Distracted by shiny things

So, we are in the dawn of a new beginning, I am terrified and excited and hopeful that despite all it will be okay, it has to be! Yeah, you guessed it, tomorrow I have to do my first presentation at the LSE in front of a group of super smart, but hopefully sleep deprived people. Oh yeah there is the US election too...

I can't concentrate and have done no work at all, instead reading all types of election-related news, and keep thinking I will be staying up anyway, so can do my presentation then. So no fun election party for me, but hopefully a celebration tomorrow! I looked at my post from four years ago, it was half way through the next day that the result was announced, so I sort of can't help but expect a similar thing, but I am also cautiously optimistic, because things are looking pretty okay, are they not? But then again I have never met a Republican, all the Americans at the LSE (and there are a lot here) I know are Democrats, and same goes for everyone else I know, so I have never actually spoken to a McCain supporter. Add to this, where I choose to get my news from, and you get a very nice, liberal sheltered picture. So my glimpse into conservative America has been formed by trollish comments left on blogs or youtube, and thus seem almost unreal in their craziness. But these people are very real and in their millions, which is scary. Similarly it is all good to laugh at Palin on SNL or even feel sorry for her after the prank, but the possibility of her actually being VP is all kinds of awful, I was reading an article on the Bush doctrine and its consequences the other day and it is terrifying to think that she didn't know what it was. Among many, many other things of course, but as someone who is currently studying international relations and is very much aware of the impact the US has on pretty much everything, I can't help but worry. This election matters. It matters not only for Americans but for the rest of the world, and I really wish I could do something more than fervently hope the right choice is made.

GO OBAMA!

You know when you are so tired that your bones literally ache? Yeah. That is how I feel. Apart from five hours of sleep and a shit essay the day has been lovely. The first sun in I don't know how long, lovely dinner with friends and HEROES.

And the weekend was really awesome, have never been so insanely busy, every second was something, there was a bop, I went to a garden party and organised another one, played croquet (and won), watched a play, watched a film, got drunk (twice), dressed as a tree, went for dinner, had many many cocktails, applied for a job, sold tickets, had to go to an exec meeting and a jcr meeting, went to a club, went to a pub, laughed, baked scones, did some life drawing and probably more. Yay, it did mean that I did no work from Thursday morning till Sunday evening, but oh well it was fun. And today is sunny. And tomorrow I am spending the whole day in the social sciences library and reading all about Chinese foreign policy.

Oh and no time for a long review of Heroes, as need to read a bit more before collapsing into bed, but.


Such fun watching this with proskynesis, she gets the broyay and the Nathan love and my stupid comments.

Now, that it is over, what am I going to do with my summer??

Greetings, I am Katia in case you have all forgotten me, though you are excused if you have. 

I feel so detached from LJ, have spend a lot of today trying to catch up with everyone's lifes, which is a bit hard to do. So please to be telling me about your summer. How was it? How are you?? Have I missed anything big? Book 7 spoilers? Amazing new fic? Anything?

I have had the most brilliant Summer ever, have seen and experienced a million things and though it is good to be home, I at a bit of a loss what to do in the two weeks before I get back to Oxford to help with freshers week. Can't believe I am a second year now, have four college children none of them have emailed me which worries me, I hope they ddin't hate my letter. College was being so strict about what we said, lots of people's letters were edited. Awful. 

Have to tidy room and grab some food before going out so no time to post pics but here is a list of awesome, bizarre and horrible things from the last month.

• Right at the beginning on way to Burgas from Sofia my bus exploded and burned down completely. Yeah I do have pics. No I don't know why it happened, thankfully no one was hurt but a bunch of people lost their stuff.
• Almost two weeks of total relaxation, going to the beach, shopping eating and going out all I did. Lovely.
• OXAB, oxford help to the balkans) Working in an orphanage and playing with the kids for two weeks was the best thing I have ever done. I wanted to take the kids home after it was over. I never knew that I would like something like this, especially since the majority of the kids had very major mental disabilities but it was so awesome. We had an amazing time and I so miss them all.
• My birthday was pretty good too, we ended up staying in a really nice hotel in Burgas and a large number of cocktails was involved, also a jacuzzi.
• Had planned to go to Istanbul. Bought tickets to do that on the 3rd of September but as it was sunny the others decided to dtay a day longer in Bulgaria. We changed the tickets. Then one person decided he isn't going and they all changed their minds, won't go into it here but omg most stressful day ever. Was so pissed off.
• Eventually decided to go to Athens, were not sure how but got an overnight train to Sofia and in the morning eventually find a bus to Greece. Not Athens but a place in Greece we had never heard of. Fun. Turned out this was Tessaloniki but with an odd Bulgarian name.
• Managed to find a way to get to Athens. So lucky, found accomodation from a guy on the street.
• Athens was soo very beautiful and am so glad I went, can't believe I have been to Greece twice this summer.
• Then back to Bulgaria where it seemed so amazingly cheap, had an awesome time going to such nice cafes, bars and restaurants and even spend a day in the mountains.

Pictures coming soon. 

How are you?

Eeee, it is snowing!!! How wonderful is that?

I am sitting here on my desk, wrapped in a blanket and writing a very bad essay about the lack of external world and then I just happen to look outside and the deceptive greyness is in fact beautiful snow, I keep glancing now with the fear it would have stopped and yet it has not as of this moment. It feels me with such glee, I am awake at this early hour (for an arts student, nine is early, thank you very much) because instead of writing the essay the night before, having had plently of time as did not go out for a friend's birthday I spend a while reading a chaptered OC future fic which was yayness. But yes, I have to say I am very glad that the world exists or that God/an evil demon/aliens on Mars have given us all/just me such a lovely hallucination....going back to essay now.

:D

Hello! Have not updated in ages and too many things have happened for me to attempt a proper update. Will try anyway. :D

1. It is very cold and crisp, walking through the starlit quads at night gives me such a wonderful feeling of happiness and content and a general sense of belonging. Cannot quite believe that on Saturday I will be going home for just under six weeks. Will miss Oxford and all the wonderful people I have met, Ahmed's Kebab Van, Ben's Cookies, The Bodleian, even Hall food! Well, not that last one, but still. Also my room, can't believe candidates will sleep here whilst I am gone, can't believe it has been almost a year since my own interview. Remember exactly how terrified I was.
2. FRANZ FERDINAND tomorrow, hopefully will be able to get to Alexandra Palace, not sure how exactly. Thought that I could stay the night in London, but not sure anymore, as don't know where and will have to be back at college for 11 on Thursday for an important meeting.
3. The vast majority of my friends are at a Ball tonight, I didn't go because have not got a spare fifty quid for a ticket or a dress, instead went to Sainsbury's and bought bread then went to the JCR and watched Trainspotting, had not seen it and it was one of those films I have always wanted to see. Um, I did like it, but I am not sure why and I want to see it again.
4. Had lovely dinner with the other people that do PPE here and then watched The Rules of Attraction, omg how awesome was that, yes I am shallow and Ian Somerhalder kissing boys is enough for me to squee over a film, I cannot believe there is no fic in which Sean/Paul happens in a more real way than Paul's daydreams. I want to read the book.
5. I am sure most of you have seen this, however OMG so awesome! You put in music you like and it makes you a radio station that consists of what you said and similar songs, it is awesome and so far no adverts.
6. Last Bop of term is on Friday, theme's Fantasies. I am sure there are other ways to interpret this, but my interpretation is sexual, have not completely decided on a costume, but am leaning towards a nurse's outfit, because one of the themed nights for the Ski trip is Pirates and Nurses so I will end up wearing it again. The other is white trash. Ugh.
7. Lots of people have already decided who to marry for next year, we get to be College parents for next year's freshers and I don't know who to marry! Wah, I didn't want to marry a PPEist and so my closest friends have found someone and now I don't know who to marry. Wangst, I know, heh. Will propose to someone as soon as I have figured out who I want.
   
8. On Saturday had first cocktail party, to celebrate the end of The Christ Church regatta (rowing competition), I couldn't care less about rowing, but dressing up and going to Freud's, a gorgous converted church was well worth it. It was an amazing night, everyone thought I was drunk and I only had two drinks! Grasshoppers are awesome, I love chocolate minty things, chocolate Mint Bliss at Starbucks is like the best thing ever!
9. Have only a bit of logic left to do and no more tutorials this term, finishing off the last economics work was sort of hell, but it was then that I realised how happy I was. It was one am, I was wondering around college, (had to retrieve a copy of my text book from a friend's room where I'd left it), it was ridiculously cold, I'd slept too few hours the night before. And yet, I felt sort of elated, it is hard to explain why really. I hadn't even started writing up the three short (two page) essays due in the next morning. I think it had something to do with running into people on the way there and back and stopping for casual chats despite the late hour, seeing the lights of the other PPEists and knowing they too are working on this, calling them at half one to go buy chips and cheese as a break. Sleeping for four hours and still somehow making it to the 10 o'clock lecture. Um. Yeah, I am a freak. :))
10. I bought Christmas Cards, they are wondreful and have snuggling polarbears and penguins!!

And on a final note, I have a Cedric/Harry bunny that refuses to go away and shall have to be written. Yeah I know I haven't written anything in months and am afraid, but will try my best. In the mean time, have a few (too few, seriously, where is the Harry/Cedric?) Harry/Cedric recs:

• Beautiful Harry/Cedric art by lizardspots: Bubbles R, and K-I-S-S-I-N-G, PG.
• Kissing is accompanied by Get A Clue by emmagrant01, which is so utterly adorable and happy that you almost forget the doomed ending.
• This is not the case with Everything You Want by iscaris which was incredible but you will need a tissue

I have been back for a week without updating or even communicating with people much, don't go on msn for reasons unknown and have buried myself in fandom as a sort of way to escape the real world, or exam results to be perfectly honest.

And today I get a magazine from the Independent that tell me to

BE POSITIVE!

And I want to listen to it even if it has arrived too early and informs me oh so helpfully that "The waiting is over" when it most certainly isn't but I can't. Up to now I have suppressed all thoughts concerning results, simply refusing to think about them but in less that 3 days I will know and I am so terrified and so unsure even though I know that I will be definitely going to a university the question is which one and it shouldn't matter that much but it does.

Oh yeah, my dad came home to tell me that a colleague told him that his daughter said the results will appear online on the ucas webside Wednesday evening! I don't know whether to believe this, but I have heard from other people that the universities would have made the decisions before we get our results and this decision will be on ucastrack early on Thursday morning. (before we get them from school) Does anybody know if that is true? I don't want to know, I think that it is evil to not be given a chance to call your university and beg.

Oh and LiveJournal, sending me remainders every five seconds to inform me of my soon to expire account? Not helping my mood! Especially since now you get 100 icons! OMG! I don't care how but I am getting that. *plots credit credit card fraud. Eh* Thank you, thank you, thank you! ♥♥♥

One good thing is that I can finally find a reason to use this icon, I love it like whoa.

PS. I watched the first three episodes of Lost yesterday, impressed but want more character development and soon.