Tuesday July 1, 2003

Seriously screwed up

Category: Life & Me | 0 Comments | Posted 0:01

sleeping pattern! I just woke up... I think I must have gone to bed around 8pm. I remember I'd just been to the petrol station to get some sweets I was craving and decided to lie down and read a little... now it's past midnight and I'm wide awake, hooray! *lol*

Actually that's not true, I'm not that awake at all, I reckon if I went back to bed now I'd fall asleep again pretty soon, so I think I'll do just that. Must first eat the melon my mum left me at the PC. How cute of her. LOL she musta thought I was mad when she saw me sleeping at 8.30 or whenever she came upstairs. Tho she's kinda used to seeing me in bed at any time of the day. She's even stopped making comments :P

Good thing is it's July now. New month. The month my holidays start. In fact today a week will be my last school day. Hooray. Craig's coming again tomorrow. My room's a tip as usual, but good thing is, he said he couldn't believe this would shock him so I'm allowed to leave it as it is - I know he will be shocked, but since he wanted it that way, what can I do. *giggle*

K I'm off. Fascinating update this, uh? Sorry I don't have anything interesting to talk about. I used to write these long essays about issues, it's weird, I just can't be bothered anymore. I don't feel strongly enough about anything at the moment. Too lazy to even feel anything :P ... and back to bed she goes.

Tuesday July 8, 2003

WELCOME!

Category: Updates | 18 Comments | Posted 18:41

Okay so this is the first proper entry in my new & improved blog (the previous entry was imported from the old diary as it was the only July one). A lot of things are going to change with the new site, and I thought I'd give you a quick breakdown, as far as I've got things worked out so far.

Basically the site is gonna be split up into different sections.
There's going to be

  • the Blog (right here)

  • Blog Archives (online here)

  • About Clarissa

  • Art Gallery

  • Michael Jackson site

  • Book reviews? (maybe)

Some things are going to disappear. Like most of those pics of myself, and most of the pointless surveys and "about me" pages. The rest... well I'll try to find a more compact way. It will be a lot of work, but I'm quite excited about it. It will allow me to have more different layouts, and also bring back the frames for some of them. Should be cool!

Yeah so I'm all excited and stuff. Everything will be better - tho not bigger. More like, smaller. *hehe* But in a better way! Hooray!

Wednesday July 9, 2003

Well what do you think?

Category: Life & Me | 7 Comments | Posted 19:06

So as y'all can see the blog is truly online now. One day in advance. I am SO efficient! :P

OK, some news from my life maybe... school's almost over, so I'm as good as unemployed now. Well, except I'll get paid over summer. I hope.

Going out most evenings this week, catching up with old friends and stuff. Quite exciting that. I need to make a To Do list for the holidays. There is SO much to do. *sigh* Then I guess I'll also have to start looking around for a job at some point. But first I'll take a break.

I'm off to the UK once again at the end of the month. Three days with with Gaby, which is exciting. Visiting places, enrolling at uni, visiting Kate, then off North to visit BML Me :x for a few days.

OK must dash. Y'all better come back to my site now! :P

Thursday July 10, 2003

Resurrect the Browser?

Category: Updates | 8 Comments | Posted 16:09

So I've been trying to come up with a layout for my "About Clarissa" site. I'm not very inspired, tho I'm working on an idea... but anyway, while going thru my CDs I came across the Clarissa Browser again, and just thought it really was a freaking good idea, and why shouldn't I use it again?

Some of you may not remember it - it has the coolest little features, the buttons pop when you hover, same as real IE, and there's a different look for each sub-page.
So I put the question to you - do you think the browser should return? Please let me know in the comments (I could do a poll for it, but I'm far too lazy). :D

WOOOOHOOOO!!!

Category: Life & Me | 16 Comments | Posted 19:22

YAY, I've finally managed to convince Katja & Tobias to come to the (postponed) Placebo concert with me!!! :yay Am very excited!

I've also decided to use the Clarissa Explorer again. Currently working on it, prolly gonna take a while tho. Frustrating work. *sigh* Shame I'm so lazy.

That's it. Damn, MT is just too easy to use. Expect more short & pointless updates :P

Saturday July 12, 2003

The FUNNIEST thing!!

Category: The Web | 23 Comments | Posted 14:08

LMAO thank God for eBay, I just had a good laugh. Someone on an MJ board posted a link to this auction, which made us all go :-& of course.

Then someone checked the seller's other auctions :)) :)) :))

Sorry there is nothing I can say but LMAOOOOO. Disgusting but hilarious! :))

[EDIT] The items have been removed and I wasn't quick enough to take a screenshot. Arse X( [/edit]

The Browser is back.

Category: Updates | 23 Comments | Posted 21:59

Yes indeed people, the Clarissa Explorer is back and can be found at http://explore.myowndamn.biz. I've been working on that most of today, except for a short break when my friend Claire came to visit. I'm glad to say I can still concentrate on a design job - I thought I'd lost the fascination. Not that much has changed design-wise, but who knows what will happen over the next few weeks.

I've also added a couple of new smileys at the request of demanding Lo *lol*
8-} (code: : ] )
:9 (code: : 9 )
The :9 I've made myself by Yahoo-ifying MJJF's one (which, incidentally, I made a few months back by Invisionboard-ifying from Plaudersmilies.de.)

I've had to move the SexGod site back to this server as my Easyspace account was suddenly cancelled. Well they may have contacted me to let me know, but they have the wrong address anyway, so... there wasn't much I could do. I think with my 10GB bandwidth I should be able to accomodate it on here. If not, off it goes. :)) Hotlinking has been disabled of course.

Right well that's it. Another not very exciting entry. Well what can you do... not much happens when you spend your day at the PC :P

Sunday July 13, 2003

Bad poetry

Category: The Web | 6 Comments | Posted 21:43

OK how about a longer entry again for a change? I started replying to emails, then got bored, then remembered something I've been meaning to write about for a while. Yes, bad poetry. A dreadful thing.

I'm talking about the "oh I take myself so seriously and have to express my feelings through this" kind. There's so much of it on the Net, because it's just too easy to publish your less than mediocre drivvle. I know this is cruel, and I know this is gonna be a cruel entry, but I can't help myself. It shouldn't be allowed. It's like, 'People, writing good poetry is a really difficult thing! Not everyone is made for it! If you're crap, keep it to yourself!'

Yes yes, that is indeed the way I feel about the issue. What's especially bad is poetry that doesn't rhyme. Written by amateurs I mean. It's usually an indicator of REALLY bad poetry. If your poetry can't sustain itself on rhythm and rhyme, you need to be really good to make it work some other way. The emphasis lies on strong imagery. Just putting words together and using line breaks in unexpected places doesn't make it poetry!
As I sit in this forest,
Of wooden sent,
(sic)
I mean PLEASE! 8-|

And the topics! Love! Usually unrequited love, or love that had to end. Or, alternatively, being misunderstood. Very frequent in teenagers. Blech, give me a break. You think you are SO unique uh? Look around you. 1 billion people think they are just as unique as you. :))

Clichés and commonplaces abound. Poetry has to be powerful! Give me a good metaphor anytime, but don't compare love to a dew drop on a flower! :-& 'So precious, so untouchable!' Yeah yeah 8-|

Haha. I was going to use lots of examples from the Net for this entry, and poke fun at them by making sarcastic remarks, but I feel bad about that. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. The examples I've used were rephrased so as to keep the awfulness, but make them unrecognizable.

See, that's another thing about poetry, you can't tell the author it's crap (if they post it on a public forum, for instance), cuz they'll be really upset. Which means that more & more people will be convinced that they write great poetry and should keep publishing it. Which again means that the Net will be flooded with more crap poetry. Thank God I'm not forced to read it all :))

PS this is not directed at ANY of my poetry-writing friends. The ones whose poetry I've read are WAY above average. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't have written this entry ;;)

Monday July 14, 2003

Which bat?

Category: Life & Me | 27 Comments | Posted 14:41

Hooray, and again my blog readers can help me make a decision... some of you may know I want a tattoo... some may know I want a bat... ok well here are some to choose from. Not saying I WILL get one of those, maybe I'll find the perfect one at some point. Anyway, here are two I've created or edited myself, and one I found online that I find really cute :P








I know the ones I coloured myself look a bit crap, but it's just to get the idea. I wanted the purple-black gradient. :-) Originally I wanted one like No1, but then I found that sideways look from No2 and I'm kinda tending towards that now. Tho I do like the first one too with its outlined body and stuff. *g*
Yeah so what do you think? *heehee*

Tuesday July 15, 2003

Video Entry: Bad Poetry 2

Category: Video | 10 Comments | Posted 1:03

Hehe. OK this needs kind of an introduction. BML Me and I wrote a bad poem each tonight to poke fun at bad poetry (haha, if any of the original poetry writers visit my diary, they're gonna hate me. Anyway.. ;;) ). We had a lot of fun writing them and I thought reciting mine would make for a funny video entry. :D

So I started recording and ended up doing different versions, which I will inflict upon you here. *haha* (I recommend you right-click and save) It's called "Your Love" btw.

I was in hysterics recording this - it shows on some of the takes too :))
I hope you'll enjoy watching them too. :P

Wednesday July 16, 2003

I'm boiling and antisocial.

Category: Self-analysis | 17 Comments | Posted 0:44

Fucking hell, this is a nightmare! Someone take it away! The heat I mean. Just got back from this barbeque thing we had with our English teacher ppl, it is SO nice outside, wonderful summer night, and then I get back up here and it's bloody 29DegC!!! I mean seriously, it's past midnight, and I had ALL the windows WIDE open!! Will go downstairs to sleep tonight. I can't stand this.

The BBQ was ok. I mean I dunno, I just don't fancy these sorta gatherings much. There were some really cool moments, and all in all I'd say it wasn't too bad, but looking back I still kinda feel it was... well not a waste of time (I wouldn't have done anything more useful had I stayed at home), but just something I could do without.

There were so many occasions when I felt like just leaving and doing something more interesting, tho I knew I couldn't of course as it would have seemed rude. I get that a lot, with a lot of things I do. There are some friends where I never feel like leaving... but more & more of that 'social' stuff I have to force myself to attend, or not to leave, or not to just get out a book and read. *lol*

I generally avoid such events these days - I've only been to a fraction of our school's dinners for instance. But sometimes I just let myself get dragged into them. I don't hate being there most of the time... I just don't get the point. I mean, what IS the point?

Bonding and making friends I know. But what if you don't wanna? I don't see how that should be such an inherently bad thing. Being antisocial I mean. It certainly is made out to be. Preferring to stay on your own is weird. "Go out and meet people", they say. Why if you feel quite comfortable on your own? I don't get it, honest. :-?

Thursday July 17, 2003

I'm unemployed

Category: Life & Me | 8 Comments | Posted 15:53

Well not quite, as I will be paid for the next 2 months, but I've sent in my resignation letter today, to all sorts of different places, so there is no way back now :D :yay

*ahem* Had a look around for temporary jobs here, I don't think it will be too easy for me to find one. They're usually in the financial or construction sector. I'm not entirely sure what I will do if I can't find one... I could go for sth really crappy (checkouts or sth), or go to the UK earlier than planned (tho that would get complicated, as I'd have to move again in January for some reason...), or just not work. That would be cool, but I need the money.

Could also go somewhere else entirely... that would be exciting. How about three months in Sydney? :P Maybe Craig has a room somewhere? Oh no wait, he's back with parents... :-( Or doing some seasonal job somewhere... hm, guess Sept-Dec isn't the best time for seasonal jobs. Ah well anyway, I guess I'll find something here if I look hard.

I want a new layout on this thing. I'm bored with the sloth, and what annoys me is that the colours look so much like the default MovableType ones. Also need to start working on all my other sites again. Not like I don't have the time ;;)

OK that is all for today. Am off to friend now, then off to other friend. Then probably bed. I might even sleep up here again, as the sun's gone and I have wonderful 26degC here now :D

Friday July 18, 2003

Michael Jackson is God

Category: Michael Jackson | 21 Comments | Posted 0:28

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha :evil
Fuck you all, losers! :))

*laughing maniacally*

Saturday July 19, 2003

I been a good gurl

Category: Updates | 3 Comments | Posted 16:32

I can't spell no more, but that ain't much of an issue now that I ain't a teacher no more. Mehehehehe. It's hot again here, will this never end? I dunno, maybe I shouldn't be complaining, after all this is better than freezing cold or depressing rain. Maybe I should be outside instead of in here.

Yes that's an idea. I'll go outside and lie in the sun. My legs need a tan. I could read a book. Or just sleep, who knows. Aah but I haven't been inactive all day you know! OK I was inactive until 1pm, but then I got out of bed and finished my new Michael Jackson sitelet (a sitelet is a small site. Just as an applet is a small app). Done that with the new Paint Shop Pro 8, which is kinda different from PSP7 and takes some getting used to.

Next I will change the layout on here, and then I need to start working on my Art & Image Galleries. I think my cemetery pics will get a separate site too. If only there weren't so many. I also need to organise my CDs and my Queen collection and sell it all. I have to get rid of all this crap in my room. It's not like I can drag it around with me for the rest of my life. It must all go. I must shed my past and start anew. *lol* Seriously, it's incredible all the rubbish you accumulate over the years. I seem to throw so much of it out every few years, and still my room is full of it. *shakes head*

Thanks for reading. Now visit the Michael Jackson sitelet. Byeee!

Sunday July 20, 2003

Another day has gone...

Category: Updates | 8 Comments | Posted 0:37

.. and I've actually achieved something, tho I guess not many people would see the importance of my arduous work. *g* I've spent almost the whole day at the PC, and not eaten much. That is always a good thing. So how do you like the new layout? I like it a lot, I dunno why. It's so clean and refreshing. Featuring Lara was Sinead's idea btw, and the blue thing... well I just wanted blue. So the two are not really related, but who cares. Blue Lara. *g*

You'll find that I now have the links to my other sites on the left, and I've cleaned up a little in the general menu. Ah, another new feature are the little links behind "Book" and "Music" in the Right Now section. They take you to the related Amazon page, I thought that would allow people to actually see what I'm reading/listening to, as the full titles are usually too long to put on here. Oh, and the "Looking" link now has a date, so you'll know when thre's a new pic. (;;) @ BML Me). I've also updated the Entrance page to my sites with all the new stuff. Looks nifty! :D

Oh I'd like to take this opportunity to express my admiration for Nena. Most of you non-German people will only know her from her 1984 hit 99 Red Balloons (if at all) and probably find her crap. But she's done lots more songs, and many of them are really good. And she's cute. And I like her. That's all.

Ooooh life's not fair!!

Category: Michael Jackson | 21 Comments | Posted 14:12

So the bloody MJ Birthday celebration thing was announced last night and I missed it!!! Now all the good tickets have sold out, and there's no way I'm flying all the way to LA to sit somewhere in a back row! I mean, I really would've liked to go!!! :((

So I guess I'll wait now and see if any tickets turn up again. Overpriced on eBay for instance. I mean, bloody MJ fans! And why do I live in the wrong timezone anyway? Must do something really outrageous now to get over my frustration. Usually I do something with my hair when I'm depressed, but there's not much left to do with it. *lol*

God this is sooooooooooo annoying! Stupid Americans, why do they get all the Michael stuff these days anyway? They don't deserve it! This is SO not fair. :((

PS EDIT I have shamelessly copied from Michelle and added an audio stream to the site (on the right! Look down! Yes, there it is). It's (obviously) Nena & Kim Wilde's Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime. I don't usually like remakes, but this one's good. Tho the original is better :D

Monday July 21, 2003

'Smee again!

Category: Updates | 12 Comments | Posted 12:33

Do you know the joke? You've probably heard it but here it is just in case.

It's another boring "Updates" entry, hehe, but it will be the last one for a while. I've finished the Art Gallery (so go & visit obviously! I've dug up some stuff from the vaults!). Now there's only Pics of Places left and I won't do that for a while. Too much work involved, and I wouldn't mind doing that in PHP. Which means I have to get my head round that first. Haha, don't expect anything before September :|

I've also revamped the Blog a little - there are now Categories to my Entries, as well as a Category Archive and an "All Entries" Archive. I'mma start participating in some of the Photo Weeklies now, and maybe also in other Memes. Check out this nifty Memes List. A lot of them are crap, but some are cool.

What's with the annoying alliteration habit they have tho? Monday Madness, Wednesday Whatevers, Saturday Slant. I hate the way stuff like that catches on on the Web. One person does it, everyone copies it. First there was Friday Five, now there's also Two for Tuesday, Thursday Three... surprisingly tho there's Saturday-8 and not Saturday Seven. :)) There's a certain part of the Internet that is so cliquey and obsessed with being cool. 8-| I guess there's too many high school kids online. *lol*

Right that's it. Up next is in my schedule is my room. Can't wait. *sigh*

Tattoos II (and stuff)

Category: Randomness | 32 Comments | Posted 17:59

OK so I've pretty much decided on my tattoo.. it's gonna be this bat (here's a new & better, tho not perfect version of it)


I'll probably do a few more of them before actually having it done. Must ring up friends now and ask them where they went and if they'd recommend it. Then must make appointment. *scared*

There's a bug stuck to my sellotape. It's still moving and unless I crush it, it will die a cruel, cruel death (starving? panicking? ripping out its little legs and bleeding to death? I do wonder). Anyway, serves it right for coming in here. :evil Hate bugs.

Tuesday July 22, 2003

Walking in the rain

Category: Photography | 24 Comments | Posted 21:44

We had a cool thunderstorm last night, with lots of lightning and torrential rain and everything. I went for a walk around the neighbourhood (at around 1am), it was a lot of fun, I was barefoot and wearing a short dress (had an umbrella tho), I felt very free and holiday-ish. :P There was no one else around obviously, I bet I was the only person outside in our whole suburb.

I also lay in the field behind our house and took literally dozens of pictures in the hope of catching the lightning. I managed three times, and once even with a nice zig-zag, which I thought I'd share with you here.... as you can see. The little house on the right is ours. Well, the little black shape.

That is all really. Spent most of today in bed with a headache. Hate headaches. Like beds tho. Got lots of reading done. The weather's cooled down a little bit. Only ever so slightly, but it helps. Will get food now, then return to bed or something. :P

Thursday July 24, 2003

Why am I afraid?

Category: Self-analysis | 13 Comments | Posted 1:14

And who am I afraid of?
Where am I going?
What do I want?
Will I achieve what I want?
Do I believe in myself?
What if I fail?
What is failure in my case?
Haven't I failed already?

I don't know, I just don't know. You see, these are things that, were I to explain them, would take me days or weeks. Provided I would actually be able to explain them. To be honest I don't even understand them myself. All I know is that my father (my biological father, not the man who brought me up) looms high over everything I do, every major decision I take.

By deciding to go back to the UK and choosing the insecure future that is mine I thought I'd finally shed the influence he has over my life. I thought I'd been able to choose my path without any regards for him. But I was wrong: even that was a decision taken to spite him, to spite what I have of him in myself, and what those around me think I have of him.

But you see, it's not only about the expectations put in me, and their fears of him in me. At the end of the day I could have just run away and started anew somewhere where no one knows either him or me. I didn't, and the reason is that I am most afraid. Afraid of being like him, and even more afraid of being unable to fight it. But most of all I'm scared of not trying to fight it while pretending to be unable to. I'm scared of blaming it on something that is out of my grasp because that is the easy way out. You see, I would be the victim, his victim - when in reality I could very well have fought had I really wanted. That would certainly be what he would have done. "Let's blame it on somebody else."

Am I not too weak to be a better person, and do I not blame it on what I cannot help being? Or pretend I cannot? When I lost it last summer and started seeing "my" psychologist, this was one of my major concerns. I thought she would be able to explain it to me. I thought she'd tell me (tho I was afraid) "yes, you are running away from the bitter truth: you must fight this part of yourself because you know it is bad. His genes are in you, and this will be hard, but you know you don't want to end up like him."

But because I was mourning, and very confused and lost without my dad (the one who had brought me up), we only talked about how to cope with that loss, and never got further than that. To be honest I don't know if I could have obeyed her if she had told me that "bitter truth". Maybe my whole refusal to become like him is but an act, maybe I am only pretending to be virtuous so that those around me will forgive me if I fail, saying "ah she tried, but it is stronger than her".

I felt better by the end of my psycho-sessions, and I told myself I'd been very depressed and had therefore exaggerated the whole thing. And I'm sure I had, everything at that point seemed insurmountable to me. But it was wrong to think that the problem had just disappeared.

It's still there, it holds me in its grasp. And yes, it may be that I have too much time on my hands right now, and that I feel insecure and scared, and that I'm thinking too much of my future. And undoubtedly the fact that my mum compared me to my father yesterday, and mentioned all the old fears, brought it all back up again, too. But she only put into words what I have been tossing around for months. Or years. Or decades.

The ultimate questions are: will I let him govern my life? And also: can I afford to dismiss him completely? I'd kill him if I could, but even that wouldn't solve the problem, as he would live on within me (as well as within my brothers). It's eerie the influence he has on so many people. He would be satisfied, tho it isn't even his merit.

Me and my microbes

Category: Life & Me | 28 Comments | Posted 15:24

Me


My microbes

Hehe, yeah I'm showing you me cuz I've just been to the hairdresser's again, so my hair is now shorter and consequently redder (as the darker ends have mostly been cut off). And my microbes because the new set arrived this morning. Aren't they cute? And colourful? :D Bit like me ;;)

Oh btw I meant to say... I have more accesses to my audio file than the SexGod site. If you want to listen to it again and again, please download it (link) and listen to it on your PC, cuz each time you stream it from my site, you're eating some of my bandwith. :| Thank oooo! :-)

Friday July 25, 2003

Back in a bit

Category: Life & Me | 9 Comments | Posted 12:59

Yeah so Craig's gonna be here in 1hr, he's staying until Sunday, so I won't be updating for a while I guess. Well, until Sunday. Maybe I'll have some photos for you when I return to the life of constant online-ness. BTW I dunno if you've noticed that Game Lara on the left has been replaced by Angelina Lara. I'm currently finding myself in a phase of extreme Angelina-obsession. :x =P~ *heehee* Just thought I'd let you know.

Saturday July 26, 2003

Jackass

Category: Life & Me | 11 Comments | Posted 1:41

Craig says: "OOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Clarissa says: "JACKASS SUCKS"

:|

Craig's 31 today!!!!

Category: Life & Me | 10 Comments | Posted 19:59

So I want y'all to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and all!!!! :D :D :D
I know it's hard enough being that old and all ;;)

Yeah and we're off out into town now (rain!!! :(( ).... so tomorrow morning will be spent hungover and sleeping (or hungry, in Craig's case).... hehehehehe.

PS Australians speak funny :)) (;;) @ Jess and Prue)

Monday July 28, 2003

And the sun shines..

Category: Life & Me | 11 Comments | Posted 13:51

Now that Craig is gone, we have nice weather again. I'm feeling kinda uninspired now, maybe it's PMS (do you say PMS or PMT? Which one do you prefer?). I did get quite a lot of stuff done yesterday tho, I reorganised my mess of a CD collection, it's all in alphabetical order again now (tho 2 CDs are missing :-() and I've put some CDs aside that I want to get rid of. I've also sorted out that massive pile of paperwork that had been growing and growing for months. Luckily I didn't find anything hugely important that should have been handed in or sent off 2 months ago. I binned all the crap relating to school - that too was a relief.

I've kind of felt like writing fiction these past few days. I felt it particularly strongly last night, but I was in bed by then and not bothered enough to get up again. Also, feeling the desire to write isn't the same as having inspiration of course. So today I've had a look around the Net looking for inspiration and it's not coming. I guess I will have to abandon the idea. After all, I am an essay writer and nothing else. A lazy one at that. Oooh the shame. :))

Tuesday July 29, 2003

Recommending books

Category: Opinionated | 14 Comments | Posted 0:26

I don't think I'll actually ever do a book review section on this site, so how about a shortened version of it? I recommend some books (or authors) for anyone who's bored, and in return you're invited to recommend some to me. :-) Oh and btw, just as a general note - READ PEOPLE READ!!

Anne Rice - The Vampire Chronicles
OK these are probably my favourite books, or at least way up there. I guess my favourite is Memnoch the Devil, but it's probably wisest to read them in chronological order.
OK, now Anne Rice is Gothic. Don't read it if you're not at all into dark stuff and vampires, you will not enjoy it. But there's so much more to her novels - don't judge her books by the Interview with a Vampire film! The depth of these stories, of the relationships between the vampires, the intensity of what they feel and what haunts them, are incredible. As you move along with them through the centuries, you get drawn into their intricate world, into their bonds and their feuds.
Also, the Chronicles are amazing historical novels that take you back to ages long past - from Ancient Rome (Marius) through Renaissance Italy (Marius and Armand) and 18th-19th Century France (Lestat and Louis) to her beloved present-time New Orleans. Her descriptions of the different eras are incredible - well researched, convincing and very enticing.
In short, Anne Rice is a genius. She's written an astonishing number of novels (beside the Chronicles, there are also the New Tales of the Vampires, the Lives of the Mayfair Witches and various other works). And although not each and every one of them is "pure genius", the majority of them are and I am quite certain she will be remembered way beyond her lifetime.
PS Here is a comprehensive list of her works on Amazon, with the option to read extracts from most of them.
PPS Sara is reading Body Thief :D Isn't she wonderful? :x

Douglas Adams - Complete Works
OK, some of you may know Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (tho it surprises me how many people don't, even in the UK). Anyway, Adams was another genius, full stop. Highly intelligent, a science & gadget freak, plus a great fiction & comedy writer. The Hitchhiker's Guide (5 books make up the set) is amazing because it's
hugely funny and imaginative,
quirky and absurd,
very clever and well thought out,
poking fun at humans, the world, and everything.
When I was introduced to it by the great Tobias, my mentor, he told me it was a must-read, and I couldn't agree more. So there you go. You must read it. Nuff said.
The rest of Adams' work is totally worth reading too. Notably the Dirk Gently series and the wonderful (Deeper) Meaning of Liff, which uses place names to describe "common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no words exist." The stuff is serioulsy "laugh out loud" funny, and the "OMG yeah I totally know what he means" effect adds to the fun.

Well, I was going to give you 5 recommendations, but I've spent so much time writing about two of my favourite authors ever that I think that should be enough for now. ;-) Haha, most of you probably found this entry boring. I don't care, I had fun praising these people I admire and love. And, well, if you don't read, it's your loss really. I pity you. ;;)

FUCK Luxembourg

Category: Opinionated | 16 Comments | Posted 17:12

Here's another reason why I hate living in this country (among so many more):

We are tiny. We are rich, but we aren't exactly an important market, considering our size. So an absolute minority of companies actually bother setting up customer service for us. We always have to make do with either Belgium or Germany, or sometimes France.

So we pay extra shipping costs. I can live with that. But we also have to pay for the stuff through some complicated international transfer system... either Int'l Money Transfer (which costs a bloody FORTUNE!), or whatever other greedy system they have thought up.

See, I have a Nintento Game Boy Advance SP. My pigs ate the A/C cable (wasn't my fault). Now our shops don't sell A/C cables yet cuz you're not supposed to wreck them that soon; so I can only order them directly from Nintendo. Nintendo Belgium of course. So you have the choice between int'l money order (meaning you pay sth like €13 for the cable, €6.7 for the shipping, and €10 for the money order fee), and, well, sending a €20 note in an envelope.

I mean, it is actually REALLY nice of Nintendo Belgium to ACCEPT cash. Usually you have the choice between 13+6.7+10=€29.7 and, well, not getting the cable. Does that suck or not? I think it does. Living in small marginary countries that no one gives a fuck about sucks big time.

I can't wait to be part of one big and powerful country again (whether their government supported Dubya or not - the only reason my government didn't was cuz no one fucking cares anyway). A country with its own special deals, its own Coca-Cola Promotions, its own MTV competitions and all of that crap.

Wednesday July 30, 2003

I'm off

Category: Life & Me | 12 Comments | Posted 22:17

to the UK. Hooray, yippie and all that :D
Travel itinerary as follows:
Coventry (register at uni)
Portland (Kate)
Southampton (Kate... and shops)
Basingstoke (Daniel)
(maybe) London (shops)
Glasgow (BML Me :x :x :x)
Edinburgh (lots of ppl :P)
Home.

Yep. I'll be back here on the 11th, and available to the public on the 15th, as Katja and Tobias will be coming to stay. And now I'm off to bed.

PS I'll prolly update when I'm over at Me BML's. :-)