What exactly do you do?

[laliandra]

*pets new layout and moodtheme*

First things first, Mission101!

In progress

16. Cook a new meal from scratch every month. and 17. Bake something once a month. see this entry for details and pictures.


24. Go to the theatre 10 times. 5/10 I went to see Wren play in a crazy german opera about necromancy, and to see West Side Story, which was amazing and made everyone cry.

25. See live music once a month Bands at a gig night, Gary Stewart Band

26. Join a dance group and attend all meetings. This is going very well. Especially as it has become 3 dance groups. It's such good exercise, and really good fun too.

28. Read a new book every month. Nation by Terry Pratchett. He is a truly incredible author. A book about society and expectations and the idiocy of colonialism. Also, hilarious.

29. Have at least 5000 songs on my computer. 3554. Thank you for the songs C! Very helpful.

33. Take part in 2 Amnesty International Campaigns a year. The Banned in Burma campaign. I also got to meet Palden Gyatso
which was surreal and inspiring, to say the least.


So I asked for things to write and blog about and I got lots of responses. Thank you! I knew I could rely on you guys. The writing stuff is getting done, I promise.

To start, here's what Colline wanted to know:

What are you studying at university? I am studying French and History, Joint Honours, which means I do an equal amount of both subjects, at least in theory. More specifically this year I am doing
-The French Revoloution (in History, I get that this is confusing)
- My dissertation (on French Revolutionary Propaganda)
- Core grammar. (BLURGH)
- Representations of the City (I ♥ this module soooo much. Oh Paris, je t'aime)
- French to English translation in theory and practice (I enjoy this in a deeply tragic, geeky way)

and what are you planning to do with it? Or what would be cool, career-wise?
Well firstly I'm planning on doing a Masters in translation. I really like it, and I think I would be happy being a Translator. But really, I don;t know. I'd love to use my French, and I'd like to have a creative job, or be able to write. Alternatively, I could be a spy. What?! That is actually a viable career option for me, apparently.


Studying and practicality aside, if you could have any job or do anything AS a job in the world, what would it be? I've wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember. But I get that this is kind of a pipe dream. I would also LOVE to be a Blue Peter presenter. Blue Peter is a children's television show that's been running for like, 40 odd years. It's kind of a magazine infotainment thing. And the presenters get to travel the world and make things and interview famous people and dress up. It's like my dream job.

Aaaaaaand if you had to pick only one place in the world to travel to, where would it be? These questions are difficult! Right now I would say somewhere warm, maybe Thailand.

If that one place you went had to be the place you stayed for the rest of your life where would it be? Well now, i don't know. New York! I don't think I would ever get bored there, although I don't know seeing as I've never been *sighs*

If there's anything anyone else wants to ask, well, ask!

Comments

[kaiserkuchen.livejournal.com]

DRIVE-BY THAILAND WOOOOOOO *waves patriotic flag of ♥* COME TO BANGKOK, WE ARE THE MOST EPIC CITY IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA. I AM TOTALLY NOT BIASED :DD

Your Diss topic sounds pretty cool! I find research on propaganda insanely interesting anyways, how did you decide to go for the French revolutionary era and not, say WWI?

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

YAY BANGKOK! I went there like, 9 years ago now. It was AMAZING. I've wanted to go back for years and years. NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING PATRIOTIC!

I have to do my dissertation (that isn't actually a proper dissertation because I do joint honours) on my Special Subject module, which is the French Revolution. It's pretty cool but masses of scary work...

[mcollinknight.livejournal.com]

DON'T GIVE IN TO KAZ'S SHAMELESS JINGOISM, CLEARLY SHE IS ONLY LURING YOU THERE SO YOU CAN BAKE HER THINGS ALL DAY LONG. I like the new layout, btw.

OOoooh, I really want to read that Terry Pratchett novel, it sounds like everything I love in the world. What dance groups are you in? Are they like classes, or like workout sessions, or like performance/competition groups? What kind of dancing?

HOW IS EVERYTHING YOU DO SO COOL? Those classes sound incredible, btw. Esp the translation one and the city one (also, your dissertation is awesomesauce, I can see you rocking it to the moon and back). DON'T BE HATING ON CORE GRAMMAR, OKAY. I'll send my killah lady Core Grammar teacher after you, she is FEARSOME.

Ooooh, songs. Have more! (sorry, I am avoiding essays, can't resist, shiny, you know how it is):
o1. Lay Me Down - The Frames (this one and the next two I just think you would like based on your Rainy Songs)
o2. The Last Beat of My Heart - DeVotchka (awesome stringggggs and drum)
o3. Silver Stallion - Cat Power
o4. The Fuse - Bruce Springsteen (BECAUSE IT IS MY LIIIIIIIIIIFE, OMFG the lyrics *dies* the whole verse about kissing scars and empty house and then the music stops and he sings and it's freaking BRILLIANT POETRY, I LOVE YOU BRUUUUUUCE)
o5. Life is Long - David Byrne and Eno (rollicking and awesome; idk if you saw him and the next one on Colbert, but I like)
o6. I don't know - Lisa Hannigan (a gorgeously cute song with simple lyrics that must have CRACK, it's so addictive and lovely)

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN BAKING IN BANGKOK ALL DAY! I could not resist its cakey charms.

READ IT! Honestly, it's brilliant. It's a slight departure from his usual style, it feels more intimate and abstract, if that makes sense. But it made me laugh and think, as his writing always does. I've been waiting for it for about FOUR MONTHS because my friend Mal fails at post. OH! Check your mail!

I am taking samba, salsa and reggaeton. They are classes, so we learn steps and things, but atm we are learning a routine for the uni dance show in May. It is also a KILLER workout. I did 3 hours of dance yesterday, and it was exhausting but brilliant.

It's so strange, because to me my life seems fairly ordinary, with the occasional kinda cool thing.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! The Lisa Hannigan one is adorable!

[mcollinknight.livejournal.com]

WAIT, WHAT, MY MAIL? I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU ALSO BUT IT IS NOT SENT BECAUSE I AM STILL BROKEISH FOR THE LAST PART OF IT, LOLOL BUT IT WILL COME. EEEEEEEVENTUALLY!

That's amazing... I miss ballet class. Dance is such a great exercise, for so many reasons: it's cardio PLUS muscles and you get all balanced and flexible and good posture and musicality and it's fun also, so cool. Also I did not know there was such a thing as reggaeton dance, FAIL ME. I would totally love to take up Bollywood dancing but Z would make fun of me forever.

Mmmmmm Bangkok. Want to go so bad (if only to storm Kaz and eat Tom Ka Gai all day).

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

WHAT, WHAT?! It is only a small thing, but yes, you should have mail by now! REALLY?! WELL THAT IS VERY EXCITING!

It's so much fun. I didn't know there was such a thing as reggaeton dance either until I started it. It's not my favourite to be honest, there is a lot of shaking and generally being a bit more street than I am capable of. But it's good to do things out of your comfort zone, right? You should!

Well that sounds like a plan. Who needs an education, lets just go to Bangkok!

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

YOU'VE READ NATION? AWESOME. I was tempted to buy the 28 Euro copy in Firenze, but realized that would probably be a stupid idea. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who has read every single book Terry Pratchett has ever written--and owns 97% of them--so knowing that there is a new Terry Pratchett book out and I HAVEN'T READ IT is kind of destroying my soul. Just a bit. I'm terribly glad to hear it was good though - Making Money (while I enjoyed it) did not seem as cohesive as his books usually are, which was a bit of a disappointment, since that is something I love so much about his writing, so I was hoping it was merely an exception and not something that would be continued.

An entire class on the French Revolution? I kind of envy you. I totally fell in love with that month-long unit when we did it back in 10th grade. On the other hand, I get the feeling it was mainly because I found the Robespierre in the History Channel videos we kept watching ridiculously attractive for some reason. Which also gives me the feeling that my views on the French Revolution are forever swayed in a not-very-impartial manner.

And I would ask... what part of England are you from? As in, what region? (Or what town, if you feeling like posting that on the internet.)

And... I know you talked about going anywhere in the entire world, but if you could go anywhere in all of the United Kingdom, where would you go?

Also, what language would you want to learn besides French?

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

I KNOW. I was waiting for it FOREVER, well since September. It's not Discworld, but it's not exactly our world either. It's brilliant but it also made me quite sad, just because, it felt quite introspective and a little wistful to me, which I suppose is inevitable given his illness. Anyway, I LOVED IT.

The short answer is, I'm from the Isle of Man, but I live in Leeds. The long answer is, well, most of it is explained here http://laliandra.livejournal.com/2597.html.

Today, I would go to the seaside, somewhere on the south coast. Maybe Brighton or somewhere like that. Or a park in London. Somewhere I could enjoy the sunshine more, plus it's warmer down there in the south!

I'm not kidding when I say I'd like to learn about 20 languages. I'd like to relearn Spanish and German and maybe try my hand at Italian. I'd also like to learn some Russian or Polish, and maybe Chinese. I am a language nerd...

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

I cannot wait to get home. Honestly, my family will not even see me, I will just stay in my room all day, reading all the books I have been missing out on and catching up on my three VERY IMPORTANT tv shows. Nation will probably be the first thing on my list though, with The Graveyard Book following closely behind.

Warmer... in the south. I dunno, I went to England for the first time ever last June - the first week was spent in Devonshire where it drizzled pretty much constantly (but I loved it to death anyway) and at the end of the trip we were in London, where I managed to get a terrifically painful sunburn in the span of one hour. So I suppose, on average between drizzle and burning heat, yes, I might also be willing to call it "warmer down there in the south".

Leeds sounds quite lovely by your description in that other post! I'll agree about the skinny jeans, though - I think I'll be glad to get out of Matera "fashion", where skinny jeans and solid gold sneakers are considered classy.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

What are your 3 shows? Well, clearly LOST is one of them, but the other 2? The Graveyard Book is also amazing. I haven't read it actually, just watched Neil Gaiman read it (http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx). He is just INCREDIBLE.

It's kind of an in-joke, though actually true. The south of England is usually about 3 or 4 degrees warmer. But yeah, last summer was terrible. Even for here!

I have a new hatred now, though I still massively object to skinny jeans. It's people wearing tights like they are trousers. They are not! I do not want to be able to see your ass that clearly!

Gold sneakers? Ew.

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

Oh, LOST. (...of which I have yet to watch the new episode, OH DEAR.) The other two are The Office (US version) and Dr. House. Though technically now I actually have a fourth, which is Numb3rs, but I am not quite so passionate about it as the others - I just watch it from time to time.

And... Neil Gaiman? Reading his own book?! That I have yet to read?!?!!1! WELL, I WILL BE ALL OVER THAT TOMORROW AFTERNOON. (Well... right after I finish watching Lost, anyway.) And yes, he is VERY incredible.

... serious? People DO that? Ummmm... erlack? I'm just terribly sorry to hear it, frankly. (And yes, gold sneakers (though not as bad as tights as trousers) are their own form of pain. Though pretty much everything here has sparkles or sequins or rhinestones on it and I really cannot stand it. Or at least, everything for people my age that DOESN'T come from H&M is that way. So it is not surprising that the only store I usually enter in Bari is... H&M.)