I finally got around to revamping my Livejournal with a layout I got from Fruitstyle, just to stop my Livejournal from looking too much like a kid's basic HTML course project. 's not a terribly riveting revamp, but I figured it's nice to implement some sort of proper colour scheme for once (yes, I know there isn't really any colour. Keep your wise quips to yourself please).

Otherwise, however, nothing much else has changed (for now).

I wasn't aware it was going to happen again, but here we are: insomnia's keeping me up again. It's been 2 and a half hours since I've tried sleeping, and it's not working out well. I'm not sure if it's my cough keeping me awake, or if my mind is simply refusing to go into sleep mode: it might be the 20-minute nap I took from 7.40pm to 8pm, but that never used to be a problem so I'm really not sure why it is one now. Sigh.

To be honest, I really don't know what to blog about. I haven't really felt like there's been a lot to blog about recently, which explains the utter rareness of posts from me. I suppose updating on how things are would be a good idea.

Well, to begin with, I'm in the middle of exams, and yes, I do have a paper tomorrow. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fare in it, given that I evidently am not going to be getting any sleep soon, but I suppose I will find out. I hope I don't make the same mistake of filling in my student number rather than my candidate number (I really do not like having to remember these little things) but I guess it's part and parcel of getting used to college life.

It's my Latin paper tomorrow, and well, I can't say I'm terribly prepared for it. I've been going through the passages we did most recently, but that is definitely not enough so I'll probably have to go through the vocabulary and grammar overviews again tomorrow (or maybe now, since I can't really sleep). 

Okay, I'm not sure what else to write, so here's a random picture (SFW, don't worry) of Jake Shears and Ana Matronic from the Scissor Sisters.

After three days of watching Happy Endings, if there's one thing I've realised, it's that life is not a sitcom. There isn't always a witty comeback to everything someone says, we won't always have awesomely funny conversations with our friends, and friends won't always be able to hang out with each other in every other scene or meet for breakfast every day at the same restaurant for years on end. There will always be things that are imperfect, plots that don't resolve as you might want them to, gaps will open but never be filled, and sadness and pain is often real and not simply laughed off. 

I'm not quite sure what I look for in shows, but I've realised recently that I've been paying a lot more attention to 'role models' in television. Yes, television is a terrible place to seek role models and I will fully admit that, but I will also say that to some extent, if you don't have an idea of what you want to be like or the sort of person that you aspire to eventually be like, or the type of guy that you actually see yourself as, you'll want to look for a reflection of that pretty much anywhere that will offer you one, and television is  rich field for that. Unfortunately, as I've realised, it's also unhealthy and unrealistic, so in this process I've come to accept that it's a bit of a Frankenstein process: you take what you identify as being something that truly speaks to you, remember that what you're looking at is not real, and that this whole human identity thing, really, isn't something that you need to let yourself be consumed by. If you naturally let yourself be what you're comfortable and happy with, you'll somehow be able to find your fit and the universe will conspire to help you. It's always worth remembering that forcing things into cookie-cutter moulds only ends up in crumbs that break off and dirty the floor. Ok, I clearly don't bake. No more baking analogies.

But if at last our color should
Be torn from Ireland's heart,
Her sons with shame and sorrow
From the dear old sod will part.
I've heard a whisper of a country
That lies beyond the sea,
Where rich and poor stand equal
In the light of freedom's day.

I went down this afternoon to see the St Patrick's Day parade proceed along Piccadilly towards Trafalgar Square. And it's been a while since I posted on Livejournal, so here's a post packed with photos! Enjoy :)

Edit: I can't seem to embed the images, which have all been compiled by Imgur into an album, so here's a link to the album.

... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand before we know, it's done. The Greek play is done. We have cleared three nights of performances.

... whoa.

Ok. I'm too tired to post any more right now. I shall update this with a more detailed entry at ... uh ... a later point in time.

I'm currently sitting at Prêt and I come across this (an Oxford Dictionaries Spelling Challenge, if you're wondering) while going through my Livejournal F-list. As I'm playing the game (ON FIENDISH LEVEL, MIND YOU. I GOT 12/15 OKAY), these two men at an adjacent table suddenly got up and decided to speak to me. This is what they said:

Them: 'Hi, I noticed that you seemed to be trying to learn English. Do you need any English lessons?'
Me: *blank stare*
Them: 'Oh, we're English teachers!'
Me: 'Um, no, I'm just playing a spelling bee game ...'

I seriously hope this wasn't because I looked Asian, looked like a student, and really seemed like I was struggling to pass a basic language requirement test or something. I'm not too sure if I had vaguely surprised them when I opened my mouth, but LOL this was a very interesting encounter.

... human beings must love something, and in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow. (Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë)

Brontë understands why we love our old stuffed toys! *wipes tear*

... music meme time! Courtesy of coldthermistor:

Put your iPod on shuffle and see what your soundtrack would be if your life was a movie.

Opening Credits: Finale from the Funny Girl (1968) soundtrack

  Dear iPod, I sense some irony coming from you. Also, why on earth is my opening credits song from a Barbra Streisand movie? Are you trying to say something, Mousageta (name of my iPod, in case you are confused)???

Waking Up: Music Sounds Better With You by Colton Ford, song originally by Stardust


  Fuck. I know my iPod is trying to say something.

Falling In Love: Just Dance by Lady Gaga


  ... there is definitely some sort of theme going on. MOUSAGETA, I AM DISAPPOINT

Fight Song: Cheap and Cheerful by The Kills


  Just like a Quentin Tarantino movie (even though I've never seen one). Evidently, this song means my iPod interprets the fight scene as a literal fight scene.

Breaking Up Song: Grazed Knees by Snow Patrol


  Snow Patrol??? That's just frickin' depressing.

Life's Okay: Different Names for the Same Thing by Death Cab for Cutie


  ... meaning that this movie is going to be both depressing and very indie. Mhmm.

Getting Back Together: Rich Kids Blues by Lykke Li


  That is a strange song to get back together to. Only possible in an indie flick.

Wedding: Addicted by Amy Winehouse


  Ok, that is just totally ironic. This song begins with the line 'Tell your boyfriend next time around / to buy his own weed and don't wear my shit down'. I rest my case. 

  Whatever it is, I embedded the full video instead of shrinking it to just the bar because one just has to watch and listen to her perform this live. RIP Amy :'(

Birth of Child: Because Of You by Ne-Yo


  Apt, apt. Sort of.

Final Battle: Rebel Girl (Bikini Kill) by Apocalypse Hoboken


  Yup, this is definitely a dirty, dirty indie flick. Probably set somewhere in a crumbling town in the deserts of Arizona.

Death Scene: The Sun Is Down by Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band


  LOLOLWHUT?!

Funeral Song: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin


  Oh man, that is just depressing. But definitely fits into the dirty, dirty indie flick aesthetic. Hmm.

End Credits: TMRW by Jamie Woon


  Told you this was an indie flick. And a totally bizarre one at that.

今日は本当に楽しいな〜。It has been a good day (in some ways). It has gone well as follows:

1. I dragged myself out of bed at 0835 to have catered breakfast in hall. I haven't been up this early since Des was over for Christmas and I had to wake up at 0745. 

2. I trekked through rain and wind (and reports of gales) to get to the gym. SO PROUD OF MYSELF but I bet isidoree will eventually have a post about how he played Ultimate in 90km/h gales under rain and snow and put me to utter shame ;_;

3. I finally spoke to someone else at dinner. I've been a hermit for too fucking long.

4. And on that note, I finally struck up conversation with that guy I keep saying hi to but I never actually talk to? It turns out that he is Polish - and not German as I had assumed; I don't know why on earth I'd thought that but I thought I heard him speaking German on one occasion - and that he is indeed, as I was supposing, an MA student. Doing Global History! Whoa. I cannot imagine doing an MA in Global History.

5. On that note, I finally have some clue what to write for my Ancient History essay, and some idea how to put it all together.

But about the things that didn't go too well:

1. I didn't read as much material in preparation for my essay as I was intending to. I kept getting distracted *sigh* I need to pull everything together so I can start AND finish that essay.

And things I am looking forward to / getting rather anxious about:

1. Audition for Wild Swans is this Thursday. I genuinely have no idea what to expect. Which reminds me, I should bring my production timetable for Hecuba and everything. Meep.


Also, I do not understand why the new Livejournal coding keeps making my text cursor jump back to the last bit of text with special formatting. WHY, LIVEJOURNAL.

Alright. I should get to bed soon, if I expect to be able to drag myself out of bed again tomorrow morning.