

( Pretty Picture Spam! )
*What have I been doing, I hear you ask? Well, I have a level 47 Pikachu and seven badges. :D

I have to choose what university accommodation I want to put my name down for, and I am stuck between two options:

Option A
£76 a week.  Old seventies rooms, washbasin, kitchen and bathroom shared between 7 or 8 people.  Directly over the Student Union.  Right in the centre of campus

Option B
£95 a week.  Built in the last decade, washbasin, 4 kitchens and 4 bathrooms shared between a block 15-20 people.  About 3 minutes walk from the centre of campus. 

There's also secret Option C, which only costs £80 a week but doesn't have a washbasin.  What kind of room doesn't have a washbasin?!

Anyway, I was wondering what my f-list thought.  Feel free to share thoughts, opinions, anecdotes and reminisces.  :)



Exam Update:  I am feeling chipper!  I've calculated that I only need 13% on the dreaded essay paper provided I get what I'm getting on past papers now.  ^_^

Can anybody tell me what this means (I can't type in hiragana, sorry):

iikotomo waruikotomo kaitekudasai.

I know the last bit is ''please write.''

This is what comes of writing down essay titles and not finding out what they mean.


PS LOL at the spellchecker's suggestions for the Japanese words. waruikotomo = rectum, apparently.

I am shocked that January is over. It feels like it was Christmas yesterday! What happened?!

That said, I don't notice the pass of time sometimes. In November, I decided I need to organise my Mechanics folder (which is just a plastic file with loose sheets, some stapled together, floating around in it). I diligently went through and dated each page of notes so I knew what order they were in - and I wrote 2007 on all of them.

January is my least favourite month because it is gloomy and damp and dark all the time. This January seemed to go out of its way to prove to me that actually, January is sunny and dry and has SNOW and chilly weather. So, thank you for that, January. Even so, doesn't make me like you anymore. Stop sucking up, January.

Books of January (new ones in bold):

Stardust
Knife
Jane Eyre
Wyrd Sisters
Maskerade
Lords and Ladies
Good Omens
Thief of Time
Nightwatch
Stargirl
Twilight
Memoirs of a Geisha

I think I'm missing a week there, I don't know what happened then.

Of the three ones I hadn't read before, I liked Stardust the best. Twilight wasn't quite as bad as I had been led to believe - and I was amused to find my name in there - but still. I do not see what the fuss is about. Marketing, possibly? I love the cover.

Does anybody have any recommendations for February reading? I need new books!

In January I have - made new friends, got fitter, did a pose entournen (sp?) on point, got a new phone, made a mini-snowman, made a calender, bought a new dress. ^_^

So, who else is excited about Sarah Rees Brennan's ARCs?

There will be an official chat on Saturday, everyone's welcome! Come along to join in the chat, introduce yourself, or just listen and lurk.

The Chat will be held in The Conspiracy Room (the password can be found on This post) on Saturday, at:

9-10pm GMT
4-5pm Eastern Standard Time (US)
3-4pm Central Standard Time (US)
1-2pm Pacific Standard Time (US)

This should be able to help for other timezones.

Pinched from Rosie and anachred.

It's the last day of the year, so let's look at the first line of the first post of each month in my journal (starting March because that is when I actually started using my LJ)

March
Looking at my calender earlier (to see what Easter is in various languages) I noticed that the US and Canada started their summer time three weeks ago.

Maybe I didn't use it much in April or May either, then...

June
The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.

July
So, recently I've been reading a lot of university prospectuses, of course (I don't like prospecti - it makes me think I'm hunting a herd of them)

August
Last weekend I went on a trip with my parents to the faraway North, to a land locked in snow, to a land where it is always winter and never Christmas...

September
According to rowana, my holidays have involved a lot of silly names. Therefore, I thought I'd share with some holiday stories.

October
Here is a meme. Each person starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.

November
I went to the Natural Sciences Bath open Day today - the one that I was invited to, and wasn't, technically, an interview.

December
Just to be clear, I've never taken part in NaNo. This is because I have been watching Jade's number count all month and I can't actually read.


Hm..

My Headteacher is one of the most insane people that has ever been given control of a group of impressionable young minds.

Today, I had a mock interview with her - because the one I had with the company that come and visit the school was terrible, and the man wrote in his report that I 'lacked enthusiasm, didn't know anything and would not get into university'. My Biology teacher and World Challenge organiser - the two heads of sixth form - decided that this was not me, and I deserved another oppoortunity. And so an interview with the Head, who I am assured has a science degree, was arranged.

( The Interview )

GWINGERS!

Does anybody want to see The Taming of the Shrew next February? Or March?

Michelle Gomez!

(I realise Hamlet is the thing to see, but no way there's any tickets left for that)

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! Last month I got in line at the supermarket at the same time as someone else and I didn't yield (-8 points). In September I put gum in philia_fan's hair (-12 points). In May I broke rowana's X-Box (-12 points). In July littlered2 and I robbed a bank (-50 points). In April I saved a busload of nuns in Angola (326 points). Overall, I've been nice (244 points). For Christmas I deserve a Sony Playstation 3! Sincerely, pigrescuer

Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:

^_^

*wonders why there isn't a procrastinating mood*