Welcome to this Researcher's Journal. If you'd like to comment on anything they have written here, just click the relevant 'Discuss this Entry' button.

Cor, has it been a year already?
Dec 4, 2006

You know, I've forgotten all the smileys now. OK, time for the annual "What I've been up to" thing, for those out there still wondering.

1. I spent my 22nd birthday on Brighton Beach with friends, eating chips and getting yelled at by the overaggressive deckchair man (there are pictures on my Flickr account).

2. I went to Comic Con, whereupon I discovered how loud Quentin Tarantino is, how cool Samuel L. Jackson is, how a room of a few thousand geeks can smell, what Stormtrooper Elvis looks like, and who Karen Traviss is.

3. I got addicted to World of Warcraft. What a game! I hit Level 60 on my Tauren Warrior earlier this week.

4. I tried to like duck, and failed.
4a. I rediscovered the tastiness of beef!

5. I kept my job, and thus, tired of fighting on the internet. When you're working with people who complain and fight all day, there's a certain weariness to doing it when you get home.

6. I got better at photography. My Flickr photostream has had over 17,000 views since January. And following on from that, I became a extremely familiar with South Bristol street art.

7. I damaged my knee quite severely after buckling under my coworkers demands to go on a night out with them. Ended up on crutches for a month, physio for 3 months, and I'm walking with a pronounced limp. Still got pain, still doing the exercises physio gave me.

8. Even though I have someone I call my boyfriend (and I value him highly), the distance makes the relationship feel less serious. And I intend not to repeat the pattern of the last relationship I had, in which tiny mistakes ruined a Very Good Thing, so I am OK with this. As you can tell, that last relationship looms a little in the background, and I'm still waiting to tie things up. Will happen soon though.

9. Following on from that, I have been planning an extended stay in San Diego next March. It's expensive, I'm doing it with no one else's help and so it will be a lot more gratifying, I hope. I won't feel so guilty about watching Oprah and eating sushi for a month.

10. Moleskines for the win! Best notebook ever!

And that's all I can think of for now. Now I'm off to catch up on everyone's lives. Hope all is well with y'all.

(Flickr = http://www.flickr.com/photos/_saturnine/)

(7 replies, Latest reply: Dec 13, 2006)

Things I Have Done This Year (for all those that are still out there and wondering)
Dec 19, 2005

I have not used this site, and thus, completely forgotten who is who, and how to use the smileys!

I had a week and a half stay in hospital, in which I discovered being old is a terrible state, and that I am better off without my gallbladder. I have some badass scars too.

I spent a lot of time writing news for this site - http://www.theninhotline.net - and enjoyed it muchly. Tied in with that, I saw Nine Inch Nails four times this year (It could have been six, but money was lacking).

I dyed my hair back to brown. And I bought a trucker hat.

I got a job! And I kept it! I'm currently working in a call centre as a sales administrator, and have been since the 2nd of August.

I collected and watched the entire four seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, watched the fifth season three times, and currently watch the CSI fan forums for the sixth. So far, it's pretty good, but I'm annoyed they cut the Sara/Grissom hotel room scene.

I went to London the week after the Tube bombings, and the week before the second attempt. I was actually on one of the main lines on the Thursday (the week after) at the exact time the bombs went off. It was chilling.

I flew to San Diego, and met up with a long term internet friend. We went to the zoo, he showed me his sword, it was pretty fun.

I evolved, but didn't change an iota of who I am. I just got better.

...so. How is everyone else doing?

(5 replies, Latest reply: Dec 20, 2005)

What I have Done this Year
Dec 25, 2004

I have been to Canada twice.

I have failed disastrously to find employment.

I have fallen in love.

I have lost 3 stone.

I have eaten too much Japanese food.

I developed horrendous gallstones and then horrendous heart attack like pains.

I have stood on a mountain and looked all the way to America.

I have cursed bad Canadian drivers.

I have eaten donuts.

I have bought clothes from Sears and Old Navy.

I have kept my hair blonde.

I have indulged in many a flame war.

I have installed and run the Firefox browser for well over 6 months.

I have seen The Faint in live concert.

I have...*cough*...done "it"...

I was one of the first people to get a Gmail account in the middle of April.

I have used my passport.

I have visited a Canadian ER and realised how disastrously awful the NHS is.

I have cried over a political election result.

Did I mention I've fallen in love?

(19 replies, Latest reply: Jan 13, 2005)

Gmail
Jun 23, 2004

I'm getting snowed under with invites.

I have six more going, and it looks like I'll get more and more and more in the future. Email me if you want one (Egon and Croz, I know I owe you one if you haven't got one already).

(4 replies, Latest reply: Jul 4, 2004)

Writing.
May 23, 2004

Someone (read, someone mysterious and debonair and techmonkey like) has created a writing facility online, specifically for ME to store my writing online.

And it is fantastic.

And it's going into public beta testing soon.

Are there any writers on my Friends List? Or anyone that knows someone who needs a hosting facility just for their writing, made specifically for writers?

If so, let me know. I'll hook a brutha up...

(25 replies, Latest reply: May 30, 2004)