5. A song that reminds me of someone

Reminds me of my lovely Mum…not because she donned mucho facial hair, grabbed an instrument and was secretly in this video (that I know of…!) but because whenever I hear it I think of her. Plus Wilbury is a rocking name that I think she should totally adopt.

6. A song that reminds me of somewhere

The tune? Monkey Wrench. The place? Bus to Canterbury circa. 2001-2004, this was always on my mix-CD, burned with love. Oh yeah. If someone stinky was sitting too close to me I turned this baby up loud and (occasionally) they moved away an inch or two. Ah…

The song is Dangerous by Ghost of the Robot. James Marsters (why yes, of William `the Bloody` aka Spike fame) serenades with promises of devils, chains, and hot girls growing up to become hotter (too hot) women. A perfect work of searing, mind-altering craftsmanship it undoubtedly is not and yet it does cheer me up. Always.

Of course, it is (and I can’t bear to have the video on my blog): THIS.

Hmmm…

Ok. The Queen and the Soldier by Suzanne Vega. This had a hard crowd to beat but (with as much cunning as a professor of cunning) I looked forward in the questions and think I can fit the others into the list elsewhere. This one, however, this is just itself. I think I was 16 or 17 when I discovered it and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s like The Lady of Shalott with claws and teeth, as if she’s been reimagined by Neil Gaiman (see: the ladies of Snow, Glass, Apples) and, dude, I dig that.

This week has been much better so far as my lovely mum came to stay. My mum is super cool.

So, a while ago I noticed a mini-spree of “101 things about me” memes appearing on some of my favourite blogs (like a bird and Prolifically Barren) so I thought I’d sheep it up behind them. This will be a miniseries as I assume the act of me coming up with 101 things about myself all at once would be confusing, difficult, and perhaps soul-destroying (overreacting? me?!) and therefore probably best avoided. I assume also that reading such a voluminous list would produce similar side-effects.

1. I have loved Tamora Pierce for over a decade and yet am always surprised when listening to her audiobooks that her first name rhymes with camera. Even though it clearly states this fact on her website.
2. I am currently sporting purple hair.
3. Henry believes that “many bena berries were shmooshed into [my] head” to achieve this fine look.
4. Bena = Ribena = Yum.
5. I will happily and heartily poke with a stick anyone who disagrees with the fact that George and Ringo were the better half of The Beatles.
6. It confuses me utterly that I do not know the name of the Beast/the Prince in Beauty and the Beast.
7. I adore Beauty and the Beast, it taught me the word “repulsed”.
8. My teenage catchphrase was “I’m shocked and appalled!”.
9. Most often, I was not.
10. I hate that my hands are largely useless now for fun stuff like drawing, sewing, tickling, and writing for more than a consecutive 10 minute period.
11. I wish I had green eyes.
12. Apparently I have flat feet. This is funny because Michael (who has the most uber arches I have ever beheld) told me this years ago and I was outraged. According to random consultant minion, however, it is true. She did look quite confusedly at me when I laughed at her.
13. Since childhood, I have had an unhealthy fascination with the Plague. Not really sure who/what to blame that on.
14. Oh, also leprosy. Leprosy and Plague – those cheerful companions.
15. It tickles me that the Welsh alphabet is different from the English alphabet (ll is not two letters, oh no, it is one!).
16. It upsets me that my first vote didn’t get the party I voted for into power.
17. Henry watches a show called Octonauts on Cbeebies and it has beings called Vegimals in it who disturb me greatly on many levels.
18. I am eagerly awaiting Game of Thrones and hoping it is both fantastic and Bean-tacular.
19. I can’t let myself remember too often that the next Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim, is being released in November. The Nords are my favourite race and so the very thought if it just gets me far too excited.
20. Henry starting school in September blows my mind (even more than the promise of Skyrim). In some ways he doesn’t seem old enough, in others he seems far too old.
21. I would cry if anything ever happened to Patti, my magenta platypus beanie buddy.
22. Henry has a Patti and a Baby Patti – I fear I have passed on this curse.
23. I want to throw turnips at people who confuse Dr. Frankenstein with his monster. The monster was nameless, folks, that was kind of the point.
24. I sometimes consider carrying a supply of turnips around for the above-mentioned purpose.
25. I almost always decide against it.
26. My mum misheard “Lenin badges” as “Lenin badgers” yesterday. Hilarity ensued.
27. Michael and I had a hilarious bus-argument about badgers once. He didn’t believe my childhood badger-spotting memories to be accurate. I was convinced they were. The man sitting next to us on the back seat of the rather crowded bus seemed to want to join in, but didn’t. Henry was obliviously looking out of the window, commenting occasionally on other buses that passed us… as if this was perfectly usual behaviour.
28. I cannot listen to Lola by The Kinks without laughing. Even on buses.
29. I cannot reliably listen to audiobooks without accidentally falling asleep. Even on buses.
30. It now seems unsurprising, considering how often I’ve just typed the word bus, that I know Cardiff via its bus routes…

“repulsed by her haggered appearance…”

Done for now. Bah, more another day!

• UCAS news – Offers from Swansea for Medieval Studies and History! Although we weren’t initially too excited about the prospect of Swansea (we applied due to its closeness and offering the course we wanted), we’re now leaning towards it as a good choice due to the low rents (comparable to here), size of the town, and seaside location. I grew up at the seaside and it didn’t do me much harm, and I can’t imagine teaching Henry about the joys of sandcastles to be a bad thing. I’ve even posted off the “More information about your crazy illnesses (me) and dyslexia (Michael), please!” forms that they so handily sent out. My promptness (they have to be in by 24th February and I posted them today) owes much to the fact that my offer explicitly states that it relies on me arranging any necessary … stuff.
• UCAS news – Interviews for Ancient and Medieval History at Cardiff University have been rescheduled for the afternoon of 9th March, awaiting confirmation of times.
• DLA news – the appeal tribunal is officially this Wednesday. I’m trying to remain calm and collected. It’s been 10 months coming, so this is slightly difficult. I have had a letter from them saying that I have proven my entitlement to mobility cash, though, so this is good. When I was rejected last year I did feel that somehow I’m using my trusty crutch for fun and good times, as opposed to necessity and slight ouch-reduction services.

Am now feeling decidedly news-ed out. Rambling time? Why yes, I think it might be.

It was my brother’s birthday yesterday, heralding the part of the year where he appears to be two years older than me instead of just one. Really, he’s closer to two, so I’ve always enjoyed the October to February period where I almost catch him up. I suppose I’ll feel old the first year that I like the February to October “Oh look, he’s two years older than me!” period more.

Henry’s mathematical learning intrigue rampage continues: carrying the one, fractions, and knowing where hundreds, tens, and units go is all under his belt. His adding and subtracting are getting creepily fast and his multiplication and division skills are growing. He’s three. I in no way could do these things when I was his age. He is super. I plan on introducing him to the realms of Disney soon. Well, technically he has been introduced, we all went to see Tangled in 3D a couple of weeks ago (the main guy goes by the name Flynn Rider – endlessly amusing!) and I honestly don’t know who was more excited, though I suspect it was me. `I’ve got a dream`, a song in it, reminded me so much of `Gaston` from Beauty and the Beast that I still haven’t stopped smiling. Top notch. I therefore leave you with it.

Ahem.

Right then, as I’m just about back in the blogging saddle, methinks updates are in order:

• We successfully moved house, hurrah!
• We successfully started college (Michael and I) and nursery (Henry) and are all doing well.
• We (Michael and I) got our UCAS forms off and so far have both had offers to study History at Southampton, we’re still waiting to hear back from the universities closer to home.
• Christmas was lovely – Henry had made lots of decorations at nursery so it was great to hang those up, we spent Christmas Eve with Michael’s family and so Henry got two present-opening binges in consecutive days. My mum is going to trek up here soon so, more like than not, he’ll get a third instalment!
• I’ve spent all my days off (Tuesday and Friday afternoons) since New Year at the hospital having hydrotherapy, hoping to get my back less painful. I’m not sure how well it has worked yet, but it has left me super tired. Starting next week, I get physiotherapy on Fridays.
• Henry is getting slightly obsessed with maths, he insists upon at least half an hour of adding, subtracting, and (very simple) multiplication before he will agree to get into bed at night. I wonder if this will last?
• After re-watching all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (good times) I have discovered Mad Men and become more than slightly obsessed with it. I’m nearing the end of season 1 and wonder why it took me so long to give it a go.

I think that’s about all the major points covered. It’s certainly all the ones that I can think of right now. Fascinating, eh?

]]> http://pressedposies.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/im-surprised-that-you-havent-been-told-before/feed/ 2 Ellie Mad Men poster.jpg http://pressedposies.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/spandex-its-a-privilege-not-a-right/ http://pressedposies.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/spandex-its-a-privilege-not-a-right/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:15:13 +0000 tinyelk https://pressedposies.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/spandex-its-a-privilege-not-a-right/ ]]> I realise that I haven’t blogged in quite some time, but I didn’t recognise quite how long a time it’s been! What prompted the break in my web-silence today? Updates on my life, groundbreaking news of some kind, or something else entirely? It’s option 3, ladies and gents, option 3 it is. Very much “something else” in fact; today’s topic is Hilariously Horrendous Wigs (HHWs).

Now, I’m not exactly performing an expose of pointing and laughing on public transport here, that kind of ridicule can, I’m sure, be found elsewhere on the internet. No, today I was on a slight 90s film binge (as I am prone to doing when at home and in need of things to occupy me that involve as little movement as possible – thanks a bunch physiotherapy for rendering me slightly more useless than usual for a day) and was reminded of the concept of HHWs… and also of Romulans, oddly, without the input of Star Trek in any demonstrable form.

I initially discovered the HHW when I noted, in the 1996 film adaptation of Emma, the curious anomaly atop Frank Churchill’s face (pictured above left, he’d be the standing fellow). Ewan McGregor, I was fairly sure, could not have come by such an oddity naturally. Suddenly, it all became clear to me – the HHW was at large, but had it struck previously and would it strike again? I promised myself I would not let such a nefarious character slip away without note in the future.

Today I was reminded of an earlier occurrence: in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992 – and I’ll tell you now that what happens in that film is barely comparable to the events of the novel. Bram Stoker’s, indeed. Pah!).

Admittedly, it took me a while to recognise the culprit today, diverted as I was my Keanu Reeves’ intriguing meander through accents, his later hair palette, Gary Oldman’s fingernails of variable length, and the Dread Pirate Roberts cropping up without nifty ninja-esque gear as Sir Arthur Holmwood; but the HHW could not escape me during the two hours passage on my screen, oh no. Lucy Westenra, a.k.a. Sadie Frost, brought forth this immense specimen (pictured above right). Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but what did Lucy do to deserve such a monstrosity? And are these rampant HHWs somehow an attack on redheads? May we not exist without horrific wigs proving us to be hair lepers? Alas, I suppose answers shall not be immediately forthcoming, but I’m fairly sure even Nostrildamus would smell a conspiracy here.

Right then, spleen successfully vented for now on the HHW front. Finally, I present you, gentle reader, with the intriguing case of Angelina Jolie’s Romulan-esque style choices (because, obviously, the entire ensemble was her idea and nobody else’s, that’s how films work, right?) from Hackers (1995). You see what I’m talking about, right? Right.

Somehow, I’m thinking that college tomorrow might be a bit of a let-down, in terms of hairstyle hunting.

For the past fortnight I’ve been on new medication and, thankfully, am starting to feel the good effects of the changeover now. Through the mind-fog of this switch I have been trying to coax my brain into gaining a wordhoard of Old English – learning paradigms seemed as good a way as any of getting through the hours of odd temperatures and prolonged wakefulness. Thanks to the (surprisingly mighty) combined forces of eBay and Cardiff’s libraries, I’ve managed to spend barely anything (money, energy…) and yet end up with one main book to work from, and three supporting volumes. Fun, fun, fun. It’s like stepping into a world of slightly dyslexic English mixed with an overflowing spoonful of German. My tongue still trips markedly before finding something akin to the “right” sounds for words, but I am learning and learning is good.

We’re moving house in just over a fortnight, possibly less if we can poke our current agency into coming and doing the final inspection and bond handover sooner. Wish me luck with that, I’m anticipating a lot of pestering delightful phonecalls on my part coming up in the near future. Joy. This also means that Henry has a newly drawn up calendar of days to cross off until The Big N (Nursery, to all ye uninitiated folks). We told him that when he turned three, he could go to nursery – and so now we have until the magic Monday of September 13th to delight him enough that it doesn’t seem so long. Again, luck may be needed. Luck and, possibly, the all-redeeming powers of Haribo Starmix.

]]> http://pressedposies.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/raise-a-toast-to-your-good-looks-and-to-my-health/feed/ 0 Ellie