Thursday 31 October 2013

Almost there...

In my glass: Hot chocolate
From my iPod: Updated Novel-writing playlist
From my bookshelf: Pharmacokinetics
Outside: dry, dull
My mood: In a world of my own
Today's hairstyle: Nautilus on wet hair

Happy Samhain everyone! Yep tonight is due to be a real feast.  I love Samhain. I mean, sure, Hallowe'en is overcommercialised, and an excuse for everyone in town to party, but the atmosphere of the holiday still lurks behind all the stuff that goes on - something which is lost on many other holidays. And some people still have the creepy outfits going on, which is always great fun. I got back all my books, and most of my alter stuff from back home and brought it back up North this morning.
 I also gave one of the Larimar pieces I ordered a good hand-polishing and it came up beautifully, turning from a dull, scratched sky blue, to a beautiful deep sea-blue with light patterns as I cleared up the surface scratches and let the light shine through the stone.
I don't know if I'll polish the rest. I kind of feel like hand-polishing it myself puts a lot of my own energy into it, which might not be what someone needs if I were to give one to one of the others at the Pagan society next week, which I definitely plan for one piece that doesn't quite fit my needs. The rest I might clear up some of the way to at least get an idea of the true colours. Larimar is running out over there in the Dominican Republic, so even the pieces that are not right for my uses might be worth something in a short while. And if not, they're still definitely beautiful stones - like the sea is trapped inside.

On a different tack - I think I need to get my marcasite ring re-filled. I only have 11 out of 39 of the tiny stones left, and a couple of those are even crumbling from almost 30 years worth of age and wear by various members of the family. Even the hallmarks are starting to wear away on the inside. In a way though, I've grown used to the dark spots left where the marcasite once shined. Even when I first got it, many of the stones were missing. It would seem off to fill them in with the shine of marcasite. Hmm. Need to think about that.

NaNo starts tomorrow. I still feel like I'm an idiot for trying this year, but it still hasn't changed my mind. I will literally only be trying to keep up with my daily word count though, because i have exams next week and at the start of December to revise for, and lab reports to be written. Oh the joys. Why do I put myself through this?
My uni friends are pestering me about last years novel. I keep telling them I've only got as far as editing part 1. The rest is still a first draft, and a hole-filled one at that. I might do some editing later today once I've done some revision on Signal Transduction and Pharmacokinetics.

I need to head to the Zoology building this afternoon to pick up my marked assignments and a book from the course coordinator (since he seems to have loads, and the library have none, so we are signing them out from him so we have something more substantial to revise from) later on today.
See you all later, guys

Thursday 24 October 2013

A week to go.

So. Only a week to go unitl Samhain, and the start of NaNo 2013.

We have the kick-off party this weekend, to do some final planning (probably good, since my planning is vastly behind for writing this year. I had Scrivener all set up and ready to go this time last year, but this time around, I haven't even got around to allocating chapters yet. I just have a beginning and an end, and some stuff in the middle (which I guess is the definition of a book, but I'm a planner - winging it doesn't work for me). So far, I have Cassie (the main protagonist), Mr Shull (a "scientist", the main antagonist), Nick (A second point of view, Cassie's best friend, who may or may not be destined to die at some point in the book - if I get stuck, he may be killed off, but I would need to add someone else to give the secondary point of view), Hilde (Cassie's odd grandmother who lives up in the North), a Priestess who is fairly integral to the storyline, but doesn't have a name yet, and a bunch of side characters.

NaNo may stop at any time during the next month, if university takes over, which it likely will at some point, seeing as we have a mock exam in the first week. Ugh.
Someone remind me why I'm such an idiot as to think this is a good idea.

Next week I am going home, for a day with the family. I will have to be up at the crack of dawn to get back in time for university, but that seems to come with the territory. In any case, it means I get to go home and grab my books and things in time for Samhain, since I've been somewhat missing them, even though I rarely have time to read. The new Pagan society are having a celebration on the 2nd with a bunch of other societies. I don't think I'm going. I have U-coy dinner that night, and if I did go, I can't help but feel slightly put-off by the notion of getting a "proper priestess" in. Perhaps because I've been going it alone all my life as far as religion is concerned that it feels awkward and odd to think of someone else being in charge. It may be awkward trying to suit everyones beliefs too, since we are so varied. I'll celebrate on Samhain anyway, but I think U-coy has won as far as the weekend goes.

We actually get to chose our food for U-coy this year, which makes a huge difference. I often swither back and forth about dinners with the OTC, because there is just so much food that I feel obliged to eat, even though I literally can't eat that much, but this year it seems to be different. I chose melon for the starter and Cod fillet for the main, since I think my stomach will fare much better with relatively light food. I might even have space left for Sticky Toffee Pudding at the end.

I'll leave you all for now. I have to head down to the OTC building to collect my uni book that I left in my locker by accident. I believe I may need to update some details anyway. I have our regular NaNo meet tonight, so we'll be trying to think up and share dares, ideas and plot-bunnies and fill in flat characters and gaping plot-holes (so far we have a challenge for a busy character called Suzi, who plays a part in your novel by nudging people in the right direction. She can be a person, animal or machine who helps out when your characters are stuck, lost or in danger, though not always in the way your character would like.)

Anyway, goodbye guys. :)

Sunday 20 October 2013

Updating my music and writing like a beast

In my glass: Jasmine Green loose-leaf tea
From my iPod: Updated/extended Novel-writing playlist
From my bookshelf: Pharmacokinetics
Outside: Wet.
My mood: kinda vague and indecicive, though I don't know what about
Today's hairstyle: English braid (plain and simple for one of my very few days pottering about the house doing chores and uni work)

Ok, so today, I discovered I write like a beast when listening to Die Fledermaus, and the Barber of Seville. Who knew? Ok, so maybe it was more like I just lost track of time, since uni lab reports still took me all day, but it wasn't nearly as horrendous when I had some good music going in the background. Its henceforth been added to my Novel-writing playlist, along with the 1812 overture (which I'm currently listening to - memories of Basel tattoo finales), Carnival of the Animals, the Marriage of Figaro, a bunch of stuff by Tchaikovsky and Mozart (because they make beautiful music), general "Tom & Jerry"-type classical music (because you know - Tom and Jerry is helluva responsible for a lot of things - Classic FM was frequently referred to as "Tom & Jerry Music" when my brother and I were kids), Swan Lake Music (again, Tchaikovsky), Clair de Lune (Probably one of my favourite piano pieces ever) then breaking away from the classical theme, Wake Me Up, Thrift Shop, Let Her Go, Blurred Lines and Levitate (another great tune).

So yeah. Other than music, life has been pretty damned boring. I finished off my lab report. I have lectures and tutorials tomorrow, I've to buy ink for my printer which decided to print all the grey areas in yellow this afternoon (though still printed the black as black - go figure), and more paper since all this printing of lecture notes, lab reports, manuals, and general uni stuff has made a fair dent in my paper stack.
Whoever thought computers would see the end of all paper notes? Ha! I beg to differ.

I should probably get to bed so I can get up for my long day tomorrow. I know this was a short one. If I have time, I'll try and write to you some more, though I'll probably be planning for NaNo (yes, I'm stupidly still thinking of trying it, albeit that I'm totally stressed out half the time and have an exam mid-November. So don't shout at me if I dont write. I promise I'll try my best. I'll try my best to keep up with you too, but that isn't guaranteed either.
See you soon folks, hopefully. :)

Monday 14 October 2013

Waiting in the library

In my glass: Summer Berry herbal tea
From my iPod: Last years Novel-writing playlist (well, its good music)
From my bookshelf: Pharmacokinetics (Maths galore! oh the joys...)
Outside: Wet. And that annoying temperature too hot to wear coats, and too cold to go without.
My mood: bored
Today's hairstyle: Nautilus with 60th street 2-prong fork

Guess who got a new camera (well, new to its new owner anyway)? Thats right,me! I'm afraid I don't have pictures to show you yet though, since I'm waiting for a cable that was missing to arrive. That and the light with this weather is crap. So many gorgeous colours, but theres stupidly little natural light. I'm tinkering with the aperture and what not, but I'm still getting used to the ins and outs of a DSLRs manual controls.
It came with two lenses. The lens on the camera is a 38-70mm, and the other was a 55-300mm. Is it any surprise I love the big one better. I got a couple of good macro shots eventually after a while, but my bee had flown off by then and I was left with just flowers. No matter. I'm sure a bit of messing with different settings will help me get to know this thing a little better. I can't wait for our beautiful winter skies. They're usually far more interesting than the occasional boring blue or continuous dull grey. Or the snow. I may need to get some filters for snow shots, since I know from experience that they can come out a little over-exposed (mostly from when I played with my dads camera - he uses a bridge, and mostly uses the auto function). Changing the ISO might result in darker areas over the rest of the image, so filters seems a good option.

So today, I am going to the second meeting for the University Pagan society. Its funny how when we get together, theres actually a surprising amount of us - theres enough of us to qualify as a society anyway. No idea what we'll do tonight. Last week was great - we just sat, drank lose-leaf teas and chatted to get to know one another (we are from all over it seems, with a decent range of beliefs too). I took some loose-leaf jasmine green tea with me today for later since I have far too much at home to drink by myself.
Being truthful, its a little weird for me. All my life, I've kind of been alone in my beliefs and religion. My mum was a christian (though not all that devout) and my father and brother are either atheists or agnostics (I think its more they don't care much to decide whether they believe or not. Maybe they did decide, but I missed that part). My friends at school were either christians (some devout, others not so much) or atheists, with one or two agnostics. (Oddly my most devout friend was most accepting of my beliefs - who would have guessed) I didn't speak much about my religion unless there was some very open moral, or religion-related discussion amongst known friends, probably because there was no-one else I knew in school (and I knew most in my year and the couple of years either side of my own) who had similar beliefs to me. I was glad "religious education" ended pretty early in school - only the major religions were ever covered (Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists were all that was covered) so the kids were uneducated as to minority beliefs. It could get very awkward, very quickly, especially as the introverted kid I was. Don't get me wrong, I like people, but they were damned exhausting. Curious people were slightly worse, and ignorant jack-asses were the worst of all by a long-shot.
So it is a bit odd to get the chance to speak freely to people that know what I'm on about. It might take a bit of trying to make myself open up properly. The people that grew up around others with similar beliefs definitely seem more open about it, but that might also be their extroverted personalities. I'm going to try for all I'm worth to keep this chance alive, because its an amazing opportunity for me.

I need to go guys. See you all soon.

Thursday 10 October 2013

Bummer...

Kinda sad that my "100th post" was only my 90th actually posted. I didn't realise the rest were drafts I hadn't finished yet. :/ Oh well, a few more to go.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Back to craziness, and my 100th post

So life is getting busy already. The lectures this year are a lot harder to get a grasp of. So for now, its just slogging along. Unfortunately, I think it means that there may be no NaNo for me this year. No way am I going to able to keep up with uni if I'm distractied with trying to write a novel. But something has given me an idea. One of the girls I follow on YouTube is currently having a go at Vlogtober. Now thats a totally cool idea, but I don't have a vlog. No matter, though, because I have a blog instead. :) I might have a go in November (though it won't be vlogtober anymore, but hey). I figure it'll be slightly more possible than novel-writing will be. My only issue will be the days where I'm without internet, which is likely to be kind of frequent with all the remembrance/OTC stuff and National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland stuff going on in November, but I'm sure I'll manage.
That reminds me, the Youth Band have two major concerts coming up. If any of you are up in Aberdeen on the 24th November, or in Glasgow on the 30th, think about coming along, especially if you are into the scottish music scene. (Click on the cities for links to information about each concert.) Hope to see some of you there.


On a totally different track, this is my 100th post. Calls for a poem, I think.
One of my long-missing poems that have been recovered from my revived Webook account. :) The upside of going back a year later is that it gives you the perspective to edit properly.

A Peek Inside the Wandering Mind of a Girl in Physics Class

Gentle, damp
A Calm Lake in the eternal expanse of the thoughts.
White sun on blue sky,
If it could indeed be called that.
A breeze fighting with lightning past the horizon
I could roll my eyes at.
Colours everywhere.
Lilies on the lake edge,
Grape vines on pine trees,
Beds of unstinging nettles underfoot.

Birds!
Big, small
blue, yellow, red
Shooting around.
Wings resembling my own,
and the angels above
and the fallen in the lake below.
A rainbow thrown between fingertips,
Joining every presence.
Colour.
Beauty.