Proving God brilliant

Or maybe it's Ricky Gervais who's the brilliant one.


Also, while I'm on the subject of Ricky Gervais - my mum just got us both seasons of Extras on DVD as an early Christmas present, and it so so. Bloody. Funny. And horribly embarrassing, of course, but hilarious. And I love the actors who guest star as themselves, acting like complete fools. Sir Ian McKellen especially killed me.

WATCH.

"Sir Ian, sir Ian, sir Ian - action! wizard! YOU SHALL NOT PASS! cut - sir Ian, sir Ian, sir Ian."

*dies and is dead*
Or, in LJ speak, *diez and iz ded*

Have yourself an evil little Christmas

Kripke, you fudging twisted bastard, you.
I love you.

And that's all for now, until my girls have seen the most recent Supernatural.

My mind is an odd, odd place.

So, let me tell you what I was up to last night.

I was going to a party. Ida, your birthday party, to be more specific. It took place somewhere in Lund, and to make sure I knew how to find the place I went out earlier during the day to scour it out. Wearing pyjama trousers and a nightgown. In the rain.

Well, I found the place, and just when I was about to leave again (probably to go home, shower and change my clothes before coming back), the guests started dropping in. I was all embarrassed - everyone were all dressed up, and there I was in my pyjamas. Anyway, people started setting the table for dinner. I went up to Ida and said I really should go home and get properly done, it'd only take half an hour, tops. She went, 'Sure. Just scoop up a portion on this plate and you can eat when you get back'. I'm all, 'Cool'. Only problem was, when I was trying to scoop up my portion I kept spilling on the table, and Ida's dad (whom, may I add, I have never actually met) kept following me around and wiping at it. Finally, he goes, 'You know, if you maybe put the ladle this way instead, maybe you wouldn't make such a mess.' I was very embarrassed. Again.

Then, I needed to put some tin foil over my plate. But, in this place, you got the tin foil from a machine, and the damn machine only produced the foil in tiny strips, so it took me ages to cover the whole thing. Ages as in, everyone else had finished dinner already.

So I called my parents, hoping that maybe they could bring me my clothes and I could use the shower in the apartment (wherever we were). Unfortunately, my dad had been drinking wine and was unable to drive, and my mum was in Södra Sandby.

My salvation was a masquerade. We were challenged to dress up as characters from - for some reason - Dreamgirls (and I swear, I haven't even seen this damn movie!) and there were loads of clothes to choose from. I thought, 'Oh, great, maybe there's something nice to wear!' and found an awesome corset-like thingy, only it was made of, uh, pink fur. And had a brim of white fur. I thought it was perfect and put it on, but then one of the other guests went complaining to Ida: 'That doesn't look anything like any of the characters, she just looks like a slut!'

That's around where I woke up, I think. I swear to God, all of this crap really happened in my head.
And for the record, Ida, I don't actually believe that your dad would follow anyone around with a rag and berate them for spilling food. ;)

...

I have nasty cold. It sucks.
On the plus side - Supernatural is back tonight! Which means tomorrow for me, but yay! I'm totally excited for this episode after I caved and watched a director's cut of a very, very amusing scene. *snicker*

Hi.

I know, I know, it's been ages, I suck. Let me make it up to you by getting you addicted to Free Rice. I already am - it's a terrific way to learn and/or test yourself, do a good deed and have fun/driving yourself nuts at the same time. Awesome. And yay - it does come in handy having studied Latin!

And let me ask you this. How is it possible not to love a language that has words like 'bulwark' and my absolute favourite, 'logorrhea' ('talkativeness')?

I realised something yesterday. One of my presents were socks, and I got totally happy. I mean, proper sports socks to wear while jogging! And then I thought, wow, I really must be grown up if I get this happy about socks. That's a very grown-up present to get.

*giggle*

This is pretty much for my fellow Supernatural girls - the breakfast at the Chicago con. The rest of you can ignore it, if you want. :P

jaredjensenbfast
Uploaded by _sin_attract

Jesus Christ, people are screechy. But those two boys are so much fun.

Demotivation.

In other news, rumour has it that the writers' strike could last for quite a while - Samantha Ferris believed it might even last for as long as five to twelve months. Damn. That worries me a little. By which I mean quite a lot. I'm on the writers' side here, I really am, but still. Slightly worried here. So many shows have already shut down production, 'Heroes' will from what I understand only get eleven or twelve episodes in total, '24' has been cancelled (for now)... Who knows how many shows won't make it to another season? Especially the ones on smaller networks. Like my show.

Att komma ihåg.

Tungans inre muskler: longitudinalis inferior/superior, transversus och verticalis. Longitudinalis inferior öppnar vid /t/ och /d/, medan verticalis stänger. Verticalis gör tungan tjock och bred, transversus drar ihop tungan och gör den lång och smal, viktig för /l/-ljud och sibilanter som /s/.

De yttre är genioglossus (solfjäderformad, utgår från underkäken, i-muskel, bakre fibrer drar tillbaka tungspetsen, drar tungan framåt), hyoglossus (a-muskel, utgår från hyoidbenet, drar tungan neråt), styloglossus (fäster vid stilettformade utskott på skallbasen, drar tungan bakåt(?)/uppåt, o-muskel), palatoglossus (mindre viktig, arbetar med styloglossus).

Orbicularis oris - muskel runt munnen, vktig vid läpprundning. I svalget, ringformiga åtsnörpningsmuskler samt lodräta.

Postural parameters/tillståndsparametrar - hastighet, ljudnivå, F0. Temporal parameters - durationer för ljudsegment, intervaller mellan betonade stavelser.

Laminärt flöde - partiklar rör sig utan snabba förändringar i riktning och hastighet, i linjer. Turbulent flöde - virvlar, hastighet och riktning är oregelbunden. Alla frikativor har kanalturbulens. Splittringsturbulens - luftstråle från kanal riktas mot tändernas kant, enbart hos sibilanter.

Pertubationsteori - samband mellan talrörets form och formantfrekevenser. Nod vid glottis, buk vid munnen. Stängning vid buk sänker formantfrekvenser, stängning vid nod ökar. Exempel, /p/ och /b/ har formanter på låga frekvenser. /i/ har hög andraformant - palatala ljud har har höga andraformanter.

Tonotopisk represenatation - argh! Auditory nerv fibres = ANF. Olika ANF är känsliga för olika frekvenser. Vilken frekvens beror på var i cochleas vägg de fäster. Både frekvensfördelade och icke-frekvensfördelade förs vidare upp till hjärnan. ? 'Phase-locking' - ANF 'avfyrar' i takt med stimulus vågfrekvens. Inte nödvändigtvis i varje cykel, men alltid på samma ställe i cykeln.

Kategorisk perception - vi uppfattar ett akustikt kontinuum som om det är uppdelat i diskreta kategorier. Även vid (liten)gradvis förändring hör vi det i trappsteg i stället för kontinuerligt - ej linjärt. Motsats till kontinuerlig perception. Djur har också.

McGurk-effekten - olika intryck via syn och hörsel, syn tar över och vi väljer ett mellanting.

Integrering/segregering - om två ljud med frekvenser under 1000 Hz (över?!) ligger närmre varandra än 3,5 Bark integreras de. 3,5 Bark = kritiska bandbredden.

Subglottala trycket - trycket under glottis, 7 cm vatten ('tryckskillnaden mellan luftstrupens luft och luften utanför kroppen'). Supraglottala trycket, över glottis, 0, utom vid obstruenter då det är samma som det subglottala.

Bernouill-effekten - ökat flödeshastighet -> lägre tryck. Lägre tryck = sugkraft.

"Target" - uttalar vokaler långsamt och noggrant, når målvärdet. Annars reduktion och "undershoot". Hypertal - noggrant tal, hypotal, normal slarvigt tal = undershoot.

Koartikulationsmotstånd - /s/ och tremulantiskt /r/. Liten ändring ger stor skillnad i resultatet, vill inte koartikuleras.

Sonoritetsskala - samband mellan käkvidden och ljuds sonoritet. Ju likare vokaler, desto högre sonoritet. (/l/, /r/.)

Sätt att studera artikulatorer - avbildande, punkregistrerande, övriga. Avbildande - röntgen (farligt, avänds ej. Bra registrering, dock kan tungan döljas bakom ben. , tomografi (snittröntgen), CT, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
Punktregistrerade - EMMA: electromagnetic midsaggital articulometer, använder magnetfält. Sändarspolar fästs i munnen i triangel, mottagarspolar i triangel utanför. Strain gauges: punkter fästs på tänderna (om på hakan kan resultaten bli felaktiga pga att hakan rör ig med underläppen), trådar sitter fast och går ut till en manick som registrerar. Enbart för käkrörelser. Kan påverka läpprörelser. Optotrack: används speciellt för läppar och käke. Ger tredimensionell data. Negativt, begränsat till extern användning - sensorer följer lysande dioder, måste ha visuell kontakt.
Negativt för alla punktregistrerande - kan bara mäta på vissa punker; räcker för käken men inte för vävnad som muskler (tunga, läppar, velum. Också, kan påverka/begränsa rörelser.
Övriga, palatografi, elektroglottografi.

Brocas - produktion, Wernickes - perception. Thalamus, växelstation, allt går dit, toppen på hjärnstammen. Cerebellum, kontrollerar rörelser i tid och rum. Skador kan ge dysartri. Centrala fåran, laterala fåran, longitudinella fåran. Cortex, hjärnbark, 2-3 mm tjock, grått pga anhopning av neuroner. Under, axoner, täckta av myelin. Motoriska området, hö och vä sida, längst bak i pannloben. Bakom det, sensoriska. Supplementära motorområdet, troligtvis språkområde, viktigt för komplexa rörelser. Pannlob, hjässlob, tinninglob, nacklob, limbisk lob. Hjärnstammen, det retikulära systemet - filterar intryck, ex syn/hörsel. Lateralisering - hjärnan specialiserar sig. 31 par ryggmärgsnerver, 12 par kranialnerver (utgår från hjärnstammen).

Argh.

oh. em. gee.

Oh my God. Ida, look, look! It's her! Sweet wounded Jesus, there are no words for how bad I want that car. I mean - just - it's - look at her! Isn't she gorgeous? *strokes*

I really am going to have to start working towards my driver's license, aren't I?

Damn, I want that car.

(I owe emails. They shall be sent soon.)

...

Eta - aw, no, the auction has already ended. *is sad* The loss, it hurts.

Eta 2 - hah! Bob on 'Heroes' said there was a storm coming. Needless to say, I automatically added, "And you boys are smack in the middle of it."

Snappity snap snap.

"You're sweet and kind, but never dull. Your flavorful personality and snappy style make a memorable first impression. Some people don't appreciate your spicy sense of humor, but your friends can't get enough of those witty wisecracks. You're smart, fresh, and totally tasty. Everyone wants a bite of you."


So I'm a gingersnap. That's fun. I will however not take responsibility for accuracy.

I also took the horror-death test, and apparently I will be swallowed by a giant squid.

Terrific. That'll help my fear of the open sea!

Tillfällig gäst i ditt liv

We went to see Jonas Gardell, who's on tour with his show 'Tillfällig gäst i ditt liv', last night. I've never seen him live before, and I have to say, he was absolutely fantastic. Even my mum, who was hesitant about coming since she's never quite been able to stomach him, loved it.

He's just so damn funny. "Till er kvinnor i publiken har jag en sak att säga. Ni tror, att ni i en enda man ska hitta den perfekta älskaren, den trogna vännen, och den fantastiska pappan. Kvinnor! Män är inga Kinder-ägg!" We were seated on the eleventh row, which turned out to be just perfect. Any closer would have been very not good, because the first thing he did when he came out on stage was to hand out raincoats to the people on front row, and boy, did they need them. Because onstage he carried with him two buckets full of water, and proceeded to throw water on people up front every now and then when he felt we weren't laughing enough.

And poor Mark was the butt of a lot of jokes. Apparently he steals shampoo bottles with him when they're staying at hotels.
He's bald.
And apparently, it's also impossible to talk dirty when you're speaking 'finlandssvenska'. "Kan ni företälla er, där kommer han på kvällen, 'Jonas, ta mig i brasan'. Det låter ju som om vi ska grilla korv! ... Ja, vilket vi ju i och för sig ska, på ett sätt." Hee.

God, that man is awesome. I walked out of there with my cheeks hurting from smiling and laughing for two hours straight.

At least I didn't *actually* yell at her.

I think I might be harbouring a lot of penned up aggression. I was on my bike yesterday, on my way home from school, and had to stop at a red light. The moment it turned green, this woman came up behind me and raced past me. Then, when I got to do the same thing to her a few minutes later, I mentally yelled, "Yeah, take that, bitch!"

This could also explain my glee at all the violent deaths they do on Supernatural these days. Forced to drink Drano, corroding mouth and throat? Yaaay! Falling on a running saw blade? Woooo! Fork through the neck, sticking out through guy's mouth? AWESOME! What do you mean, it's awful? Give me more GOOOORE!

I'm not sure whether I should be worried.

On a completely different note, my handball team is sucking out loud this season. I don't understand why. Last season we were one game away from making it to the the semi finales, and this season we've started off by losing five games out of seven. What the hell happened?
And yes, I say 'we' instead of 'they'. Shut up.

In which I'm overinvested.

In eight days, the Bare album and DVD (dudes, check it out) is released, and I am so very, very excited. Although I'll admit it, that when I first heard of this recording, I was almost as worried as I was excited, because this show means more to me than any other save for perhaps Rent, and I was afraid they'd screw it up somehow.

But, with each little clip I've seen I've become a little less worried, and that is a lot thanks to Matt Doyle who plays Peter. Yeah, he's got a fantastic voice and he looks and sounds like Peter, but above all I just feel so relieved when I hear him talk about the show. He gets it, he gets Peter, and you get the feeling that he actually cares about the story, cares about the characters, and that he isn't just singing the songs. And to an overinvested nerd like me, that matters.
I can't wait to hear 'See Me'. And 'Ever After' - James Snyder seems like a great Jason, too, from the little you got to see (the note he hits at the end of the line 'of such peace' hits me right there), and I'm looking forward to hearing them sing against each other other than in 'Bare'.

Oh, and there's another clip from BroadwayWorld, with parts of 'Are You There?' (heh, the guy who plays Matt looks kinda geeky - it's not how I picture Matt, but it's cute) and 'Role of a Lifetime'.

This could turn out sofa king good.
/nerd

Gigglesnorting is good for your health.

Ida, one thing is for sure. When we do our season 3 marathon, 'Bad Day at Black Rock' needs to be in there, if only because of two things:

"I lost my shoe." :hearts Sammy so much:

"Don't play with my Jesus." Seriously, I blame fandom for the dirty place my mind went to at that line.

In linguistic news, this is a question I one day hope to be able to ask someone: Får jag följa några köttsliga punkter på dina pariga muskler?
The credit for it belongs to Frida, but I still love it and will totally steal it.

Oh, also in linguistic news - this is my absolute favourite website at the moment. So much fun. My favourite is the male speaker from Pine Bluff in Arkansas... Damn, that's what I call a drawl. (Okay, this guy from Edinburgh is a close second.)
Although this one has to be wrong, doesn't it? It doesn't sound like a 33 year old male, and to my (untrained) ears it sure doesn't sound very Dublin-y, either, but maybe I'm just prejudiced.

It's a shame they only do English, but it's still fun.

Name dropping

So, it seems I might be getting myself a bunny one of these days - I'm going absolutely crazy here without something soft and furry and warm to hug.
This means I get the job of trying to think of names for the little bugger. So far, the ones I have are Bailey, Whiskey, Ziggy, Pippin, Puck, Flotsam (which will probably turn into Sammy) or Smirnoff.

*longs for bunny*

Meh.

I have no words for how bad I want these shoes. Look how pretty they are. The only thing stopping me, you know, besides the 83 dollars thing, is that I don't get the sizes. It starts at size five? And goes to eleven? I've always been size three when I shop outside of Sweden. This can't be the same chart.

Today has been a sort of sucky day. Went to the doctor about my ear - yes, again - and he proceeded to torture me thoroughly. There was digging and rinsing and suctioning and I wanted to curl into a ball and whimper like the sissy three-year old I really am. Apparently it looked like there had been some sort of bleeding inside the ear, which, what the fuck? Bleeding? In my ear? Why? And on top of that I had an inflammation in my ear canal, which means I'm now taking the same stupid drops I got before summer when it played up, and they're causing the same stupid cut-off feeling and hearing loss as they did then.

To top it all off, while I was there being tortured, my mum went for a walk and ended up falling and hurting her ankle. She's at the hospital now getting X-rayed, to see whether it's broken or just really badly sprained.

Told you it sucked.

They throw parties every Sunday.

When I walk home from uni I sometimes walk past the church, which I did today. A couple of boys was standing there, just looking up at it, and just when I was walking by one of them turned to look at the other and said in this completely awed voice, "That is wild, dude!" I almost started laughing right there. Sure, it's a nice church, but 'wild' isn't really the word I would have chosen to describe it.

And a part of me got all giddy about hearing the word 'dude'. I was a little jealous of them for getting to use it. Lucky native English speakers.

I have recently discovered that I wasn't alone in crushing on a few animated characters when I was little. Teithiwr and I bonded over our love for fox-Robin (as in Robin Hood), and apparently there are more - sick, sick - people like me who crushed on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was a Michelangelo girl myself, from what I can remember. But the worst thing? The worst, most embarrassing animated-character crush of them all? Launchpad McQuack from Duck Tales. There, I said it. He was so totally cool and dreamy.
... I was little!

Supernatural finally comes back tonight, which...

Dude.

Smile

It's good to find stuff that make you smile when things suck. The book we found outside the classroom today on 'The Female Body' was among that stuff. Lesbian activities? Sexually aroused through contact with animals? Positions for intercourse (with special ones ideal for impregnation)? Man, I needed those laughs.

Something else that makes me smile? Otter love. The REAL 'omg sofa king CUTE!' stuff doesn't come until towards the end, though.


I bet they're BOFFs. Best Otter Friends Forever.

I thought I heard the doggy snore this morning and started crying again. Sigh.

---

So you learn stuff about yourself when things like this happen. I've learned that I'm definitely not a 'hug and cry' kind of person (not that I thought I was, really). I'm a 'shut myself in my room, put on AC/DC or Def Leppard, turn it up to eleven and cry' kind of person.

I guess I probably shouldn't want to go to lectures today, and sure, a part of me doesn't since I know I won't be able to focus one bit, but the larger part is just relieved that I have the opportunity to get out. I can't take my mum starting to cry every other second and my dad looking close to doing the same.

---

Så. Vi åkte till djursjukhuset imorse för vovvens sjukgymnastik. När han skulle upp på gångbandet märkte sjukgymnasten att han var svullen över buken, och tyckte att en veterinär skulle titta på honom innan vi satte igång, för säkerhets skull.
Plötsligt visade det sig att han hade en jättetumör i mjälten och vi fick välja mellan omedelbar operation, där de skulle ta bort hela mjälten, eller att låta honom somna in.

Vi valde det senare.

Han fick i alla fall må bra in i det sista. Men det är så väldigt, väldigt tomt nu. Och det gör jävligt ont.



I can't focus on anything at all and everything makes me cry. Kansas' 'Carry On My Wayward Son' makes me cry. Dooce makes me cry. I can't listen to 'Given the Dog a Bone' or 'Wish You Were Here' or 'Silent Lucidity'.

Fools, the lot of them.

I'm actually ashamed to be living in a country where the majority of the population voted for a government that goes by the motto that those who already have money deserve more, and those who don't, well, tough luck, they suck. Right. Reward the people with money and take the money away from the people who already have less to do it.

What the fuck possessed that prat Borg to present a budget like this one? What are the people who actually aren't able to work supposed to do? Yeah, they do exist, you know! If my mum had been on her own, she wouldn't have stood a chance - they're taking away pretty much all of her sickness benefits. What are single parents supposed to do? Or just singles, people who've burned out, people who are depressed? I have been around this for years, and let me tell you, it's not as easy as 'Go out and get a job'. I guarantee it.

What the fuck are they supposed to do? You tell me, Mr. Borg. Please. I'm dying to know.

I don't even have words for how much I despise this.

I always knew angels were bad news

Am I a wuss if an alleged children's TV series scared the bejesus out of me? I will never be able to walk past a statue again. At least not without keeping my eyes pried open.

Don't blink. Don't even blink! Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away and don't blink!









Keep looking at it. Keep looking at it! Don't blink. Remember what he said. Don't even blink.

*gulp* I swear, these fucking things creep me the fuck out.

Ahem.

*g*

More computer linguistics

When the lecturer says "And then the question is of course, what does that mean?" and your first thought is, "Wait, what? What does what mean?!" you can draw the conclusion that you haven't really understood all that much during the last couple of hours.

Two things

Two things about 'Computers in Linguistic Research'.

One; huh?!
Two; there is absolutely nothing normal about this. That's all.

Karma?

There must be some reason that the day after I post a picture of the contents of my bag, including my awesome Avenue Q pen, the pen stops working. Meh.

Teh everyday

So joined this LJ community where you post a picture of something from your life every week (there's a different assignment each week), and so far I've been there for two - where my books live, and the regular contents of my everyday bag. I know you're all just dying to see the pictures, so here you go.


There's another shelf full of Stephen King and Dean Koontz books at the bottom that didn't fit in the photo, and my beloved Shakespeare collection wasn't interested in having its picture taken, but otherwise, that's all. I had a huge cleanout a few months ago and put, like, three full bags of books in the basement and only kept the ones I reread fairly often.


In the bag, you find: an umbrella (it's that time now, when it might start raining at any given second). Pen (from 'Avenue Q', hence the fluff). An old crinkly bus ticket. A cinema ticket that got left there after the last time I went. Asthma inhaler. My glasses case. iPod. Hairband. An Ipren (painkiller) that I had no idea was there. Keyring, including a bottle opener, with keys to the apartment, my bike and the gym. Wallet. Camera case (usually containing the camera), since I'm one of those people who bring my camera with me everywhere. Comb. A couple of coins (some of them Euros that had apparently been forgotten in there since this summer). Mimi, my phone. Calendar, which I hardly ever use but still feel the need to keep there.
I should probably remove the Euros and the old bus ticket.

I'm an idiot

And a damn clumsy idiot, at that.

A piece of advice? If you've taken a shower and want to shake the water out of your hair afterwards, make sure the bathtub isn't in the way when you throw your head down. I didn't. So I banged my head pretty fucking hard on said bathtub.

I think I have a mild concussion.

Ow.

On a different note, if you haven't seen Extras you totally should. It's sometimes excruciatingly embarrassing, but so, so funny. And it's worth the embarrassment, if only to hear Daniel Radcliffe while playing himself say, "I've done it. With a woman. Intercourse wise," or hear the adorably oblivious Maggie tell Orlando Bloom that being kissed by him just wasn't her 'cup of tea'.
Ricky Gervais is a comic genious, it can't be denied.

If you rearrange the letters in 'unemployed'...

... It spells 'opportunity'!

Okay, I'm officially excited. I probably shouldn't be at this point, but I've just discovered that Lund has a translator education that sounds kinda perfect for me. One or two years long, advanced level, English as one of the source languages, connection to the labour market and sounds really interesting. And it means I'll actually have a reason to study English for a while; I need to get a graduate degree of 180 credits, of which 90 credits need to be in my source language, before I can apply - after this semester I'll have 90 credits in linguistics, which leaves me the 90 in English and after that I can do one year of actual translating training. And my credit at CSN actually covers that. I'm stunned.
Two years at the translating program would have been even better, of course, but one year still means I get the Swedish equivalent of the international master's.

So, yeah. A little bit excited.

You know what else is exciting? In less than a month bare: the album is released. On September 25th, to be precise. And Jenna Leigh Green will be singing Ivy! A part of me is gutted that John Hill and Michael Arden and above all the wonderful Natalie Joy Johnson aren't returning, but still. It's the album, and it's Jenna! I can't really ask for more than that.
Well, I'd have asked for the song Love, Dad to be included instead of Plain Jane, Fat Ass and for it to be more like the New York version than the Vegas version, but you really can't have everything. It's still bare.

Pick 'n mix

So, Malmöfestivalen is this week, and Melanie and I went in briefly to get some food. We ended up eating souvlaki, fried banana with ice cream/belgian waffle, ice cream, and finishied it all off with a couple of doughnuts. That I tried to leave without paying for. It wasn't on purpose, honest! I thought I'd paid, I really did! Very embarrassing.

Also, they have all these stalls with clothes, and I found one with baby clothes, and I bought the most awesome little t-shirt for Elin! It's black and has the AC/DC logo on it, and the caption 'Back in black'. She is so going to be the coolest baby around. I did have some trouble deciding between that one and an almost equally awesome Ramones one, but you know, nothing really beats AC/DC. Isn't that right, Ida? Although, if they'd had an REO one, I might have gone for it.
Now I just need to give it to her before she's grown out of it already.

And now, its time for some Barcelona photospamming. Better late than never, I say. First, view from the plane. Kinda pretty.
We were going on the cableway. I'm scared of hights. We were high up. I was terrified. It shows. The Plaza Espanya fountain:

Best milkshake in the whole damn word. And I am not kidding.
In Caldetas. The waves were huge and getting in the water was hard work.
Crépes are gooood.
Paella. I... It's... Oh, I miss it. *sniffs*

And lastly, because I'm feeling brave, another video. We're not prominently featured, but the fountain is awesome and we do a guest stint towards the end.

Battery check

You know, few things measure up to your mum and dad coming home from town with a present for you, an extremely heavy present that turns out to be the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Awesome.

There's still no timetable up on my institution's website, and I'd kinda like to know which course I'll be starting with and which day. It's only two weeks away. You can't get the literature too early.

This & that

Doggie got through the operation, despite the vet being awfully pessimistic before doing it. When he called to let us know that it went all right he said we have 'a tough dog'. Fingers crossed he'll heal right now.

I think I finally got a slight grasp on first-order logic, thanks to Logan. If Caroline had used examples like P(m) meaning that Milo V tastes good with butter, I'm sure I'd have studied it harder. But yeah, I think I get it now. Sort of.

I finally have all the photos from Barcelona. That is to say, all 368 of them. Jesus Christ. And then there are 23 videos that we recorded, too. We're nuts. I'll put some pictures up this week.

Watched a really pretty scary* film the other day; Vacancy. It freaked me out a little. I also rediscovered an old favourite of mine - But I'm A Cheerleader, which is just awesome. "I'm not perverted. I get good grades, I go to church - I'm a cheerleader! I'm not like all of you!" Next on the list is Hot Fuzz, and I can't wait for all the GOOOOORE!

I finally finished V's present. I'm sorry it took so long, sweetie! I suck.

* Yes, I speak like that. I also like 'really pretty sure'.

Here goes nothing

All right, for how long will I be able to avoid posting Barcelona photos? They'll show up eventually, I'm guessing, but I still haven't got Melanie's batch and I think there are a few of them I want to get in there. But, for now, here's something to entertain you. We had a charicature done by one of the artists on la Rambla. Stunning likeness, isn't it? We spent the entire afternoon watching it, going, 'Oh God, it's so awful! It's so horrible! It's so awesome!'

Right, so, we had an awesome couple of weeks on the whole. First week was a little bit of a bummer, with my stupid jaw and tablets not working and awful side effects. I've never suffered from side effects in my life, but this time I suddenly woke up to the room spinning a whole lot faster than any room should have a right to, and feeling like I was going to throw up if I moved a finger. Not the best way to start off a holiday, I tell you.

It got better, though. There has been much swimming, paella, chocolate con churros, sangria, and lusting over toned volleyball players at the beach. Mmm. We also met up and went for a drink with my teacher of two summers, David, which was great. Made me realise how rusty my Spanish is, but still, it was really fun. He's just awesome, one of the best teachers I've ever had.

I kinda loved our hotel. At first we didn't realise why all these people were just hanging around there - seriously, there was one bar and it really didn't look like much of a hangout - and then when we'd gotten a closer look at them, well, we did. Hooker's Corner (or, I as we named it in Swedish, 'Horhörnet'). There was this one guy who stopped in his car to chat one of them up who had a baby seat in the backseat. Eugh.

Worst bit about being away was Harry Potter. There will be no spoilers for the book here, in case my fellow geek Julia hasn't finished it yet, but I will say that I loved it. But I swear, the damn book was all over Barcelona! People were reading it everywhere; restaurants, the metro, the beach. And as I said in the video, there was a guy talking about it on the train - I wanted to throw my hands over my ears and shout 'Lalalala, I can't hear you!' Thank Christ he didn't say anything about the actual plot.

Then of course we came home to a dog who's now limping so bad he can barely walk. He's going to the vet for surgery on Monday, so fingers crossed he'll make it through that and that it'll work. If it doesn't... Well, then we're likely going to have to put him down. It's horrible watching him trying to walk like this, he's obviously in a lot of pain. But, hey, he's had the same operation done on the other hind leg a couple of years back and that turned out really well, so the prospects aren't all that bad.

Photos to come later. And if you're lucky, I might even show you a clip from the video diary we made. No English there, though, just Swedish.

Oh, one last thing. Cat Deeley is, like, the cutest thing to ever walk this Earth.

Virtual postcard

Hi, people! There will be a more detailed account of the last two weeks soon, but for now I'm exhausted - I've been reading Harry Potter for seven and a half hours today and bawled like a little girl - and so for now you will have to settle for this little virtual postcard. I seem to remember someone wanting to hear me speak English - wish granted!

And yes, do I realise it's sort of void to say 'speak soon' now that I actually am home, but, you know, whatevs.

So long, farewell...

So, I'm off to - hopefully - sunny Spain for two weeks, with likely no internet access. So, you guys take care and I'll speak to you all soon!

(Ida, jag läste i tidningen att AC/DC ska släppa ett nytt album och kanske turnera... Wahey!)

(You should all listen to Boston's Long Time and Peace Of Mind.)

In which I'm worried about nightmares

Jag säger bara det, min mor... Hon kan kläcka ur sig saker utan att tänka på vad hon säger. På telefon med Anticimex (för att vi har stort jäkla getingbo ovanför fönstret), när de tydligen frågade om det gick att nå boet från fönstret: "Ja, en lång man med en lång grej kan nog." Jag bröt ihop.
Och nu ikväll när hon skulle försvara sig; "Men jag menade ju bara ett långt rör som han kan spruta med." Jag lovar och svär.

Saturday night was lovely - seeing 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' with my fellow geek Julia. Although she's way more geeky than I am, banging her head on a table just to get a scar like Harry's... Right? Hmm?
I actually loved the film. I haven't enjoyed the last ones, but this one I did. Even with all the stuff cut and changed, it just worked. There were times when I realised I was sitting there with a huge, stupid grin on my face, and that's a good sign for me. It was a bit light on actual school stuff, but other than that, fabulous.

And oh em gee, the last book is out soon. I could do a whole bunch of eleventyones after that statement, but I'll try to restrain myself.
I'll say one thing, though. I'm not going to get to read the book for a while since I'm not home when it's supposed to arrive, if it even decides to arrive on time, and if some idiot decides to spam the entire internet and give away the ending, I swear, I will CUT a BITCH.

We went for ice cream before the film, since it was too hot to be inside for longer than necessary. Then we both lost our appetite when Julia's ice cream suddenly appeared to be full of flies, and a bird decided to crap frighteningly near mine. It missed, but still got my jeans. A pigeon. I'm not surprised; I've always said those damn birds are evil.

Three more sleeps until I'm off to Spain. *glee* Although first I'm off to the dentist tomorrow to check on my jaw, which is stiff and achey and has been for a few days. Always just before I'm about to go abroad. Why? Huh?

In which I photospam you

Just so you know, this is all totally Julia's fault.

Okay, so, I decided to take photos of a bunch of key stuff from my everyday life. Completely uninteresting, probably, but man did I have a blast with my camera.

My alarm clock

My bathroom shelf

My phone, named Mimi

My favourite necklace

My favourite ring

Favourite earrings

My iPod

My keys

My favourite ballerina shoes

And last, but not least, my laptop.


Oh, and some other pretty stuff.

In which there was no Ark necessary

There was no paddling necessary this weekend - trains to and from Kristianstad ran like clockwork despite the pouring rain, thank unnamed deity. Had a great time, even got to meet up with Pernilla yesterday, which was lovely. Hadn't seen her since December. Christ.

Highlights from the weekend included the best Greek food ever, a cousin gathering behind us that made me and Julia almost collapse with laughter - du, den där gödkalven, hur sajor du dé po utrikiska? - the white porn sofas, boobs-shaking and the now official Kristianstad Dance.

You girls? Are awesome.

Oh, and also? LIMONAOD!

...
Damn it. We heard 'Chasing Cars' on the radio yesterday, and Annica and I both got all 'Oooh!' and of course started talking about that Grey's Anatomy episode. So I thought I'd watch it today.
At the first chords of that stupid, stupid song I actually had to close VLC because I was already teary-eyed and would without question have started crying my eyes out if I'd watched for another second. Damn it. Again.

"He died all alone. He was alone. I changed my dress three times. I wanted to look nice. I would have been here sooner, but I couldn't figure out which dress to wear."

"You can't stay here. I know you want to..."

"Can you please, please, just get out? I want to be alone with Denny."

"Izzie, that's not Denny."

"Shut up."

"Izz, it's not Denny. The minute his heart stopped beating he stopped being Denny. Now I know you love him, but he also loved you. And a guy that loves you like that, he doesn't want you to do this to yourself. Because it's not Denny, not anymore.

"An hour ago he was proposing. And now... and now he's going to the morgue. Isn't that ridiculous? Isn't that - the most ridiculous piece of crap - you've ever heard?"

*breaks down* Damn you all.

Now is when I don't go to see 'Evan Almighty'

Okay, this raining is actually starting to bother me. I could deal with it earlier, even went swimming despite it - wearing sunglasses - but now it's beginning to get on my nerves. It's July, for Christ's sake, and it's fourteen degrees outside! Not to mention that I'd rather not have the trains to Kristianstad cancelled tomorrow because of flooding. Soon I'll start building that Ark.

Stupid, stupid weather.

I hope it's not my fault. I did ask for bad weather so that Frida wouldn't have to work late and be able to come with tomorrow. But seriously, this was not what I meant. Jeez, God, get a clue, would ya?

Busy as a bee

So, today has been a very productive day. I've signed up at the traffic school, made an appointment to get my hair cut next week, bought a new dress, made plans to go out for tapas tomorrow night, and I've finally finished my story for the Supernatural Lyrically challenge. It even turned out quite well, according to my helpful beta.

And you know I'm in a state of decay when that is what I call a productive day.

I understand about indecision

So, Midsummer's Eve was nice. It was eating, drinking and kubb, like it should be.

I'm still bored to hell, and just got an email that I didn't get the last job I applied for. But, I have decided that I'm going to start working towards getting my driver's license this summer, and so I'm going to the traffic school this week. I'm terrified, but at least it's something to do.

The Door's 'People Are Strange' is currently on repeat in my head.

I have to get my hair cut, at least a little, before we go to Barcelona. Look how long it's gotten! *is pleased*

It lives!

Someone just reminded me that I haven't posted in a week, and so, yes, I am still alive. Surprise! Just haven't been up to blogging much, since nothing much is actually happening. I swim. I apply for jobs and get no responses. I wait for July 20th to arrive so that I can switch Lund for Barcelona. I draw.

And speaking of drawing, here's actually a little something for my buddy Ida. Better late than never, I say. Enjoy, bitch!

Deja vu

I'm humming 'I Can't Fight This Feeling' on repeat again. Oh, who could be to blame? Who?
Really, it is an awesomely sappy song.

I'm an awful daughter. After my little breakdown when watching the Jonestown documentary yesterday I was so torn up I didn't make sure to check that the DVR actually turned itself off when I hit the button, which it didn't, which meant that it didn't record the football game my dad had set it to later that night. He was not happy.

In a sick place

I don't know if I'm extra sensitive today because of a lack of sleep or something, but I just finished watching a documentary about Jonestown and now I can't stop crying. Every time I think of the people lining up to drink the poison, the faces of all those children, babies having it injected into their mouths, the tears just start flowing.
I'm never going to be able to use the expression "I'm drinking the Kool-Aid" ever again.

I'm thinking.

In a short break from paper writing, I just have to share the fact that Dark Angel, cheesy as it is, is kinda awesome. I stayed up way too late watching it - it was my reward for studying pretty much all day. But anyway, I got to watching this episode called Gill Girl, in which there's a scene where Max and Alec are trying to rescue a kidnapped mermaid from a strip club, and Max has to pretend to be a stripper to get in and proceeds to give Alec a "lap dance", if you could call it that, to fit in. It was the cutest thing and I was giggling all the way through it. The awesomeness is all in the way she keeps ruffling his hair and petting him distractedly without even looking at him while trying to think of a way to get the girl out, and in the way his face just says "What the hell are you doing?" And in the bickering.

- Can we concentrate on coming up with a plan?!
- I'm thinking.
- You're talking!
- I can do both.
- I doubt that!
- Well, you just lost your tip.
She smacks him on the head. He looks cute and innocent.

So much love for that.

Now, I'm gonna finish this paper so that I can finish watching. Or maybe go outside, because the weather's fantastic and I'm stuck in front of the computer. Which sucks.

...
And eight hours later, it's finished! Now, it may suck, it may be muddled and flimsy and she can give it whatever mark she wants, but it's finished! *fistpump*

In short

Semantics paper, bad. Dark Angel, good.

I no longer look like a vampire. The dental surgeon thought the stitches might have annoyed something and caused the bleeding, so he took them out. Hurt like hell, but my mouth is blood-free now.

And happy Sweden day.

Arr, you scurvey cur!

One morning last summer I woke up with a wasp buzzing above my head, which was a pretty lousy way to wake up, I thought. Maybe even the worst way there is. I was proved wrong this morning when I woke up early, not knowing why at first, and realising with my blurry mind after a little while that I had to swallow more often than usual, and that it tasted funny. Metallic, sort of. Oh. Blood. Great.

Yup, got up and went into the bathroom (without swallowing in the meantime) and when I finally got to the sink I had to spit out a freakin mouthful of blood. And another. And another. It just wouldn't stop. Luckily I had a couple of compresses left from when they pulled the tooth, so I stuck one in, and it soaked through. After I put the second one in it eased up, thankfully.

I have no idea what happened, but the now two week old and presumably healed hole where my tooth used to be seems to have decided that it's time to fun things up. Kinda scary, really. Guess I'll have to make a call to the dentist tomorrow.

Logan, you really should listen to those songs! I will stand by what I said; for someone to go through life without having heard 'Wish You Were Here' is, well, it's not right! Same goes for 'Carry On My Wayward Son' (and Ida will attest to that one). 'Crappy' rock... Pshaw. Remind me why we're friends again? ;)

...

Ten hours later? It's bleeding! Stupid fucking mouth. I look like a vampire with my teeth all bloody.

Today's

1. Song: Boston's Foreplay/Long Time, or Clash's I Fought The Law. Still trying to get Joey Ramone out of my head. Also, I've discovered that it's physically impossible for me not to rock in time with the rhythm of Lifehouse's Breathing. God, I love that song.
2. Quote: "Never before has necrophilia sparked so much friendship!"
3. Annoyance: The gaping hole where my tooth used to be. It doesn't quite hurt anymore, it's just weird.
4. Scare: The fucking huge tick discovered on Biggles. Damn, I hate those creatures. They're almost as bad as wasps.

Completely forgot number 5, the day's "No fucking way!" moment: My bike's been stolen. Had it for two months, and now it's gone. Not. Cool.

And just because I'm a music freak I'm going to post my favourite playlist, named "The Greatest Hits of Mullet Rock", because, well... Ahem.
Technically, it's not all rock, but still.

Fire Of Unknown Origin - Blue Oyster Cult
Fight The Good Fight - Triumph
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother - The Hollies
I'm In Love With My Car - Queen
I Fought the Law - The Clash
Turn The Page - Metallica
Fly By Night - Rush
Dream On - Aerosmith
Stonehenge - Spinal Tap
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Laugh I Nearly Died - Rolling Stones
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Road to Nowhere - Ozzy Osbourne
Walk Away - Joe Walsh
Baba O'Reilly - The Who
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cold As Ice - Foreigner
Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas
The Living Years - Mike and the Mechanics
Back In Black - AC/DC
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
Wheel In The Sky - Journey
Renegade - Styx
God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash
Save Yourself - Johnny Lang
House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals
Silent Lucidity - Queensryche
What Is And What Should Never Be - Led Zeppelin
What a Wonderful World - Joey Ramone
Foreplay/Long Time - Boston
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Hell Hound On My Trail - Robert Johnson

Six things

1. I'm still giggling over stuff from last night.
2. The solidarity and kindness of strangers amazes me (Best Buy can go suck on it!). There was much squeeing when I realised what was in the mail.
3. I cannot get Joey Ramone's cover of "What a Wonderful World" out of my head.
4. I hate first-order logic with a flaming passion.
5. A Nikon D40 with 55-200mm zoom is so, so tempting, and even more expensive.
6. Good luck to Frida and other neurolinguistics-people for tomorrow!

Truth is...

People are sometimes awesomely crazy and incredibly gross, in an OMG I DIDN'T JUST READ THAT YES I DID OMG sort of way. That's just all there is to it.
That, and the fact that I've been laughing so hard for the past few minutes I thought I was going to tear my stitches and perhaps fall off the chair. There are crazy people, and then there are people who rock. Sometimes combined. LJ FTW!

Också sant: formell semantik är meningslöst, och jag förstår verkligen inte predikatlogik.

Bowling for Algeria

I've got Millencolin's Strike! running through my head tonight, because Anna and I went bowling. Yes, that's right, bowling. And we were awesome. Strike after strike after strike. Sort of. In theory.

Then we proceeded to go into town and sit on the square for a chat, only to have an Algerian guy trying to pick us up. In French. As you know, I don't speak French at all (except for catching the word "rendezvouz" which made me go "oh, crap") , so poor Anna had to deal with him. Apparently, he was traveling through Europe, had always wanted to see Scandinavia and had now achieved his life's goal by coming here (dude, seriously, you need better goals), and had a friend for me who was "just like him". Oh, goodie!
Also, he was interested to know why Swedes are so "closed". We were interested to know why he was so slimy, but neither of us knew the French word for that, so we couldn't ask. We explained that we both had boyfriends and were going to meet up with friends, and so had to leave. Anna's a fabulous liar, aren't you, dear?

My poor gum and the stitches still hurt.

Logan, I finally saw the "Heroes" finale! And I... was kinda underwhelmed. *hides* The second to last was fan-fucking-tastic, but the finale itself... Hi, plot holes! Sigh.
And... He's not dead! He just fell in some pie! Shut up. No, SHUT UP.
/end Refur-ness

Still on 'ow'

Yeah, pretty much. And the stitches are annoying the inside of my cheek. And it's really difficult to eat... Yesterday was horrible food wise - to be so very, very hungry, and not able to eat anything except for yogurt, rosehip soup or porridge? And finally some mashed potatoes? It sucks. Lots of sympathy sent to my cousin who's having two of his wisdom teeth pulled today.

Semantics presentation over. Slurring in front of a classroom full of people? Check. Fantastic.
Citodon? Fabulously strong painkillers that increase the slurring = love. No biking while taking them, though. And to be precise, no writing emails, either. Things tend to come out wrong. The latest one I took hasn't kicked in yet, or I wouldn't be writing this. Or, well, I probably would, but I'd likely be even less coherent.

I wonder what they'd be like combined with wine. Awesome, I bet.

Logan, a question. There wouldn't happen to be a Best Buy store anywhere close to you, would there?

---
Now it's kicked in and I could just melt into the couch and go to sleep humming 'White Rabbit'. Damn, why didn't they give me more of these?

Pain is not for babies

Ow. When the gaping hole where your tooth used to be starts hurting before the anaesthesia has worn off completely, you can tell you're in for a fun ride. And the best part? Apparently Wednesday and Thursday are going to be the worst. We have our semantics presentation on Wedneday, and the prosody home exam is supposed to be handed in on Friday. I don't stand a chance in hell of making it.

A few photos from Sunday's wedding:
Me and my gorgeous cousin, the bride herself.

Cousin number two. Nic took that photo, I love it. She sort of ran off with the camera and started snapping away, and half of all the photos we have are taken by her. And they're good, too!

Nicole, my beautiful, beautiful goddaughter. She did so good in the church during the ceremony I thought my heart was positively going to burst with pride.



I think I'm going to go and take some painkillers now.
eta - too late. Ow, ow, ow. And this is going to get worse until Wednesday or Thursday? Just kill me now.
Ow.