The Melody Of Life

Random Update #375 (or so)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:03:08 GMT

Hih. Went out to deliver a few more applications today (I like to save the stamps, if it's near enough by, I drop it off myself.)
One was for a job at the post-office and I was lucky enough to meet the personnel manager directly and get an instant job-interview.
I'm allowed to come back tomorrow and watch the work; then we'll see. As it is, chances are good, someone is about to quit and they need a replacement. Wish me luck!

Also, I once again marvel at my fondness for waistcoats and shirts. I looked pretty smart today without intending to, and the fact that I'm also currently wearing my favourite pair of suspenders helps, too. (Of course they're hidden away under the waistcoat at all times, but I like to pretend they bring me luck.) Heh. There was a time when I was just feeling nostalgic about them but nowadays I've lost so much weight they're actually functional. ^-^

S'all. Stuff planned for tomorrow: clean home. Parents wanna stop by. Doom...

Jâ nee!

Three Investigators LIVE

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:23:21 GMT

So, last night Kai, her brother, a friend and her son, and me went to Braunschweig to see the live event-radio play of "Die drei ???" ("The Three Investigators") by Alfred Hitchcock.

I've been listening to the voices of the cast for about 22 years now on countless tapes/CDs and over 140 cases. They've been constant companions of my childhood and I still enjoy listening to any new episodes or replaying older ones (which I keep as mp3 nowadays, because the original tapes have long since been run into the ground). Yes, I'm a fan.

It was utterly awetastic to see them live on stage, complete with band, the guy who does all the noises in the play, the other people in the cast and, of course, the narrator. Noise-guy is especially cool, you wouldn't believe with what he comes up to make an appropriate noise to the goings-on on stage.

It was an evening full of laughter and wonder and self-irony with special effects and a very different story to what we knew from the 'real' published episode. They were playing "Der schreiende Wecker" ("The Screaming Alarm Clock"), a very old episode, but with a totally new outline. It has been transcribed into a more modern setting (I missed the Rolls and the omg-speshul car phone, haha) and more... mature characters.

The personal highlight for me was Peter and Bob repairing a karaoke-machine, then singing a lovesong-duet on stage while making ridiculous-funny lewd gestures at each other.
The crowd was calling for an encore, which they promptly did. With even more funny innuendo and ending... with a kiss. The audience went completely wild.
And then Justus said into the out-stretched silence: "Alright, at least, everyone *knows* now."
So there, Bob and Peter apparently like like each other. The gay has finally invaded my childhood-fandom. XDDD
And then, I totally fangirled Monsieur Hugenais. Hiiih. ^____^

We were lucky to sit in only the third row directly in the middle, so we had a magnificent view on the stage. The VW-arena was almost sold out, so we were doubly as happy to have had arrived about 2 hours early - the benefit of free choice of places goes to the early birds.

Aaah. It's been a day now and I'm still utterly gleeful inside.

I can highly recommend the play to anyone who's got the time to go watch it - even if you aren't a real fan! It's totally worth it, and the mystery surrounding the screaming clock WILL still surprise you if you have heard the original episode.
Also, naked-yoga. 'Nuff said. *coughs*

There's also currently an ongoing Tut-Ench-Amun exhibition in Hamburg. Kai and I are planning to visit it next month. Yey!

Aside from that, I have nothing much to tell. Will apply for more jobs tomorrow. Still haven't heard from the job center. And that's what we pay taxes for, tsk...

Jâ nee!

I Want To Go Home. Unfortunately, So Does Mum.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:42:12 GMT

Me *calls mum*: Hey, I've decided to come home next weekend, so you can spoil me rotten and treat me like a queen, isn't that nice?
Mum: Too bad. I've just decided to go visit grandma in order to do the same there.
Me: Curses, foiled again.

That's it with family, they go on complaining on how you never ever visit anymore and when you do, they go on complaining on how they don't have actually time for you. Heh.

Of course in this case, I'll simply show up at grandma's as well. Rumour is, there'll even be cake. *g'*

No other news. Life is still shitty, but I'm recovering. -___-

Jâ nee!

Shaking Fists At Youngsters...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:58:02 GMT

I'm feeling oooold. My back hurts from sitting so much hunched over books and my knee is killing me - not from sitting but because of my patella rubbing on the raw bone of my femur. Right now it's stabilized with a tight bandage - but I won't get to cheat my way out of surgery again. *sigh*

On other news: the Worst Week has extended to a period of Worst Fortnight. U has started again and I'm depressed enough to find it hard to go anywhere. And I'm still looking for a new job. I've written job applications of course, but I have not yet heard of positive feedback. Had some interviews already, I just hope it's coming along.
Also went to the job center asking for help, but was sent away after filling out the forms. Apparently no one there can't be bothered to even call me back, let alone deal with me. Yeah, thanks, dear government. *sighs more*

Still miss Grissom terribly. I have no place to put the empty cage but where it has always been standing, and now I imagine to keep seeing movement out of the corner of my eye when I sit on my bed. It drives me crazy. It's like I'm being haunted by a ghostly hamster. Of course the truth is that the horizontal cage-bars interact with the vertical stripes of the heater behind it, but still. It does happen to be the place where he spent hours chewing on carrots and stuff. I enjoyed watching him trying to drag the huge veggies away and it's been a very familiar sight. *sighs even more*

The only good thing? I've got an awesome timetable this semester. 1 1/2 days completely free - which means I can spend them wholly at the library instead of cramming in 2-hour sessions for learning between normal seminars. Yey me. I hope it stays this way.

... okay, so I also managed to get my hands on a moleskine which is now being abused as my NaNo-writing notebook. Not that I'm really planning to write if the U turns out to be too much, but for now it helps getting the crazy ideas/characters/settings/crappy drawings out of my head and onto paper, so I can at least sleep better. My fingers are *itching* for Nov 1st. ^___^

S'all. Cya peeps!

Worst Week... This Year.

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:25:45 GMT

When the shit hits the fan, it does so here spectacularly fast and high.

Grissom died after all. He was better, then got worse again. I took him to Hamburg with me in my parents' car and went to the vet again, but there was nothing to do after all. He was quite old already and that drasted infection wouldn't go away.
I kept him warm and fed best I could, but in the end I could just sit and wait. In the end he died in my arms on Sunday evening.
He's buried now under the rose-bushes in our garden.
I miss him terribly. Monday's been the first time in two years I went home and couldn't say "Hey, I'm back" to anyone. It feels empty and silent. It's so sad, I've grown attached very much to my little wish-mop. I hope he nibbles lots of greens and seeds in heaven...

The baptism was very nice, of course, but I couldn't really enjoy it at the time. I made a ton of photos though. Nina is a very adorable baby. Even if she's a drama queen in the making. *g*

Tuesday, my boss called telling me they were going to cut my hours down by two thirds (!) because they couldn't afford to pay me more. Instead, she wanted to take over my evening shifts herself. But of course I'd still be welcome to work the weekend night shift. And then she hung up on me.
For the record, that means I'd earn 30€ a week. I was a bit peeved.

Wednesday, my boss' husband called telling me that there *may be* some other shift I could take, but it was all quite unspecific and I was asked to swing by on Thursday - I told him that I might not be able to make it.

Because after all, I had that very important exam on Thursday so I tried to concentrate on that first - it went horribly, I was expecting something else entirely. Also, the prof was sitting alone with me in the room, right opposite of me. I was so nervous. No idea whether I made it or not.
I'm also working on that last paper - missed the deadline, but maybe the prof isn't so much of an ass and lets me hand it in on Monday still. *holds thumbs and writes like mad* I should have made it, but I didn't feel all too well after all.

And tonight I went to work. I'm currently sitting at the office. It will be the last time for me.

I came to take over shift from my boss at 1am.
When I asked (very nicely) about the maybe-solution my boss snapped. She flat-out told me "NOT NOW." - to which I naturally replied "Tomorrow then?" - After all, I need to know if it's time to go looking for a new job to support myself, right?
But, apparently, that was too much for the frazzled nerves of my employer. Aside from already looking very exhausted and grey and all over NOT good (I get that she's been working 19 hours straight each day this week, since I wasn't there at all and no one else has been doing more shifts than regular...) she went bonkers, accusing me of, and I quote, trying to blackmail her, being an overly demanding person and always getting on her nerves from the very beginning, and just being to naive to notice..

I was so dumbstruck, I must have stared at her for about five seconds. Then her husband said "Sorry, she's through for today. We'll settle this next week."
Me: "I'd rather do it tomorrow, please?"
He: (snappish) "Okay, tomorrow then."

I kind of played with the thought of giving back my keys and leaving. But I didn't. I hold myself for a much too nice person for that kind of behaviour.

But then, five minutes later he came over to my night-shift office, handing me the plan I'd forgotten and said "Well, it's your fault for not coming over on Thursday."
I said: "But I told you, important exam. I couldn't afterwards."
"Well, now we can't!" he answered, quite loud and, well, in a fit of pique. And left, without a word of good bye.

...
That's why I decided it's time to move on.
I'll collect tonights' pay tomorrow afternoon, clear out my locker, give back the keys. They can go find someone else for tomorrow's night shift.

If they can't bother sparing five minutes to clear a possible working schedule with me so I might know if I can pay this month's rent after cutting off the major part of my income and make a fuss over a simple question for which I feel I have every right to, then I'm not sorry at all to ditch them, too. She can go and work herself to death for all I care.
I'm just sorry because I really enjoyed working here after all. The colleagues were very friendly in general, and the customers cause often more laughter than dismay (even though there are a few special-cakes ^^)
I'm also sorry I'm ranting so much about it but I'm kind of flustered at the moment.

Anyway, I rather quit before I get myself fired for... being a too demanding person perhaps. Not that I can say I've done anything to warrant it to the best of my knowledge, as I always try to give my best at any job, but they might find a silly reason after all.

I'm mad.

Well, fuck it. Or,

TL,DR: Life sucks, I'm going home to eat a giant ice cream sundae in a few hours, finish the goddamn paper and go looking for a job first thing on Monday morning.

I'm not going to let this shitty week bring me down. It's just even worse for I can't go and complain to Grissom about The Suck. He at least cheered me right back up. I really miss him.

Hamsterdance

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:41:16 GMT

Poor Grissom is ill.
He hasn't been eating anything for two days and started to sit in a corner of his cage and shiver uncontrollably on Sunday night. Due to this impeccable timing I stayed up with him, kept him warm and hydrated and took off for the vet early the next morning. I've never had an ill hamster before and he looked so miserable and pitiful I thought he was going to die. (I was running in circles. The Panic.)

As it turned out his chuck jaw is inflamed, causing him a great deal of pain when chewing. He's on meds now and slightly improving by the day - helped along by a diet of yoghurt and meshed apple and a bit of cucumber. I'm still reluctant to leave him for the weekend though. If he's not fine by then, I'm not going at all.

Oh yes, the weekend. Mum and dad are passing by on their retour from vacation and are planning to pick me up. Sunday is baby Nina's baptism (hiiiiih *^___^*) - still have to find a present - and clothes - and some other things.

On other news: my vanity is being fed. I've actually found an affordable French manicure pen with a white paste that stays on even with just a single layer nail polish above. I &heart; it. It's got a pen tip which is pure GOLD for me - I'm total rubbish with a normal brush on myself. >___>*
*happily wiggles freshly made nails*

Also: NaNo ideas are spilling like mad. Which is a pity because right now, I can't use them at all, because...

last but not least: exam next week. TOTALLY PEEVED.

~cya peeps!

Nightshift-musings...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:38:58 GMT

It's awesome.
We have a giant full moon hanging in the heavily clouded sky. It illuminates the stormy night in such a dramatic fashion, it's simply beautiful. The apple-trees on the front-lane whisper a constant rustling lullaby and the street is deserted and silent. I could sit outside the whole night and just listen to the nocturnal symphony.
Alas, I have work to do... (but I did steal two apples from the tree).

On other news: I have a NaNo plot, cue purple prose. XD

Elections and Government and Maya.

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:19:13 GMT

"Angela Merkel surft auf der Westerwelle" writes the MoPo.
Wow. We're not actually into the new government and the lame word-plays begin already. (for you english-onlies, it's a wordplay on names: Angela Merkel surfs the West(er)wave" O__o)
Anyway, the mental image and its connotations give me the effing creepies. Does. Not. Want.

Also, the fight over "Maya" or "Tigerente" is ridiculous. (And if it absolutely, utterly have to be a childrens' book reference reference, it should be Willy. The little guy deserves way more love than the bubble-headed Maya bee. Also, he's more careful not to mess things up. ^^)

Still, it's more charming than "traffic lights" or "Jamaica"... and the BVB fans are happy, too. XD

Karma's A Bi*ch. Only Not.

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:03:09 GMT

Why do I always attract catastrophes?

Like, this morning. 6.30 am. Still mostly dark outside. I sit on my bed, typing happily away the last few lines of footnotes for my paper. Finis! Yey, I cheer. That demands celebrational comfort-food. I stand up, reach for the coffee-pot... BANG.
Darkness. I freeze, standing in the proverbial minefield of littered books, sheets of paper, candy packages and a tea-set of all things - I've been up since 3am, typing the damn work. It gets messy by definition. Outside, a nightingale is singing mockingly at me. The computer is silent. I haven't hit the save-button.

What happened is this: My landlord had a damaged power-circuit on his side of the house, so he called in the maintenance guy. Who then pulled the main-fuse, without bothering to inform anyone. Because, this early, no one could probably think of turning on the lights, or say, an electric machine of sorts. It is, after all, still DARK out there.
Thanks but no thanks. The moron cost me two pages of toilsome edited and advanced footnotes in Open Office. If I hadn't been in my pajamas, I'd probably stalked right over and slapped him. As it is, I settled for a scream of rage through the wall. I hope he noticed. *makes little fuming noises*

Alas, here we go again. I'm starting to really detest footnotes.

On other news: Just back from my Weight Watchers meeting. I've finally managed to break the 10% line and am now proud owner of a keychain. I'm all motivated. On to the next ten kg!

Also, the "Free Flow" areal in our newly designed mensa is finally open. It resembles a giant food-court and the food is actually quite good. You also can freely mix and match whatever strikes your fancy. Finally! No longer the compulsory choice between devilish fries and beelzebubish croquettes. ^____^

Nightly Visitor...

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:40:25 GMT

I'm used to people staggering into my lonely office at night. Usually it's colleagues searching for a quick Klönschnack, a funny little chat. They like to keep tabs on me by that way, make sure I'm alright. I heart that. ^^ (It is sometimes very creepy to sit in the otherwise deserted office building.)
However, tonight I got another visitor:

Isn't he beautiful? He came through the half-closed window, out of the rain and unerringly made his way to my soda pop. It's an Inachis Io, an European Peacock.
They tend to seek a cool but safe place to hibernate nowadays. Three of them are already huddled into our toilet at home, and I'm reluctant to chase them out. (I have a soft spot for the little critters. ^^)
I cheated and lured this one onto my hand with a drop of sweet soda. Now he's fed and sitting safely in a ceiling-corner of the room. I wonder if he's planning to stay...?

Show forth yer bag, yo-ho... and two more pictures

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:10:11 GMT

*snagged from dopitita*

A girl's bag-content is supposed to tell a lot about the person herself... well, this is mine.

This is my current bag. Shiny, comfortable leather. I found it a while ago on sale - and while I didn't *need* a bag, it sat half-forgotten and so lonely on the rack in the corner and totally wanted to come home with me I just had to give in. Because, well, it was lonely. I felt sorry for it. XDDD
There's two front-zippers, another large one in the back. The main-pocket is also zipped and holds another small zipper-pocket and two smaller compartments.

And that's the stuff noone ever believes actually fits into it - but it does. (The bag gets quite heavy, though.)

Let's see. Beginning from the upper left corner:
Handkerchiefs,
umbrella (never leave home without it around Göttingen, rain is inevitable,
iron-supplement-tablets (aftereffects from donating blood),
dental floss (because, unclean teeth = gross),
a wooden fan (because until a week ago, the weather was HOT)
iPod & headphones (I'd die from boredom without it on train rides and about every-semi-silent-place else),
deo,
*blushes and makes little noises* (there it is, the proof that I haven't cheated and kept things off-picture) uhm, anyway,
my bag of dice (for Dungeons&Dragons RPG)

next row:
my ever-accompanying weekly calendar; I'd be lost and miserable without being able to plan and absolutely helpless in remembering anything.
The brown book is my current notebook. It has wonderfully thick paper and is filled with ~~random plotbunnies,~~ ~~pictures,~~ ~~fanfiction~~ important notes concerning U and life and the rest. The card tugged on top is a Red Cross reminder over changed office hours.
The box for my glasses,
the black rectangular little bag contains ink-capsules for my pen, cleaning cloth for my glasses as well as the connection cables for my cell-phone (charger/headset), spare memory card and also headache-meds. Very important.
Next is my monthly bus-ticket,
honey-bonbons (yay *Bonschies*) and below the creme-meds for my ear infection,
matches and a lighter (I tend to carry both),
my wallet (looks big but contains mostly paper and bonus cards. One day that'll change.)
and below some loose spare change and the smaller wallet that holds my copy-cards. With every building having their own stupid machines that need a different card each, I'm currently up to seven. I wish I could remember which was which...)

next row:
sunscreen (Jil Sander, SPF 8)
my Bleach cellphone bag - the phone is missing, of course, I made the photos with it. Chibi-Ichigo is cute, but I still keep him mostly hidden away. XD
Chewing gum (after meals and against hunger and about the only thing you're allowed to "eat" at the library without risking the Evil Look from the Librarian),
pens, pencils, rubber-pen and a fountain pen with green ink. Constantly in use.
The rectangular see-through pack holds spare pair of headphones and, much more important, earplugs. A real lifesaver when it gets too chatty at the library.
And now we're getting evidence that I'm a vain, vain, vain person.
Red nail polish. Lipstick. Next to it a film-container holding my bobby pins and rubber bands. Below there's my make-up mirror, two pairs of earrings, a nailfile and my ankle-bracelet.

next row: Err. Various kinds of makeup. Mainly powder, lip-gloss, moisturizing creme, concealer, mascara, eyebrow pencils, nail-moisturizer, eye-shadow and liner, parfum (I really love Jean-Paul Gaultier's Classique)
More chewing gum (I go through a lot of it. This week it's cherry flavoured)
The round thing above is a motivational good-luck-glass nugget. I keep it to remind myself that I'm trying to lose weight. Useful playing with it when considering mensa-food.
A nail-care set containing scissors, file and tweezers. Because nail-damage => *runs screaming*
A pocket-knife. Good for uncorking wine or getting off beercaps. And then some. I'm practical like that. ^___^
And last but not least: a barrette. My hair has grown quite a few inches over the summer. I need it again.

*breathes* I probably should try to cut down on all the stuff, shouldn't I? Just never get around to really do it - and, oh heck, now I have to stuff everything back inside. Yay me. If I just didn't find myself in need of all this.
Maybe I should toss out most of the makeup. It's one of the things I keep for evenings and weekends, but never get around to use first thing in the morning. I actually detest spending more than 15 minutes in the bath (including a shower). So, mostly it's just a bit concealer and mascara then. ^^

I apologize for the lousy quality. My scanner's not made to do high-resolution photos. My selfmade dress minus the detachable neckholder. I'm so proud of it.

... still wearing the dress. See the upper corner? *g* The illumination makes the colours wonky in a strange but pretty way - it's rare my eyes look this blue and my hair this dark. No idea what the photographer was thinking, haha.

Okay. And now that I'm done my nightshift is also over. Sleep now. *waves*

illegible noises

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:17:24 GMT

I.... I... whaaaat? *brainbreaks*

I don't believe it. Some guy just called demanding we find and deliver a harlot to his place.

Nice try. But we're a Taxi-company, and while we usually take up delivery duties for our better customers (food, drinks, meds, etc.), we don't deal in prostitution. No matter *how much* of a regular customer one is.
The nerve!
Getting rid of the demand without being impolite was a piece of work, too. XD

Yes, I think this is going into my memoirs as one of the top ten WTF-calls.

My Brain Is Doing Things By Itself Again...

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:44:53 GMT

Mou. I'm doing research for my Knights Templar paper and cop myself at casting aside random non-topic-related stuff from the books. Mea's planning a MA-fantasy book, y'see. And apparently my brain is cooperating - too bad it has failed to inform me of it sooner. XD I wish it would stop doing that.

Tweet Me!

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:18:18 GMT

... totally forgot. I'm on twitter again! http://twitter.com/rena_lime But, urgh, now I have to add all old followings to the new account. Will do that later. Probably. Now, sleep.

That Fucker... And Shiny, SHINY Distractions!

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:28:25 GMT

So. I'm missing vital books for my paper. I've pre-ordered them six weeks+ ago and am still waiting. The idiot who's checked them out is apparently sitting on them (you can't keep 'em longer if there's a pre-order). I sure don't want to see that guy's penalty-fee-account. It must be over €60 by now. Yes it's petty to be gleeful about that, but I really. Need. Those. Books.
Only good news is, I talked about it with the prof and he's offered me another two weeks extra time. He apparently can guess who that fucker is. XD

Still, that means I've got five days left to finish my other two papers. *Hurries on*

If only it wasn't for the shiny distractions. And by shiny I mean "awesometastic wonderfully ~~gay~~ sparkelicious magical new episodes of BBC's Merlin" - airing next week.(*1*) Ooooh I can't wait. I wanna see if the Epic Slash Dragon continues to throw hints at Merlin&Arthur's fabulous ~~gay~~ life and Uther being... badass. Yes peeps, the Magic Is Back!
*gah* I can see myself writing Merfic already. Because, I totally have nothing better to do. Fear the bunnies of destruction and doom. Bad brain, no cookie.

I also prolly shouldn't on-the-fly-buy stuff on eBay. (More on that later, but what I got was wonderfully and shiny and came very cheap for me. That's what you get for surfing at times everyone sane sleeps)

Mum's making noises on how I should stop by at home - thanks but no thanks. Grandma's back from her vacation and demands to see me these days as well.
...Why doesn't anyone seem to get that "I don't have the time" actually means "I don't have the time."?
I'm literally booked out until the 19th - and even after that my schedule remains tight.

*sigh* Sucky life. But then, the shiny makes it somehow all endurable.

(*1*) Yupp. I'm sleep-deprived, and that's the sign of it. I looked at my calendar and somehow mistook 19th for 9th. *is a sad little rena but still excited for then* and yes, I do keep a calendar for such 'unnecessary' facts like this. *total dork*

Fashionista

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:36:43 GMT

Well screw it. I used to hate, hate *hate* stockings. They never stayed in place and scratched me raw and were generally damn uncomfortable to wear.
And now my sister loaned me hers for the photo shooting (the one we had to reschedule) and I was thinking that maybe I ought to get used to them again, it's been about 10 years or so already since I wore any... and curse my sister for giving me her über-soft silky ones with the special super-sticky inlay that actually keep them in place. I've been wearing them all day and they're actually nothing like the ones I remember - I find myself secretly coveting a whole stash now. XDDDD My poor money-bag for this month is looking scared already.
And just because I was simmering away in tights all summer long. (I hate my naked legs under a skirt.)

On other news, university papers are of Evil! I say. *goes back to write*

Meme To Self:

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:38:37 GMT

... no more effing Disney-movies for you. I mean it!

~~this undoubtfully clever comment stems from the fact that the rena just spent two hours watching Pixar's "Up" and cried like a PMSing Damsel in Distress through most of it.~~

*sigh* I don't deal well with death and departure at the moment. Stupid emotional roller coaster.

The schoolyear begins, September 1st...

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:08:45 GMT

...oh, it doesn't help I've been reading HP fic again, does it? And even worse I stumbled upon a quite brilliant one while doing research. *SIGHS*

Anyway. We had to relay the great photo-day for a few weeks due to diverse problems (so not my fault) - still wasn't at the hair dressers though, it wasn't worth it yet in turn. But I did spend a quite enjoyable day at the NiSa-Con at Braunschweig. Granted, it was a very small Con with just about 150 people, but it was charming and fun and all over satisfying for my poor deprived ~~not~~otaku soul. ^____^ Plus, I went wth friends. Everything is better with friends. *g*

Sadly, the only other remotely interesting news isn't interesting at all, I went donating blood and didn't faint this time. Well, it's something. My arm still hurts a bit. XD

Alas, back to work now. And, well, work tonight....

Jâ nee!

Poked Fingers...

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:06:45 GMT

Ha! The dress is done! *gleeful* I finished it this afternoon. And because it fits well enough I decided to attach the neckholder just with snaps so I can wear it without as well. *glees some more*

Okay, enough now.
Week ahead:
Wed: hairdresser, shopping, travel home to HH
Thur: pack all stuff I could possibly need (more shopping) travel back to Hannover, sleepover at Stanza's.
Fri: Photo-shooting day. Will probably long and hard. And lots of fun. Evevning: back to Gö.
Sat: Trip to Braunschweig with Kai and Daniel: NiSa-Con visit. Because everyone needs some anime con sometimes. ^_____^
Sun: SLEEP. 'Nuff said. Oh, and eat and paper at some time. Because I'm already a bit behind my schedule. So no free day at all. XD.

S'all. Wanna catch me, use my cell - I prolly won't answer my phone at home. Depends on whether Nono has talked it *empty* of accu again.

Jâ nee!

Not A Sleepy Head...

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:51:08 GMT

...and boy, do I regret it.
I gotta get up in about... four hours and I just can't fall asleep to begin with - and by now I've tried staying purposefully awake (which usually makes me tired!) play endless rows of boring card games, read, watch TV and knit socks for heaven's sake, but it was all for naught. Sometimes I really hate night shift-aftershocks... *sigh* on to drawing now. Maybe I'll fall asleep over the scratching of pencil on paper.

Plans for the day: shopping, post office, lunch with Kai, sewing, work 'till midnight. XD I'm SO screwed.

Dress Me Up!

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:59:06 GMT

Yesterday was awesome. I went on a sewing frenzy. My blue dress is almost finished, all that's left is to attach the skirt to the top, add the zipper and sew the neck holder on. I'm quite proud of myself - the whole frill of the petticoat was quite an act. But it worked out, and it fits exactly to my size.
Poor Kai, though - I got on her nerves for the whole day. If it wasn't for her sewing machine, I'd still be staring at the fabric instead of being so gleeful. ^____^
Many great thanks to her for letting me stay at her place and stealing away her cookies, too! *is a terrible leech at times*

Anyway. What spewed the frenzy was of course the upcoming photo-shooting session on Friday - how better to celebrate a new 50s-styled dress than in a 50s photo-setting? I'm looking forward to it.

That's the WIP-skirt (and part of the top in the front). The tulle was Evil. It just didn't want to be attached, I swear.

But it'll make a good wad once it's all done. Doesn't look like it here yet, but the final volume is *huge*.

The moral? If I was in any way as excited about my papers as I am about the prospect of adventorous trips-with-camera, I'd be an ace-student. Dangit.
Also, black tea? Lifesaver. *looks owlish*

Youtube History

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:30:53 GMT

Not a real update, just a random observation: Me + Youtube = Bad Idea. (With capitals.)

I was only looking for a specific soundfile on youtube. Of course, one thing led to another and now I've clicked through 97 vids over the course of 3 1/2 hours. Damn me. I'll have to pull an all-nighter to get back on track with my working schedule.

Anyway. At least I found that silly file. It's a soundtrack from an old commercial break. From there I made it over other breaks to old TV-shows, the start of color-TV in Germany to politics - old chancellors and their affairs, Baader-Meinhof and then some - the unsportly bouts of our quiz-TV-stations, random funny scenes, dumb people (in the sense of not knowing any kind of general knowledge and tryng to skip it over with sadly idiotic comments) to Japanese!Dr. Who to various reports to movie trailers.
Curse you, shiny links on the right!

And now I'm seeing with squared eyes from staring at the screen for too long.

Signing out, heading to bed and hoping not to dream too weird stuff -

~Me.

Wedding Planned

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:09:15 GMT

I think I'm gonna end up married before I even finish the U. Went for late breakfast with Constanze and Konstanze because they kind of want to borrow me for a photo session.
However, with one being just married and the other being... well, her, they decided to pair me off and went into a full frenzy of wedding plans.

We know a good bridal shop, you'll look stunning in that and that dress, cakes, church, city-hall, that kind of music, those white doves, rings and, of course, a suitable husband in petto. What kind of flowers/birds do you like, how do we get your family together, what decorations do we use. We plan the bridal shower and wedding, you go off into some Spa to fight off the stress, we make the photos andwe'llbeyourchildren'sgodmothers... you'll have at least two, won't you.

I was kind of flabbergasted. But it was very much fun nonetheless. ^_____^ (If I ever intend to marry, at least I know two competent ladies to turn to. They can be very determined and scary.)

Anyway, the point of this? I'm going on a professional photo-shoot next week with 50s' styled clothes and at a medieval castle. Yey me. ~~Probably doesn't help me stop being so vain, but it's the awesome. And I luuuurve the attention. *is a stage hawk~~
Now I gotta shuffle off to find some suitable stockings. I've got ladders in mine. XD

Obligatory Post: Trip To Berlin: The Review

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:04:34 GMT

"Each journey you take will teach you something" - it's what my granddad used to say.

And, because I'm me and a bit on the crazy side, I'm going to share what I have learned on this trip to Berlin.
Feel free to skip the obligatory pic-spam accompanying my musings; that's just me marveling over the joys of photobucket - I'll put it at the end of the post. (They're pretty cool, though)

So, what *do* I have learned?

- Never trust the travel agency to not mess up.
Somehow they mixed up the dates and booked our room for next week - we spent half the day worrying whether they'd find another hotel for us. They did. At 5pm (!) we got the relieving call and ended up in a better hotel; unfortunately it was in the eastern part of the city which due to the sucking replacement public traffic service was quite... sucky.

- The public traffic system is MAYOR SUCKAGE in Berlin.
I know it stems from the city being divided for so long and the recent problems with lots of the trains, and us ending up at the end of the world with that hotel (not really) but I *missed* the Hamburg-solution with all trains/subways/metro-lines meeting at one point. We spent a good felt ten hours of our 3day-trip just hopping on and off. Seriously, if you need to switch means of transportation four times to get from the hotel to the zoo, it's kind of sad.

- Must bring leash to keep ojou-chan from going on a shopping-frenzy.
You wouldn't believe the number of shops we went through, even with the handicap of...

- Me getting old.
Seriously, I need support stockings, I think. My feet got swollen from just a leeeetle bit of walking around (just 16 hours straight, I swear); but I feel better knowing that Nono's feet hurt like a bitch as well. Heh. (Phrase to remember: "Ich tue soooo weh!" - Non-Germans beware that this is gramm. WRONG German to the core, but it does translate to "I soooo do hurt." As in, absolutely everywhere and then some.

- Walking said 16 hours straight is no good if there are plans for the next day.
Tackling Zoo and museum island in one day was probably a bad idea, but we didn't have much choice, given that we didn't dare to go without secure shake-downs. Next day, we couldn't move for ten minutes without seeking rest. Made the shopping spree quite... interesting.

- Must bring leash to keep self from going on shopping-spree.
... on second thought, bring person to hold leash as well. But, y'know, shoes!

- Must not give random strangers the time.
... because they might turn out to be from the village next to your own and follow you around for the rest of the evening. And constantly try to flirt with your sister. *brrr*

- Always check, recheck and re-recheck dates and times of leaving.
I messed that one up, misjudged the time needed for public traffic. Had to take a taxi, and barely reached the bus back to HH in time (I think it was three minutes to spare) But we got there in time and that's what counts, right? And Nono didn't remember either.

- Look more like a tourist when in some 'foreign' city
I have been asked directions to God-knows-where no less than 17 times. In four different languages besides German. WTF.

- I hate McDonalds for making such a delicious white chocolate.
... but... *White Chocolate!!!* It screws my WeightWatcher points, but it's just. so. good. *is ashamed*

Us, getting lost. I liked how the random shot turned out to have both of us half in the picture. Go Nono, that's artistic!

The Freakiest Fish I have ever seen. Taken at the Berlin Aquarium.

In front of the Aquarium: One of the giant sculptures that litter the Berlin Zoo. I feel small.

... as I do here. XD

and here. I'm glad he's not real, haha.

Paparazzi!!! (Actually, that's just one guy trying to shoot harmlessly at the emus. We did run into a filming crew and journalists at our arrival in Berlin though. They were filming at the tube station we had to use to cross the street.

For those liking Latin-learning books. Errr.

Me: Go stand next to the statue.
Nono: What for?
Me: You look kind of like it, it's an IDEAL greek head study.
Nono: *instant dash to bust* Do I really look like it? I DO!
Me: Yes, the nose is kind of the same.
Nono: *hits me*

Spongebob had to come along for the ride. (He makes a good pillow)

... I liked the cloud?

Sunny day in the city. We got very lucky with the weather.

... first signs of onsetting shopping-spree.

Crime-scene of ongoing shopping-spree.

Evidence/results of the shopping-spree: two pair of swollen feet. Yes, that's my stockings; and Nono's feet aren't blistered, but preventively plastered.

Storm-Troopers apparently don't like shopping-spreers.

Neither do giant Steiff-bears. (He's so cute. If he was anyhow affordable I'd have taken him home)

Sorry, but I had to. I nearly died seeing this poster. Anyone else think inadvertedly of He-Man when reading this? (It says "We have The ~~Power~~ Strength!" Go, Angie! Defeat the Evil Forces of Crisis and War...

I could go on now. I haven't even told you about our sight-seeing tour to the Dome and Old Townshall or the phototastic pile of pictures I took at the zoo and the museum. But those are boring and no fun to comment on. Everyone knows what a lion looks like; and it's not like the whole nation hasn't seen Knut doze off in the sun.
The facts were these: We went in, looked around, left with pictures and a good feeling. We ate lots of tasty stuff. And we met some guy from the other side of the river (literally) who led us involuntarily astray. That was just plain weird. He kept tagging along; and while it wasn't particulary unpleasant, we were tired and hungry and really not in the mood to spend time with unknown people...

*phew* S'all. Maybe the one or other pic will yet make it into my lj, but that's all for now.

Jâ nee!

PS: Repost. I'm starting to hate my browser, it keeps slipping into Rich-text mode when posting, effectively messing up my html-coding every time.

Back From A Trip. Tired.

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:23:16 GMT

... omg. Lots to tell, strange things happened, for now I'm dead on my feet. Just wanted to say:

I ♥ Hamburg!!!

'Nuff said. Berlin's okay, but I'm glad to be back. More after sleep.

Cya!