Painted Pot :)

Yesterday I finally painted the pot I bought for my mum for Christmas. I had hoped to get it done before Christmas but she said I could leave it until we got back home after Christmas because we were so busy beforehand.
In terms of what to paint on it, the only thing I had to go on was that she wanted it to be black and white. So I painted it white before we went away for Christmas and then yesterday I figured out what I wanted to paint on it and did it - see pictures below.

I tried to incorporate a few different ideas. I found the design in the first photo on the internet and really loved it - this part of the design is my favourite, and my mum's favourite part. The second and third photos show the Mackintosh-inspired sections - this was suggested by my lovely sister. It wasn't quite as bold as the other parts so I had to play around with the design a bit and also use thicker, bolder lines for it. The last photo shows a random design I came across while researching on the internet, I really love this design, and the layering of the white and black elements.

YouTube Videos

I came across this video today which is a New Moon remix of Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me' - Jacob Black POV. I found it very amusing - lyrics by Matt Sullivan, performed by RANDOMaccess (as stated in this article). I found another video using the same song, but with different footage - some from behind the scenes stuff, some photos as well, that's quite interesting - see it here.

But here's the video from the article:



This also reminded me of a beautiful video that I came across a while ago (not because it's related, simply because I started browsing YouTube), it's about the film 'The Illusionist' and I just think it's really beautifully put together, and I love the song. I haven't seen the film but would like to - however this video contains spoilers, so be aware of this if you have not yet seen the film.



Anywho, I'd better get some sleep now. I just thought I'd share those with you. It is now officially Christmas Eve in England, and I have an early morning... this morning. :)

Merry Christmas for tomorrow!

Internet at uni...

I miss how good the internet is at uni. At home I can't really watch anything on iPlayer, I can't access certain sites because they just don't load etc. One of the sites I can't get to is mixpod, and the music doesn't play when I go on my blog, I shall have to rectify the situation once I get back to uni and have good internet again... It'll be useful.
Anyway, I was going to go do work, really I was...

4 days 'til Christmas!

... and I still haven't sorted all my presents for people out yet. I've only got 2 more people to sort out, plus I need to wrap presents, and I need to paint the pot for mum (she asked for a plant pot which we went and got from a garden centre the other day, now I have to figure out what I'm going to paint on it, and hurry up and get it done...). Plus I really need to be doing work for uni, I've been doing a little bit, but not nearly enough. Tomorrow I'm planning to go shopping for the rest of the presents, and then get back and do some more work.

On a different note, I got a new phone yesterday, so that was good - it's been needed for quite a while (my current one being held together with sellotape, and dying every time I try and do anything other than check the time...).

Today I rang up my current network to get a PAC code so I could move my number over to my new network. It was an interesting process. I talked to three different people and had to repeat my details to each of them as none of them knew what I'd talked to the last person about or anything...
I first called up and was put on hold for a while, then got through and told them I wanted a PAC code, told them my mobile number, name and date of birth. I was told that I'd have to be put through to someone else because my details weren't complete and they had to sort it out for their records before they could give me the PAC code, so I was put on hold again. Interesting music... I think that the most annoying thing was not the music, but the woman's voice that came on every few seconds saying "Thank you for your patience, please continue to hold and an agent will be with you shortly". I was quite amused at the term 'agent' because it just created the imagery of the secret agents or the Matrix... I started doodling at this point - I scanned my doodles in and have put them below...

The first one (on the left) looks a bit more like a bad attempt at some sort of Michael Jackson look... The second one is better, I quite like it.
After this second time of being put on hold, I was put through to a nice lady called Julie. I had to tell her what I was calling about and give her my details again, and then give her the extra details that they didn't have on record. This was the first time that I ever had to use the phonetic alphabet - I've had other people use it to me but not vice versa (the first time I had to get a PAC code I was very confused when the guy said 'Tango Sierra Charlie' and he had to go back and say 'T for Tango, S for Sierra, C for Charlie', lol). Anywho, I took a few minutes to come up with 'D for Doctor', I was trying to think of what the actual one for the alphabet is - I later recalled that it was 'delta' but this isn't exactly a usual part of my vocabularly, so I'm not surprised I forgot it. But yes, she said the weirdest one they'd ever had was 'T for Triceratops'.

I have now looked up the phonetic alphabet (one version of it anyway, I'm sure there are a few differences depending on what it's being used for). I think it would be a useful thing to learn, though I'm not sure if I'll bother - anywho, see below:

Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Gold Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey Xray Yankee Zulu

Julie said that I had to be put through to someone else to get the actual PAC code, so she put me on hold again. This time I tried to draw a triceratops, however I had no recollection of what they were supposed to look like, so I just made it up as I went along - see below.

It's not too bad, though doesn't really look like a triceratops at all... It looks more like a mix between a dragon and a rhino, and the horns on it's head look more like ears. When I was first drawing it, it looked very friendly, I tried to adjust this a bit so it looked less like a pet... It still doesn't look very intimidating though.
Having just looked up a what a triceratops is supposed to look like, I can say that my picture definitely looks nothing like one, lol. I missed the weird collar part of it, and it doesn't have spikes along it's spine (I did know this, but it looked too boring without them, and I wasn't exactly being accurate anyway...). But nevermind.

Anywho, while I was doing this, I was still on hold, and the music got a bit vicious - it was suddenly really loud, and so was the woman's voice thanking me for my patience. I felt like maybe I was being punished for trying to leave the network. I was finally put through to someone whose name I think was Alice, and I had to again explain my situation and give her my details. The reception wasn't great, so half the time I couldn't really hear what she was saying, but I didn't mind hugely as she spent quite a while trying to convince me that I really didn't need to leave the network and that they had plenty of deals that might work for me. After saying no a few times she finally gave me my PAC code and reminded me that if I wanted to at any time I could come back to the network by just getting a PAC code from my new network (because clearly I was enjoying all this time on hold very much and wanted to repeat the experience again soon). Yes, so that's all sorted. I don't think I swap my number over until after Christmas as I've still got a little bit of credit that I want to use up (at least most of it anyway) and I want to text everyone on Christmas to say Merry Christmas, so I can use it up then...

Right, after that long story that was not particularly interesting (sorry, you didn't have to read it, in fact you probably didn't...) I'll stop blogging.
I should really be doing something constructive anyway. I might go and try and find things in the garage, that should be an adventure... Plus it's all covered in sawdust because dad's decided to make himself a work bench. Lovely.

Apparently I must blog...

I have been informed that I am not blogging enough and must do so. So I am...

Well, my birthday has been and gone, was a bit lonely at home on my own, though mum was around for a bit... It may seem a bit sad but the main highlight of my birthday was getting lots of lovely facebook messages from friends, and also a few texts, so that was nice. Also went out to a fantastic Chinese restaurant with my lovely parents so that was rather good. For my birthday I got 2 pairs of earrings from my sister, a pair of earrings from my friend Lis and 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' on DVD from my parents (they're also going to get me a new phone, which I very much need, but we haven't got around to it yet - my current one is still being all dodgy).

I also went to visit my sister for about a day, I came back on the coach - I had to catch 2. The first one was an hour late, so I severely froze whilst waiting for it. I'm glad I had my scarf and gloves with me, but it was still extremely cold. I need to wear warmer clothing...
My phone died after the first half an hour of waiting, so I couldn't text my parents to let them know what was happening, so that was a bit annoying.
Luckily I managed to catch the next coach (as we had left quite a big gap in between - which turned into quite a small gap with the hours delay) and arrived on time, and was found after a while by my parents, so that was good.

I had quite an interesting debate with my mum on the way back home - They told me that they'd bought the HP dvd for me (they didn't wrap it, so the only things I unwrapped on my birthday were the earrings...), and that they'd watched it already, lol. Or rather mum watched part of it and dad watched all of it. Mum insisted that Snape had died in this film, or was already dead beforehand. We debated about this for a while, some of it went something like this:

"I saw the film where Snape died"
"You couldn't have! It isn't out yet!"
"Well I've seen it"
"No, you haven't. You haven't even seen all of the ones that are already out!"
"I have"
"No you haven't..."
etc.

It took a while, but she finally realised she meant Sirius, not Snape, and I was quite amused...

Also, mum still calls Voldemort 'Baltimore', or something of the sort. She knows perfectly well that it's not right, I think she just does it to annoy me. Or amuse me. It does both on different occasions...

On another note, I've been getting a bit of uni work done. I haven't really done much so far, but I hope I'm progressing... I need to sort out some sort of timetable for me to get work done while I'm at home, I might sort it out tonight.

I still haven't sorted out my Christmas presents, I was planning to go shopping today but I woke up quite late and couldn't be bothered so am planning to go tomorrow instead. Not sure when I'm going to go and get a new phone, depends when dad can come with me - I've picked up a magaziney thing with different phones in it that I'll have a look at sometime soon... I don't want anything too complicated really, I only use my phone to ring, text and check the time - though a few other things would be nice. Main thing is that it has a good battery and doesn't die all the time...

Lol, I need to be more careful with what I leave on my bed. I found an eyeshadow brush this morning, that I must have slept on last night and I also just found a small star stud (which is quite spiky) that was also on my bed - I'm surprised I didn't notice that one before.

Anywho, I should probs be going off and doing some work... *sigh*

Hidden Blog...

I just realised that after all the effort I go to to not include place names etc. I am a contributor to a blog which tells you where I go to uni, lol. So have now hidden that one for security purposes... not that it would be that difficult to figure it out, but why encourage it?

In other news, I stayed up for 52 hours straight with some friends yesterday (and the day before). Was good fun, though we went shopping yesterday and I kept almost falling asleep on the bus, lol, but I didn't actually sleep... I went through periods of being absolutely exhausted to being rather strangely alert. I didn't exactly feel tired last night before I went to sleep, but I was starting to...

I really need to sort out Christmas presents soon, I haven't really thought about them yet, while other people have been telling me they're almost sorted, lol. I'm sure it'll be fine...

Why did the chicken cross the road?

This is another e-mail thing stolen off Carol's blog, I thought it was so excellent that it should have it's own blog post...

Plato:
For the greater good.

Karl Marx:
It was a historical inevitability.

Machiavelli:
So that its subjects will view it with admiration, as a chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road, but also with fear, for whom among them has the strength to contend with such a paragon of avian virtue? In such a manner is the princely chicken's dominion maintained.

Hippocrates:
Because of an excess of light pink gooey stuff in its pancreas.

Jacques Derrida:
Any number of contending discourses may be discovered within the act of the chicken crossing the road, and each interpretation is equally valid as the authorial intent can never be discerned, because structuralism is DEAD, DAMMIT, DEAD!

Thomas de Torquemada:
Give me ten minutes with the chicken and I'll find out.

Timothy Leary:
Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take.

Douglas Adams:
Forty-two.

Nietzsche:
Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road gazes also across you.

Oliver North:
National Security was at stake.

B.F. Skinner:
Because the external influences which had pervaded its sensorium from birth had caused it to develop in such a fashion that it would tend to cross roads, even while believing these actions to be of its own free will.

Carl Jung:
The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences into being.

Jean-Paul Sartre:
In order to act in good faith and be true to itself, the chicken found it necessary to cross the road.

Ludwig Wittgenstein:
The possibility of "crossing" was encoded into the objects "chicken" and "road", and circumstances came into being which caused the actualization of this potential occurrence.

Albert Einstein:
Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Aristotle:
To actualize its potential.

Buddha:
If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken-nature.

Howard Cosell:
It may very well have been one of the most astonishing events to grace the annals of history. An historic, unprecedented avian biped with the temerity to attempt such an herculean achievement formerly relegated to homo sapien pedestrians is truly a remarkable occurence.

Salvador Dali:
The Fish.

Darwin:
It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees.

Emily Dickinson:
Because it could not stop for death.

Epicurus:
For fun.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
It didn't cross the road; it transcended it.

Johann Friedrich von Goethe:
The eternal hen-principle made it do it.

Ernest Hemingway:
To die. In the rain.

Werner Heisenberg:
We are not sure which side of the road the chicken was on, but it was moving very fast.

David Hume:
Out of custom and habit.

Saddam Hussein:
This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it.

Jack Nicholson:
'Cause it (censored) wanted to. That's the (censored) reason.

Pyrrho the Skeptic:
What road?

Ronald Reagan:
I forget.

John Sununu:
The Air Force was only too happy to provide the transportation, so quite understandably the chicken availed himself of the opportunity.

The Sphinx:
You tell me.

Mr. T:
If you saw me coming you'd cross the road too!

Henry David Thoreau:
To live deliberately ... and suck all the marrow out of life.

Mark Twain:
The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated.

Molly Yard:
It was a hen!

Zeno of Elea:
To prove it could never reach the other side.

E-mails stuff stolen from Carol...

This is some stuff that was on Carol's blog that I have stolen because they're great. Or at least quite interesting.

I don't necessarily agree with all of these particularly, I just found them rather interesting (and amusing).

25 Truths of Life

1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.

2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it!

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shall not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

25. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat!


I quite like all of these, they're rather good.

The complete compendium of truth:

Save the whales; collect the whole set.

A day without sunshine is like, night.

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.

42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.

Monday is an awful way to spend one seventh of your week.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.

Always try to be modest, and be proud of it!

If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand...

How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.