Calendar

The last time I updated was Hallowe'en? Oops.

Since then, I have survived Christmas with my family and New Years with the Significant Other's family, both of which were actually lovely. I had a lovely Christmas, pulling in cardigans and cloaks and socks and many other lovely things.

The SO gave me a beautiful steampunk pendant from Steamtrunk Studio on Etsy. I'm a fan of Etsy, actually, since it's all handmade stuff. I also got some lovely scrabble tile pendants from It's All About The Print, which served very well as presents for my mother, sister and brother's girlfriend. Later I got some for me, too, since the Alice in Wonderland ones in particular were lovely.

In mid January I went to Austin, TX and met up with some fellow liberal feminists. It was the best holiday I've ever had, and the people I hung out with there were super cool and lovely. We talked about all sorts, like surnames, masturbation, virginity... okay, we talk about sex a lot.

While I was there, I got a pink teeshirt with Jeremiah the Innocent on it, and some shoes that have Rhinos printed on them. I also got some earrings made out of old computer keyboard keys, page down and delete to be precise. These were made by Gretchen Grimm of Black and Bluebird Studios. Her cart is offline at the moment, but once it's back up you should certainly check out her stuff - it's different in a way that a lot of handmade jewellery isn't. I've had a lot of comments and compliments on the earrings, which I love.

I also found fine art temporary tattoos while I was there, at a toy shop on the main drag in Austin called Toy Joy. I acquired some Frida Kahlo tattoos, and I liked the self portrait with monkeys so much that I plan to get a Frida Kahlo monkey tattoo.

My next post will be a review of "The Summer of Naked Swim Parties", by Jessica Anya Blau, who is a super cool person as well as an awesome writer. I've read the book once but need to read it again to do it justice.

Workload

It is too long since I last updated.

I'm seven weeks into university now. My workload has been busy, my social life similar. I've all but abandoned the internet for the real people who have been around me. Crazy, I know.

Also crazy, in two and a half hours, NaNoWriMo '08 begins. My next novel, tentatively entitled 'Burning the Bridges' will start to write itself at about midnight tonight, and if I do it right, will be at 50,000 by the end of the month. November this year begins and ends with a weekend, so I should be able to do it. After all, last year I wrote 23,000 in the last four days.

Scotland is bastard cold. I'm wearing extra layers under my clothes and am tempted to wear both a long as well as a short sleeved teeshirt under my hoodie. It's not a hooligan hoodie, I promise. It says "Shakespeare" on it.

I saw my best friend this morning, walking through Edinburgh. I was goig to the train station and she was going to a lecture. It was nice to bump into her unexpectedly, we had a chat as we walked and then went our separate ways. She is very tall and has red hair. I am rather short, and don't. We fit well.

Capulet

I've lost some days, somewhere. Suddenly it's fewer than eight hours to go. Fewer than seven.

My friends came and took me out for a surprise today - we went and saw Mamma Mia again, with lyrics sheets and we sang along. They also had masks on sticks of some characters faces, and I was Meryl Streep. Being Meryl Streep was fun.

I think we all cried during Slipping Through my Fingers. After the film and the singing and the crying we took photos.

Thank you for the music, guys.

My life is packed up into boxes and suitcases. Deciding which clothing to leave behind was easy. Deciding which books I had to leave was so hard.

Life's coming, and it's big and it's scary and I have no Angelica to take care of me, no Helena to speak for me, no Rosaline to fight for me. Little Bianca is alone among strangers.

Flutation

I took out my music folder and my flute. It all seemed so intuitive, fitting it together like it hadn't been a year since I last played. Beethoven and Bach fell from my fingers like petals from dried flowers. Not perfect, but somewhat recognisable.
Lloyd Webber opened. Song and Dance. Tell me on a Sunday.

There are too many goodbyes in that song.

There are too many goodbyes in life, at the moment.

I had a tea party and eight friends came. They are wonderful people and I could not have wished for more. Paul and Hannah brought me flowers and a vase. They are very beautiful. We had cakes and sausage rolls and shortbread and for four hours we talked non-stop. I think it was one of the best afternoons of my life to date. Several times through the afternoon I felt myself welling up because life is never going to be the same as it is now, and my life with these people has been so beautiful. These are people that I could say, I want to spend the rest of my life in the company of these incredible people. Now we scatter across the country and I'm one of the first to go.

As of Saturday, I will be over 200 miles from home. I will be 150 miles from Myke and Bob, and God knows how far from Laura.

The yoghurt in the fridge will be here longer than me.

It's ticking. T minus four days to be a kid.

The outside world is coming. Am I ready?

Helix

Over the last few days I've been doing various things.
I went back in to my old college yesterday and said hey to a few of my tutors. Hugging both my drama tutors was nice, and one promised to send me a copy of the DVD from a play in which I appeared coming up for a year ago. I also directed a few newbs to their lessons. It seems so strange to think that just two years ago the college seemed huge. Now it seems so tiny, and strange to think that a thousand new students will be thundering through the corridors where I ran barefoot so many times.

I also went and got my helix pierced yesterday. I suppose there'll be no motorbiking until it's well and truly healed, but it's there, nestling against my ear like it's been there for years. I had it done at Holier Than Thou in Manchester. It has the reputation for being the best piercing studio in the north west of England, which is why I went there. The piercer was a very nice guy, relaxed and friendly yet focussed. It was my first piercing since I got my lobes done at the age of seven, and it was a really positive experience. When this one heals (probably about six months for it to fully heal, but I'll probably wait longer) I want to get another one done above it.

Between the piercing and the boots, I suppose I'm beginning to express myself more in the way I look than I previously have. I think that dressing and expressing myself in this way is a way to anchor who I am, my personal identity, and to keep hold of that. It makes me feel more confident, too.

Today I went out with friends to see the film Wild Child which was actually a lot sweeter and more engaging than we expected. At some parts we were laughing with it, at others laughing at it, but it was all in good fun.

I've been listening to a lot of Darling Violetta, too. Aside from having a deliciously charming name, they make very good music. It's dark, orchestral pop, with rich musical themes and beautiful overtones. The lyrics are a little darker than most, but quite lightweight compared to some bands to which I listen. I began listening to them because they were compared to Emilie Autumn who is one of my favourite singers.
I suppose I have a soft spot for dark music with strings.

Tomorrow I hang out with my sister. She's not a bad kid, at times, and she kind of idolises me. It gets less annoying as it gets closer to my inevitable departure. She starts back at high school on Thursday, so tomorrow is her last day of freedom, really, and I leave for uni soon so we might go out for lunch tomorrow. There's a little pagan vegetarian cafe in Wigan called The Coven which does fantastic food, so I may take her there.

Boots

I got some new boots recently. I had been wanting some for a while, but wasn't sure exactly what - eventually I settled on 14 eyelet Docs, since the eight eyelet Docs I wear almost every day have lasted me three years, and they lasted the previous owner three years, too. And still going strong.

We went to purgatory on a hint that Schuh has 14 eyelet docs. What we found were much better.

Well, I wouldn't say I fell in love, but I liked them a lot instantly, even better in person than the on screen versions I had seen (linked to by my good friend Polly) and that was that, a done deal.

New boots.

Head kicking boots, with roses on them.

As Bob said, the roses make them scarier..."I can wear boots with flowers on them and still scare the sh*t out of you."

But I'm not that scary, not really. I hope.

Attention. Deficit. Disorder.

I am not very good at bloffing regularly.
I have been attempting to make my mind become (briefly) more organised as I fill in forms and buy mechanical pencils and plan what to name the laptop I will buy on Thursday for university (Gregory, if you're interested).

I will be moving in a little under four weeks, two hundred and forty miles (give or take) from home. I will be living at the gateway to the scottish highlands. There is nothing that fills me with more excitement or dread.

I spent yesterday with my friend, Bob. The one whose mother makes great pasta salad with tomato in it. He gave me back a book I lent him ages ago. He hasn't read it, but it's coming to university with me.

The book has a rubber cover and is signed by the author. It's number seven hundred and ninety two of a limited run of one thousand special edition books. I didn't pay for it; I won it in a limerick competition on the author's myspace blog. Later, I felt bad about that, and got my college library to buy a copy. Here's my copy on my desk:

Attention. Deficit. Disorder. is a great book. People ask what it's about, and I don't have a lot to tell them. It's about a guy whose ex girlfriend kills herself and then he goes on a trip and he goes to burning man and he plays on the stock exchange. Nothing I can say will do this book justice. Read it.

The author, Brad Listi is a great guy. He writes funny, thought-provoking political things on his blog. I don't often comment, but I always read. He runs a group blog that many writers contribute to at thenervousbreakdown.com.

A few days ago, I got moo mini cards printed. I chose Andrea Joseph's designs rather than using my own photography or using text. On the other side is my name, the pronunciation (it's amazing how few people are able to pronounce Cayt) and what I'm studying. I await the arrival of the cards eagerly.