i don't care what you think...

Read Digital Fortress by Dan Brown for the first time in about six years yesterday. The gist of the story I still remembered but I decided to buy it, and read (as with Deception Point). These books are long, but short, and only take 4 or 5 hours to read with breaks. I liked it, but I didn't understand the computer references and the cryptography. I spent a lot of the book thinking "oh, it's Hale who is NDAKOTA" because somehow I remembered that he was in love with the main character, Susan. Maybe I got it wrong, because Strathmore is the one who wants to change what the virus thing will do for cryptography. It got a bit silly at the end, as if Dan Brown had introduced so many characters he had to kill them off, and then abruptly end the story, with the code, which I figured out, based on the uranium clue.

Deception Point was totally stupid, the story just got more and more absurd. I mean, it was nice that the current President won in the end, but he deceived lots of people, and lots of people died unnecessarily, and the role of Delta Force was never really revealed to the main characters.

So I think Dan Brown should stick with historical secret societies being resurrected in order to increase church attendance, as that seems to be what he is good at based on The Da Vinci Code, and Angels and Demons. The controversy around those books seems well deserved.


I need to download more films: my internet at my flat is controlled by the landlord, and its configuration is such that bit torrent type things are blocked. So instead of watching films or using the internet, I read lots. And lots. I mean, I have watched Generation Kill the past few weeks, 20 minutes at a time, which is a HBO series (a tv channel in America). It is about a Rolling Stone writer, Evan Wright, who joins the Recon Marines as they invade Iraq, and then Baghdad. (is that how you spell it?) It's very good, and you get to know what they actually got up to. It seems to me that they were just kids out of college or whatever, who wanted some money and the chance to do something for their country. It got messed up big time though, and they left, having created more problems than were there to begin with. P bought the book last week, and says the TV show has been faithful to the book, which should be interesting to read.

Now we have moved on to Band of Brothers, which is about D Day, something I shamefully (or, not so shamefully) don't know very much (read: anything) about. I mean, I DO know that it was during the second world war, and that American people were involved, and it was in June. But beyond that, I don't know anything. Again, this is based on a book (I think). I've just watched the first episode (again, 20 minutes at a time... we watch it over dinner), with Ross from Friends in it, David Schwimmer. All I can think of when I see his character, the leader of Easy Company, is Ross from Friends, and therefore I cannot take his role seriously.

But I really like it so far. Insofar as there has not been much fighting and the like. The thing I hate more than not understanding what is going on in the tv show/film is having to watch people die or get seriously hurt, closely followed by suspense (with or without the suspense music). So now I have been informed exactly who will die and who will suffer what injuries, in the hope that I don't get too upset when they inevitably suffer death/injury.


It's very weird to see friends who are graduating, and the last time you think you will see them in the forseeable future, their parting is "have a nice life"... kind of weird to hear from people you have known from the past few years and then you might not see them again. And also upsetting because you don't know what will happen to your friendship. I guess I am lucky in that my course is long but after a few years, all you see are medics.


Yet another of my friends is showing signs of having romantic feelings about another of their friends. Firstly, if they are telling me this, why aren't they doing something about it, and secondly why do they not understand what a huge risk it is to change your friendship into something different. Apparently, it is like in the When Harry Met Sally film, but it makes me sad that I can't do anything about it. Being the girl, it isn't socially as difficult to find a boy and to go out, but those social rules can sometimes be silly, but provide a platform for people to stand on. I once implied I wanted to go out with a boy, then it just.. went wrong and we were kind of friends for the remainder of the year then drifted away and now I don't really know what they are up to and I do not particularly care.


But this boy is all about grand gestures, which makes me feel like he is trying to buy the girl. But I think I have to tread carefully when giving "advice". But grand gestures are just overwhelming at the start, and should be saved for very important things. I would hate to feel bought, "but I bought you lots of stuff"... it's not because I think it is chivalrous of the boy, but that the boy should want to do it.


Went to see Sister Act at the London Palladium yesterday: it was a lot different from the film but still good. I haven't seen the film for years and years.. which is kind of good because then I wasn't like "oh, but that wasn't in it, that was different" etc. So you should check it out.


Got my highest score on Call of Duty some number, which R brought to SAF and we played games and played retarded snap. I'm bad at hand eye co-ordination, and reactions and such.. so I did well (I thought so anyway).


Weighed myself yesterday: was shocked at the number, so I have decided to diet for real. For the next week or so at least. It might be because of muscle bulk and the like, so I have stopped exercising.. I can be a couch tomato.


xo

when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true

gift excitement

Yesterday was my pre-emptive birthday party.. my birthday is placed during an annoying month.. July. I mean, don't get me wrong: it's lovely with the weather and the time off and such, but it's hard to organise stuff... doing it in June means that lots of my uni friends are busy or gone away/home, and my home friends don't get to join in, and during July is when pretty much everyone is away on holiday, or they're working or doing something else.


So I won't bore you with the details, it was lovely, thankyou to everyone who turned up. And thanks to those who actually let me know that they weren't going to come too.


This is what I got :D




















xo


Images: my own

this whirlpool of thought

[CS.]

I just finished an exam. One down, 2 more to go. I have another one tomorrow. Brilliant!

oh megan, you're too hot for words.

[DT Spain]

swing your hips

Jeans!! Argh, I want to engage in a days worth of denim browsing. Plenty of items on my to-do list. I want new jeans for the upcoming season, NOW. I've worn out my old pairs of ksubis, I've embellished them, hated them and had trouble FITTING into them. Back to a I love the new seasonal range that just came out. Stick to the Cheap Mondays, they all say. Though I have been eyeing the Cassette Society and I'm loving jeans from I Heard they Eat Cigarettes! Endless options when it comes down to jeans. I can never get enough!

Psychedelic delight

[tFS]

Viewing bursts of colour on this rainy day. Who would ask for more?

i wish i was dreaming, but let's face it. this is reality

[tFS]

Milan + Benihana

On Thursday, P and I flew out to Milan. Due to TfL, the traffic was crazy and it took us ages to get to Victoria. Gatwick Duty Free did NOT have Burberry Baby Touch, much to my disappointment :( The hotel we stayed at was on the Corso Buenos Aires, which is apparently the longest street of shops in Europe. I can well believe it. We went to look at the Duomo, the fourth biggest church in the world, by night.

The Duomo, (literally, "dome"), is beautiful by night, as there are lights around it, to illuminate all the windows, and you can see just how much effort went into building it. It took five centuries to complete, and apparently it is still not finished: there are stone blocks inside still waiting to be carved.


Everyone had these huge white balloons, and after asking around, H&M were giving them out. But they were just plain white, no advertising. So P bought one off a man for five euro, but it popped halfway back to the hotel.

Friday, P bought some clothes from H&M, and I bought two tops from Pimkie. We visited the Pincacoteca di Brera. There was a room dedicated to the Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael, explaining how it was painted, and how it was restored. It also focussed on different aspects of the painting, such as the perfect geometric lines of the steps in the background, and the detail of the clothes.

There was also a Caravaggio, who is one of P's favorite painters, the Supper at Emaus. After tripping down steps, we went to the Natural Science Museum, inside the Porta Venezia Gardens.


On Saturday, we went to the Castello Sforzesco, where there are four museums. All Milanese museums are sooo cheap. They're like 2 euro entry, and the Castello museums were 1.5 euro to get into all of them. That's like 25p a museum! Anyway. They had Egyptian art, Prehistoric art and history, a Michelangelo sculpture, the Rodanini Pieta, whose creation is quite interesting.. it was originally going to be something else, and if you look at it closely, you can see Michelangelo's attempts to try and change what he had already sculpted.


Then we went to an Archaelogical Museum, which was housed on the ruins of an old Roman villa. It was interesting, but I was really tired at this point. :(


Sunday we went to climb the Duomo, to get onto the roof. There's a sign when you go into the church.. you can't be dressed inappropriately. So I had to put my jumper on. There are boxes all over asking for donations, as apparently it costs 12 million euro to upkeep the church a year. There was a service going on at the same time - it'd be weird going to church and having tourists milling around watching you. It's truly beautiful inside... there are so many statues and painted windows.


There is also a small red bulb in one of the windows, which marks the place where one of the nails from Christ's Cruxificion is placed. Look at this photo - we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the church.


The roof was.. scary. I hate heights, and had trouble going up to the higher part of it. Especially as there was a spirally staircase :( So I had to sit down for, like, 10 minutes...

...whilst he took photos of the view, and of the statue at the top, the Virgin Mary.


We ate loads and walked lots. Malpensa Airport sells Ferrero Rocher Nutella.. and sadly I didn't get any. I should have :( P looked for a plug socket so he could write some more of his thesis while I read Pride and Prejudice, but ended up playing Warcraft...




I rushed from the airport to get to the train to Victoria, to get on the tube to get to Piccadilly, for A's birthday, at Benihana. Everyone looked really well dressed, and I felt scruffy in comparison, as I'd just come off a flight in jeans and a t shirt (which was new). It's quite cool: the chefs cook the food in front of you. J and M both caught a prawn in their mouths, thrown by the chef. A caught it the second time. M ate lots of wasabi: I have a video somewhere. The food was soo nice, and the cake at the end was massive, and even nicer :)





I want a cake for my birthday... except I don't, as it'd be embarrassing, with everyone looking. And my birthday's not for another month yet. And due to all the food I've eaten in Italy and at Benihana, I'm trying to eat less now. I've come back with extra weight :( So went swimming this morning, and will endeavour to do so for the next few weeks.


I hope people remember to come!




xo

you pretty little thing

[Russh, 2008]

Shanay Hall is one of my favourite Aussie models. Glad to see she's been receiving much more attention nowadays especially editorial work within the Australian market. I'm pretty sure she's wearing an Ellery dress here, I should check on it. But everything about it is amazing.

pure opulence

Kerr shines in her satin, burnt-orange gown topped off with a power clutch and not to mention how amazing the pretty boy looks. I feel like a kid saying this, but Orlando melts my heart. :)

The asymmetries of tie-dye

[tFS]

Currently, tie-dying a beat-up white singlet just like that. And I'm going to top it off with strands of metal interlocked through the slashed back. Anticipating this progress. I'm a total time-waster when it comes to exams. I just can't help it.

crisp, clean-cut lines

[tFS]

Bosworth, what a stunner. I've been adoring over her style lately, much more than I used to. I love how she mixes her soft pastels with mild structuring. Classy, well-defined, yet constrastingly at times, grundgy.

In Stella McCartney. Who would ask for more?

rockin' it with this attitude

[tFS]

floral mania

[tFS]

So it's winter here. Bitter, decadent skies and breathless mornings. Though I love winter fashion, I’m not sure how I feel about waking up every morning, reluctant to change into day-wear. Something about floral dresses, topped with leather jackets and opaque black stockings provides me enough motivation to sense spring is just around the corner. But more so the fact that the only flowers I’ll be seeing on a day-to-day basis are on my silk, floral garments, printed in resemblance to the blossoms yet to come.

Ps: thanks to all the lovely bloggers wishing me luck for my exams. I'll go wild with blogging soon after I've finished my 3 exams in less than two weeks. I better commence studying in the meantime!

Oh and I've gone wild on spending this month, I figured since it's freezing and I need prompt-motivation to reward myself on how I've managed to pull through anothet Semester.. I've purchased the following items that I've been desiring for, for the past month or so :) here's a condensed list of them!

Blog soon sweets!
Xx


Sass & Bide



Elle Macpherson Boudoir [Net-a-Porter]


Camilla and Marc Delilah Frock [mycatwalk.com]


Zimmermann Witches Coat

watch me pose

[Harper's Bazaar, Australia, June 09]

I love everything about this look. Cute, yet grunge and assembled with sexy, grey jeans and heavymetal jewellery. Tough.

bronzed & sequined

breathless

[Numero, France 09]

Poly shines in this full-page spread, adorned in soft, wispy organza and draped around her petite frame, placidly.

stunning.

[tFS]

Although I've heard nothing but crude remarks thrown at this girl. I think she is absolutely stunning. Regardless of her life as a socialite and her bitching drama roles. She's beyond gorgeous!

jump jump jump

It has been a very eventful past few days, to say the very very least. I have also noticed that my blog count has gone up by 100 since the last time I checked (like, 2 days ago). I need a stat counter :(


So, my first free day I spent shopping.. kinda. I braved Oxford Street, in the rain. I really needed clothes basically and a bag. So I quickly got disillusioned by looking for jeans, which I really really need. I found two pairs, one of which I could have got, but I couldn't decide which one fit better. And so, in true Carol style, I got neither. I am just NOT an impulsive shopper anymore. I'm getting man shopping habits. Which is funny, as when P goes shopping, he just goes to a couple of stores and spends well over £100.


So I went to look for a bag.. I researched some on the internet, but they didn't look as pretty in real life. I ended up going to John Lewis, and got a Nica bag, like this one.

but the colours are different. It doesn't have it on their website either, but it is kinda like the one as above. I'm gonna use it to go to Milan, and probably as a school bag.


I have also realised that I get bored of shopping very quickly along Oxford Street. Shop after shop after shop doesn't really interest me anymore, and Westfield feels too cooped up for me to bear for longer than a few hours.


So THIS is why I have no new clothes.









The New Moon trailer looks awesome. Edward looks even more washed out than he did in the first film... at least in Twilight, he looked pale. Here, he looks washed out and on drugs. Jacob looks good in it too, though I am strongly Team Edward. It's not coming out for aaaages though.


Started reading the first Twilight book: I can finally read them without feeling guilty. Then went to the o2, via Tower Gateway and the DLR and a bus (the Jubilee line annoyingly was not working) with H and N... to see Britneyyy :)


Ciara was supporting her, and her act was good.. she advertised her new album and her twitter account. She did lots of songs I hadn't heard of, although I don't know much of her music anyway. Britney came on, after an acrobatic and gymnastic act, which was amazing.. sort of Cirque de Soleil-esque.


She put on a really good show, and I didn't really care that she was miming.. I knew she would. She hasn't done this tour to promote her singing talents. She can sing, as she has had many well selling albums. This tour is more to showcase her dancing abilities and her ability to put on a show. She DID sing Everytime, whilst hanging on the handle of a huge umbrella, suspended in the air centre stage. She was very good at her routines, using different costumes and using all parts of the stage. She wore a sari for "Me Against the Music", and looked really pretty :)


She also did a cover of "Sweet Dreams" (is that its name?) when everyone thought it was a break so they all left... odd. And there was a part at the end with all her videos mixed together, with RnB music behind it, which Natalie particularly liked "jump! jump! jump!" Hehe.


I got a pretty t shirt as well.. I didn't want one with her face on it, but the tour dates would have been cool. But they only came together. So I got a goth/emo looking one, which is red.


I mean, I could post photos so you could see her, and think "whatever", but they're everywhere. I'll put them on Facebook. The camera I was using ran out 3/4 during the concert so I had to use my phone.


It took me 2.5 hours to get home, waiting for a bus, then giving up and waiting for another bus, getting the last tube home and then getting another bus. I was so tired :(


Went to see Star Trek as well. Being a very non-sci-fi type stuff kinda fan, I was a bit apprehensive. It had good reviews, and P wanted to see it, so I went along. The beginning made me cry a bit (yes, I get emotional), but Kirk was portrayed very well. The part where young Kirk drives his stepdad's Chevrolet and stops it just in time for him to jump out and for the car to go over the cliff is particularly class. I liked the relationship between Spock and Kirk, and Spock's stillness and calmness. Also Sulu and the Russian one. I get really stressed in films because I like to know what's going on, and Nero's ship is huge. And scary. And I kept saying "what the fuck is that?!" when there were strange looking ships and when people could potentially die. I loved it though.


We also ate at the Brook Green Hotel for lunch that day, which is a place we used to go to a lot, as I lived 2 minutes away. The lunch there is wonderful, and the interior decor in beautiful :) Sometimes they have live jazz music playing, and it was always lovely to walk past at night and hear it.


Monday, I read books and had a long nap, then went to London Bridge to meet friends to go to Nando's, and see As You Like It, at the Globe. I liked the play a lot: the storyline wasn't hard to basically follow, but there were a lot of little jokes which I didn't get. I have studied some Shakespeare plays... and I think you only truly appreciate the live thing if you've studied the play. It was good nevertheless :)







Yesterday and Monday, I got messages informing me that the TfL (technically, RMT) tube strike was definitely going ahead, and so it was with a very reluctant hand that I rearranged the date of my pre-emptive party. I really didn't want to, but when you get messages like the image below, you can't really ignore it.... So I am very sorry to anyone reading this who got invited: I'm so sorry it was at such late notice. I spent half of yesterday worrying that everyone was mad at me for not letting them know sooner, because I have only heard from five people.



I hope you're not angry at my letting you know so late :(


I have also managed to discern from P that my friends are getting me a present (collectively or otherwise), but I don't want to know anything more. I know it's not a phone, and I really hope it's not a stupid bath/shower or pamper yourself type idea giftset. Or a candle. Or food. Except cake.


But I don't want a cake. I can buy my own from Caffe Concerto, which is just across from High Street Kensington station.


But I really don't mind. The more I think about it, my need for presents comes from not getting that many as a child. I got presents for my birthday, sure, and for Christmas sometimes too, but it wasn't a big thing for my family. Christmas especially. And for the past few years, I have just gotten money, which I do not spend. My biggest gift of the past ten years was my car. And so, I love receiving presents, particularly as I have been involved in the research, finding, buying, wrapping and organising the paying of of many presents, particularly in the past year. Oh, and buying the card. No one ever buys the card. Except me.


And so yes, the more I think about it, I think I like to give people presents more than I like to receive them.. which is saying a lot. Every other day, I ask P (in a non jokey but slightly hopeful way) if he has gotten me a gift. 30% of the time, it's a yes, where it's something like dinner out, or books I ordered and got sent to the RSM which he picked up, or a 5p coin or some good news.


But whilst I do love getting gifts, I know it's also difficult. And thence it's kind of a challenge for me, as I try to figure out (usually with other people's help) what that person will most likely appreciate and get good use or enjoyment out of. It makes me happy to know that the gift receiver likes their gift, as I try to put lots of thought into it.


So please don't feel as though you need to get me anything. I have most things I desire, and am capable of buying stuff if I want (read: can be bothered). Your company is a gift in itself.






Image 1 and 3 from google.
Image 2 is my own.
Image 4 is a screenshot of my gmail.

.. dolly :)

F, M and I were watching videos on youtube the other day, and F put some Korean music videos up... I know some, because my cousin loves them and occasionally I see that she's posted one on her facebook or her twitter, and a youtube channel that I have subscribed to uses some Korean music... Is this the new "in" thing now? To like music, of a foreign culture and possibly in a foreign language? I've noticed recently that a lot of people I know are into K-pop, J-pop, C-pop... random letter-pop. I'm not really complaining, merely... making an observation.


We also learnt how to do the "L, O, V, E, love" part of a song called Insomnia, which is a cover of a Craig David song. Oh, how I will miss F when she goes away :( She shepherds random SAF frequenters and brings them/mocks together.

So anyway, she put on this song, called Gee by SNSD... it's very addictive and the choreography is awesome: they're all such good dancers. So M downloaded it, and now I am the owner of an illegally downloaded song on the phone..

whose speakerphone I have broken *sobs* I can make calls and hear people when they call me, but I can't play music, my phone doesn't make any sound so it's pretty much on its silent setting, and I can't put people onto speakerphone when I am talking to them. I got kinda worried, and then texted my sister to tell her to let my parents know (as I am a coward and don't like being shouted at by my parents) that my phone wasn't making much/any sound, and I got a reply saying that they were OK with it, and that I can get a new phone for my birthday.

Which solves the problem of what I want from my parents for my birthday; they've been asking me for a few months now, and I haven't really known. I mean, I WANT a new phone, but it isn't something that is essential. And my laptop is fine now that I have gotten rid of Windows, to the more friendly interface of Linux Ubuntu (it's all pink and purple and girly... what more did you expect of me?)

P has also bought me several of the things on my Birthday Wishlist... (a few posts ago) He got me the vanilla spray from The Body Shop, and three dresses from Forever 21, which is an awesome store, when he went to Texas (they're all gorgeous). And I am fairly sure I will be receiving a new baby in the not too distant future - yes, I call my Sanrio brand plush toys my babies... as they're like little babies.. - and I am getting a phone from my parents. And Burberry Baby Touch (alco free) doesn't seem to be sold anywhere apart from possibly the Burberry store - I haven't checked yet actually - and Luton Aiport duty free (how I love duty free!) So it seems that I shall be getting that for myself when I go to M with P. (Except we might be flying from Gatwick... in which case, I will make a special trip to Knightsbridge, the place where foot traffic is worse than the road traffic in order to buy this perfume).

Organising stuff is such hassle nowadays, with people:

a) who say they're going to come to an event but then don't show.. at all

b) don't reply and then turn up, and are all like, "but you knew I was going to come!"

c) don't ever reply, even though you have given them lots of advance notice

d) who don't check their facebook/email around once a week... that's how stuff gets organised
e) bitch and whine and complain about how they didn't get invited...

But I did it.. with help from P, and so I have a very early birthday dinner planned before I go away to Milan. There is also a possible trip to Thorpe Park in the pipeline, and to be honest, I think it's a bit silly for people not to want to go because they "don't like rides".... it's for the spending time with friends just as much as the rides, and yes, you might not want to spend £20 just to hang out with your friends... but it'll be fun. I don't like rides either, but it's to feel the fear and do it anyway, except for scary rides.

AND a paintballing trip, and possibly ice skating. And some film seeing, and theatre watching.


And I desperately need to further update my wardrobe. I need some clothes and shoes and a bag... And some jeans. I've been putting off so much until after the exams, which have now finished :D ... cleaning my flat and P's.. sorting out stuff for my holiday, figuring out what there is to do in Milan, figuring out my elective timetables, looking for birthday presents, film watching, lots of food eating.... lots of reading and park frolicking...and shopping, visits to repay...


I'm going to see Britney on Saturdayyyyyy!!! Everyone's been saying how she'll be rubbish and she'll mime and it'll be crap. I don't care.. I'm the one who paid for it. No one forced me to go. I don't fucking whine about how some other artist someone is going to see will be crap do I??????


In other news, P has a book, with one of his abstracts in it, to add to his very long and shiny CV.. I find I am more tolerant of people if I don't think about how much they annoy me normally... I felt really guilty tonight for not doing any work, then I realised my exam was over. Watched the Borat film: it was funny, but flat in some places. Had two dinners, as we went to My Old Dutch but no one wanted a dessert so I felt greedy, and didn't have one like I wanted... so went home and had a second one. I'm going to be so fat :( So much for trying to lose weight :(






xo