1 and I are just back from a bumper book hunt. 2 next door plays his music far too loud, so I can too to block him out. At first I thought it might be prog - On the Run and the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging, but now I think that's just wishful thinking.
First stop: Hampsted Village. I picked up Dorian by Will Self from a classy 2nd hand book store. Usual rules apply - I'll buy anything by Oscar Wilde, and consider anything old-Who-related - everything else, you must resist. Its a nice rule of thumb, because otherwise I'd go psycho in bookstores and buy the lot. Dorian is a modern updating - by which they mean "use the c-word in the first paragraph", which means it sneaks through a loophole. I was expecting to loathe it, but the first page has a nice style. A bit Bonfire of the V-sy. Violently grotesque is good. The thing I love about the original is the florid (purple?) prose, and the sense of darkness and ambiguity. Dorian has destroyed all that in the first page - it's an updating, not a retread, and it's making things which were vague ugly and obvious - but I feel doing it that way might still throw up something of the story. It's already potentially the most interesting addition to my collection. Waterstones made the mistake of trying to sell me Sixth Doctor comics, but I resisted. I've discovered that shopping in a Colin Baker phase is as dodgy an activity of promoting peace and harmony in a Fifth Doctor phase - I almost came home with a rainbow stripey scarf, rainbow floral pattern dress e.t.c. I made it unscathed through the rest of the charity shops, though I was sorely tempted by an LP "Inspired by the Lord of the Rings", with a massive dragon on the front, all written by the same Swede on his organ and Moog.
We made it to Keats' house, where one of the local libraries are - there are 10 we can use. We couldn't sign up there, because I didn't have me residence agreement. That branch is pretty shoddy, but it did have Deep Blue (5+T+T+UNIT). I'm going to walk back for that book alone sometime. So we went back for lunch, then onwards to West Hampstead. This branch was bigger, I got my card and had a dive around. Oh, and they have 4th Doc comics! There's lots of stuff in case I go on another Batman binge too. But still no Sandman.
The damage was:
Alien Bodies (DW)
The Quiet American (Graham Greene)
Short Trips: the Centenarian (DW)
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (Sinead loves it)
The Red Right Hand (Hellblazer, graphic novel, so judge me)
A Kasabian CD I've been meaning to hunt down for ages
Simple Things by Zero 7 - Sinead recommended them, they're sorta electronic. This and Kasabian were both hilariously filed in the "Pop" section.
That's WAY under the limit of what I'm allowed to take out, but a sensible set given my reading speed. I'm going to read Dorian, Short Trips and the Quiet American first. Anansi Boys will be the one I won't get around to. Access to 10 libraries will make book shopping a safer activity in the future. It also means I'll stop reading the Ribos Operation, which I acquired on Monday.
I've just read Beth's letter, which consisted of a picture of us as the Dogs. It's all strangely fitting - she's Mr Blonde, Lauren makes an awesome Mr Pink, J and I are Orange and White. I've always thought Hannah would make a great Nice Guy Eddie, but B's got her as Mr Pink and it works out OK because Anne makes a better Eddie than she would Pink. She's also sent me a lovely Oscar Wilde for my wall. She didn't tell me about Ivy; but then, I didn't tell her about Mortimer. So we're still even. There will never be a time when we both feel like talking.
This also means I can use the web on one of their computers, which I'd have jumped at a few days ago - today is Tuesday, enrollment is on Thursday, and its a very long walk.
One interesting thing I've noted is that all of my fellow students have quickly and casually admitted to internet piracy to me, a virtual stranger. It's not just that they all do it - it's the complete lack of remorse. I can understand why the suits are sweaty now.
Zero 7 turn out to be the band which Location Location Location and Property Ladder use for their slow pans at the end - y'know, "Janet and Marcus have transformed their London apartment into a modern and open living space". I don't really like it, but one or two are OK.
I started on Four to Doomsday too - my thoughts on that, see elsewhere.
Dinner was a success this evening - first night, I forgot to switch the hob on for pasta; the next I tried cooking pizza in an oven that wasn't on. But I got the pasta right this evening, so score! The Centenarian is really quite wonderful.
And I didn't mention 2 yet, the unnatural spawn of Emma Deans and Mel from the IWM. Can't stand me, although it's a flaw I can forgive. We went to the cocktail party, and I ended up in a corner with 3 the theologer whom I met on the walking tour. Girls can be so bitchy and judgemental - I suppose the response is, boys aren't picky at all, but that's not the point. Being me is really getting to me as I've never been proud of who I am, only right. I stayed until 10-ish - there's no nice way to tell someone you'd rather spend the rest of the evening with Peter Davison than you would with them. The thing is, I feel like a spoil sport not going to these things, as if I'm not socialising enough. But the flipside is, there's no point me getting friendly with the party crew. Because outside of Fresher's Week, we remain who we are - I'll never persuade them to stay in and watch movies sober, and they'll never get me boozing past midnight. So while indiscriminate socialising is a good idea, I'm not going to bleed too much that I'm out of the loop. I don't want to be in the loop, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying an early night and a clear head.
Is this what you people want to hear? Have I cleaned it up enough, or does it still sound bitter?
First stop: Hampsted Village. I picked up Dorian by Will Self from a classy 2nd hand book store. Usual rules apply - I'll buy anything by Oscar Wilde, and consider anything old-Who-related - everything else, you must resist. Its a nice rule of thumb, because otherwise I'd go psycho in bookstores and buy the lot. Dorian is a modern updating - by which they mean "use the c-word in the first paragraph", which means it sneaks through a loophole. I was expecting to loathe it, but the first page has a nice style. A bit Bonfire of the V-sy. Violently grotesque is good. The thing I love about the original is the florid (purple?) prose, and the sense of darkness and ambiguity. Dorian has destroyed all that in the first page - it's an updating, not a retread, and it's making things which were vague ugly and obvious - but I feel doing it that way might still throw up something of the story. It's already potentially the most interesting addition to my collection. Waterstones made the mistake of trying to sell me Sixth Doctor comics, but I resisted. I've discovered that shopping in a Colin Baker phase is as dodgy an activity of promoting peace and harmony in a Fifth Doctor phase - I almost came home with a rainbow stripey scarf, rainbow floral pattern dress e.t.c. I made it unscathed through the rest of the charity shops, though I was sorely tempted by an LP "Inspired by the Lord of the Rings", with a massive dragon on the front, all written by the same Swede on his organ and Moog.
We made it to Keats' house, where one of the local libraries are - there are 10 we can use. We couldn't sign up there, because I didn't have me residence agreement. That branch is pretty shoddy, but it did have Deep Blue (5+T+T+UNIT). I'm going to walk back for that book alone sometime. So we went back for lunch, then onwards to West Hampstead. This branch was bigger, I got my card and had a dive around. Oh, and they have 4th Doc comics! There's lots of stuff in case I go on another Batman binge too. But still no Sandman.
The damage was:
Alien Bodies (DW)
The Quiet American (Graham Greene)
Short Trips: the Centenarian (DW)
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (Sinead loves it)
The Red Right Hand (Hellblazer, graphic novel, so judge me)
A Kasabian CD I've been meaning to hunt down for ages
Simple Things by Zero 7 - Sinead recommended them, they're sorta electronic. This and Kasabian were both hilariously filed in the "Pop" section.
That's WAY under the limit of what I'm allowed to take out, but a sensible set given my reading speed. I'm going to read Dorian, Short Trips and the Quiet American first. Anansi Boys will be the one I won't get around to. Access to 10 libraries will make book shopping a safer activity in the future. It also means I'll stop reading the Ribos Operation, which I acquired on Monday.
I've just read Beth's letter, which consisted of a picture of us as the Dogs. It's all strangely fitting - she's Mr Blonde, Lauren makes an awesome Mr Pink, J and I are Orange and White. I've always thought Hannah would make a great Nice Guy Eddie, but B's got her as Mr Pink and it works out OK because Anne makes a better Eddie than she would Pink. She's also sent me a lovely Oscar Wilde for my wall. She didn't tell me about Ivy; but then, I didn't tell her about Mortimer. So we're still even. There will never be a time when we both feel like talking.
This also means I can use the web on one of their computers, which I'd have jumped at a few days ago - today is Tuesday, enrollment is on Thursday, and its a very long walk.
One interesting thing I've noted is that all of my fellow students have quickly and casually admitted to internet piracy to me, a virtual stranger. It's not just that they all do it - it's the complete lack of remorse. I can understand why the suits are sweaty now.
Zero 7 turn out to be the band which Location Location Location and Property Ladder use for their slow pans at the end - y'know, "Janet and Marcus have transformed their London apartment into a modern and open living space". I don't really like it, but one or two are OK.
I started on Four to Doomsday too - my thoughts on that, see elsewhere.
Dinner was a success this evening - first night, I forgot to switch the hob on for pasta; the next I tried cooking pizza in an oven that wasn't on. But I got the pasta right this evening, so score! The Centenarian is really quite wonderful.
And I didn't mention 2 yet, the unnatural spawn of Emma Deans and Mel from the IWM. Can't stand me, although it's a flaw I can forgive. We went to the cocktail party, and I ended up in a corner with 3 the theologer whom I met on the walking tour. Girls can be so bitchy and judgemental - I suppose the response is, boys aren't picky at all, but that's not the point. Being me is really getting to me as I've never been proud of who I am, only right. I stayed until 10-ish - there's no nice way to tell someone you'd rather spend the rest of the evening with Peter Davison than you would with them. The thing is, I feel like a spoil sport not going to these things, as if I'm not socialising enough. But the flipside is, there's no point me getting friendly with the party crew. Because outside of Fresher's Week, we remain who we are - I'll never persuade them to stay in and watch movies sober, and they'll never get me boozing past midnight. So while indiscriminate socialising is a good idea, I'm not going to bleed too much that I'm out of the loop. I don't want to be in the loop, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying an early night and a clear head.
Is this what you people want to hear? Have I cleaned it up enough, or does it still sound bitter?
01:09 |
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