One Suit

My dad owns one suit.  He calls it his Opera-Funeral-Wedding gear.  It’s all he ever wears it for and I love it.  He also has an obsession with my Jetta.  I doubt I’ll ever get that car back even if I wanted to.
Today I give you a quote from the One-Suit-Man:

Yup, Grant and I could co-found the “We only have one Suit Club for Men”. Can’t imagine what people do with 4-5 or more suits! Ah well, some of us rather spend el dinero on rowing or travel or daughter’s cars. I love that Jetta! Hope it lasts forever.

The quote is in reference to me stating that my dad and Grant can start a one-suit club at the Cousin Elli’s wedding.  ‘Scuse me, I have to go giggle now.

Misdirected but not by much

People are generally lazy around here.  It’s easy to sit down and say, “Oh the [insert culture/country/etc] is so lazy.  They never DO anything they just complain to each other.”

I’m going to limit this to “college students” are lazy.  I’ve “attended” five colleges in my life: Boston University, Towson University,  Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University (hey I worked there, and I was enrolled in a course for about 3 weeks) and now Newcastle University.  The middle three were summer courses/attempts at a single course.  Overall, LAZY students.  Not my classmates per se, but the general population.

Example: An article you need is in the medical school library a long ass bus ride away in an area you’d rather not have to go to.  Instead of looking for an inter-library loan or something students just cross that article off the list.  It’s not RIGHT at their fingertips, therefore it’s not worth the trouble.

Example: A computer does come out of idle when you move the mouse or tap the keyboard, so you get up to leave and find a computer that will react immediately. Someone a bit more patient or willing to act will sit down and try to solve the problem i.e. The computer isn’t even turned on, so you turn it on. . DUH!  This problem is also true when the monitor has a “No Signal” on the screen.  This means the computer isn’t turned on or the monitor is not hooked into the computer properly. An extra 10 seconds can make all the difference.

I’m really quite sick of fellow students whining and complaining that computers don’t work, printers aren’t functioning, they can’t get to this or that article all because it takes an extra bit of time they’d rather spend doing something else.  Sometimes you have to actually put forth the effort to do something.  Life does not fall into your lap, sorry.

Awesome movies

This past weekend, aside from being sick, I bought two used DVDs from the used-electronic-stuff store.

Up first, Calendar Girls.  This movie cracks me up. Even Grant liked it.  It also has a shot or two of Limestone Pavement in Yorkshire.  WHOOHOOEY (okay sorry, homework talking there).  Anyways, it makes me laugh, and I love how it was about a real group of women in Yorkshire (different town name) who really have raised almost £1 million by 2003.  I think it’s jaw dropping great.  Leukaemia is a nasty disease.  I remember the kid in my first grade class who died from it.  Well I remember hearing about it, I couldn’t tell you who he was though.

The second movie was The First Great Train Robbery.  All I will say is that put on a Scotsman on the top of a train moving through the british countryside and you’ve got me hooked.  I really enjoyed that movie and the rather dirty insinuations throughout the WHOLE thing.    I love it.   I recommend EVERYONE should see it.  It has great action, wonderful language and there’s a bit about a dead cat.  Whooohoooooo
Go see them both! Seriously. The first one for the good message and awesome directing.  The second one because it’s just good old fashioned action!!

Never healthy

I swear I get sick every 2 weeks here.  It’s making me NUTS.  I have soooooo much to do and I just can’t stay healthy.  I’ve been sick ever since I got off the plane.  I just want to curl up in bed and make it all go away.

At least the weather today is quite nice.  I really enjoy windy and sunny weather when it isn’t biting cold.  Okay, the wind is a bit much at 50 km/hr.

I got my papers back for my one course and I think I’m putting in a formal complaint about the lack of feedback.  This is just too inconsiderate of them.  And  I hope other people will join me on it.

I also need to sit down and actually do this presentation on beech trees and the limestone pavement case study.

Last night I watched Calendar Girls with Grant.  There was a bit of Limestone Pavement in it!!!!!  Sorry, I found it amusing. I also love Helen Mirren.  She cracks me up.

Right, off to work on this homework type stuff.

And to blow my nose. EW!

I’m hopeless

This is the second time I’ve cut myself while slicing a bagel.  The knife just did not wait to go straight down, it wanted to go slant-wise.  I nicked a nice chunk of my left ring finger right by the nail.  Blood everywhere.  AND IT STILL HURTS!!!  Hours later.  *sniff* That means it’s a shallow cut right?  And also that it’s right at the top of my finger therefore I keep typing on it. . .

On a HAPPY NOTE I made friends with a kitty cat for about 30 seconds. This really stunning black cat was in a yard doing it’s cat thing of using a tree as a scratching post and ignoring everything else. It didn’t scamper off when I made a noise at it, so I figured maybe I would get to pet it. . . teehee.  After marking its territory it hopped through the fence and batted at my glove and let me pet it.  Very nice cat.  Very friendly.  I WANNA KITTY CAT!!!  I know I know. .  there is one at home, but she’s crazy.

Weather:

It is cold here.  Winter has settled back in with layers of frost sticking to the grass until noon or so.  It looks very pretty and I enjoy seeing it.  The sun is warming and I love it.  The weather really isn’t SO bad, but it’s the grey icky weather is going to hit in the next few days.  We’ve had about a week of glorious sunlight (BLUE skies, very very few wispy clouds and NO RAIN).  Don’t  you dare even think that England is this awful dreary place of fog and rain.  That’s called the west coast of England.  I don’t live there, I live on the east side of the country where we get lovely weather. 

more than before

For the record, some of the people that live in Leazes Terrace (our accommodation here) are AMAZINGLY awesome.  I went to a party tonight for one of our fellow international students and convince Grant to join in when there was free VERY TASTY food.  It was great food, even by american standards.

Grant had a great time, and even got himself “drunk.”  I was pretty surprised.  Drunk to the point that sleep was the only thing on his mind.  So I tucked him in and now he’s hopefully dreaming away while giggling.

I had more than enough to drink (i.e. I too am drunk) and everyone seemed to be drinking to their limits, not pushing them.  VERY happy about that.  These people are just so great.

Honestly this was an amazing night and tomorrow I am going to work like CRAZY on my Limestone Case Study.

I LOVE these people in this accommodation.  We’re like a crazy loosely tied together family.  I am so glad I went out and had fun.  I really needed this.

Rather hard

It can be very hard to be the one person in a group of friends who has their boyfriend here with them.  The coursemates I have become friends with do have boyfriends (or kinda-boyfriends) but they are either back home in their respective country or MIA.  Mine on the other hand is down the hall (through a crapton of doors), up a flight of stairs and then through one of those annoying coded doors.  But he’s within the same building/zipcode/city/country/whatever.

I know what it’s like to be on this side of the equation now.  Usually I’m on the other side watching the friend with her boyfriend.  It’s weird.  I try to be a good girl and not get all googly eyed when they’re around.  I ain’t cutting back on my hugs though.  NUH UH!  I lurv me some huggin’.

On the note of school, our guest lecturer today for Trees (he did both 2 hour lecture slots = 4 hours of fun!) and my hand is KILLING me from writing a total of 8 pages of notes.  HOLY CRAP.  I don’t remember having to panic about notes that much since Ecology.  I guess people who are nuts about trees just run their powerpoints like that.  ARGH!

I’m opting out of seeing The Mikado tonight in lieu of trying to do some work and relaxing a tiny bit.  We’ll see if that works at all.  *sigh*

We’re just not normal

But we are incredibly awesome.

Grant and I uh. . gave each other Play-Doh for Valentines Day.  That’s right, bona fide Play-Doh by Playskool for ages 2 and up.  Oh yes!!!

I got him the set of 4 in blue, red, yellow and white.  He got me the set of 4 in bright purple, green, orange and pink.  Okay, I also made him a CD and he gave me Ferrero Rocher chocolates, but who needs chocolate when you have PLAY-DOH!?!?!?!

Sorry, this just has me very excited.  Forget Baldur’s Gate, I have bright green Play-Doh!!

I don’t like the “Hallmark Holiday.”  I do like the funny little gifts that are something you know someone else will enjoy and possibly recall.  If your partner-in-crime gets you a card and roses every Valentines Day, that’s just not something unique.  It’s very nice, I agree to that, but it’s not a “special” gift, it’s a standard for what the majority of people do on Valentine’s Day.

Two years ago my dad and I were in Newcastle for Valentines Day and where did we go for dinner. . . Pizza Hut.  And then we called my mom to say Happy Valentines Day.  This year that shall not happen.  I will call my parents, but I will not eat at Pizza Hut.  I’ve had enough sodium these past few days, no need to clog up my body with more of it.

A manual would be nice

I think couples need a manual for how to deal with Valentines Day based on the other person’s personality and thoughts on the day.  It would save everyone a huge headache and possibly some money.
I also wish stores would quit with the teddy bears that feel like they’re full of sawdust and sharp pointy things.

I also wish that Woolworths didn’t have so many things I wanted.  And yet I would love it so much less if it didn’t have what I wanted.  *sigh*  There’s just no winning.

Feeling the lack of love

Funny I’d post this the day before Valentine’s Day.  And yes, Grant and I are doing just fine, thanks for thinking about us.

Dear [name of friend],

Please have the decency, if you consider me a friend, to write an email, send me a message on AIM or GChat or heck, even a comment on this blog.  I have been in England since September and I hardly have any idea what color your hair is now, let alone what city you’re living in, how your pets are doing, etc.

Other friends who I hardly even talk to have sent me cards, letters and the occasional e-mail.  What is so difficult about sitting down and doing that yourself?  Spend less than $1 in postage to send a letter.  Spend 5 minutes writing an e-mail to let me know how you’re doing.

Apparently I am not important enough in your life and ranking of friends to be considered someone to keep in contact with.  As much as that pains me, it pains me even more to say, you’ve got what’s coming to you.  If I have to be in the same city as you to stay your friend, then obviously we weren’t meant to stay friends.

Acquaintances we shall be, consider yourself demoted on my list.

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I guess it’s true that good friends really are hard to come by.  I’m glad I have a few of those.