So ya, that's the context... I know there are spelling mistakes, but I'm not bothered anymore. In other news, Never Mind the Buzzcocks is being fucking awesome tonight. I'm loving this. yaaaay!! Anyway, so this has been me. I'll post links to relevant things if anyone wants them. I like my little ponies!!! :D!!!!!!

Hey! Look! I'm finally messaging you!!
Like I was saying, I've just been feeling blah and shmeh for a while, and had to have a really good think about it... it wasn't just cos I hate working for Graham, it wasn't because I'm still in frightening visa limbo, it wasn't that I spent 6 years working my ass off in uni with nothing but bits of paper and apparently useless knowledge to show for it... I finally realized I was settling for something ordinary. And that's not what I ever wanted in life. I used to, at the very least, on my most depressed and depressing days, look fucking cool- and I'd even given up on that. Wearing a stupid polo shirt labeled with my name, most days not bother even to put on eyeliner... it wasn't good. I have masses of paint; I've not painted in years. I have loads of thread; I've only embroidered patches over holes lately. I've got a tattoo I want, but couldn't figure out where it would go. I keep buying books and not reading them. I could go on, but I'm sure you get me. Weirdly, this has apparently happened to a HELL of a lot of people in the English speaking world- just in the past few months! I had a few projects, finally, I wanted to get started on... and then didn't. It all kind of came to a head on Hallowe'en, when I couldn't even be bothered to dress up. To quote from a blog quoted by another blog I read:
"This is it. You’ve been putting it off, or you’ve been planning to get around to it, or you know that once you get a little spare time it’s at the top of the list… for HOW long now? I’m looking at you. I know you’re already taking a breath to rattle off the list of all the things standing in your way. and what’s more, I know you know they’re just excuses. And it needs to end, now. Your life is never going to GET less stressful. It’s honestly not. That’s not how life works. When we put off the things we want to do, the stress of that adds into the stress of life. You’re not going to GET more hours in the day. You’re never going to have enough money to put aside spare time. You’re not going to suddenly have That Moment where it all gels and you suddenly break out and start doing what you want to be doing… unless you MAKE that moment, right here, right now."
So I started. I spent way too much money on AWESOME earrings, so I can at least start to look interesting again. I finally started reading one of those books (and it's freaking awesome!! Warren Ellis is such a good writer). And I finally decided what project to do first, and started it. It's going to take For Freaking EVER, but that's okay, because it will occupy the time I'd otherwise be spending messing about on the internets, and it will look AMAZING when it's done, if I take the due time and care.
And all in all, it's making me feel a lot better about life. I still hate working for Graham, but really, most of thhe time he's not in my face, so I can just get on with enjoying the enjoyable things about working in the shop, and dealing with the unenjoyable things as quickly as possible, and not dwelling on them. I'm trying to find a job that actually uses at least ONE of my degrees, though to be honest they're few and far between, which I knew when I got myself into this business. The visa I'm still struggling with- I'll be writing letters, but who knows how that's going to go, and it's still a worry, but other than writing there's very little I can do about it, so I can let it go. And I'm Getting Excited and Making Things, which is the important part. It makes me a lot happier, makes my days better, and generally unglazes my eyes. Hell, I'm even drinking less, just because I'm too busy doing other things! So ya, hope that answers your inquiry... prolly a more epic response than you wanted, but you asked for it. How are you these days? I shall expect an equally epic response from you in 3 weeks' time... xx C

Thought I’d put another of these together, just cos I’m a bit bored and they’re fun. There will be repeats of the last one (that I did in Feb 2008!!), but I’mma try to think of new questions too. Respond and/ or do your own!

What/Who are you named after?

(that's where the h is from)

(is where the y is from)

Current favourite food:


Current favourite drink:


Favourite perfume/ body spray/ nummy body stuffs you like to smell of:





Most common mode of transport:


Favourite books:








Favourite comedians:






look, it took me three quarters of an hour to find a pic of him where he doesn't look like a complete cock. the least you can do is not laugh at me.

Blogs you follow:






Last 3 bands you listened to willingly:

(that's opeth, btw)


(I'm listening to w00tstock again now, so even though they're not a band, I think this counts.)

Is there a pic of your house on google streetview?
Yes, but I can't for the life of me get it onto my hard drive in saveable form!! it's at:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=18%20bishopthorpe%20road%2C%20york%20yo23%201jj&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl
our window is above the chemists'.

Current hobbies:





Things you’re looking forward to before the end of the year:


Any art that you’re particularly impressed by?



I love everything dave mckean does.

not strictly art, I know, but this is a pretty neat bit of actual nature doing its thing.


Well, that used up a bit of time. Join me!!

Just a quick post to let anyone who might try to email me that I'll be afk from Wednesday until at least Monday, or possibly a bit longer... We're moving tomorrow, hopefully. It's been a nightmare trying to move! Our contract is up at 10am tomorrow morning, but we haven't actually got the keys to our new place yet! We meant to move two and a half weeks ago; however, our current letting agent took like a week to give our new letting agent the paperwork they needed!! And THEN, last Friday, the new letting agent decided we also needed a guarantor!! This would be Ben's parents- they got the forms filled out on Friday and sent them in, but the agent "didn't receive them" so I had to send them in yesterday morning (hopefully they'll all pass muster- Ben's parents are on holiday in Greece until the 23rd!!!)... the agent put a 24 hour rush on them, so she should have them back by 10:30-11am today... Ben took the day off, and I'm sending him down there first thing to wait to sign for the keys, and then have him help me finish packing (we have our room and Ben's office to finish off, plus the whole of the living room and the kitchen to pack yet) and then clean the whole house, because when we hand over the keys we'll have to have the place spotless, and if we're moving our stuff tomorrow morning we won't have time to clean then. *siiiiiigh* I'm not having a good time with this. We also have to get a moving van of some description set up still! The guy we were going to use is out of York for the rest of the week, bah. He was really cheap, I'd been counting on him. I haven't slept for more than 9 hours in the past 4 days either, which isn't helping me get things done quickly or communicate with people well. Gah, and we still have to switch all of the utilities and the internet and the council tax! Gah, it's already 8am, I better get to work... When I can I will post pictures of our new place (assuming we get it!!)- it's really awesome, a big one-bedroom flat above a row of shops that we use all the time. We've been really excited about getting into it for a month now, so fingers crossed it actually happens, or else I don't know what we'll do.....

I've just had the most wonderful day! It's the best day I've ever had, even better than my bday last month. Ben woke me up at 2:30 (pm... I stay up late) as I'd asked him to, so I could get ready for the opera at 3:30. I declined a waking state, and only really thought I should move at ten past three. Ben had snuggled in with me and was totally not wanting to go- we were supposed to watch the SF Opera production of Don Giovanni at our local cinema, and he'd been kind of non-comittal to the whole ordeal before hand, but when it came to it really didn't want to go. I cried. I cried while I got dressed, I cried while I did my hair, I cried while I did my makeup (just as hard as you think it is). He reluctantly agreed to go, and got dressed about four times as fast as me... we got there just as the overture had started- he with a coke and me with a jd and coke, because England is imminently sophistocated- I actually cried during the overture because I recognized the SF building's acoustics and suddenly really really missed being there. During intermission we doubled our drink orders and went back up; we were the youngest people there by easily twenty years. The opera itself was fine; the sopranos were quite good, as was the Don and his valet. The best part was at the denoumont when death actually came for him- flew up with great wings at the back of the set!- which knocked the amazing job they did with the decomposing guy down a level (but it was still amazing).
Then we got pasties (the sort of potatoey calzone things, not what you stick on your nipples) and went over to Saint Mary's Abbey in the museum gardens- the ruins of an abbey pulled down by Henry the 8th's peeps. There were loads of people there; quite a few chavs, but amazingly well behaved (didn't leave any rubbish, though one girl forgot her jumper, and there's no grafitti anywhere in the grounds)but we found a quiet spot and ate our supper and did the total archaeologist thing and picked out which were the original stone and what was victorian replacements and imaginings, and wandered over to look at the graveyard behind Saint Olave's which is just next to the abbey, where I resolved to read Neil Gaiman's new book (titled "The Graveyard Book" and getting rave reviews). Ben has decided (and I agree) that we must go for a picknik in the park on the next loverly weekend day. I'm so excited! He'd never been, even though it's in our city centre; he loves it as much as me, and every other comment was "I love living in York!" which I say constantly.
Then we wandered back into the city walls. There's a cool exhibition on now, where the gallery has put replications of loads of paintings up just randomly around town (well not soooooo randomly- there are lots of pics of veggie sellers next to the thursday market) and ommfg!!!1!!!111!!one!!1!1 they have my two favorite paintings in the whole world up!!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw one and then the other!! One is of Salome receiving John the Baptist's head, and the other is called "The Ambassadors" and is wholly unremarkable except for a weird blob on the bottom which when viewed from next to the wall of the picture turns into a skull. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!! I'll take pics soon, methinks. Anyhoo, we left the park and walked around, and I showed him the flats we might get yet (my first choice has sadly been let already) which he really liked, and then we went to the King's staith for a pint.
There are pictures of the King's Staith (and the King's Arms pub) being underwater on my facebook, do go see. It's not now, although the river is still pretty high from the massive amounts of rain we've had this week. There was a woman with a ginourmouse ship- it looked like a canal boat times five- who was feeding all the geese, so they were all sailing around under our overhanging feet and hnoking at us, very fun. Ben and I talked a lot about living in York, and how much we loved each other, and the slim possibility we might actually be able to buy a house if we had a morgage and I got a job plus five years' time... very very happy.
Then we wandered home, and we watched Lost (season 4, episode 7).
A perfect day.

I'm sure I'll remember more detail tomorrow and put it in another post; still, this one was pretty perfect by itself. :)

I'm doing this again because I'm very, very, very bored, even though I need to be up in 5 hours. To work for free. w00t.

Pleh.

"So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie"

Opening Credits: Oh brother where art thou: "in the jailhouse now"

Waking Up: Jethro Tull: Bouree

First Day At School: Fairport Convention: Chelsea Morning

Falling In Love: Cake: Take it all away

Fight Song: Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses

Breaking Up: Katatonia: Journey through pressure

Prom: Jethro Tull: Velvet Green

Life: Steve Von Til: Dawn

Mental Breakdown: The Aeffect: Burning in the Bed of Fire

Driving: Tom Waits: Table Top Joe

Flashback: Iain Bellemy: Looking through the window

Wedding: Flogging Molly: Salty Dog

Birth of Child: Opeth: Serenity Painted Death

Final Battle: Johnny Cash: Mercy Seat

Death Scene: Gunnar Stubseid: Jenta | Saueflokken

Funeral Song: Katatonia: Burn the Rememberance

End Credit: Flogging Molly: Selfish Man

So. It is snowing. Not snowing hard, but snowing consistently. There's about an inch on everything so far, and I think it's only been snowing for 1-2 hours. Rock.
It was Ben's 21st bday Saturday. His parents, brother, and brother's gf came; we went shopping in town, and then went out to dinner, and then to the pub, and then back to our house for cake (after stopping by the off-liscence for more beer). I have to admit that the pub was my first drink of the night, whereas luke and Jenny and Ben's dad and mom finished off two bottles of wine before we got desert.
I swore at Ben's dad when we were at home; I feel bad about it, but not too bad- a ginormouse wolf spider had just run at me and then swerved under the couch; Ben's dad eeked at it too and then stood behind me, and then said "Oi, it's back behind you!!" so I eeked and jumped- and he was kidding. And I said "Don't EVER fucking do that!!!" and pointed at him. It wasn't nice. It's like pretending to push someone down the stairs and then grabbing them at the last minute. I feel bad about it, but I'm not sorry. That guy gets on my nerves.
I got several compliments on the boot-vases; Danke, sis'es!!
I made Ben a banana cake (it's just banana bread put into cake tins, with chocolate frosting), which everyone tried, and most people finished, and Ben said he loved, which was the most important thing. And also apparently Luke said to Jenny (who was sitting on his lap) "I wish you could make nice cake like this!" which she drunkenly repeated to the room. I was very flattered. And yes, I took pictures of the cake (even though it's just boring and cakelike).
It's still snowing. I love snow. I am happy for this. Soon I will go to bed, and dream about snow. I hope it's a happy dream.
Also, happy dead-guy-nailed-to-a-stick day.
Also also: I'm applying for a PhD studentship. I prolly don't have much of a chance, but fingers crossed. It looks ready-tailored for me...

So, we just had an earthquake! Or two, really- the aftershock was longer than the initial quake. They were both about 4.7 (says the usgs website, though they felt around 3.9 to me). I called the local newspaper and gave them my quote, about having lived in earthquake country and knowing what it was immediatly- most local police stations were swamped by people thinking they'd just been burgled. I mean really. Like burgalurs are going to bash your house in two!!- and they said thank you, and misspelled my name, and we both decided we should stop talking to eachother.
I wouldn't be worried, except that of course our house is made of brick, and so stupidly suceptible to earthquakes. I also told the local paper this.
I put emergency supplies by the front and back doors, have the house keys and a piglight on me, woke up ben (who thought the quake was the wind, and to be fair the wind was gusting at 72mph today, it's just that it was gusting at 90degree angles to the shaking) and gave him a piglight, and tried but did not convince him to come sleep downstairs... which is just as well at this point, since he'll be up in 3 hours.
It's weird. It actually just really made me feel at home, feeling the earth pitch beneath me. I even guessed the richter pitch (I said 4.0-4.9)... the whole spine of the island felt it, so maybe england's getting bigger?
Or smaller.... in which case there'll be even less room for people like me...
I am still jobsearching, seemingly hopelessly. Gah.
I hope you all are well. I miss you.
<3
chrystal

I'm doing this for a while. Incidentally, I enjoyed Kayte's and Harry's entries.

Your Name:


Nicknames:

(ie, "blue")

Recent picture of you:


Where do you live:


Your significant other:


Favourite bands:










Favorite authors:







Favourite movies:






Favourite TV shows :









Favourite colours :



Favourite scents :





Favourite games :



Last thing you ate :


Okay, swear to gods I've been at this for 3 hours, and the stupid show is only 68% downloaded. Toast!! I might just have to go to bed, and wait til tomorrow to watch it!!

I decided I should post, because I decided on a new default pic which is not "me with a red ribbon in my hair" (which is me being... ... .... I really don't think I'd rather say, suffice that the three people who would get the reference don't read my blog. But anyway, I don't feel like that as much anymore). It's the start of the viking festival tomorrow... I'm happy and excited cos I love love love the viking festival (or ie I love what I can buy at it)- it's like ren faire without the plays (but with the music and the stories) across an entire city. 'Spretty good.
Ben does a decidedly adorable northern english thing (sorry harry m'love): when he's talking, "us" equals "me" (as in, "that really pissed us off!") and "we" (pronounced "w'hh", like "we" but you just exhale sharply instead of saying the "e" part of it- "w'hh" or "w'e") instead of "us" (as in, "the stupid chavs just shouted at we and then rode off!"). I think it's freaking adorable. I'm trying to pick it up... he hasn't noticed so far when I've said "us" instead of "me" and I'm taking that as a good sign.
Not much else to report; still no job, despite numerous applications (they don't hire "overqualified" people here); still volunteering, and will be for another open day on sunday (check out the website at least, www.dighungate.com); Ben and my's 1-year-anniverary is next month, and we're going picknicking at fountain's abbey (google it, 's well worth your while, 'specially if you have nothing else to do [sara!!]). I shall post pics soon, methinks. If another person doesn't threaten to blow up ouse bridge.

My my... life is being lifeish. I got some job applications in today, for some tour guide/ front of house type jobs at local museums, all part time, not the best pay, and then I thought to myself, "I should really find out how much money I need to make this year to qualify for a Highly Skilled Migrant Visa when my current one runs out." I figured it'd be around 15,000 pounds, which is doable, with a couple of part time jobs, or a good full time one. Ha ha, then I actually checked it- I need to make at least 20,000 pounds by next December to qualify to stay in the country. I guess they really mean Highly skilled, not just "went to University for longer than most people." They don't even start counting incomes until the 16,000 pound mark... gah, I'm rather worried now, I have to say. That, and I have to pay council tax every month now since I'm not a student (70 pounds per month), and we got our gas bill and our internet bill, both of which are billed quarterly, so that was another 90 pounds, and there's more than a week left in this month and I'm down to pocket change and I'm out of beer and I've been kind of sick and stuck at home and I have all these art projects swirling around in my head but no canvases or fabric or wire or blank shirts... it's very disconcerting.
I also have the sneaking suspicion I completely failed to thank my sisters for the kickass vases they sent me! If I did, I totally opologize... I keep doing that though, I think about a thing enough to think I've actually done it already, and then it doesn't get done. But Ben and I really really like them, thank you!! They are so the cool!! I think I'll make fake flowers to go in them, and put them on the mantle (I've dropped blatant hints to ben that he should buy me some flowers, but so far no dice).
It's been raining here quite a bit, and the river got rather flooded. I went down and took some pics when I was in town today (although my batteries were half dead, so I didn't actually get very many, but ya). There's no danger of our house getting flooded, as we're quite a bit higher up than the river, so no worries. Anyhoo, they're on my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5432&l=1d1ab&id=283300203 but here's a sample, of one of the better pubs in the city (harry and I went there the first time I'd been to York, it's pretty awesome):



It gets flooded every year (there's a meter next to the front door so you can see how high the water's gotten), but not usually so badly- normally they have a hose sticking out of the mailslot in the door, so they can pump water out if it gets past the sandbags; at the moment, the mailslot is underwater. This is why they keep the beer upstairs.
Anyhoo, I'mma go freak out about my job situation some more, and then prolly make dinner. Hope all is well with you.

I'm graduating, hurrah... I only got a 59 on my dissertation (I was hoping for at least a 64), which is something like a B- in British terms, like "well, this is bullshit, but apparently she learned enough to fool the media!" - level, ie, a bit shit, but passing. The thing is, the chancellor, who is supposed to give me my degree and shake my hand, has ben accosted and arrested by the police!!!11!1!1!! WTF? he's basically a pakistani-version of a senator, went to a student rally, and got arrested on terrorism charges that the US is funding!!! I'm posting letters to both Mssrs Mushuraf and Bush to get my chancellor freed so as he can come down here and thank me for honoring his institution with my braniacness!! (or you know, so that there isn't a bombing during my graduation; that'd be nice too). I mean even his x-wife is with him on this one, and that's fucking saying something, in a western country.
President Mushuraf, let my chancellor go!! Grrrwaaaaaaaaaar!

As they say it here.
Not much of consequence has happened to me of late... I went sailing with Ben and Matt and Chris (as seen here http://bradford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4450&l=519a7&id=283300203 ); I got a two-hour job as a consultant for an archaeozoological assemblage (industrial revolution bone-knife-handle-making workshop); finally redyed my hair; got to see harry and bryan (which was fucking spectacular, they're two of the people I've missed most from california!);




and downloaded the two-weeks-free version of everquest 2, which I will be upgrading to the real thing when the new patch comes out on the 14th. w00t.

Ben and I carved pumpkins for tonight- the first time he's ever carved a pumpkin!! Poor deprived english kids!!!

We prolly had about 20 trick-or-treaters in all, which I thought was odd, considering we live next to one primary school and two blocks away from another... I guess it's just not a big thing here. I tried to dress up, but I'm too fat for all my costumes, so I just made me and Ben look kinda dead with makeup... good enough for staying in and giving out candy. Everyone seemed to like my cat pumpkin- so much that it got STOLEN!!!!!!!! Fuckers!! Ben and I think it was the last two kids we got at the door- 13ish, and one of them had to dig a bag out of his pocket to recieve his bounty bar. When I went outside to bring the gourds in for the night and saw it was gone, I sqeeked (like I do when I see a spider)- only to have the three cops at the end of our street (about 20 feet away) look sharply at me. So I called in to Ben that my pumpkin was stolen, and the cops seemed to disregard me after that. Ah well. (I have 3-month-old eggs at the ready, just in case...)
Ben's gone out with our friends Matt and Goth Dave and Andy and Ed... I would have gone, but I'm volunteering tomorrow so I have to get up at 8, and they're going to a crap club that is too expensive and sucks. And anyway, I have a bottle of mulled wine to finish off, and 3 litres of cider after that if I want. So, everquest o'clock, anyone?

We made it- moved in yesterday, and got Ben's family out of our hair by 4, half-assedly unpacked, went to a chinese all-you-can-eat for dinner, went to our local for a pint or 3, and wandered back to _our_ house. It's a lovely lovey thing. No internet yet (ben's calling today, so hopefully it'll be sorted out very very soon), and we don't have a microwave, and we need to figure out how to arrange the furniture in the sitting/entry room so that we can see the tv without having massive glare on it (or at least so that we don't go blind trying to pick out the tv in front of the open and very sunny window)... but overall, it's home. We pulled the last of my pirates of the carribean christmas crackers, and put on the paper crowns and plastic eye patches and avasted and ahoyed at eachother. I will put pics of the place up on myspace in due course.
the full new addy is:
Chrystal Antink + Ben Turner
72 Dale Street
York, North Yorkshire
United Kingdom
YO23 1AE

If you want you can put 'North Riding' instead of 'North Yorkshire' cos that's what it used to be like hundreds of years ago, and it would amuse me.

Right. Must go buy plates and silverware, then try to finish dissertation. Ha!!

paperwork is processing for the house ben and I applied for- it's very very narrow, but has a semi-back-garden complete with garden gnome, and the kitchen is the biggest room in the house, so how could I say no? It's also very close to a park that has a croquet pitch, where we saw some old men playing- I hope I get a chance to learn the game from them! (I really liked it when I played it at my grandparents, but that was "young-peoples-rules...)... They were processing the application yesterday (i.e. the lady kept calling and asking me questions that I was sure we'd filled out, but oh well...) I'm desperately hoping to hear from them tomorrow, and then they can tell us the move-in price (which ben and I calculated to be about 800 quid, or $1600 each), and then we'll sign our names on the morgage (which my father told me at the age of 6, and I later found out to be true, means the 'death note') and move in. Wheeeee! If it happens, I'll let you all know where I'm living- otherwise I'm at Ben's parents house working on my dissertation, while they can stand me.
Sis, who were you bitching out and why? Give me details (in a private post)!! I miss you all too too too much!!
*Shmooshy hugs*

haha, I am the cleverest monkey on the block. I discovered mere hours ago (and have thus been kept awake by the knowledge) that ha, my move-out day from this place isn't the 16th of september, but the 8th. I was planning on having my dissertation done by the 9th after a week of intense work (it's not due til the 24th, I double checked) so I could have a week to pack and figure out where I'm going to live and stuff. Nooooooooooot so much anymore. Apparently I'm going to finish this thing (another 5000 words or so, then editing) wherever I end up living. Keen.
My parents are being cool about my being an ass though- my dad wrote me a hellof long email (which is rare for him, cos he's a hunt'n'peck typer) saying they'll support me and stuff... I can tell he n prolly mom are well freaked out though. Kiiiiiiiinda like me.
I've asked Ben if he wants to get a place with me in York... he'd said just yesterday he couldn't wait to live with me, so watch what you wish for, I guess. Thing is, neither of us have a job there, so it'd be kinda sketchy for the first however long...
I think I'm going to try to sleep for another hour, and after that, just give it up as a bad job and make food and try to write more.

d00d, I was just in the kitchen, and I swear I heard a fox calling. It might have been an owl though. Foxes can sound remarkably like owls, you know, and I've seen a fox not a block from my house here, so it's possible.
I actually buckled down and wrote a section of my dissertation today, and then edited something I wrote for it a kabillion years ago (which I think is why they made us write it for my stupid research skills class... very clever, that! I wish they'd done that at York), the total result of which being that I'm 48-and-some-per cent done writing the thing. On my schedule, I only have 12 more days to finish the rest of it, though... and I feel like I have a lot more research to do, not just writing. And then I need to corral my supervisor and make her read it stupidly fast, and then I have to get it printed (as well as figuring out how to turn it into a .pdf, cos the uni requires we turn in an electronic copy as well, which I guess is cool in the long run... the department has also said that if we turn in the electronic copy with proof the hard copy is at the printers, we don't have to turn in the hard copies on the due date! shweet!)... it's due the 24th of September, and my housing contract ends *dun dun daaaa* on the 16th. So I have to finish my dissertation while moving. Do I know where I'm moving to? Nooooooooo idea. Probably somewhere in England, Scotland or Wales. (This is better than last time, when I didn't know what continent I was moving to.) Ben said I could live with him at his parents house in the interem (which would be way close quarters, for me), or with him in their caravan, which I went to last weekend and will tell you about below. He's a sweet kid, I sure do like him. He's going to move to York in October, when he finds a job and a place there. This next academic year is meant to be his "placement" year- which is basically when the uni kicks you out for a year and tells you to get a job for 9 months. He left it to the last minute (not my fault, I told him to get moving on it from day one of digging!), so he couldn't get a place working with the York Archaeological Trust (that I used to work for, had the assemblage I did the research on for my dissertation, and am now volunteering every friday with) straight off, but since he's doing a placement with them digging at hungate for 3 months this summer (www.dighungate.com) and they really like him, they're going to take him on when they re-open site in March, and he'll dig march-september, and so make his whole 9 months, which is rad!! I have to point out that this is all my fault, since it was me who came up with the idea that he should dig with the trust in the first place when he was moaning about not having anything to do this summer; likewise, my Very Good Friend Matt is doing his year's placement with them, on my recommendation! I think my friend Pete Sims is too (or with one of the other archaeological groups in the city), which means we could all hang out, which would be fun. Pete has amazing sideburns; chops they be! Also, he's from Jersey, which amuses me, because I told my mom once and she said "Where they invented the cows??" Right, /endRamble
So this past weekend, I did fun things. On Friday, I went to York to do volunteer work as per usual (this is actually stupidly good for me, cos they're super cool there, and they don't actually have any of their own zooarchaeologists cos they contract that stuff out, so they give me like, real jobs, like "pull all the human bone out of these bags of animal bone" and "enter all this stupidly specific data into a nationally-used database" and it's the kind of thing I can put on job applications, not to mention it's stupidly fun), and Ben was doing finds work (ie, playing with the powerhose), and then he drove us to his parent's house in newcastle (where the beer comes from!) where we stayed the night. I made him watch sister act II, but I paid him back for it, so it's okay. On Saturday we drove out to his parent's caravan (read mobile home, the kind that don't actually move and have real plumbing and stuff) out on the North Sea. It was in a really lovely place called Cresswell... we drove to the local shop, which was a farm shop, where they were selling like their own lamb and beef from their own sheep and cows, and frozen roasted veggies that they'd grown, and then a random spattering of other stuff, like every blue dragon sauce in existence, as well as Reese's Peanutbutter Cups!!!!!! It's been yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaars since I've had one, and at least once I'd sung their praises to Ben (we got some). Then we went home, and I sat at the dining room table and read while Ben played video games, then he made me dinner, and we watched TV (their mobile home gets cable!), being mostly boring BBC stuff followed by Back to the Future (which I've been jonsing for for about a month) and then History of the World Part 1 (which I've been jonsing to own for about 6 months). Sunday was pretty much the same, but I made lunch, and then we went for a walk on the beach. There was nothing on tv at night, so I put on Airheads, which I brought specially and Ben freaking loved (after 5-6 pints). Anyway, the beach was pretty. There are big shale cliffs that've been built up by and then collapsed into the sea, and there was like a big outcrop of rock where there were loads of tidepools and stuff, cos we were there at low tide. We drove by the next day, and the water was all the way up to the cliff face, it's kinda freaky. Anyhoo, I took pictures, most of which you can see at http://bradford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3988&l=20485&id=283300203 but you can get the highlight and the goofy couples pic below:


and



The first one is looking back from the jetty towards the caravan park; it's not actually black n white, it's just how the picture exposed (I guess... I didn't know digital pics did that) cos of the sun. If you look to the right of the pic, you can kinda see colours... it was about 7:30pm. As for the second one, yup, I'm getting all chubby, and I swear I'll redye my hair when the dissertation is overwith (I have the bleach and dye already, even). Over the weekend I got chapters and chapters read; I'd wanted to do all the writing I did today, but the book was just too dense for it. It'll all get done...
no really, it will....
Any news from back home? People, consider yourselves taken to task! I feel like I've not had news in forever. Hey sis, get other sis to put a pic of her new ink up!! Dad told me about it, I'm like so excited! Send it to my email tho, I like never check myspace. I'm not going to get to come back for a while, if at all... My parents are coming for my graduation (assuming the dissertation gets done, and passes) in December, and it's just too much money all at once for all three of us to be travelling intercontinentally. Unless I win the lottery (and I don't play), first chance I'd get to go back is prolly February, unless I get deported. Again.

Right. Okay. I've not listened to this cd in.... forever. I listened to it the day I bought it, decided it reminded me of the last one/ depressed me so much I didn't listen to it til today, but now that I have, is it just me, or do at least two songs on the "Great Cold Distance" have to do with Harry Potter? I know, it's a stupid idea, but "Follower" might be seen as when Harry is introduced to the wizarding world, and "Journey through pressure" seems to be, for a bit of it, about memories in the pensive. I'll listen to the whole album again, {and decide it's all about harry potter}, and we'll see... Then again, there's a song in Tom Wait's "Alice" about Harry, to me, so maybe I'm just fancifying........

I'd been looking into the scientology "personality quiz" (apparently nobody can come up happy in it, which is a little obvious/lame) and then got distracted by the jungian ones. Results:

Which I think describes me pretty well. Not that it has any impact whatsoever on my life, and was more to distract from a distinct lack of desire to do anything non-laptop-related.

Life for me is... weird, atm. I've finished my work in York, just as Ben's gone and moved there so as to dig (there was one week of overlap, which was nice, cos we had lunch together, but then was also annoying, cos I'd meet up with them when they were done, but they weren't done til 5, so I ended up catching like the 7:04 train and not getting home til almost 9)... the awful loud housemate I had moved out (thank toast)and I think the french guy did too, which is sad, cos I'd grown to like Vincent ("vin-saaan't)...
I think I've just hit a wall of apathy. I've been pretty apathetic about a lot of things this year (most notably boys) but now it's crept into my dissertation as well. I have to say, I feel equally un-strongly about writing this chapter of my dissertation, being in a relationship with Ben, and killing myself with a handgun. I dunno, it's weird. Prolly not worth it to explain.

I think it's my little brother's birthday this week, but I don't have acess to SASI (obviously) so I can't check, nor can I get his adress to send him anything. Boo for this! He seems to be doing... better? Decently enough, for him. He doesn't want to kill himself over some girl, as far as I could tell from our last online conversation (Monday), which I think is an improvement for him.

rm... not much else. Meeting Ben's parents this weekend (we were meant to go to his brother's uni graduation on Monday, but they got their exam results today [which is lame, stupid uk unis] aaaaaaaaaaaand he's not graduating. So, Ben's rents are coming to York for the weekend, and since I was going on Friday anyway, I'll meet them then). I'm all nervouse. I'mma go look for dresses in the mall tomorrow, and to my parents' chagrin buy one if it looks cute and makes me look less than insane. I'm also going to redo my hair tomorrow. And maybe stop by uni to pick up my year's results (and Ben and Oli's)... bah to having to be up early. And by early I mean before 1:30pm, when I got up today.

I constantly feel like I should be doing a lot more, for some cause or other... like there should be some kind of group or society or charity that consumes my daily thoughts. Landmines or phonics or blankets or female circumscision or free speech or gay rights or native rights or biological conservation or dental benefits or the human organs trade or drug legalization or green anarchy... and what do I do? Read 4 newspapers a day (the Daily Telegraph, Slate, The Guardian and the SF Chronicle), eat lots of food, and think about the animal bones people 1200 years ago threw into their trash heap.

meh, I'm not going to york today... I've got to see some things in our lab here in bradford, and then check some stuff in the library,and then I think I might do my laundry (for the first time in 6 weeks- when you have no money, your priorities change). I had a lot of fun for my bday on friday; I might write about it later. Anyway, here's a thing I stole from Sister Sara!

What color is your soul painted? Grey Your soul is painted the color grey, which embodies the characteristics of elegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, strong emotions, balance, and cancellation. Grey falls under the element of Water, and symbolizes the moon, tide, ebb and flow. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

There are some things, that I for my whole life have taken as everyday, that when I do eventually notice the neurotic, da-da juxtaposition of objects, it completely baffles me. Who in the world thought, "This tyre is shit! I can't use it on my car anymore! I know... I'll tie it to a tree, for the kids to play with!!" I mean, what?? Yeah, good idea... I've played on many in my life.
It was a good idea.
Sorry to all the people who I'd promised earlier to write to... and still haven't. I was planning on doing it the day after I turned in my last paper; in fact, I have letters written to everyone I like, in my head, that I composed that week. It's just that after 5 weeks of continuious writing, I've not been able to bring myself to write that much again. This journal is the longest thing I've written in 14 days. So, y'know, I do care, and have inquiries and statements for all of you, but can't bring myself to type them all out yet.
Though, to be fair, I did write to my little brother (young punking Nick), but I think 14-year-olds need a little more consistent feedback than adults. He's adorable though; he was telling me how he hates that his history teacher refers to the ussr and Russia as communist, and that's "not what Marx defined as communism, they only got halfway there" and then faltered. Then he went on about a lot of other of Marx's other theories and stuff, which I had to wiki. And, I'd recommended a book to him, since he's having such a hard time with his history teacher ("Lies my Teacher Told Me") which is about how public-school history education is a bunch of propagandist bullshit; I told him to get it from my mom, but apparently he could never find her (she's been in a ton of meetings and interviews, so I'm not surprised), so he just got it from the library and is reading it. I'm sooooooooooooooo proud!! Look at this! Alpha Punkling reading non-fiction books about history!! He's so amazing.
I think I got off topic here. Hrm. Anyway.
I've been totally dying for a new (vintage) Gunne Sax dress: they're soooooooo cute! I'm going to make at least a big Gunne Sax-style circle skirt the next time I get paid, all calico and lace and ribbons.

Ps: does anyone else read Neil Gaiman's blog? Alan Moore's wedding looked amazing< and I want to print out this pic and put it with my family photos:


(Alan Moore's wedding suit is SOOOOOOOOOOO RAD!!!! I want a bowler hat in not-black now!! And a(nother) velvet jacket!!)

In other news, I'm working on stuff for my dissertation. So far, this has consisted of me doing drawings of _Bos taurus_ bones (because I need templates for recording sheets, not just cos I wanna). Here's a single bone (left metacarpal, analagous to the bones in your hand, between fingers and wrist). It took me about an hour to get the 6 different views I need.





How many bones does a cow freaking have?? I've been doing this for 5 hours a day for 2 weeks now!!