With Friends like these... (and some 101)

[laliandra]

I swear, my friends are on some sort of mission to make me look bad. They persist in being Made of Awesome and I cannot compete.

So I have a friend called Lil, who I love dearly and who often sends me text messages that make me so jealous I could spit. Unlike so many people our age, she's found a job she loves, and its so cool. She's a lighting technician. She lights bands and theatre productions and generally gets to play with exciting gadgets and meet famous people.Last summer she went to every festival going, including Glastonbury, and got paid to do it. She also lives in a fabulous house with a bath the size of my room.

So I have a Best Girl, my dearest friend since I moved next door to her when we were 5. I call her Goo, and have done for many, many years, though I feel you should know that really she has a beautiful French name. She went to Oxford to study Biology, came out with a First (the highest grade of degree that very, very few people get) and is now doing a PHD. In combating cell mutation. That's right people, my best friend? Is trying to cure cancer.

I'm feeling better though, seeing as my friend Mal, one of those annoying types in school who never did any work and still got superb grades, recently rang me to tell me that the parcel with the book he had promised me in August and finally sent in January might be a bit late because he "forgot to put an address on it". That's right people, he just popped in the post box with a return address but no 'to' address.

Warms my bitter little heart, so it does...



Just so I don't clog up your flists, here's Mission101, January - Feb. Late, as usual!

4. Find a moisturiser that I like and use it. It's called Soap and Glory Righteous Butter, and it was a present from Nat. Trust me to fall for something badly punned...

24. Go to the theatre 10 times. I've been 3 times in the last 2 months. I saw a hugely surreal opera called Skin Deep, Let Them Eat Cake by Gershwin and have just come back from the ballet, which was gorgeous and which I could go on about forever.

25. See live music once a month Well, the opera, and a reggae band and the OSA, again.

28. Read a new book every month. Temeraire by Naiomi Novak and The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Both excellent.

This is all the interesting progress people. I have slipped a bit on one or two, but I think I'm doing ok.

Comments

[mcollinknight.livejournal.com]

I LOVE YOUR FRIENDS. THEY SOUND AMAZING. Amazing friends are the coolest :) I mean, if your best girl cures cancer and my own molecular geneticist cures AIDS, then really we're set for life, are we not?

Good job on the cultural goals :) Which ballet was it?

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

THEY ARE UNFAIRLY AMAZING!

So I have this friend called Colline, who I met on the internet but don't judge me for that. And she is all full of firey change gusto and cares about things, and not just because she thinks she ought to. And she's going to go to do Good Things in Kenya. That's right, people, KENYA.

It was a mixed programme. It was so gorgeous. It was opening night so one of the leading ladies was rather wobbly on pointe, but there was a whole section set to Appalachian Spring and it was beyond lovely.

[mcollinknight.livejournal.com]

Really? Well your Colline should really meet this cool person called Lal, who writes amazing things and is so interested and engaged and supportive that it's hard to believe we met on the internet. Also she has a Sekrit Book Club, which only serves to further prove her awesomeness.

You know, I love the big old classicals, but I really enjoy the new mixed ones, I've seen some great ballet that way. Glad to hear it was good! I haven't seen a ballet in so long :(

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

&hearts

Its a love in! I told you I was putting you on my list. You are On Notice! (now I'm being stalked by my metaphors, well, my words. They actually said they were 'in sync'. This is your fault!)

I haven't seen ballet in years, it was awesome. They had a bit from a classical ballet La Bayadere, at the beginning, which was nice too. Proper old fashioned big white tutus and men in tights and doublets...

xx

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

Your friends do sound FANTASTIC - but seriously, don't assume they immediately make you look bad. (Says the girl with one friend who intends to be some sort of musical theater star and another friend who is determined to go around solving world hunger and misuse of resources and all sorts of fancy things along those lines... while I intend to spend the rest of my life sitting around making red marks on things that other people have written. I AM MAKING A DIFFERENCE TOO, OKAY? AT LEAST I CAN MAKE SURE WHATEVER BOOK I'M EDITING WON'T SUCK LIKE WOAH.) And since I don't really know (seeing as how we've never met in real life and had a lengthy chat) - what are you doing/planning-on-doing, in fact? I am v. interested to hear.

And you know, the strange thing about the Temeraire series - every time I go get a new one, I read through it at the speed of light and can't put it down... and then five seconds after I finish I am completely unable to tell you a single reason as to why I read it at all. Like... I am unable to recall why I enjoyed it, why it was good, ANYTHING. It's curious, and apparently an affliction I share with my friend (the world-saving one) who introduced me to them in the first place. Strange.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

They rely on me for sarcasm and book reviews, its true...

You want to be an editor? That is so cool! Seriously, I think that's a brilliant thing to want to do. Books are extremely important.

I'm studying French and History, I'll graduate in July. So its hard for me to be completely awesome as mostly what I do all day is read books and talk about verbs or long dead politicians, which won't change the world! I'm still not really sure what I want to do after graduation, I think maybe work in translation because I love it with a dorkish love.

I really liked Temeraire, but there was nothing that I could say that really stood out. The whole thing was very good, but mostly what I end up saying is "The Napoleonic War, but with DRAGONS"

x

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad someone thinks so! I actually also want to do voice lesson or choir directing on the side, though that would depend on how time-consuming book-editing turns out to be. But yes, books are indeed extremely important, so what better way to spend the rest of my life than to be surrounded by them.

Translation would be interesting - though I'm assuming... written translation? And as for the history - I completely admire anyone seriously into history, mainly because I think it's totally awesome and everything, but I somehow totally lack the mind capacity to easily remember things in a timeline-ish way (meaning that I spent four months studying the Cold War and can now refer to a large number of tremendously important Cold War events, but am unfortunately completely unable to put these into any kind of order, which is... not helpful) - which of course means it is a skill I cannot understand and therefore find amazing.

Yes, see, that's the thing, isn't it? Like, with most books you can go "And this was awesome! And this was even more awesome! And everything exploded and we were just like WHAAAAAAT and I officially decided that it was the best book ever written, NO SRSLY!" and it is therefore easy to remember why you liked it so much. But with Temeraire... yeah, what you say is true.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Books and choir? Sounds pretty perfect to me! I was in charge of our school choir for my last year, it was great but also massively stressful. So I admire people who can really do it properly.

Written translation yes. I'd like to do some interpreting, which is spoken, but the course was full. Also, its really hard! I still have timeline issues, which isn't great when its your degree. But yeah, I find history totally fascinating.

Yes, with the Lies of Locke Lamora, it was the crazy fabulous plot/suspense. Plus a character who loves to read and is a bit fat and also, DEADLY IN A FIGHT. I think I'll still read the sequels though.

[shoeboxer4life.livejournal.com]

Lal = Remus.

Do you know Vaysh11? She translates German YA novels and porn for money. Srsly.

LU, UR friends, UR list, etc., Anners

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Hee! I just reread what I wrote and yeah, total Remus moment. I have them a lot.

I do by proxy, like, see around, but I didn't know that. What a cool job!

LU Annabanana!

[shoeboxer4life.livejournal.com]

I think she does the translations on the side. But yes, she's cool. It is alwas funny to me when my really smart and sweet and somewhat sarcastic flisters don't also know each other. :) You should be friends with her! Did you read her We Are Legend? One of Micie's favs. I loved it too.

LU2

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

You know, after 21 years of being best friends with a rocket scientist multi-talented current particle physicist who is also an excellent writer and generally well-adjusted, accomplished person, I decided to just be grateful and try to think that surely there must be something about me I just haven't seen yet, otherwise she wouldn't be best friends with me. Makes one feel special. :D
Also, I think our friends should form a superheroes club and save the world. Just saying.

Opera+Gershwin+ballet! How great!
I'm glad you liked Temeraire. Don't you agree that what Horatio Hornblower needed the most was a dragon to befriend? ;)

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Exactly. We bring other skills! But you have a really awesome job. Very cool!

We should get them all together. And make capes...

It's been a good month for Cultural Advancement! My housemate was working for the theatre at Christmas, so she got us lots of good deals for shows. I'm going to see West Side Story in a couple of weeks too!

I totally agree. Everything is better with dragons.

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

And you're a writer! Don't get me started on how writers are sometimes even better than superheroes! ^^ But yes, Other Skills. We should walk proudly in the name of our Other Skills. :)

We absolutely should. I promise I won't propose the capes to be magenta.

[isil-helyanwe.livejournal.com]

Wow, a first at Oxford? That's amaaaaazing. I hate having ridiculously talented friends, it's so hard to keep up...

Also, Gershwin is amazing - Rhapsody in Blue is one of the best pieces ever.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was like, I'm not sure if non British people are going to get just how astounding this is. She is also, of course, very lovely and brilliant at art...

Ianto looks, kind of amused and intrigued and a little "oh Jack, silly Jack."

I &hearts Gershwin. All musicals, tbh, but some of Gershwin is especially lovely.

[frantic-mice.livejournal.com]

soap and glory, huh? ;DDDDDDDD sounds DELISH!

<333333333

I love your lief. I think it's quite as wonderful as anybody else's and MOAR wonderful than many. It's quirky and sweet and filled with interesting things, interesting people, kindness and ur supercoolgirl POV. <333 I'm not just saying that. If I didn't think it I'd just do this HAI LALA!! :))))))) *talks about random bookies* & *twirls*

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Mm, puns are tasty!

&hearts&hearts

Thank you! I adore my friends, but must they be so worthy?!

"ur supercoolgirl POV." aww. And I thought I was just a bit strange

HAI MICIE!!!
*twirls you too*