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An illustrated regular |
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Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Grey again
Yeah, so the snow had melted by Saturday. Major bummer. It was just a false alarm, then. I'm still hoping for nice romantic Christmas Eve snowfall, but I'm dead scared that it's pointless. I should just hope for nice romantic snowfall in January, and then I won't be disappointed when Christmas Eve will be "red."
I dig O Holy Night. It's a good goosebumpy song, or I'm sure it will be on Monday 19th of December in Usher Hall, Edinburgh. If you live in Edinburgh, do come to the James Gillespie's High School Christmas Carol Concert on aforementioned day - it starts at 19:30 and ticket price is 10 pounds, 5 punds concessions. It'll be great, I'm positive.
There was something else I wanted to write about, but I've forgotten. Maybe I'll have remembered it tomorrow.
Oh, and one more thing: I've decided to start using the Australian word "crikey" which I think is comparable to the English "blimey." Which I don't normally use. But "crikey" is a cool word, and I hope I'll be able to remember to keep it up.
QotD: "If Ned spoke his mind he'd be speecheless," -Toadie, Neighbours |
Friday, November 25, 2005
Snow patrol
Headlines of Friday, November 25:
It started snowing today! Apparently there was snowing all over Scotland today, and somewhere in the North, in rural communities, schools were closed or the school buses didn't run (or drive, whatever.) - all because of a few centimetres of snow. I guess people here don't feel safe driving on snow, no matter how little amount of it is. It's very uncommon that it snows in November - I've been told that the snow-season is usually January, and it's short. I was so glad when I saw that it was snowing outside this morning; the first thought that came into my mind was "FINALLY!". I was in English class, first period, when the teacher went to the windows, opened the window curtains and said "You'll be surprised when you go out!" So everybody turned around and looked, and there wasn't a person in the classroom that didn't have a big smile on his/her face. Nothing to turn your frown upside down like a snowfall of big fat flakes. And I smiled pretty much for the rest of the day. During german class, second period, practically everybody was staring out the window, mesmerised by the bright, cold cotton balls falling from the lavender sky.
But the snow didn't last long; the temperatire was just around freezing point, so after a few hours, the snow turned into rain, but changed quickly back into snow, which soon stopped, and now it's starting to melt. So much for my hopes to have a little snow-angel-and-snowman-making material until Christmas! But hey, here's to hope. I'll keep you posted on how the classic red-and-white "Coca Cola Santa Claus" responds to my Christmas wish.
Breaking news:
I have been wearing the same pair of socks and woollen socks over them for almost 24 hours straight. That's how cold it's been; so cold that I haven't bothered to change my socks. But not cold enough to stop me from changing into a skirt when I got home from school because my jeans were wet from the snow. Can't you just imagine how I looked; wearing a mossy-green t-shirt beneath a mossy-green half-open knit sweater, paired with a black, shiny, poofy polyester-plyamide blend skirt and a pair of black and white woollen socks.
Hey, it's all the rage in Paris at the moment! Haute Couture and all that!
QotD: "Everybody dies. Not everybody truly lives." -William Wallace, Braveheart |
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Katrileon
My mom just compared me to a chameleon, because I said that Christmas with the Kranks isn't all that bad. Sure, it's no Oscar material, but I did enjoy it, in my extreme-considering-it's-still-only-November Christmassy mood. Mom says that I like almost every movie that I see - that I can, much like a chameleon, adapt to different genres of movies and enjoy them, no matter how crappy they are. Which is not entirely true. Sure, I did laugh my arse off every time I saw Spice World (when I was, like, 10, so that barely counts) and I was mildly amused by 13 Going on 30, even though it starrs an actress - Jennifer Garner - who I don't particularly like, because she broke up a celebrity couple that I didn't particularly like anyway - the infamous Bennifer - and also because Alias kind of bugged me. And sure, despite my general dislike for action movies, I did watch I, Robot and The Matrix with some interest. And even though comedies are more my cup of tea, I can watch blood-and-gore movies like Kill Bill and Battle Royale, and horror films like Carrie and The Exorcist, and sad/gross movies like Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream from a mostly neutral point of view (the fact that The Exorcist scared me out of my trousers because I watched it alone in the dark at 2 AM notwithstanding). This is why my dear mother used chameleon-ism (homemade word!) as a simile for my taste in movies.
But, however, I did fall asleep the first time I tried to watch Gladiator, and almost did the second time. And the classic Singin' in the Rain bored me to death after 20 minutes. And Star Wars Episode II couldn't hold my attention the first time I tried to watch it, and the second time, I fell asleep over it. Of course, the fact that I was lying in bed, under my duvet and with my head on my pillow might have something to do with it.
Anyways. I don't really think that I'm like a chameleon - there are plentiful of movies that I cannot watch under any circumstances, e.g. war movies. No thank you to Saving Private Ryan, no matter how many Oscars and other awards the makers have to show for it. I, in general, am not in favour of war or anything that has to do with it. Although I did have an... interesting dream a few nights ago. I dreamt that I was very seriously flirting with some guy in military school that I saw out on the street, wearing a full-fledged camouflage-patterned soldier uniform. I was all "Aren't you hot in that uniform? Silly me, of course you are. Very. Do you need help taking it off? 'Cause I could totally..." etc. It's probably because of all the TV commercials for 'Army officer qualities: Do you have what it takes?' They're totally trying to recruite young people, which is so obvious because of the slogan: It's not about the qualifications you have, but the qualities you posess: Qualities Outrank Qualifications. I'm bet they're getting a lot of response from flunking high school students.
Well, it's way late, and I have to wake up before noon tomorrow, because I need to study for the Media NAB I have on Wednesday. Bummer. But hey, three or four NABs, two of which are German - easy peasy - before Christmas are nothing I should be complaining about. I don't have to take 8-9 Christmas exams like my peers back home, mwuahahaha!
QotD: "What a load of horse-hooey!" Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Hi-how-are-you?
Since I moved to the UK, I have found out that everytime people meet, the first thing they say is: "Hi-how-are-you?". In one breath, like that. It's like a fixed phrase in British English. But that doesn't mean that people really truly want to know "how you are," it's just common politeness. And the proper reply is: "I'm-fine-how-are-you?". This is almost like a fixed phrase, too, but fine can be traded for OK, great, alright, or just any positive adjective.
I have been watching the Australian soap opera Neighbours, which I am sure everybody's heard of? It's been running for 20 years now, so you must have. Anyway, what I'm wondering ia what exactly "spiggin'" stands for. It is a word used a lot by a character called Scott "Stingray" Timmins (don't ask me where the "Stingray" comes from - I missed out the part where people started calling him that). I'm pretty sure it's a changed version of some other word, much like "friggin'" is often used as a replacement for "freaking." But I cannot for the life of me figure out what "spiggin'" stands for. Any help?
You can learn a lot from "foreign" television shows, like Neighbours. For example, I didn't know that in Australia, "sheila-mate" means "female friend" or that the phrase "Good on ya, mate" is common. Especially by one Joe Mangel. And speaking of him - what kind of a surname is that? Mangel? Sounds an awful lot like mangle, and I for one wouldn't like to be associated with that word.
My 5th-year classmates are biscuit freaks. It's just short of weeeird. In Media, we have tea-and-biscuit day on Monday's and sometimes more often, even. And in History, we have a biscuit break between the two periods that we have on Tuesdays and Thursdays - i.e. two spiggin' hours of History, before we can go home. It can be a bit exasperating sometimes. So a group og boys in the class always bring a packet or two of biscuits and pass around the class for everyone. It's nice sometimes, to get a little break from note-taking, especially when my stomach is just about to scream, at 2:30 in the afternoon, and yet more than a whole hour before I can get home and have sth to eat (my lunch usually consists of a banana and orange juice - not because I'm starving myself, but because I'm too lazy to make a sandwich or sth in the morning. Not that I like sandwiches anyway.), but this biscuit-frenzy simply borders on obsession!
It's my stepdad Bjorgvin's fortieth birthday today! Now both he and mom are middle-aged! Nah, just teasing, heehee.
QotD: "Anything becomes pleasure if one does it too often," -Lord Henry, The Picture of Dorian Grey |
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Belly
I have been "bellied" (my own translation of the peculiar use of the Icelandic noun "bumba" as a verb), and am therefore supposed to list my three favourite drinks and three favourite dishes. That's kind of hard, but here goes nothing:
Beverages
>Diet Cola: I am a coke addict. No, not the drug - the drink. But I have gotten used to always drinking diet, and now I prefer it over the regular kind ("sugar cola" as I call it), not because I'm on a diet or sth, but simply because I like the taste better. The taste of sugar cola sometimes reminds me of cigarette ashes. Don't ask me why - I have never eaten cigarette ashes.
>Strawberry/Orange juice/soda mix: When I went to France way back in '98, I always ordered this drink, which I have now forgotten what was called, but practically every restaurant and cafe in France had this type of juice/soda with lots of fruit flavours, and I always asked for a mixture of strawberry and orange - it was my thing. I have never since tasted this custom made beverage again, but I diiiiid love it.
>Chocolate milk: Every day after school I have a glass or two of Nestle chocolate milk, with a buttered toast with pepperoni, or a croissant. It's this kind of a fairly recently created tradition.
Dishes:
>Cornflake chicken and fries: Cornflake chicken is slices of chicken with mashed cornflakes "glued" on them and then baked in the oven. It's mighty tasty.
>Cauliflower soup: I'm real good at making cauliflower soup, and most of the time I love eating food that I've made myself. Fish dishes not inclusive (I once or twice had to cook fish, but I could barely eat it myself). 
>Oven-cooked leg of lamb a la Grandma Haddy, with sweet potatoes, white sauce, green peas, brown sauce, mashed potatoes and fruit salad, and ice cream with lots and lots of chocolate and strawberry ice cream sauce, for dessert: This dish just spells out Boxing Day supper for me. My mouth waters. Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You and Wham!'s Last Christmas echo in my head. Multi-coloured lights on a fake pine tree flash in my head. I taste the cold taste of cold clumps of snow melting in my mouth. I smell gingerbread cookies. I smell small clementines in my pretty flower-pattern stiletto shoe sitting on my window sill. I feel the tension of holiday stress in the air. Aaaaaaaaaaah - Christmastime has cooooome! (Almost.)
Oh, and I "belly" ("bumba") my ex-stepsister Aldis Maria.
QotD: "One should never do anything that one can't talk about after dinner." -Lord Henry, The Picture of Dorian Grey |
Sunday, November 13, 2005
New York, New York!
Oh how I would love to win the lottery, and a trip to New York City (at least a week long). Then I would do all the required tourist stuff, and go on a real shopping spree in stores such as Barneys, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. And I would so not hold back on spending grand sums on designer clothes, shoes and lingerie. And of course I would stay at The Waldorf=Astoria in Manhattan.
Ah, dreams are powerful things.
"As Sarah Jessica Parker once told Vanity Fair, 'If you’re a nice person and you work hard, you get to go shopping at Barneys. It’s the decadent reward.'" |
Is there something wrong with me?
Waking up before noon on a Saturday to go shopping, but (accidentally!) waking up at half past one pm on a Sunday, on which I usually do next week's homework.
Should I even be allowed to go to school?
QotD: "When you want to fool the world, tell the truth." -Otto "Iron Chancellor" von Bismarck |
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Eh?
So I guess I misunderstood the name "Bonfire Night" a little bit. Apparently, there weren't any bonfires in Edinburgh last night. No sir-ee - Scotland's capital did not put the "bonfire" in "Bonfire Night" (Bring It On, anyone?). There was one big fireworks show at the Meadowbank Stadium (which is not, as the name would imply, by or in the Meadows, which are basically my front yard, but somewhere in the "suburbs") at 7:30 PM, but we didn't know about it until way after. There were people all over the city setting off fireworks, but not nearly as many as I expected, and I did not expect nearly as much as on New Year's Eve in Smoky Bay. Mom and Matti (did I tell you that he came from Iceland on Thursday and is staying for a week?) went outside for a walk at about nine, but there were only two places that we could see, from where a bunch of fireworks came. I was very disappointed. But they did look nice, and the smell reminded me of New Year's Eve in Isafjordur, which in turn reminded me of my dad and relatives there, which was nice.
Buh-bye dears!
QotD: Spike: “You paid for it?”
Harmony: “Oh no, I just killed the clerk. But still, a bargain's a bargain.” Buffy |
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Buuuuurn! (a la Michael Kelso :) )
So it's Bonfire Night on Saturday here in the UK. I'm sure you all know the story of this Guy Fawkes who tried to set fire to Big Ben or Westminster (that's the same building, right?) back in 1605 on November 5th, right? I'm not totally sure of my facts, since I learned this back in 7th grade when I had a couple of lessons/classes in English/about the UK (there was this thing in my primary school when everybody in each class chose an activity - either some subject or some random stuff - to do for a couple of lessons, just to "mix things up" and learn something beyond the regular curriculum.), and then I learned, among other things, about Guy Fawkes, and also how plainly this one English family that we watched on a video tape held their Christmas. I was terrified when I saw how "un-festive" and casual their "celebration" of Our Savior's Alleged Birthday was. Their only decorations were a few so-called snowflakes that the kids cut out of white A4 paper that they then put in the windows, and of course the Christmas tree. And on Christmas Day (also known as Boxing Day), which is the day for them (like Christmas Eve is the day for us), they didn't even dress up! They only put on their everyday jeans-and-T-shirts! I was mortified, I tell you, and I still hope that that was just some unusually casual family.
But I digress. I was on the subject of Bonfire Night, yes? Well, here in Edinburgh at least (not sure if it's the same elsewhere, but I think it is) there will be bonfires on various sites in the city (I think) and many people will be setting off fireworks. Almost like New Year's Eve in Iceland, although I'm pretty sure the sky won't be quite as colourful and bright as over cities and towns on New Year's Eve in Iceland.
People are already starting to prepare - and by prepare I mean starting to set off fireworks. Every single night the past week I've seen a bunch of fireworks out my window. It's sort of weird.
Anyways. Late now. Must go watch the Friends and Rock School episodes that I taped while I was babysitting two Icelandic kids tonight (not my siblings).
Good-bye dear readers!
QotD: "It's a doodle. I do doodle. You too, you do doodle too." -Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Wanna be a teacher?
Ever thought about what life was like for female teachers in the early 20th century? Very restricted, let me tell you. They were practically prisoners of their profession. As an example, here's a list of "General Regulations for Trainee Teaching Staff" (relating to the employment of women as teachers) in Fife in 1915:
1. You may not marry during the term of your training contract without the express permission of the School Board.
2. You are not to keep company with men unknown by the Headteacher of your Establishment.
3. You may not loiter alone in places of public entertainment such as music halls and ice cream vendors.
4. You may not travel outwith the School Board district limits during term time without the prior written approval of the Chairman of the School Board.
5. In all cases, you must remain at home between the hours of 8 PM and 3 AM unless attending a school function.
6. You may not smoke cigarettes either in public or at home.
7. You will not dress in unnecessarily bright colour, nor wear any skirt or dress more than two inches above the ankle.
8. Under no circumstances may you dye your hair or wear make-up.
9. During school hours, you will waer a minimum of two petticoats.
10. During the period of your contract you will sweep the classroom floor daily or when instructed to do so by a superior member of Staff, scrub the floor with warm water and soap at least once a week, and start the classroom fire daily at 7 AM so that the room is fully useable by 8 AM.
Sucks, doesn't it? I am flabberghasted that any woman would agree to this (they probably didn't have any say in it), even if they were facinated by a career in teaching.
I have decided that on Friday the 16th of December after school, I will bake cookies, and lots of them. Why? Because I will be Home Alone*. And not only then, but for 9 whole days! Mom, Bjorgvin and Sigrun Ugla are all going to Iceland on December 9th and will be back on the 18th. This is the first time that I will be all alone for such a long time. It will be a good practice for when I move out (which I hope won't be for another couple or triple of years - *plots to abuse family's hospitality as long as possible an/or wants*), but I totally know that I'll be able to take care of myself. Unlike many people my age, I know how to cook (although a limited number of dishes, but I do make a mean cauliflower soup - right mom?), since I've cooked once a week since I was 14 or 15, and I've done my own laundry for just as long. If it weren't for the money thing, I believe I'd be perfectly capable of living on my own. But then again, where would mom and Bjorgvin be without me, after all, I babysit their 17-month-old daughter every day after school except Mondays, for the reasonable price of zero pounds/crowns/dollars/euros/yens/francs/liras/rubles/schillings/zloty/dirham/escudos etc etc etc. Did I mention that I get no pocket money? There is a good explanation for that. I didn't get any pocket money while I was workingin the fish factory last summer and the summer of '04, because I was earning around 30.ooo isk a week, and didn't really need the 1000 isk a week pocket money. Then when school started last year, I started getting pocket money again. But now, since I'm 18, mom doesn't get any child support for me from the government, and neither does she get alimony from my dad (although he pays so-called "education alimony" straight to me now), and she isn't required by law to house, feed and clothe me anymore, since I'm officiall and therefore legally an adult. In conclusion: she doesn't get any money for that anymore and barely has any to spare to pay me pocket money, and I'm actually fine with that because I still have a fine sum left of my summer wages. By babysitting my sister, I'm sort of working for having a roof over my head and a full stomach.
Well then. Good night dears!
QotD: Anya: "I wasn't talking about your date, anyway. I was talking about tis sham-date of Xander's. I think it's a part of a plan to make me jealous."
Buffy: "Well, it's not working."
Anya: "Are you nuts? Of course it's working. O...observe my bitter ranting! Hear the shrill edge of hysteria in my voice!" -Buffy the Vampire Slayer
*Maybe I'll even rent the movie. It's perfect to get Christmassy. Oh, and did I mention that I don't have any Christmas exams? None of that sh** for me, thank you very much! So I can totally pig out on cookies and watch Home Alone while home alone if I want to, without a guilty conscience. |
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