Well, I promised myself I wouldn't post in here until I finished the massive blog post I had done for Greece. In retrospect that was a stupid thing to do, because I grew bored of writing that and I've stopped writing in here. Silly me.
A lot has happened since; namely little things that I will try to remember here. In my mind, four things stick out as me remembering at the time 'oh yeah, I should really blog about this' so here goes;
1.) Chris left
Yes, despite my warnings to at least be a little more careful about where he stored his weed, Chris has indeed been kicked out of Allen Hall. He was really bitter about it, and everyone was sad to see him go since he was well liked, but it was his own fault. I had no qualms about him smoking, it's his funeral after all, but choosing to smoke it inside when he'd already been caught twice was stupid. I still see him from time to time, but whatever. I had few friends in halls anyway, so it really makes little difference he is no longer here.
2.) I got lost on a bus
Sounds like an amazing story, and you may skip to number three if you should so desire. Anyway, after a meeting concerning my Greece project writeup, I decided to go into town for some clothes. So, waiting at the bus stop, I caught the 142; the guaranteed direct route into Piccadilly Gardens. At least, this was what I thought - I'd caught this bus into town a multitude of times and it had always gone the same way. Except for today.
As it headed towards the library, it suddenly veered off down this side road I'd never seen before, and stopped at a stop where everyone began to get off. I wasn't too worried at this point, because we weren't that far away from my destination, and I figured the bus would carry on straight and turn back up into Piccadilly. Wrong.
As the bus continued I had this horrible feeling that I was getting further and further away from the centre of Manchester. Yet I still believed, even at that point, that we were going to wind up going full circle. I think perhaps the lack of people being picked up along the way might have given me a clue as to our real destination.
The Depot.
Figuring that the bus driver probably hadn't seen me since he would have told me to get off at what had been the last stop, I pretended I had 'fallen asleep' and I got a free ride back. I was lucky in that respect, but not lucky in that I'd wasted 45 minutes exploring the depths of Chorlton while doing it. Ah well.
3.) The Snip
Yep. Been thinking about this for quite some time, tomorrow is when I get the 'snip'. (No, not -that- snip you fools.). I'm getting my hair cut. Short. Very short. Think Natalie Portman short. (: it's going to be wicked.
4.) Doctor Who
Yes, after the agonising wait, the series has finally come back. Same Doctor, new (and for the most part annoying) companion Donna. And while I'm happy to see it back, there are a couple of things that really grate every time I watch it.
- David Tennant. He'd have to be number one on my list, because I have no idea why he's suddenly doing the pirahna teeth and the manic eyes all the time. It's like he's been posessed by the same thing that got Rose in the (new) series 2. I mean, I think so far he's been a pretty good Doctor as Doctor's go, but what happened in this series I do not know. I'll be sad to see him (eventually) leave the franchise as I am with all the Doctors, or indeed Time Lords. Even so I'll welcome the change so long as they get someone completely different into the role. Unfortunately I can see them casting someone similar to Tennant (as in, personality wise), and that'll really annoy the heck out of me. New Doctor, New face, New personality. Please.
- The new theme tune. Don't like it much. It's kind of cool, but the random electric guitar riff? WTF.
- Donna. Oh I'm so on the edge with this one. Even moreso than Maaartaah. See, I liked Martah in the beginning, but then I disliked her. So far with Donna it's been Like, Dislike, Unsure, Like (as far as the episodes go). She's funny, which makes a change from a female fawning over the Doctor (which annoys the hell out of me). But she's also shouty (it gets boring). I like her compassion, but I don't like her accent. Why is it that so far, all the new series companions (bar Cpt.Jack, which is probably one reason I like him as a character), have had London accents? Hellooo England does not revolve around London! Get a companion from 'up north please :(
Aah they do say 'who fans complain about things an awful lot, always never quite happy with what they've been given. Last week's episode was the best so far, with the others being a little substandard. What do I know, I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy the series finale.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Letter Meme - the Letter T
This was given to me by my dad; I have to tell you ten things I love that begin with the letter T, they'll be in no particular order since I am thinking these up on the spot.
1.) Tea
Yes, well. I am British.
Tea is such a good, all round drink. It's comforting when you come in from a horrible day, demonstrates your thoughtfulness when consoling a friend or family member, warming when the heating doesn't work, refreshing drunk cold with lemon. It's lovely with a piece of cake, or a few biscuits, or even great brewed strong with lots of sugar and milk. The smell of tea leaves has to be one of my favourite smells of all time. I drink my tea in many different ways depending on my mood - I know pretty much everyone else has one particular style they take their tea, and will swear by it. I guess that's why I'm so difficult to make tea for :D
2.) Thirteen
Unlucky for some, thirteen is an interesting number for me. It happens to be the number of my first house (rented, but still, my first house!) and I'm wholly looking forward to living there next year with three of my closest friends from Uni; Cat, Andrew and Karen.
The hamster will have to go though.
3.) Thinking
I love thinking, I just wish the internet didn't dull my brain so much. It's true, I can feel it turning my mind into a vegetable whenever I'm not on it. Perhaps I should cut down.
I do an awful lot of thinking, perhaps disproportionately to the amount of living but I think it's an important process to go through before undertaking any action. Making a phonecall? I like to have the conversation rehearsed a good five or six times in my mind before I dial.
Thinking isn't just limited to every day stuff. I also find myself wondering about everything I see; why is that like this, how is this managing to do that. Sometimes I wish some people would stop and think before opening their mouths. Less words would be wasted that way, and the world would be a better place.
4.) T'internet
Total cheat, but how could I not include this? Like most young people of my generation, I love the internet, much to the dispair of my parents (or perhaps just one, I don't know). The majority of my free time is spent on the internet, browsing, socialising, playing games, running communities. The only thing I find frustrating about the internet is the fact that you can't trust what you read on it. Otherwise it would be an absolute goldmine of information.
5.) Thankyou
This just refers to compliments in general. I love giving people compliments and thanking them, and making them feel appreciated. I once heard that it takes someone seven compliments to get over an insult. Gosh - and by the rate compliments are dished out (I mean, genuine, well thought out compliments), no wonder everyone walks around with a frown on their face, or has such a negative self-image of themselves. Making people feel like they're worth something is one of the most important things you can do - I think if more young people were appreciated by their parents, peers, teachers etc, we wouldn't be seeing such high suicide rates.
6.) Trinkets
I'm a total hoarder. I get attatched to inanimate objects and I don't like change. What can I say? I'm a Capricorn - I have a love of material items as petty as that sounds. A pretty necklace, a new candle or incense burner, a new plant to add to my collection. Little gifts that were bought with an idea as to how they compliment my personality I adore; it tells me people listen to what I say and know me. They don't have to be expensive, either.
7.) Trees
Argh. I almost forgot to include this. Yes, I'm a complete hippy - I love trees. And not all this 'global warming CO2 footprint, carbon negative plant more trees' rubbish.
I'm not a big fan of plants, and I have little respect for botanists. For one, plants don't do much, they sit there an photosynthesise, respire, pump ion...s (haha), and grow. Occasionally reproduce. Ok, well they live, but they're no as interesting to me, as animals. But trees are like the whales of the plant family, especially those that live in the rainforests and grow to 60m tall and 10m wide. Christ, you have to have some respect for an organism that big. I mean, some of them live to over 4000 years old. That's older than Christianity. :B
'sides, if you're feeling lonely, and nobody is around, give one a hug. They're surprisingly fun to hug. Woods are awesome places to walk, too.
8.) Thumb
mmm, my left thumb is looking rather appealing as I write this. (Joking). I used to suck my thumb, avidly. All the time. When my parents left the room, in it would go. At bedtime, in it would go. Even when my dear old Grandad told me that if I kept on doing it, I would suck it away, I continued (although, I would take it out occasionally and measure it against my right to make sure it wasn't shrinking). Braces were what eventually persuaded me to stop, and since then it hasn't gone back in.
9.) Tickling
As much as I protest, I love being tickled. Ribs, knees, armpits. I'm pretty much ticklish everywhere, and there isn't something more fun than being tickled. It's a shame people think I'm too old for that kind of behaviour now.
10.) Toast
Toast is another thing that goes well with tea, but unlike tea, I have to have mine in particular ways. I usually have my toast with just butter on it, but the butter has to be melted. If I have marmalade, it has to be a thin scraping with copious amounts of butter. If I have marmite, the marmite again, has to be a thin scraping. There's nothing much else I like on toast, aside from the occasional spreading of peanut butter. In general, I love toast.
1.) Tea
Yes, well. I am British.
Tea is such a good, all round drink. It's comforting when you come in from a horrible day, demonstrates your thoughtfulness when consoling a friend or family member, warming when the heating doesn't work, refreshing drunk cold with lemon. It's lovely with a piece of cake, or a few biscuits, or even great brewed strong with lots of sugar and milk. The smell of tea leaves has to be one of my favourite smells of all time. I drink my tea in many different ways depending on my mood - I know pretty much everyone else has one particular style they take their tea, and will swear by it. I guess that's why I'm so difficult to make tea for :D
2.) Thirteen
Unlucky for some, thirteen is an interesting number for me. It happens to be the number of my first house (rented, but still, my first house!) and I'm wholly looking forward to living there next year with three of my closest friends from Uni; Cat, Andrew and Karen.
The hamster will have to go though.
3.) Thinking
I love thinking, I just wish the internet didn't dull my brain so much. It's true, I can feel it turning my mind into a vegetable whenever I'm not on it. Perhaps I should cut down.
I do an awful lot of thinking, perhaps disproportionately to the amount of living but I think it's an important process to go through before undertaking any action. Making a phonecall? I like to have the conversation rehearsed a good five or six times in my mind before I dial.
Thinking isn't just limited to every day stuff. I also find myself wondering about everything I see; why is that like this, how is this managing to do that. Sometimes I wish some people would stop and think before opening their mouths. Less words would be wasted that way, and the world would be a better place.
4.) T'internet
Total cheat, but how could I not include this? Like most young people of my generation, I love the internet, much to the dispair of my parents (or perhaps just one, I don't know). The majority of my free time is spent on the internet, browsing, socialising, playing games, running communities. The only thing I find frustrating about the internet is the fact that you can't trust what you read on it. Otherwise it would be an absolute goldmine of information.
5.) Thankyou
This just refers to compliments in general. I love giving people compliments and thanking them, and making them feel appreciated. I once heard that it takes someone seven compliments to get over an insult. Gosh - and by the rate compliments are dished out (I mean, genuine, well thought out compliments), no wonder everyone walks around with a frown on their face, or has such a negative self-image of themselves. Making people feel like they're worth something is one of the most important things you can do - I think if more young people were appreciated by their parents, peers, teachers etc, we wouldn't be seeing such high suicide rates.
6.) Trinkets
I'm a total hoarder. I get attatched to inanimate objects and I don't like change. What can I say? I'm a Capricorn - I have a love of material items as petty as that sounds. A pretty necklace, a new candle or incense burner, a new plant to add to my collection. Little gifts that were bought with an idea as to how they compliment my personality I adore; it tells me people listen to what I say and know me. They don't have to be expensive, either.
7.) Trees
Argh. I almost forgot to include this. Yes, I'm a complete hippy - I love trees. And not all this 'global warming CO2 footprint, carbon negative plant more trees' rubbish.
I'm not a big fan of plants, and I have little respect for botanists. For one, plants don't do much, they sit there an photosynthesise, respire, pump ion...s (haha), and grow. Occasionally reproduce. Ok, well they live, but they're no as interesting to me, as animals. But trees are like the whales of the plant family, especially those that live in the rainforests and grow to 60m tall and 10m wide. Christ, you have to have some respect for an organism that big. I mean, some of them live to over 4000 years old. That's older than Christianity. :B
'sides, if you're feeling lonely, and nobody is around, give one a hug. They're surprisingly fun to hug. Woods are awesome places to walk, too.
8.) Thumb
mmm, my left thumb is looking rather appealing as I write this. (Joking). I used to suck my thumb, avidly. All the time. When my parents left the room, in it would go. At bedtime, in it would go. Even when my dear old Grandad told me that if I kept on doing it, I would suck it away, I continued (although, I would take it out occasionally and measure it against my right to make sure it wasn't shrinking). Braces were what eventually persuaded me to stop, and since then it hasn't gone back in.
9.) Tickling
As much as I protest, I love being tickled. Ribs, knees, armpits. I'm pretty much ticklish everywhere, and there isn't something more fun than being tickled. It's a shame people think I'm too old for that kind of behaviour now.
10.) Toast
Toast is another thing that goes well with tea, but unlike tea, I have to have mine in particular ways. I usually have my toast with just butter on it, but the butter has to be melted. If I have marmalade, it has to be a thin scraping with copious amounts of butter. If I have marmite, the marmite again, has to be a thin scraping. There's nothing much else I like on toast, aside from the occasional spreading of peanut butter. In general, I love toast.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sir David.
The MAN.
I went to the Trafford Centre today as Sir. David Attenborough was doing book signings of his latest book - "Life in Cold Blood"
This of course is his last series, so basically he's done it all. I have to admit that his programmes have always been one of the highlights of both my TV viewings and of my knowledge on the animal (and plant) world. I suppose his series over the years have made me go off and read more about some of the more obscure animals out there, and I'm pretty certain had it not been for him I would not know as much about animals as I do today. I probably wouldn't be studying zoology, either.
We went to the Trafford Centre straight after our 1.00 lecture. He was due for the signings between 6pm and 7.30pm, so we knew we were in for a long wait. We didn't mind though; this was David Attenborough after all - as I put it, he is the God of Zoology.
So we fell into the queue. Some of the group had got there before us and were in the little roped off area. We got shunted to wait up a flight of stairs, but as the queue grew we were glad we came as early as we did; it was MASSIVE.
The wait didn't feel long, and the only hitch came when we were informed we had to have a reciept of purchase with us to get the book signed. Bummer - most of us had gotten them for xmas, and therefore didn't have their little 'reciepts'. So deciding to foil there stupid money making scheme we went and bought books just to get reciepts, but we're all returning them over the next couple of days =]
I spotted Sir.David going to sit down first, and sort of made this small squeal to alert the rest of the crew, for the next twenty minutes or so gawking at him. I kind of feel sorry for the man, being so old I can't imagine he has much energy left, and to have all these people bothering him must be exhausting. Still, it's his fault for being so awesome.
Finally, it was our turn. While we all went up individually to get a signing, we had asked to get a group photo done at the end. Anyway, I handed him my book. The conversation wasn't much, but to be honest I was more in awe of just who I was standing next to. It went something like this;
"Hi!"
"Hello Natalie, how are you?" (I had a tag in my book with my name on - WHS policy)
"Very excited to meet you."
"Good. Here you are."
And then he gave me a really genuine look with a smile.
"Thankyou very much."
And then we took the group photo. I'm sure all photos will appear on Facebook sooner or later. (:
I went to the Trafford Centre today as Sir. David Attenborough was doing book signings of his latest book - "Life in Cold Blood"
This of course is his last series, so basically he's done it all. I have to admit that his programmes have always been one of the highlights of both my TV viewings and of my knowledge on the animal (and plant) world. I suppose his series over the years have made me go off and read more about some of the more obscure animals out there, and I'm pretty certain had it not been for him I would not know as much about animals as I do today. I probably wouldn't be studying zoology, either.
We went to the Trafford Centre straight after our 1.00 lecture. He was due for the signings between 6pm and 7.30pm, so we knew we were in for a long wait. We didn't mind though; this was David Attenborough after all - as I put it, he is the God of Zoology.
So we fell into the queue. Some of the group had got there before us and were in the little roped off area. We got shunted to wait up a flight of stairs, but as the queue grew we were glad we came as early as we did; it was MASSIVE.
The wait didn't feel long, and the only hitch came when we were informed we had to have a reciept of purchase with us to get the book signed. Bummer - most of us had gotten them for xmas, and therefore didn't have their little 'reciepts'. So deciding to foil there stupid money making scheme we went and bought books just to get reciepts, but we're all returning them over the next couple of days =]
I spotted Sir.David going to sit down first, and sort of made this small squeal to alert the rest of the crew, for the next twenty minutes or so gawking at him. I kind of feel sorry for the man, being so old I can't imagine he has much energy left, and to have all these people bothering him must be exhausting. Still, it's his fault for being so awesome.
Finally, it was our turn. While we all went up individually to get a signing, we had asked to get a group photo done at the end. Anyway, I handed him my book. The conversation wasn't much, but to be honest I was more in awe of just who I was standing next to. It went something like this;
"Hi!"
"Hello Natalie, how are you?" (I had a tag in my book with my name on - WHS policy)
"Very excited to meet you."
"Good. Here you are."
And then he gave me a really genuine look with a smile.
"Thankyou very much."
And then we took the group photo. I'm sure all photos will appear on Facebook sooner or later. (:
Monday, January 28, 2008
Girl Gamer
I was reading a thread on a gaming forum today, and I came across the following quotes:
"Girls only game because they want to attract guys"
"they're always 'hit too many branches on the way down from the tree of life' types. Either that or they're the 'younger generation' i.e. twelve year olds"
"They only play 'final fantasy' or 'kingdom hearts'."
"Playing one game does not a gamer make."
Um... excuse me?
Ok, perhaps I'm a little defensive. Of all the girl gamers I know... which is.... five, four of them only play final fantasy, kingdom hearts, and occasionally games with 'hot anime guys' in them. (I.e. Soul Calibur because of *swoon* Sigfried). Or at least, those are the only games they talk about, and more to the point they're the only games they seem to think exist.
Oh... they play the Sims I guess.
Trying to strike up a conversation with them about any games always results in them drifting off into swathes of
'ooooh Cloud! oooh Sephiroth'
And people can't understand why I hate final fantasy...
Anyway, I'm drifting off topic a little. I also want to make the point that I continued reading that thread, hoping that someone would come to our defence and put forward that there are some of us who aren't complete ogers... but nobody did.
I began thinking - am I the only girl who plays stuff like AoE?
Alright, I'm not great at many 'boy games' such as FPS's, Finn laughs at me when I play because I spend ages hiding around corners, then freak out when my sneaky plan is ruined and some dude chucks a grenade down at me. But I have good aim... I play a good Stranger's Wrath ... perhaps it's because I'm not very experienced at playing the sorts of games Finn does... idk D: FPS's are fun, but they scare me.
Racing games are... boring for me. I can get quite good with practice, but pretty soon the track just becomes a series of knowing the little shortcuts and knowing where to get the boost/powerup or slide this way etc etc... very tedious when the competition's not very good.
Ok, I absolutely love Age of Empires and games like it. I always have; games like that (the acronym doesn't spring to mind right now) are really satisfying to play.
I love building little towns ok? :c
I also love Platformers, Beat 'em ups and of course, RPG's (excluding anything remotely 'anime' urgh...). Ok well I was sort of a fan of Phantasy Star... Phan? :V
So am I an anomaly to the general consensus? I certainly don't play games to 'attract guys'. I've been gaming all my life, I don't tell people I game because they might shun me, and ok... I have my 'ugly' days as any girl would, but I'm not a complete troll... am I?
"Girls only game because they want to attract guys"
"they're always 'hit too many branches on the way down from the tree of life' types. Either that or they're the 'younger generation' i.e. twelve year olds"
"They only play 'final fantasy' or 'kingdom hearts'."
"Playing one game does not a gamer make."
Um... excuse me?
Ok, perhaps I'm a little defensive. Of all the girl gamers I know... which is.... five, four of them only play final fantasy, kingdom hearts, and occasionally games with 'hot anime guys' in them. (I.e. Soul Calibur because of *swoon* Sigfried). Or at least, those are the only games they talk about, and more to the point they're the only games they seem to think exist.
Oh... they play the Sims I guess.
Trying to strike up a conversation with them about any games always results in them drifting off into swathes of
'ooooh Cloud! oooh Sephiroth'
And people can't understand why I hate final fantasy...
Anyway, I'm drifting off topic a little. I also want to make the point that I continued reading that thread, hoping that someone would come to our defence and put forward that there are some of us who aren't complete ogers... but nobody did.
I began thinking - am I the only girl who plays stuff like AoE?
Alright, I'm not great at many 'boy games' such as FPS's, Finn laughs at me when I play because I spend ages hiding around corners, then freak out when my sneaky plan is ruined and some dude chucks a grenade down at me. But I have good aim... I play a good Stranger's Wrath ... perhaps it's because I'm not very experienced at playing the sorts of games Finn does... idk D: FPS's are fun, but they scare me.
Racing games are... boring for me. I can get quite good with practice, but pretty soon the track just becomes a series of knowing the little shortcuts and knowing where to get the boost/powerup or slide this way etc etc... very tedious when the competition's not very good.
Ok, I absolutely love Age of Empires and games like it. I always have; games like that (the acronym doesn't spring to mind right now) are really satisfying to play.
I love building little towns ok? :c
I also love Platformers, Beat 'em ups and of course, RPG's (excluding anything remotely 'anime' urgh...). Ok well I was sort of a fan of Phantasy Star... Phan? :V
So am I an anomaly to the general consensus? I certainly don't play games to 'attract guys'. I've been gaming all my life, I don't tell people I game because they might shun me, and ok... I have my 'ugly' days as any girl would, but I'm not a complete troll... am I?
House
No, not of the M.D. sort.
So we've been trying to get ourselves somewhere to live next week. It's been a week so far and things aren't going too well.
Viewing 1
Houses booked for viewing: 6
Houses viewed: 3
Combination of some houses having been already taken, some houses being unavailable. Alright, that wasn't their fault. Well... ¬¬ I want to think it was.
Viewing 2
Houses booked for viewing: 2
Houses viewed: 0
After viewing the first lot, we saw one we really, really loved. But we probably couldn't get it because there was a family viewing who were ready to move in yada yada... we couldn't have it for September. So, we found houses on the same street to look at. In fact we got recommended two more that were identical.
We'd viewed number 2, and we had booked more viewings for houses 5 and 7
... we ended up being shown round number 17. An absolutely lovely house, roomy, well furnished, newly refurbished, safe area, clean, good rent...
5 bedrooms?
There's 4 of us. We'd specifically said we were looking for a four bedroomed house. The woman who came to show us round was equally unimpressed, as she put it 'this had been a complete waste of everyone's time'. So, while we were on the right street, we phoned them.
"Oh yes, sorry about the mistake, we'll send someone straight out - they will be there in 15 minutes."
30 minutes came and went. We phoned again.
"Oh yes, we're trying to get hold of the woman we're sending out, we'll ring you back when we get hold of her."
50 minutes later
"Sorry, we couldn't get hold of her."
So why did they not have the courtesy to ring us back? We were standing outside in the freezing cold for an hour.
Needless to say we're going back tomorrow and opening a can of whoopass.
So we've been trying to get ourselves somewhere to live next week. It's been a week so far and things aren't going too well.
Viewing 1
Houses booked for viewing: 6
Houses viewed: 3
Combination of some houses having been already taken, some houses being unavailable. Alright, that wasn't their fault. Well... ¬¬ I want to think it was.
Viewing 2
Houses booked for viewing: 2
Houses viewed: 0
After viewing the first lot, we saw one we really, really loved. But we probably couldn't get it because there was a family viewing who were ready to move in yada yada... we couldn't have it for September. So, we found houses on the same street to look at. In fact we got recommended two more that were identical.
We'd viewed number 2, and we had booked more viewings for houses 5 and 7
... we ended up being shown round number 17. An absolutely lovely house, roomy, well furnished, newly refurbished, safe area, clean, good rent...
5 bedrooms?
There's 4 of us. We'd specifically said we were looking for a four bedroomed house. The woman who came to show us round was equally unimpressed, as she put it 'this had been a complete waste of everyone's time'. So, while we were on the right street, we phoned them.
"Oh yes, sorry about the mistake, we'll send someone straight out - they will be there in 15 minutes."
30 minutes came and went. We phoned again.
"Oh yes, we're trying to get hold of the woman we're sending out, we'll ring you back when we get hold of her."
50 minutes later
"Sorry, we couldn't get hold of her."
So why did they not have the courtesy to ring us back? We were standing outside in the freezing cold for an hour.
Needless to say we're going back tomorrow and opening a can of whoopass.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Sale Shark
Earlier this week, my friend Cat was talking to me about her Rugby training. She signed up for it in Fresher's week, and has stuck with it even though she's been through two broken fingers and two awful trainers since that time. This weekend would herald her return to the field since her hand is fixed enough so she can play. Anyway, the main point of this anecdote is to highlight how weirdly my brain works sometimes. Obviously she was very excited about going back, particularly since she informed me she would be recieving coaching from sale sharks.
Now, at this point, I stopped listening to her momentarily and frowned inside my head. What was a sale shark and why were they, as she so eloquently put it, fit? More to the point why was a man from retail coaching a bunch of girls in rugby? I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that a sale shark was something a little like a loan shark; I didn't really know what one of those was either, but I made a sale shark out to be something a little like a man who's really pushy when he's trying to sell you something.
"Alright, now everyone do five laps around the pitch, oh, Miss Jones, would you be interested in purchasing our new fragrance..."
Now, at this point, I bet everyone's understood what Cat meant by sale shark. It's pretty obvious that she meant members of the Sale Sharks - i.e. a local rugby team. Why didn't I twig? I have no idea. Perhaps it was because of the way she said it. Since then it's been decided that if we ever get round to designing the zoo crew hoodies, my nickname will be ... well. I think you can guess.
Now, at this point, I stopped listening to her momentarily and frowned inside my head. What was a sale shark and why were they, as she so eloquently put it, fit? More to the point why was a man from retail coaching a bunch of girls in rugby? I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that a sale shark was something a little like a loan shark; I didn't really know what one of those was either, but I made a sale shark out to be something a little like a man who's really pushy when he's trying to sell you something.
"Alright, now everyone do five laps around the pitch, oh, Miss Jones, would you be interested in purchasing our new fragrance..."
Now, at this point, I bet everyone's understood what Cat meant by sale shark. It's pretty obvious that she meant members of the Sale Sharks - i.e. a local rugby team. Why didn't I twig? I have no idea. Perhaps it was because of the way she said it. Since then it's been decided that if we ever get round to designing the zoo crew hoodies, my nickname will be ... well. I think you can guess.
Fraturday Five
1. What do you need?
More hours in the day if I could choose something. But of everything I could give up or live without, (emotionally, not physically) I don't think I could give up the special people in my life, 'cos y'know. That's why they're special.
2. What won't you share?
Other people's secrets. If someone's told me something in confidence, I think it's the worst thing to go blabbing to other people.
3. What do you hurry through?
My educational work. Perhaps I should rephrase that and say 'I do my work as quickly yet efficiently as possible'.
4. Who is worth waiting for?
It depends how good their reason for being late is. Generally speaking, the people who I'm closest to I'm more likely to forgive if something goes awry. Not always though, some people let me down time and time again.
5. Friday fill-in: I can't bear to ______.
Hurt someone's feelings.
More hours in the day if I could choose something. But of everything I could give up or live without, (emotionally, not physically) I don't think I could give up the special people in my life, 'cos y'know. That's why they're special.
2. What won't you share?
Other people's secrets. If someone's told me something in confidence, I think it's the worst thing to go blabbing to other people.
3. What do you hurry through?
My educational work. Perhaps I should rephrase that and say 'I do my work as quickly yet efficiently as possible'.
4. Who is worth waiting for?
It depends how good their reason for being late is. Generally speaking, the people who I'm closest to I'm more likely to forgive if something goes awry. Not always though, some people let me down time and time again.
5. Friday fill-in: I can't bear to ______.
Hurt someone's feelings.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Roleplaying slang dictionary
Sounds like some weird sexual fetish when you talk to someone and they ask you if you roleplay. Sometimes, unfortunately, it can be 0_o. But most of the time it is a perfectly good past time (i.e. no sexual lol). I find it a good way to exercise my writing skills, relax, have fun, socialise etc. Let me explain;
Roleplay is where two or more people pick a character from movie, tv, book etc, or make up your own, and then... make them interact. It's like a story I guess, but you can only control your character (i.e. not other people's) and you take it in turns to tell the story from your character's point of view, each time progressing the story further. Can either be done in pairs or in groups, and it usually has a genre and plot.
genre - the genre of the roleplay. Can either be something totally made up 'Medieval Fantasy, Egyptian' etc, or from popular culture 'Harry Potter, Dragon Riders of Pern'
plot - a line of events that the roleplay should follow for it to remain interesting and avoid rambling off in no particular direction. The plot is usually discussed before people start the roleplay, but it can be added to and embellished as the story progresses.
a reply/line/post - Your side of the story, i.e your contribution. People praise replies on their length, quality, and inclusion of the/a plot.
a 'one liner' - a reply that is one line long. In roleplaying terms, you would usually apologise for only writing one line of reply because it's unusual that you can include detail that would move the plot forward. It's hard to reply to a one liner, but if your previous post was so bad that was all the person could write in response, it's your fault.
powerplay - making you character all powerful is generally frowned upon in roleplaying circles, this is because it isn't realistic. Nobody on this planet was ever a ninja at ten years old, or could negate the effects of a nuclear missile. If physical fights are involved in roleplay, it's expected that you can avoid getting hurt to some degree, but you can't dodge everything.
Writers block - aah writer's block. Usually the excuse used when your reply isn't very good, but can genuinely be a source of 'being unable to write'. Mental block, incapacity to think in which direction the roleplay should be taken
Typos - Spelling mistake. Shouldn't be made if you have a spell checker, but we all make the odd one from time to time.
"Apologies for typos!"
Godmoding/Godmodelling - two names, mean the same thing. Controlling other people's characters; not allowed, and it's easier done than you might think. Of course we go from obvious examples such as (where player 1 is Mrs.X and player 2 is Mr.Y) ;
Player 1: Mrs. X walked into a room and pulled Mr.Y into a tight hug. Mr Y scrambled out of her grasp.
Player 2: wtf mate? I'm playing Mr.Y!
To subtle things like:
Player 1: Mrs. X slapped Mr Y around the face. A red mark appeared there.
This is assuming that Mr.Y got hit - which should never happen. The person who is playing Mr.Y gets to decide if he got hit by that hand or not, not the person who initiated the slap. Godmoding is a tricky thing to get right; in response to the above example, you should write something like;
Player 1: Mrs.X aimed to slap Mr.Y
So that it gives poor Mr.Y some choice over what happens. Godmoding is often hard to avoid, even intentionally, because you have to assume some things if you want to have a good storyline, and you want the roleplay to progress. In which case you might often find someone asking if it's ok if Mrs. X tackles Mr.Y to the ground to avoid the arrows. Or... something like that.
Mary Sue/Gary Stu - where powerplay is frowned upon because you shouldn't make your character all powerful, nor should you make your character perfect in terms of personality and looks. Mainly because, instead of everyone supposedly loving the character, you will often find everyone hates them. 'Perfect' characters aren't realistic, and they're boring to roleplay, the name Mary Sue/Gary Stu (female/male respectively) is a humourous name for such characters. They're not always called Mary Sue lol :D
eg;
"She had perfect long golden ringlets that just fell past her shoulders, and baby blue eyes that reflected the sky's brilliance. Riding up to them on her pet tame unicorn, Mary Sue beamed happily-"
It's often more subtle than this, here is a real example of your every day Mary Sue;
"patronus »» - animal; unicorn- reason; impossible to tame, very rare, fierce, magnificent, selfless, brave and mysterious. beautiful and elegant, a symbol of peace, purity, and pride."
Introduction/Intro - I rarely see this called anything other than 'intro'. The start of the roleplay, the very first 'post' if you like. Usually it's expected that it should be longer than a regular post, because you have to introduce the plot, set the scene and set the stone rolling, so to speak. Some people hate writing the intro, other's adore it, but it all boils down to one person and they have to do a good job. Sometimes you might hear people talking about 'their intro' i.e.
"You write your intro first, and then I'll do mine ok?"
But their intro's purpose is only to introduce their character. The first post is always the most important, and this is the thing which we refer to when we say 'intro'.
OOC - "Out of Character." Pronounced, 'ooo-ck' 'oh oh see' or simply read out aloud, out of character. Sometimes annoyingly/humourously exchanged for other mnemonics such as 'out of cookies, old octopus crinkles'. All roleplayers know what ooc means, so we understand this little joke, but I bet some people sit there and think 'wtf?'
OOC is used when you want to say something outside the roleplay, i.e. to discuss the plot;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
But people usually have their own personal way in which they show ooc. The one above is what I use. Below I will list some of the more common forms, as not all ooc will be clearly labelled with 'ooc'. Eg;
((Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?))
{Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?}
[Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?]
-Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?-
ooc; Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Ooc - Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Double brackets is probably the most obvious way to show ooc writing without actually writing "ooc." Generally, as long as you make it clear that it's seperate from the main body of your post, roleplayers will understand that what you wrote was out of character.
IC/BIC - "In character/Back in character." Where brackets are not used, it's usually what you would use to show that you are indeed, continuing the roleplay -
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
bic Simon looked around him... etc
obvious I know, but some people need telling. Sometimes I even show I'm bic by adding in an extra break;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
-----
bic Simon looked around him... etc
Chatspeak - should never be used in roleplay. Ever. Ok.. there are exceptions to the rules, say for example, in ooc. But never never never use chatspeak when making your characters talk, no roleplayer appreciates this;
bic Simon looked around him and smiled. "Lol guys, look, I can c a bomb droppin from de sky lol"
ooc it's just barbaric. :D
--
The next few terms are roleplaying 'labels' people use when describing someone's ability. On one hand, it's very elitist, and I don't agree with it. On the other hand, it is useful to allow you to avoid people who wouldn't create a very 'fun' roleplay. If you write out a page of introduction to set the scene and introduce your character, and recieve one line in return, it's hardly an incentive to continue roleplaying with someone. Usually you are asked for a personal evaluation of your own standard before beginning a roleplay, and people are fairly (I use that word loosely) accurate about themselves. I have explained the terms using language your average roleplayer would use to describe them, it is not my personal view.
Illiterate - In normal terms this is someone who can neither read nor write. But in roleplaying terms it's a cruel name for someone who writes 'one liners' constantly, makes frequent 'typos' and cannot for the life in them, advance the plot. Usually this person shouldn't roleplay at all, but they can have a great deal of fun with people of their 'standard'
(See what I mean? This is genuinely the view that roleplayers carry around with them, elitist, horrible...)
my view; people usually don't call themselves 'illiterate', so my personal opinion will have to wait until the next description.
Semi-lit - This term is very, very dangerous to use. According to most, you are either literate, or you are not. Semi-lit is what illiterates call themselves to make themselves sound better than they really are. It makes me sad, and usually if someone comes to me saying they are Semi-lit, I will point them in the direction of another 'Semi-lit'. Some people never improve beyond this point, but semi-lit is often the case with new roleplayers who haven't got the hang of what they should be doing. In this case they turn out to be great roleplayers, you can normally tell this by their short, but wonderfully snappy posts. So, the majority of Semi-lits end up roleplaying together and having a lovely time of it, while staying well away from our next point of conversation. On rare occasion I have had engaging and fun roleplays with these people - they're good for a break, and I love seeing someone improve their writing as a result.
Literate - There are two breeds of literate. The snobbish, and the 'power to the semi-lits!'. I'm sad to say I'm a sort of mongrel between them both. I dislike roleplaying with semi-literates because they don't give me what I'm looking for in post length, but I know this is a horrible view to take, and thus I always try to help them, either by gently pointing out a mistake and suggesting an improvement, or by showing them someone else they can roleplay with. Sometimes I'm bad and just ignore them. =/ I know, I'm horrible like that. Literate people can write long, detailed posts, move a plot along, and understand the nuances of roleplay society. Yet some people claim to be literate because they can write five paragraphs describing what outfit their character is wearing. Don't be drawn in by these people - they're usually the snobbish ones, and can sometimes go by the title in our next description.
Advanced - literates who think they're above everyone else. Usually write a page on their characters outfit and can't actually advance a plot. Poison.
Oh yeah, and they have this weird little thing where they always bolden their speech. I.e.
"Are we going to the chip shop?" Said Fred.
Wierd.
Literate/Advanced - literally (lol) pronounced 'Literate Advanced'. For some reason it's written 'literate/advanced' but that's how you say it. Anyway. These are the roleplaying elite, the people who know how to roleplay and can roleplay well. My kind of people, and generally a term used to let people know what they're letting themselves in for. Sometimes, this term is misused to ensure that roleplayers of 'lower standard' don't blunder in and spoil something, and that is wrong. Literate/Advanced roleplayers are the sort of people you want to mix with if you strive to improve, usually the friendliest faces on the planet. Usually.
--
Limits - sometimes, usually among teenagers, roleplays can take on a decidedly 'sexual' flavour. Raging hormones and all that, but before a roleplay begins you will usually get asked what your 'limits are'.
"I'll also need to know your limits"
Literally this means 'how far into a sexual relationship are our characters allowed to go?'. All the more reason to firmly state you wish to keep the roleplay G (:D I do this to annoy them) because they will not hesitate to try to 'get into your pants'.
Of course, it's not all about sex. Roleplaying limits also include language (making swears) and violence (blood, gore, excessive fighting). They're sometimes fun to include, but they don't make a good roleplay. To set a limit, a roleplayer would use a film certificate rating, i.e.
PG - 13
G
R/18
Sometimes to bypass word filters, people ask for these types of things in a roleplay by using the following.
Romance - Roman ants, Ro-to-the-mance
Violence - Violet lent, Viola lance
Don't ask. S:
Contacts - This is the umberella term used for your email address, instant messaging names etc. Or, in other words 'how you can be contacted if the person wants to roleplay with you'. Again to bypass word filters on some sites which don't allow offsite advertising, people use the following;
Email - Liam E, Fast mail, the other mail, non-letter mail, Mr Liam E
AIM - yellow running man, any mnemonic which uses the words A, I, M in that order
MSN - little butterfly, any mnemonic which uses the words M, S, N in that order
YIM - ... actually this might be the yellow running man. D: I can't remember. I don't use AIM or YIM to roleplay.
everyone has their preference when roleplaying - some people refuse to roleplay 'over' msn. Personally, I like roleplaying on a forum, or over email but that's personal taste.
"//" /Slash/mm, ff/Yaoi, Yuri - same sex relationship roleplays. Nuff said. // is used to bypass word filters, mm means male male, ff means female female. Sometimes also written m x m - literally male times male. Yaoi or Yuri are japanese terms used in anime, but have also shifted into roleplaying slang. This is often discussed in roleplay because people aren't into doing that kind of thing. Kind of like me :D
"Do you do //?"
"No, I 'support it' but I don't do it."
That's right guys, if you don't want to be branded as a homophobe, you have to 'support it' otherwise you're evil.
The word Slash comes from literally 'slashing two characters together'. I.e Bill/Bob would mean that Bill is indeed, romantically involved with Bob. The order that you put said characters in is also very important, never -ever- put the least dominant first, that would mean they were 'topping' in the relationship. Haha, endless amusement when I discovered this I can tell you - slash roleplayers are so fun to talk with. :D
*action* /-action- - sometimes in roleplay ooc, people make their characters do humorous activities. These actions are always denoted with stars, or little dashes around the words. These actions are always in the present tense. Usually, the name of the character is not included within said action, because people assume that your character is the one you are referring to. Sometimes, the name of your character is included before you write the action. I think the use of stars comes from old MIRC or IRC forums... I'm not sure - I have a vague memory of having to use that syntax to do an action...
*jumps up and down like a spaz*
Sometimes
Barbara: *Jumps up and down like a spaz*
I think that just about sums up all the terms roleplayers use on a regular basis. There might be more newer ones, but these are the terms which have been around for ages and you pick up while you learn. There are many nuances involved in roleplay and out, but on the whole those should just about cover it. It's hard to realise when you're using roleplay slang and when you're not :D so I might have missed something out.
Roleplay is where two or more people pick a character from movie, tv, book etc, or make up your own, and then... make them interact. It's like a story I guess, but you can only control your character (i.e. not other people's) and you take it in turns to tell the story from your character's point of view, each time progressing the story further. Can either be done in pairs or in groups, and it usually has a genre and plot.
genre - the genre of the roleplay. Can either be something totally made up 'Medieval Fantasy, Egyptian' etc, or from popular culture 'Harry Potter, Dragon Riders of Pern'
plot - a line of events that the roleplay should follow for it to remain interesting and avoid rambling off in no particular direction. The plot is usually discussed before people start the roleplay, but it can be added to and embellished as the story progresses.
a reply/line/post - Your side of the story, i.e your contribution. People praise replies on their length, quality, and inclusion of the/a plot.
a 'one liner' - a reply that is one line long. In roleplaying terms, you would usually apologise for only writing one line of reply because it's unusual that you can include detail that would move the plot forward. It's hard to reply to a one liner, but if your previous post was so bad that was all the person could write in response, it's your fault.
powerplay - making you character all powerful is generally frowned upon in roleplaying circles, this is because it isn't realistic. Nobody on this planet was ever a ninja at ten years old, or could negate the effects of a nuclear missile. If physical fights are involved in roleplay, it's expected that you can avoid getting hurt to some degree, but you can't dodge everything.
Writers block - aah writer's block. Usually the excuse used when your reply isn't very good, but can genuinely be a source of 'being unable to write'. Mental block, incapacity to think in which direction the roleplay should be taken
Typos - Spelling mistake. Shouldn't be made if you have a spell checker, but we all make the odd one from time to time.
"Apologies for typos!"
Godmoding/Godmodelling - two names, mean the same thing. Controlling other people's characters; not allowed, and it's easier done than you might think. Of course we go from obvious examples such as (where player 1 is Mrs.X and player 2 is Mr.Y) ;
Player 1: Mrs. X walked into a room and pulled Mr.Y into a tight hug. Mr Y scrambled out of her grasp.
Player 2: wtf mate? I'm playing Mr.Y!
To subtle things like:
Player 1: Mrs. X slapped Mr Y around the face. A red mark appeared there.
This is assuming that Mr.Y got hit - which should never happen. The person who is playing Mr.Y gets to decide if he got hit by that hand or not, not the person who initiated the slap. Godmoding is a tricky thing to get right; in response to the above example, you should write something like;
Player 1: Mrs.X aimed to slap Mr.Y
So that it gives poor Mr.Y some choice over what happens. Godmoding is often hard to avoid, even intentionally, because you have to assume some things if you want to have a good storyline, and you want the roleplay to progress. In which case you might often find someone asking if it's ok if Mrs. X tackles Mr.Y to the ground to avoid the arrows. Or... something like that.
Mary Sue/Gary Stu - where powerplay is frowned upon because you shouldn't make your character all powerful, nor should you make your character perfect in terms of personality and looks. Mainly because, instead of everyone supposedly loving the character, you will often find everyone hates them. 'Perfect' characters aren't realistic, and they're boring to roleplay, the name Mary Sue/Gary Stu (female/male respectively) is a humourous name for such characters. They're not always called Mary Sue lol :D
eg;
"She had perfect long golden ringlets that just fell past her shoulders, and baby blue eyes that reflected the sky's brilliance. Riding up to them on her pet tame unicorn, Mary Sue beamed happily-"
It's often more subtle than this, here is a real example of your every day Mary Sue;
"patronus »» - animal; unicorn- reason; impossible to tame, very rare, fierce, magnificent, selfless, brave and mysterious. beautiful and elegant, a symbol of peace, purity, and pride."
Introduction/Intro - I rarely see this called anything other than 'intro'. The start of the roleplay, the very first 'post' if you like. Usually it's expected that it should be longer than a regular post, because you have to introduce the plot, set the scene and set the stone rolling, so to speak. Some people hate writing the intro, other's adore it, but it all boils down to one person and they have to do a good job. Sometimes you might hear people talking about 'their intro' i.e.
"You write your intro first, and then I'll do mine ok?"
But their intro's purpose is only to introduce their character. The first post is always the most important, and this is the thing which we refer to when we say 'intro'.
OOC - "Out of Character." Pronounced, 'ooo-ck' 'oh oh see' or simply read out aloud, out of character. Sometimes annoyingly/humourously exchanged for other mnemonics such as 'out of cookies, old octopus crinkles'. All roleplayers know what ooc means, so we understand this little joke, but I bet some people sit there and think 'wtf?'
OOC is used when you want to say something outside the roleplay, i.e. to discuss the plot;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
But people usually have their own personal way in which they show ooc. The one above is what I use. Below I will list some of the more common forms, as not all ooc will be clearly labelled with 'ooc'. Eg;
((Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?))
{Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?}
[Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?]
-Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?-
ooc; Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Ooc - Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
Double brackets is probably the most obvious way to show ooc writing without actually writing "ooc." Generally, as long as you make it clear that it's seperate from the main body of your post, roleplayers will understand that what you wrote was out of character.
IC/BIC - "In character/Back in character." Where brackets are not used, it's usually what you would use to show that you are indeed, continuing the roleplay -
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
bic Simon looked around him... etc
obvious I know, but some people need telling. Sometimes I even show I'm bic by adding in an extra break;
ooc Guys, we're going to have the bomb go off in the next post aren't we?
-----
bic Simon looked around him... etc
Chatspeak - should never be used in roleplay. Ever. Ok.. there are exceptions to the rules, say for example, in ooc. But never never never use chatspeak when making your characters talk, no roleplayer appreciates this;
bic Simon looked around him and smiled. "Lol guys, look, I can c a bomb droppin from de sky lol"
ooc it's just barbaric. :D
--
The next few terms are roleplaying 'labels' people use when describing someone's ability. On one hand, it's very elitist, and I don't agree with it. On the other hand, it is useful to allow you to avoid people who wouldn't create a very 'fun' roleplay. If you write out a page of introduction to set the scene and introduce your character, and recieve one line in return, it's hardly an incentive to continue roleplaying with someone. Usually you are asked for a personal evaluation of your own standard before beginning a roleplay, and people are fairly (I use that word loosely) accurate about themselves. I have explained the terms using language your average roleplayer would use to describe them, it is not my personal view.
Illiterate - In normal terms this is someone who can neither read nor write. But in roleplaying terms it's a cruel name for someone who writes 'one liners' constantly, makes frequent 'typos' and cannot for the life in them, advance the plot. Usually this person shouldn't roleplay at all, but they can have a great deal of fun with people of their 'standard'
(See what I mean? This is genuinely the view that roleplayers carry around with them, elitist, horrible...)
my view; people usually don't call themselves 'illiterate', so my personal opinion will have to wait until the next description.
Semi-lit - This term is very, very dangerous to use. According to most, you are either literate, or you are not. Semi-lit is what illiterates call themselves to make themselves sound better than they really are. It makes me sad, and usually if someone comes to me saying they are Semi-lit, I will point them in the direction of another 'Semi-lit'. Some people never improve beyond this point, but semi-lit is often the case with new roleplayers who haven't got the hang of what they should be doing. In this case they turn out to be great roleplayers, you can normally tell this by their short, but wonderfully snappy posts. So, the majority of Semi-lits end up roleplaying together and having a lovely time of it, while staying well away from our next point of conversation. On rare occasion I have had engaging and fun roleplays with these people - they're good for a break, and I love seeing someone improve their writing as a result.
Literate - There are two breeds of literate. The snobbish, and the 'power to the semi-lits!'. I'm sad to say I'm a sort of mongrel between them both. I dislike roleplaying with semi-literates because they don't give me what I'm looking for in post length, but I know this is a horrible view to take, and thus I always try to help them, either by gently pointing out a mistake and suggesting an improvement, or by showing them someone else they can roleplay with. Sometimes I'm bad and just ignore them. =/ I know, I'm horrible like that. Literate people can write long, detailed posts, move a plot along, and understand the nuances of roleplay society. Yet some people claim to be literate because they can write five paragraphs describing what outfit their character is wearing. Don't be drawn in by these people - they're usually the snobbish ones, and can sometimes go by the title in our next description.
Advanced - literates who think they're above everyone else. Usually write a page on their characters outfit and can't actually advance a plot. Poison.
Oh yeah, and they have this weird little thing where they always bolden their speech. I.e.
"Are we going to the chip shop?" Said Fred.
Wierd.
Literate/Advanced - literally (lol) pronounced 'Literate Advanced'. For some reason it's written 'literate/advanced' but that's how you say it. Anyway. These are the roleplaying elite, the people who know how to roleplay and can roleplay well. My kind of people, and generally a term used to let people know what they're letting themselves in for. Sometimes, this term is misused to ensure that roleplayers of 'lower standard' don't blunder in and spoil something, and that is wrong. Literate/Advanced roleplayers are the sort of people you want to mix with if you strive to improve, usually the friendliest faces on the planet. Usually.
--
Limits - sometimes, usually among teenagers, roleplays can take on a decidedly 'sexual' flavour. Raging hormones and all that, but before a roleplay begins you will usually get asked what your 'limits are'.
"I'll also need to know your limits"
Literally this means 'how far into a sexual relationship are our characters allowed to go?'. All the more reason to firmly state you wish to keep the roleplay G (:D I do this to annoy them) because they will not hesitate to try to 'get into your pants'.
Of course, it's not all about sex. Roleplaying limits also include language (making swears) and violence (blood, gore, excessive fighting). They're sometimes fun to include, but they don't make a good roleplay. To set a limit, a roleplayer would use a film certificate rating, i.e.
PG - 13
G
R/18
Sometimes to bypass word filters, people ask for these types of things in a roleplay by using the following.
Romance - Roman ants, Ro-to-the-mance
Violence - Violet lent, Viola lance
Don't ask. S:
Contacts - This is the umberella term used for your email address, instant messaging names etc. Or, in other words 'how you can be contacted if the person wants to roleplay with you'. Again to bypass word filters on some sites which don't allow offsite advertising, people use the following;
Email - Liam E, Fast mail, the other mail, non-letter mail, Mr Liam E
AIM - yellow running man, any mnemonic which uses the words A, I, M in that order
MSN - little butterfly, any mnemonic which uses the words M, S, N in that order
YIM - ... actually this might be the yellow running man. D: I can't remember. I don't use AIM or YIM to roleplay.
everyone has their preference when roleplaying - some people refuse to roleplay 'over' msn. Personally, I like roleplaying on a forum, or over email but that's personal taste.
"//" /Slash/mm, ff/Yaoi, Yuri - same sex relationship roleplays. Nuff said. // is used to bypass word filters, mm means male male, ff means female female. Sometimes also written m x m - literally male times male. Yaoi or Yuri are japanese terms used in anime, but have also shifted into roleplaying slang. This is often discussed in roleplay because people aren't into doing that kind of thing. Kind of like me :D
"Do you do //?"
"No, I 'support it' but I don't do it."
That's right guys, if you don't want to be branded as a homophobe, you have to 'support it' otherwise you're evil.
The word Slash comes from literally 'slashing two characters together'. I.e Bill/Bob would mean that Bill is indeed, romantically involved with Bob. The order that you put said characters in is also very important, never -ever- put the least dominant first, that would mean they were 'topping' in the relationship. Haha, endless amusement when I discovered this I can tell you - slash roleplayers are so fun to talk with. :D
*action* /-action- - sometimes in roleplay ooc, people make their characters do humorous activities. These actions are always denoted with stars, or little dashes around the words. These actions are always in the present tense. Usually, the name of the character is not included within said action, because people assume that your character is the one you are referring to. Sometimes, the name of your character is included before you write the action. I think the use of stars comes from old MIRC or IRC forums... I'm not sure - I have a vague memory of having to use that syntax to do an action...
*jumps up and down like a spaz*
Sometimes
Barbara: *Jumps up and down like a spaz*
I think that just about sums up all the terms roleplayers use on a regular basis. There might be more newer ones, but these are the terms which have been around for ages and you pick up while you learn. There are many nuances involved in roleplay and out, but on the whole those should just about cover it. It's hard to realise when you're using roleplay slang and when you're not :D so I might have missed something out.
Roleplaying peeves
I felt I had to rant about this, because, well... it both annoys me and is a source of amusement for me. At the same time, I notice things which are always the same no matter which site you're asked to join, and clichés within each genre. In short, I wanted to note them down. I guess it's sort of mean poking fun at people, but >D I'm in a vindictive mood today. I'm not normally this mean.
General -
1.) People use an excessive amount of • {{ ;; xx Xx xX [[ and _ in their topic titles, and in their relationship threads. Random words will be in CAPS and sometimes they will r a n d o m l y seperated by a s p a c e, sometimes names, and words at the beginning of sentances won't be capitalised For example;
[a•WALK•to•REMEMBER]
oh yeah, and most titles of the topics/relationship threads contain Panic!at the disco lyrics. Or some other song lyrics. Which barely hold a tie to the subject of the thread in the first place.
And they'll always write something like this;
"She has long blonde hair && blue eyes;;"
I mean, what the hell is with the two &'s? Why do we get treated to a double semi-colon? What has happened to the word 'and' ? I always end up reading things like that as
"She has long blonde hair and and blue eyes semi-colon semi-colon."
I don't usually read punctuation out loud in my head, but the presence of unnecessary things like that draw my attention to it. Also, having 'and and' in the middle of something always makes me read it in this timid, unsure voice... or it sounds like a five year old;
"And then I went on the firetruck and and it was red!"
Lets not forget using >> as bullet points. WTF.
Here I have compiled a list of topic titles, just to show you what I mean. No, they're not made up. They're courtesy of {b u r n i n g} bridges; {b r e a k i n g} hearts.
.dying to live {again,
[BORN] to be [WILD]
{__ s u n d a y morning
etc.
2.) Hair. I'm tired of seeing people apply to sites having;
red hair
black hair
blonde hair
wtf - what happened to brown? =(
The best was 'blonde with brown highlights'. Um... how can a darker colour be called a highlight? And it's never 'ginger', it's red. Cherry red mostly, never 'gingery ginger'. Haha black... only asian people have naturally black hair. And for some reason, witches and wizards. Oh yes, and it's always long and straight and perfect. xD
oh yeah and people are either always
Blonde/blue eyed
Red/green eyed. (like Lily Potter?)
Black/ green eyed. (like Harry Potter?)
Brown eyes? Grey eyes? Hazel eyes? =(
Harry Potter -
I thought I'd start with arguably the largest topic, since it was the topic of the first site I ever joined. (R.I.P X_Hog). There are things you see time and time again on Harry Potter sites, be they set in the Marauders Era, or Present... or even *shudder* Future.
1.) The admin of the site will almost always be playing Hermione Granger (Present) or Lily Evans (Marauders Era).
2.) The person who applies as Snape with almost always pick a 'play by' (person who represents their character on avatars/signature banners etc), who is far too good looking. (I'm rather guilty of this myself ... ¬¬). But I mean... they pick people like this;
http://www.gala.fr/var/gal/storage/images/les_stars/leurs_bio/ulliel_gaspard/images/gaspard_ulliel/188401-1-fre-FR/gaspard_ulliel_reference.jpg
I mean... how the chuff does that even look remotely like Snape? 0_o
3.) People who set their patronus to a 'black wolf'. Ok, wolf... cliché, but if you haven't got a better imagination fine. But how can a patronus be black? Patroni are silver, ghostly apparitions? Same goes for 'large cats'. Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs... boring, overused. I once had someone able to produce a flamingo patronus. :D
4.) Setting their mirror of erised vision to 'seeing the whole world at peace and their family standing around them'... when their family is still alive, I fail to see how this can be their characters deepest desire. Also, why is the mirror always showing something -nice-, like... why can't the person be dreaming they were filthy rich, or... something like that.
5.) Remus applications are the most boring things on the planet to read. In fact, Lupin in general, in roleplay has like... lol, no personality.
6.) HP sites always have a ridiculous amount of text formatting in their application forms and rules. I.E. you MUST set the title of your application to like
SURNAME, forename
register with surname forename (no capitals, otherwise you die.)
DO NOT CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE FORM OTHERWISE YOU DIE. and don't get accepted. Lol and they always have gay headings like;
THE ICING
name
gender (why isn't the name indicative of the gender? We all know Harry Potter is male : )
etc
THE INGREDIENTS
etc you get the idea... and all the little scene kids are like 'lololol so clever you made it like a cake lololol!' oh yeah, I wrote that out wrong;
The• I N G R E D I E N T S;;
perhaps it's trying to make it pretty, I don't know. To me it just looks stupid.
Because of the above, these sorts of sites spend about a month creating them, only to have them last about two weeks. Nobody joins because their application gets turned down for the fact that 'they didn't make it look pretty'. So... they don't care that the person was a seriously good writer.
7.) Urgh. When admins can't be bothered to fill in an application form for themselves, it's so unfair to the people who want to join. Or they don't do a good job of it and can't even be bothered to shove in a sample of their roleplay. I mean, how can you claim your site is 'literate/advanced' when you can't do that?
eh. I'm going to make another post explaining what roleplaying is
General -
1.) People use an excessive amount of • {{ ;; xx Xx xX [[ and _ in their topic titles, and in their relationship threads. Random words will be in CAPS and sometimes they will r a n d o m l y seperated by a s p a c e, sometimes names, and words at the beginning of sentances won't be capitalised For example;
[a•WALK•to•REMEMBER]
oh yeah, and most titles of the topics/relationship threads contain Panic!at the disco lyrics. Or some other song lyrics. Which barely hold a tie to the subject of the thread in the first place.
And they'll always write something like this;
"She has long blonde hair && blue eyes;;"
I mean, what the hell is with the two &'s? Why do we get treated to a double semi-colon? What has happened to the word 'and' ? I always end up reading things like that as
"She has long blonde hair and and blue eyes semi-colon semi-colon."
I don't usually read punctuation out loud in my head, but the presence of unnecessary things like that draw my attention to it. Also, having 'and and' in the middle of something always makes me read it in this timid, unsure voice... or it sounds like a five year old;
"And then I went on the firetruck and and it was red!"
Lets not forget using >> as bullet points. WTF.
Here I have compiled a list of topic titles, just to show you what I mean. No, they're not made up. They're courtesy of {b u r n i n g} bridges; {b r e a k i n g} hearts.
.dying to live {again,
[BORN] to be [WILD]
{__ s u n d a y morning
etc.
2.) Hair. I'm tired of seeing people apply to sites having;
red hair
black hair
blonde hair
wtf - what happened to brown? =(
The best was 'blonde with brown highlights'. Um... how can a darker colour be called a highlight? And it's never 'ginger', it's red. Cherry red mostly, never 'gingery ginger'. Haha black... only asian people have naturally black hair. And for some reason, witches and wizards. Oh yes, and it's always long and straight and perfect. xD
oh yeah and people are either always
Blonde/blue eyed
Red/green eyed. (like Lily Potter?)
Black/ green eyed. (like Harry Potter?)
Brown eyes? Grey eyes? Hazel eyes? =(
Harry Potter -
I thought I'd start with arguably the largest topic, since it was the topic of the first site I ever joined. (R.I.P X_Hog). There are things you see time and time again on Harry Potter sites, be they set in the Marauders Era, or Present... or even *shudder* Future.
1.) The admin of the site will almost always be playing Hermione Granger (Present) or Lily Evans (Marauders Era).
2.) The person who applies as Snape with almost always pick a 'play by' (person who represents their character on avatars/signature banners etc), who is far too good looking. (I'm rather guilty of this myself ... ¬¬). But I mean... they pick people like this;
http://www.gala.fr/var/gal/storage/images/les_stars/leurs_bio/ulliel_gaspard/images/gaspard_ulliel/188401-1-fre-FR/gaspard_ulliel_reference.jpg
I mean... how the chuff does that even look remotely like Snape? 0_o
3.) People who set their patronus to a 'black wolf'. Ok, wolf... cliché, but if you haven't got a better imagination fine. But how can a patronus be black? Patroni are silver, ghostly apparitions? Same goes for 'large cats'. Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs... boring, overused. I once had someone able to produce a flamingo patronus. :D
4.) Setting their mirror of erised vision to 'seeing the whole world at peace and their family standing around them'... when their family is still alive, I fail to see how this can be their characters deepest desire. Also, why is the mirror always showing something -nice-, like... why can't the person be dreaming they were filthy rich, or... something like that.
5.) Remus applications are the most boring things on the planet to read. In fact, Lupin in general, in roleplay has like... lol, no personality.
6.) HP sites always have a ridiculous amount of text formatting in their application forms and rules. I.E. you MUST set the title of your application to like
SURNAME, forename
register with surname forename (no capitals, otherwise you die.)
DO NOT CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE FORM OTHERWISE YOU DIE. and don't get accepted. Lol and they always have gay headings like;
THE ICING
name
gender (why isn't the name indicative of the gender? We all know Harry Potter is male : )
etc
THE INGREDIENTS
etc you get the idea... and all the little scene kids are like 'lololol so clever you made it like a cake lololol!' oh yeah, I wrote that out wrong;
The• I N G R E D I E N T S;;
perhaps it's trying to make it pretty, I don't know. To me it just looks stupid.
Because of the above, these sorts of sites spend about a month creating them, only to have them last about two weeks. Nobody joins because their application gets turned down for the fact that 'they didn't make it look pretty'. So... they don't care that the person was a seriously good writer.
7.) Urgh. When admins can't be bothered to fill in an application form for themselves, it's so unfair to the people who want to join. Or they don't do a good job of it and can't even be bothered to shove in a sample of their roleplay. I mean, how can you claim your site is 'literate/advanced' when you can't do that?
eh. I'm going to make another post explaining what roleplaying is
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Conclusion
Well, I think I've finally come to my conclusion about university.
I hate it here.
I absolutely, utterly, sodding hate it here.
Why is it when I look on Facebook, everyone has photos taken of them depicting happy, lots of friends, laughing, joking... etc. I have 9 photos of me. 9.
Ok, I shouldn't be using a website to judge the state of my life, but it isn't just that. Sure, I have friends, but they're not very good friends. They're the people I hang out with because otherwise, I would be on my own. Conversation revolves around them, and sure it's probably because I ask them about their lives, their weekends, whatever else they get up to. But have they once asked after me? No. Do they care about me? I don't feel cared about.
I don't know what I've done wrong; I've been social, I've done everything I can to join in with things and make the effort. Nobody seems to care. I'm stuck here, away from the people I care about most - family, friends back home.
I can't be myself here - the minute I start behaving "normally" I get odd looks and annoyed glances. I've become as introverted as I was in Highschool.
Also, I hate this stupid year of stuff I don't even care about. I'm paying to redo my A-levels. Whoo, fucking, hoo. Ok, I like Biology, but I wanted to progress. I didn't want to sit there for 50 minutes learning about the sodding lac operon. How the chuff is it relevent to zoology? Search me.
I feel like I'm wasting my time. I'm miserable 80% of my time here. I'm in tears for about 60% of that. Everyone at home seems to be so cold towards me I wonder what the heck I've done wrong. It's like I really don't have anything to live for anymore.
I hate it here.
I absolutely, utterly, sodding hate it here.
Why is it when I look on Facebook, everyone has photos taken of them depicting happy, lots of friends, laughing, joking... etc. I have 9 photos of me. 9.
Ok, I shouldn't be using a website to judge the state of my life, but it isn't just that. Sure, I have friends, but they're not very good friends. They're the people I hang out with because otherwise, I would be on my own. Conversation revolves around them, and sure it's probably because I ask them about their lives, their weekends, whatever else they get up to. But have they once asked after me? No. Do they care about me? I don't feel cared about.
I don't know what I've done wrong; I've been social, I've done everything I can to join in with things and make the effort. Nobody seems to care. I'm stuck here, away from the people I care about most - family, friends back home.
I can't be myself here - the minute I start behaving "normally" I get odd looks and annoyed glances. I've become as introverted as I was in Highschool.
Also, I hate this stupid year of stuff I don't even care about. I'm paying to redo my A-levels. Whoo, fucking, hoo. Ok, I like Biology, but I wanted to progress. I didn't want to sit there for 50 minutes learning about the sodding lac operon. How the chuff is it relevent to zoology? Search me.
I feel like I'm wasting my time. I'm miserable 80% of my time here. I'm in tears for about 60% of that. Everyone at home seems to be so cold towards me I wonder what the heck I've done wrong. It's like I really don't have anything to live for anymore.
Monday, November 12, 2007
By the pricking of my thumbs...
We had our second human biology practical today; this time, haemotology and blood analysis.
It was a cool practical; taking our own blood, doing stuff with it to determine
1) Haemoglobin concentration
2) Packed Cell Volume
3) RBC count
4) WBC count
5) Blood type
Funny/interesting facts about my blood today included;
1) I'm O+. I knew I was O, but I didn't know I had the rhesus factor. Which was kinda cool.
2) The normal WBC count in a female is 9x10^9. I had 16x10^9. (and as I would comment on that; lol.)
It either means that 1) I have some serious ass immune system going on
2) I'm coming down with a cold ._. and I was sneezing today in lectures. Hahah.
My thumb is bruised and stuff though; it didn't exactly hurt all that much when you pricked your thumb with the spring loaded needle, but afterwards it did because it's bruised and wounded. I'm sort of a fiend for squidging more blood out of my wounds though so... this practical wasn't really anything out of the ordinary in that respect.
It was a cool practical; taking our own blood, doing stuff with it to determine
1) Haemoglobin concentration
2) Packed Cell Volume
3) RBC count
4) WBC count
5) Blood type
Funny/interesting facts about my blood today included;
1) I'm O+. I knew I was O, but I didn't know I had the rhesus factor. Which was kinda cool.
2) The normal WBC count in a female is 9x10^9. I had 16x10^9. (and as I would comment on that; lol.)
It either means that 1) I have some serious ass immune system going on
2) I'm coming down with a cold ._. and I was sneezing today in lectures. Hahah.
My thumb is bruised and stuff though; it didn't exactly hurt all that much when you pricked your thumb with the spring loaded needle, but afterwards it did because it's bruised and wounded. I'm sort of a fiend for squidging more blood out of my wounds though so... this practical wasn't really anything out of the ordinary in that respect.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Cambridge
Last week was reading week here at Manchester University, which means that we have a week free of lectures to (not surprisingly) read. Of course, with time off there was also one extra thing I wanted to do; not having seen Finn for around six weeks was tough, and we both came to the conclusion it was high time to see each other.
Of course, Finn was still in the middle of his term (which was an 'oh noes!' length of 8 weeks, but they work about ten times as hard as we do - imagine having a school week compressed into a day, and having to go in on a Saturday. Nightmare situation.), but that didn't really matter to me. (And I hope it didn't matter to him either).
Anyway, the train journey down was uneventful save for one change. I went from Manchester - Doncaster - Peterborough, then I should have finally gone on to Cambridge. But upon arriving at Peterborough, I found my train had been cancelled and there wasn't one for around another hour, with no guarantee it was going to run. I think some sort of guardian angel was smiling down at me that day since I somehow bumped into a group of sensible twenty-something bordering 30 year olds who lived in Cambridge, and also happened to be going the same way. I learnt that I could get a train to Ely and then to Cambridge, which would have me arriving at Cambridge station earlier than waiting for the next train.
After Finn picked me up from the station, I got the tour around his college (st.Catharine's) and once he'd finished his work I got taken to the bar, where I met Ruud, one of Finn's friends from the Czech Republic. One thing I noticed was how all of Finn's friends seem really warm and friendly - and I began drawing parallels to how I don't really have it the same way back home. At first, I felt some what of an outsider to this strange, courteous place, where people actually cared what I had to say for myself. But I soon settled in and began to feel a bit more relaxed around everyone - although Finn was probably the garnering factor in all that.
And of course, getting to meet his new friends wasn't a patch on actually being able to spend time with him. I can't express just how well I was looked after while I was there; taken out for dinner, someone making sure I was alright being left on my own for odd periods etc... It didn't matter if we were sitting in his room both working, or in one of his many lectures - just being -with- him made everything seem alright again. I must admit up to that point I had been feeling pretty isolated and depressed about living in Manchester, but the week completely relaxed and resettled me, and thanks to Finn I feel a million times better about everything. True, I'm snowed under with work that's been piled on since I came back, and I have a lot of stuff to sort out - but because I've seen him I can cope with it.
In retrospect, the week wasn't long enough; just to have a few more days to get used to the fact I was going to be jolted back to my little reality would have been nice. Our goodbyes were too short because I had to jump on the train as it was leaving, and since then I've felt oddly alone again - like I'm missing an arm almost. It's also odd to not have the comforting presence of your boyfriend sleeping behind you anymore, but I'll survive.
I only have to wait another 5 weeks.
Of course, Finn was still in the middle of his term (which was an 'oh noes!' length of 8 weeks, but they work about ten times as hard as we do - imagine having a school week compressed into a day, and having to go in on a Saturday. Nightmare situation.), but that didn't really matter to me. (And I hope it didn't matter to him either).
Anyway, the train journey down was uneventful save for one change. I went from Manchester - Doncaster - Peterborough, then I should have finally gone on to Cambridge. But upon arriving at Peterborough, I found my train had been cancelled and there wasn't one for around another hour, with no guarantee it was going to run. I think some sort of guardian angel was smiling down at me that day since I somehow bumped into a group of sensible twenty-something bordering 30 year olds who lived in Cambridge, and also happened to be going the same way. I learnt that I could get a train to Ely and then to Cambridge, which would have me arriving at Cambridge station earlier than waiting for the next train.
After Finn picked me up from the station, I got the tour around his college (st.Catharine's) and once he'd finished his work I got taken to the bar, where I met Ruud, one of Finn's friends from the Czech Republic. One thing I noticed was how all of Finn's friends seem really warm and friendly - and I began drawing parallels to how I don't really have it the same way back home. At first, I felt some what of an outsider to this strange, courteous place, where people actually cared what I had to say for myself. But I soon settled in and began to feel a bit more relaxed around everyone - although Finn was probably the garnering factor in all that.
And of course, getting to meet his new friends wasn't a patch on actually being able to spend time with him. I can't express just how well I was looked after while I was there; taken out for dinner, someone making sure I was alright being left on my own for odd periods etc... It didn't matter if we were sitting in his room both working, or in one of his many lectures - just being -with- him made everything seem alright again. I must admit up to that point I had been feeling pretty isolated and depressed about living in Manchester, but the week completely relaxed and resettled me, and thanks to Finn I feel a million times better about everything. True, I'm snowed under with work that's been piled on since I came back, and I have a lot of stuff to sort out - but because I've seen him I can cope with it.
In retrospect, the week wasn't long enough; just to have a few more days to get used to the fact I was going to be jolted back to my little reality would have been nice. Our goodbyes were too short because I had to jump on the train as it was leaving, and since then I've felt oddly alone again - like I'm missing an arm almost. It's also odd to not have the comforting presence of your boyfriend sleeping behind you anymore, but I'll survive.
I only have to wait another 5 weeks.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Shelved
Yeah, it was pointed out to me by my sister yesterday as I sat vainly trying to hold a conversation with someone over msn
"You always get put on the shelf, don't you?"
I thought about it for a moment, and then nodded sadly. Yes, yes I do.
The worst thing about it was that I've only recently realised how often I get put onto one side so that 'more important' people get seen to first. What is it about -me- that means I'm not deserving of first place? I notice that over the years I'm becoming less of the caring person I was, and more of this bitter personality that seems to have no time for anyone; but why should I give my all when nobody gives back?
I notice myself butting in with rude comments when holding a conversation with my own mother. A drunken (on her behalf), rambling conversation, but even so I should have held my tongue like I used to; I find myself getting wound up when she makes her point, rambles round the subject, makes the point again, repeat ad nauseum. I will rephrase the point, in a louder, hurried, annoyed voice. If she doesn't get the hint, I'll tell her 'yes I understand'. I seem to have lost the ability to sit there and let her talk, I just don't seem to care anymore.
Perhaps I've cracked, perhaps I've had enough of being the person who has to put up with everyone else's problems, and who never gets what I give back. I want to be a nice person, but I'm sick of being interrupted, talked over, pushed to one side.
I'm sick of being put on the shelf all the time.
This doesn't mean, of course, that I want to be the centre of attention, all I ask is for my friends and relations to sometimes take into consideration that perhaps -I- want to talk about myself for once; while their anecdote might be funnier/more interesting/wackier/more amazing, shouldn't they show a little consideration beyond the 'hi how are you?' shouldn't they actually take an interest in my life, like I do in theirs?
I'm not the most interesting person in the world, but I do have feelings.
"You always get put on the shelf, don't you?"
I thought about it for a moment, and then nodded sadly. Yes, yes I do.
The worst thing about it was that I've only recently realised how often I get put onto one side so that 'more important' people get seen to first. What is it about -me- that means I'm not deserving of first place? I notice that over the years I'm becoming less of the caring person I was, and more of this bitter personality that seems to have no time for anyone; but why should I give my all when nobody gives back?
I notice myself butting in with rude comments when holding a conversation with my own mother. A drunken (on her behalf), rambling conversation, but even so I should have held my tongue like I used to; I find myself getting wound up when she makes her point, rambles round the subject, makes the point again, repeat ad nauseum. I will rephrase the point, in a louder, hurried, annoyed voice. If she doesn't get the hint, I'll tell her 'yes I understand'. I seem to have lost the ability to sit there and let her talk, I just don't seem to care anymore.
Perhaps I've cracked, perhaps I've had enough of being the person who has to put up with everyone else's problems, and who never gets what I give back. I want to be a nice person, but I'm sick of being interrupted, talked over, pushed to one side.
I'm sick of being put on the shelf all the time.
This doesn't mean, of course, that I want to be the centre of attention, all I ask is for my friends and relations to sometimes take into consideration that perhaps -I- want to talk about myself for once; while their anecdote might be funnier/more interesting/wackier/more amazing, shouldn't they show a little consideration beyond the 'hi how are you?' shouldn't they actually take an interest in my life, like I do in theirs?
I'm not the most interesting person in the world, but I do have feelings.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Conscience
For those people who read this, I'm now feeling much much better. Tired, snowed under with work that I can't be arsed to do right now, but better. Today I'm going to tell you about something that happened to me as I was walking home today.
Yes, I've decided that while the weather's still nice, I shall indeed walk the mile or whatever into university every day, and walk home again. It's exercise, the route's fairly nice if you go through the park, it's busy so it's safe(ish), and it saves me money. I get up no earlier to do it anyway, and I'm enjoying it so far.
Anyway. Today I was walking home 'on my own' because the other zoologists who live in Owen's Park had a few things to patch up, and I wanted to go because I hate faffing around and wasting time when there's places I want to go. As I was going through rusholme I paid little attention to the man dressed in the expensive dolce clothing, talking on his rather flashy mobile phone. That was until a crisp £20 note fell out of his pocket directly onto the pavement infront of me.
I stopped, I picked it up. I began thinking about what I could spend with this £20; it was esentially one or two weeks budget, I could buy that book I needed without chipping into my savings, I could buy food, warm clothes... Looking briefly back at the man I saw a wadge of notes sticking out of his pocket. He wouldn't miss £20...
But no, I caught up with him and after handing the note back to him, pointed out that perhaps he shouldn't keep so much money in his pocket, especially walking through an area like that where thieves and muggers operate. He briefly thanked me for my help and checked the road behind him in a momentary panic - I reassured him that this was the only note he'd dropped.
*sigh* Sometimes I wish I didn't have a conscience.
Yes, I've decided that while the weather's still nice, I shall indeed walk the mile or whatever into university every day, and walk home again. It's exercise, the route's fairly nice if you go through the park, it's busy so it's safe(ish), and it saves me money. I get up no earlier to do it anyway, and I'm enjoying it so far.
Anyway. Today I was walking home 'on my own' because the other zoologists who live in Owen's Park had a few things to patch up, and I wanted to go because I hate faffing around and wasting time when there's places I want to go. As I was going through rusholme I paid little attention to the man dressed in the expensive dolce clothing, talking on his rather flashy mobile phone. That was until a crisp £20 note fell out of his pocket directly onto the pavement infront of me.
I stopped, I picked it up. I began thinking about what I could spend with this £20; it was esentially one or two weeks budget, I could buy that book I needed without chipping into my savings, I could buy food, warm clothes... Looking briefly back at the man I saw a wadge of notes sticking out of his pocket. He wouldn't miss £20...
But no, I caught up with him and after handing the note back to him, pointed out that perhaps he shouldn't keep so much money in his pocket, especially walking through an area like that where thieves and muggers operate. He briefly thanked me for my help and checked the road behind him in a momentary panic - I reassured him that this was the only note he'd dropped.
*sigh* Sometimes I wish I didn't have a conscience.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Fresher's flu
URGH.
I feel like death.
One, I still haven't recovered from Karate - my arm, neck and rib muscles are so stiff it makes me feel like an old person. It hurts to cough, it hurts to breathe, it hurts to walk, it hurts just sitting here not doing anything. On top of this I have a fever, I feel drowsy from the pain meds (which aren't working), I have this occasionally really runny nose. I have a banging headache. I dragged myself into lectures, and I dragged myself round town with Cat. (Who is actually like... so riddled with medical problems my little bout of 'cold' isn't even worth mentioning really)
I'm supposed to be going out tomorrow night. I'm so ill it isn't even funny. Nobody else understands proper sympathy, so I'm ranting in this blog. xD
On another note, I'll probably put all my HP fanart I draw on a whim up in this blog. I don't think it's something I want to get associated with on DeviantART
I feel like death.
One, I still haven't recovered from Karate - my arm, neck and rib muscles are so stiff it makes me feel like an old person. It hurts to cough, it hurts to breathe, it hurts to walk, it hurts just sitting here not doing anything. On top of this I have a fever, I feel drowsy from the pain meds (which aren't working), I have this occasionally really runny nose. I have a banging headache. I dragged myself into lectures, and I dragged myself round town with Cat. (Who is actually like... so riddled with medical problems my little bout of 'cold' isn't even worth mentioning really)
I'm supposed to be going out tomorrow night. I'm so ill it isn't even funny. Nobody else understands proper sympathy, so I'm ranting in this blog. xD
On another note, I'll probably put all my HP fanart I draw on a whim up in this blog. I don't think it's something I want to get associated with on DeviantART
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Return to the way of the open hand
I decided, as it's generally frowned upon if you don't do some sort of sport at university, that I would pick karate back up. The trouble was, as I looked around the various sports groups, the only type of karate they did was shotokan. Shotokan is one of the strictest forms of karate; I learnt freestyle, which is a mixture of traditional karate, ju-jitsu (wrestling), kendo, and general self-defence.
The differences between my style and the style I was about to begin learning became apparent at the beginning of the lesson. As he told us to form lines, I wandered over to a spot at the front, only to be approached by a brown belt who quietly told me I should move to stand over with the black belts. Ok, you may have thought that forming lines according to belt rank was a bit of a no brainer, but in my club it was ok if you just stood anywhere. Generally the rule of thumb was that the senior belts would form a line at the back (black, brown and purple) and the intermediate belts and beginner belts would go to the front. But here we formed strict lines with black belts at the left of the hall, decending in rank to the right.
Another thing; it was all in frikkin' Japanese. So after we had warmed up (my lazy muscles complaining rather loudly as I stretched them for the first time in 2 years), he was asking the black belts to do twice the amount of work than the other belts, but he was asking us to perform moves I knew, but couldn't understand. I was alright, copying other people and thankfully he didn't berate me on my technique (he stopped another 'new' blackbelt; one from shotokan apparently, and one who hadn't, like stopped training like I had) and told her the way she blocked was incorrect.
Anyway, I had fun and I'll definately go back. I'll perhaps join in the beginner's class until I find my feet though. I knew what to do, it was just hard understanding what was being asked.
(Lol, this post was interrupted by a fire alarm. Someone had burnt their toast)
The differences between my style and the style I was about to begin learning became apparent at the beginning of the lesson. As he told us to form lines, I wandered over to a spot at the front, only to be approached by a brown belt who quietly told me I should move to stand over with the black belts. Ok, you may have thought that forming lines according to belt rank was a bit of a no brainer, but in my club it was ok if you just stood anywhere. Generally the rule of thumb was that the senior belts would form a line at the back (black, brown and purple) and the intermediate belts and beginner belts would go to the front. But here we formed strict lines with black belts at the left of the hall, decending in rank to the right.
Another thing; it was all in frikkin' Japanese. So after we had warmed up (my lazy muscles complaining rather loudly as I stretched them for the first time in 2 years), he was asking the black belts to do twice the amount of work than the other belts, but he was asking us to perform moves I knew, but couldn't understand. I was alright, copying other people and thankfully he didn't berate me on my technique (he stopped another 'new' blackbelt; one from shotokan apparently, and one who hadn't, like stopped training like I had) and told her the way she blocked was incorrect.
Anyway, I had fun and I'll definately go back. I'll perhaps join in the beginner's class until I find my feet though. I knew what to do, it was just hard understanding what was being asked.
(Lol, this post was interrupted by a fire alarm. Someone had burnt their toast)
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Zoo Crew
Haha yes, that's what Cat dubbed the group of us that have all seemed to band together. I think she meant the term to encompass all the students who have taken zoology, but I can't see all 27 or so of us getting together every day; there were about ten of us I can envision hanging out on a regular basis.
Lectures started today, I had my first 'physiology' and 'genes and evolution' lectures. Most of it was stuff I'd already covered in A-level, so it wasn't too taxing. Didn't stop me from taking notes though. My work finishing at 2, after finishing off a few things (like collecting a rape alarm, it was free), I headed back to try off and warm up; having been so kindly splashed by a passing car on my way to the roscoe building that morning.
At some point, I will write up my lectures notes, most probably tonight. I know I probably don't need to seeing as once I get hold of my biology notes, they'll suffice. But it's good to get into the habit isn't it?
Also, totally -not- looking forward to the 3hr lab sessions I'm going to have to endure every friday D:
Lectures started today, I had my first 'physiology' and 'genes and evolution' lectures. Most of it was stuff I'd already covered in A-level, so it wasn't too taxing. Didn't stop me from taking notes though. My work finishing at 2, after finishing off a few things (like collecting a rape alarm, it was free), I headed back to try off and warm up; having been so kindly splashed by a passing car on my way to the roscoe building that morning.
At some point, I will write up my lectures notes, most probably tonight. I know I probably don't need to seeing as once I get hold of my biology notes, they'll suffice. But it's good to get into the habit isn't it?
Also, totally -not- looking forward to the 3hr lab sessions I'm going to have to endure every friday D:
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Free trips
Wednesday and Thursday this week were free trip days organised by the zoology department at Manchester. Man, free trips definately signal awesome department.
Wednesday saw us being taken to Chester Zoo. I've always loved the zoo - least of all because it's a chance to see all those animals I wouldn't ever see; I've barely gone anywhere more exotic than Greece (awesome as it was). Dissapointingly, I never ever see any civets* at the zoo, definately my favourite animal if I had to choose. But I did see a handful of others that I still really like. I guess I'm a little like Finn in the way that, when I see an animal, my mind starts going about how they feed, what they're related to, how they evolved...etc. But yes, firm favourites were the flamingoes, the drowning rhino (joking, she was taking a mud bath), the bat cave (I love bats), and surprisingly, the orangutan called Emma who came to see what we were all doing.
Chester zoo has recently had a new orangutan enclosure, which I highly recommend going to see. It's a vast improvement on the old one - which was little more than a dingy hangar and a little island with a few sad looking climbing frames. Now, you find yourself walking up a sloping track, to enter the building and look -down- into the enclosures. Ropes hang from the ceiling, grass and plants cover the floor, and trees are dotted around. At the far end there is a platform which obviously gives the orangs somewhere 'safe' to sleep. (Orangs build nests in trees for the night; they won't sleep on the ground). Now, this is all well and good, but when one orang swung up on the ropes to perch precariously at the viewing window (with a 20ft or more drop below her) , just to see what this one girl was doing on her phone... well it was something special really.
http://www.worldwander.com/southafrica/civet.jpg
Conversely the aquarium was somewhat of a let down after having experienced that. But nevertheless I still had a good time; my faveourite parts of the day had to be
1) watching the sea horses - anything hippocampus is so amazing
2) that catfish (yes, the one which was larger than my armspan)
3) the underwater tunnel where you could get up close to sharks
and at the top - the ray pool. Rays are so nice to stroke, they're like wet velvet almost. As soon as I walked over to their tank they started poking their noses out and swimming over to see me. And this got me thinking; did they do this in the wild, or did they actually want the attention like a cat or dog? The latter thought I dismissed - after all, they are only fish. They don't have much in the way of frontal lobes, not exceedingly intelligent imo to 'want' attention. But I asked the man on duty and he said that they actually DO enjoy a backscratch.
Word to the wise; if you're stroking a ray DO NOT stroke them underneath. If your finger happens to go into their mouth, the suction is so great you'll free your finger to find it stripped to the bone. No joking. No exaggerating.
--
1. Do you like looking at stars?
Love looking at stars. It never ceases to amaze me when you look up on a clear night and the expanse of the sky stretches 360 degrees around you in this gargantuan dome, with pinprick stars glinting - I love finding constellations I know. It's sort of a small obsession with me I guess, no prizes to who I got it from
2. Who do you say "I love you" to?
My Dad, Mum, Sister and Finn
3. Did you say "good night!" to anyone last night?
Yup - mum
4. When is the last time you felt blue?
Kinda when I was missing Finn, he went on holiday for a long, long time.
5. Tell us one of your dreams:
Haha, I had a HP dream the other night. I was a death eater, and I stood by and watched Lucius Malfoy being crucio'd. And I really wanted to help him, but of course I couldn't because I'd get into trouble. =/
Wednesday saw us being taken to Chester Zoo. I've always loved the zoo - least of all because it's a chance to see all those animals I wouldn't ever see; I've barely gone anywhere more exotic than Greece (awesome as it was). Dissapointingly, I never ever see any civets* at the zoo, definately my favourite animal if I had to choose. But I did see a handful of others that I still really like. I guess I'm a little like Finn in the way that, when I see an animal, my mind starts going about how they feed, what they're related to, how they evolved...etc. But yes, firm favourites were the flamingoes, the drowning rhino (joking, she was taking a mud bath), the bat cave (I love bats), and surprisingly, the orangutan called Emma who came to see what we were all doing.
Chester zoo has recently had a new orangutan enclosure, which I highly recommend going to see. It's a vast improvement on the old one - which was little more than a dingy hangar and a little island with a few sad looking climbing frames. Now, you find yourself walking up a sloping track, to enter the building and look -down- into the enclosures. Ropes hang from the ceiling, grass and plants cover the floor, and trees are dotted around. At the far end there is a platform which obviously gives the orangs somewhere 'safe' to sleep. (Orangs build nests in trees for the night; they won't sleep on the ground). Now, this is all well and good, but when one orang swung up on the ropes to perch precariously at the viewing window (with a 20ft or more drop below her) , just to see what this one girl was doing on her phone... well it was something special really.
http://www.worldwander.com/southafrica/civet.jpg
Conversely the aquarium was somewhat of a let down after having experienced that. But nevertheless I still had a good time; my faveourite parts of the day had to be
1) watching the sea horses - anything hippocampus is so amazing
2) that catfish (yes, the one which was larger than my armspan)
3) the underwater tunnel where you could get up close to sharks
and at the top - the ray pool. Rays are so nice to stroke, they're like wet velvet almost. As soon as I walked over to their tank they started poking their noses out and swimming over to see me. And this got me thinking; did they do this in the wild, or did they actually want the attention like a cat or dog? The latter thought I dismissed - after all, they are only fish. They don't have much in the way of frontal lobes, not exceedingly intelligent imo to 'want' attention. But I asked the man on duty and he said that they actually DO enjoy a backscratch.
Word to the wise; if you're stroking a ray DO NOT stroke them underneath. If your finger happens to go into their mouth, the suction is so great you'll free your finger to find it stripped to the bone. No joking. No exaggerating.
--
1. Do you like looking at stars?
Love looking at stars. It never ceases to amaze me when you look up on a clear night and the expanse of the sky stretches 360 degrees around you in this gargantuan dome, with pinprick stars glinting - I love finding constellations I know. It's sort of a small obsession with me I guess, no prizes to who I got it from
2. Who do you say "I love you" to?
My Dad, Mum, Sister and Finn
3. Did you say "good night!" to anyone last night?
Yup - mum
4. When is the last time you felt blue?
Kinda when I was missing Finn, he went on holiday for a long, long time.
5. Tell us one of your dreams:
Haha, I had a HP dream the other night. I was a death eater, and I stood by and watched Lucius Malfoy being crucio'd. And I really wanted to help him, but of course I couldn't because I'd get into trouble. =/
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