Dude, you're not gonna poke her with a stick?*
This morning I woke up to what I thought was an unusually loud alarm clock and briefly considered some half-remembered quote stating that sensible hours the night you set the alarm appear insane the morning after. I could have, I thought, just rolled over and slept for another hour, having class at 10 am instead of the usual 9 am. But no, instead I rolled the other direction and out of bed, because I'd sworn I'd write my letter of motivation that morning. It went surprisingly well. (After I procrastinated with breakfast, the usual internet rounds and a quarter of Supernatural's 2x03 Bloodlust.
Then I peddled as fast as my permanently exhausted little legs could go and actually made it to class on time for the first time in over a month. Well, in theory. Because when I got there, it turns out that class had in fact started an hour ago so I was an hour late because my eyes totally skimmed over the bold-and-italics part of the schedule and just checked out the normal-font bit. Seriously, sometimes, making things different just means people will skip over it because it's not in the form that their eyes are scanning for. *head!desk*
Anyway, an hour into our law lecture, which focused mainly on Dutch law and introduced such bizarre concepts as, "No, you're not the owner. No, not even if you've paid for it. You not has.", and we have a break. I took the opportunity to scurry of in drizzling rain to the hospital for my rabies vaccine.
Dudes, rabies vaccines are awesome. Not the one-shot version, but the triple-shot-over-four-weeks one. It's the sort of vaccines kids would line up to get. It's hot pink. Hot pink. And it goes just under your skin, on the right forearm. The immediate result is a raised pink bump, like a (radio-active) mosquito bite. This, unfortunately, soon dissipates to a slight pink, along with itchiness, and then just a sad little bump. I get another shot next Monday, and you bet I'm taking my camera. (I can't believe I'm actually excitied over a vaccine but it was so cool!)
And then the North Sea fell from the sky and soaked everything that makes up yours truly. Ugh. I check the weather every day before leaving - today was supposed to be sunny - and have carried my rainwear for weeks, which only results in an incredibly sore shoulder and slight object-claustrophobia**. Thank gods I had my gymwear with me. So now I'm wearing black sweatpants and black-and-high-heeled boots. Snazzy.
Following the last five minutes of the lecture I managed to catch - yes, I went back, because I is dumb - I had lunch, fixed up my letter of motivation, and scurried - I'm always scurrying, apparently - to my meeting with Gloria, of the university.
The meeting was a bit like watching a puppy die. All the squee was sucked out of the puppy by dementors and then it run over by crazed dodos. Feh.
Turns out I'm really late for funds, with most of them asking for dates 6-8 months prior to the date of leaving. But 6-8 months ago, I did't even know I was doing this. So basically: *is fucked*
Gloria was really concerned with the security of Kenya, and the Rift Valley in particular, which is apparently where Amboseli NP is. (I say apparently because my supervisor says otherwise, but the map says, "Yo! It's in the RV province!" and I'm all *shrug*)
She read me the list of travel information given by the Dutch government, which went into thieves, car hijacking, governamentally closed roads due to unpleasant neighbours, the riots post-election last year, the Dutch girls who got raped last year by bandits, the guy who took a public bus (stupid) during the riot-season (stupid) when he was on holiday with his parents before his internship and got a good fright, and a whole load of other scary things.
So she's really concerned about it. Enough that she mentioned that, well, ultimately the Exam Committee has the say-so of whether I'm allowed to go. (Which, holy fucking shit, yo. Do not do this to me.) But she's going to write up a list of Do's and Don'ts, which I'll sign, and she's going to talk to my supervisor again (who's got to write an, "It's ok!" letter).
Two things she said really bothered me. The first was that she breathed a sigh of relief when Supervisor said that he was sending his own daughter along on the internship. 'Cause obviously then it must be really safe. If it was just me, a non-relative, then lower security standards are acceptable. Obviously. *shakes fist*
The other thing is how matters changed once she knew my dad was a diplomat. (She actually noted this down, which I'm not sure how I feel about.) This fact popped up when we were discussing money, saying that I don't qualify for a fund because I'm not wicked awesome, just average (in my grades, at least) and that I'm not terribly destitute. "I mean, your father being a diplomat, you must be financially..." Right. 'Cause all diplomats get paid oodles. And all diplomats are ambassadors. And my father not having had a promotion in over 25 years, or a raise for that matter (and hell, he's had the opposite to a raise) doesn't enter into this, "Zomg diplomat!" Fuck that shit.
ETA: And that, being a diplomat's daughter, even though I lived in developing countries, I lived in the really nice neighbourhoods of said developing countries and therefore don't know what it's like and don't know how to take care of myself in said places. First off, that's an assumption which need not and is not true. Second, it's not like I'm going to be hanging out in the really shitty parts of a really shitty town, but in a national park. Third, argh.
So I left that meeting thinking that someone was going to steal my lovely lollipop Kenyan internship. Sad Sickle is sad.
For the record, I have now slashed the Supernatural Winchester brothers twice. It's not my fault! They slashed themselves!
SAM: Ever since we got here, you’ve been tryin’ to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?
DEAN: Well, you like her, don’t you? (SAM says nothing.) All right, you like her, she likes you, you’re both consenting adults….
SAM: What’s the point, Dean? We’ll just leave. We always leave.
DEAN: Well, I’m not talkin’ about marriage, Sam.
SAM: You know what, I don’t get it. What do you care if I hook up?
DEAN: Because then maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky all the time. [...]
SAM: Yeah, you’re right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part.
DEAN: What’s it about? (SAM says nothing.) Yeah, all right. (He leans back on the bed.)
- 1x19 Provenance
He leans back on the bed. Oh come on! "Come hither," that was. Seriously, I was half-expecting Dean to stop goading and take matters into his own hands.
SAM: Look, I'm not gonna bring you guys down. I'm just gonna go back to the motel.
DEAN: You sure?
SAM: Yeah.
DEAN: Sammy? Remind me to beat that buzzkill out of you later, all right?
- 2x03 Bloodlust
That last line, right there? Subtext like you wouldn't believe. Oh, warped little slasher mind, why?
There's them being slashed by other characters onscreen:
Let me just say -- we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or…sexual orientation.
- 1x08 Bugs
It didn't do it for me, though.
So I don't slash them per se but then they make these odd comments or oppening lines that could totally be taken in a slashy direction with just a bit more text and I'm sprinting down that slashy road like there's a slashy pack of hell hounds after me. *sigh*.
Quotes of the Day: Love and clocks
Love is not a clock. You simply cannot take it apart just to see what makes it tick, and even if you could, you probably could never get it back together again.
- Anon. or Uncredited
Why is there evil? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? How do we make love stay?
- Sylar, Heroes 3x02
It's a beautiful piece. It just needs a little attention.
- Sylar, Heroes 1x21
Links of the Day:
Dr Who:
xsecretsmilex's Fanvid: Rose Remembering (Rose/10.5)
canape_rouge's Doctor Who/Life on Mars Fanfic: Winning the Battle (Gene Hunt/Harold Saxon)
Supernatural:
Makemewatchtv.com's Supernatural: Bloodlust Review - Heh, "Sean"
Heroes:
zqfans's An interview with Seth Green where he says nice things about Zachary Quinto
rocksaltbullet - Sylar Recaps and Rant
heroes_tv's Massive possible spoiler of character death.
foxsyd's What if... Peter and Sylar - Nature vs Nurture
xenasoul's Peter/Sylar Banners
ml17's Fanfic: The Things Sacrificed (implied Mohinder/Sylar, implied Elle/The Haitian)
Lost:
ben_munchkin's Fanvid: Untitled and Halloween on the Island
Wildlife:
BornFree.orf.uk's Christian the Lion
wtf_nature's A mammoth spider devouring a bird in a Queensland backyard, The world's longest insect, a 56.7cm long stick-insect from Borneo, Elephant-killing lions, Giant Yellow Jacket Nest (Warning: In the words of Donna Noble, "When I say giant, I don't mean big, I mean flipping enormous!")
Zombies:
zombie_survival's PMA (Preservationsit Mental Attitude): On mental strength and resolve
(Old) News: Politics:
crevette's what do you think about being told who to vote for by people from/in other countries? Why?
cleolinda's Election Night: The Morning After, Political/entertainment news
aelora's Nov. 6 squee, and omgPalinwtf
greygirlbeast's Obama photo by photographer Callie Shell
rex_dart's Post-election squee
ursulav's Post-election squee
Random:
jenni_the_odd's analysis of Glade scented candles commercials and what they imply - "...these commercials paint a heartbreaking portrait of compulsion, lies, and crippling addiction."
newredshoes's The Path to Happiness, Guaranteed - Audio. (Omgbannerguh.)
firstfiverows' Icons: Marvel and T: TSCC
m_buggie's Reservoir Dogs Fanfic: Odd Couple (implied Mr. White/ Mr. Orange, one-sided Mr. Pink/ Mr. Orange)
qthewetsprocket embeds the funniest thing I have seen in recent memory
blizzardcake embeds Hello! Project: Why Would You Want to Get Rid of These People Post #1, another H!P Video and "Ai Araba It's All Right" by Morning Musume
* Sam, Supernatural
** Where you've got dozens of things haning off you and can't move and panic because you're so utterly weighed and tied down by stuff. Bad times, yo.
Then I peddled as fast as my permanently exhausted little legs could go and actually made it to class on time for the first time in over a month. Well, in theory. Because when I got there, it turns out that class had in fact started an hour ago so I was an hour late because my eyes totally skimmed over the bold-and-italics part of the schedule and just checked out the normal-font bit. Seriously, sometimes, making things different just means people will skip over it because it's not in the form that their eyes are scanning for. *head!desk*
Anyway, an hour into our law lecture, which focused mainly on Dutch law and introduced such bizarre concepts as, "No, you're not the owner. No, not even if you've paid for it. You not has.", and we have a break. I took the opportunity to scurry of in drizzling rain to the hospital for my rabies vaccine.
Dudes, rabies vaccines are awesome. Not the one-shot version, but the triple-shot-over-four-weeks one. It's the sort of vaccines kids would line up to get. It's hot pink. Hot pink. And it goes just under your skin, on the right forearm. The immediate result is a raised pink bump, like a (radio-active) mosquito bite. This, unfortunately, soon dissipates to a slight pink, along with itchiness, and then just a sad little bump. I get another shot next Monday, and you bet I'm taking my camera. (I can't believe I'm actually excitied over a vaccine but it was so cool!)
And then the North Sea fell from the sky and soaked everything that makes up yours truly. Ugh. I check the weather every day before leaving - today was supposed to be sunny - and have carried my rainwear for weeks, which only results in an incredibly sore shoulder and slight object-claustrophobia**. Thank gods I had my gymwear with me. So now I'm wearing black sweatpants and black-and-high-heeled boots. Snazzy.
Following the last five minutes of the lecture I managed to catch - yes, I went back, because I is dumb - I had lunch, fixed up my letter of motivation, and scurried - I'm always scurrying, apparently - to my meeting with Gloria, of the university.
The meeting was a bit like watching a puppy die. All the squee was sucked out of the puppy by dementors and then it run over by crazed dodos. Feh.
Turns out I'm really late for funds, with most of them asking for dates 6-8 months prior to the date of leaving. But 6-8 months ago, I did't even know I was doing this. So basically: *is fucked*
Gloria was really concerned with the security of Kenya, and the Rift Valley in particular, which is apparently where Amboseli NP is. (I say apparently because my supervisor says otherwise, but the map says, "Yo! It's in the RV province!" and I'm all *shrug*)
She read me the list of travel information given by the Dutch government, which went into thieves, car hijacking, governamentally closed roads due to unpleasant neighbours, the riots post-election last year, the Dutch girls who got raped last year by bandits, the guy who took a public bus (stupid) during the riot-season (stupid) when he was on holiday with his parents before his internship and got a good fright, and a whole load of other scary things.
So she's really concerned about it. Enough that she mentioned that, well, ultimately the Exam Committee has the say-so of whether I'm allowed to go. (Which, holy fucking shit, yo. Do not do this to me.) But she's going to write up a list of Do's and Don'ts, which I'll sign, and she's going to talk to my supervisor again (who's got to write an, "It's ok!" letter).
Two things she said really bothered me. The first was that she breathed a sigh of relief when Supervisor said that he was sending his own daughter along on the internship. 'Cause obviously then it must be really safe. If it was just me, a non-relative, then lower security standards are acceptable. Obviously. *shakes fist*
The other thing is how matters changed once she knew my dad was a diplomat. (She actually noted this down, which I'm not sure how I feel about.) This fact popped up when we were discussing money, saying that I don't qualify for a fund because I'm not wicked awesome, just average (in my grades, at least) and that I'm not terribly destitute. "I mean, your father being a diplomat, you must be financially..." Right. 'Cause all diplomats get paid oodles. And all diplomats are ambassadors. And my father not having had a promotion in over 25 years, or a raise for that matter (and hell, he's had the opposite to a raise) doesn't enter into this, "Zomg diplomat!" Fuck that shit.
ETA: And that, being a diplomat's daughter, even though I lived in developing countries, I lived in the really nice neighbourhoods of said developing countries and therefore don't know what it's like and don't know how to take care of myself in said places. First off, that's an assumption which need not and is not true. Second, it's not like I'm going to be hanging out in the really shitty parts of a really shitty town, but in a national park. Third, argh.
So I left that meeting thinking that someone was going to steal my lovely lollipop Kenyan internship. Sad Sickle is sad.
For the record, I have now slashed the Supernatural Winchester brothers twice. It's not my fault! They slashed themselves!
SAM: Ever since we got here, you’ve been tryin’ to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?
DEAN: Well, you like her, don’t you? (SAM says nothing.) All right, you like her, she likes you, you’re both consenting adults….
SAM: What’s the point, Dean? We’ll just leave. We always leave.
DEAN: Well, I’m not talkin’ about marriage, Sam.
SAM: You know what, I don’t get it. What do you care if I hook up?
DEAN: Because then maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky all the time. [...]
SAM: Yeah, you’re right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part.
DEAN: What’s it about? (SAM says nothing.) Yeah, all right. (He leans back on the bed.)
- 1x19 Provenance
He leans back on the bed. Oh come on! "Come hither," that was. Seriously, I was half-expecting Dean to stop goading and take matters into his own hands.
SAM: Look, I'm not gonna bring you guys down. I'm just gonna go back to the motel.
DEAN: You sure?
SAM: Yeah.
DEAN: Sammy? Remind me to beat that buzzkill out of you later, all right?
- 2x03 Bloodlust
That last line, right there? Subtext like you wouldn't believe. Oh, warped little slasher mind, why?
There's them being slashed by other characters onscreen:
Let me just say -- we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or…sexual orientation.
- 1x08 Bugs
It didn't do it for me, though.
So I don't slash them per se but then they make these odd comments or oppening lines that could totally be taken in a slashy direction with just a bit more text and I'm sprinting down that slashy road like there's a slashy pack of hell hounds after me. *sigh*.
Quotes of the Day: Love and clocks
Love is not a clock. You simply cannot take it apart just to see what makes it tick, and even if you could, you probably could never get it back together again.
- Anon. or Uncredited
Why is there evil? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? How do we make love stay?
- Sylar, Heroes 3x02
It's a beautiful piece. It just needs a little attention.
- Sylar, Heroes 1x21
Links of the Day:
Dr Who:
xsecretsmilex's Fanvid: Rose Remembering (Rose/10.5)
canape_rouge's Doctor Who/Life on Mars Fanfic: Winning the Battle (Gene Hunt/Harold Saxon)
Supernatural:
Makemewatchtv.com's Supernatural: Bloodlust Review - Heh, "Sean"
Heroes:
zqfans's An interview with Seth Green where he says nice things about Zachary Quinto
rocksaltbullet - Sylar Recaps and Rant
heroes_tv's Massive possible spoiler of character death.
foxsyd's What if... Peter and Sylar - Nature vs Nurture
xenasoul's Peter/Sylar Banners
ml17's Fanfic: The Things Sacrificed (implied Mohinder/Sylar, implied Elle/The Haitian)
Lost:
ben_munchkin's Fanvid: Untitled and Halloween on the Island
Wildlife:
BornFree.orf.uk's Christian the Lion
wtf_nature's A mammoth spider devouring a bird in a Queensland backyard, The world's longest insect, a 56.7cm long stick-insect from Borneo, Elephant-killing lions, Giant Yellow Jacket Nest (Warning: In the words of Donna Noble, "When I say giant, I don't mean big, I mean flipping enormous!")
Zombies:
zombie_survival's PMA (Preservationsit Mental Attitude): On mental strength and resolve
(Old) News: Politics:
crevette's what do you think about being told who to vote for by people from/in other countries? Why?
cleolinda's Election Night: The Morning After, Political/entertainment news
aelora's Nov. 6 squee, and omgPalinwtf
greygirlbeast's Obama photo by photographer Callie Shell
rex_dart's Post-election squee
ursulav's Post-election squee
Random:
jenni_the_odd's analysis of Glade scented candles commercials and what they imply - "...these commercials paint a heartbreaking portrait of compulsion, lies, and crippling addiction."
newredshoes's The Path to Happiness, Guaranteed - Audio. (Omgbannerguh.)
firstfiverows' Icons: Marvel and T: TSCC
m_buggie's Reservoir Dogs Fanfic: Odd Couple (implied Mr. White/ Mr. Orange, one-sided Mr. Pink/ Mr. Orange)
qthewetsprocket embeds the funniest thing I have seen in recent memory
blizzardcake embeds Hello! Project: Why Would You Want to Get Rid of These People Post #1, another H!P Video and "Ai Araba It's All Right" by Morning Musume
* Sam, Supernatural
** Where you've got dozens of things haning off you and can't move and panic because you're so utterly weighed and tied down by stuff. Bad times, yo.