Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in faeriephyre's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, November 1st, 2008
1:08 pm	Enquiring minds want to know.... Last time I checked Hallowe'en was for all ages, but trick-or-treating was for the kids. Yes, I;ve gone trick-or-treating when I was no longer a kid, but I'm short enough that in the dark and in disguise the people shelling out probbably couldn't tell the difference. Anyways, the point is that the gummy candies handed out from my house last night had "45 Calories per pouch" proudly emblazoned across each and every packet. Now, I know that the while population is moving towards the heavier end of the scale, but does Hallowe'en candy really need to have a calory count? Is little Johnnie dressed up as Batman going to hand the package back to me because it would be more than his designated calory-per-candy-pack limit? Given the attention paid in to the negative body image of increasingly younger girls, advertising the caloric count on trick-or-treat candy just seems wrong. If a parent of an obese or severely overweight child don't want him or her to collect a whole bunch of candy on Hallowe'en night than there are other things for the child to do, and the parent as well. (One can only imagine the tears if said parent let their child go trick-or-treating only to confiscate the candy on health grounds.) On the hand, the warning/advertisement of 45 calories might be aimed more at the adults who eat the candy in between handing it out to trick-or-treaters. Or it oculd be for the people like me, eating a 45 calorie pack of Fuzzy Peaches as part of a nutritious breakfast that included a few other treat-sized chocolate bars. Current Mood: aggravated (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 6th, 2008
3:37 pm	Defeated by UK transit Planned to go to Sledmere yesterday so I took the train from Hull to Driffield to catch a bus to Sledmere. At Hull tourist info I was given the bus timetable and number and assured the bus runs at least 5 days a week. Got all the way to Driffield bus station only to be told the bus only runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Which means a new sport of extreme travel timetable juggling has just come into being. Took the train back to Beverley and sightsaw in the Minster, which was much less crowded than in York. Consoled myself with wandering up and down the market street. Beverley was a happening town in the Middles Ages, it has not one but 2 markets: the Wednesday  market (held Wednesday and Saturday) and the Saturday market (held Satrudays.). Not much else to report. Haven't actually seen much of Hull. Yesterday after I got back from Beverley I went to the Princess Quay shopping mall and had it nearly to myself; apparently driving rain all day puts some people off looking for shoes, how strange. Did not actually find said shoes because it seems British women only wear super high heels or flats, neither of which are overly practical for lots of walking in wet weather. Current Mood: numb (Comment on this)
Monday, September 1st, 2008
9:17 am	Hell, Hull and Halifax I've arrived in Hull and am set to do some more reseach soon. I'm living in shared accommodation with a visiting professor and some ghosts who leave copious amounts of dirty dishes. Can't really say what the city is like because I've only seen the streets near where I'm staying and part of the university campus. I'm directly across from the halls of residence in a 1920s house that once once 2 seperate houses. The streets around me are lined with identical 2 story row houses, row upon row upon row of identical houses all taken over by students when university is in. Again Internet access may be patchy, I haven't checked yet if I can get online at the accommodation but at the university I can use one of their computers. Should sign off now and go hit the archives. Current Mood: productive (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
9:59 am	Distractions of the best kind Yesterday I'd planned to go to Leeds in the morning, pick up a book at Temple Newsam, do a little shopping and then hit Shibden Hall in the afternoon, in that order. This is how it went down: train to Leeds, shopping, still shopping, browsing, going to Temple Newsam, having tea and a rock hard scone there, coming back to Halifax too late to get to Shibden Hall. It takes an hour and a half to do a round trip to Temple Newsam because you have to take the bus and and then walk a mile through the park to reach the house, but I really kicked my self for not picking up the book when I was there three weeks ago. Anyway, tomorrow afternoon I'm going to hit up Shibden Hall, after my research is done. I'm hoping to do either Harewood House or Nostell Priory on Saturday, both of which also involve going to Leeds to get the right train. It's raining today, so the perfect type of day to spend in a library doing research. Which is what I should head off to do now... Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
11:15 pm	Cuts and hotel hell Why won't cuts work on my journal? I need to complain: I am going to be so glad to leave this guest house, albeit with my clothes damp. Last time I tried to do laundry it took me hours because nothing would dry and it was pouring so I couldn't hang it up outisde. That time I noticed that the manager kept resetting the drying dial from the setting I'd put it on to one that used less energy. I thought nothing of it, figured he knew the machine better than I did and I know how expensive energy is here. Except that tonight when I tried to do laundry it turned into a fiasco. I had my darks in, the washer/dryer had started and i'd set it for a longer drying cycle and the manager says to me that he'd cleaned the dial and wasn't sure if if was back in the right place. Great, now I have no idea whether the setting I turned the dial to is the actual setting currenly running. Come back an hour later and he tells me he had to stop the load and restart it because apparently it went into a spin cycle without putting water in. I'm like okay, fine, I'll come back later to switch loads. Came back and the machine is done but my clothes are still wet. Manager tries to set the machine on spin cycle agains but of course the knob isn't lined up correctly so he accidently drenches my clothes again. Finally get my load out but it is still wet. I have a load of whites to do to. Guest house Manager pulls the knob off and fiddles until he thinks it is on the correct way. My whites go in. Between the two loads my entire amount of socks and smalls as well as my pyjamas are supposed to get washed. Upstairs in my room and all over the bathroom, I've draped my pants and shirts to finish drying  I figured at least the whites would come out completely dry because there was only one pair of pants in there, the rest were small items. After and hour and a half I go back down take my clothes out anf THEY AREN"T DRY. As with the first time I tried to wash clothes, the manager keeps resetting the length of drying cycle I set on the machine. It is now about 9:30 at night, rain is likely, and my pyjamas are soaking wet (but hopefully clean). As I'm staring at the machine trying to work out which cycle might actually get my stuff dry, the manager walks by. "Gonna try again are you?" I say I need to get at least my nightclothes dry and he says I don't need them because the heat is on. (The radiator in my room clicks and clinks but doesn't produce heat.) and that tomorrow I'll be able to hang my stuff out to dry.  So it is childish and immature to rant like this and I should know better, I don't know, on one hand I've had a long week with alot of stuff to do and it was very generous to offer that I could do my laundry here, on the other hand this caps the dirty room, the fact they have four cleaning staff but I only get clean towels and sheets when I ask after 11 (!) days have gone by, I have a kettle but when I got clean towels someone took the teacup away which meant I had to swipe one from the breakfast room and the hotel renovations that only finished today and that I was not informed would be going on from the day I arrived on August 4th. I'm just hoping there's no rain tomorrow so I can hang my stuff out. I'd planned to visit a nearby castle tomorrow morning and wander around the shops tomorrow, but first thing tomorrow I guess I'll be looking for a place to buy socks so I can go to where I planned and not get blisters in return.    Current Mood: pissed off (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
10:40 pm	Fountains Abbey ( Winner of the holiest three mile running walk...  ) <lj-cut text="Went to Fountain Abbey today outside of Ripon because the National Trust runs the 'Ripon Roweller' bus only Sunday and Mondays to get there from Ripon. (Yeah, I have no idea how to pronounce Roweller, asked three people for directions and got three different pronounciations. It isn't a wheelbarrow reative but an actual small bus.) To get to Ripon I had to take the bus from Leeds and it took about two hours. Being a tourist I had to sit on the top of the double deckerbut because I'm a nice person I let a bunch of kids have the front seat on the way to Ripon. On the way back I made sure to be at the front of the line so I got the upstairs fron seat. It's strange riding along the winding road while your body feels it is too high up to possibly be in a car, feels a little like a slow roller coaster. On the way there the bus passed the entrance for Harewood House where a Rolls Royce show was going on. In the two seconds it took to pass the entrance I saw more Rolls Royces than I have in my life up to this point. The major stop on the way was Harrogate, which looked to be a real tourist trap; people were lined up outside of Betty's tea room to get in. Half of the very Victorian spa building appears to be a nighclub, strange combination: fill yourself with booze and other things and then crawl to the spa the next morning for a detox. Fountains Abbey was beautiful. Even though it is in ruins the size of it is amazing. As it was sunny with occasional sudden deluges, people were out in force with their dogs and kids (no prizes for guessing which ones are the better trained of the two.) This meant the peaceful atmosphere of the place was missing but it was nice all the same. Attached to the site is an 18th century water garden, formally part of Studley Royal until it burnt down. I walked one of the garden paths which had some 'follies' like faux temples and a serpentine tunnel (pitch black until you round the bend half way through). I walked the 3 mile loop from Fountains to the Studley deer park (all 500 deer hid really well, I didn't see a single one. They must be taking lessons from all the British hedgehogs.) Once I got there I carefully read my pamphlet for the Roweller and noted that while it dropped people off at Studley Royal and Fountains Abbey, it only picked people up at Fountains. So walked the short 1 mile route back in record time because it looked like the last bus was due in 15 minutes. Once I caught the bus at the stop where it dropped me off, it went down the road and turned around it pick the people waiting on the other side of the road up. (Apparently I need to improve my invisible bus stop sign reading skills, I at least waited on the side where there actually was a sign. The sign also had a timetable which I missed because I got picked to answer a survey when I got off the bus the first time. According to the timetable a least 3 other buses would run that day. All in all, I got my workout for the week.) Back in Ripon I had just missed most things closing for the day but I walked around and found the cathedral. The choir was practising for evening mass so it was open to look around. I am rather embarrasses to say I did not find it as interesting or as pretty as York Minster, but the Saxon crypt was really fascinating. Too bad I couldn't look at the choir stalls with the intricate carvings, but it was occupied by the choir! Hedgeog watch: still haven't seen one despite ahunting parks in Leeds. If I were a hedgehog I probably wouldn't live in Leeds though. There were some deep holes in the lawn at the Abbey but sticking my hand in to see what might be living at the bottom of them didn't seem like the smartest of ideas."> Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 9th, 2008
11:14 pm	I spent yesterday exploring the darker side of Leeds... After miscalculating which day of the week it was (I thought it was Thursday) I took yesterday off from research and went to visit the Thackeray Museum near St. James University Hospital. The brochure promised a ttrip to a Victorian slum complete with sights, sounds and smells. Yes, you read that right, smells. Then you topped that off with a gallery called "Pain, Pus and Blood', on the past 150 years of surgery. I took the bus from downtown, an interesting experience in itself. You get on the bus and sit down before you pay. A man comes around and asks where you're headed, and you pay according to destination. On the map it looked like two stops to get to the museum, but I soon learned not all the stops are shown on the map (highly confusing because there are no names attached to some of the stops. Luckily the kind lady next to me told me she'd point out where I had to get off. (And no, not in that Brit slang meaning.) Anyways, the musuem is on the grounds of St James Hospital and is housed in the former workhouse, a great NeoGothic confection. (Interestingly, Galway's University Hospital was also housed in the old workhouse, although so renovated and updated you couldn't see the original building.)In the museum itself by far the neatest, smelliest part was the slum recreation. You start off by picking a card with a character on it, and in theory the choices you make determine whether they live or die. To increase my chances of survival I took all but one character (I won't spoil it for people who might go, but it is pretty obvious that at least two are not going to survive anyways. Also, the outcome is predetermined and you don't get to make any choices, so museum marketing board needs to revisited that bit.) THe 'slum' begins with an open pub door and loud voices going back and forth about 'keeping' yer 'ands off meh!" You proceed through a room where livestock and people live together, there are two straw pallets covered with filthy and stained blankets and then 'outside into the street. There's a slaughtering yard and an overflowing outhouse. You peek into some rooms, one the last middle-class homes in the area and a dressmaker's hovel. The slaughtering yard is especailly gruesome. The whole thing twists and turns and there are numerous plaques to read, so you spend around 30 minutes total there. The smell doesn't hit 'til you go round the first corner but it is horrific. It's mostly urine with undertones of 'night soil' and rotted meat. One can see how people thought disease was borne by miasma. (Also, the 'streets' were much wider than they would have been to make them wheelchair accessible.) My characters, all denizens of the area and all but two employed, caught whooping cough, measles, TB, small pox, thyphoid, influenza, and diptheria. (The full compliment of common Victorian diseases.) After the slum you enter an apothecary's store and see how much the cost per cure is (only for th diseases that had pills available, recommended treatment for diphtheria was surgery.) That was the 'highlight' of the place. It took quite a while for the smell to fade away. The rest of the museum was mostly old surgical instruments and a huge collection of apothecary jars. I chickened out and skipped the gallery covering the fate of an 11 year old mill girl whose leg is injured in an industrial accident. (You actually meet her in the slum.) I could guess the outcome and the LOUD soundtrack coming from behind the doors meant I could skip the life-size models and still know the story's end. You have to pass through the cafe to leave. Given that you've just spent 2 hours looking at and reading about nasty smelly and gross things, it was surprising that the cafe was full. There were two old pharmacy counters in there with all the medical labels still on them. It was quite an interesting place but has quite cured me of any desire to ever again wonder what a Victorian slum might smell like. Current Mood: smelly (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
11:32 pm	Put down the drink... Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest! Current Mood: mischievous (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
1:52 am	WhyWhyWhyWhyWhy? Why is it that when I have a deadline looming it's like pulling teeth for me to write 2000 words of analysis, but at the same time I can write 5000 words of fiction no problem? Current Mood: but not on the right thing (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
1:33 am	But of course I belong in great works of literature *snort* Eternity was in our lips and faeriephyre. Which work of Shakespeare was the original quote from? Get your own quotes: Current Mood: nerdy (Comment on this)
Monday, March 26th, 2007
4:17 pm	The fine line between idiocy and bravery According to Yahoo news (that venerable news source) a woman was caught crossing the Gaza border with three crocodiles tied to her body. According to the guards she looked "...strangely fat" and was sent to a female police officer to be searched. When the policewoman found the crocodiles she ran out of the room screaming. After the hubbub died down the everyone "admired" a woman who would strap crocodiles to her body to smuggle them out of Gaza. Moral of the story: when smuggling crocodiles make sure to smuggle skinny ones so you don't arouse suspicion by being "strangely fat." (And fed them before you tie them to your body.) Current Mood: surprised (Comment on this)
Monday, January 15th, 2007
10:49 pm	How True You just might be a graduate student if... ( These apply... ) Stolen from some random web site. Current Mood: recumbent (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 21st, 2006
1:45 am	Germany and Last night in Galway So, this is it. After nearly gour months I am packing (again) to leave Galway. Dunaras is nearly completely empty with less than 10 people still living here. It is kind of creepy seeing all the empty apartments. At the beginning four months seemed like a long time, time enough to travel and see everything, get to know loads of people, and get involved in activities on campus and in the community. But it flew by without me having the time to travel to half the places I wanted to or accomplish half so much as I thought I could. I did travel alot (a different country for every month I was here). Looking back I was really busy, guess I just overestimated what I could do and forgot the studying part of a student exchange. Very strange to see that is only 4 days until Christmas. With no snow here it somehow doesn't register as being December. There was no rain today but a very heavy fog stretching from Dublin to Galway. It was a really haunting to see such heavy fog lying on the fields at high noon. In other weather news, a conservative estimate and very informal survey confirmed my suspicion that there was rain every day from November 5 until December 15th. ( Germany ) It is really really early in the morning here, so I will continue later with "Germany: Part II). Current Mood: pensive Current Music: Paint it Black- The Doors (Comment on this)
Friday, December 15th, 2006
11:49 pm	Last exam and Christmas Party Today was my last exam. It wasn't as hard as I thought but no walk in the park either. (Was international free trade more conducive to the spread of British Imperialism? Compare and contrast at least 3 different countries and give specific examples and legislation for each.) But it felt so good to walk out and know I was done, about a whole week before I would be done if I were at home. Tonight was a big potluck Christmas party thrown by Jenn's friends. I went, ate too much, drank too much and had a good time. We all bought gifts and did Secret Santa the way they do in Canadian civil service jobs, where you can take another persons gift if you want. I got a cowboy hat with "Ireland" on it. Everyone else went out after but I need to catch a taxi in about 6 hours. However next week I and a couple other girls will hit the town and say goodbye to Galway student life in typical student fashion! On Monday I did all the final bits of finishing up my stay here, closed the bank account, unlocked the phone and said goodbye to the city I have lived in for 4 months. It was sad to walk down the arcade one last time and wonder when I would be coming back. The weather wasn't as nice as the day I arrived but lots of people were out and about. The River Corrib was fast and strong and higher than I have ever seen it. Saw all the places that have memories attached: the window decorated for Oyster Fest, the bench where I tried to abandon my banana flavoured milk, the statue of Wilde and Joyce that fat ladies always foiled my attempt to pose with, the "This is the Spanish Arch, you're kidding right?" Arch, the flock of diabolical swans and the endless slate waters of Galway Bay. Current Mood: full (Comment on this)
Friday, December 8th, 2006
6:18 pm	Right arm ready to fall off... Made it through 2 exams today. Longest day of the school year yet I swear. I never feel as though my answers to each question were full enough. I wrote approximately 2 A4 page answers for each question on both exam but I know it is not the quantity but the quality if the answer. No help for it now. Between exams I had a 'bodyguard' to ensure that I didn't try to contact any one. He did his undergrad at Trinity and enlightened me with the strange traditions they have there. Did you know: ... you are permitted to carry a sword to your exams but ONLY if it is in a scabbard? ... that Fellows of the university are permitted one glass of port on while they write their exams? Interesting stuff. My hands are frozen still, so I'm going back to sitting on the heater. PS: Confirmed last night that Youtube is a great time waster! Yup, so not the thing to be looking at when you promised yourself you would study. (By my braincells did the happy dance while I wasted time.) Current Mood: drained and cold!!! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 5th, 2006
1:35 am	Hides face.... Was just reading my previous entries: October 31st in Dublin. The store did not have donoughts (do nots?) but doughnuts! And I stayed in a hotel, not a hotle. I am following in the footsteps of James Joyce... (And found this awesome bunny icon! Cute but rude! How many poor innocent bunnies have been cruelly sacrificed by Ottawa U? The count is high and the slaughter continues...) Current Mood: embarrassed (Comment on this)
1:00 am	Backdating I know that my entries have been relatively few. But the idea of putting in every day "Got up, showered, went to class, read, came home, made dinner, studied, went back to bed." would be tedious ad nauseum. Anyway over the next few days I will be adding backdated entries for more of my travels and other daily things. (I should be studying but this is more fun and way less productive!) My Spanish roommate is leaving tomorrow and all the Spanish people from our residence showed up to wish her well. I'm glad she made so many friends but I'm not sure how much alcohol will be left in the morning! Also it's 12:45am and I could do with some sleep. Compromises... Other than study all day I had some friends over for coffee and Baileys, just to commiserate about exams and studying and how it cuts into the fun times. Gotta crawl to bed... Current Mood: dorky Current Music: Conscience: study,,study,,,study (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006
2:19 pm	back at 'er Time to post after crunching an essay out when I got back from Paris. Been drowning in the Irish version of winter, today that includes gale forvce winds that are actually shaking the house. Snow and cold is beginning to look nicer and nicer... Last night my roommates and I cooked a roast chicken dinner. The chicken turned out really well but the roast vegetables were carbonised. We had hot port as our after-dinner drink. So much food was consumed it's amazing we didn't burst. OUr kitchen looks like a disaster and anyone would think we're a group of alcoholics with the 8 bottles of booze sitting on the counter! (Student living, the fridge is empty but the booze corner is full!) And now, what you're really waiting for... ( Paris... ) Current Mood: impressed Current Music: rattling windows (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006
9:26 pm	Blowing off the essays I'm headed to the city of lights on Sunday. Just blowing off the essays for a nice break during reading week. (Don't ask how much stress I will be under when I get back.)Carpe Diem, for who knows when I'll be able to do this again? Current Mood: excited (Comment on this)
Friday, November 17th, 2006
5:27 pm	Tarot Quiz You are The High Priestess Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education. The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out. Sounds like me.... Especially the part about the moods.... Current Mood: bored (Comment on this)