...and I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Happy B-Day, Brendon Urie! :) (only 9 hours late) (and, fuck!, Gerard, I'm sorry, happy three-and-a-half-days Belated B-Day to you, too)

I have been shamefully absent from all LJ-related things for the past month and I apologise. If it makes you feel better, it wasn't one hundred percent intended. I've just been Internet-less (as usual) until three days ago. Right now, I'm at home with my parents and a cold.

What's been going on with me lately? Let's see...

01. I've finally received my financial aid package from the university I'm going to be attending next year in Germany, meaning Jacobs University Bremen. I'm perfect! I pay exactly what I'm able to, my load is acceptable, and I almost wrecked the mouse I was holding while reading the e-mail detailing the financial aid, so that the guy in the Internet Café had to yell, make vaguely-rude hand gestures, and threaten with bodily removal.

02. I don't have anywhere to live. I basically homeless in the city where my current university resides. I'm flatstudio-hunting with my mum. Everything's terribly expensive. Oh, well. Just four months and a half left.

03. I'm writing an original novel. It's not going anywhere interesting. It's kind of boring. Hopefully, I can finish it by November. Ignore that. I'm always writing something that comes to nothing.

04. I've been reading a lot lately. As in, more than a book per day. It's crazy. I'm going through the classics, the Man Booker Prize winners, the Hugo and Nebula winners, etc. I've developed a proclivity towards Joanne Harris and Julian Barnes.

05. I'm working, though slowly, on the Draco/Harry fic for Big Bang III. It's moving along at a very gentle pace, I admit, but it's going somewhere, at least, unlike point 3 above. Blah.

06. I've been the worst f-list friend ever. Sorry. :(

07. stars_mistify's B-day was yesterday. Whoot!

The end.

Just popped in to say, "Hey, I'm alive, finals start Monday, so I might be dead by mid-next week."

Other than that, I, yet again, do not have an Internet connection. So no updates for a while still. And sorry to my f-list for not reading and commenting.

And that's about it. Too bad you guys aren't from around here; it would totally be worth it just to see commercial law kicking my arse on Monday, followed by firm finances, currency, statistics, and accounting. My life, it is so exciting OMG...

P.S.: The music choice is not my own. Sorry. :(

Daer God, why am I such a fanwhore?!?

And yes, if I remember to register, I am definitely doing this. *cries*

This would qualify as the first post of 2008. Just got back from stars_mistify's place. It was pretty fun. Watched some movies. Made fun of the state of modern-day society in view of popular culture. Watched Jay Leno. Enjoyed ourselves basically.

Sleep beckons now... but first:

Write more.

Right. Over & out...

I've been... let's say busy (so as not to say too lazy to post)... lately, but I wanted to make the last post of the year on the last day of the year. It's a not very detailed one. I can do much better, so I'm obviously not trying. I'll fill in the blanks latter on.

My Christmas was perfectly dull, which is exactly how I like it. Yuletide might have gone better for me, let me tell you. It was a last-minute fic, but it seems to have gone over well with the people who have commented thus far. I received a Terry Pratchett book from stars_mistify. Yayz all around.

We'll be speaking again soon enough, f-list. Right now, though, I'm getting ready for New Year's Eve: a House M.D. marathon from what I gathered. Maybe some Supernatural and Veronica Mars thrown in as well. :P We'll see. It's at stars_mistify's apartment, which she has for herself completely this year. Yay us!

...and that's about it for now. Happy New Year! Happy new everything! Happy new lives! And maybe fandom will wank less in 2008. Or not, whichever.

AND THAT'S A WRAP, FOLKS!

I am still sick. I have slept for about two hours and a half last night. I can't wait to go back to my bed and maybe sleep an hour or two more.

Basically, I posted my Yuletide fic. It's unbeta'd, horrible, terrible, and I can't wait for the authors to be revealed so I can post a public apology to the recipient. Really. Truly. Oh God, why am I so bad with deadlines?

My nose hates me, obviously, because it won't stop running. I am so tired. Uh, sorry for neglecting you guys. I am the worst, I know. I just need to sleep right now. And maybe get better... at some point.

*cries*

I have the flu. I am weak beyond comprehension. I have a head-splitting headache, but still I am at the British Council library, doing research. I was supposed to hand in a paper this evening, but, not only is it incomplete, it have yet to start on it. I just ate, but I feel terribly hungry.

Furthermore, my Yuletide fic is unfinished (and due Wednesday), my pinch hit Yuletide fic (yes, I signed up for that, kill me kill me kill me) is even more unfinished (though the deadline to that one is the twenty-second), and I have yet to come up with a non-quantum solution for how I am going to get both beta read before they are due. And I positively hate quantum!

I might also be dehydrated. I have not figured that one out yet.

My head hurts.

Good God, I want to lie somewhere and die. The flu is killing me. Cramps are killing me. Where do the cramps come from anyway?

And my financial aid application should be sent out this month. I told my mum I already sent it.

My Sooner-Than-Later-Please Prospect Right Now: Find a pharmacy. Buy cough syrup (though I am decidedly not coughing... too much... just a little... you would not even notice, really...). Get high on it. I trust I can find the special sort which is strawberry- flavoured and full of endorphins... or whatever. Maybe I will get stoned and finish the fics. Or maybe just pass out while spouting gibberish.

Fuck.

I cannot use apostrophes on this computer, by the way... I think... maybe...

relatively: adv., I am bored out of my skull. I'd like to read some well-written fanfic right about now, but I seriously cannot be arsed to go looking for it. Feel free to spam away with whatever goodies have been posted in fandom lately (or five years ago, whatever), especially if they are bandom-related. I'm in the mood for Draco/Harry, to tell you the truth, but, like, William Beckett/Spencer Smith will be equally appreciated. Or a fun Giant Squid/Gabe Saporta crossover AU thing where everyone gets Hogwarts letter when they're in their twenties, only to realise sidekicks don't function at Hogwarts (silly, silly boys in bands). HA HA HA Damn.

inevitability: adv., I began, last night, in a fit of can only be called insanity (*points at journal sub-header*), to write this (OH GOD) thing (i.e., fic) with, like, Jon Walker and Gabe Saporta randomly living in London (I do realise I will have to explain the hows and whys of that inside the story) and next door (almost) from each other (thank you, we_are_cities, for the prompt *cries*). It's this horrible, horrible AU that has way too much smut in it. It's, like, I don't know - 60 percent porn (and some of it's taped, too). And I think my life has ended because I so want to finish writing this, but MY GOD - HOW HARD TO GET DATA ON PAVEMENT ARTISTS?!? (do not ask!) And I do believe, if I post this, someone is bound to yell at me that young, aspiring filmmakers don't behave like JWalk on crack (or do they?!? proof, please...).

My life - it is made up of adverbs.

P.S.: My Skyehawke account, is has been (finally) updated. Damn, my humour was much better in 2004. You know, back when I was writing Severus Snape/Hermione Granger fic. :P

Big Bang is reluctantly coming along. I have to confess I'm taking it leisurely on purpose. There's still time until the draft deadline and I'd rather not spend the last few weeks hurriedly e-mailing the document from one beta reader to another due to not having figured it all out right at the start.

I have, up until now, four snippets of scenes. Mind you, I said "snippets," and not actual beginning to end scenes. The outline is still in the process of being sorted out. I'm sorry, megyal, but you'll have to wait a few more days for me to get a stronger grip on the plan of this monstrous thing. I have a better, seemingly more proper idea, of where I want it to go. In the process, I'm discovering I'm not such an authority on canon as I once was. Pity. I could rival the Lexicon back in 2004, I was that intense about HP.

As for the outline itself, if I were using chapters, I would have plotted bits of the first three chapters and maybe a tad from the last. Going to war with a plan is not my strong point. I prefer to write out as much as I can and figure it out on the way. I have, up until now, only 500 words out of over a thousand are going into the first draft. The rest are just... potential smidgens of potential scenes. They're all from the middle of the story, therefore I won't be sure there's any purpose to them until I outline past chapter three.

I am getting surly. I'm at the British Council library, going through a November issue of Time Out London for inspiration for the scenes I have planned to take place inside the city. The guy sitting diagonally from me is quite nice and we're sharing private jokes regarding the people who turn up requesting aid from the ladies at the reception. (They are usually loud, clamorous individual who instantly turn petulant when the advice given isn't exactly what they wanted it to be. It's pleasing to not be the only one to see the ludicrous in some situations.) Also: a map of London - especially the Soho and King's Cross areas - would be helpful.

Time Out London (link goes to the website, as opposed to the magazine, which is what I am reading in fact) is quite an interesting read. Might prove more useful if I were living in London.

I suspect the guy sitting diagonally from me is trying to flirt. Or something. He started trying to be witty a few minutes ago. And giving me chocolate-covered pretzels. I do like the pretzels though.

Is anyone writing feminism in bandslash, like, ever? They should. Just an idea. *kof*

I officially received this morning (or maybe last night - I only checked half an hour ago, so who knows?) my first pinch hitter job for Yuletide. I'm just trilled I can contribute more to the event. Oh, you might say, "But even your original Yuletide assignment is still in the works. Is it wise to sign up for more?" And I will reply, "Nope. But, then again, wise has never looked good on me, now has it?"

Being wise might just stand against my life philosophy anyway.

I'm in the mood to listen to some Christmas carols. I... I'm going insane, aren't I? It's just a proclivity I'm suddenly exhibiting. Most odd.

Oh, and I've been phone-less since Monday, so I basically cannot contact anyone in my immediate family until I get a phone battery charger for my Nokia. Not technically a bad thing, but my sister is sending me the final financial aid documents I need and I wanted her to confirm the address before going to the post office. Oh well.

I wrote this whole post in BuzzWord. Nifty. Also: I apparently cannot spell anymore. Huh.

After rereading the post I am writing so far, I realised school is so irrelevant to my existence thus far that I don't even bother mentioning that I\m still going to university, or that I had this badass exam today, or that I have papers due next week, or that the pre-finals season is approaching (basically, all of the next two weeks). My life... *sigh*

My spam is in Russian... again. It's starting to creep me out what with the recent LJ buyout news and all. Brr...

ETA: to megyal - Would it be okay if I f-locked an entry and left it open for your eyes only with some plot point for the Big Bang I'm working on? I feel I need some brainstorming to go down before I go any further, and I don't have IM access from the British Council (yeah, I know, so weird that they wouldn't let you chat with people at the library...).

I put 51,000 words as the target to make sure the story qualifies even after ruthless beta reading. It's not actually zero right now, but considering I'm writing just so I can convince myself that I Am Writing, I don't believe it counts towards the total. It's more as if I'm currently testing the waters with the outline and some character development. I'm considering whether to just write one smut scene after another set in the Room of Requirement and leave it at that. It won't conform to challenge rules, but that's still 50,000 words of smut more than I have now.

In another train of—whatever—writing, I have the following notable warrior women archetypes to investigate this December, in the hopes of completing my attempted-NaNovel: Calamity Jane, Itzpapalotl, Yim Wing-chun, Durga, Vishpala, Marisha-Ten, Unniyarcha, the Trung Sisters, Oya, and Mata Hari.

Itzpapalotl doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, now does it? Good thing I got the character-naming down back in October. *nods* I am also pointedly ignoring any mentioning of Norse mythological figures since it took me forever to include Yggdrasil and the Valkyries in the plot line (subsequently, I can spell both without looking them up on Wiki).

By the by—the SUP thing? Not that worried. I'd just like my span to please STOP coming in Russian so I can rest assured there is no sikrit conspiracy afoot.

Back to school. I gained the usual 5 lbs after a weekend with my mum. Good to know some things never change.

The SUP whatever thingy takeover/buyout has already been discussed by half the people on my f-list and, most likely, half the people on your f-list as well. I'll spare you my own version of (possible) future events. Am I worried? There's just one country between me and Russia... and that's about all that comes to mind right now.

I'm in desperate need of a shower right now. I'm not particularly icky, no, but I woke up at 7:30 a.m. this morning just to be late anyway. And I'd like shower, yes, and something warm to eat. But school! German and, uh, Firm Finances. I suck I German, by the by. Any volunteering to tutor me here? Didn't think so.

I've just figured out that all my money goes on Internet Cafes.

Every two weeks I go home to wash my clothes, towels and bed sheets, and generally be a good daughter and visit. I leave Thursday afternoon, right after courses finish, and arrive Thursday night. As some of the guys and girls I worked with in Greece are from Bucharest, we have been discussing a meet-up for some time now. There's a chance it's going to be this Thursday evening. Therefore, I will only be able to leave for home Friday morning or noon.

Now, another variable added to the equation: My mum has been telling me she will come on business (or whatever) this week. We're supposed to go, while she's here, to the bank to do some... bank-stuff. Whatever. What I had yet to realise until last night when she phoned was that she hadn't said anything about the day when she was coming. So she's coming Thursday. Yeah.

It's not that I don't like my mu-- Um, okay, so I don't like my mum, but what really bothers me is that while she's going to be here she's going to try to control what I wear, what I do, how I talk, how much money I spend and on what, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseam. I don't like her company, especially in places I call my own, i.e. what the hell is she doing in the capital when this is my turf? She's just going to get me down about the whole meet-up with the guys. I suspect she's been aching to talk to me about The Boy since we broke up. I neither have the interest, nor the intention of talking to her about my emotional life or whatever you want to call it. I just want her to not spend the night and not have to see her more than I necessarily have to.

Yes, I am being a spoiled, ungrateful kid. So what's new? She's the one person I never ever miss. Is it too much to ask to not see her sooner than I have to? It seems so. I'm trying really hard here to not get depressed or in a bad mood over her visit. She's the only one who can put me down so hard I feel like crying every few minutes. I don't have a plan and I want to avoid her as much as possible. I will fail, of course, but at least I'm hoping the meet-up won't be a disaster because I'm in a foul mood.

Over & out.

P.S.: Rereading my post I come to realise it does not make sense to anyone but me and maybe long-time friends who know about my issues with my mum. Feel free to ignore this post unless you have words of wisdom or just general "Cheer up!" wishes for me.

ETA: If you take the quiz/test-thing, please comment with a link to it so I can go vote and stuff. Spread the racoon movie joy, 'kay? 'Kay.

Do not open before X-mas!

Okay, so not technically a warning, but you should heed it. For real.

Otherwise, I can't really see the point of putting a waning label on me. I'm practically harmless, unless you get me started on a discussion topic you should seriously not get me started on, like, say, squirrels... or... "Why Romania sucks." You get my point, I'm sure.

kvetch \KVECH\, adjective: To complain habitually.

Seldom would a day pass when Sirius wasn't kvetching about wanting to get out of that damn house and do some real work for the Order.

I'm a Libra. You know, I used to so believe in horoscopes and astrology. Then I graduate from the wonderful age of 13 and got over it.

Indie. I mean just anything from The New Pornographers to Cat Power to The Streets. They all make my nonexistent soul leap for joy... on a Sunday morning.

[EDIT] 5:29 p.m. P.S.: My hair is black. It was supposed to turn out as a plum-coloured thing, but I left the dye on for 45 minutes instead of the required 15. Yeah, you can see how that might have contributed to the iffy colouring. Still! It's pretty awesome. A friend from school did it for me, and she also straightened it. If my face weren't so craptacular these days, I'd post pictures. For real. I love the colour that turned out in the end. It has just a tiny bit of plum highlight when the light shines on it, so yayz! I think I'll start doing this colour more often.

Follow the rules. Post your name and:

1.] I'll respond with something random about you.
2.] I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3.] I'll pick a flavour of jello to wrestle you in.
4.] I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me. (if possible!)
5.] I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6.] I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7.] I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
8.] If you do this you MUST post this on yours. You MUST. It is written.

I'm not livid. Really, I'm not. But I do have something to say. Inspired by lettergraveyard.

Dear Boy:

( Yeah, you, I'm talking to you! )

Dear Life:

( HA HA HA )

Dear School:

( *cries* )

Dear Mum:

( I'm only going to say this once... )

Yeah, that's about it. Don't you feel better now?

"It is simply a matter of finding a sunny place in a garden, where the light is golden and the grass is soft; somewhere to rest, to stop reading, and to be content." [ The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman ]

recumbent \rih-KUM-bunt\, adjective: 1. Reclining; lying down. 2. Resting; inactive; idle.

Sirius' recumbent desires to ravish Remus to an inch of his life came back full-force after escaping Azkaban.

New time I'll study, I swear, but I'd like to get a top mark this time, too.

I'm not big with the money right now (or in general, really), but I am considering a paid account. It's... tempting. Extra icons are tempting as well. It would be so much easier to get one of either if I had a job providing me with cash. Sadly, I can't get a job until 2008 because I won't be in the capital for a few weeks during holiday, and, yeah, they always want people who don't need vacations.

Hmm, I am so tempted, you have no idea. Just the thought of customisable layouts and all those icons. Okay, okay... *breathe* At some point I'll get one. And I'll post a poll to celebrate the event. Until then, I can hope really hard that someone hires me for something in a few months so I can afford a year-long paid account. That's, like, what? 25 dollars? Could be worse.

In the meantime, I need to polish my CV. I haven't renewed it since, uh - April? March? Something like that.

Since I leave for home around the 19^th, I need to do any and all holiday shopping before that date. As appealing as the 23^rd-24^th of December last-minute shopping sprees sound, I am physically and temporally unable to indulge in them. Maybe some day, when I am a wealthy socialite living in New York and Christmas means me and the guys having lunch in Central Park. Until then, I have to stick to reality-check-type benchmarks of plausibility.

I expect the real (if any) shopping will start around the 1^st of December. I have no money, which might be a problem, but I'm willing to beg and plead for some, therefore there should be little standing between me and the mall this year. That is, unless, of course, I am so swamped in exams and papers due the weeks leading to that period that I'll completely forget about giving people other than myself (arguably free) stuff.

Actually, if I really stop and think about it for more than three seconds (the usual length of my attention span), I do believe I already bought neat-o things for my closest (non-online) friends while in Greece. They have yet to receive them, so I guess they could conceivably count as holiday gifts. Yay for all! That only leaves me with the rather daunting task of figuring out what I can get my mum since I didn't get her anything on her birthday (which was November 10^th, the same as Neil Gaiman's, yayz!) and to get something for my dad that he can essentially, you know, use. Also: something for Sis - definitely.

In other news, I'm currently doing the only bit of studying I deemed necessary (o.O) in order to pass the TKT exam I am taking tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Since maybe only two people on my f-list know what the hell that exam means (though only peripheral knowledge at best), here's a link. Take another. Please bear in mind I am a twenty-year-old college student from Romania, (currently) majoring in International Economic Relations, who will leave in the summer for Germany to abandon her current university and major in order to study about art and literature as a freshman once again. *exhales*

I weep for myself sometimes.

I can't wait for the signing up on hp_springsmut to begin. That'll be in less than a month. Hopefully, I will have Internet access in that period. Still, I am wildly excited about (I don't know why it's so sudden).

Yutide is kicking my arse! *kof*

FYI, I am only able to post daily these days because I frequent the British Council library and get free Internet access there due to having been a passkey-holder/member since February this year. I can't come here every day (obviously), but lately I've found the time to at least stop by, read some things, post some things, and comment on some things (don't feel offended if I am not commenting on yours). Hopefully, my Internet situation will improve in December.

List of FanFics I Should Definitely Read in the Near Future:

Corresponding Follies by englishmuffin2 :: I really want to indulge in this one, but it's 17 chapters long. It'll have to be next week at the earliest. But I so want to.

Tom, Tom, Tom by littleteeth :: Hmm, I've read one other fic from her (wonderfully-written, by the by, will rec laters), so I'm tempted. Tom/Cho is "sekrit kinky!pleasure" for me.

Jacob by cave_canem :: I'd like to get into this pairing. I know for a fact I can't write Sirius/Draco, but I do have the urge to read plenty of it.

deipnosophist \dyp-NOS-uh-fist\, noun: Someone who is skilled in table talk.

Sirius wasn't much of a deipnosophist; in fact, people were more likely to shut up completely rather than engage him in conversation during meals.

[EDIT]: 6:35 p.m. I can only hope I caused at least one.

144,605 People

I compiled this as I went along. It's just a few things I read/lurved today and thought I'd share.

Love and War by gigipoodle, Harry Potter, PG, Arabella Figg/Marlene McKinnon :: Lovely, lovely, lovely. I just can't get enough of it. I've read it three times until now. You should all go read for the rarepair goodness therein. *grin*

single_101 :: Yes, it is all it's cracked up to be. The entries are a pool of sarcasm, cynicism, and the likes. My newly-single persona is finding this wildly appealing.

I'm off!

[EDIT]: 6:21 p.m. wiseacre \WY-zay-kuhr\, noun: One who pretends to knowledge or cleverness; a would-be wise person; a smart aleck.

He used to take the fun out of anything when he was behaving like a wiseacre; actually, he was never in the know and only managed to annoy the others.