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August 29th, 2006
11:16 pm - Santa's Little Helper
I have dogs on the brain, greyhounds to be precise. We are looking into adopting a greyhound and may be able to take one home as early as the Friday after next... yay! We have an orientation at the track this Friday where we get a behind the scenes look at the lives of racing hounds and then if all the details work out we can go back the next Friday to pick up a dog. We went and met a few greyhounds this last weekend and now I'm really excited... such interesting animals and so mellow. I just had to share the news... :)
In other news, I'm up for black belt testing in November and starting to get both nervous and excited about it. If everything works out, I will be a black belt just in time for weight vest conditioning... oh the joy! ;)
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January 24th, 2006
11:38 am - It really is that big...
The boy and I went on romantic weekend getaway to Flagstaff in northern Arizona and stayed at a cute and cheap little hostel... right next to the train tracks... so maybe not very romantic ;) but it twas fun. On a lark we decided to go see the Grand Canyon because hey we had never been and people just expect us Arizona residents to have seen it... and it was actually a lot more impressive then I thought it would be since you see pictures of it everywhere. It snowed up there last thursday for the first time this season, so there was a light dusting of snow along the edge of the canyon but no snow on the roads. It was beautiful and the perfect time to visit because even on a Saturday it wasn't very crowded this time of year. I think we might try to go back in the spring or fall and hike down to Phantom Ranch... we would just need a permit to camp so we only need 4 months notice instead of the year's notice required to stay in the cabins down there. We also went to Wukapti National Park and saw pueblo ruins from almost a thousand years ago... they were also amazing... sandstone walls perched on the most beautiful sections of the high desert right next to tiny canyons and huge sink holes perfect for farming. You could see the tallest snow capped mountain in Arizona from the rocky hills and plains of the snow sprinkled red and yellow landscape. Flagstaff is full of fun stores and yummy little places to eat... hmmm a Beaver Street burger with basil and sun dried tomatoes inside the steak patti... hungry now. And on Sunday we went to Sedona, red rock country, got a red rock pass, and went hiking down a red rock canyon... we took pictures of the tiny clumps of leftover snow on the red dirt... very exciting I assure you. Overall it was a great weekend with lots of scenic driving and plans for the future... it was hard listening to the two British couples at the hostel who had taken a year off to travel around the world without wanting to do the same thing... and now I have a cold. To the electric tea kettle!
Oh yes, and any friends reading this should come visit sometime so we can go on more Arizona adventures with the excuse of giving tours... hint, hint frogy pj girl ;).
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/chipper.gif) chipper
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September 19th, 2005
12:31 pm - A Pirate's Life for Me
Yo ho ho... ahoy there... today be the official Talk Like a Pirate Day... and aye the perfect day to post about me new adventure on the seas of salt and sand. My ship, the honda civic known as Alice of the blue dress and roomy trunk, sailed from the bay area with a full cargo but two weeks past and moored in san diego for a few days of shore leave before... alas we had to leave the ocean behind at that there sunny shore and head overland on a sandy sea to reach our new home port of Phoenix/Tempe, AZ. In Tempe, I abducted myself a cheery young lad of indeterminate income and unloaded my cargo at his apartment hideaway. My new matey is working out fine and I might see fit to promote him from captive to cabin boy. We've been sailing round the town together looting places like ikea and costco for essentials and treasure beyond yer wildest ken. Har har, and but last week we took two new captives, known as S+L, who made such good drinking companions we let them skip walking the plank and they sailed on their way to the port of Austin, TX. Today, I see another ship on the horizon and two more captives coming our way... and on talk like a pirate day... somebody gots to walk the plank... arr... good thing we have a pool at our smuggler's cave. Well, my pile of gold be calling to me to add to its meager height so off I go to plunder and pillage from home... so yo ho ho a pirate's life for me... shiver me timbers and a tip of my parrot to ye scurvy lot.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/predatory.gif) predatory
Current Music: yo ho ho
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August 17th, 2005
04:32 pm - Gorging
The Arroyo Seco gorge was positively... gorgeous ;). I am just recovering movement in my legs after a weekend decathlon of sorts... the sort that includes walking, hiking, scrambling, bouldering, swimming, jumping, poison oak spotting/hopping, climbing, butt rafting, and a tad bit of running for the finish line... it's one of my new favorite sports. Anyway, the weekend was lots of fun with lots of fun people and the camping and hiking were scenic on a sky high scale... from the yin yang pool to the water park waterfall. It's always more fun to do something as simple as eating a meal at Denny's or slipping into a bed at 4am after a weekend in the wilderness.
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July 29th, 2005
04:24 pm - Hot Flash
I'm moving to Tempe, AZ in September to be with a certain boy who is attending graduate school there and last week we moved half our stuff into the new apartment. It was quite the adventurous vacation. We started the week with a kayaking and camping trip up the coast of Catalina. It was lovely... turquoise waters, jumping schools of sardines and sea bass, the occassional territorial teeth clicking of neon orange garibaldi, curious sea lions, napping harbor seals, forests of kelp swaying in the currents beneath you, sunlight stabbing through the water in rays, tan brush covered cliffs, small rocky beaches in private coves, the flashing of silvery flying fish, sailboats and tan bodies skimming over the waves, brightly colored houses and shops in Avalon spreading up the steep hills in an amusing imitation of Italy, and a single bald eagle shitting elegantly from a leafless tree overlooking the sea. It was also a lot of work for us second time kayakers... especially when we had to paddle ten miles into 15 knot winds to get back to Avalon on time to catch the ferry... if you didn't paddle hard enough you went backwards... wee. The primitive camp sites were pretty cool because you got your own private beach and the people on their boats mostly remained on their boats. However, to my great dissapointment we saw and ate no buffalo.
The moving to Arizona took until tuesday this week because our van broke down twice... once in the middle of the desert, a fifty mile tow to the nearest working mechanic without air conditioning in 115 to 120 degree heat... and once in the middle of our unpacking the next day when we stopped for lunch in a shopping center... at least we had air conditioning. It took them 8 hours to fix our car the first time while we waited in the waiting area and three days the next time. I was two days late getting to work and after a week and half absence there is plently to do. I need another vacation.
I like Tempe however and I like our new apartment... I can't wait for the next bit of adventure.
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March 21st, 2005
12:35 pm - Kung Fu Madness
After being sick for so long it was great to return to kung fu in time for all the fun march festivities... two nun chuck forms with double and single nun chuks, the elder masters' visit last weekend, the drunken broadsword form... so, so much fun :)... and testing... two days after St. Patrick's day I earned the right to wear green. I'm looking forward to the double t'ai chi fan form in July in Coloraodo and to all the new green belt material. I would like to start doing the sash program as well as the belt program, but I'm afraid that kung fu would start to dominate too much of my life... four nights a week and four hours on saturday... not counting the long hours of driving back and forth... to t'ai chi or chai tea... that's the question. I am also very sore... in my neck of all places... it's all that deep drinking from that damn empty and insubstantial gourd.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/sore.gif) sore
Current Music: Kung Fu Fighting
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January 21st, 2005
11:19 am - Catch Up
I've finished applying to M.F.A. programs in creative writing and after a physical, x-ray, EKG, and echocardiogram the results are in: my heart is flat but it works fine.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/working.gif) working
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June 13th, 2004
10:10 pm - Finito
I graduated with honors... I'm done (with a B.A. and four years =).
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June 7th, 2004
10:24 pm - update
I guess it has been a while since I posted any informative entries in my journal, so here it goes =). My last quarter as an undergraduate has been a hectic and thoroughly enjoyable experience. I wrote an honor's thesis, got into phi beta kappa, finally earned a yellow belt in kung fu =), finished my internship and collected my certificate of completion, filed for graduation, filed for an art history minor, got a summer job writing, read at a few readings, tried out samba and country highland dancing, started going to archery again, learned to roll in aikido, watched Chris fall in love with fencing, decided to stay in san diego for the summer, took my last four classes, took an interesting workshop on meditation, read a fantastic novel in verse, spent time at the beach, discovered farmer's markets, signed up for fencing and scuba over the summer, and decided to take the next year one step at a time. I have one more final on wednesday and then I graduate on saturday. I'm going to walk for my parent's sake, even though I could care less about the actual ceremony. They will be down for the weekend and I think the plan is to go out for a nice lunch with friends and family. Chris wants to drag my brothers out surfing while they are here and I can't wait to be entertained =). I just want to finish, but I don't feel like I'll really be leaving university when I do... I've been here for so long =)... hmmm... maybe I will go to grad school =). Back to the books and video games...
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May 24th, 2004
06:23 pm - Book Meme from amanda42
Book Meme!
Instructions:
• Grab the nearest book.
• Open the book to page 23.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
"For the god of Ithome approves of the Muse who comes unsullied and wearing the sandals of freedom." Eumelus from Greek Lyric Poetry
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February 3rd, 2004
11:50 pm - good times
I feel like recording all the good things that have been happening recently just in case this positive streak ends and I need a reminder of how good life can get.
I just got back from an excellent dinner at one of my lit. prof's homes... he is a french philosopher and a good cook... we had couscous, chicken, cabbage, morrocan sauce, veggies, wine, and a variety of desserts brought by the students... it lasted for almost four hours and entertaining conversation was had by all... I think Jo agreed to host the next food and drink event at her home... she use to sing opera and her first major was socio-biology before photography... she was also in the UK last year... the things you learn about people... writers are pretty interesting folk on average... =)
I also had a wonderful weekend get-away up in L.A. with two talented hostesses... ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) _elle_ and radiantsun... also good conversation, fun food, tulip tricks, art projects, playtime, show and tell, water activities, games, a walk the geek hike, ect... =)
beautiful dog and home... oh and I finally got to meet two local lj lasses.... =)neurogirl and sunshine_girl
The only downpoint of the weekend being a freak accident with a runaway horse, the hostess' husband, and a cliff in the hollywood hills... but luckily he was okay... and after a delay a few helicopters and ambulance cars did make it to the scene to take him down... radiantsun got pictures of everything but the horse... many good photographs were taken during the weekend...
I got a tour from choiceful of her home town as well... including where she went surfing, running, and got her teeth cleaned =)... we had fun tourring... =)
A few weekends ago I also went home for my parent's 25th anniversary party, which I helped my aunt prepare for... and that was actually pretty nice... they really seemed to enjoy the private festivities... and the love and support from all of their friends.
I've managed to find an advisor for my thesis and ideas are swimming through my head for next quarter... I'm really enjoying spending a lot of time with a certain boy I know... and we have a list of fun activities to get through... overall good times... =)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/happy.gif) happy
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January 12th, 2004
11:24 am - Blue Skies
There is a swell coming in and the weather is beautiful today... =)
This weekend was the CyberTherapy 2004 Conference put on by the place I intern for and I volunteered for all of Saturday and took a friend to see it last night... after making yummy home-made salsa... it was at the Westgate hotel in downtown SD... and it was pretty cool... I got to try out the VR environments for arachnophobia (apartment full of spiders of varying sizes... like black widows), heights (I fell off the thirteenth floor of the building and the system crashed... oops =), eating disorders, and burn treatments (a game and environment called snow world that distracts patients while they get their bandages changed)... there was even a fuzzy, robotic, baby seal that made noises and responded to your carresses... the catered food was good as well.
This month is packed... I fly home for a visit this weekend for my parent's silver anniversary... I need an adviser for my thesis... I have a lot of work to catch up on... books to read... games to play... and a slumber party to attend with smileycynic... =)
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November 27th, 2003
09:14 pm - Fire Day
When I was a kid I always wanted it to snow so that the schools would declare it a snow day... I never expected that my first day off due to environmental causes would involve fire (although I guess that makes a certain amount of sick sense considering that I live in Ca)... and wait, actually this is the second time something like this has happened... in fourth grade we were sent home when a bunch of tires at the dump caught on fire and the wind sent toxic smoke all throughout Santa Rosa. Supposedly, a lot of these fires were started by man as well... someone trying to signal his friends when he got lost and some unknown arsonists... sometimes you have to wonder about people and their understanding of actions and reactions.
The last two days have been strange... the thick ash laden air; the cinders drifting from the sky and creating a layer of soot on everything outside; the golden light infused air that makes everything glow; the videos of the raging flames only a few miles away; the news of around 14 deaths and the destruction of over 600 homes; emails and conversations with friends who had to evacuate; a friend saying that someone took advantage of the police's preoccupation and stole all of the computers at his work; someone else saying that he saw a man driving slowly away from the fire, while his horse followed him on a lead rope; and the fact that the news stations in San Diego seem to have forgotten that the fires were bad in the L.A. area as well.
The strange air and the fact that I've missed my classes and spent almost the entire day indoors playing games with a group of homeless or jobless for the day friends makes me feel like this situation is a little surreal. Classes are canceled tomorrow as well, but I think I still need to go to my internship at the psychology clinic and I hope Shaolin isn't canceled.
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October 18th, 2003
11:46 pm - Sweden
I just sent an email to a friend in which I described my trip to Sweden last summer and I thought I would copy the list of sightings into my journal:
Hmmm, we drove up through Denmark, across one of the largest suspension bridges in the world, into Southern Sweden... we stayed with old family friends in a village whose name I can't remember for several days and we celebrated Midsomer with them, which was a lot of fun and a lot of food...while we were there we drove all over Southern Sweden... to the old University town of Lund, which has a great Cathedral and a bookstore with a living tree growing up through its floor, to Malmo, to the Southwest coast where there is a group of standing stones shaped like a Viking longboat orientated to the sun and some yummy fish, to the villages along the Southeast coast and a
national park with a lighthouse, and to the city of Hasseleholm where my dad grew up... then we left our friends and went up through the Crystal County where all the glass blowing factories are and we visited two factory villages... then onto the city of Kalmar, which we used as a base camp for a day trip to Oland where we visited the royal summer home, hundreds of
windmills, the beautiful white lighthouse on an island on the northernmost tip, and the rock formations on the west coast... then we went up to Stockholm and stayed with more old friends and went around a city called the "Venice of the north" (because it has so much water and so many islands)...while we were there we visited an old castle near the city, our old neighborhood, the huge (it takes up several city blocks) hospital where my
brother was born (it was his birthday), the Vassa museum where the seventeenth century ship preserved in the bay is kept, the old town, the outdoor museum that has replicas of every kind of Swedish village as well as livestock and crafts, the TV tower, and the downtown... from there we took a weekend trip to Helsinki and we went by all the islands on the western coast
of Sweden on the ferry... when we got back we went through the University town of Uppsala (where the first steep medical lecture hall with a surgery table at its center was designed and built with a classical theme and excellent lighting) on our way to Darlana where the wildflowers grow in summer and the red horses are painted... we stayed in the town of Falun where we
went down into the old copper mine that was active for centuries up until just a few years ago... today they use the iron dust left over in paint...which is why Sweden is full of small red houses (the paint is inexpensive and the iron in it makes it age slowly so it lasts for a long time)... the mine was awesome and I highly recommend a visit to it if you are in the
area... you go down into it by an elevator and then suit up before venturing into the dark freezing red tunnels of mud and stone, where hundreds of people slaved away in horrible conditions with torches held in their teeth and chisels in their hands... the next day we went up to Mora and around the
lake and visited a village factory where the traditions flowered red horses are chopped carved by an old man,layered with paint by a bored teenager,and hand painted with flowers by a young girl... and to a Viking graveyard out in the country where we came across some friendly colts... we also went to visit the picturesque home of the artist Carl Larson, which is very well
preserved and in a beautiful area full of birch trees and perfectly still pools... then we were off to Norway (another story =) to visit Oslo (the most expensive city in the world, or close to it). The road through eastern Sweden into Norway was gorgeous... I loved all the glistening lakes,wildflowers, forests, and rivers... we stopped by one river to visit an old
mill... everything there was wet... the path, the grass, the trees, the river, the air... it rains a lot in Sweden =)... one of the many reasons I like visiting.
I guess my list of places got a little out of control, but we went all over(I know I didn't list everything) and I really loved it.
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11:36 pm - Hello
I'm taking a Distributing Literature class this quarter and for my final project I'm putting together a small collection of poetry... the poetry has been written by three girls who are also in the Literature Department at UCSD and by myself... I'm trying to decide how many books to make and I thought I would post an offer on my journal and see if anyone was interested in a copy. If anyone still reads this and they are interested then just email me at thalasson@yahoo.com or leave a comment. Thank you =)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/artistic.gif) artistic
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May 30th, 2003
01:53 am - Good Bye
I've said good bye to my favourite group of book addicts, to a range of acquaintances, to the University of St. Andrews, to so many books, to my favourite cafe, to the castle, to the beach, to Scotland, and now to this journal for a few weeks because I'm too cheap to take advantage of internet cafes.
It's funny how differently people react and act to good byes... some treat them with serious ceremony, some with disregard, some with tears, some with false promises, some with positive hopes for the future... it is especially interesting to say good bye to somebody you are never going to see again... depending on their personality they may wish you a happy evening, a safe trip home, a good summer, a good year, or a good life. My friends here were all heavy on the ceremony, hugs, future promises, and well wishes for trips... every time one of us left we all got together to drink and eat and say a 'formal' farewell... everyone else got gifts for everybody, but I'm not much for ceremony and gifts so I showed up for the food and company and said informally "I'm sure we'll meet again"... sometime... good bye. =)
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May 24th, 2003
09:40 pm - Whirlwind
Julie is coming! =) I'm going to meet her in Edinburgh on wednesday, 28 May, and we are going to make a day of it before heading north to St. Andrews. We are going to spend a few days in St. Andrews, so she can see a little bit of eastern Scotland and I can clean, organize, pack my room, ship back boxes, sell books, donate leftovers to charity shops, return 15 library books, and say good bye to friends and town. After I've settled my accounts we are heading south to London, on to Brussels, through Amsterdam, into Germany, and on to our circular course through northern England. It should be amazing, but I have to meet up with my family on June 19, so our time is limited and we may not see all we hoped... we are going to pack a lot in to those few weeks. After we part ways at my aunt's in Germany... Julie to explore more of southern Europe... I'm meeting up with my parents and recently graduated little brother in Hamburg... and we are off to Sweden for Midsomer to visit old friends. We are going to explore Sweden, Finland, and Norway and then my parents are leaving me and Michael to journey to Berlin. I'm very excited and I can't wait to get started, but first I have two exams... English tomorrow and Art History the next day... I'm stressed and I never was very good at studying for hours on end. I've been so busy finishing up last minute essays, getting evaluations filled, filling evaluations, planning my trip, booking hostels for my brother and I in Berlin, getting plane tickets, ordering train tickets, paying off debts, closing accounts, studying, having good bye parties, watching movies, figuring out next year in San Diego, fixing my class schedule, and just thinking about the future. I'm flying from Berlin to London on July 15 to pick up some stored luggage and by July 19, I should be back in California and looking for housing for school term... Senior year... so much to do and so little... space.
Back to the books or printed out notes as the case may be...
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/stressed.gif) stressed
Current Music: Ashes to the wind - Rachel Portman
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May 15th, 2003
05:03 pm - Arran
For photos of Arran:
http://www.angelfire.com/alt/thalassan/Arran.html
I sailed away to Arran last weekend for the Mountaneering Society's end of the year Dinner Meet. We camped in a glen outside of Broderick, the ferry town, beneath Goatfell mountain, the tallest on Arran... most of us climbed it at some point during the weekend... Goatfell comes from a Gaelic word that means windy mountain and it was that... there was a gray cloud that had settled just over the top of it as a warning =). The views were wonderful when we got below the cloud cover or when it thinned out in the wind for a bit... with ridges sloping down to valleys and the sea. I went walking with Helen and we took it easy... ambling up the mountain and scrambling over the ridges up and down... we passed two standing stones in a sheep field at the start of our walk (8am) and at the end (4:30pm) we saw a little black dog chasing a large red deer with a stick in its mouth... the deer won. Saturday evening after everyone had got back from walking and climbing we 'freshened up' in our tents and headed into town for a nice dinner... it was amusing... a baby lamb had been born outside my tent that morning and it was so cute... at the table we all talked about adorable lambs and then all but one girl ordered the lamb option for dinner... it was a good choice. After dinner, toasts, awards, and speeches almost everyone proceeded to get very, very drunk... I sat next to one guy at the campground who drank two bottles of red wine, ten shots of whiskey, and a beer... and he had a joint... the next day he was so sick he had to go home early... I'm surprised he didn't have alcohol poisoning. That night the Society divided into two groups... one which consisted of people who were more high than drunk and they sang songs about drugs... and the other larger group of drunk people singing about sex... people are funny. The next day after the people with hang-overs were feeling better we jumped in the mini bus and toured the island... we saw the sea, sheep, stone circles, and standing stones... oh and two castles. We stopped for tea and I realized how conservative most of tweed wearing members of the Society were... we had a long discussion on the proper way to drink tea =). It was a fun weekend, but I still need to clean sheep shit off the bottom of my tent.
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May 5th, 2003
07:21 pm - Differences
Today was the last day of my Crime Fiction and the prof. brought wine and crisps to celebrate. We all sat around the huge table sipping, snacking, and discussing serial killers... I have to say I felt a little silly. Last semester my poetry prof. brought sherry and mini mince pies to the last class and we all sat in a circle by the piano and gossiped about English. Going to the University of St. Andrews really is completely different from attending classes at UCSD... I have class in beautiful, old, stone buildings; the views are of the ocean or the castle and the ocean; the internet server is often down; there is no central student office; the prof.s are just starting to use email; the art history department still has a slide library and nothing is kept on the internet; exam dates are first available in booklets in the library and they tend to change; different classes from different subjects take their finals together in large rooms; essays are turned into essay boxes; the classes are small and discussion based; the reading lists go on for pages but the assignments are few and far between; oral presentations are a lot more important here... in fact I gave my first one since high school here; the university is a part of the town and both feel isolated... it has been an interesting experience... I feel almost like I went back in time. =)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/calm.gif) calm
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May 4th, 2003
03:58 pm - Happy May Day
I think I'm allergic to daffodils... either that or I'm sick (and twisted=)... that makes cats, daffodils, milk, my toothepaste, some kinds of soap, and certain medications... I want this list to stop lengthening...
I've signed up to go camping on the Arran islands this weekend, but I don't have a tent or sleeping bag... hmm... I need solutions that involve little to no money... unfortunately I'm lacking in friends who own such things...
I also have a large essay due this friday on aristocratic manuscripts... I should really start working on it...
Meanwhile, it's a lovely spring day and I feel like doing a little spring cleaning...
Current Mood: optimistic w/ a touch of the pessimistic
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