A Random Monii

So I’m leaving for Uni at the end of the month, and I’m pretty excited. My best friend from home is also going, and also taking a BA, but he’s not staying in residence like me. I suppose both living in residence and having a place of your own both have difficulties, but I’m happy to be staying in res for now.

Of course, my main priorities to tackle at university are:

• Can I work toward a degree involving ancient cultures without studying science? Is an anthropology degree way out of my range, or maybe too specialised to even consider? Is it possible to delve into all of that stuff before doing a doctorate? Can I meet Dr. Jackson?
• How much bandwidth will I be allowed to use per month? Are voice calls allowed?
• Is there any type of gaming culture at Rhodes, and what do they play? Do they have any events? Do they need someone to organise gaming parties?

Yeah, I sure have my priorities straight. Right now the family and me are busy with making lists and buying supplies for my first few months there. A cool thing I picked up is an audio voice recorder, just like the old dictaphone I used to have when I was little but modernized. I haven’t set up the PC-linkage side of it, but the unit works great on it’s own so far. It’ll be handy for my lectures, but I admit it’s fun to mess around with, too. Of course, it’s not as sexy as Livescribe or even FLY, but it’ll do.

Your Score: Older Futhark

Language of the Norse, Older Futhark! Thirty symbols, all told. And no hardier, more warrior-like tongue has ever graced the longships of the Viki or left the Celts and Saxons in such quivering fear. There’s only one drawback, that being you died 800 years ago.

…as the most hated South African company. The electricity supplier shot to the top within the last week as they re-introduced load-shedding to the masses, but with a twist.

“It’s a new look at load-shedding,” An Eskom spokesperson explained. “We used to only cut power occasionally during the winter when usage was lower, to conserve power for the busier summer months. Now we are cutting power during the middle of summer, when our customers are using it most often!”

Eskom has also gained more public outcry by posting a rough schedule of load-shedding times on their website, but not sticking to it. The daily power cuts have led to important facilities such as hospitals having to fall-back onto secondary generators, while residential users struggle on without any electricity. The confusion continues to mount as no official explanation has been given, but experts remind us that Eskom was not granted permission by the government to build any new power stations. As no new stations have been built in 20 years, it’s no surprise that it was all bound to come crashing around our ears sooner or later.

The sudden increase in load-shedding has pulled the rug out from under the formerly most hated company in South Africa- Telkom. The infamous telecommunications provider is reported to have dismissed Eskom as “an upstart who is not used to upsetting the masses”.

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Yes, I’m exaggerating. Not on the extent of the load-shedding, though. Maybe we should stop selling power to Zimbabwe, especially if all of Zim’s population is living in SA now?

Wow.

Tonight I’m going out for New Year’s, to a big swanky dinner dance. The family is coming with and I’m bringing B as my date.

So I’m hopping into my dress as the doorbell rings. I shimmy my legs in.

Ding Dong

I jerk the dress up. And tear the single stitch holding the front part of the dress together.

“Fuckshit.” I say, eloquently. My once lovely dress is now far too gappy at the chest area. I don’t want /that/ much attention paid to my assets, y’know.

In the end, we stitched it. But I don’t tend to swear out loud for minor reasons.

I hope everyone has a safe New Year’s.

Christmas and my birthday have come and gone, and New Year’s is on it’s way. My dad left a week or so ago and two more guests arrive tomorrow. But right now the silly festivals aren’t really holding my attention.

Instead, I have a boy problem. “Why, Monii!” I hear you cry, “How can you have a boy problem when you’ve never even kissed one?” Well, the internet can be a very personal place, once you add things like instant messaging, VOIP and webcams into the mix. Basically, I end up wanting to be in the life of someone unattainable. And not just because of the distance, either.

So I pose my well-worn question once again: Is it alright to change your entire life for someone, just to get a shot at being with them? Especially someone so far away, who would be way out of my range anyway?

I don’t know. If I did know, I wouldn’t be blogging about it. Instead, I’d be out getting on with my life or, alternately, changing my life and seeking out the guy. Maybe I just find it hard to let go. But I’m going to have to eventually, whether I like it or not. The idea of letting go, going on to university, finding another lovely guy that’s close to home and ending up with him seems impossible to me right now.

Oh. I also matriculated with two A’s. Exams= Pwned. Seems like I’m going to Uni after all. Now, all I need to do is sort out my emotional problems so that I’m a perfect shiny youth all-round, yes?

So around these parts it’s traditional to put up your christmas decorations on the 10th. And it seems that this year my family has succeeded. We now have a snazzy tree with not-so-snazzy ornaments, plus a wreath and a nice selection of tinsel. Personally, I could lose all of that and just keep the pretty lights we’ve hung on the tree. I’d have them all year around in my room if I had my own set.

The new dog, Tigger, is settling in well, Misty enjoys playing with him and they both now sleep in their baskets (as opposed to Misty sleeping on our beds). We couldn’t decide on a name for most of his first day, and so his nametag reads ‘Tiger’, but we can just bluff over that mishap as a matter of pronunciation.

This month is going to be, and has already been, hectic for me because of my birthday and family and friends-of-family flying out. Not to mention the actual wintereenmas christmas and new year’s. Speaking of family, my dad arrived in Africa yesterday and I seen him for the first time today. He hasn’t been here in over 9 years (one week in 1998 and a vacation in 1997), but from the early 80’s until 1992 he lived here. From what I can see, he really misses the place. He said that stepping off the plane felt like coming home.

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Now playing: Queen - The Show Must Go On
via FoxyTunes

Yep. My dad, who just left tonight to fly over here for two weeks, bought me a star. One in Orion, near the famous three that make up his belt. It’s not scientifically named after me, but I have a star chart detailing where it is, co-ordinates and a certificate. Way cool.

I seem to have gotten hooked on two things recently. One I already talked about, Hairspray. The other…

Oblivion has gotten me again, thanks to wonderful advances made by the modding community while I was away. Now we have hybrid cat races, beautiful working clocks, a multitude of new ingredients…

*sighs happily*

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Now playing: John Rzeznik - I’m Still Here
via FoxyTunes

“The most wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs. They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is, I’m the only one. Oh, III’m the only one!”

“Oh, the wonderful thing about Tiggers is, Tiggers are wonderful chaps. They’re loaded with vim and vigor. They love to leap in your lap. They’re jumpy, bumpy, clumpy, thumpy, Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is … III’m the only one!”

- Tigger’s Song

Say hello to my new dog, Tigger. He’s a magical X breed, with semi-Jack Russell markings on a Maltese coat.

In other, more Stumbley news, check out this interesting blog entry by Scott Granneman on GranneBlog. Time travel… hmm.

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Now playing: Robbie Williams & Oasis - Wonderwall (Live)
via FoxyTunes