Got carded buying a pair of scissors at Tesco.

I'd forgotten that they do that here. Was forced to watch as the self-service assistant took ages to subtract 1989 from 2009 (although I suppose the fact that my birthday hasn't passed yet might throw one for a loop, but 19, 20, what's the difference?).

In other news, I can visualize the scene where Harry and Ron leave London in the Ford Anglia every morning, because Kings Cross is right outside my window.

Studying in London for the spring -- January 14 through May 16.

That's all. :)

So I went to my university's library, which has a surprising number of really old books (like, I'm shocked they're still there). Anyway, I was bored, so I was opening the oldest books that I could find.

I found a few cool ones with due dates going back to 1929 and stuff, ones that were in the library back in the day when most of my university was uptown, near where Columbia is. And then I found this really weird, tiny book, about the size of an iPod, called The Phantom Ship. Anyway, it stood out, so I opened it.

Here's the creepy bit -- on the back page, someone had written (in ink and in that handwriting you only see in museums):

Richard H_____blossom (I think it was "blossom;" couldn't read the first part of his surname)

Steal not this book for fear of shame,
Here is written the owner's name

1843 [signature]

Yeah. It wouldn't have been so creepy if the person had just said, "Don't steal this book," but no, he had to write a creepy little rhyme that sounds like it would belong in a horror movie.

Anyway, I was going to borrow the book in order to show people, since the message was from 1843 and looked pretty genuine (the book was aged... yellowed and even blackened in some parts, the ink was faded, no one writes like that anymore, etc.), but then my over-active imagination switched into gear, and I pictured the ghost of Richard H----blossom going after me for "stealing" his book. I mean, the book's name was The Phantom Ship; how much weirder can it get?

*shudders* That rhyme is catchy. And the fact that I remembered it... *wonders if she's cursed or something*

I should make a movie.

ETA: This is the book.

You need a subscription to see this, but I'll be copying and pasting the most ridiculous bits here.

Ahem. The article is called "As Times Turn Tough, New York's Wealthy Economize." It begins like this:

A nose job in a hospital with a private nurse in attendance had been something of a rite of passage for Joan Asher's children. But when her fourth and last child was ready for her own rhinoplasty recently, Ms. Asher asked her to postpone it.

The financial markets were simply more out of whack than her 16-year-old's proboscis.

"The other noses were more prominent," the stay-at-home mother from a tony New York City suburb in Westchester County told her 16-year-old daughter. She could get hers done when things settled down.

What. The. Fuck. Seriously.

Does anyone care? Why would this woman want her name to be published with such a ridiculous quote?

And this was on the FRONT PAGE. You know, on the same page as "DOOOOOOOOOM!"

More fun:

For her 50th birthday, Annette Pucci, a New York retail manager, planned to treat herself to a facelift by cashing in $15,000 in stocks. But after consulting with her husband, a manger with Consolidated Edison Inc., she realized their stock portfolio had taken such a hit that it was out of the question.

"It was a very big disappointment," Ms. Pucci said. Her consolation: a $1,200 Botox treatment she had this week instead.

*snort* Oh, you poor woman.

Ms. Asher was able to let her daughter get her nose job before school began after plastic surgeon Alan Matarasso said he could do the procedure in his office operating room on Manhattan's Upper East Side for about $2,500 less than if they went to a hospital, stayed overnight and hired a nurse. At home, Ms. Asher stayed up most of the night after the surgery, putting cold compresses on her daughter's eyes every 20 minutes. "She was fine," she says. "It came out great."

Oh, joy. That made my day.

It just annoys me that someone actually spent time writing this crap. And that people like that exist.

So I got a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, because I thought it was time for me to join the ranks of the robots other future business people and start reading a paper I had always thought was just a bunch of tiny numbers in a list. (Next step, Blackberry. I think I'll go for the new Curve Sunset because it's colorful.)

Of course, I had completely forgotten that the WSJ is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Which is a shame, because I only spent all of last semester in a class in which this fact was mentioned at least once a week. Problem with the WSJ (which does have an interesting "Personal Finances" section or whatever with features, by the way... found this really cool site which has the contents of phonograph cylinders online) is that it's not even conservative, in my opinion, but Murdoch-ative. *sigh* Any paper that praises Palin, besides her supposed skill at speaking? Yeah...

Meet Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof.

I had no idea who she was until today, when I signed up to write an article for my school's newspaper. She's apparently starting at NYU this year...

Well, maybe she's not a Mary-Sue in personality, but her name -- *gawks*

Am going to prepare myself for a whole lot of "Who the hell is that, and which crackpots name their child 'Peaches?'" from any students I interview.

It is 1:44 in the morning, and there seems to be a cricket in my house. It is being abnormally loud and will not SHUT UP.

Okay, so one day, I was watching the show Skins online (shame, really, that you can't even buy the dvds here in the US), and Sid said something along the lines of, "I thought Cassie was still in hospital."

At the time, I was like, that's weird. Whatever.

And then I started seeing it in fics and stuff, but the thing is -- I've never noticed it before. I mean, usually, I just see, "in the hospital." So what I'm wondering is... does British English eliminate the "the," and have I just been filing it in subconsciously, or is it a regional thing, or am I just horrible at speaking my own native language (and am the only one who puts a "the" in there)? Okay, probably not the last one, but...

Anyway, basically, if I put "in hospital" in a fic, which of the following would be most likely to happen?

1.) The beta leaves it alone, because it is a well-known Britishism, and I'm just dense,
2.) The beta flags it, as it is only regional/not very well-known, but they're not sure,
3.) The beta corrects it and doesn't bother to flag it, because it's obscure/Sid forgot to say "the,"

or

4.) The beta (who in this scenario is definitely a speaker of British English) emails the fic back with a note telling me how stupid I am, and that nouns require whatever the technical term for words like "the" are (I forgot. That's what happens when you go off to uni and no longer are forced to sit through the obligatory grammar lesson...).

EDIT: A fifth alternative, now that I think of it:

5.) The beta flags it, as it may only refer to mental hospitalization? Because I realized that Cassie was in the hospital for psychological reasons... Putting this here just in case.

Oh, and if it's a regional thing, do any of you know which regions use that phrasing? (I'm guessing Bristol is one, if that's the case, unless if the screenwriters just didn't care about regionalisms?)

( Cut for a little TMI. )

Good thing I dragged myself off to work today, despite feeling entirely disgusting. See, it used to be that I was the marketing intern at the place I work at, with two superiors. Well, one left a couple of weeks ago, and when I got in this morning, I found out the other one left too. Don't know why yet, but it's left me, the INTERN, as the only one who knows what's going on in marketing.

FUUUUUUCK. I don't even know what's going on half the time. I'm not even nineteen yet...

Anyway, hopefully the person a level above that can sort things out. And hopefully, a replacement comes for both positions. Because I'm taking three weeks off to go home in August, and then I'm leaving the job permanently by January, as hopefully, I'm leaving the country. Which would leave no one, not even clueless me. :S

Review I got (non-HP fic, of course):

they drove from new york to washington? you do realize that those two
cities/towns are on opposite coasts?

Actually, no, New York and the city of Washington (District of Columbia) are on the same coast. And I would never classify either of them as a town.

But I'm assuming they mean Washington STATE, which, yes, is indeed on the west coast. And no, they in fact took a plane from New York, which should have been obvious, as they got off one in Seattle, THEN drove. Sometimes, there are things called connecting flights, y'know?

I would have said something to this effect in a ff.net review reply, but unfortunately, the reviewer remained anonymous. *sigh*

But really, don't insult me like that. Read the chapter more carefully, please.

I didn't want to post this on the MuggleNet boards, since I'd probably get torn to pieces by rabid fourteen-year-olds, but...

Come on, really?

JKR is my favorite author, ever. But even I think she's being melodramatic, or at least the quotes are making her sound that way. What happened to "The Lexicon is great?" I really have no opinion on a printed Lexicon, since I don't know enough about copyright law to have a valid one, and there's no way I want to be all "RAH RAH, JKR!" A nearly completed year of college/university has made me cynical.

If her quotes were indeed not taken out of context, then I do believe I have lost more respect for her. Her mind is brilliant, but ever since this whole thing started, I don't know.

"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the internet."

How so? I can't really see it. Someone please explain this to me, because right now, it almost seems like she's going after one of her biggest fans. All I can see is this affecting profits for her own encyclopedia, which shouldn't be an issue due to the aforementioned rabid fourteen-year-olds who will certainly spend their parents' money on ten copies each if she asked them to.

"The idea of my readership parting with their or their parents' hard-earned cash for this is a travesty."

I will spend my $7.50 an hour from being a general office bitch however I want. Honestly, I don't think I would have bought the Lexicon book anyway... it's already online. And I'm broke.

“Should my fans be flooded with a surfeit of substandard books — so called lexicons — I’m not sure I’d have the will or heart to continue,” said Rowling, who went on to characterize the H.P. Lexicon as “sloppy,” “lazy,” and “incorrect.”

Or maybe it's writer's block. Harry was her brainchild; it's obviously going to be hard to let go.

Look, I don't want to be critical. But I needed to say it somewhere, and it might have come out much harsher than I intended, probably from all the "RAH RAH JKR" crap on the MuggleNet comments boards. I haven't really thought about HP in months, actually... the fandom, but not the books and stuff.

JKR, this approach is not garnering sympathy, at least not from me. You have the right to sue, of course, because you did create the series, and everyone has their own view of the law. Okay, I lied; I have an opinion, uneducated as it is. It's not right for them to try and make a profit off something already online anyway. But to get all "teary-eyed" is just too far. The Lexicon is composed of FANS, loyal ones -- until maybe now, not a rival corporation or something. I know what people say, that if they were really fans, they'd give up. But really, who would just step aside if the author they almost worshipped decided one day to completely reverse her stance on them?

This is probably a convoluted, confused rant. But whatever. I haven't posted in ages, so most people won't even see this.

So if anyone read Twilight, you'll know what this is talking about. But otherwise, it's still quite amusing. It made me snort when I read it. It's a summary for a fic on ff.net...

Bella is a Princess of England, and Edward the Prince of Whales. She Hears rumors of his boorish manor, but when she meets him will she get what she expects. EdwardXBella

The Prince of Whales?

Er... and since Bella is a princess of England, doesn't that make Edward her brother? Or at least a reasonably close relation?

Sorry, needed to get that out. :D

Clearly, I am losing brain cells, because as soon as I saw this, I thought that Voldemort wouldn't be in the sixth movie. Until I remembered that resurrected Voldemort doesn't really make an appearance. (But in my defense, they're cutting out just about everything. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire movie was Harry-kisses-Ginny-and-then-Dumbledore-tells-him-about-Horcruxes.)

Have been listening to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol non-stop. If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world? *sigh*

So two of my friends and I are going to Montreal from March 16-20. Anyone have any suggestions? I went there for one day this summer, so I've seen the Biodome. Am looking for anything (preferably affordable on a student budget)... nice places to eat, places to go. Yeah, I do realize it will be below freezing there, by the way. But there was no way we were paying $2000 each to go to Cancun. We weren't even willing the pay the $800 or so that London could have cost (that's a low estimate, by the way).

Suitemate's boyfriend is over. He's a nice guy, but I really don't enjoy hearing smacking sounds coming from the common room.

Valentine's Day sucks worse in NYC, because everyone is walking down the street in pairs/with a giant bouquet of flowers.

In other news, because my friends and I are poor, we are probably going to Montreal for spring break. London was, of course, too expensive, and Hawaii was even more so. Let's not talk about Cancun. Apparently there is legalized marijuana in Quebec. I don't smoke, so I don't really care, but it's interesting nonetheless.

I wish I was rich, so we could go to Europe. >:( At least I can comfort myself with the fact that I will be living for five to eight months in London next year.

"If you are kidnapped or taken hostage by a terrorist organization, the U.S. State Department may help negotiate for your release. Check with your insurance provider to see if you can purchase additional hostage, terrorist, or emergency assistance insurance."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

*takes breath*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Terrorist kidnapping insurance...

*pretends she is not trying to procrastinate on her 1000 word essay on globalization/government control*

So I had the wild desire to see the FA art from the end of 2002 to the beginning of 2003 (I love that Draco). Although I didn't find the art, I did find this archived: Chapter Owls from April 6-7, 2004.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040407025407/www.schnoogle.com/

It contains a deleted fic of mine, as well as the old layout and a lot of authors/fics I recognize. I never really realized how much the fandom's slowed down and how much less I read fics these days, compared to the two years between the releases of OotP and HBP.

In other news, I changed my hairstyle. Yay.

ETA: Squee! I found the Draco banner from 2002-2003! It's too bad I can't find the others, though... I wonder if they're no longer online. I liked the Harry one, too.

Holy shit, if you Google "AmethystPhoenix," you come up with a lot.

And most of the ones on the first few pages are actually me? Scary. Every one except for the LJ, the YouTube account, and the Desi forum. Interestingly enough, I am mentioned in a fandom history thing, in which my opinion of the Draco Trilogy is quoted. Completely forgot about that post, as it was made two years ago, which makes me feel rather like an oldbie. The article got kind of nasty, though, as it was bashing some aspects of the fandom.

Am rereading DH for the first time (haven't read it since July). Now have a wild urge to both complete my next-gen fic AND to write Ginny having an affair (I don't know why; maybe I just feel like writing a soap opera). School starts in a week and a half, though.

I love living in NYC because you get all the limited releases, even though they cost $11.

A bunch of us saw Across the Universe at 12:40 yesterday... it was excellent, I thought.

Anyway, I'm still alive, by the way. Just thought I'd pop in.

Like most college-aged people, I have a Facebook. And lately, I've been flooded with invites to sorority rush groups. Now, I'm not interested in them, though I don't have the heart to decline the invites. I don't want to be in your stereotypical social sorority, no matter how much they say how much they'll raise my GPA (I doubt it). It's not my thing.

But then I came upon business fraternities. Unlike social sororities/frats, they offer more than just drinking parties on Greek Row (which happens to be one floor in one of the upperclass dorms... my uni's not too big on Greek life, haha). There's two big ones at NYU Stern -- Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi. Both were founded there, interestingly enough.

So... pros and cons:

Pros -- Networking, help from upperclassmen, community service opportunities, like-minded people

Cons -- The usual stereotypes (rooms full of prats, hazing -- they're secretive, image as a prat), possible waste of time

Le sigh. I should just attend events.

On a totally different topic, I've been listening to Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's. Melody is pretty, and the topic of the song is actually nice, IMO. But there are some cringeworthy lines... the use of "good" twice in one instance, for example. "My word is good?" Honestly.