new england gothic

the blog that needed a nap

So one of the boxes of random possessions that I mailed to myself in Manchester just before I left Portland arrived today, and as I excitedly unpacked it this afternoon (having no idea any more what was actually in there) I took a bunch of pictures to post here. It was fun, but it certainly slowed down my day. Then transferring the pictures, selecting the good ones, exporting them, renaming them.

Now I finally have time to post them, and I'm realizing I can't fucking be bothered. The only reason I took them in the first place was because I knew this blog was in dire need of a new post. But they bore me, the pictures. It's just more of the same old navel-gazing crap I was doing all summer, only in a weird, inverted form.

Yawn.

So yeah, I think I'm done with blogging for the time being. At least here.  New England Gothic is on semi-permanent hiatus.

On a happier note, I think today's shipment may have delivered my Halloween costume ;)

Or y'know, I could always just go as myself.

Goodnight, babies. It's been real.

october

soundtrack

24 hour party people

Classes start tomorrow and a recent re-examination of the budget reveals that I badly need to get a job if I'm going to make it through the entire year with groceries in the fridge, so with this I may finally be caught up for a while on the backlog of pics I've been meaning to post. (I.e., social life = voluntary screeching halt) (for at least a week, anyway ;)

Shaun covered the final night of Freshers Week fairly well, so I won't bother to repeat. (Would have been infinitely more entertaining shots if my camera batteries hadn't konked on the way to the bar.)

Thursday night we went to 42nd Street, a legendary Manc nightclub not to be confused with 5th Ave, and yes I find the paired New York references quite amusing. (Though the Europeans apparently find *me* quite amusing; I've been teased by no less than 5 people now about my style of dance. Mystery was somewhat solved at 42's when Jay explained that I dance like a "typical American." (Or rather, a TV-stereotypical American...)

"No really -- I can't believe it. I feel like I'm at the Bronze."

Well, if I'm going to be mocked, at least I'm in good company ;)

(Using Flickr for these cuz there's no way in hell I'm going to upload them all individually to TypePad...)

Yeah.

:)

enjoying the scenery (or: manchester moves its streets around every time you check a map)

Getting lost on the way to the final showing for last year's Creative Tech and Creative Games masters students, with Geoff, who's on the Creative Games program (still don't know anything about the other four people on my progam, except that they're all male) (as are all the Creative Games students -- shocker) and his flatmate Frank, a Renaissance Lit phD student from Preston who's developed the irritating habit of making lewd comments in my general direction whenever we hang out. This will stop.

Geoff's early, ill-fated attempt at navigating downtown Manchester

"You keep taking those pictures, J. When we look at them later we're going to say 'Hey, there's us lost! Hey, there's us still lost!'" (nb: this comment was made before we realized we were, in fact, comically lost)

(Frank realizes we're lost.)

(Frank wants a drink.)

post-party, time for dinner and aforementioned drinks:

(Still waiting for his drink...)

scenic salford and its environs

main campus:

school of art and design:

irony

me neighborhood:

(center tower is mine...)

matthias court:

uncharacteristically kick-ass autumn weather:

can i put you in my pocket?

 

glad that Jewel track came up as #11 on shuffle ...

as requested

What's On Your iPod?

5515 songs (16 days, 26.92 GB)
0 videos (0 MB)
0 photos (0 MB)

Sorted by artist
First artist: The 5,6,7,8s
Last artist: Zombies

Sorted by song title
First Song: '39 by Queen
Last Song: Zungguzungguguzungguzeng by Yellowman

Sorted by time
Shortest Song: 0:09, Horn Intro by Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Longest Song: 36:29, Cryptical Envelopment by the Grateful Dead

Sorted by album
First Album: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis
Last Album: Zoso by Led Zeppelin

How many hits when you search for "sex"? 9
How many hits when you search for "death"? 12
How many hits when you search for "love"? 316
How many hits when you search for "angel"? 34

How many playlists?
9

First ten songs that come up on shuffle
1. Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long by The Magnetic Fields
2. Watch Yourself by Eric Clapton
3. Thank You For The Music by ABBA
4. Storm Coming by Gnarls Barkley
5. Check by Rustic Overtones
6. I Try by Macy Gray
7. Dear Prudence cover by Jerry Garcia Band
8. Every Morning by the Crash Test Dummies
9. Rock N Roll Nigger by Patti Smith
10. Duel by Craig Armstrong

Ten most played songs
1. It Can’t Come Quickly Enough by the Scissor Sisters (36 plays)
2. Eugene’s Lament by the Beastie Boys (34 plays)
3. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window by the Beatles (33 plays)
4. About Her by Malcolm McLaren (33 plays)
5. The Beast and Dragon Adored by Spoon (32 plays)
6. Smiley Faces by Gnarls Barkley (27 plays)
7. Dig For Fire by the Pixies (27 plays)
8. Wake Up by The Arcade Fire (26 plays)
9. Earthquake Weather by Beck (26 plays)
10. Fake Palindromes by Andrew Bird (25 plays)

coco puffs

No, not that kind. Just the ones I keep stealing from Minnie (I've unquestionably surpassed the limits of her intended generosity when she said "help yourself") because I've had either the drunk munchies, the stoned munchies, or the hungover munchies for a week straight.

Coco puffs are great.

(Not feeling very verbal lately. Here's some pictures instead.)

9/17 uni trip to the Lake District

intl boat posse: Shaun (Cape Town, South Africa), Thomas (London/Nigeria), Taylor (Vancouver, Canada)

More soon; sleep first.

two steps forward

So I might need to go spatula shopping when Minnie clears out. Then again, her replacement is a phD student who's been on campus for a few years, so I may have just hit the kitchen-supply jackpot. (Hi, nice to meet you. Do you have a corkscrew?)

Still, a girl's gotta take care of herself. So I'm happy to report that I've finally sorted the essentials.

communication situation:

(happy coincidence: the only color handset they had left was red :)

and much more importantly, caffeine situation:

Turns out I haven't had much need yet for the coffee maker, though, because unlike the rest of the students on campus -- both undergrad and postgrad -- who have been slaving away on their coursework since as early as last Monday, my classes don't start until next week. Why? Because my course leader is a crazy Austrian artist who doesn't seem overly concerned with the way the university expects things to be done. Monday night was the party/showing for the 2005-2006 final projects, and when two of us playfully cornered him at the gallery to ask when our courses began he actually giggled.

"Oh -- ve vill all meet on Monday -- ve can sit down and talk about your interests, about my interests, about vere ve vant the semester to go, yah."

Heh. Suuuuuure.  :)

In other news, I joined the Kung Fu Kick Boxing club on campus -- and like a true college student was too hungover today to go to the introductory class. That's okay -- there's another one on Sunday! Should have kept my pink boxing gloves...

lady j: apparently the flatmate from hell

So in the past two weeks I've managed to evacuate not one, not two, but THREE flatmates. Natasha, the pleasant Brit who moved in with much appreciated rolls of (purple) toilet paper and drove me to the grocery store even after she told me she was moving out, ostensibly fled due to the dodgy condition of our kitchen ceiling -- which apparently suffered a bit of a flood last year.  (I'd post pictures but I can't be fucked to deal with TP's uploading issues right now.)

Julie from France lasted less than 24 hours and never even finished unpacking; she got a place across campus with a pack of her French friends. Enjoy yer semester abroad, sweetheart.

But Minnie, my cool Chinese buddy -- I really though we were gonna stick. She even came out with Shaun and I to Rock Night at Jillys, and was totally chill even though the scene was quite obviously *way* out of her comfort zone. Minnie was great -- she had all kinds of potential. (And a spatula.)

But tonight she tells me that her bro is moving here from China and her parents want them to get a place together in town. So she's apparently already lined up some random phD student to take over her housing contract, but I have to agree to a "mixed" flat (ie, male roommate) for the deal to go through.

Greaaaat.

I said as long as he washes his own damn dishes and cleans up after himself in the bathroom it's fine. But I'm so ready to call the housing office and get him booted should he make my life miserable.

If I'm going to have a comic string of never-staying flatmates, I'm at least going to rule the roost around here.

Dammit.

we are currently experiencing TypePad Sucks Ass difficulties

Many posts soon, when it doesn't take 45 minutes to upload a single picture.

(say it with me now:

....

Fucking TypePad.)