Bye Bye!!

I'm off to the land of Swiss tomorrow, so no blogging for a week!!
Have a lovely New Years, and don't forget I am still accepting random gifts!

Pyjama Day (Or, The World Was Bad But Now It Is Okay Again)

Today I didn't get dressed and I didn't leave the house. Instead, I spent all day watching tv (I also did the washing up but only because I had to) in my pyjamas. Pyjama Days form an essential part of my life and I usually take one when I need recharging and/or feel shitty (both in this case). It helps when good things are on tv, but it doesn't really matter. From today I can remember bits of 'Made', 'Babe', 'Chicago' and I've just finished watching 'While You Were Sleeping'. I also talked to Mr. G. and I feel much better.
Except for the fact that while I was just checking there was nothing good on the other channels before going to bed, I saw my name on the screen and paused for a minute. My name is not all that common, even in Holland, and so I was curious. It turned out to be one of those sex line things. Apparently, if you text 'Merel' to some number, you get to listen in on some hot sex! Innit great?
Goodnight y'all!

Blegh

That's all, just Blegh.

Why Yes, I Am Still Alive!

I am sitting in my mum's study in my pyjamas (what's the point of getting dressed when it is so cold there's now way I'm going out?) trying to catch up on all my internet things.
I had a lovely time with Mr. G. in Germany and Harlow, his family has really accepted me and makes me feel so welcome! I even got to peel potatoes and make tea, so I felt much less like a guest, which is nice.
I am now in Holland (obviously), and need to phone people to make dates to see them, and do the washing up and organise my clothes, but I don't wanna. That's the latest in the land of Me.

Another Term Over....

So this is the end of the first term....
And I had my toughest Theory class tonight, but it was good.
I said goodbye to my new friends, and am now almost crying because I will miss them.
I have been crying a lot lately, but mostly at good things, and no huge crying fits, so all is good.
I am going to Germany with Mr. G. tomorrow evening, I can't wait!
I am terribly sleepy but will need to tidy my room and start packing so I can buy a present and catch my train to Harlow tomorrow morning.
It is such a relief for me that Mr. G.'s family seems to have completely accepted me, his mum has even offered me a lift to the airport next week and she's making sure I get a 'proper' Christmas dinner before I leave...
At the end of this term I feel like everything is coming together: I will be seeing my family who I miss so much, and I also know I have some really good (old and new) friends. I feel accepted and loved, by myself as much as by others. I have finally accepted that yes, I talk a lot, and people still like me and listen to me, and I should cut myself some slack every once in a while.
My life seems to make more sense from having been forced to live on my own properly for a while.
Still, thanks to you guys for being there for me and letting me figure stuff out on my own, I think I am finally ready to accept myself for who I am, and was, and will be.

Shameless Begging

Could someone please buy me any of the following:

- 'Sleeping Beauty' by Tina Schart Hyman (thank you Lovely Leni!)
- 'Grey's Anatomy' series One (and Two if that is on dvd yet) dvd set
- Any book by Paul Biegel, hardback, in Dutch, except 'De Tuinen van Dorr' (which I bought for myself today) and the 'Kleine Kapitein' series (which I am stealing from my mum)
- All the books on my reading lists for next term except 'Ronia the Robber's Daughter', 'The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time' and 'The Cat in the Hat'
- 'The Best of Nina Simone Vol. 1 and 2'
- 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' dvd
- A complete and unabridged English (or Dutch) translation of 'Les Miserables'
- Some nice warm and pretty winter shoes or boots
- A white scarf and gloves Some nice brown gloves to match the lovely scarf Lizzy sent me
- A nice pair of earrings suitable for every day use (have to be real silver) (thanks Merel!)
- A nice necklace (same note as above) (thank you Mr G!)
- A good massage
- A copy of Annie M G Schmidt's fairy tales, in Dutch with drawings by Carl Hollander, not some other crappy illustrator (got this from the net with help from Mum)
- A light therapy device
- The 'Dirty Dancing' soundtrack
- Either 'Consumer Joe' or 'The Lost Blogs' by Paul Davidson

Thank you.

Pleh

Today I made a meal of Spring Greens (it's not spring! I don't get it!), Sausages and Mash. Twas most nice, especially the Mash. I think Mr. G. might be on to something with this whole cooking-is-nice thing, but sssshhhhhh don't tell him, because then he might stop cooking for me, and he does it so well...
For the rest: Pleh. Essay due Wednesday. No words typed as yet. Have loads of ideas, but have yet to figure out how they will apply to question. On to read Freud now. Woot.

What Is It With People?

I will never understand why people who are walking in a group of two or more on a path (pavement, cliffside, whatever) that is only wide enough for two, never walk behind each other when a person walking towards them needs to pass. Instead, the person who's on their own always needs to just squeeze themselves in the tiniest space possible, walk on the street, or wait for the others to pass. Am I weird or does that seem rude? I dunno, maybe I'm just an old lady, but I find it annoying!

In other news, I now know way too much about Hans Christian Andersen's life (or, what some psychiatrist who couldn't be bothered to learn Danish in spite of his wish to know everything about Andersen made up about his life. Speculation is the best kind of research, it seems) and way too little about his work. But I might be able to find some more info tomorrow morning, which means I can start my plan and hopefully the essay tomorrow afternoon. Sigh. I wish I was organised. Or not doing an MA.

Procrastinators Anonymous

Hello, my name is Merel and I am a Procrastinator.
I got a heap of books out of the library today that I know I will never be able to read, and as most of them are biographies of Andersen rather than critical texts about his work, they are not much use anyways. I have four days to write my 2500-3000 word essay for Myth and Folktale, and after last week's class, which was taken by the course convener, showed me how little we've learnt this term in Myth and Folktale, I feel less than confident. I mean, I know I can write an essay in four days and the essay might even be reasonably good (after all, this is quite a normal amount of time for me to do an essay in), but really, we've learnt next to nothing. Whereas the other module tutors have forced us to think about the texts we've read, have given us good guidance in our thinking and actually taught (I know, revolutionary, isn't it?), our Myth and Folktale tutor, who set up this MA and used to be convener, has not. We've had presentations by students and very little discussion was ever done, and I feel quite pissed because I was looking forward to this module most of all. Especially as none of the other extra modules are actually ones I opted to do.
So not only do I wish that I had picked up some of these books about four weeks ago, something I wish every time I start an essay, I also wish I would have had a good tutor for this course so I knew what to actually write about. I mean, I know I am writing about The Little Mermaid and the idea that fairy tales make the complexities of life simpler and more reassuring (hah. I do NOT agree with that), but I have no idea how it will all work out.
Ah well, I will just start writing sometime in the next few days and see what happens. (Or, in reality, I will be reading criticism all day today and tomorrow, then making an essay plan tomorrow night and writing my essay Monday and Tuesday, with a small break on Monday for a hairdresser's appointment and lunch with a friend.)
Now that you have read this post, which took me about 15 minutes to write, can you see how good I am at this procrastinating lark? Mwuhahahahaaa.

Disgusted

I just read one of my own comments on a post from March, and would like to state for the record that Commander Riker is in no way attractive. Ew. I used to be very silly.

A Life In The Day

When the old man woke up he knew it was going to happen today. He had prepared for this, but found that when it came to the reality of it, it was surprisingly easy to accept. He got up. It was 5 o'clock in the morning, but he wanted to make the most of this particular day. He showered, got dressed and went out.
He walked through the dark city until he reached the park, where he sat down on a bench just as the sun started to come up over the lake. He stayed there, watching the sunrise, taking in every colour, scent and sound. When he felt the sun warming his face, he decided it was time to get up and get some breakfast. He lingered a few more moments, enjoying the warmth of the sun, got up and walked out of the park, into the barely wakened city.
The old man walked into a cafe and ordered his breakfast. He sat down next to the window and looked at the city he had in which he had spent so many wonderful days, and thought back to all the different places he had lived in during his life. When the waiter brought him his coffee and scrambled eggs on toast, the old man woke up from his reminiscence and concentrated on his first meal of the day. He could remember his mother now, so clearly, yet so long ago, telling him that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, food for the brain, my pet.
The old man spent the rest of the morning wandering around the city. He looked at his favourite buildings, visited his best-loved landmarks, and petted every dog he met on the way.
Around lunchtime the old man walked past a school where a group of children were playing football. The ball, kicked by a professional footballer disguised for the day as a 10-year-old boy, flew over the fence and landed in front of the old man's feet. Unable to resist, the old man joined the boys in their game. After making sure his side won the game, the old man went on his way, memories walking through his mind and greeting him like long-lost and much-loved friends.
All of a sudden, the familiar jingle of an ice-cream van woke the old man and he decided to have a large cone with all the toppings for his lunch.
After he had finished his lunch sitting on a bench next to the canal, the old man decided he was tired of walking. He got into a tram and spent a few hours happily going round the city, choosing to get out when he noticed a cinema that played the film he saw with his wife on their first date. The film brought up wonderful memories of the fifty-two years he had been married to her, and brought tears to his eyes when he thought of how much he had missed his wife in the last ten years. He had enjoyed every day with her, and although he still enjoyed life after she was gone, he had always felt her absence.
After the film, the old man felt tired. He had had a very good day, but now he was hungry and tired. He took the tram to his favourite restaurant, and chose the dishes he knew he loved. There were many dishes, and the old man had only a few bites from each plate, but enjoyed each bite thoroughly.
After dinner, happy and satisfied, the old man slowly walked home, and reached his front door as it started to rain. He looked up and a drop of rain hit him right on the tip of his nose. He smiled and took of his jacket, and, after a small pause, his shoes and socks. He rolled up his trouser legs and walked into the street. Then, as the rain poured down on his body, the old man slowly started dancing. He danced faster and faster until he fell down. As he was sat in the middle of a big puddle, the old man laughed until his stomach hurt. Then he stood up and walked into his house.
Alone in the house, he had a shower and put on his most comfortable pyjamas. He brushed his teeth, got into bed and looked at the picture of his wife that stood on the nightstand. The old man took it up, kissed the glass and put the picture on the pillow next to his. When he felt himself falling asleep, the old man thought over what had been the last day of his life. And as he closed his eyes for the final time, the old man smiled, thinking of what a good life it had been.

I Do Not Know What To Wear

I spent about half an hour shaving my legs this morning because I am in a skirt-wearing mood, only to find that the skirt I want to wear is now definitely too big. I know that's supposed to be good news (and yay! for me losing weight), but I don't have anything else to wear now! I will have to wear trousers, and then what was the point of shaving? Sigh, it's hard being a woman.

BUPA's Sinterklaas Present To Me

They don't know it yet, but the lovely people at BUPA International have given me an awesome Sinterklaas present: my new glasses!
I was told by the optician I would hardly notice a difference, but she lied. Apparently, the astigmatism (which is a different thing from stigmata, children) in my right eye (I always thought it was in my left, you learn something new every day!) changed by 30 degrees, so whereas my left eye doesn't notice anything odd about the new glasses, my right eye is highly confused. So not only does everything look much sharper than it used to, my right eye is also hurting a little bit. And so is my head. But I got a pretty new case for my new glasses, so I have no complaints. Sinterklaas has been good to me this year!

Happy Birthday Eve, Sinterklaas!

This is a fake (or 'helper') Sinterklaas but the best picture I could find within my time restraints, so HAPPY SINTERKLAAS everyone! I don't have anything to unwrap, no poems to read, no suprises to be frustrated by.... But my mum did send me some candy and a new book, so I won't complain (too much).

My Room Is Done

Here's the pictures of my room the way it finally ended up after all the changes instigated by the damp. I really like it this way, actually, and it's nice to have a bookcase!

I also had a good bitch about my stoner housemate when I went to Asda with my nice housemate, so I feel much better than I did this afternoon when she (the stoner) told me off for putting something in the recycling bin that wasn't supposed to be in it before she even bothered to ask if it was me who put it in there (it wasn't).

Almost.....

Tomorrow is Sinterklaas (all: yay!!!!) and today I got a parcel from my mother with pepernoten, chocolate cigarettes, chocolate coins, and two chocolate letters (although the biggest one is for Mr. G.). The parcel actually arrived while I was in Southampton, but the postman was obviously stupid and instead of leaving it with someone in my house, he left the parcel with my neighbour two doors down, and left a completely stupid note without a name on it at my house.
I was going to go and find out about the note this afternoon, but then while I was chatting to one of the girls from my course who I have lunch with on Mondays, my neighbour rang the doorbell and asked whether I was at home. He was a strange mix of helpfulness and grumpiness, but hey, I've got my parcel! And some of my books were in the parcel, so all is good.

Em, Free Dvds, James Bond, The Sea, And The House Of Eliott

Any weekend that includes the above must be a good weekend, right? Right indeed. I had a great weekend seeing Em and experiencing the delights of Southampton.
On Saturday we went shopping, and due to the cashier at Woolworth's being silly and me not paying attention, I got 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Dirty Dancing' for free!! And I finally got a handheld blender (which was scanned and thus payed for), so I will be making Jerusalem Artichoke (which are neither from Jerusalem or actually artichokes) soup tonight... Let's hope it doesn't suck!
We then went out for dinner (cute (if not slightly scary) waiter, and the food was okay!) and to the new James Bond film, which was actually very good! I have been so disappointed in the last few James bond films, but this one restored my faith, and Daniel Craig is actually a really believable Bond! I know this sounds lame, but I thought the beginning and the title sequence were the best bits of the film, although the rest was really good, too.
The best thing about the weekend was the trip to the docks on Sunday. It was great, very cold and windy, and for some reason there was an ice cream van, so we had to have some ice cream! I felt so much better (not that I was feeling bad) after we'd had a good look at the docks, the water, the waves and the ships, and had the wind blow all the warmth out of me. Nice.
Then we went home and watched the first three episodes of 'House of Eliott'.
Perfect weekend, I say.

Oh, and this one's just for you, mama:

Mijn zuster en vriendinnen

kennen de schoonheid niet

ze fluiten naar de mannen

en niemand, niemand ziet

de BAAI, oh de BAAI,

fraaigelegen aan de kaai,

zet mijn hart in lichterlaai

aan de BAAI, oh de BAAI,

vond ik eindelijk mijn draai

maar je oogst slechts wat je zaait,

een pirate zegt bye, bye,

aan de BAAI.

Some More Ahoy!

I am up at silly time for a Saturday because I am going to see Em, one of my Warwick friends. I haven't seen her since graduation, and I'm really looking forward to it!! She's in Southampton, which, I believe, means I will see the sea!!! Wooohooo!! I've been told the beach isn't that nice, but sea is sea and has psychological benefits, so I am happy!! In celebration of Em and the sea, here's a picture:

New Glasses, Ahoy!!

Today I went into town for some shopping. I bought some Christmas presents and have almost decided on Mr G's present. (Damn him for having a birthday so close to Christmas, too much thinking in one month!) The two most exciting things about today happened in Waterstones and Specsavers respectively:
In Waterstones, where I looked for a present for Mr. G. and saw several things I wanted myself but did not buy, I met a guy who... wait for it... is also a Johnny Cash fan!!!! Woot!! First person ever!!! We discussed the new Cash CD which we both love, and then I had to go for my eyetest, which was quite upsetting cos I've never talked to another Cash-enthousiast before!
In Specsavers, apart from the guy who took my preliminary eye test who was slimey, everything went very well. My eyesight has only gone ever so slightly worse, and the guy who helped me choose my glasses was really cool! The best thing, however, was the 30% discount Specsavers does for students, wahey! This meant I could afford the lenses that are .6 mm thinner than the cheapest, and .5 mm thicker than the most expensive ones. And I am picking them up on Tuesday, which makes them a nice Sinterklaas present!