Chapter 28 – the rant

Yes, Diggory Jones is also female.

Johnny isn’t a bad-tempered person.  He’s just a fanboy, and ranting is what fanboys do.  Most of the time he’s pretty laidback.

I think it’s an important part of his character that he often acts without thinking.

***

This blog started off as a media studies project on TV and films, so I think I’m entitled to ramble a bit about television.  This week is a pretty good week for TV here.  I’ve just seen the first episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures series 2.  I liked it.  Sarah Jane is obviously aimed at younger viewers than Doctor Who, but it’s still usually good fun, and today’s episode was decently written, with quality special effects.  I’ll be looking forward to the next episode.

Something else I’m looking forward to is series 3 of Heroes, the first episode of which is on Wednesday.  The new series is subtitled “Villains”, which is ominous; clearly Sylar is going to be up to his old tricks again.

On Saturday I saw episode 2 of Merlin, which was definitely better than the first, although the dragon is irritating me.  He was shoehorned into this episode despite doing nothing to further the plot.  My guess is that the voice actor’s contract demanded it, but I hope he does something a bit more interesting in the next episode.  Still, for the most part this was a very good episode.  Arthur is still a git, but he’s growing on me, and Merlin is cool, if a bit Harry Potter-like.

I also saw episode 2 of LG15: the resistance on Saturday, which I found quite amusing.  ”Research Nerd” Sarah is so cute; I think I’m in love.

Chapter 28 – RAGE!!!

(johnny07)

You ever get really mad about something you liked?

I don’t mean just regular mad about the things normal people get mad about, I mean crazy rabid fanboy mad.

Someone at school insulted Diggory Jones. Worse, he said that she was the worst musician he’d ever heard, that she was just another outdated pop singer, that her music is boring.

Naturally, I murdered him on the spot. Then resurrected him so I could murder him again. Six times. Then I resurrected him one last time so that I could yell at him:

“WHAT THE HELL??”

OK, it didn’t go quite like that, but seriously, what (I said, or something to that effect)? Has this guy never listened to Diggory Jones? Has he never heard a DJ song in his life? What the hell?

But there was no persuading him otherwise. He couldn’t stand her songs. At all.

Afterwards – you know, once I’d taken a few deep breaths and I’d stopped accidentally causing inanimate objects to explode using only my mind – I felt pretty stupid and I was embarrassed I’d gone so fanboyish. I mean, that’s not how I usually act at all. And I wondered why I’d been so determined to prove to him the value of a person who I’ve never even met.

I guess where I had a problem was that he wasn’t just saying he didn’t like her, he was saying she was objectively bad, and that liking her was like liking Alethia or the Lunar Meteorites, which he thinks are also bad. And I admit I don’t like either of those bands – although lots of people do – but DJ is really good. And some of her songs are actually really heavy!

But I’m doing it now: getting far too angry about something that’s nothing to do with me. I think what I’m saying is, I really need to not get mad every time someone insults something I happen to be a fan of. After all, that’s the kind of geeky behaviour that really irritates me in other people.

I wish it were easier to rein in negative emotions when you don’t want them.  They’re a nuisance.

Chapter 27 – the rant

Bradley’s cheerful for once!  Yay!  I figured it’s about time the poor girl got a holiday.

***

I’ve seen episode one of Merlin now.  Still not sure whether I like it or not.  It’s certainly not written for anyone who has the vaguest idea of how the original Arthurian legend was supposed to go, and it contains a rather inexplicable cartoon dragon with an upper class accent.  I’ll see where it goes from here before I make my mind up about whether I think it’s any good.

Current listening: De La Soul, “Eye Know”.

Chapter 27 – Magic America

(bizzariarox)

i’m really excited right now. i didn’t want to mention this before, because i didn’t seriously think it was happening, but i’m going to california!

i’m going in a month’s time, during the october mini-holiday, and i’m going to be staying with sakura’s family for a week. isn’t that opti?!

at first, i didn’t think this was even going to be possible, and my mum had reservations, because the flight is really expensive and she thinks i need to be focusing on my studies now that i’m a 6th former, but she’s agreed to it and now it’s all arranged.

i can’t wait!

Meme Time 2

This is the first non-story-related post I’ve written in a while.

I was tagged by sulz to do a meme.  This one has some rules, which I’m going to break:

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

RULE #2 Tag 6 people to do this quiz and they cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by continue this game by sending it to other people.

Sadly, I’m too lazy to come up with any new questions, so this is identical to sulz’s version of the meme.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Shock, anger, and eventually forgiveness, I would think.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
Everything being right.  Whatever the hell that means.

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
Nobody’s!  (Unless they really deserved it…)

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Most of it would go to charity, and the rest would be a handy reserve for whenever I’m short on cash.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
No.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Being loved.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
As long as necessary… possibly.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Try to feel happy for them.  Fail miserably.  Be nice to them.

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?
Actress/actor.  Acting can be harder with someone you know personally.

10. What takes you down the fastest?
When someone is unexpectedly mad at me.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Probably working in a supermarket someplace.  Or unemployed, I expect.

12. What’s your fear?
That should be plural.  Death, disease, the usual lot.

13. What kind of person(s) do you think the person(s) who tagged you is/are?
A wise and witty blogger who writes about her life and the world around her.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Depends how rich we’re talking about and who it is I’d be married to.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Attempt to force myself out of bed.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
Possibly.

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
Whichever I thought was most in love with me.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
Yes – in time.

19. The one thing you can never forgive in love?
I don’t believe anything is truly unforgivable.

20. List 6 people to tag:
You, you, you, you, you, and you. Yes, you, the reader.

Ta da!

Damn, I’m tired today.

Chapter 26 – the rant

This chapter is based very loosely on my actual school, although there are some fairly big differences.  If you’re wondering, I’m one of the nerds in the corner.

Also, the word “otak” makes a return.

Current listening: Milosh, “The City”.

Chapter 26 – More About My New School

(CloudsAreGatheringOverMe)

Hi again!

I’ve been doing a lot of school work lately. The step up to year 12 has meant we have to do lots and lots and lots and lots more work than we used to, which has meant we’ve had to spend some time working in the study room to keep up with it all. On the bright side, that does cut down the amount we have to do outside school, so I guess it works out pretty well.

I don’t think we had a study room at my old school. Everyone just used the library. The study room is a very boring place. Everyone is supposed to sit at desks or computers and work in silence the whole time they’re in there, which I suppose makes sense, since you don’t go there to have fun. I don’t go there to have fun, anyway, but there’s always the geeks – what they call otaks round here – sat in the corner playing card games and eating crisps. It can be a bit distracting and annoying.

Naturally, I’m a bit of a geek too, or I wouldn’t be in the study room in the first place.

There are other places we can go when we don’t have so much work to do. When it’s not raining, we like to sit outside on the grass or on benches where we can talk and eat and stuff. Sometimes people play sports, although I don’t get involved in that because I’m hopeless at most sports. Fortunately, most of my friends here don’t like sports all that much either, so I don’t have to join in, which is a relief!

When it is raining, which is quite often, we have to go inside and sit indoors. We can go to the study area, but nobody wants to go there. For some reason, most people like to go to the upper school hall, even though it’s always crowded with annoying year 10s and 11s on rainy days.

I prefer the area around the 6th form canteen, where it’s nice and warm, and the 6th formers have the whole place to ourselves. It’s definitely the most comfortable place to be on a rainy day.

There’s also the library, for unashamed bookworms, serious English students and people who have no friends. I used to be a regular in my old school library, but I haven’t been in the library here very much, and I’ve never yet spent a free period or lunch break there.

So there you go: that was your guided tour of my school! Hope I didn’t bore you…

Chapter 25 – the rant

Johnny forgot to mention that too many crisps can seriously harm your health.  What?  They can!

This chapter does contain some direct sulz influence.  Did you notice it?

***

I went to my great aunt and uncle’s golden wedding anniversary in Yorkshire this weekend, which is why I wasn’t online.  It nice to see the family again, including plenty of relatives I’ve only seen about once before in my life, from everywhere from Wales to Australia.

I’ve watched the first chapter of LG15: the resistance, the new fantasy-ish web series by EQAL, the people behind lonelygirl15 and KateModern.  It’s pretty good, actually; certainly much more professional looking than lonelygirl15, although whether it turns out to have the charm or strong storytelling of KateModern remains to be seen.

And while I’m talking about shows, I might as well say that I’m looking forward to Merlin, the BBC’s new family drama.  I taped the first episode, but I haven’t seen it yet.  I know it’s not going to beat Doctor Who, but here’s hoping it’s better than Robin Hood.

Happy harvest!

Current listening: Glenn Rubenstein, “What Time Is It?”

Chapter 25 – Crisps

(johnny07)

Everything’s cool here now. There have been no further break-ins, which means I have been free to devote my mind to more important issues.

For instance, what’s the deal with crisps? Why does everyone love them so much?

Sorry, that’s a generalisation. I mean to say, why do most kids love crisps so much?

I mean, some crisps are OK, like plain salted ones and salt & vinegar, but I don’t get what’s so special about them that makes kids so addicted to them. Is it all the weird additives and junk?

Why don’t children get addicted to salad? Or yoghurt? Why do you never see kids in shops going “Mum, mum, can I have a carrot? Please?”

It would be fine if it was something people just grew out of, but it’s sad when you get people in their mid/late teens begging you for money to buy crisps. Teenage crisps addicts. You know who you are.

I’m thinking of refusing to buy crisps for anyone. Seriously, people are getting hooked on them like drugs. It’s worse than with sweets, or chocolate, or even food pills.

Don’t do crisps, kids. Just say no to crisps.

Especially the prawn cocktail flavour ones. Yuck.

Chapter 24 – the rant

My Internet connection went down again yesterday afternoon.  I’m not impressed!

It should be apparent that Clouds doesn’t have a lot of self confidence.

The summer fashion in South East England at the time at which this story takes place would generally be considered revealing by modern standards, although not indecent.  Hyperborean fashion is comparatively conservative, which is why Clouds finds the way people dress in Hercynia strange.