Happy List

1. Exhausted: ETS study guide, Kaplan study guide, CliffNotes Math study guide; ready to tackle this bitch.
2. Lady Lou is pretty much my favorite being alive right now
3. I had a breakthrough with Maximilian the chameleon, who is now my favorite housesitting pooch.
4. I get to see/hang out with/party with Rory and Sasha tomorrow through Friday.
5. Application progress--it's a happy thing!
6. Training progress; found my yellow bandana again which means shit's about to get serious.
7. Sephora,  LP and I had a date and we discovered amazing lip stains and the Greek brand Korres of which I am now a fanatic.  
8. The song Lady Love by Lou Rawls is pretty fucking perfect.
9. I'm getting my mamma a Kindle for Christmas and she's going to flip.
10. Jenna Marbles and Coco are keeping me sane through this application/dad's health problems sitch.
11. I have rediscovered bananas on peanut butter on whole wheat toast.  Yum.
12. Cold weather clothes have arrived!  Time to rejoice for plaid scarves and a yellow pea coat!
13. Karil is coming for Thanksgiving; I may have a sister-in-law yet.
14. The song You and I by Gaga, which sounds like it is sung by Carrie Underwood, makes my pulse race and my body want to gyrate. 
15. Lady country music in general is now a soundtrack to my life.  I think it's supremely American, sexy and fresh.  I'm getting bored with melancholy electronicalternative everything.
16. Beirut and Austra and The Head and the Heart are exceptions to that rule.
17. I did not allow myself to settle and I feel fantastic about this with the aftermath; seeing him with another girl did not make me upset and now I know for sure it was the right decision.  Thanks, intuition!

I think I will definitely post a Thankful For list.  Stay tuned!

What? You mean that's actually a thing?

I know this may seem odd, but I thought that I had a pretty good idea what sports were out there in this vast world.  You know, I knew about Cricket, so I thought I was set.  I figured that the majority of the games were prevalent, seen at the Olympics, popularized by ESPN.  But apparently I was mistaken.  For example, have you ever heard of netball?  Yep, me either.  It is played worldwide, most prominently in England and mainly by women.  It appears, from brief Wikipedia skim, to be a miniaturized basketball game.  How about the game of bandy?  This one I'm going to chalk up to the fact that I live in a warm climate and thus rarely deal with snow or ice or any of that nonsense.  It seems to me that bandy is actually just what Americans call hockey.  Speaking of hockey, did you know that in the rest of the world, hockey seems to be associated with what Americans call field hockey?  I know field hockey is played more so on the East Coast and at affluent private schools nationwide, as are lacrosse and crew.  But there are others I've never heard any mention of!  Like shinty, which again, seems like a variation of field hockey and is regularly played in Ireland.

I'm pretty locked up in the UK here, but what else is out there?  God, I'm such a small-town American.

Autumn Air

Fall has finally arrived here.  It's about time.  And as usual, it came upon us with absolutely no warning or apologies.  It's about 59 F out right now, which is, to borrow from the Brits, bloody cold for us.  It is even colder than Chicago!

Anyway, I've been fighting stomach problems all week which has been a nightmare, but it seems they are subsiding finally.  I spent this entire day in repose, lying around and wishing I were outside enjoying the air.  It gave me plenty of time to do a lot of nothing.  Meaning I watched my backlog of internet to-do's, ie. Arrested Development, The Lying Game, Tower of Terror, A Very Potter Musical.  And it was the latter that reminded me that I never watched any videos from LeakyCon.  Go 'head, laugh it up.  I'm the biggest Potterhead I know, and despite my attempts to find someone just as fanatical in my real life, the search has come up short on multiple occasions.  Alas, the majority of the people I feel most attuned with on this subject are virtual friends, people I've met through the years (and I mean years and years, over 14 at this point) who hypothesized with me and edited my terrible ships of fan fiction and generally loved all over the wondrous world of HP with me. 

The point is, the last and probably final meaningful HP convention was in July, aligned with the film release of DH Pt. II, and I really wanted to be there.  I mean, I could not have afforded to go since this was right in the middle of me finishing my degree, writing my thesis, etc.  But my heart wanted desperately to be among those who understood and were totally unafraid to let their freak flags fly.  haha  I must seem like a nut.  Well, regardless, the videos left me sobbing in my bed.  I almost feel like it was a death I didn't properly deal with, and Lord knows I've had enough experience this year with how losing someone feels.  So I dealt today.  I watched silly fan videos and cried and remembered the theories I came up with, the stories I'd written and the way I used to emulate Jo Rowling's writing, and the binding broken on my Prisoner of Azkaban first edition.  I remembered how nobody believed me when I told them that I thought Harry and Voldemort had to both die and that the prophecy had a double meaning.  I remember arguing with my Leaky friends about it and being totally mystified that everyone else on the net thought for sure that it JUST meant that Harry had to kill Voldemort.  I've never quite expressed how vindicated I felt when my theory was proven correct.

Anyway, this post is already too long, so I'll just say, thanks HP.  Thanks Jo Rowling.  For teaching me to write and to think and dream big.  I haven't forgotten, maybe just been a little sidetracked.  

Here's the video I've had on repeat.  The song is really clever, really beautiful, and quite touching.
Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDNxa2UoEUI&feature=related

Just finished Kyle XY...so disappointed.

While I acknowledge that this show is vaguely for teenagers...in 2007...I'd like to point out that I was one then, and therefore it is totally legitimate that I am catching up on it now. I really quite liked it! I absolutely hated that there was no closure for the ending of the series. I wish they would pull a Buffy and finish it up with a graphic novel or something. Made for television movie? Something? Bone? Please?

Happy for

Roley poley produce <3
My dad's senior learning classes
5K in January (eek)
Oregon
Cold weather
Dark Chocolate Cherry Chewy bars (weakness)
5K playlist
Havarti cheese and tomatoes
Chicaaaago in 10 days
The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley which makes me want to burn sage and dance naked  (As does I Capture the Castle which I found on Netflix the other night).  Seriously wishing I lived somewhere remote so that this nude dancing in nature could occur.
Presents from friends are all things with which to decorate a house which I love.
My diploma came in!

Stagnant Living

Here comes your man...

Tonight I'm happy because of...

*a good friend buffer who has always been a good friend buffer, despite the drama we've been through.
*Free Blue Moon
*Childhood friend hugs
*Amber amulets to protect me from insecurity
*Kisses from my first kiss! What a sweet concept.
*My new, temporary roommates Matt and Maggie
*Clif Bars are delicious.
*my yellow bandana.
*Chicago on the brain...
*EDIT: Also per "un bacio" di lontano di Modena, Italia. <3