Hello! I am home. I am packing. I am VERY EXCITED. Plus, I am loading up my Palm with fics to take away with me.
Anyone got any great recs they would be happy to share, preferably in the next hour or so because OMG it is late and I have to be up early? Loving, happy ending-type angst would be perfect.
I recently reread the FANTASTIC Phantom Pain by aprilvalentine which I love more than life itself. April, I don't think I ever told you that before, but oh my gosh. Love it so much ♥
My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all. — John Lennon
I've got a busy day ahead, with work all day and rushing around at lunchtime to get Euros and other stuff we need. Tonight, after I pick the kids up, we'll be eating, getting packed, tidying up the house, having baths and having an exceedingly early night. Then tomorrow we have to leave the house at 7.00 am to catch the train to Holyhead, from where we will get the ferry to Dublin.
So! That means this is it from me until the end of next week. The hotel we're staying in does have internet access but, because we are travelling as foot passengers - which means I will be carrying the bulk of stuff for the three of us - I won't be taking the laptop. No internet for nearly a week - this could be a record! Hope there are no entertaining online scandals whilst I'm gone ;-)
Have fun all! I'll take tons of photos and show them to you upon our return :-)
Too long a story, too many stories. The long and short of it adds up to "Yes". It would almost be impossible for me not to - though my aunt manages, the strange creature.
Have just stolen a few minutes of net time from the info center at the Elephant Conservation Centre.
I cannot express to you how amazing this experience is...no, literally, I am at a loss for words.
Thse creatures are remarkable. The mahoots just as much so. The Thai people in general are nothing short of a delight.
Our first day was a bit of culture shock. The accomodation is in a Thai Lanna house. We have beds, well we have raised bits of wood off the rattan matted floor with a piece of foam over the top, a western toilet & an electric pump shower. But we have a mahoot family checking if there is anything we need, washing our mahoot suits for us. Offering to share their meals with us, and in general being the kindest people known to man.
We wandered around the camp on day 1, naturally sqeeing every time we saw an elephant. I swear not one mahoot went past without smiling & saying hello, often in English - generally the only English word they know - bless.
The food has been superb, and eaten in a communal open air kitchen, although the mahoot families eat seperately. I'm glad - they are not, nor should they, be the ones on show.
But the real delight is the course itself. I asked for a small elephant - they gave me Jojo, the largest male elephant in the programme. I thought this odd at first, until I realised that Jojo is considered the star of the show. He leads all of the other elephants into the arena. How could I complain about being honoured so? Sawwan (sp?) the mahoot has been with Jojo for 8 years. He speaks no English but is never without a smile & always as helpful as possible.
Tony was given Prachuab, a smaller female, with Nuut as his mahoot. Again I believe we were homoured because Prachuab is the only elephant that the mahoots trust enough to be left on her own with a trainee. Where as Sawaan rode Jojo with me most places, Nuut let Tony do most things on his own, just passing his watchful eye over things from a distance.
The actual training is frankly hell for me. It is so physical, much much harder than you would have expected. You have three ways to climb on to your elephant, they give you a leg up (the elephant that is), you jump on over their head as they are bending down, or you say "Map Long" and they lay on their belly & you stand on their bend front leg & have to jump from there up on to their back. Not so hard on a smaller elephant but Jojo ain't no little 'un.
Then you have to straddle their necks, which are wider than you think, as they sway & move & nod & shimmy. That is the killer. You try to keep your knees rested on the tops of their ears but invariably they slip.
Basically I ended up pulling groin muscles on both sides which have swollen so that I feel like I am walking with grapefruits between my thighs. After some long consideration I decided to pull out of the training after two and a half days. There was no way I was going to be able to handle six days.
But you know what? I don't care!!
I have bathed my elephant 6 times. I have shot water from his trunk at Tony & the other mahoots. They have all shot water back at me. I have lost my elephant as it submerged under the water only to have him come back up directly underneath me. I have completed four elephant shows for the tourists & put more sugar cane & bananas into elephants mouths and trunks than I can count. I have trekked on my elephant into the jungle & helped the mahoot secure him for the night. I have gone out into the jungle at 6.00am & seen happy elephants, really happy elephants, rolling in the grass, or in the river, or eating the vegetation covered in dew as the dawn light breaks over the mountain top. I have rubbed the tongue of a year old baby elephant and played hand clamps with Jojo's ears.
But most of all I have been able to watch Mr Pxx grin like a looney when he first managed to stand on top of his elephant as it sunk into the water so that he wouldn't get wet. I have been able to watch tourists put money into the elephant's trunk who then hands it up to Tony because he was the only western mahoot in the whole show and they didn't realise he wasn't a real one. I have bickered with him over whose elephant can push the logs in the neatest pile.
Despite the pain, this was the most fabulous thing I culd have done for him & I am overwhelmed with gratitude tgat I have been able to share this experience.
Once I get decent access, or perhaps on my return I'll write up a day by day blog but for now, just keep an eye on www.changthai.com You'll get to see just a snippet of the joy I am talking about.
I got linked to an odd discussion (unrelated to TS but covering some of the same issues I see time and time again in this fandom), and once again I'm boggling at the fannish preoccupation with popularity and the lack thereof. Jeez, honestly. I've lost count of the times I've been accused, either directly or passive-aggressively, of being some huge machiavellian mastermind whose only motivation for writing fanfic or even saying the least little thing publicly is to get x number of comments and be the next big thing.
You can keep it, honestly, all you people who aspire to that stuff. Believe what you like about me, I'm just in it for the love of Jim and Blair and having a laugh with my friends. Most of the time these days I'm not even in it at all. Working full-time, bringing up two kids on my own and playing music in the evenings and at weekends whilst squeezing in a bit of fic writing and reading on the side doesn't leave a lot of time for, you know, plotting to steal your thunder :-D
Talking of which, it's time for work now. When I get home this evening I'll engage mucho kiddie time, followed by house cleaning, washing and some music practice. That'll leave me, oh, maybe thirty seconds before bed to take over the world. Easy peasy!
I walked to the hospital today and asked them about care assistant jobs. The middle aged receptionist told me to check the NHS website under 'vacanies'. As I walked back, I decided to take the shortcut and walked across the large patch of grass. As I walked, I looked over to my left and saw a row of Victorian houses that were looking tatty and worn. James's house was the one on the end. I stared into the distance and caught flashbacks of the two of us standing together sheepishy: It happened this time two years ago, when we first met. We spent a couple of hours in town one afternoon and I walked him back to his house. He said his parents kept Bengal cats in the back garden, in a large cattery. James asked me if I wanted to take a look at them. I approached the garden fence gingerly, and felt him put his hands on my waist to lift me up, so I could see over the fence . .
Ah, the good old days. I was barely eighteen then, well, going on eighteen. And yet, here I am two years later, turning twenty next month; without a boyfriend, or a lover. Yet, from what I know, he's happily with someone.
I continued to ponder on to Leanne's house; no one was in, so I popped the ten pound note that was sealed in an envelope, into her letterbox. Me, Leanne, Danni and a couple of her friends are going out on Saturday night to celebrate her birthday. I've already decided my outfit: Black garments with white accessories. :) Though I'll have work the next morning, I shan't care. I'm getting merry and that's that!
Feeling thirsty, I went into the corner-shop at the top of the road and bought myself a bottle of orange juice. My phone started to ring: It was nan. She told me Eileen who attended Art Classes had died on Monday morning. The funeral had happened earlier on today. I suddenly felt very sad: I felt guilty because I didn't go and see her during her last days. I didn't know which hospital she was in, but still - I guess I could have tried. She battled breast Cancer last year, aged eighty. Then a few months ago, suffered a stroke, then a brain tumour. A woman half her age probably couldn't have lived through that, let alone a woman as elderly as her.
Art Class next week will be very upsetting. I might suggest we all visit where she's buried, and put flowers on her grave; it's the least we could do.
This weekend I'll toast a drink to Eileen; infact, make that two drinks.
I couldnt be more god damned annoyed... It's bad enough that I share my name with over 9 pages of girls on myspace, but why do they have to try and use my god damned email, I had it first, I'm sick of getting your fucking emails, STOP USING MY FUCKING EMAIL or I will get vicious!
I've moved up the list for the new house, and they are allocating them in three weeks time. :D Today went really fast, and I came home to a nice brew made for me. :) I've lost a few more pounds which has just taken me into the realms of 'the next stone down' :) I think i've become addicted to cereal bars. I couldn't help but notice this morning on the way to work that it was quite dark. :( Dark mornings bad.
One of the "perks" of being home is that I become the Free Computer IT Helper. This time, after doing the usual cleaning of extraneous startup programs and whatnot, I find that my parents' laptop (running XP) is having issues with the system sound.
There's one set of actual drivers, which is fine. It says those drivers are enabled. There's a bunch of little codecs in there, too, and I don't see any conflicts. I deleted the drivers and they came back when I restarted, but there's no audio icon in the desktop tray, and when you go in to the audio devices to turn on the icon, you can't, because it's all grayed out (it says there's no audio device).
Anyone have any ideas? This computer already has issues, but I wouldn't think it's an actual physical issue with the sound card.
Jeez. I actually found quite a few of the questions in this meme to be woefully ignorant and offensive.
Example of ignorant:
Re St Patrick: What image did this Saint use to help the Irish ancestory [sic] understand God? The possible answers were: The harp, 3 leaf clover, 4 leaf clover, pint glass.
Clover? For feck's sake ::shakes head::
I'm not going to give an example of offensive, because... offensive. Let's just say the same tired, old Irish stereotypes and ignorant attitudes to the troubles are alive and well in this meme :-(
Anyway, I did pretty well regardless, although I refused to answer some of the questions on principle.
Your result for The Ultimate TRUE IRISH Test...
Finn MacCool
You scored 95 Common Sense, 84 Irish Facts, and 82 Irish Soul!
I am honored to be in your presence. You know your stuff. You are Irish in your heart. You probably talk like an Irish person after a few pints. You sing the rebel songs. You drink, and probably bleed Guinness. You may have even been interned in British Prisions. You impress (or annoy) all your friends with your vast Irish knowledge. If you are a female, I am in love. If you are a male, we are brothers. We should have a pint.
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