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So you got an hour to shoot me dead before I try to EATZ YOR BRAINZZZZ!

Well, I updated about my trip to England! I only have a post about my first couple of days in London at the moment. I'll start on my post about Liverpool today and hopefully get that posted by tonight. So if you would like to read about what I did and see if a few pictures head on over to:

http://xpatria.wordpress.com/

Yeah, bite me Russell. You'd have to be major epic to make me watch it. Like, John Barrowman full frontal nudity epic.

http://www.tv.com/untitled/story/19478.html

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And don't forget the turkey!

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OMG OMG OMG!!!

It's so close that I'm going to cry! DON'T LEAVE ME DAVID!!!




Also, I will update about my trip to England...sometime. Probably. Most likely. Yeah.

So I'm off to England! I leave today at 5:01pm and I'll arrive in London Heathrow at 11:35am. From there I'll head to the Norsk KFUK (aka the Norwegian Y.W.C.A) where I'll be staying. They only allow women under 30 and Norwegian men with a valid passport. I called them last night to verify my rooms and all is set. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included in your stay there so that's really awesome. It also makes my stay in London much cheaper.

After I've dropped off all my things at the YWCA I'll head off to find a phone. I'm going to get a unlocked cell phone that I can put any networks sim card in to use.

I sorta want to get this phone:



It will set me back about $168 but I can get an unlocked one and it's sorta cute. Plus, since I plan to move to England soon I might as well get a phone that works well that I can use when I'm that and that I like. Plus the other unlocked phones are still a bit expensive so I might as well just go for the one I like.

After that I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'll have been on a plan for over 10 hours and I don't usually sleep too well on a plane so I may just head back to the YWCA and take a nap. Or relax a bit. Or maybe I'll go exploring! I won't know until I'm there.

The next day I plan to have breakfast, make my packed lunch and head over to the Natural History museum. According to Dr. Rod Dillon (my potential professor) I HAVE to go see it and the new Darwin centre that they just built. Since I'm a big enough nerd for that to appeal to me I have no problem with that. Apparently he was the head of the entomology department there for many years.

I think I'll then go to Leicester Square after. According to Cliff Simon (who I got to meet at the Stargate Con. OMG! Heeeeee!) that is the best place to go to see as much of the cool touristy things if you only have a short amount of time. My friend Annica wants me to go to a WHOLE bunch of places but I do not think I'll have the time.

I leave early in the morning the next day to catch my train to Liverpool. It leaves around 9:30am so I'll have to get up pretty early to make sure I get there in time. It would suck to miss my train. I should be in Liverpool by 12ish where Rod will pick me up. We'll probably be seeing some of the sights and then he'll take me to the nice person named Alvarro who has agreed to put me up for a couple of nights. Monday and Tuesday I will probably view the school and play with the sandfly colony they have there. We'll probably talk about research ideas when I'm there also.

About noonish on the 18th I have to catch another train back to London. My plane leaves at 10:35am on the 18th so it's best if I stay the night in London and leave VERY early the next day to catch my plane. It's generally a good idea to be at the airport 3 hours before your plane leaves if it's an international flight.

So, those are my plans. I have a lot of things to pack into a relatively short amount of time. But if this trip goes well and the LSTM professors like me that means I'll be heading off to Liverpool in a few months. Living in another country, amazing.

I don't think I'll find much time or a computer in England to update so in that case, see you on the other side!

Cheers.

(Cross-posted to Ameritannia at http://www.xpatria.wordpress.com)

I really really want this book.

It's a retelling of Peter Pan. A DARK retelling. My kind of story. That and Peter Pan is probably my all time favorite kids story. I adore it to pieces.

Geez, this is the cold that just won't GO AWAY. I want to be better. I have a trip to England that I need to plan and shop for. I have lab work that I need to get done and hours to accumulate. I do not need to be spending full days at school to make up for me not going in. I need to spend full days at work so that I can have time accumulated for when I miss an entire week of work. Argh!

I didn't sleep hardly at all. My nose was all stuffy and I couldn't breathe well. At one point I got up to drink water and almost threw it up. I HATE throwing up. I refused!

Can I be better now?

I want to go to this so badly you don't even know. I wish I knew someone in England who wanted to go too and then we could get the two person budget room one and have a blast. I need more English friends and by the time I'm actually in England and know people the tickets will be all sold out. T___T! But John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd and James Marsters are all going to be there! I want to be there!

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My thoughts and feelings on the Kindle are very conflicting. On the one hand I love the convenience of getting the books when I want them. I like that I can have as many books as I want on hand. This way when I'm in the mood for one book it's only a click away. It's very nice and for that I love it. I also like that I can put fanfiction on it and have that right at hand too.

And then there are the problems.

When you buy books for the kindle from Amazon it goes straight to kindle. You don't get to have the actual book on you computer at all. And if I'm paying $9.99 for a book I actually want to HAVE the book. And since I don't have an actual book if I like what I'm reading I can't loan it to anyone else unless I let them read it from my Kindle. That makes me sad. One of my favorite things is to share the books that I love with my friends and family and it sorta sucks that I can't do that.

In other news, I have a Doctor Who mood them now! Well, it's mainly a mood theme from S3 of DW with lots of Ten, Jack and the Master. But that is OKAY with me. I've also noticed that a lot of my emotions have Master pictures. So either there is a lot of Master moods or I'm just Master-y in my feelings.

So many things have happened in the last few days. To begin with, on Friday I turned my thesis in. I got a certificate of completion. I won't get a diploma for at least 14-16 weeks after my diploma conferral date (Dec 11) so I won't actually have my diploma until next May or June. But I'm done! I have a MASTERS! I am THAT MUCH FARTHER IN MY EDUCATION! It's just all too exciting. I don't know what to do with myself.

Friday night I went to a concert with my cousin and grandma. We saw P!nk! Which was just AMAZING! She is an awesome performer. She really knows how to entertain. The music was great as was all the dancing and big production stuff that went on. It was just too great for words. AND The Ting Tings were the opening act which was just great. I love The Ting Tings. It makes me really happy that a lot of the big American bands are choosing British bands to be their opening act. I'm hoping this will get British bands better publicity here in the States.

Now for the really weird confession...I already sorta miss school. I like going to class. My favorite part of the quarter is going to the bookstore and picking up my new textbooks. I like learning new things. I think I'll have to take some classes at a community college next quarter to fill the void.

So, I don't get notified when people comment to my comments that I make in communities. So if I answer something in a post in one of my communities and someone answers that I don't KNOW about it. It really sucks. I don't know how to fix it. I have the send an email to me when someone comments to my comments checked in notifications but I"m not getting them. Damn!

Just for the record, printing out a thesis is FRUSTRATING. You think everything is good then you noticed that at some point you LOOKED at it weird and the formatting is skewed and you have to reprint everything which SUCKS because it's 68 PAGES LONG!!! ARGH!

I can't wait until this is done. Fuck.

So, I joined lit_library. It's a literary club where you join groups and do writing/reading challenges. I think it'll be fun. There is even a bookclub! I mean, since I am taking a year off before I go back to school for my Ph.D I might as well get some reading done, right? I think this'll be a good way to do that.

In other news, just a few more touch ups to my thesis and then I can print it and turn it into grad division. Then I'll get my diploma and I'll be really really completely all the way done. I will have a freakin' Masters (officially) by a week from today. That is so exciting that I don't even know what to do with myself.

God, is it time for Waters of Mars yet? I need my Doctor Who fix something fierce. I think I'm going to marathon some classic Who and the past seasons of New Who soon. And maybe the first seasons of Torchwood...if I can stomach it. Watching older Torchwood is painful. Damn you COE! Damn you!!! (Seriously, I love Torchwood something fierce and I'm still bereft after COE. What am I going to watch now?)

Oh and speaking of TV shows, House starts again soon! I can't wait. And it's a 2 hour premier!! OMG yay! Plus there is going to be SYTYCD this fall too. So many shows, so little time.

Update on my views of my new Kindle: Most awesome thing ever. I love it SO much. I've read many books on it already...and fanfiction. Yes, I have put fanfic on my Kindle. Don't judge me!

I've been reading the Percy Jackson Olympian series by Rick Riordan on my Kindle. It's really cute. I mean, a bit Harry Potter formula story going on there but cute. Seriously like Harry Potter though. Young boy who is "chosen" by prophecy. A bit of "is the prophecy about him" going ons. Magical powers (sinces he's a demigod) and going to a special camp for other demi-gods. Yadda yadda yadda. Sound familiar? Yeah, me too. BUT! It's still cute and I enjoy it. The characters are fun although the situations and their reactions to them don't fit their age. In the first book I spent a lot of time going, "A 12 year old would not act/think/speak like this. I mean really!" but that's okay. I've forgiven the author since the story is at least fun.

So, finished my Master's defense yesterday and passed! Now all I have left is to fix some corrections and add some references to my written thesis and I'll be done done. I'll get my diploma and I'll make the next step on the road of my life. Which is exciting.

I don't know if I'll be applying for LSHTM next year. I'm still waiting to hear back from them on if I would have better luck applying then. If I can get in to London next September that would be awesome. Because I REALLY REALLY want to go there and the only thing that was keeping me out this time was that they didn't have anyone who had room in their lab for me. When it gets to where they are trying to find a supervisor for you that means you passed all other requirements for entrance. I was that close and if they're willing to take me on next year I will totally jump for that opportunity.

My glasses broke! Well, one of the hinges broke. Damn! Now I have to go to lenscrafters and see if they can fix it. If they can't then I'll have to get new glasses or something. I'm so sad! Now I have to use my savings because I already used my insurance from school for optical. Shit. As if I didn't ALREADY have enough stress for this week. Life is so unfair.

Happy Birthday cslady! ^__^

I have done like, shit on my thesis stuff this week. I haven't really done anything since Wednesday of last week. I have basically done nothing for a week! Which is REALLY REALLY BAD! Because I defend in like 9 days. I may have a heart attack right now. But I don't KNOW what to do on my presentation. I'm not sure what is required for a masters thesis presentation. I have to talk for 45 minutes and I have no idea how I'm going to do that. I'm sorta stuck. But I plan to talk to my teacher tomorrow morning and force Missa to help me with my presentation.

I basically have to be done with my presentation by Friday/Saturday and then practice it all weekend. Then by Monday do a practice run with my teacher and the people in my lab. Do any corrections he gives me. Be ready to answer any questions my committee members are going to ask me. My committee hasn't given me their review of my thesis yet and I'll still have to get those corrections fixed. All this has to be done by Sept. 4th. I am so fucking screwed.

So, I didn't get into the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine. Apparently I had a VERY strong application but there was no one available to supervise me. Everyone in my field of research either is on short term contract (and therefore can't take on a PhD student) or has their full quota of students. The director of the unit tried very hard to find someone that could supervise because of how strong my application was but to no avail. So I'm extremely disappointed right now and I'm going to go sob into my pillow. I'll be there should anyone need me.