lazy days of (wishful) summer
Yesterday was the First Day of Real Summer. Not because of the moderately cool weather (although it was sunny). Not because of any sort of event bearing that name. Simply because I decided to make it so.
During a particularly sweltering yoga class yesterday morning, I began to fantasise about swimming in lovely, cool lakes. Unlike it usually does, this fantasy did not dissipate with my emergence from the hot room, so I texted the friend that I had made plans with and suggested we drive out to one of the nearby lakes. She thought I was crazy, but when I pointed out that it was marginally better than Plan B: Swim in the North Pacific (which is a painful experience in actual heat, never mind the pleasant but not particularly warm temperatures of yesterday), she agreed, with the caveat that she would sit on the shore and mock me.
The water was actually lovely. I'm not making this up in an attempt to convince you that I am not insane. (I am. This is established fact.) But I paddled cheerfully around for about twenty minutes while my friend shivered on the shore, and then we sat in a sunny spot for a while, before going in search of food.
One of my favourite things about living on the island is the odd combination of rural and urban life scattered throughout. There are sections of the city that are basically farmland, and there are amazing restaurants stashed away in the middle of nowhere (the one we found yesterday had a petting zoo)-and then sections of land that are almost completely untouched by humanity. And all of these things are within a few hours of driving. I haven't left the city much in the last six months, so it was pleasant to go for an afternoon drive through the country, pulling over whenever anything interesting seemed to appear. Next time, I will make sure I have cash with me, so that I can buy produce and eggs from the small farms.
(Side dietary note: I like eggs, I just don't trust the 'free range' standards to be actually humane, so I'm not buying them from the supermarket anymore. But if I can see that the chickens are healthy and happy and probably not injected up to their eyeballs with hormones, I'm fine with consuming them.)
We also found a lagoon-I had never seen one before-but there were no mermaids.
And then we went to the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which I totally recommend if you have very low expectations going in (I did) and love Johnny Depp (I do). I missed the Orlando Bloom/Keira Knightley/Jack Davenport characters quite a bit, and I'm not sure Penelope Cruz quite made up for their absence (although she wasn't bad and Anthony Hopkins was pretty delightful). It seemed like they tried to make up for some of the lack of plot and character consistency with the camera work, which seemed to be imitating some of the scenes from the first film almost shot for shot. (I now want to go back and see if the second and third films do the same.) But overall? Much fun. I giggled a lot.
And, because I need a mental break from the book I'm reading, 40 Questions Meme, stolen from a few people.
01.Make a list of 5 things you can see without getting up.
Let's keep it beverage-themed: Empty coconut water can, two empty wine bottles, cup of tea, three empty wine glasses (I had guests!), water bottle.
02. Name one weird quirk about yourself.
I find labelling my own quirks to be a strange process. I mean, I do them, so obviously they seem completely logical to me... I always forget to trip my toenails because I bite my fingernails so much that I never have to trim those...
03. What are you wearing now?
Blue and green plaid pyjama bottoms, red camisole.
04. What's your occupation?
Student/future hobo.
05. What do you hear right now?
Lawn mower.
06. What's your favorite guilty pleasure treat?
Gilmore Girls marathons? Blue cheese (I do feel mild ethical guilt about this)? Reading non-thesis related things.
07. Are you hungry?
I am in the process of eating lunch.
08. Write the first word that comes to mind.
Impervious. For no apparent reason.
09. What is your favorite tv show atm?
Battlestar Galactica, 30 Rock... Those are the most recent fixations, anyway.
10. What song is currently stuck in your head?
Currently none, which is very strange indeed.
11. What was the last thing you bought?
Movie ticket.
12. If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Everywhere!
13. Where do you see yourself in 5 minutes?
Lying on my sofa, reading.
14. Ever met any of your online friends in real life?
A few of them, yes.
15. What are you doing this weekend?
thesisyogathesis
16. If you could play any musical instrument, which one would you play?
I'd like to get back into practice with piano and violin. I also feel like the guitar would be a useful instrument.
17. How are you?
Quite lovely. I have friends visiting tonight and my meeting with my supervisor was cancelled due to his sick child, so I have a couple of days to get work done.
18. How do you view the world?
An odd mix of militant cheerfulness and cynicism. I think people are a horrible species and probably don't deserve to live, but I'm thrilled to be alive regardless.
19. What are you looking forward to the most?
Drinks with friends tonight. Finishing this degree and the Year Off of Awesome that I have planned.
20. How did you come to start your LJ?
I stumbled across the LJ fandom community after existing off in my own little world for a few years.
21.How did you find your first friends?
I added people whose names I recognised and whose writing I enjoyed.
22.Are those first friends still on your FL?
For the most part, yes, except where journals have been deleted and so forth.
23.How long have you been on LJ?
Four-ish years, I think.
24.Do you have more friends or communities on your FL?
Not sure and too lazy to check. Communities, probably, because I am shy about adding people.
25.What do you like in an LJ friend?
Amusing/intelligent/thought-provoking posts. Non-wanky attitude. Lots of things?
26.What do you dislike?
As a general rule in life, I clash with people who have a tendency to be easily offended or take things personally. Shit disturbers also annoy me. And religion. I have lots of small pet peeves, but I tend to just ignore them.
27.What would make you un-friend someone immediately?
I don't know. I would probably have to be concerned that they were going to use my posts against me in a RL capacity, or be very uncomfortable with them seeing any flocked posts. Or if they were comment-spamming with personal attacks/using my LJ to be nasty to other people commenting there.
28.Have you been caught up in a lot of LJ drama?
No, I try to avoid it.
29. Do RL friends and family members know you have a journal on LJ?
A couple, mostly ones who have one foot in the HP fandom anyway.
30. Do you also have Facebook and if so, what do you prefer - LJ or FB?
I do, and I use it in a totally different capacity (all RL), so it's difficult to say which one I prefer. Each has their function.
31. What about Twitter?
Yes, also RL, but mostly so that I can follow other people who have it.
32.Do you blog on any other sites?
I set up various blogs for specific purposes that often fall by the wayside quickly.
33.How often do you check in on LJ?
Depends on how often I'm on my computer. Sometimes multiple times daily. Sometimes once per week.
34.What do you rarely or never post about?
I try not to post negative things about RL people, although sometimes I do need to vent. Things I might later regret posting?
35.Why don’t you post about that?
It's hard to control who reads the posts and I would hate to hurt someone because of a fit of anger.
36. Have you ever thought about deleting your journal?
No, but I'm thinking about making it Friends Only.
37. Have you ever changed your username?
No, mostly because I'm too lazy. And it's kind of become my secret identity at this point, even if I think it's a bit lame.
38. Why did you choose your current username?
A brief fascination with Silbury Hill and other related sites.
39. If you’re looking for new friends, how do you find them?
I usually just stumble upon them.
40.Are you taking new people on to your Friends List just now?
Always, always.
During a particularly sweltering yoga class yesterday morning, I began to fantasise about swimming in lovely, cool lakes. Unlike it usually does, this fantasy did not dissipate with my emergence from the hot room, so I texted the friend that I had made plans with and suggested we drive out to one of the nearby lakes. She thought I was crazy, but when I pointed out that it was marginally better than Plan B: Swim in the North Pacific (which is a painful experience in actual heat, never mind the pleasant but not particularly warm temperatures of yesterday), she agreed, with the caveat that she would sit on the shore and mock me.
The water was actually lovely. I'm not making this up in an attempt to convince you that I am not insane. (I am. This is established fact.) But I paddled cheerfully around for about twenty minutes while my friend shivered on the shore, and then we sat in a sunny spot for a while, before going in search of food.
One of my favourite things about living on the island is the odd combination of rural and urban life scattered throughout. There are sections of the city that are basically farmland, and there are amazing restaurants stashed away in the middle of nowhere (the one we found yesterday had a petting zoo)-and then sections of land that are almost completely untouched by humanity. And all of these things are within a few hours of driving. I haven't left the city much in the last six months, so it was pleasant to go for an afternoon drive through the country, pulling over whenever anything interesting seemed to appear. Next time, I will make sure I have cash with me, so that I can buy produce and eggs from the small farms.
(Side dietary note: I like eggs, I just don't trust the 'free range' standards to be actually humane, so I'm not buying them from the supermarket anymore. But if I can see that the chickens are healthy and happy and probably not injected up to their eyeballs with hormones, I'm fine with consuming them.)
We also found a lagoon-I had never seen one before-but there were no mermaids.
And then we went to the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which I totally recommend if you have very low expectations going in (I did) and love Johnny Depp (I do). I missed the Orlando Bloom/Keira Knightley/Jack Davenport characters quite a bit, and I'm not sure Penelope Cruz quite made up for their absence (although she wasn't bad and Anthony Hopkins was pretty delightful). It seemed like they tried to make up for some of the lack of plot and character consistency with the camera work, which seemed to be imitating some of the scenes from the first film almost shot for shot. (I now want to go back and see if the second and third films do the same.) But overall? Much fun. I giggled a lot.
And, because I need a mental break from the book I'm reading, 40 Questions Meme, stolen from a few people.
01.Make a list of 5 things you can see without getting up.
Let's keep it beverage-themed: Empty coconut water can, two empty wine bottles, cup of tea, three empty wine glasses (I had guests!), water bottle.
02. Name one weird quirk about yourself.
I find labelling my own quirks to be a strange process. I mean, I do them, so obviously they seem completely logical to me... I always forget to trip my toenails because I bite my fingernails so much that I never have to trim those...
03. What are you wearing now?
Blue and green plaid pyjama bottoms, red camisole.
04. What's your occupation?
Student/future hobo.
05. What do you hear right now?
Lawn mower.
06. What's your favorite guilty pleasure treat?
Gilmore Girls marathons? Blue cheese (I do feel mild ethical guilt about this)? Reading non-thesis related things.
07. Are you hungry?
I am in the process of eating lunch.
08. Write the first word that comes to mind.
Impervious. For no apparent reason.
09. What is your favorite tv show atm?
Battlestar Galactica, 30 Rock... Those are the most recent fixations, anyway.
10. What song is currently stuck in your head?
Currently none, which is very strange indeed.
11. What was the last thing you bought?
Movie ticket.
12. If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Everywhere!
13. Where do you see yourself in 5 minutes?
Lying on my sofa, reading.
14. Ever met any of your online friends in real life?
A few of them, yes.
15. What are you doing this weekend?
thesisyogathesis
16. If you could play any musical instrument, which one would you play?
I'd like to get back into practice with piano and violin. I also feel like the guitar would be a useful instrument.
17. How are you?
Quite lovely. I have friends visiting tonight and my meeting with my supervisor was cancelled due to his sick child, so I have a couple of days to get work done.
18. How do you view the world?
An odd mix of militant cheerfulness and cynicism. I think people are a horrible species and probably don't deserve to live, but I'm thrilled to be alive regardless.
19. What are you looking forward to the most?
Drinks with friends tonight. Finishing this degree and the Year Off of Awesome that I have planned.
20. How did you come to start your LJ?
I stumbled across the LJ fandom community after existing off in my own little world for a few years.
21.How did you find your first friends?
I added people whose names I recognised and whose writing I enjoyed.
22.Are those first friends still on your FL?
For the most part, yes, except where journals have been deleted and so forth.
23.How long have you been on LJ?
Four-ish years, I think.
24.Do you have more friends or communities on your FL?
Not sure and too lazy to check. Communities, probably, because I am shy about adding people.
25.What do you like in an LJ friend?
Amusing/intelligent/thought-provoking posts. Non-wanky attitude. Lots of things?
26.What do you dislike?
As a general rule in life, I clash with people who have a tendency to be easily offended or take things personally. Shit disturbers also annoy me. And religion. I have lots of small pet peeves, but I tend to just ignore them.
27.What would make you un-friend someone immediately?
I don't know. I would probably have to be concerned that they were going to use my posts against me in a RL capacity, or be very uncomfortable with them seeing any flocked posts. Or if they were comment-spamming with personal attacks/using my LJ to be nasty to other people commenting there.
28.Have you been caught up in a lot of LJ drama?
No, I try to avoid it.
29. Do RL friends and family members know you have a journal on LJ?
A couple, mostly ones who have one foot in the HP fandom anyway.
30. Do you also have Facebook and if so, what do you prefer - LJ or FB?
I do, and I use it in a totally different capacity (all RL), so it's difficult to say which one I prefer. Each has their function.
31. What about Twitter?
Yes, also RL, but mostly so that I can follow other people who have it.
32.Do you blog on any other sites?
I set up various blogs for specific purposes that often fall by the wayside quickly.
33.How often do you check in on LJ?
Depends on how often I'm on my computer. Sometimes multiple times daily. Sometimes once per week.
34.What do you rarely or never post about?
I try not to post negative things about RL people, although sometimes I do need to vent. Things I might later regret posting?
35.Why don’t you post about that?
It's hard to control who reads the posts and I would hate to hurt someone because of a fit of anger.
36. Have you ever thought about deleting your journal?
No, but I'm thinking about making it Friends Only.
37. Have you ever changed your username?
No, mostly because I'm too lazy. And it's kind of become my secret identity at this point, even if I think it's a bit lame.
38. Why did you choose your current username?
A brief fascination with Silbury Hill and other related sites.
39. If you’re looking for new friends, how do you find them?
I usually just stumble upon them.
40.Are you taking new people on to your Friends List just now?
Always, always.