As a matter of fact (not actual fact, just fact) I really could care less about this. A WHOLE LOT less. I am one of those nerds who would rather chew aluminum foil than listen to someone use the non-word* 'irregardless'.
You Sound Ridiculous: 7 Misused Expressions
I feel better now.
And you should watch this:
Although I gotta say, I kind of like the idea of an inflatable hover-fort.
* I am SO HAPPY to have a word for something that is not a word, even if it resembles one (in the strictest sense).
October 28, 2011
October 15, 2011
Magical Me (in Dover)
Any minute now I'm expecting an owl from Hogwarts inviting me to come guest-tutor on Drama (not 'drama') In The Wizarding World! (Can you IMAGINE? And WHY does Hogwarts not have a Theatre Society, hmmm?)
I'm sure the letter's coming, because today I rode the Knight Bus.
Yes, I know, it 'said' it was the Number 89, but I'm also certain that JoRow had that exact driver and route in mind when she came up with the idea.
This morning I went to Dover - I took the Number 15 bus, which was a nice direct route and got me there in 20 minutes or so. The weather was beautiful, my iPod playlist was spot-on, the fact that I got off a stop too late and had to walk back to the entrance to Dover Castle was just another chance to enjoy the sunshine and take a few more pictures. I roamed all over the Castle, did a little too much shopping (it was for Christmas, so it's OK, right?), got all choked up over WWII in the Underground War Tunnels, and eventually headed down the hill to try for a good look at the famous white cliffs and find a bus back to Canterbury.
The 89 arrived at the station about 10 minutes before the 15 was due - it was the 'scenic' route, and as such would get me back to town much later than the following bus, but hey... why not? Try anything (bus route-wise) once, right? Ho, boy.
I had the top level of a ricketty old double-decker to myself... except for the extremely nice boy who got on with his scooter soon after I did and immediately began spray-painting it in the very back row. (Seriously, the kid was super nice - he came and opened the windows for me when I started choking on the fumes.) You know those movies or imported TV episodes where you see people driving through quaint English villages and narrow-laned countrysides? That's exactly what they look like in real life, except I can't be QUITE sure because we careened through them so quickly that my insides are still somewhere on the outskirts of Ayleshame. That bus bobbed and weaved like a politician at a town-hall meeting. There were tree branches and leaves beating at the top level of the bus until I nearly started bleeding in sympathy. I really didn't try to take pictures - between the speed and the paint fumes they all would have come out blurry, anyway.
I did see some incredible countryside and some terrific houses/cottages - there was at least one with an ACTUAL thatched roof. I think there was another that was a converted church... the other 97%, though, were the brick boxes so beloved of the British aesthetic. Rolling hills, open farmland, mist in the dells, green stretches of woodland - and lines of brick houses, inches apart if not joined at the hip. What IS this love for row-housing? Even if they're not actually attached they're still structurally inbred and just waiting for a pre-fabricated 'extension' to hook them together. You Brits. You're funny.
And your bus drivers are INSANE.
The kid thanked me very sweetly when I didn't give him up to the driver after the fumes drifted downstairs and started bothering the little old ladies clustered below - I pointed out that he had paint in his hair and suggested he try to keep out of trouble. I've got a fan, I didn't get a face full of spray paint, and I made it back to town in one piece... sounds like a win to me!*
Hogwarts, I'll stock up on owl treats!
*Except for the guy who has to clean paint off the back row of the bus. Sorry about that, bus guy. Maybe it'll smooth out the driving skills, though - they certainly couldn't get worse!
I'm sure the letter's coming, because today I rode the Knight Bus.
Yes, I know, it 'said' it was the Number 89, but I'm also certain that JoRow had that exact driver and route in mind when she came up with the idea.
This morning I went to Dover - I took the Number 15 bus, which was a nice direct route and got me there in 20 minutes or so. The weather was beautiful, my iPod playlist was spot-on, the fact that I got off a stop too late and had to walk back to the entrance to Dover Castle was just another chance to enjoy the sunshine and take a few more pictures. I roamed all over the Castle, did a little too much shopping (it was for Christmas, so it's OK, right?), got all choked up over WWII in the Underground War Tunnels, and eventually headed down the hill to try for a good look at the famous white cliffs and find a bus back to Canterbury.
The 89 arrived at the station about 10 minutes before the 15 was due - it was the 'scenic' route, and as such would get me back to town much later than the following bus, but hey... why not? Try anything (bus route-wise) once, right? Ho, boy.
I had the top level of a ricketty old double-decker to myself... except for the extremely nice boy who got on with his scooter soon after I did and immediately began spray-painting it in the very back row. (Seriously, the kid was super nice - he came and opened the windows for me when I started choking on the fumes.) You know those movies or imported TV episodes where you see people driving through quaint English villages and narrow-laned countrysides? That's exactly what they look like in real life, except I can't be QUITE sure because we careened through them so quickly that my insides are still somewhere on the outskirts of Ayleshame. That bus bobbed and weaved like a politician at a town-hall meeting. There were tree branches and leaves beating at the top level of the bus until I nearly started bleeding in sympathy. I really didn't try to take pictures - between the speed and the paint fumes they all would have come out blurry, anyway.
I did see some incredible countryside and some terrific houses/cottages - there was at least one with an ACTUAL thatched roof. I think there was another that was a converted church... the other 97%, though, were the brick boxes so beloved of the British aesthetic. Rolling hills, open farmland, mist in the dells, green stretches of woodland - and lines of brick houses, inches apart if not joined at the hip. What IS this love for row-housing? Even if they're not actually attached they're still structurally inbred and just waiting for a pre-fabricated 'extension' to hook them together. You Brits. You're funny.
And your bus drivers are INSANE.
The kid thanked me very sweetly when I didn't give him up to the driver after the fumes drifted downstairs and started bothering the little old ladies clustered below - I pointed out that he had paint in his hair and suggested he try to keep out of trouble. I've got a fan, I didn't get a face full of spray paint, and I made it back to town in one piece... sounds like a win to me!*
Hogwarts, I'll stock up on owl treats!
*Except for the guy who has to clean paint off the back row of the bus. Sorry about that, bus guy. Maybe it'll smooth out the driving skills, though - they certainly couldn't get worse!
October 12, 2011
Update
I keep meaning to blog, but I've been hit with a new round of 'no Internet access at home' and it's hard to stick to the To-Do List when vegging between lectures while at school. Eh. Also, I've been working on my dramaturgy blog (http://dramaturgytalk.blogspot.com/) which is part of my website (DramaturgyTalk.org*) and you're free to check out both/either. Today I started with an optional lecture on Verbatim Theatre (theatre built from the words of interviewees, event participants - no changing the words!), went right into a seminar on the Sarah Kane play 4:48 psychosis, and then headed to a Philosophy of Art lecture on "Two-Dimensional Versus Three-Dimensional Pictorial Design" which just sounded interesting. And then I came back to the post-graduate study room and blogged about it.
Seriously.
WHO AM I?
I don't even know, but I'm having a great time.
The hair has grown to the point that it goes completely wack-tastic under a hat, so a 'bad hair' hat day is, in the end, a hair DISASTER day (but it's covered by a hat, so it's just funny). My half-dozen cowlicks are coming out to play - I'm about to invest in hair gel (already!) because whole sections are regularly doing totally different fuzzy things than other sections. I've been terrible about taking 'progress' pictures - I did a tiny trim over my ears with nail scissors, and I'm back to considering the wigs since the way the hair is growing makes my head look lumpy. (Now you know why I haven't been taking the progress pictures.)
Things are good, my lecturers are awesome, I'm really enjoying my classmates, and ANY SECOND NOW my student loan and passport are going to show up (though not together, they're coming from different places) so that I can travel.
Next weekend I'll either be going to Turkey (see above re: passport/funds!) or back to The Doctor Who Adventure in London, and sometime soon (come on, Internet!) I'll start posting pictures from my Canterbury trekking. (The white cliffs of Dover are calling this weekend...)
Cheers!
* If the link doesn't work for some reason, you can also get to my website here: www.wix.com/cydlets/dramaturgy-talk.
Seriously.
WHO AM I?
I don't even know, but I'm having a great time.
The hair has grown to the point that it goes completely wack-tastic under a hat, so a 'bad hair' hat day is, in the end, a hair DISASTER day (but it's covered by a hat, so it's just funny). My half-dozen cowlicks are coming out to play - I'm about to invest in hair gel (already!) because whole sections are regularly doing totally different fuzzy things than other sections. I've been terrible about taking 'progress' pictures - I did a tiny trim over my ears with nail scissors, and I'm back to considering the wigs since the way the hair is growing makes my head look lumpy. (Now you know why I haven't been taking the progress pictures.)
Things are good, my lecturers are awesome, I'm really enjoying my classmates, and ANY SECOND NOW my student loan and passport are going to show up (though not together, they're coming from different places) so that I can travel.
Next weekend I'll either be going to Turkey (see above re: passport/funds!) or back to The Doctor Who Adventure in London, and sometime soon (come on, Internet!) I'll start posting pictures from my Canterbury trekking. (The white cliffs of Dover are calling this weekend...)
Cheers!
* If the link doesn't work for some reason, you can also get to my website here: www.wix.com/cydlets/dramaturgy-talk.
October 08, 2011
October 06, 2011
The Return... (Insert Halloween-worthy Something-or-Other Here)
Central's done - paper sent, website established (slightly sloppily, domain-wise, but I'm working on that). With just a little bit of luck, I'll have an actual Master's Degree by December! (Yes. Graduation is in December. I'm not sure what's up with that - although it does mean that if Kent follows a similar pattern, I'll have a reason to come back to the UK a few months after I graduate from this program(me).) The term at the University of Kent has started - we're actually in the second week now. Here's the short version of things I've had every intention of blogging about:
- The hair is still short, and sadly, not actually red. I think the tint in the 'after the haircut' picture was due to the lighting in the salon. Sad. It's a kind of golden-y brown - and while there is quite a bit of gray, those don't seem to stand out much. Although I do think they grow faster than the colored hairs...
- I haven't worn any of the wigs out in public. Everyone here knows me with the short-short hair, and I think I'd actually feel silly now busting out the wigs. I'll be working on getting over that and wearing them anyway.
- People in Canterbury are SO MUCH NICER than people in London - I think I'd have had a really hard time if I'd attended school here first and then moved to the big city. Everyone thanks the driver when they leave the bus, people allow other cars to turn or merge into traffic, people SMILE at each other... madness.
- Sometime last week when my housemate was out of town I took the garbage out and discovered we have a motion-activated light in the back yard. (Back garden.) ((I have a back yard!!!)) Much later that night when I was in bed, I got a good shock when the light flared up (my room overlooks the back). I freaked out just a little bit, as we don't have a gate or anything blocking off the back yard, but finally went back to sleep. Two days later, the same thing happened - this time I jumped to the window to try to eyeball the crazy psycho stalking college students in a quiet town, and saw... a fox. We have foxes in the back yards here in Canterbury, and they're big enough to set off the motion lights, which totally scare them away. He hasn't been back, in fact.
- I don't have classes on Fridays (or Mondays either, actually - how beyond ideal is THAT?!?) so the first week I hopped on the bus and rode out to Margate to see the ocean. It was a pleasant drive, though the countryside could have used some mountains - the only landmarks were what could have been a tower or a castle in the distance, and what definitely was a nuclear power plant not far enough away. The beach was OK - there was a heavy haze out on the water (I'm going to Dover soon, and I hope it's clear enough to see France) and it created some interesting visual effects. A couple of huge tankers were far enough out from shore to be sitting in the haze, and it made them look as if they were hanging a ways above the surface of the water. Nifty.
- I was checking out some Doctor Who mugs on amazon.co.uk (as you do) and I noticed a warning label:
Seriously. And it's on all the mug listings - or 'mug shots', if you will. Apparently, MUGS are so inherently dangerous (the regular ones too, not just crazy novelty jobbies) that they may only be purchased (and presumably operated) by qualified adults. Thank you, Amazon.co.uk - I had no idea of the danger I was in! I will never be so cavalier about mug safety again!
- And to finish up, one of those very nice people rescued me from a potential bee attack - he was a very pretty undergrad from Essex (though he was definitely NOT a 'chav', he informed me - think the UK equivalent of someone from 'Jersey Shore'), and he swanned in to my rescue because he had happened to be stung by a bee himself just the day before... on the inside of his mouth. It flew right in, stung him, and his mouth puffed up like he was smuggling a baseball in his lip. (He, being British, did not actually use the baseball simile.) I am not making this up.
More later!
- The hair is still short, and sadly, not actually red. I think the tint in the 'after the haircut' picture was due to the lighting in the salon. Sad. It's a kind of golden-y brown - and while there is quite a bit of gray, those don't seem to stand out much. Although I do think they grow faster than the colored hairs...
- I haven't worn any of the wigs out in public. Everyone here knows me with the short-short hair, and I think I'd actually feel silly now busting out the wigs. I'll be working on getting over that and wearing them anyway.
- People in Canterbury are SO MUCH NICER than people in London - I think I'd have had a really hard time if I'd attended school here first and then moved to the big city. Everyone thanks the driver when they leave the bus, people allow other cars to turn or merge into traffic, people SMILE at each other... madness.
- Sometime last week when my housemate was out of town I took the garbage out and discovered we have a motion-activated light in the back yard. (Back garden.) ((I have a back yard!!!)) Much later that night when I was in bed, I got a good shock when the light flared up (my room overlooks the back). I freaked out just a little bit, as we don't have a gate or anything blocking off the back yard, but finally went back to sleep. Two days later, the same thing happened - this time I jumped to the window to try to eyeball the crazy psycho stalking college students in a quiet town, and saw... a fox. We have foxes in the back yards here in Canterbury, and they're big enough to set off the motion lights, which totally scare them away. He hasn't been back, in fact.
- I don't have classes on Fridays (or Mondays either, actually - how beyond ideal is THAT?!?) so the first week I hopped on the bus and rode out to Margate to see the ocean. It was a pleasant drive, though the countryside could have used some mountains - the only landmarks were what could have been a tower or a castle in the distance, and what definitely was a nuclear power plant not far enough away. The beach was OK - there was a heavy haze out on the water (I'm going to Dover soon, and I hope it's clear enough to see France) and it created some interesting visual effects. A couple of huge tankers were far enough out from shore to be sitting in the haze, and it made them look as if they were hanging a ways above the surface of the water. Nifty.
- I was checking out some Doctor Who mugs on amazon.co.uk (as you do) and I noticed a warning label:
 Not for sale to persons under the age of 18. By placing an order for this product, you declare that you are 18 years of age or over. This item must be used responsibly and appropriately. |
Seriously. And it's on all the mug listings - or 'mug shots', if you will. Apparently, MUGS are so inherently dangerous (the regular ones too, not just crazy novelty jobbies) that they may only be purchased (and presumably operated) by qualified adults. Thank you, Amazon.co.uk - I had no idea of the danger I was in! I will never be so cavalier about mug safety again!
- And to finish up, one of those very nice people rescued me from a potential bee attack - he was a very pretty undergrad from Essex (though he was definitely NOT a 'chav', he informed me - think the UK equivalent of someone from 'Jersey Shore'), and he swanned in to my rescue because he had happened to be stung by a bee himself just the day before... on the inside of his mouth. It flew right in, stung him, and his mouth puffed up like he was smuggling a baseball in his lip. (He, being British, did not actually use the baseball simile.) I am not making this up.
More later!
September 22, 2011
September 19, 2011
Ramblings
For the last few days while I've had no Internet at home, I have constantly been thinking of things to blog about. Now, sitting in the cafe on campus with my computer and wireless signal, I can't think of anything interesting.
That doesn't mean I'm not going to keep typing, however.
- I think there's a good possibility that collectively, people in Canterbury are even crazier than the ones in London. However, they're also much more relaxed and cheerful about it all, so it balances out.
- I have never seen so many girls with over-processed hair in one place before - I thought I was going to stand out with my super-short 'do (it just doesn't feel 'shaved' to me, though that is technically the case) and I suppose I do... but only as an example of a cut from which other girls' hair would seriously benefit. Honestly, do you really WANT your hair to make you look intellectually deficient?
- In related news:
... this is the wig my parents were helping me buy, even though they didn't realize why. It's fun. I'm going to look for a couple of different hats to try with it. (One of my course mates really wanted to see it, so I got a picture.)
This is my 'first' wig - I got it for a black-and-white Alice in Wonderland costume and it's a lovely wig... the makeup, though, is going to need a little tweaking if I decide to wear it out.
I did not wear a wig to church on Sunday, and I guess it's a good thing - at least a few people knew me because the Relief Society President had shown them my picture on Facebook. Also, I was immediately drafted to play piano in Relief Society. It's always nice to realize that when they haven't had anyone, even someone who's not very good is a bonus! (I will keep practicing.)
- My housemate is a super-cute little Arabic girl called Sara (that's how they say it here: it's not what someone is 'named', it's what they're 'called') who talks a mile a minute. She's been mothering me since the minute I arrived, and felt terrible to be leaving me on my own while she went in to London for the weekend. Naturally, being the only one currently in the house this is the weekend I would lock myself out - even being in London Sara still managed to find an ex-tenant in town who still had a key to come over and let me in.
- I have a new ID card, a campus gym membership, a bus pass, the beginnings of a schedule, and the continuing hope that the student loans will come through to pay for it all... I'm off for a few more groceries and to do a final (pleasepleaseplease) revision on the paper for my OTHER programme. It would be nice to have all that done before classes start...
- Not having Internet at home is good for me, I suppose, as it means I get up and out of the house to get things done - and it's got to be beneficial that I'm not checking Facebook every 15 minutes (from a time-management perspective, if nothing else). Hopefully the shakes will stop soon.
Laterz!
That doesn't mean I'm not going to keep typing, however.
- I think there's a good possibility that collectively, people in Canterbury are even crazier than the ones in London. However, they're also much more relaxed and cheerful about it all, so it balances out.
- I have never seen so many girls with over-processed hair in one place before - I thought I was going to stand out with my super-short 'do (it just doesn't feel 'shaved' to me, though that is technically the case) and I suppose I do... but only as an example of a cut from which other girls' hair would seriously benefit. Honestly, do you really WANT your hair to make you look intellectually deficient?
- In related news:
... this is the wig my parents were helping me buy, even though they didn't realize why. It's fun. I'm going to look for a couple of different hats to try with it. (One of my course mates really wanted to see it, so I got a picture.)
This is my 'first' wig - I got it for a black-and-white Alice in Wonderland costume and it's a lovely wig... the makeup, though, is going to need a little tweaking if I decide to wear it out.
I did not wear a wig to church on Sunday, and I guess it's a good thing - at least a few people knew me because the Relief Society President had shown them my picture on Facebook. Also, I was immediately drafted to play piano in Relief Society. It's always nice to realize that when they haven't had anyone, even someone who's not very good is a bonus! (I will keep practicing.)
- My housemate is a super-cute little Arabic girl called Sara (that's how they say it here: it's not what someone is 'named', it's what they're 'called') who talks a mile a minute. She's been mothering me since the minute I arrived, and felt terrible to be leaving me on my own while she went in to London for the weekend. Naturally, being the only one currently in the house this is the weekend I would lock myself out - even being in London Sara still managed to find an ex-tenant in town who still had a key to come over and let me in.
- I have a new ID card, a campus gym membership, a bus pass, the beginnings of a schedule, and the continuing hope that the student loans will come through to pay for it all... I'm off for a few more groceries and to do a final (pleasepleaseplease) revision on the paper for my OTHER programme. It would be nice to have all that done before classes start...
- Not having Internet at home is good for me, I suppose, as it means I get up and out of the house to get things done - and it's got to be beneficial that I'm not checking Facebook every 15 minutes (from a time-management perspective, if nothing else). Hopefully the shakes will stop soon.
Laterz!
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