It comes to something that 11 o'clock is a late night these days, and 10 o'clock is more usual. It feels like Sunday today, as I had Friday off. I saw Wallace & Gromit, which was very funny. And had bunnies in it, which were very sweet. I also found Lois McMaster Bujold's Falling Free in Borders, yay! Borders are doing £5 off vouchers if you spend £20 in the first two weeks of November, which really, really tempting.

I think my dad's addicted to QuizCall. He messaged me to tell me they had a matches game on. My digital TV is up and working and I watched Atlantis on it last night. Which isn't nearly as funny as watching it on my parents slightly crappy temporary TV which cuts off the edges, so you're actually watching Stargate Tlanti according to the credits. Starring some bloke called Vid Wlet.

I was good today and did some writing. I'm technically on the second version of my Five Things fic, although I've rewritten Jack/Daniel and McKay/Sheppard a bit. So today I completely rewrote Sheppard/Weir. Hmm. Could take a while. I also discovered a whole section on Wraithbait that it would actually fit it, which is quite cool.

Good

Payrise! Well, technically promotion but the only difference is the nice big payrise. Which needless to say, I've already spent. Dad had me addicted to QuizCall this weekend, so now I have bought a Freeview TV card, which is the size of a pen drive. So as of this weekend I will have three TVs....

I've read Thud! It was good, I enjoyed it. Specially Vimes's Gooseberry.

I've got Friday off, so am going to see Wallace and Gromit. I know it must be good because The Guardian likes it (they don't like anything).

Mum made me some muffins that are very nice and extremely chocolatey. We had chocolate mousse every night for pudding when I was home. Mum's chocolate mousse is 100 times nicer than any other I have ever tasted. She also made flapjacks but we all forgot that I should be taking them home. And even though they were a bit chewy they were nicer than ones you get in shops as well. She also made me bread, which isn't so good as it's white. And gluten-free, so dry and falls apart.

I've found a version of Hexic at MSN Games, although it's not as good as the Tablet PC version.

Captain Jack is getting his own TV show although it's on BBC3. It might be available on the internet afterwards though, like Confidential was, and The Thick of It will be for the second half of the first series/second series.

Very funny wikipedia take-off: Uncyclopedia. I particularly like the section on the religion of various particles (protons are catholic because they have mass) and various random things, like the links off the marriage article to slavery.

Bad

Broke a string on my guitar. Got it fixed fine at the shop. Went to lesson and the teacher pointed out it was the wrong type of string. So I'm taking it back again tomorrow. On the plus side, I now have an electronic tuner which makes tuning 5000% easier.

I've set off the RSI in my thumb again with my cross stitching, so that's out. It gets worse throughout the day after I've been using it - it is quite hard not to use your right thumb, specially given that it doesn't hurt until I've been using it a bit, so I tend to forget. On the plus side, I really should put my Australia photos in an album. On the minus side that does involve writing, which also involves my right thumb. On the plus side, I've just realised I could type the descriptions. How stupid am I?

Just travelling home Friday, back again Sunday, and walking round Bournemouth has completely worn me out. I'm still a bit tired from it.

My chocolate spread has vanilla on it. But I will see if my local health food shop will order me some Plamil Well, their chocolate is good, so I figure their chocolate spread ought to be good too. If not, there are other ones I can try.

Ugly

Which is really just a way of saying this could go either way. I've discovered spirits have a tendency to be made from wheat grain. The thought of having one drink and spending the rest of the evening doesn't really fill me with joy so my only options seem to be brandy (yuk) or wine (ditto). On the plus side, I'm a cheap date. And will be driving everyone once I have a car so I can remind them what they did the previous night. And increasingly, drink just seems to make me tired.

I looked something up on my website the other day and realised how out of date the episode guides were. I also had a load of fic and video recs hanging around, so it's now all updated.

I'm also down to just under 200 entries left to categorise and title. So I'm halfway there.

I spoke about childhood reads a while back. Since then I've found a few and read them, so I thought I'd write what I thought about them.

Sweet Valley High
This is actually just like I remember it. It's the OC, children only and a lot more vapid. I think that's the right word. It's amazing how little happens. I got through the whole book in an hour, which is fair enough because it's not that long. I also sat there for a whole hour reading it, so it can't have been that bad.

I'm still working on Sweet Valley University and I'm not planning on going back to Sweet Valley Twins. In the meantime I discovered there is Sweet Valley Senior Year. In High they're 16, in Senior Year they're 17. I wasn't keen on Senior Year though because they focused on a whole load of new characters. I don't care about new characters, only about Jessica and Elizabeth.

Cheerleaders
I managed to get hold of copies of both sets of cheerleaders - there's one group for about twenty books and another set, the following year, for the other twenty or so. It was weird, reading these, how much of what was in other books came back to me. Although that could have been because the books are apt to remind you. I preferred the first set although I think that's because I read more of those the first time round, so I remember them better.

Sadlers Wells
These turned out to be set in the 50s and written in first person, which I wasn't expecting. I absolutely loved them though. Each book introduces you to a new character but (so far) they're always someone who has been in a previous book, if not in a big way. They're quite old-fashioned in their thinking but it was still nice to read about english people, in contrast to the American Sweet Valley and Cheerleaders.

Gemma
This was okay and I really liked Gemma. I'm not so convinced about the rest of the Robinson family though, they are just so perfect. I can accept that they're all musical but not that they're all geniuses at what they do. Or just so nice, it grates after a while. And generally being happy and contented with their (small) lot.

The Demon Headmaster
I don't know how I didn't remember what it was about the Headmaster because I knew all the way through - although that's from remembering not bad writing. If you don't know then it's quite a good book, otherwise there's not much new in there. Being as it's about a girl who goes from a childrens home to be fostered I was expecting more about her settling in but then this is a childrens book and it is mainly about what happens in school, so I suppose it's not that unreasonable that it focuses on that.

After Sel's post on the Chalet School books I thought I'd try those as they seem to be popular and I've never tried any. I've only read a few chapters of the first one but I'm enjoying it so far.

For some reason today I started thinking about a series of books I read some of when I was younger. After a google hunt I found a list of titles (here). I have a secret American High School passion (well, a bit of one). Plus they were cheap (�1.50 each - and they did some of them as four books in one). I also probably liked them because absolutely everyone else was reading Sweet Valley High and that put me off. I must get that from my mum - although she loved the films she never read Lord of the Rings because everyone else was when she was younger.

And then, later it occured to me that a popular topic of conversation is children's TV programmes you remember. But never books - perhaps because there are too many. And early on, it's pretty much going to consist of Enid Blyton, and later on be scarred from being told you have to read pre-20th century books for GCSE English. And in my case being forced to read 'improving books' that I didn't understand a word of. Hence my retreat to Sweet Valley High and Cheerleaders.

Beyond the ones I mentioned, though, I can't remember many others (although it's amazing how much you remember once you get started). There was the Four Marys but that was in a comic, I think, which must have been my (very) brief comic reading period. I spent all the time wishing they'd get rid of the pictures so there'd be more room for words.

I remember stories about boarding school. And they'd get measles and have to be quarantined at home and not allowed back to school at the start of term. I think that was Enid Blyton as well

I remember sitting at the doctors reading a book full of so many long words I didn't understand a word of. I'd love to see it now, see if it made any more sense, but I don't remember any more of it than that.

I remember Thomas the Tank Engine was all in little books and lived on my top shelf. I remember Judy Blume, although that's as much as I remember. Except that I was 13 when I read that one (incidentally, I've just discovered that Ctrl-U gives you view source - I was going for underlining but forgot I was in html). Oh, and there was one where two girls wanted their breasts to be bigger, which I didn't understand even when I didn't have any.

I remember the Demon Headmaster, although not what it was about him.

I remember a series about a girl called Gemma who had to live with her cousins. They converted the attic for her, so she could sleep there. I never understood this until I visited the house of a rich friend of mine and they had stairs up to their attic, which you could stand up in. Something I've never seen before or since.

I remember a series about Sadlers Wells and some of the - probably girls - who went there. One of them decided she was more into Spanish dancing. I'd like to point out at this point that I've never in my life done ballet.

It does all sound a bit girly but until I was 18 boys were an alien species, and who would want to read about them?

I went to see the next two episodes of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue recorded in Oxford last night. It was great to actually see what happens (although I already knew the truth about Samantha and the laser display board). The only complaint was that the theatre was really hot. Although in all fairness, it wasn't that much cooler outside.

Each episode took over an hour to record, so even when they take out the bits that went wrong, there's still quite a bit of that's going to get taken out. It will be interesting to listen and find out what (if I can remember).

The guest was Harry Hill, who I wasn't terribly impressed by until they did a science fiction segment and he did a wonderful Dalek impression without the aid of any props at all. Graeme Garden's Darth Vader was also good but did involve a glass of water.

I won't spoil the episodes but suffice to say they were up to their usual standard.

I found out, while I was there, that Art is coming to the New Theatre, and has Russell Boulter in it! So I will have to go back there to see that.

On my way I stopped off at Borders. Who were doing Doctor Who books at �1.99 and 4 for 3 but they only had two Doctor & Ace books and I've got them both. I was quite interested to discover there is a novelisation of Scream of the Shalka. There was also quite a good selection of Lois McMaster Bujold books, so if I get really stuck with finding them, that's an option.

And onto tennis. I was quite disappointed to miss Greg Rusedski's match yesterday, as it sounds as if it was quite exciting. Mind you, so was Tim Henman's today. But Andy Murray is my little star. Not only did he win a match, but did it in straight sets, beating a seeded opponent, getting him lots of points. Annoyingly, I don't quite have enough money to swap Henman for Roddick (assuming he won after BBC2 stopped at 8.30), so I might get Hewitt instead. Otherwise I only have one man left in! Suffice to say I'm doing quite badly in the fantasy league, but then I was this time last year as well.

I'm really looking forward to a weekend of doing nothing but watching tennis and Glastonbury, except for all those things I've been putting off till the weekend. Which will be good anyway because I'll be bored on Sunday with no tennis to watch.

I started this last week but had problems with Q4, which I've finally finished. So Q3 is a bit out of date, but still.

1) Total number of books owned?

I had a count of the ones I had here and it came to 96. I have rather a lot more books and space for books at home so it's certainly a few hundred. I need a house with a spare room just for the books. In all fairness, I come from a house with shelves everywhere, most of them full of books. We have a room called the library, with, unsurprinsgly, rather a lot of books.

2) The last book I bought?

I bought a load from amazon: The Science of Discworld III, The Science of Hitchhiker's, Secrets of the Jedi (latest Jedi Apprentice/Jedi Quest book), Star Trek: Titan (which looked interesting) and Una's new book. Although one of those will be my birthday present from one of my friends.

3) The last book I read?

The last book I finished was Shard of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold, which I really enjoyed. I've reserved some more of her books from my library. I also read bits of the latest Angel guide and I'm now reading The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C Clarke.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me?

Alice in Wonderland. It was my favourite book as a child, and still is now. I remember having debates with dad over the difference between saying what you mean and meaning what you say, and other similar word games. I also have a distant memory of reading out The Walrus and the Carpenter for a Brownie badge.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I have so many different versions of it that must count for something. It's something else me and dad have in common - I lend him all my related books etc. I went to Australia and my cousins could quote me bits of it. I've made friends through ZZ9.

And I suppose Lord of the Rings for similar reasons. I've met people through it and wrote fanfic in it. I even used it (sort of) on my CV.

The Importance of Being Earnest. Which is more of a play than a book but I have it in book form. I remember when I was younger my mum used to go round the house saying 'in a handbag?' but in a funny accent - there had been a version on the TV, I think, and that was what she was copying. But for a while that was the standard expression in our house for expressing surprise.

Little Women. Not so much the three that came after because I got less interested in the sisters once they grew up and their children grew up. I liked Jo and Beth - Jo because she was the sort of person I wanted to be and Beth for the same reason, just more unlikely. And they had interesting lives. Their ideas for games probably influenced mine and my sister's, I think.

And poor Obi-Wan! But I foresee plenty of angsty fan fic from it, with [censored] in as well, which I'm really looking forward to.

I can tell what I've been doing this week - Thursday night I had a strange dream mixing Redemption and Rotaract. When I woke up at 4.30am I honestly couldn't tell whether it was real or not. The cold light of day sorted it out a bit though.

Someone at Redemption suggested going as Ace for Conference, which looks doable, actually.

Since that time, my mother has diagnosed me as being lactose intolerant. On the basis that she decided she was, a few years ago, and her mother has recently decided she was too. And when I think back to times I've felt it, it's either involved milk products, or I can't remember - but there must have been something causing those. I obviously have a higher tolerance than she does as I'm mostly okay, but I've been madly reading the ingredients of food since then, so I have a better idea of how much I've been eating.

A side-effect is that I think I am almost taking more drugs to Australia than clothes.

I've also been having fun with STA Travel and Amazon this week. I ordered my Australian VISA online at the beginning of February. I knew it was all electronic, so I wasn't certain whether to expect anything other than an order confirmation. It was just as well I checked though, because they had no record of my order! I ended up having to do it all over again, this time over the phone. The receipt for it turned up this morning, so they will definitely let me into the country.

I also ordered a guidebook that came out on 1st February. Although that's not what Amazon said when I ordered it, I had it on the four to six week delivery. They assured me they were going to change the site, but hadn't, so I wrote them a pissed off email yesterday (after spending ten minutes trying to find a phone number - the only way to get it is to email them, then follow the link at the bottom to say it wasn't very helpful. I've since written it down). They've now dispatched the other two books I ordered, which I don't need quite so much, and the guidebook changed to an estimated delivery date of 5th-19th April. Helpful, given that I'm getting back here on the 16th. I got them to cancel that book.

Onto Tescos, who have free delivery if you spend over �20, and are actually quite cheap. I also have �1.50 worth of e-vouchers, so they looked like a good bet. Except that their help is not very helpful and the book was listed as special delivery and I couldn't find out what that meant. So I ordered it and found it meant 30 days. So I emailed to cancel, they replied to say they were busy and I should ring up to cancel. So I did.

Next, I went to Blackwell's Online, who, at the beginning of February had it more expensive because of the difficulty of getting hold of it. It's back at the normal price now, so I ordered it with an estimated delivery date of 17th March. Seven days before I fly out.

Then I went into town and found the 2004 edition in Waterstones, which I might end up getting at this rate. I ordered it from them as well, they say it will take an average of 7-10 working days.

I had stress with booking a coach from Melbourne to Sydney as well, so that's not booked. I still haven't decided which one to get from Adelaide to Melbourne, so I also haven't booked my hostels, or told my aunt exactly when I will be there.

I do have walking shoes, as Manchester set off the RSI in my knee - no idea what given that I've walked further than that recently with no ill effects. These shoes cost a small fortune, I just hope they're worth it. I also had to order my foreign money. So I didn't really achieve a great deal today. And I'm really tired, so should have been in bed ages ago.

Avon posted a link in her journal to a site with a list of best books. I've only read 9 of the 100 on the science fiction list, but not only have I read the first one on the list, but some of my favourite books are on there. I'd debate whether some of them were science fiction, mind you. There were quite a few on there I'd like to read. And quite a few Asimov's that I'd like to like but just can't seem to for some reason.

My best is the BBC Big Read list, of which I've read 29. It does help that there are a fair few Terry Pratchett's on there, mind you

I am laughing, reading everyone's comments about LJ not being around for a day on Saturday. What I did that day was: exactly the same as if it had been up. It had that much impact on my life. I don't have a GJ backup journal, nor can I see the point of one. Mind you, I can't work out why anyone would need more than one userpic either. I only have this one so I can post in communities, and I only write in it so people can read it on their friends lists if they want to.

I was more affected by my site getting moved the weekend before and my email going down for an evening, as I was trying to plan meeting up with people. Although, strangely, LJ emails still got through.

I have now read every Quantum Leap book. The latest one followed on from an episode I hadn't seen, so I watched it last night after Tae Kwon Do. It was weird because it was series 2, Al still had the old brown handlink, and the introduction was voiced by a man, which just doesn't sound the same.

But it occurred to me that Quantum Leap is pretty much a comfort programme. Because you know it's always going to have a happy ending (apart from some of the crap they came up with in series five, but we'll just pretend they don't exist). The idea of starting off with Sam having essentially lost his memory was brilliant, because that way you can introduce his life, and Al's to the viewer as he learns about them.

I also love the relationship between Sam and Al. OK, so I also love Al's shirts. And that everyone at school watched it (we were introduced to it in RE when they did a race prejudice episode as we were doing prejudice at the time).

How did it get to be midnight? I could have sworn it was 11pm a minute ago. Must go to bed.

I have actually finished the php book (well, skim read a fair part of the last few chapters). But more importantly I have actually done something useful with it. Although the entire point of me learning php was to be able to modify my guestbook and I haven't even looked at it yet.

This afternoon I need to go into Poole to do some Australian shopping. I like being able to come back and shop in Poole because of all the cheap/independent shops that you just don't get in Oxford or Reading. Plus they have an MVC, which may or may not be a good thing.

I have managed to spend lots of money this morning though. On the one hand, ABE Books is a great site. Except for the part where it's very good at parting you with your money.

The other thing I did was book myself into a hostel in London - which my dad found by reading a Canadian Warwick students blog, and she stayed there and liked it. I've stayed in hostels before in Eastern Europe but not on my own, so this'll be a chance to see what it's like before I do it in Australia. Plus I'm going open-air ice-skating on the Sunday, and it's a bugger to get to London (or anywhere) on a Sunday because there are so few buses. So if anyone's around in London on 8th Jan, I'll be about. No idea what I'll be doing, but a pub sounds like a good idea.

Although having established getting to London on Sunday is a bugger, I'm doing that the following weekend instead, because I'm going to the B7 DVDs launch. Although not actually buying the DVDs, because much as I'd like to, I can't afford them.

It occurred to me yesterday that I have a tendency to have dreams that involve book shopping. Which, incidentally, is what I did today. Well, I spent time in Borders, Blackwells and Waterstones and am planning to buy some books on Amazon (or on-line at any rate, being as it's cheaper).

I spent lots of time in Borders, as always, although partly because I got distracted by the rabbit books. Which is not a good idea as I can't have rabbits until I have more money, a house with a garden to put them in, and a change of lifestyle.

I discovered Waterstones has a Costa Coffee (and toilets) which I didn't know. Although I'm still quite worried about the idea of WHSmiths in Reading having a coffee shop. It's not as if there's a shortage in Reading.

I have fallen in love with Blackwells though. Partly because it's massive. I went to the Computing section thinking it was tiny, then found some of it behind me. And more round the corner. And then it just kept going. And also because it's the Oxford University student bookshop, which was perfect for what I was looking for. I mean it has Pascal books! Only a student bookshop would stock that because only students would use them. Although the year below me they switched to Java anyway.

I've seen this meme going round:

I can't be arsed to look up all the others but this is certainly accurate when it comes to:

She Might Be an Academic Girl if:
4. She'd never: read Cosmo.

Well, of course I'd never read Cosmo. Or any of the other 100 magazines like it. There's nothing in it worth reading! Anyway, I think I only came up with that answer because I think holidays are for doing things - I don't know how people who go on holiday to lie on a beach don't get bored (or why they bother spending all that money to go abroad, there are beaches in this country, and for all of the country they get to see abroad, they might as well be here).

I realised last night that my cunning plan for Saturday, which involved going to Borders in Oxford to read books (and then buy them off Amazon where they're cheaper) and then going to Tescos in Didcot (there's not one in the centre of Oxford) would be cheaper (and therefore more cunning) if I ordered my Tesco shopping online.

The Tesco website always plays up for me for some reason. However, it was fine when I went in there, wanting a delivery slot of 6-8pm and there not being any. I went for 7-9pm but then got distracted by changing my clubcard vouchers to evouchers so I could use them online. When I went back to the site it had stopped working.

It worked fine in Firefox though (although I had great difficulty establishing what my username and password was, and then changing them). But apart from that it all went fine and I managed to order my shopping.

An hour or two later I realised I'd forgotten some stuff (a common occurence). Luckily, they'd recently changed everything so you can change your order. I successfully managed to do that and all was fine.

At 4pm I had a phone call to ask if they could deliver my shopping early, and we agreed on 6.30pm. I was eating dinner at 6.30pm which I felt sure would mean they'd turn up then. When it got to 7.30pm I gave in and rang them up. And spent ten minutes on hold while the (possible) Indian I spoke to tried to ring the store and the driver.

Eventually he told me that they were short staffed and were just leaving the shop now. He couldn't tell me why they hadn't rung to tell me that. In fact, if they'd never rung me at all I'd have been perfectly happy.

An hour later (it takes half an hour to get here from Abingdon, where there's a big Tescos) my shopping turns up. I couldn't bring myself to have a go at the driver because she was really nice and apologetic and said that she'd been having a nightmare that evening.

And they did, for possibly only the second time ever, manage to deliver everything.

On the plus side I do now have food. However, tomorrow is pub lunch day, and I'm going out in the evening for a quiz, which includes food. So I don't actually need most of it - I just needed it delivered before Saturday so I could go to Sainsburys in Oxford and get the things they couldn't manage to deliver. (I still need to get fruit & veg because they can't be trusted, and I need dinners because I couldn't decide what I wanted last night)

Now I just need to put it all away and watch The Bill that I missed, due to thinking they were going to arrive at 8pm, when it started.

My dad said the fatal words today: I'm doing an amazon order, do you want anything. Hmm, now let me see... My favourite shop these days is Borders (aside from the cheap shops in Poole, and The Lemon Tree, but they're more difficult to get to). I did buy Una's book. Dad suggested I get it signed - just need to remember to take it to Redemption '05 now

I meant to say something about this before, but fandom is a funny thing. Perhaps it's something to do with not being able to see people when communicating with them, but people in it, are in general, a lot more tolerant. Tolerant of race, gender, disabilities, species, I mean. It's everything else that goes downhill.

I suspect it's the extent to which I'm involved with fandoms that makes me more able to see it in some than others. Stargate, for example, is not always a nice place. I discovered the newsgroup during the fourth season and I remember what it was like. Hence the reason I don't go near the place any more. There are still people who can't believe that I am friends with Jack/Daniel slashers being as I am a Sam/Jack shipper. Well, mostly, the dark side is looking distinctly grey these days.

There was talk on another site about why slash fics are labelled so people can avoid them, but het ones are not. On the one hand it is a sad fact of life that heterosexual relationships are more accepted. Certainly when I was young they were the only relationships I thought existed, being as they were the ones portrayed in books/on TV etc. I do remember the lesbian character (Helen?) on Drop the Dead Donkey not being particularly shocking, though.

It is entirely subjective as to which pairings squick which people though. Although I remember someone mentioning Arwen/Bilbo at one point, which I don't think anyone can quite cope with. But then that's an age and species difference. It's the ones that go against our moral values that squick us, I think. Although I'm inconsistent. I'll do Qui/Obi but not Obi-Wan/Anakin and definitely not Elrond/Aragorn, which I see as a similar relationship to Qui/Obi. I'll also read Elladan/Elrohir but nor Boromir/Faramir.

I think perhaps some of that comes from wanting to reading fic about friendships between particular characters and not minding if they have sex. And also, for me, knowing that people love each other and not minding what type it is. That's certainly how I got into Qui/Obi and Frodo/Sam. Plus some really good authors writing them.

Having said that, I'll read anything funny. Which is how I got into the whole Jack/Daniel thing in the first place. I also think you can do anything, it's just that the harder stuff has to be better done. I've heard there's a Servalan/Orac one that was actually believable.

It's nice to ship with the majority as well - there's more choice of fic to read (although more likelihood much of it is bad, I suspect). I've also found it's nice to ship with the minority. Qui/Obi and Sam/Jack is definitely the majority. John/Aeryn and Sydney/Vaughn are canon (at which point they bored me, although in the case of J/A it took till the end of the series, S/V was only halfway through season 2).

When it comes to Enterprise, though, I ship for Trip/T'Pol. Now that's a minority, or certainly was at the start. I feel quite protective of this one because I saw it right from the start. I preferred their relationship when they constantly wound each other up, but then I suppose all relationships change over time.

And now I'm rambling. It may not sound like it but fandom is a wonderful place. You get to meet new people for a start. The best thing anyone ever said at a con was that everyone at their work only ever talked about Eastenders because then I knew it wasn't just me. There is a tendency to get to know people really quickly as well - shared opinions help that (and it is nice to have someone to go squee over blokes with that people at work have never heard of).

It was at Redemption '03, I think that someone pointed out that once you know you have one thing in common with someone else, you'll find a whole load more as well. Actually, it's a lot like uni, where the closest friends I had were the ones I knew from clubs and societies, rather than the ones I happened to end up living with in my first year. Although we were quite close as a tutor group by the end - there's something about having a group whinge to pull people close (not literally).

This long post is inspired by Sel (so you know who to blame). So to everyone reading this you're all appreciated 'k? Perhaps it's time again to make sure I don't loose touch with old friends I haven't spoken to for ages.

I'm really not happy with amazon.co.uk. There's an American book I want that comes out on 1st March, so I thought if I put an order in now it would arrive about then, being as they don't rush for free deliveries. But they've decided it's limited availability so they won't let anyone buy it. I could get it from amazon.com or amazon.fr though.

I seem to have been sucked into Frodo/Sam slash. I definitely remember thinking I didn't want to see their relationship that way - I like the idea of them being friends to the extent that they'd do anything for each other. It's quite hard when reading ROTK to see it any other way. I'm kind of seeing it both ways now. Which is kinda strange, I admit.

I remember hearing about RPS fairly recently and thought it was something I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Which I'm fairly certain I don't remember thinking about slash. I did read one low-rated piece with no slash in, which was quite funny (and I'll read anything funny). It's not something I'd read because I'm just not interested in the characters but I'm thinking it's not quite so icky any more. I think I'm being gradually worn down.

Yesterday I took down all of my posters, washed the walls, dusted the posters (which I didn't think I'd have to do) and put some of them back up (Orlando is now by my bed where he belongs). I bought the holographic Middle-earth map in Oxford on Saturday but didn't think about getting more blu-tack. I have now used up the most of the packet I had left and there are still gaps. On purpose, but it makes my room look so dark and cold. In my opinion anyway. I so need my own house to decorate. The LOTR one is so going in the lounge.

I got to meet Rob Grant on Wednesday, which was very cool. I happened to be walking past the Waterstones last Saturday and noticed the posters but I fully expected it to be during the day - but no it was a time in the evening I could actually make! We got drinks and nibbles as well. He talked about some interesting stuff and I ended up buying the book, which I think was more interesting before the plot started. But still, it's quite good and relatively cheap.

I also found Teachers on bittorrent. Well, the first two episodes anyway. I didn't start watching it till the end of the second series so it's really weird going back when all the characters were different. Well, some of them anyway.

I was good and went to Tae Kwon Do tonight. Whether I'll be able to walk this weekend is something else.

I could have a rant, but I won't because it wouldn't be productive. Instead, I will look at what I've achieved this weekend (striking through the ones I did):

• Write e-mails - still seem to have rather a lot in my inbox though
• Write fic (esp Farscape drabble) - not Farscape though, only the quick Henneth Annun list challenge and two pairs of triolets
• Post fic (inc Farscape drabble) - someone posted the above for me - still need to put stuff up on my site and ff.net though
• Make CDs - yes x 4! And formatted my CD-Rs. Just need to get my mp3s off dad's CD-R now so I can give it back to him
• Spring clean room - and have the achey bits to prove it
• Spring clean computer - still on my list of things to do
• Do some HASA-related work - not really, will do some in the week though

Still need to consider moving posters and re-doing my website a bit (not so much a redesign as moving things about a bit).

Finally got round to looking at the list of books at the Big Read top 100 the other day. Out of the 100 I've read:

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll - one of my favourite books ever
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery (I think I have anyway)
The BFG, Roald Dahl
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
Emma, Jane Austen
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott - and the three sequels - although none of them are as good as the original
The Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkien
The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton - I've read so much Enid Blyton, the chances are I've read this one
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Mort, Terry Pratchett
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Nineteen-Eighty-Four, George Orwell
Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck - admittedly for GCSE English Lit
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
Tess Of The D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy - this one I really enjoyed
The Twits, Roald Dahl

Which comes to 31. Plus a few I've seen but not read, and a few more I want to read. I'd probably had read more of them if I hadn't been forced to read 'improving books' when I was younger and rebelled and read trash instead.

I read through those poetry forms and discovered I really like the ballad. An example I found on a page about them is 'The Walrus and the Carpenter', which I absolutely love. Maybe I should write some (or at least one) of those.

What type of slash writer are you?

Well, d'uh. But then that goes for everything, not just for slash.

Finished the latest Jedi Quest book - poor Obi. He just doesn't know what to do.

Yay at Blogger! We'll see how long it lasts though. I'm up to 650meg for my CD of mp3s. A few of those need re-downloading though. I'm running out of things I can think of to download (although there are some things I want that I'm not quite so desperate for, so maybe a second CD at some point). Can't listen to Bohemian Rhapsody without thinking of the dirty version though - at least the bits I can remember. Have completely failed to make it to bed before 12.30 any night this week. And I have to get up at 9 tomorrow morning.

My books have arrived! Only took a week. So I've been reading the latest Jedi Quest book. It's nice to get back to TPM after I've been reading practically nothing but LOTR. Can't help feeling I should write some Obi-Wan & Ani stuff. It's interesting looking at the two of them together. Obi-Wan's trying to be more like Qui-Gon, but is actually more like Anakin. So it's kind of a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'. But Obi-Wan/Anakin slash? Ugh! And ew! Despite the fact they're closer in age, I'm happier with Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan. Not that I see their relationship like that, but I think it easier to deal with slash when the two characters already love each other.

I can just about cope with Elladan/Elrohir, as nasty as that is. But sometimes Aragorn/Arwen can squick me if I think about it too much - they both think of Elrond as their father, that's just weird. Have worked out how to use Scorpius/Braca in the unnamed-Farscape-epic. In fact, I think it'll solve some of my plotting problems. Should maybe start writing them down. I was thinking about the number of pairings in it, and as well as the aforementioned S/B, there's John/Aeryn and Crichton/Chiana. Also Chiana/D'Argo and Chiana/various Peacekeepers I suspect. That gives me an idea - Crichton/Peacekeeper red-shirt. Must go and read now.

I now have two new stories up at ff.net: I Can't Do This, which is a Star Wars TPM one I wrote a few years ago and found abandoned; and Dropping Eaves, which I've got finished before the challenge deadline, yay! And I wrote 2000 words tonight and downloaded a load more mp3s. I was nice to Haldir for a change, Isildur wasn't.

I noticed last night it was a full moon, so I thought that must mean something. According to my calendar it's Purim, which I have no idea what that is. Suggests apples for me for some reason, I don't know why. Probably has nothing to do with apples. But what it also means, and this is much more important, is that it's a month till Passover. First night is the Wednesday before Easter. Yay! Looking forward to nice food and a long weekend. And getting the spyware off my computer so it'll hopefully mean it won't spend ages thinking about nothing.

Finished Rendezvous with Rama - now I need to re-read the other ones, if I can just get hold of them. Have discovered loads of interesting stuff in LOTR Appendices though about the kings of men, so will have to read that, I think. I really want to watch The Bill but I need to save it till about 50mins before I want to go to bed so I can go to bed to watch it and be warm and warm my bed up at the same time.

Need a spell checker on Blogger! Not enough to pay for it though.

What I want to know is: who were the blokes with the suitcase of money in Auf Weidersehen, Pet in Comic Relief on Friday? I can't help feeling I should know, but I think they probably used to be big. Plus I never know what any musician (if that's the right word) looks like anyway. I now have a hole in my inflatable chair that I can't fix. I think I'll have to buy a new one next week. Just as well I picked up a new Argos catalogue last time I was in Oxford.

Slept till noon yesterday, which was good. Went to bed at 1am though cos my feet were cold. And I was bored. Still haven't watched the Angel episode I finished downloading on Friday. Might do that after Cold Feet if its finished virus checking. But probably not as I have loads of mp3s filling up my hard drive. I'm trying to get enough to fill a CD, so far I have just under 400megs worth, which lasts about 6 hours. I've got a few more ideas of songs to download yet though. Should keep me going at work and at home when the radio's really annoying me (so always then).

Very nearly have the final version of Dropping Eaves done (go me!) and managed to write another 1000 words of Isildur/Haldir. The latest bit is angsty though, which is my forte. Love writing angst, its so fun to do nasty things to the characters.

Spent most of today helping out at the world pooh sticks championships. I got to sort the sticks out again as I did it last year. But the marshalling of people went much better this year with more people. And I got time to have a go myself. I did spend the day facing the sun though, so it seemed really dark when I got in. Plus my face feels hot and looks a bit red, so think I have got myself sunburned already! And technically its still winter - although explain that to the daffodils.

Went out for milk and a pizza yesterday and came back with three books as well. Damn those charity shops! Although I don't have to worry about not having anything to read now, specially as I don't think I'll be going home before Easter to get my books and doubtless borrow one of mum's. Very annoying - they're resurfacing the hall at the lesiure centre so no Tae Kwon Do on a Monday for a bit. Now that Farscape's finished. I won't know what to do with myself - although I should really finish the LOTR DVD. And then start working through another one.

I actually remembered to watch Red Dwarf on Thursday. I thought it wouldn't be that exciting as I've seen it so many times before and it was only series 1. But it was great - I haven't seen any Red Dwarf for so long I'd forgotten how go it was (prior to series 7 of course). Must watch some more soon, I think. Blogger template still a pain in the arse, surprise, surprise.

I am going to take this opportunity to complain about Valentine's Day. Apart fom being totally pointless and far too sickly sweet, I have major problem with it. You can't find any birthday cards. Go into any shop that sells cards and they'll be full of Valentine's Day cards. You're obviously not allowed to have a birthday at this time of year. Luckily I bought the ones I needed to a few weeks ago. Okay so thats pretty much it for the rant really.

The other thing annoying me at the moment (one of may things admittedly) is books. Which includes just about anything readable in whatever format. If its good you want to keep reading it to find out whats going to happen next. The best thing about reading something for a long(ish) period of time is that you can lose yourself in that universe and you remember more of it. The trouble is that you don't want to read it too fast because then it will be over. And then what do you do? Nothing else seems quite so good after that. Although if its long and complicated enough the answer is to re-read it. Or go and read something you know is good (because you've read it before). Then you can go onto something new. The best thing, of course, is to find something else good and new. Sadly, I can't afford that many books. Or time to read them.