Do you still think that way about me now?

Anyway, Eed, I wish there had been food at the "party". I did go; I stayed about half an hour and ran away again. It was just clumps of strangers huddled round tables, looking around like they were scared the next group was going to jump them. I didn't know anyone, and the only drinks on offer were orange juice and some pinky-red alcoholic drink that I didn't know the name of. Bloody Mary? :/ So I poked my head in, looked at some girl's driving license for New York state and went home again.

On the other hand, I discovered that 7 Mount Charles has a bar in it! However, it's for senior employees of Queen's :P I reckon they should put a bar/common room in every house! Now that would be fun :P

And and and! Last night I had a dream with marzipan9 and daisydayes in it. ( o.O' )

My subconscious comes up with the most bizarre and pretty things.

I just had lunch today with Dee, Pamela and Joanna. It was good to see them again. Poor Pamela is trying to help some man in Egypt with his computer; the system loads but when he clicks something, nothing happens. Joanna has just two assignments to do and she's finished her social work course. And Dee's house is temporarily converting into a bed and breakfast over Christmas, she's got so many people coming to stay at different overlapping times!

In other news, if you need motivation and a pick-me-up, try effervescent Vitamin C tablets. I took one last night when I was all down and grumpy and I perked up immediately :)

Oh, and also ( The answers to that favourite lyrics meme )

On the scary dream front, I had a dream last night that I was with a big crowd of people, sitting on a steep, grassy hillside with lots of trees dotted about, looking down over a sea. The sea was getting whipped up because there was quite a stiff wind, but it was very pretty to watch and everybody was feeling relaxed, lying down on blankets and having picnics. The sun was shining even though the wind was cold. And then this GIANT HUGE FREAKING TSUNAMI just rose up and HEADED STRAIGHT FOR US!!! Everyone panicked and screamed and started grabbing stuff and running up the hill, but I froze where I was sitting, and when I did get up, I could only move in clumsy slow motion. So when the tsunami hit the hillside, I was still there.

I got very wet.

The Elmwood Building is absolutely freezing. And I didn't bring my jacket because it's pretty warm outside and I didn't think I'd need it. So I'm sitting here in a T-shirt, freezing to death. At least I didn't change into shorts and sandals like I was thinking of doing, so my legs are warm.

A summary of various things I ought to have mentioned before:

- ( My dad got fired )

- Mark is no longer going to the Himalayas. For whatever reason, it got called off. He's now going to Patagonia; it's some region in South America that covers parts of Chile and Argentina. They're not going to hire porters, so this time they're going to have to carry everything themselves and Mark's on this whole "Argh I am so unfit, I must get fit!" thing.

- Amy's teacher, Mrs Brownlow, is leaving. Which is kind of a good thing - we all had her at one stage or another, and she's not a good teacher - and kind of a bad thing - Amy's preparing for the transfer test and getting a new teacher is a pretty big upheaval at this important stage.

- Joanna is going away next week on an Outward Bound course to the Lake District, paid for by Hilton Hotels. I tell her that she's getting to play around with part of Paris and Nicole's inheritance! Then, after the Outward Bound trip, she's away to Malta for a week.

- ( House news )

- ( Dream a little dream )

Anyway, must go now, I need to do work and get this extra section for my sample chapter done. And also I'm hungry. Oh, and it's warmed up somewhat in here.

PS. Hello, hadrielkq!

I am spectacularly bad at it. I need to see people's faces, to see how they react, what they're looking at. It's always helpful to know what the other person can see around them, cos if a gap in the conversation comes, you can fill it in with some random observation of the surroundings.

The reason I'm talking about this is cos Lesley phoned me last night, and boy was it awkward. Partly, that was down to not having seen or spoken with her in so long, but mostly it was down to being bad at phone conversations. She's applied for a PGCE at Coleraine, so I can't rely on her being able to move with me in Belfast. :/ I need to start thinking about where I'm going to live next year. It's pretty much settled that everyone else is leaving. Working from home is certainly possible, but... it's just that, having been in Belfast for the whole of my university career so far, it seems odd to try to do it from home.

More and more, I am looking forward to finishing the PhD and taking my time to write my book. I know why I'm investing so much emotional commitment in the TV shows I'm watching, and the characters from them; they are my creative, imaginative outlet while the PhD occupies my writing and reading time. I am also looking forward to having time to read all the books currently stuffed in my bottom drawer. I went through a fit of book-buying about a year or so back, but haven't managed to read most of them yet. Yesterday, I purchased "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde, which I am looking forward to reading very very very much XD I have my own, personal plot-idea(s) about the merging of the real world and the world of fiction, so seeing someone else deal with the idea is kinda gratifying.

( And now that long ass statement thing, stolen from Sparky )