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[10 Oct 2008|08:39pm] beingme89 Last night I was watching a pretty interesting ghost story drama on TV called The Signalman, based on a short story by Charles Dickens, about a lonely signalman on a remote, but dangerous, stetch of railway haunted by a strange figure who seems to herald approaching danger. It was originally made in the 1970s and is very atmospheric. It's very quiet with no real special effects or anything, which made it much more effective. Later on I was watching an episode of That Mitchell and Webb Look, and a truly bizarre episode of The Mighty Boosh on DVD, in which the Zoo is close to being destroyed to make way for a new road, and so zookeepers Howard and Vince have to enter the mysterious "Jungle Room" in order to find the Zoo's missing owner and face violent trees, a psychadelic rock guru with a door in his head, "Mod" wolves on scooters, a man turning into a cheese and discuss fashion for "the leafy gent". Work was fairly quiet, and the place was mostly pretty empyty as usual.. The personality question thing that I did about a month ago was printed in the staff magazine alongside a caricature of me. It was kind of fun to see it, and I just hope that I didn't make a complete fool of myself. It was questions like who would be your ideal date?, and that kind of thing. There was a bit of drama at work when some guy at our table was getting really annoyed about comments someone else was making behind his back, and it looked like the guy was working himself up to starting some trouble, but the person who had been making the comments left before anything could happen and things calmed down. I was completely uninvolved and just sat there listening to my iPod and minding my own business. One thing that was curious was the guy who was getting angry put on a really strong accent when he was angry, that was really unlike how he talks normally. I left work at around five and went straight home. I had some more microwaved pasta meal, in a tomato and cheese sauce, with some pineapple juice. 1 comment|post comment

[09 Oct 2008|08:57pm] beingme89 It was a pretty quiet night last night. I spent most of the time watching TV, and on the computer. Work was really quiet again today. I was listening to a couple of episodes of The Mighty Boosh on the iPod in the afternoon. It's a really funny show about "jazz maverick" Howard Moon (Julian Barratt) and would-be rock star Vince Noir (Noel Fielding) who work in a bizarre zoo and have funny and surreal adventures in exotic locations with an assortment of strange creatures. It's very imaginative, especially with the TV show and the low-budget but effective special effects. I also listened to a Neil Gaiman story from the Fragile Things collection called "Bitter Grounds" about a drifter who attends an anthropology conference in New Orleans, posing as a professor researching zombies. However, its not long before the drifter discovers the darker side of New Orleans and learns more about zombies than he ever wanted to know. It is a creepy story. I enjoy listening to the spoken word things on the iPod as well as the music. When it's quiet at work (as it often is) it does make the time pass a lot more pleasantly. However, it seems like the quiet days may not last very long because there's another desk move apparently happening (only about a month after the last one) I think becasue they made a mistake with the previous one and overfilled some offices, while almost emptying others. When I got home I had a microwaved meal of spaghetti bolognese and a glass of pineapple juice which I had while watching The Simpsons on TV. post comment

yeah i know i suck [09 Oct 2008|11:53am] tracichan [ mood | happy ] [ music | Shinedown - Burning Bright ] So I haven't been around much, sorry again. I've been keeping myself busy, I guess. Okay, with absolutely nothing, I'll admit that much. I've been making mixes for my friends, laying around reading fashion magazines, and that's about it. Someone told me the other day that I 'radiated stress' during the last week, so I'm glad to not be glow-in-the-dark-pink anymore (long story! The guy's an idiot, so to be mean, radiation=glowing in the dark). The same guy shocked Tabi and I completely yesterday during lab. We were talking about fried zucchini, and he said that you can only fry it in vegetable oil (lie), and Tabi and I disagreed. Not to mention we were slightly offended that he decided to tell us how to fry it... we grew up on it. And I mentioned shortening, and he didn't know what I was talking about. He's NEVER HEARD OF SHORTENING. I'm pretty sure we made the best faces ever in the existance of the world. Anyway, that's all the excitement I have, other than I'm so retardedly happy and content right now it's ridiculous. I feel like a different person, which is stupid, because I haven't changed a bit. It's great. Have a wonderful day, flist! post comment

[08 Oct 2008|08:52pm] beingme89 It was pretty quiet last night, and it was another pretty quiet day at work. I was listening to my iPod a lot this afternoon, because I had a lot of new stuff uploaded to it. I was listening to some Mary Chapin Carpenter, Trisha Yearwood, The Eagles, the Juno soundtrack and a couple of episodes of The Mighty Boosh. I was quite pleased that I managed to get as much as I did on the iPod, and there's still quite a bit of space left on it, so I can put more stuff on it. I've got quite a lot of spoken word stuff on my iPod as well, including Doctor Who, The Mighty Boosh and some Neil Gaiman stories. I left work at around half past five and when I got home I made some microwave mushroom risotto. Of course the NaNoWriMo starts in a few weeks, and I kind of have an idea of what I was going to write about. Kind of a comic, fantasy, science-fiction thing. post comment

[07 Oct 2008|08:03pm] beingme89 Last night was pretty quiet. I spent most of the time watching stuff on TV and listening to the rest of The Mighty Boosh CD. Today I was back at work. At least it's going to be a short week. It was a fairly quiet day, as usual. Apparently they are going to be making these special news bulletins to be screened throughout the comapny and I've put my name down to be a presenter. This evening when I got back home I was updating my iPod. So that should be good, because I do listen to it a lot. post comment

[06 Oct 2008|07:01pm] beingme89 Last night I was listening to the CD of Doctor Who: The War Machines, it was a pretty good story in which the First Doctor (played by William Hartnell) arrives in London in 1966, where he learns that a scientist is installing a powerful supercomputer in London's GPO Tower (now the BT Tower) with a view to linking all the world's computers into one worldwide computer network, however the supercomputer has other ideas and decides to take over the world by taking over the minds of humans (which it can do over the telephone) and using robot "War Machines". It was pretty effective as a radio play. I was also watching a Doctor Who video called Cybermen - The Early Years, which features clips and some full episodes from 1960s stories featuring the Cybermen. It was pretty interesting. I listened to some of the The Mighty Boosh CD set as well. That was really funny. I was off work today and so I went along to the cinema to see How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (a subject on which I am something of an expert), directed by Robert B. Weide, and based on the book by Toby Young. It tells the story of British journalist Sidney Young (played by Simon Pegg), who gets a job working for a hugely successful magazine in New York City, writing profiles of celebrities, however his habit of annoying everyone he comes across threatens to ruin everything. The film also stars Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Megan Fox and Gillian Anderson. It has had very mixed reviews but I thought it was pretty funny. After the movie I went out and bought a book called Building Self-Confidence for Dummies by Kate Burton and Brinley N Platts. I thought it might help boost my self-confidence. I really get sick of my low self-esteem and lack of confidence. I was thinking of taking a year's "career break" from work at some point and going back to college overseas for a year and then see if I wanted to stay on, but if not I could always go back to my old job. To be honest, I am really into the idea of emigating. I do think it would be good for me, probably. Maybe. Then I went along to the Rutland bar and had a chargrilled chicken and salami sandwich with chips and salad, with a pint of beer. It was really nice. post comment

[05 Oct 2008|06:59pm] beingme89 Last night I was listening to an episode of Fear on Four called "Tapping". The story revolves around a man haunted by a tragic memory from his childhood who soon discovers that the ghosts of his past are closer than he thinks. It was pretty good and genuinely creepy in places. I think that radio can be really great for fantasy, science-fiction and horror, because you really do have to use your imagination which can be far more terrifying than any special effects. This morning my Dad came along and we went over to The Gyle shopping centre. We had a coffee and scone in the cafe section and then went and had a look at our different things. I got an audio CD of The Mighty Boosh: The Complete Radio Series and an audio CD of Doctor Who: The War Machines, which is basically the soundtrack of the 1966 television story with linking narration to explain the more visual parts. They were in the sales so that should be fun to listen to. I'll probably upload them to my iPod. Afterwards we went along to my parent's house for lunch, which was a kind of beef stew with mashed potato and peas. In the afternoon I helped my Dad load up the car with some garden rubbish to be taken away for disposal, and then I went for a walk to the Modern Art Gallery for some coffee. It was a nice afternoon, and I'll be off tomorrow so that should be fun. I've signed up for the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which should be interesting. I was discussing emigration and she was very encouraging about that. I do think that it is time for a change of scenery. I think it would do me some good. 2 comments|post comment

yay... maybe... [05 Oct 2008|11:56am] tracichan [ mood | relieved ] [ music | Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend ] So the test is over. Here's to hoping it went beter than I think it did. I hate my own name now. I signed, bubbled and wrote it a total of 24 times, they checked my ID twice and I got fingerprinted... hey flist? Just in case you wondered, I am really who I say I am! Friday was a nightmare for me. I actually got up and went to music just because I figured it'd give me something to focus on, which I just couldn't do regardless of what I tried, and music didn't help, even though we were watching some opera in Italian and it should have kept me occupied. I flipped out, started crying when I went to print out my last entrance ticket. It started something kind of ugly where I'd cry really hard for a minute or a minute and a half and then force it to stop, and then it'd start again a little while later. It sucked. My friends were amazing, I'll give them that much. We made a music mix and had Custard's while I told them I hated them and went through the rage-despair-cry-pep talk cycle. I asked Kelly if I might get a refund if I gnawed my own hand off and she said no, because they'd wrap my bloody stump and drug my ass and make me take the test anyway. Then she said I didn't need my right hand to fill in circles, so I could deal with it, and write my essay in blood if I had to. I'll make it up to them (with Bailey's malts, lol). That and payback's a bitch because we're going shopping next weekend again, and they don't like shopping with me. Kelly especially because I make her try things on and show me for approval and they're not blue jeans. So ha, for that stump comment! Anyway, I don't think the test went well at all, but here's to hoping because I'm applying to MU anyway. That's where I want to go the most, and that's where it's going to be the most disappointing to get the rejection letter from. And my secret's out because I let the MU fans know. :/ OH YEAH AND MY MONTHLY HAPPY TIME STARTED FRIDAY which was really fucking upsetting by the way, but I seriously bitch slapped my cramps into submission Saturday! I cured my own cramps. Not for long, but long enough to finish the test, which was all I wanted. I got out and saw my mom, who was waiting for me outside of the residence hall, and as she gave me a hug she said "How's my little lawyer?" which I get the feeling she's wanted to say for a while. I hugged her back and said "I think I'm going to be a prostitute." We went shopping (I go shopping a lot, don't I?) and had lunch, and I love my mom tons for putting up with me yesterday, lol. Afterward, I went with Kelly and Tabi (after telling them that I didn't hate them anymore) to Knob Noster where Kelly's parents were camping. We listened to the MU game on the radio, which doesn't do much to relieve the tension inside but, eh... I had fun. I like Kelly's family, and it was a good distraction. 8 comments|post comment

[04 Oct 2008|04:54pm] beingme89 I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening watching the entire series of Spaced. I'd kind of missed it first time round, but I'd seen a few episodes of it here and there. I thought it was really funny. It launched the careers of actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright who went on to do Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and you can see a lot of the humour in the show. Later on I watched a couple of episodes of The Mighty Boosh before falling asleep on the sofa. I was really tired, I had stayed up to after four in the morning the previous night. When I woke up I decided to head off to bed, but while I was getting ready I started flicking through the Kevin Smith diary and kind of got engrossed in it, so I went to bed at around four again. Today I went out to get my groceries for the week. Aside from that I've stayed in and watched the extra features on the Juno DVD. post comment

[03 Oct 2008|04:40pm] beingme89 Last night I finished reading Miracles of Life by J.G. Ballard. Here's what it says on the back of the book: "J.G. Ballard has been, for over fifty years, one of this country's most significant writers. Beginning with the events that inspired his classic novel, Empire of the Sun, in this revelatory autobiography he charts the course of his astonishing life. Miracles of Life takes us from the vibrant surroundings of pre-war Shanghai, to the deprivations and unexpected freedoms of Lunghua Camp, to Ballard's arrival in a devestated Britain. Ballard recounts his first attempts at fiction and his part in the social and artistic revolutions of the 60s. He describes his friendships with figures as diverse as Kingsley Amis, Michael Moorcock and Eduardo Paolozzi alongside recollections of his domestic life in Shepperton - raising three children as a single father after the premature death of his wife. Miracles of Life is both a captivating narrative of the experiences that have shaped this extraordinary writer's works, his distinctive outlook and his original visions of the future, and is also an account of an entirely remarkable life." The book is very interesting, although out of the thirty-odd books that Ballard has published it only treats in detail The Atrocity Exhibition, Empire of the Sun which was filmed by Steven Spielberg and Crash, which was turned into a hugely controversial film in 1996 by David Cronenberg. Ballard writes quite movingly about his family life, however the main problem is that the 1970s onwards are passed over in a few pages, with nothing about his more recent novels, which are very different from his earlier ones. I was off work today and I went out early to meet my mum at eleven. However the traffic was so bad that I had to get off the bus very early and walk most of the way, luckily I magaged to get there in time. We went up to Cafe Rouge, a French restaurant, for a continental breakfast, which was basically a selection of croissants and crusty bread with butter and jam. It was really nice. After breakfast we split up and I bought a couple of DVDs in the sales: The complete series of Spaced and a boxed set of series one and two of The Mighty Boosh. On my way home I bought a large bottle of Coke and a copy of Radio Times. So I will have plenty of stuff to watch this evening. 1 comment|post comment

2 (though technically I guess it's 1) [03 Oct 2008|12:10am] tracichan [ mood | scared ] [ music | Nickelback - Hero ] I've decided that if I could take my LSAT in character, as a fighter/paladin of Kord, I'd probably have the confidence I need to get a decent score. It's not because I'm kind of wicked awesome, but because in character I have a lot of self confidence. But unfortunately I have a really low intelligence modifier, so it's useless to try. Unfortunately on Saturday there won't be a fighter-paladin who incidentally just smited some losers for doing illicit drugs when she's lawful good and in the area walking into the test area, just Traci, who's scared beyond half to death, has absolutely no self-esteem, and is more reliant upon her friends' faith in her than she is in her own. ALSO WTF BUT I GOT AN EMAIL THIS MORNING THAT THEY CHANGED THE LOCATION OF THE TEST. TWO DAYS BEFORE. WHAT THE BLEEDING HELL???? Thankfully it's still on campus, but I don't know the building. At all. I know where it is, so I'm hoping that they'll have signs around directing me where to go. Or at the very least a friendly helper. I got a good luck email from Philadelphia, PA today. LOL. 5 comments|post comment

[02 Oct 2008|08:31pm] beingme89 Last night was pretty quiet. I was watching an episode of That Mitchell and Webb Look through the TV On Demand service, which is a pretty funny comedy sketch show. I was also reading the autobiography of J.G. Ballard that I got at the weekend, which is pretty interesting so far. I was also watching a pretty fun show called Scary but True about people's encounters with the supernatural. I managed to make my breakfast this morning without anything eventful happening. It was another fairly uneventful day at work. There was a rumour going around that there was supposed to be a big office meeting about something, but it never actually happened. The rumour mill was suggesting that it might be about the possible relocation which seems to have become an issue again after several months of being dormant, the relocation thing has been going on for years and creates a lot of unecessary stress for people. Just when I keep thinking it's finally over, it reappears. Also the Union are going to be balloting everyone on yet more strike action, which is going to be another nuisance. On more important matters, we discovered that there was a house called "Rivendell" which gave rise to long discussions about elves and dwarves in The Lord of the Rings. However, I am off work until Tuesday so that should be fun. I'm looking forward to the long weekend. I had a microwave pasta, tomato sauce and cheese meal for one. It was quite nice. 2 comments|post comment

[01 Oct 2008|08:08pm] beingme89 There was a bit of drama this morning when I was making my porridge for breakfast this morning. I must have been half-asleep because I put the oats in the bowl and put it in the microwave but forgot the milk. As I was getting ready in the other room I could smell a burning smell. I didn't know what it was so I went to investigate, but it turned out that the oats were completely cremated into a black smudge at the bottom of the bowel. It was very hot, and there was smoke everywhere so I had to douse it with cold water, until it was cool enough to scoop out and throw away. The steam shot up almost straight into my face. I managed to clean the bowel out and it was fine, so was the microwave and all the smoke and the burning smell weren't any worse than they usually are when I make popcorn, so there was no real harm done. I decided to make another bowl of porridge, because I didn't want to go into work without any breakfast. It was another quiet day at work, which is of course nothing unusual. I got home at about quarter to six and made a microwaved meal of spaghetti bolognese which I ate with a glass of apple juice while watching an episode of The Simpsons. 2 comments|post comment

[30 Sep 2008|08:53pm] beingme89 Last night I was watching the film Summer of Sam, a 1999 film directed by Spike Lee, and set in New York City during the summer of 1977. As the city swelters under a record-breaking heatwave, the streets are being stalked by the serial killer known as "Son of Sam". The film focuses on a small Italian-American neighbourhood, in particular the popular hairdresser Vincent (played by John Leguizamo), who enjoys disco-dancing and constantly cheats on his wife (Mira Sorvino), and his friend Ritchie (Adrien Brody), a punk who loves The Who, wears his hair in spikes and sports a fake British accent. Ritchie's outlandish appearance and unconventional lifestyle soon cause tension in the tight-knit neighbourhood community. As the heatwave increases, the crime rate in the city rises and the "Son of Sam" killings continue, causing increased paranoia and tension. It's a very stylishly made film, using a variety of cinematic techniques. Spike Lee has a small role in the film as a TV reporter. I remember very clearly seeing it when it first came out at the cinema. It was another fairly quiet day at work, as it usually is. On the way into work I happened to see my friend Joe going in the opposite direction. I hadn't seen him around or heard from him for a week or so, but he said it was just because he was very busy, which is fair enough. It'll be fun having a couple of days off at the end of the week. I don't really know what I'll be doing though. I was listening to my iPod at work this afternoon. I was listening to the Juno soundtrack again, which is really great, but I have to remember to get the iPod updated sometime. I keep meaning to but I always forget. I got home at around quarter to six and made myself a microwaved lasagne for my dinner, with a glass of apple juice. It was quite nice, if not particularly exciting. I ate while watching an episode of The Simpsons. I've been listening to the original radio series of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy on tape over the past few nights before getting to sleep. It's still really funny, and has aged really well, better than many other comedies. I was actually worried that the tapes wouldn't work, because I hadn't listened to them in years, but so far they work fine. It's funny but I remember about a year ago when I used to go out drinking quite a lot, and because of various things I don't do it any more, or I do occasionally but not nearly as much as I used to. I actually don't really miss it. Most of the time I actually think I'm better off just staying at home, reading my books and watching TV. Besides, there are various things I'm probably better concentrating on, like my writing and other stuff, also I am still planning on emigrating at some point. I need to work out some kind of plan, especially because I've been feeling slightly down about my thirtieth birthday approaching, in many ways, like there was a stage I wanted to be at in my life by then, and I'm not there yet, and I am worried that soon it might turn out to be too late. maybe one thing I should try to do is relax more, have more fun and not get so stressed out about things. post comment

5 [29 Sep 2008|04:32pm] tracichan [ mood | nervous ] [ music | Chicago - Cell Block Tango ] LSAT is Saturday. I'm freaking the Hell out. Also I'm fairly certain my friends are ready to kill me, but... 14 comments|post comment

[29 Sep 2008|08:31pm] beingme89 Last night was pretty quiet. I was watching some of the film The Faculty on TV. It's a 1998 film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Kevin Williamson (who wrote Scream and created Dawson's Creek) about a high school in Ohio where the teachers and most of the students become taken over by alien parasites. It's up to a small group of students to stop the invasion. Basically it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Breakfast Club. I've seen it a few times, and I remember seeing it at the cinema, but I didn't watch it today. I can't remember what I decided to see instead, but I think it might have been Father Ted. I also went on to the computer to start writing a horror movie script. When I woke up this morning I had that moment where I forgot what day it was and thought that it was still the weekend, until I realised that I had set my alarm clock early so that must mean I had work. Worse, the fact that I had a second where I thought it was the wekeend could only mean Monday morning. However, I managed to get Friday and next Monday off on annual leave. I've got plenty of annual leave, so I thought it would be fun. Also I get paid this week, with backpay, hopefully, so it should be good. It was a pretty quiet day at work. I was listening to my iPod during the afternoon. On my way home from work I got the latest issue of Empire magazine, which was listing the "500 Greatest Films of All Time". Number one was The Godfather, which was a really good film. I've seen that one a few times as well. When I got home I had a mushroom risotto microwave meal, which I hadn't had before and was actually nicer than I had expected. When I switched my light on, the bulb blew out, so i went to change it. However, that didn't work and it turned out that it was the fuse, but I managed to fix it. 2 comments|post comment

[28 Sep 2008|07:03pm] beingme89 I read the book Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker over the past day or so. The story puports to be the autobiography of a minor demon, Jakabok Botch (also known as Mister B.), who is captured and brought to Earth in the fourteenth century, after joining forces with another, more powerful, demon named Quitoon. The two wander the Earth for about a hundred years killing and stealing at will, with Quitoon particularly fascinated by human inventions, especially inventions of war, execution and torture. However they learn of a revolutionary device being invented in a small German town which could change the world, and for which massed supernatural forces are converging on the town, fighting for control of the invention, and leading to Botch discovering a shocking secret about the nature of the battle between Good and Evil. The book constantly "breaks the fourth wall" by having the demon narrator trying to persuade the reader to burn the book and set him free (the idea being that the demon itself is trapped in the book itself) by alternately pleading, threatening, reasoning and insulting the reader. The idea being that the book itself is a dangerous object and that while the reader is reading the demon's story, the demon is "reading" the reader. It's a technique that can work really well, or just become ridiculous. In this book it actually does work well, and the book manages to be scary, gruesome, exciting and often very funny. It's pretty brief, being only 248 pages long. Last night was really quiet. I was drinking some wine and watching TV. I must have fallen asleep at some point on my couch during For Your Eyes Only. I do have this irrirtating habit of falling asleep on my couch while I'm trying to watch TV, especially if I've had a bit to drink. I went to my parent's house for lunch as usual. Lunch today was salmon parcels with ricotta cheese and spinach inside, mashed potato and peas, followed up with some profiteroles for dessert and a glass of Budweiser beer. So that was really nice. The afternoon was pretty quiet, I was mostly sitting around and reading my book. post comment

[27 Sep 2008|05:06pm] beingme89 Last night I was watching Russell Brand Live, basically it was Russell Brand performing his stand-up comedy. I'd never seen any of his stand-up stuff before and, although his style took a bit of getting used to, I thought it was very funny. Later on I was watching a repeat of the final episode of the first season of Life on Mars, in which Sam Tyler (John Simm) comes to believe that he may have be getting close to escaping his 1973 dreamworld and waking up in 2006, when an investigation into a vicious crime gang leads Sam to his own father and some disturbing secrets. It was a really entertaining show. I don't know if they'll be repeating the second season, but I hope that they do. I'll probably try to get it on DVD at some point anyway. Today I went out to the shops and bought some books in the sales: Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker (the back of the book claims that it marks Barker's return to the "classic horror tale" and the plot of the book, apparently being the autobiography of a demon trapped inside a cursed book, sounds interesting), Duma Key by Stephen King (Stephen King's later books don't seem to be as good as his earlier ones, but I've been reading his stuff for a long time now so hopefully he'll get back to form) and Miracles of Life: An Autobiography by JG Ballard. On my way home I stopped off and got my groceries for the week. I also got the latest issue of Total Film magazine, which came with a free mouse-mat featuring Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond film. post comment

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