I really need to clean up my mac; delete old files and put everything into descreptive folders as my documents folder and desktop is a complete mess after half a year with little or no archiving. Firstly I went through my "Handsomepants" folder, cleaned it out and renamed most of the files, so in the near future I am going to post most of them as that's what I've been saving them for anyway. That and random, obsessive, superficial fangirling. Originally the folder had a lot more files in it but then my harddrive crashed around Christmas last year (and I had to write two big essays on a crappy school computer in the library among other things - the only good thing that came of it was that I spent most of my time reading and listening to Classic FM which aired a lot of charming Dickensianish Christmas music) and I lost everything; luckily I had a backup of my Vintage Photo folder! I should probably post something from it sometime.

 ( Handsomepants Part One: A-B )

Also: I GOT MY FIRST CHOICE ENGLISH MODULES FOR THE NEXT SEMESTER!!! They're apparently provisional but I am excited all the same! My two first choices, worth 30 credits each (only need 60 for English as I also take 60 in History to fill my 120 second year credits) were "Imagination and Knowledge: English Romantic Literature 1770 - 1825" and "Women Writing in the Romantic Period". This means that my second year is going to be a blissful one full of Keats & Austen. I...I feel dizzy.

Oh, aren't I a nice person; scribbling down a rant and then buggering off on holiday. Well, I'm back in Oslo and in a better mood now although I'm slightly gloomy. But then again, I'm always slightly gloomy. Thanks for all the nice comments and party invitations - I've added them to my calendar ;)

This one week of family holiday actually went very well: first a trip to a cabin in the country and then three days in Bergen which was a lively and important 19th century city but is today quiet and provincial (albeit with a lot of pretty pastel coloured early to mid 19th century houses.)

I'll update properly with pictures later - for now you'll have to make do with this gorgeous picture from 1910 of two small girls with lollipops posted at vintage_photo .



In other news, I've just begun listening to Veronica Maggio as I newly purchased an ipod and finally have room for more than three albums, yay! These are two of my favourite songs by her: "Måndagsbarn" (Monday's Child) and "Stopp" (Stop) She is Swedish so most of you will probably not understand any of it, though. A very rough translation would be that the first song is about how her whole life has been weekend as she's born on a Monday and how the weekend eventually has to end beause everyone is tired of her always partying and never doing anything useful and the second one is about her wanting to stop someone leaving her. Such ordinary lyrics but oh so catchy melodies! Also, "Måndagsbarn" = day 17 ★ a song that you hear often on the radio of the music meme which I have fallen behind on.

Another meme because I am annoyed and grumpy today.

The 10 pictures meme

• Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.
• NO CAPTIONS! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.
• They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.
• You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.

( Ten pictures )

As it is summertime I automatically begin reminiscing of the summer I went sailing with my closest friends, wishing we could do it all over again. Alas we are now living in different countries so who knows when we will meet again! (Actually, we'll meet in August when we'll all be in Norway at the same time but hush, I like to be dramatic.)

Time for this year's reminiscing!



( Ye gentlemen of England that live at home at ease, ah! little do you think upon the dangers of the seas )

day 05 ★ a song that reminds you of someone

Boney M's "Rasputin" set to Rose of Versailles - it reminds me of plautilla_1493 as we had a massive and very silly obsession with Fersen around the release time of Coppola's Marie Antoinette-film. Very, very good times.



( Rest of meme )

I just received an e-mail invitation to help commandeer a ship during the Napoleonic Wars this summer.

(Norwegian re-enactment, 1810-2010 jubilee because of Bernadotte.)

Real update coming tomorrow; now I'm going to fall asleep watching Sharpe as I've spent the whole day celebrating my grandmother's birthday (white wine and cake for breakfast!) and reading a Madame de Staël biography I should have read years ago. This was just a small post because being press ganged through e-mails and facebook is so 21st century and too amusing not to share instantly.

I am currently enjoying my holiday to the full, in other words I'm spending my time sleeping, reading or watching films or simply sitting on the veranda listening to music. Blissful times, indeed. Therefore I have nothing interesting to tell, really, so let's just get on with this meme:

day 03 ★ a song that makes you happy

"Girl Like You" by Bertine Zetlitz, which has been one of my favourite songs since I first heard it - it never fails to make me smile, then grin and then dance. (Alright, that's a lie; I never dance.)



day 04 ★ a song that makes you sad

Poem/song from Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, music by Schubert. And yes, this is one of my fanvids as I wanted to post the Dawn Upshaw version, which brilliant.




( Rest of meme )

day 02 ★ your least favorite song

To say that this is my least favourite song would be a huge exaggeration but I do tend to hate this kind of songs: the ever so hip fashion accessory - the ukulele, and the fact that it's a duet with simple lyrics supposed to be seen as cute and 'oh so charming and so true and like, exactly how I'm feeling.' GAH.



I'm rather fond of Ingrid Michaelson in general, though.

( Rest of meme )

Judging from the fact that I didn't manage to keep up with the previous 30 days meme I embarked on, I should probably not commit to this, but here we go:

day 01 ★ your favorite song

The "Madamina, il catalogo è questo" aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni. It's my favourite opera and this film version is brilliant, even though it 'overall reveals its age' as someone commented on youtube.




( Translated lyrics and rest of meme )

Apparently there has newly been made an American version of the British comedy Death at a Funeral. I am dreading it and will not even watch the film as it'll probably make me cringe until I die. Therefore I re-watched the original with my sisters - and screencapped a little bit. It's a super silly little film but several of my favourite actors are in it, such as Keeley Hawes, Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Graves. The plot revolves around Macfadyen's character who is hosting his father's funeral but then hallucinogens are mistaken for valium, old grumpy uncle Alfie acts up and a blackmailing dwarf appears on scene. Oh dear. My favourite part of this film is however how ridiculously adorable Hawes and Macfadyen suits playing (and being) married.




( What are you doing in my dad's coffin? )

I am finished with my exams! There were only three of them and none were particularly hard. The first was Shakespeare and very dull as I had already written three essays for that module with the exact same structure, the second one was Intellectual History and I just had to scribble down something about Rousseau & amour propre and Nietzsche & religion and the last one was Society and the State in Britain 1450-1720. I will only state that Charles I and James II are incredibly dull and stupid, and say nothing more on the subject. (Except that Kate Beaton should make a comic about James' breakdown and nosebleeds.) Now I only have an essay about domesticity and the "woman's sphere" in Victorian England, which will actually be fun. I have finished the reading and now I simply have to sit down and write it.

I think my exam today went pretty well although I was very distracted by the location, the Octagon, because it's so pretty and built in 1888:


Luckily I sat facing the busts of Byron and Wordsworth with Chaucer out of my view.

My future flatmates and I have been sorting out bank stuff and such for the last few days and soon we will just have to lean back and wait for July when we're moving in. Now I just have to pack everything down, put something in storage and wait for my mother to come over and help me getting the rest back to Norway for the summer.

The weather has been exceptionally splendid here the last few days with actual summery temperatures, but now it's colder and gray again. One can still stroll about in one's t-shirt, though, which is very novel for my Norwegian self who is used to still be wearing a coat at this time of year.

Lately I've been re-watching some costume dramas such as He Knew He Was Right and North & South. I'm rather fond of the latter now (didn't like it that much when I first watched it), and I had completely forgotten how pretty Laura Fraser (in HKHWR) was. David Tenant is also brilliant and hilarious in it, and Christina Cole and Stephen Campbell Moore are too adorable and pretty and golden and awww. I've also watched the first series of Ashes to Ashes with almostlifesized and I'm currently introducing her to the second series as well.

Now if you will excuse me, I will take a break from uni work and watch an episode of Victorian Farm (reality TV, 19th century style!)

Also, it's my father's birthday today, so happy birthday to him!