drakyndra

Well that's what happens when your fandoms die off for a bit, at least in the LiveJournal region. (Though I suppose things will pick right back up again once Doctor Who gets going shortly)

I've still been reading things a bit, so sorry if I have lurked unforeseen, though I've currently been a bit more active on twitter or tumblr (if reblogging stuff counts as "active"), so if you want somewhere I am a bit more... participatory, you could try those. Or Facebook, but that's mostly IRL stuff, so if you would like to Friend me try asking over LJ PM.

But yes, my life has recently been filled with my volunteering, not hearing back from job applications, the occasional social event - I was at Manifest last weekend, which was fun-ish. I had Gendo sign my Death Note - and just... stuff.

The temporary housemate is due to move out this weekend, so hopefully one of the people who are coming to look at the room on Sunday will take it, or we may be in trouble. On the other hand iiNet has decided to upgrade out internet plan since the one we were on has now ceased to exist, so yay downloading things?

Also, both my parents are currently overseas. Naturally, when my Mum arrived in Turkey, the first question she texted was to ask if I wanted her to buy me a hat. As one does.

Oh, and I got a ridiculously overdue haircut yesterday.

So yeah, life.

Well, I have had my first week - well, half-week - at the new job. Which is rather like I had been told - easy and rather boring. Also, the almost 6 hours of clicking away on the mouse may end up giving me carpal tunnel syndrome.

I am also developing a renewed appreciation for people who write silly things on their test papers. Not that it gains them any marks, but it keeps markers entertained when they are in a long shift. Well, it's that or radio (my iPod currently seems to be imploding on me).

The plus side is that I don't start til 4.30pm, which gives me plenty of time to do stuff in the day - though the fact we finish at 10:30 at night - and only get home at midnight, means a big chunk of that is sleeping.

Aside from that, since it's my birthday on Monday, my Mum is in Melbourne again for the weekend. We - Mum, my sister and I - went and had Mexican for dinner tonight, and will be at the Museum tomorrow afternoon. Also, Mum gave me my present which is a shiny purple suitcase to match my carry-on bag. Apparently she had to get it online, since the colour is no longer sold in Australia.

Clearly, this is all a message that I should travel some more with my nice new luggage.

In other news, I seem to have gotten a cold, and so am not feeling my best. :\

Also, my mother was asking me what this tumblr thing was, to my amusement.

And so goes another week.

No thoughts on Korra yet, since I went to sleep before the HQ versions appeared online, and now I'm waiting for my off-peak hours to start again so I can download. But the fanbase is tearing me between lulz and facepalming.

Otherwise, I had a job interview on Friday, which I am supposed to hear back from on Monday/Tuesday, so there is that. Oh, and for my housemate's birthday I went and saw Avengers again, though we ended up stuck in the very front row, which was less fun.

Also, my mother is enquiring about what I want to do for my next birthday. Say, anyone know of anything interesting going on around Melbourne at the end of May/start of June?

And yeah, that's my personal life.

In other news, I bring amusing (non-spoilery) Avengers art (It's totally worth it for Loki's face in the last panel), and also these guys, who buy cheap landscape paitings from op-shops, and then add monsters to them. Which is win.

Also win, the new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. Which is full of shiny. And impressive music which me likey.

Yes, all my linking is definitely making me think I should get a Tumblr already.

So, I sort of quit the door-knocking job.

Which ended pretty painlessly and all, manager guy says I can use him as a reference and what-not, but does mean I am rather without a job again. Though I suppose I can go to that volunteer thing that was open and yet I never got around to starting on account of full-time work.

So that's that, I suppose.

In other news, I am off to Mum's and then Bendigo over Easter - I think I'll head down on Friday evening. Plus, some of my online purchases showed up, so I will have a nifty outfit to wear to Supanova, whichever day I end up going on.

Hey, flistians, which of you guys will be going, and on what days? I really wish they had a schedule out already.

Well, I am back in Melbourne after my weekly jaunt to Wodonga, which was both rather wet (yeah, so about that flooding...) and involved me getting sunburnt, which I actually didn't notice until this morning.

Which was alright for a worky thing, but I don't think I'd want to do it too often. I think I prefer being able to actually have some time away from co-workers. And also with internet access that isn't just my phone.

Hopefully the pay will end up being decent for it, though.

Then today I had lunch with Mum and my sister, since Mum was in the city again, and then watched as the HouseMatt cleared out all his stuff, since he's going to be moving out later this week, I think.

Since he has gone and packed the TV stand, we are now displaying the latest in student decor, having the Enormous Nature Strip Telly sitting on a pile of milk crates - so yes, there will need to be a look for some decent second hand furniture soon.

The other housemate's brother is apparently going to be in the third room for a few months, while we sort out a more permanent housemate, but I hope we'll find someone permanent soon. Anyone know of someone who could use the place?

Beyond that, I think I am mostly caught up on LJ and other important internet things, but what else has been going on in the last week that I may have missed out on? I feel so uninformed.

Well, I'm back in Melbourne after the Christmas sojourn down to Hamilton. And my housemates are back, too, so the place is no longer as weirdly quiet seeming as it was in the last few weeks for Christmas.

Also, they apparently found this enormous TV that someone put out on the nature strip. Now they just need a cable to see if it works, and the iPartment just may have obtained a free enormous TV. Because nature strip is the way to go for all your household goods

We also weren't in the region of the crazy Christmas hail storm (and speaking of with, what was up with that? I heard about it on the news, and of course Melbourne has this ridiculous storm on Christmas when I am not actually around at all.)

Christmas itself was reasonably quiet - lunch with Mum, The Sister and a friend of the family at Mum's place for lunch. (...And then leftovers for the next few days, aside from both The Sister and I's attempts at cookery). We also had a visit to Port Fairy one afternoon, in that grand Hamiltonian tradition. Pity it wasn't warmer, or we could have gone for an actual swim.

Presents I end up with - aside from the gift voucher and pencil case full of chocolates from my housemate - were 2 of the Discworld related maps (and some chocolate) from The Sister, and a small purple travel case, some charms for my bracelet, and margarita mixes (and some chocolate) from my mother. My Dad gave his presents last time I saw him.

Aside from that, Hamilton was... very Hamilton. I mean, now I am in Melbourne I shall have to check out some of the post-Christmas sales. Whereas, in Hamilton (and travelling too and from), I managed to get through 5 novels in 6 days, including all three of those Stieg Larsson Lizbeth Salander books, which were pretty hefty bricks.

Ah, but that's things for you. What has everyone else's Christmases been like? I've had some limited net access in Hamilton, but not as much as here in the iPartment. And what is everyone got planned for New Years?

Oh hey Penguindrum fans! (I know there is at least one on my flist) You can make your own flashback boards!

I even made one for myself (Please forgive the crappy Google Translate Japanese. Now, if only I could work out how to embed it...

For those who are curious as to what it's about, Mum was down in Melbourne last night, so The Sister and I went and had dinner with her. I was actually rather hoping for Mexican, but the place we looked at had an enormous queue, so we ended up back at the hotel restaurant. It actually wasn't all that bad, even if it meant I ended up walking in a great big circle in those absurd heels I was wearing.

But yes, family dinner then, which means I must now really got onto sorting out the rest of my Christmas shopping before I head back to Hamilton for Christmas itself (Or to be precise, a couple of days before - which, yes, does mean I will probably miss out on seeing the last episode of Penguindrum for a few days. No spoilers for it, plz.)

I also have to ponder what I shall get with the Harvey Norman gift voucher, which was Dad's present. I could be useful for the other iPartment residents, and get a food processor so they could use it too. Or I could be more selfish, and get a new digital camera - mine's a few years old now (5 years, actually, now I think on it) and tends to play up in really hot weather.

*sigh* Oh the great pains of having to think about shopping.

Some other entertainment (on neither shopping nor penguin related topics):
- The 10 best commercials of the year. I love it when advertisers show a little intelligence. And fun.
Also, the 30 freakiest ads, if you want a little more WTF in your advertising/
- Cello Wars. Ah, the Star Wars cello duel. Because what could be more niftily entertaining than that?
- There's a new Dark Knight Rises poster image out. Plus there's all that stuff about the prologue, but there are no special screenings of it in Australia. *pout* And I ain't paying for Imax tickets to see Tom Cruise's movie, sorry.

...I guess I'll just have to wait for Sherlock Holmes and the full TDKR trailer.

So, the two days of window people coming along and me skeddaling have been and gone - and yet, the windows still aren't done. So apparently people will be back again on Saturday to finish things off. And I do hope that means finish, so we can put furniture back as it should be and be able to actual cooking in the kitchen.

*sigh*

Also, it will mean I won't end up shoved out of the house so I am forced to wander around Melbourne, looking at random shops and ending up spending all my moneys. On the plus side, I found a place in Melbourne that had the Hark, A Vagrant! book, so I managed to get that without excessive postage charges.

Any suggestions as to what's on on Saturday so I can kill some time during the day? The comments on my Twitter have not been the most productive - most of yesterday afternoon got occupied when I got on the wrong tram by accident, and ended up spending a few hours at Docklands when I ended up there.

(And no, I don't plan on reading fic on my phone, because that is really not the most comfortable way to go about it. Even if it is a new chapter of Primary Gain.)

Oh, and Dad's having dinner with The Sister and I on Saturday, so I need to think of something to ask him for for Christmas by then. And one of my housemates is leaving for Vietnam on Saturday, too.

So yeah, my life.

Have some videos instead:
- The Periodic Table of Swearing. This is apparently an actual thing in London. ...I so wish I could go and see it.
- The Earth, as seen from the International Space Station. Our world is stranger and prettier than any CGI could ever be.

Last assignment for the year was handed in, which means I am now free! Free for almost three months.

I do appreciate free time.

To celebrate, I wandered over to Lygon Street for a bit. Bought some books from the Readings' sale - and discovered that The Screwtape Letters was apparently categorised in the Theology section, which strikes as a bit off - and then got talked into having pasta at one of the Italian restaurants by the guy out the front. Free wine is apparently persuasive (The pasta was good, though).

And then I decided to get a cocktail at Carlton Yacht Club, which is in fact a bar, not a yacht club. Also, the cocktail I ended up getting was named "Frogurt" and the menu actually quoted the dialogue from that Simpsons clip, to my amusement.

So, that was my deeds for the day. Next thing I have going on is I think a family reunion back at Byaduk on the weekend, which means a rather early morning on Sunday for my lift (Though The Sister has mentioned she doesn't mind if we are late enough to miss the church service).

Links of the day:
- Welcome to Kitty City. You probably should not watch this video if you are on drugs. Actually, you probably shouldn't watch this video if you aren't on drugs, it's just it's freaky enough as it is that the addition of drugs could end badly.
- Le Internet Medley. For a song that is mostly internet memes, that's rather professional seeming.

So, the second half of this week ended up being quite as busy as the first.

To start off with there was the finishing up of school placement, which entailed rather a bit of business. And means I am back to having actual classes at Uni now.

Though it also means I can sleep in instead of having to get up stupidly early all the time, which is always a plus.

And then I got a haircut on Thursday. Since it was really rather overdue for one, I'd just put it off until after Manifest and cosplaying. I got it done at a different place than usual, and wasn't really sure how much I liked it to start off with, but after a couple of days (and getting all the product the hairdresser put in washed out) I am much more pleased.

Then, on Friday evening I went to connikins' birthday thing, which meant dinner at a Korean place - I don't think I had actually had Korean food before - and then off to Richmond for a swing dancing lesson.

Korean food was interesting (Sesame ice-cream, om nom nom) and I may have to go back there some other time to investigate what else was on the menu.

And swing dancing was rather fun, so long as you weren't currently being partnered with Sweaty Drunk Guy. About half-way through the lesson I actually twigged that I'd done this footwork before, back when I was doing all my ballet and jazz and what-not, but the partnering stuff was actually kinda new.

Then, last night Mum was down in Melbourne, to visit after getting back from her grand overseas trip, as well as dinner for my sister's birthday. We went out to that Greek place we liked, and has much chatting (and then cake at Brunetti's after), and as well birthday gifts for The Sister, Mum also had some miscellaneous souvenir gifts from... all over the place.

So, there are some assorted pieces of jewellery and accessories from Italy and Hong Kong. And a pen from Buckingham Palace.

So yeah.

And then today I mostly just slept in, bummed around, and finally started messing around on Pottermore. (Yes, I got my invite a week ago, and have been far too busy since then to try it out)

So I have a Larch wand with Unicorn hair, and was sorted into Ravenclaw. Which I can't say I am entirely shocked about. It also provided me a genuine laughing out loud moment when reading the intro speech. Oh Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold, you provide the lulz.

I appear to have a couple of friends requests already, but I'm having trouble matching Pottermore names to other fandom IDs - if you want me as a Pottermore friend, could you just give me a reminder so I know who is who. (I'm MidnightRook15, for the record).

I also now want fanfic of McGonagall featuring her Pottermore revealed backstory, because it's so interesting.

Pottermore just makes me want to read HP fanfic in general. Anyone got any new recs?

Other random entertainments are:
- 100 years of what to wear in 100 seconds. For everyone who likes retro fashions. Or dancing. Or dancing while wearing retro fashions.
- Interactive Triangulation. LOOK AT ALL THE SHIT YOU CAN MAKE TRIANGLES DO!
- Yuri Lowenthal using his Suzaku voice to ad-lib a deeply un-Suzakulike comment. And I LOL'd.