Shawn O'Donnells

The other night, I went to an American Grill/Irish Pub called Shawn O'Donnells and thought it was worth comparing to the pubs I've been to in Scotland. Not that I've been to an Irish one, but there must be similarities.

It's a pretty Americanized place, for all its advertisement as an "Irish Pub." I don't think it's typical to have shamrocks everywhere, and a countdown to St. Patrick's day by the bar. American football was on TV. They had mac & cheese on the menu, which I've come to understand is an American thing, despite the fact the menu says "Irish Whisky Macaroni & Cheese."

I ordered their corned beef and cabbage dinner (with mashed potatoes), which came with soup or salad, and I chose to have the "Irish Clam Chowder." Again, not quite sure what made it Irish but it was all delicious. It also came with a side of Irish Soda Bread, which is not quite cake, not quite bread, but something better, inbetween. Dad got the fish & chips, which was also good but was different from what I've had in the UK, perhaps a different sort of fish or batter.

As for drinks, I was sad to see they didn't carry any cider, that I could see on the menu anyway. Hard cider, for those Americans reading this. There's a favorite among my Scottish friends called Magners Irish Cider, which I think would be worth them carrying, if only because it's Irish. They do have Guinness though, which they over-advertise, and my dad got a pint, which I tried a bit of. A little too strong for my taste, but I guess it usually is for people.

I've come here in the morning before, and their scramble with corned beef is delicious as well. So it's worth a stop, but don't expect anything too "authentically" Irish.

Christmastime

Today the plan is to visit West Seattle and go back to Easy Street Records, which I talked about in this blog post back in June. I have a few CDs in mind that I hope to find in the used section, namely the self-titled album Miike Snow and Daft Punk's Discovery or perhaps Human After All, whatever I manage to find. Afterwards for dinner, or before for lunch, we'll hopefully make it to Musashi's, a favorite Japanese restaurant that I talked about in this blog post from August. I've really been missing Japanese food, and lately I've been trying to satisfy my craving. I've probably gone out for sushi of some kind at least three times in the past week. I think I like fish and salt too much.

Christmas in four days. Unbelievable. All my shopping for other people is done, but I have wrapping to do. The only shopping I still want to do is for myself, but I'm nervous about trying to brave the mall. Even so, it must be done.

It's funny how I miss Seattle when I'm in Glasgow, and Glasgow when I'm in Seattle. I guess that's how things go. Best thing I can do is enjoy the moment. Which I'm doing with an English muffin, Skippy peanut butter, and Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee.

Enjoy the Christmas weekend, be it with friends, family, or alone, whether you celebrate it or not.

Back In America

Staying up till my flight at 6am was probably not the best idea. I was exhausted for both of my flights, so much so that the intense security didn't even bother me, I just wanted it over with. That aside, I'm happy to be home for a while.

We got a Christmas tree yesterday, which smells wonderful. I'm crashing on the couch usually, and it's fun to have the tree lights on at night.

It was so rainy this weekend there were flood warnings, and the local news was all over it like there was nothing else to talk about. I'm hoping we'll get snow before Christmas, though. It's been so long since I've had a white Christmas. There's rain/snow mix in the forecast, so we'll see.

It's interesting to be back in the US. At first I honestly thought it was strange to hear other people speak with the same accent as me, I've almost gotten used to being the one speaking differently. I also immediately noticed how commercialized this area is compared to Glasgow. Wendy's and Red Robin on every corner, where in Scotland the closest thing to a restaurant chain is the "local chippy" (which of course isn't a chain at all).

I'm almost used to the time difference already, but I still manage to chat with friends back in Scotland. Looking forward to a few weeks from now when I see my friends from Canada. Till then, I have touristy stuff planned.

~

Photo: Taken in West Seattle this summer. My Scottish friends are making me appreciate the mountains in this area even more lately.

Almost Home

I'm eating a sandwich for dinner, because someone ate my leftover spaghetti and I'm almost out of food. I'm fairly cold even though they are keeping the radiators on for three more hours each day.

I can't wait to get home.

All my lectures are over, but I'll have to go to campus a couple more times in the next week. Tomorrow, my team has our instant messenger project presentation (just about our progress, since it's a year-long project). But after that, and after another team meeting to sort out what we'll do over the break, I'm all done.

My flight is very early Saturday morning, so it's less than a week now. I'm wondering if, when I get home, I'll go back to my old routines and these past few months will seem like a dream, like it never really happened. I'm so far from what I'm used to that it might seem that way... except that I'll feel different. I've definitely changed somehow.

I also won't have my own room anymore. Mom's renting out our house, and is staying with a friend. Dad's place isn't big enough for me to truly have my own space. I guess that's what happens when you get older, eh? Gotta make my own "home" somewhere. But I'm learning more and more these days that home is not a room, not even a city. It's people. And it can change.

I'm sure soon enough I'll be missing Scotland and university and friends back here, but right now I'm missing Rainier, and Japanese food, and a Christmas tree. And family.

~

Photo: Nearby park in the snow. It's starting to melt now. Hopefully this isn't the only snow I'll see until I come back...

Snow

Thanksgiving is over, my birthday is over, I've had my first peppermint mocha, and it snowed last night.

It finally feels like it's time to break out the Christmas music.

I've only got one more week of classes. The workload isn't quite as bad as I expected, mostly because two of the projects were much easier than I thought they'd be. Still got a couple of reports, some code to finish up, and a presentation, but it's almost the end.

I've been waiting for it to snow for at least a week or two now. Back home, they had the first "White Thanksgiving" since 1985. It just doesn't snow this early there. And I had to miss it.

Last night I went to bed early, noting that there was supposed to be snow by the time I woke up in the morning. But I'd barely slept an hour before I woke up to screaming outside. I pulled back the curtain and saw at least an inch of snow, with the big wet flakes coming down fast, and half the residence outside in it, throwing snowballs and squealing with happiness. I nearly went out and joined a few of my flatmates, but I was warm and comfortable and instead planned to go out in the morning. Needless to say it was hard to fall asleep after that. I really hope the snow will stay for a while.

Photo: Taken at the nearby park after the snowfall this morning.

The End Of The Beginning

Since I last posted, I feel like everything's happening at once.

I'm finally settled in. Friends, routines, steady coursework. I think connecting with people in my classes, outside my flat, has helped me the most. It's fun--I've never had this many geeky friends at once. That doesn't just come from small class sizes: almost everyone has the same classes. So we see a lot of each other. Especially since I'm going to be in Scotland for a while, it's good to find somewhere I feel like I belong.

The coursework will only get worse in the next two weeks, but if I stay on top of it I'll come out alright. I've mostly finished my mp3 player project, which isn't due for another week, and that will give me time to work on my other projects: modification of a simple compiler written in Haskell (sorry for you non-geeks, it's hard to explain), starting the user interface for an instant messenger program, writing a couple of reports on other projects, etc. Especially since I don't have any exams this term, everything's done in two weeks.

I also have a few other things to look forward to, and they're coming up fast. My 20th birthday is next Wednesday, which is insane (more on that later). I'm going to see HP7 this weekend, and the day after my birthday is Thanksgiving, which my two other American flatmates are very much interested in celebrating. And I'm flying home in three weeks for winter break.

In all honesty, I do feel like I'm 20. All this living-on-my-own business is making me have to deal with things I never have before, even more so than last year at UBC. And as I'm in Europe, I don't have to deal with the awkwardness of being 20 in America: able to drive and vote but not a true "adult" until 21. Here, I'm already considered an adult. That aside, it's still strange to call myself a 20-year-old. I won't ever again say that I'm "__-teen years old" or write a 1 at the beginning of my age. Maybe people feel this way every ten years of their life, but this jump, from the 10s to the 20s, seems especially significant.

Anyway, I better go sleep before this tickle in my throat turns into a cold.

How Do You Measure Success?

I just finished watching the Harry Potter 7 live premiere online, where they showed interviews with a lot of the actors, the main director, producer, and of course J.K. Rowling.

The whole thing always astounds me. All this started as just an idea in a woman's mind. She sat on a train, looked out the window, saw some cows, and it came to her. She chose to run with it, writing on napkins and eventually typing the final draft twice on a typewriter. Years later, her stories are a sensation.

What makes a story like that touch so many people? Is it the writing itself? I've heard people say no, that J.K. Rowling isn't necessarily a literary genius. Is it the story, the connections and similarities we feel with the characters? The excitement we had as kids, reading about a hidden magic world, and the possibility of it being real? I have to admit, when I was 11, I wished with all my heart I would get a letter from Hogwarts.

The truth of it all is, though, we can't go looking for this kind of impact or fame. Either a story has it or it doesn't, and it's not a strict formula. Despite my desire to be a part of something bigger, I have to write for myself or I won't find any sort of satisfaction. It's a ton of work, but I can't pin my hopes on touching so many lives. It's got to be for me. And it is, mostly. I just can't help wishing sometimes.

I think about this kind of thing whenever I watch movies or read books that are widely seen and read. It's hard for me not to compare. There is so much left to do with my book(s) that it's easy to get overwhelmed (perhaps I should start considering this a "series"...). But it's not something I plan to leave behind.

I'm strangely looking forward to getting home and being able to print out the entire first book again, so I can start Edit Number Three, where I start to fine-tune language and such. Not that it's going to be the last revision. But I've got three tough weeks ahead of me, schoolwork-wise, so who knows how much writing I'll get done.

Right. Back to computer programming mode and the homework I should be doing.

~

Photo: Especially after watching the premiere, I'm super excited for the new movie. I might just have to find a way to see it before I get home for Christmas. It'll be like a birthday present for myself...

Remember, Remember

As far as NaNoWriMo goes, I'm not sure I'm gonna make it. Wednesday and Thursday I did the daily amount, and it wasn't too bad. Friday I skipped it for an impromptu fireworks outing. And this weekend I realized I'm now three days behind, and it's not going to get any easier. I'm not going to have any time for fun things if I work this hard. So I'm considering the goal I had last summer, of 500 words a day, which is doable, but I'll get at most 15,000 words this month instead of 50,000. I hope to even stick to that, but who knows. At least from all this I've begun writing again. That's probably what I needed most. Also, I chose to start the sequel to my first book instead of a new story. So if the first book goes anywhere, at least I have some fodder for the second. I've also come up with a number of things I need to change in the first book, which I might not have noticed if I hadn't done this. Silver linings, you see.

The fireworks were good, but not amazing... the fireworks at Lake Union for July 4th were definitely better. The celebration was for Guy Fawkes day, but as no one in my flat is British, no one really knew more than that. Fireworks show? No matter why, let's go.

Excuse me while I go have a lazy weekend.

Photo: You can guess, right? I did take it myself, if you were wondering.

NaNoWriMo

It's already November. The second day, to be exact. I know I've said this before, but I feel like I haven't truly written anything for months. It really has been that long if you call "real writing" as content for my novel. Which isn't really fair, I suppose. This past summer was just editing (though in a way that means it was more difficult). But I'm not ready to write the sequel yet, and not ready to do a third draft either. I want to write something fresh, and not just a short story, because I feel like I'm bad at structuring shorter stories. I did the first part of a story on my other blog, but I haven't felt like writing the next part yet, though I have an idea for it.

I'm considering NaNoWriMo. For those of you who aren't in the loop, that's National Novel Writing Month. It's always November, as far as I know. The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month. Yup. You're not supposed to edit it, so it's definitely not publishable after that, but it's good fodder for later, and you can say to your friends and family, "I'm writing a novel!"

I've never done this before. If I did this, I have no idea what I'd write about. I suppose that's good though, because most people just go with the flow and have no plan whatsoever. The story tells itself. The other thing is, like I said, it's already the 2nd of November, and most people who do NaNoWriMo have already started and have a few thousand words by now. By no means do you have to get to the 50,000 word goal, but it's a goal. What's it worth if you don't keep it in mind?

The past few days I've gotten the hankering to play video games, and so far I've kept myself from it. I'm afraid that once I start, I'll slack off on schoolwork. Now, NaNoWriMo probably promises the same thing, but I know I'll get sick of writing, and schoolwork might actually be a relief. Besides, writing is a more productive way to spend my time than gaming, and I have time to slack off for that in December when I go home for Christmas. I've lately found that I have a few free hours in the evening, so maybe I do have the time for this. I know work is going to pile up in the next month, but seriously... if people with spouses and families and full-time jobs make time for this, I can't really complain being a university student, can I?

I'll think about it tonight, and consider what I might write about, and maybe I won't be too far behind if I start a couple days late. I think I'm going to do this. I know, I'm crazy. Wish me luck.

If you're interested, here's the NaNoWriMo website, and here is my profile page if you want me as a writing buddy, or want to see how far I've gotten.

Overwhelmed Yet?

The weeks are flying by, blurring together. Work is steadily piling on. I've worked a lot on one project the past few days, but I have many more waiting to be truly started.

A list of all my projects:

• An Instant Messenger program (as a group), for which I am mostly designing and implementing the interface (this one lasts all year, the others are done by December)
• An email notification system (as a group), which is mostly to practice the process of planning projects and writing reports rather than learning to code
• A program that takes a mailing list, reads through it, and tells you of any possible duplicates
• A web-based calendar like Google Calendar (as a group), but we're all focusing on the interface design because it's for my human-computer interaction class
• A program that takes a long list of words and creates "word ladders" from them (i.e., given "flour" and "bread", it comes up with "flour → floor → flood → blood → brood → broad → bread")
• Extending a compiler (which I don't know much about yet)
• One more that I will get tomorrow in class, and I know nothing about.

The mailing list program is the one I spent all weekend on. I was really stuck for a long time, and today I finally went to see my professor about helping me. He pointed out the problem to me in the half hour I was in his office, then I spent twenty minutes coding, and it was fixed. Sometimes it really isn't worth trying to learn things without help. Or overestimating your abilities.

There's a bit more I could do for that program tonight, but I'm stuck again, and this part isn't a big portion of my grade. So I decided to leave it for tomorrow's lab, where I can get help from the teacher again or a TA. Instead I hope to go out to the student union with some flatmates to get a break from nonstop lectures-labs-study-sleep.

Oh, and this weekend: more shopping downtown, and then Halloween. Which will be epic.

Photo: A group of street performers just after playing something on a busy street in the city centre. Note: it is a typical occurrence to see groups like this on a downtown street. I love it.

Differences

Classes have been going for a month now. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. Maybe more like two weeks. I'm definitely getting more work to do, but I'm not feeling extreme pressure (yet). Perhaps in the next couple weeks, when I get a few more projects from my teachers...

I've learned a few things (that don't have to do with computer science). The term "candy" is very rarely used here. Instead, "chocolate" or "sweets" is typical. Something I've already mentioned: "chips" means "fries" and "crisps" means "chips." Yeah, confusing. When talking about paper money, a "fiver" (or "tenner") is their equivalent of "five dollar bill," instead of saying something like "five pound note." Also, "can't be arsed" means "can't be bothered." And Irn Bru (popular bright orange soda) is intensely sweet.

The list of things I miss about home is growing, at least food-wise: easily accessible Asian food (including sushi and noodles), Skippy peanut butter, Kraft Parmesan cheese (for pasta), pop tarts, and chocolate chips. I'll probably add to that list over time. I mean, how do they not have chocolate chips? Chocolate "chunks" just aren't the same...

All that aside, Scotland's been good to me so far. Even if it doesn't always feel this way, I'm sure there's more good to come.

Mornings

Work's starting to hit me, so it's been less convenient to blog. Or maybe that's just an excuse.

I've begun to jog in the morning, and today was the first day. I finally have proper shoes for it. Last week I went to the park across the street from my flat and checked it out for running, and took some amazing pictures. I went early, so the sun had just come up. You can see all of Glasgow from a viewpoint at the park. With a place like that so close to my flat, I don't have a good reason not to get some exercise.

I also found out for sure that I don't have any exams in December. Good news: I get to have a month-long Christmas and New Year break, and I bought my plane tickets home yesterday. Bad news: I have nine exams in May. Yes, nine. Four of which are for classes that will have been over for five or six months. And all of them count for 80% of my grade for that class, except one that's worth 50% (though I've already mentioned this). It's just overwhelming.

Otherwise, I'm making good friends, going out on the weekends sometimes, and generally having a good time. Now, I've got to get some sleep before classes tomorrow.

Cheers!

~

Photo: One of the pictures I took at the park, posted on deviantART. I photoshopped it a bit, but the original pictures are gorgeous too. Physically being there in the quiet morning air was better, of course.

On Classes And Projects

I finally got the rest of my textbooks in the mail from Amazon, so I can do all the (boring) recommended reading. I may have said something like this in my last post, but the first few chapters of any textbook seem rather unnecessary. If it's not things that are almost common knowledge, the ideas are simple enough that I can fully understand it from the lectures, and I don't need to read the chapters. Hopefully things will get more interesting over time.

Classes are progressing slowly; I don't have any real challenging work to do yet. My second real lab is tomorrow. Technically I should be having three or four of them a week, but right now it's only one or two, which leads to rather boring afternoons. Though sometimes it means shorter afternoons, since the labs go for two hours and the lectures (usually) only go for one hour. Which is nice.

I'm spending a fair amount of time with my team, since we all have the same classes and we have two big projects to work on. They're nice guys, and it's good to have friends outside the flat. One of our projects is the Instant Messaging System, the other is an in-class project about something like e-mail notifications, used to teach us how to do project planning and other aspects of software engineering. I don't see the point of having two projects at once except to test our ability to organize it all.

Another thing that's a little overwhelming is that in four out of five of my classes, 80% of my grade depends on my final exam. On top of that, I'm pretty sure all of my exams are in May, even for the classes I'm taking this term.

It's helpful, though, that I share a couple classes with two different flatmates. That means three out of the eleven people in my flat are in Computing Science (including me). If I need help at crunch time, I'll probably get it.

~

NOTE: I've begun a new short story. Not quite sure how long it will be yet, or how often I will work on it, but here is the first part: http://elizabethmuir.blogspot.com/2010/10/dreams-part-1.html

Almost There

Classes have begun, but the work really hasn't.

It's one of those strange situations where you know you're going to have a lot of work to do, but it's not time to do it yet. I'm just reading the extremely boring and somehow essential first chapters of my textbooks. Tomorrow I have my first lab, where I will write my first programs in a language called Haskell. I'll feel like I'm finally doing something productive.

Judging from the first couple lectures of each of my classes, I think I'm going to enjoy the more technical ones better, the ones about the computer languages themselves. Programming Languages doesn't just teach you various computer languages, it teaches you how to learn computer languages, because in a real job it's normal to have to learn a new one (or two...). Somehow I find that more interesting than the more theoretical classes, for example about the "software life cycle" (the process of creating a large-scale project), etc. I thought I might find Interactive Systems interesting, which is basically about human-computer interaction and how to design software so it's easy to use, but the first few lectures have been kind of boring. We'll see.

Interesting fact: two of my professors are American. I think only one of them is from Scotland, the rest sound English. Between the two Americans, though, they say "zed" instead of "zee" and "shed-ule" instead of "sked-jool." I wonder if they're just trying to fit in with how the majority of students and staff talk, or whether they've naturally picked up those ways of speaking.

~

Photo: I couldn't resist taking a shot of this. I pass it every day on my way to classes. It's an old-style police box, but it's also what the TARDIS looks like, if you're a Doctor Who fan. In that case, it's epic.

Independence

Tomorrow, classes actually start.

I feel like I've been saying that in every post. I don't know what my books are yet or what exactly I'll be doing all year, except for my group project. All I've been doing this week is learning Unix/Linux, a lot of which I know already. Sadly, that means this coming week will likely be boring introductory lectures. If I was a student in anything other than computer science, that boring first week would be over already.

My group project will be creating an instant messaging program, like a very simplified MSN or AIM or Skype. We're deciding this week whether we want to create the entire thing ourselves, or use code that MSN or another instant messaging service has already created and make our own version of it (this is all very vague because I assume most of my readers wouldn't know what I'm talking about if I got specific). It's going to be challenging, but also hopefully fun, and it's one of the available projects that is very extendable and is possible to write a lot about. We have to write a fairly long dissertation between me and my other three group members, which will actually count for most of the grade. That kind of writing is not my favorite.

I finally went on that shopping trip I kept talking about, but ended up going on my own because everyone else was busy. It was a fruitful trip. I bought this coat (the black one), which I'm very proud of finding, and two t-shirts, one white, one black, both with designs on the front. All of that for 30 pounds (about $45). I easily found the subway stops and everything on my own.

I find these first-time-on-my-own trips rather exhilarating. First the airplane ride here, then learning how to get around my local area, then going downtown on my own. I'm enjoying this new independence.

~

Photo: Near the City Centre (no, spell-checker, that's how they spell "center"...) on a usual Sunday afternoon. Complete with the busker playing his drum in the street.

Changing Tides

It feels like I haven't written anything new, fiction-wise, in a long time. It's understandable, considering I was working editing on a full-length novel for so long. Counting the short story on my other blog, it's really just been a month. I finally got my journal out though, and have been writing in that a little. Definitely not the three-pages-a-day I did over the summer, but enough that I get my thoughts sorted out. I hope all the future programming homework I'll have won't damper my will to write. Maybe I'll find the time for another short story. I just need ideas.

I read Neil Gaiman's blog the other day and wondered at how different life is for people, and how things change. Quickly, sometimes. Or most of the time. It sneaks up on you. A famous writer, roaming the world to show off his skill. Years ago, he was probably just like any other aspiring creative person. Wanting to make his mark, working hard at what he loved, hoping it would bring him success one day. And it certainly did.

Consider myself. A month ago, I was going to Starbucks every day, writing like a maniac, mostly being a loner. Lived in Seattle, at home, depended on my parents for food and shelter. Now, it's almost the opposite. I go to classes, I almost don't have time to write, I'm always surrounded by people, and I pay for my own food and shelter.

After all the ridiculous, stressful paperwork for applying for this school, for accommodation, for my visa, getting plane tickets, registering in classes... it's finally all done. I'm settled in. I'm here.

I don't think I was expecting how it turned out. But it's wonderful.

~

Photo: My view of the main building on campus. It honestly feels like I'm going to Hogwarts.

Classes, Day One

Let me just say I was surprised today. Though I probably shouldn't have been.

The majority of people in Computer Science year 3 are British white guys. All obviously geeky. In Vancouver, at least half the class was Asian, and a lot more of them were girls. I feel like I'm back at Bellevue College, but with a few more people.

That's the other thing: the number of students that are in CS year 3 is somewhere between 40 and 60. Not more than 75. At UBC, there were at least 100 in year 2, probably closer to twice that. And since you can't choose your courses that much in year 3, I think mostly everyone in my introductory class today will be in all of my other classes. It'll be interesting.

The five courses I'm taking this term are: Professional Software Development, Advanced Programming, Interactive Systems, Programming Languages, and Algorithmics. It's going to be an intense term, if not year. I also have a team project due at the end of the school year. Tomorrow my team has a meeting to decide on our project.

The nice thing is that this week is just an intro to Unix, and it's pretty much optional, so I don't have to go in every day if I don't want to. The notes are online, so I may just do the labs at home.

After that, every day from either 10am or 11am till 4pm, I have classes and labs, with maybe an hour or two break. Some of my friends have Fridays or Mondays off. Not fair...

Shopping didn't happen the other day, so no photos. Perhaps tomorrow if I don't go to my Unix labs.

Freshers Week

Freshers' week is intense. I don't know how people go out every single night and drink and stay up till 3 or 4am just to do it again the next night. There are two student unions, and both have events going every night. Apparently the unions spend most of their money this week and then hope that students come back during the year to pay it all back.

Myself, I've only gone out about three nights in the past six, and as many of you know, I'm not much of a drinker. So I'm not as tired and bruised as some people, but I don't feel a need to go out every night. It's fun though, and when you are around drunk people, it's easier to be crazy without alcohol.

Monday is the first day of classes for many people at my university. I don't have a timetable yet, and I don't even know my classes. I have to go to registration and enrollment on Monday instead, which will probably take up my whole day. Most of my flatmates say they usually don't drink or party as much as they are now, so it will be interesting to finally be around them in a "normal" setting to see how much they do work when they need to.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, but I haven't had time. I might take my camera with me today when we go shopping.

Thoughts On Parties

Today was more shopping. I bought two new plaid shirts, and afterward we went out for very good (and inexpensive) Chinese food. Tomorrow will probably be the same, though I have to set up a bank account in the morning.

Tonight, like last night, I'm staying in. I'm really not much of a partier. When Fresher's Week is over, I'll actually be happy, since I won't have to decide whether I'm going out or not. The two student unions on campus have events every night this week, and many of my flatmates are going to most of them. I'd honestly rather stay home and hang out (which we have really never done without going out afterward), or maybe go to a pub. But if lots of people come to the pub, it's not a nice conversation anymore--its a party--and people drink more, and then want to go out somewhere else after the pub closes. Like I say, once school starts next week, people will have more reasons to not drink so much and stay out so late. I'm looking forward to it.

Don't be alarmed if I decide to skip a day or so of blogging. I'm not sure how much longer I can come up with new interesting things to say on a daily basis. We'll see.

Food

I thought I'd spend a little time talking about food here in Scotland. I stopped at the fish counter in the grocery store today and noticed a few things. They're known for their salmon (which reminds me of home), so they have quite a few choices of that. They had less shellfish, and I didn't see any prawns, which I love. Perhaps I didn't look in the right place for it, but they might not have much of it here.

I've been told they have a very small asian influence, so I will have to ask my parents to send things from Uwajimaya (the asian market chain in Washington). I'm still contemplating a rice cooker, since I've been eating instant rice for a few days now. I have yet to see if they have good noodles.

I also took a look at their peanut butter. None of it looked as appealing as Skippy or Jif back home, so I decided to stick with cheese (which is very good here, though I suppose it is everywhere). I was also sad to find they didn't carry Fuji apples, my favorite kind from home. But they've got other good things.

I haven't tried haggis yet, but my flatmates say it's very good. They say, don't ask what's in it. Just eat it, and it's delicious. I'm going to make it a point to try it soon, perhaps if I go out to eat.

I've seen Domino's, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and Starbucks. The daily coffee is still Pike Place.

~

Photo: A church-turned-pub near the shopping area that's close to my flat. The ring around the tower lights up at night and helps you find your way around. Notice the cars driving on the opposite side of the road.

Peas and Queues

Today was a slow day, and I really enjoyed it. We went to the Freshers' Fair at the university, got lots of pamphlets thrown at us and free pizza shouted at us and such. I bought a university sweatshirt, and thought about buying postcards, but decided they were too expensive at the university store.

Afterward, I went to my adviser appointment. It seems the two curriculums (my old and new school) are only slightly different, and the adviser I talked to is going to see if he can get me the notes on the topics I may have to catch up with. He was a very nice guy, hopefully he'll be my long-term adviser.

Then I did some grocery shopping, and came home. I finally went to the nicer grocery store, where the veggies and fruits are much fresher and they have a real fish-and-meat deli. It was incredibly windy today, and a bit rainy on the way home. In the morning, security guys came around telling us to shut our windows, so that nothing gets broken in the wind and so we don't expect them to fix things (we'd have to pay anyway). Instead of going out dancing tonight, we're going to a bar to just chill and talk and drink a bit. I'm really bonding well with my flatmates, for which I am incredibly grateful.

Not much else to say today. The rest of the week I don't have anything planned, so downtown shopping or sightseeing are good possibilities.

Scottish Word Of The Day: You are not standing "in line." You are standing "in a queue." I feel like I'm trying too hard to fit in whenever I say it, but it's actually what they say. "Are you in the queue?" "The queue was too long, so I couldn't get into the event."

~

Photo: Credit goes to this person. I thought you guys deserved a good view of the main building, but I didn't have time take the photo myself. More pictures of my own to come, I hope...

University is University, Wherever You Are

Whenever I stop and think about it, I can't really comprehend that I'm really in Scotland. At most, it feels like an extended vacation, because I haven't started school yet. I'm basically just learning how to get around, do my own grocery shopping, and budget money a bit more than last year.

I don't know what I was expecting, but somehow I thought that living in Scotland would somehow feel... constantly foreign, or that I'd feel like more of an outsider. Truth is, it feels a whole lot like any other university, just with people that talk funny (beautifully is more accurate). It helps a lot that everyone in my flat is international. I don't feel like the only one that came from far away to be here. I'm eager to make some Scottish friends, but that might have to wait until classes start in a week or two.

I still don't have a UK bank account or a cell phone, but I'm starting to get the hang of grocery shopping for myself. Something I haven't found yet that I really hope I can find somewhere are instant or boxed noodles. You know, like Top Ramen or Macaroni & Cheese (Easy Mac for you Canadians...). There's a fair amount of pre-made, packaged food, but in the little Tesco on Byers Road (pretty much a Safeway-type place) I haven't found a single box or bag of noodles. Plenty of pasta and sauce though, so I could make spaghetti, and in fact many of my flatmates do. Maybe I'll just have to cook more.

That's another thing I'm glad about. My flatmates really know how to cook. It's no stereotypical college flat here, with junk food lying everywhere and a kitchen that only smells like booze (not that they don't drink). Personally, I think it's because most of the people here are from Europe, where people would probably be more likely to learn to cook at a younger age. Even the Finnish guy here says there is barely any pre-made and packaged food back home.

I can't wait to make my favorite chocolate chip cookies for everyone.

~

Photo: A little shopping area close to my flat. A good bagel place and little convenience shops, but not a lot else. We usually walk about 10 minutes further to a place with more grocery stores, drug stores, banks, etc. I'm definitely getting my exercise here. And yes, there are a lot of houses and accommodation around this area that look like the buildings on the right and up above on the left. I think it's gorgeous.

Shopping and Dancing

Yesterday, I went shopping with one of my flatmates. It was such an incredible day. As we walked toward the shops, we passed a bagel shop, and I got coffee and a bagel with bacon and cream cheese (it was delicious). After passing a few of the nearby shops, we decided to take the subway into town. It was such a short ride, I feel blessed that I'm so close to town.

Downtown, there are tons of shops, including two pound shops (dollar stores), plenty of department stores, an HMV (music and games and movies), and much more. The department store we wetnt to, Primark, had very cute stuff at a very low price. We're going to have to go back when I feel like I can spend money on clothes.

While we were walking around downtown, there was one fiddler, two guitarists (one had electric), and two different places where someone played bagpipes and the other played the drum beside him. And they wore kilts. Kilts are very common here, and especially when guys in Scotland are dressing up, like to a prom--a kilt is almost always what they wear, rather than suit bottoms. This culture is fantastic.

That night, I went to one of the two student unions on campus, GUU, Glasgow University Union, with most of my 10 flatmates. Ministry of Sound was the DJ. There were three or four floors, two dance floors (the main one was where the advertised DJ was at), at least four bars, and hundreds of people. Despite the sticky floor and difficulty walking around due to how many people were there, it was a blast.

I'm just waking up now, it's about noon where I am. I'm doing my best to do one blog a day, but if I skip a day, forgive me, I have so much to do.

~

Photo: For those of you who are Doctor Who fans, I had to buy these. For obvious reasons. If you aren't a fan, in the older shows of Doctor Who, the Doctor eats these things called Jelly Babies.

Scotland, Day One

Let me just start out by stating there is SO MUCH to say. But I can't put it all in one blog post. Though I might try.

The trip over, my first flight/travel alone, was... intense. The flight to LA was nice. At first I sat by a woman with a little dog, but she wanted a seat for him (and there wasn't much space) so I offered to move. Then I sat by another woman who was sort of talkative, and it felt good to connect with someone on such a long, lonely trip.

LA was horrible. The line for security was nearly two hours long (apparently they're usually long, but not that long), and I was very glad I had the time I did. I got to the gate just as they began boarding. My back is still in a lot of pain from carrying my heavy laptop backpack for those two hours. And for standing in other lines that followed, that weren't quite as bad.

My 10-hour flight from LA to London was interesting. I didn't sit by very talkative people: a slightly older woman than me and an old man who didn't speak much english, his wife sat across the aisle and his language sounded maybe slavic. The in-flight entertainment was amazing, we had tons of movies and TV and music to choose from, that could be played exactly when we wanted. I watched Moulin Rouge! and Letters to Juliet to help me stay in good spirits. We got free dinner and breakfast, plus tea, coffee, and cold drinks. The flight attendants all seemed to be Australian or New Zealanders (since it was, understanadbly, Air New Zealand). I didn't sleep much, but I rested for a while.

Next was London. It was fine through customs until I needed to write the address of where I was staying, and I didn't have the exact address yet, nor the general one with me. My iPod Touch wouldn't connect to the free WiFi at the airport, either. I started freaking out. I went to the nearest people--a really nice Canadian couple standing in line--and after embarrassing myself by starting to cry, they sort of took me under their wing and stayed with me through all the lines of security. They were going to Glasgow too, but ended up on another flight and I didn't really get to say goodbye. In Heathrow, though, I overheard some conversations. "Hi" was frequently "Hiya" and "Goodbye" was usually "Cheers." Friendly folks.

The flight from London to Glasgow was amazing. Somehow, I got bumped up to Flex Economy, or unknowingly paid for it. Whatever it was, it was worth it. I got free food (economy had to pay): I chose a small tin of pringles (they called them "crisps", but yes, they DO have pringles) and a "chicken and stuffing" sandwich. It was basically chicken with mayo and spinach. It was good, and I needed food. I got the window seat, and had the whole seat beside me open, with one other woman on the third seat. The flight was quick and easy. England and Scotland are gorgeous from above, very green and pastoral. None of that brown land you frequently see in the US.

In Glasgow, I thought I got my bags in time for the free transport to Murano Street Student Village, but I couldn't find the bus, so I took a taxi. The guy was nice, definitely Glaswegian. I could see hills all around us outside the very flat city. Or at least it felt that way, since Seattle is definitely not flat.

Getting my flat was fairly easy, even though there was a slight room mix-up. There were lots of older students around helping people move in, since today was the first official move-in day. Most international people are here already, though. After unpacking, I started feeling really out of place. No one (I thought) was moved in yet, and everyone talked funny, and why did I decide to do this in the first place? Two of those helper people came by, two girls, and consoled me. What can I say, this whole thing was stressful. But just then, people came by who apparently had moved in already, and told us everyone was out on city tours.

Soon after, I met all 10 of my other flatmates. The 11 of us share two tiny fridges, two tiny freezers, two stoves, two single shower rooms, and two single bathrooms. Everyone is international, from America to Sweden to France to New Zealand. There are one or two more guys than girls, but they're all nice people, and I think we're going to have a blast.

That's all for now... soon off to the grocery store and the one-pound store to do some much needed shopping!

~

Photo (top): Amazing view of Mt. Ranier above Washington State.

Photo (middle): Lake Tahoe in California said hello on my way to LA.

Photo (bottom): My first view of the British countryside when the clouds cleared enough to see it. It was very cloudy, but I suppose it typically is here.

The Big Day

Tomorrow morning I leave for Scotland.

It really is nearly a whole day's flight. Leaving the west coast in the morning, I arrive in Scotland in the afternoon, the next day. Traveling time, including layovers, is 18 hours total. It'll be intense.

And one more twist--my mom can't come, because the fees are now too high to buy her ticket. So I'll be going on my first flight alone, and it's international, the second-longest flight I've ever been on. The longest was probably from here to Rome, about five years ago when I went on a Europe trip with my classmates.

I've spent the past day packing up my whole room, to either store or bring with me or send via snail mail. I've cried a little, stressed a lot, took a break, and felt better. As I wrote in my journal, I'm excited beyond words, but it's hidden behind anxiety. I think I'm as prepared as I can be, though, so I'm sure I'll be alright.

Short blog today, and no picture--I need to devote my time to packing and other details. If I can't fit in a blog tomorrow, it's probably because I'm traveling. But never fear, I'll come back the next day with a lot to share.

~

At the moment, I have my music on random, and this song started playing:
"I'm going home, to the place where I belong... be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it all..." - Home, by Daughtry. Yes, the meaning of the song as a whole is different from these lines out of context, but I can't help relating it to how I feel about this trip.

Beautiful Things

Yesterday, my mom was frustrated enough about our problems with the UK Border Agency that she contacted our Washington State Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, along with Congressman Jay Inslee. First thing this morning, Murray's office called us, asking for us to fax them a Privacy Release Form so they could help us. Later in the day, Cantwell's office called. It felt great to have powerful people on our side.

By midday, I was feeling worried and rather aimless. But I eventually got around to baking chocolate chip cookies--the last batch I'll make here, since we had only one more helping of chocolate chips. I listened to Buddha Bar music while I worked, and I started feeling a bit better.

When I went to check my email while I waited for the cookies to bake, I couldn't believe what I saw. I had an email from the UK Border Agency, telling me that "your application has been approved and the visa has been issued." They gave me a UPS tracking number, though saying it would not be activated for 1-2 business days, and to not make travel plans until I get my visa in hand. I don't know for sure whether it was the senators that helped with this, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Now, I told all this to my dad. He went ahead and checked out the UPS tracking number, something I didn't think of doing (partly because I was dancing around the house in glee). It turns out, the number was already "activated," and they had sent it next day air!

So, tonight (apparently it's even the best time of the week to buy plane tickets), I will be figuring out when my flight is. It'll be either late tomorrow or on Thursday. Mom may or may not come, depending on if she thinks she can spend the money. We'll see. It certainly has snuck up on me, and now I have to power-pack my room.

After all this, I had delicious cookies waiting for me in the oven. I ate two to celebrate.

~

Photo: A white rose my mom bought the other day was blooming beautifully, and deserved some pictures. Also posted on deviantART (link on the left).

Two Drafts Down

This afternoon, I finished the second draft of my novel.

My plan is to put it aside for a few months and eventually go over it again with a fine-toothed comb, fixing things like vocabulary and sentence structure. For now, I'm just glad it seems a lot better than the first draft to me. Subplots are not left dangling, certain events feel more plausible, and details are ironed out.

After finishing editing today, I worked on the final version of a map for my book(s). My mom had spilled a drop of tea on it and it got crinkled and brown in one area, and I also had to change some names. I took the old map and made a makeshift light table with a clear plastic box, two stacks of books, and a small lamp underneath, then traced the old map. I drew it all in pencil and then carefully drew over the land, rivers, and cities with black ink. Copying the Lord of the Rings map/poster I have in my room, I made the roads and place names in red ink. It almost needs to be a larger map, for all the names to fit and still see the land formations, but it's good enough for me to use to judge traveling distances and remember place names.

It feels strange to not have to work on this big project anymore. Maybe it will feel liberating, since school starts again soon and I have a whole new country to explore. Or perhaps, after a while, I will long to have a big project and work on it again.

Photo: A sneak peek of the map that I made. If you are one of my "beta readers," you'll see familiar landmarks...

PAX

I'm doing two blogs today, to make up for yesterday. I was really tired after the convention.

If you haven't read my previous posts, PAX is a gaming convention held at the Convention Center in Seattle. They have everything from tabletop to console to PC to Wil Wheaton (who I sadly couldn't go see, since he was there on a different day).

Not only was this my first gaming convention, it was my first convention, period.

When dad and I neared the Convention Center in our car, there were swarms of people crossing streets--and they were all gamers. I couldn't keep from smiling for probably half an hour as we entered the building and found our way up to the expo floor. There had to be thousands of people there. To imagine the impact, think of all the multitudes of people who like to game. Mostly guys (the womens' restrooms were nearly deserted), but all ages and all personalities. Think of everyone, for example, who plays World of Warcraft. Take a random chunk of those people and place them in a large space where they can see each other in reality. And there you go. It was pretty amazing to me.

Most of the games you could play had extremely long lines, so we didn't play too many. But we did try a few games, one called Power Gig, a band game where instead of buttons on the guitar, there are real strings, and the controller is actually a working electric guitar. On what I'm guessing was the easy setting, you can press any string on a particular fret and it would count for that color. Among a couple others, I checked out Captain Comic, a console game where when you move or beat people up, there are exclamations like BANG! and WHIZZ! and there are frames, like in a comic book.

I even saw the Back to the Future delorean, in honor of a game coming out based on the movie. I was going to see Bill Amend of the Foxtrot comic strip (who is an avid gamer himself) do a presentation, but there was too much else to see.

As for "swag," or free stuff, I got about four t-shirts, three of which are huge on me (that's what we get for being there at the end of the convention), for example, one has "/godmode" on the front and funny modding code on the back, and one I got for playing Power Gig; twenty little buttons with various things on them like guitars, gold coins, and little cartoon characters; an inflatable sword for Dragon Age 2; a computer screen cleaner; and a few more items. Needless to say, my near-empty backpack was stuffed full by the end.

If you are a gamer at all, I highly recommend going to PAX sometime in the future. It'll blow your mind.

~

Photo (top): A Lord of the Rings statue in honor of the game Lord of the Rings Online, with people lined up behind it, waiting to play something.

Photo (bottom): A few people who work at a nearby booth and a guy dressed in Halo armor play Just Dance 2. The song was, fittingly, techno (a song called Satisfaction, by Benni Benassi). Throughout the day, people who were brave enough could step up and dance.

Plugging Along

This morning, we weren't able to get anywhere with Icelandair. Travelocity was willing to waive their flight change fee, but Icelandair didn't budge on theirs, and it was much more money. So, 24 hours before our scheduled flight, we canceled our tickets, losing half our ticket money.

I'm doing my best to think positively about next week. That I'll hear as early as Tuesday from the UK Border Agency, that I'll be able to fly out by the end of the week, that I'll easily reschedule my adviser appointment. Wish me luck.

For the rest of the day, I watched episodes of NCIS and Rizzoli and Isles and played Civilization 4 (computer game, if you don't know) with my dad. I ate fresh bread with clam chowder for lunch and then sushi for dinner. It all helped me unwind.

Then, tomorrow, I go to the gaming convention craziness that it PAX! Apparently there are four floors and events going on all day and hundreds of booths. And free stuff. Everyone loves free stuff. Especially geeky stuff. I'll have plenty to say about that in my next post.

No photo that fits today. Maybe I'll do that every other day. I won't always have something interesting to say or some picture that sort of relates to it. But I want to stick with it! And I'm still thinking about an acronym.

Silver Linings

I still haven't heard from the UK Border Agency. And because of Labor Day, I likely won't until Tuesday. My original flight was on Sunday, so I'm going to have to act fast in the morning to change or cancel my flight. My mother is actually on the phone right now with Travelocity, trying to get somewhere with refunds. We'll see.

I've been really stressed these past few days. As you can probably tell. One thing that I keep being reminded of is to think positive. Maybe everything seems messed up. But it's not hopeless. There are some good points. 1) I am still going to Scotland, eventually. 2) I get to go to the PAX convention this Sunday and celebrate geekiness. 3) I get to avoid Hurricane Earl altogether, whether or not it is a strong storm or passes by my flight path. 4) I will get more time to pack, because with this whole debacle I have lost interest in packing. 5) More people will be moved into my flat by the time I arrive, so it won't feel so empty. And if I sit here long enough, I could probably come up with more reasons. I just need to focus on them.

As you've probably noticed, I've kept up with blogging every day of September so far. Let me tell you a bit about that. There are some cool people who did BEDA, or Blog Every Day August. And then, someone else has decided to do it in September. While I do not feel completely comfortable with their acronym, Blog Every Weekday Besides Important Evenings in September (come on, does it have to spell that?), I want to try daily blogging, at least in September. When I get to Scotland, I'm going to have a lot to talk about. But I need a new acronym... I'll get back to you on that. Leave suggestions if you are inspired.

~

Photo: A picture I took in Seattle a few days ago. The building in the background, Columbia Center, is the tallest building in the Pacific Northwest region. The chance to be in this beautiful city is another reason I'm glad to hang around a little longer.

UK Visa Update

Good news first. I heard from the UK Border Agency a few hours after my last blog.

Now bad news. They want more paperwork from me, by snail mail.

More specifically, they want a transcript--the official one, not faxed or emailed--of my schooling at UBC. If they do not receive it within 4 business days, or if it is the wrong document, they will cancel my visa application. I called UBC and found out the fastest they can mail me my transcript was 2-4 business days, because I live in the USA, not Canada. I decided picking it up in person would be faster (a three-hour drive there and another one back). But, of course, the UK Border Agency has my passport. So my mom is driving up there right now and getting it for me, using a letter of consent I wrote.

On top of this, I called Travelocity about fees. They are expensive, whether you're changing or canceling your flight. I think we should have gone directly through the airline to buy our tickets, partly because all of their customer support is in India, and I have no idea if they understood when I asked, "If I have a good enough reason, will you refund or wave any fees I'd have to pay to change or cancel my flight?" The answer was, "The policy [which they kept going on about] is to pay this much to change, and this much to cancel." I knew that, thank you. I called Icelandair to see if they were any more help, but they said if I want a refund, I'm going to have to go through Travelocity because I bought my tickets through them.

I'm hoping now that I'll hear from the UK Border Agency soon after they get my transcript, and that they will tell me how much longer I have until my visa arrives. Otherwise, I'll have to cancel my flight altogether (losing half the $ from my ticket) and buy new tickets when I know the date.

There are a few benefits for not going to Scotland on the day I planned, but it's really difficult to look to the bright side right now. At least I'll get to Scotland eventually.

Keep checking back for updates. Instead of posting a picture, I'm going to go de-stress by playing video games...

Bureaucratic Nonsense

There is a possibility I will have to postpone my flight.

Let's start at the beginning. The US made changes to their student loan system this summer, so they didn't let me apply for a loan until July. After that, it took my school a while to send me the official papers that say I have a confirmed loan. I had to send those papers to the UK Border Agency in Los Angeles with my visa application (on top of that, I had to send them my original passport). This whole process led to me sending in my visa application a little later than I'd hoped. They told me it would be 5 to 15 days processing, plus return mail time. They're going to send me an email with a UPS tracking number when they put my visa and passport in the mail.

Let me make this clear. They do not talk to you about the status of your application. There is no email to contact. If you want to call to ask questions, you don't talk to the people in LA, you talk to some other person who doesn't know a thing about your specific application. And you are charged by the minute.

Yesterday was the 15th business day, and I still haven't heard anything. Since their offices are in LA, that's about 2 to 3 days mailing time. My flight is this Sunday. If I don't hear anything by email today, I'm going to have to change my flight. I better hear something by Friday, so that I know the date I can change my flight to. I'm really hoping this whole thing isn't going to be terribly expensive.

The good thing is, the only things I'll be missing in Scotland are those silly introductory talks and icebreaker socials. I would be able to go to PAX, the gaming convention here in Seattle, instead of flying, since my dad already has tickets. I just hope I won't have to reschedule my adviser appointment, which is in about a week at my university in Scotland.

The thing that bothers me the most is that this is not my fault at all. It's the government's. Their different agencies do not talk to each other. I really shouldn't have to pay whatever fees Travelocity makes me pay.

By the way, this is my first post at my new URL (paperbackdragon.blogspot.com)! Check back soon for an update on my travel plans.

Photo: A shot I took from our friend's houseboat on Lake Union this past weekend. How I wish I was on that plane...

Airplanes

Some people don't like airplanes because of their fear of crashing, or the stress of travel, or the lousy complimentary peanuts and pretzels. I, on the other hand, enjoy flying very much, and it's not necessarily because I find it a thrill, or because I like airplane food.

Once you're seated, all of your bags are packed, allowed on the plane, and stowed away safely. There is absolutely nothing you are supposed to be doing. No work, no cleaning, no need to look at that to-do list. It's free time to do whatever makes you happy, whether it's sleep, reading, writing, listening to music, or bothering your neighbor. You still don't really know what it's like to be at your destination, so all of your hopes for your travels are still possible. The little time it does take to fly across the world on an airplane still gives you some in-between time to adjust being in a new place. If we ever manage to find an instantaneous way to travel, it would be hard on people, I think. BAM you're in Italy, BAM you're in Alaska, BAM you're in South Africa. We need time between our source and destination to adjust.

I'm telling you all of this because I'm really wishing I was on my plane right now. My room would be all packed up and ready to store or take with me, my manuscript editing would be done, and I would have received my passport and UK visa in the mail (which they still haven't mailed to me, and you can't contact them about the status of your visa, which is worrying me a little too much). But perhaps I need this time, like I was saying, to transition. If my room was sorted and packed instantly for me, I would feel less like I was letting go of old things to make room for new. The ritual of it is probably good for me, despite the looming hours of hard decisions.

One week from tomorrow I will board the plane to Scotland.

~

ATTTENTION: Another reminder, my blog is moving to paperbackdragon.blogspot.com by my next post. It's not exactly a new blog; everything will look the same. Expect the move and a new post to be up in a few days, before I leave.

CLICK HERE to read my daily poem, themed around the countdown of days until Scotland. I'm not a great poet, it's just fun, and it might help me get better at writing poetry.

Photo: The newest picture of mine to be uploaded to my deviantART site, which you can see here. I called it, "My Favorite Things." It's a shot of the first page of the daily journal I've been filling during the month of August. I'll finish filling it up this week and start a new one when I leave, which is always exciting. For me at least.

Wondering

Eleven days and a wake-up.

Then I board the plane to Scotland.

It's a little unreal. I haven't packed yet. We did a garage sale this past weekend, but I didn't sell much more than an old HitClips keychain music player and a Russian nesting doll shaped like a cat (the smallest doll inside it was a mouse). My mother sold more of her stuff. We've started going through old photos and other boxes, since my mother's moving too, in about a month. But it doesn't really feel like I'm leaving. Sure, when I went to Canada, it felt like a big step. I was finally leaving home to live somewhere else for a while. But this time? When I come back, my house won't be here. There will be people I can stay with, but the building that really feels like home won't be mine anymore. You could say that I'm officially moving out.

I've moved a lot in my life, and not just houses. I went to three different elementary schools, two different middle schools, and then I got out of high school early (sort of) and went to community college. Now, I'm going to my second university. I can't say that I'm used to it, but I've done this before. Leaving everything I know behind and starting new, making new friends along the way. But before, it was all around the Pacific Northwest. This time, it's halfway across the world.

It's been a dream of mine to spend time somewhere in the UK or Ireland. A lifelong dream. Sure, I'm not that old. But I've had this dream since before I can remember. Now that it's here, I constantly wonder. Will it be as amazing as I hope?

~

ATTTENTION: I have made the decision to move my blog to a new URL in about a week, just before I leave for Scotland, to paperbackdragon.blogspot.com. There will be one or two more blogs from me in the meantime, at the current URL. I'll keep you posted.

Photo: The Doctor's red converse. If you're a Whovian, you'll know what I mean. I've started taking more photos these days, since I got a new camera. This one I used as my "deviant ID" on the new account I started at deviantart.com. Go check out my photos. I'll leave a link on the left side of my blog, too. I may post more photos there before too long.

The Paper Bag Princess

In the past few days, I've been considering changing my twitter username. @robotofdoom is a rather dead inside joke for me now, and it doesn't really reflect who I am. I also want to make this name consistent across all the other social networking sites I use, including blogger. I want a name that sticks, like @coollike and @nerimon have (who are worth looking into). As I mentioned in my last blog, I've also been starting to collect dragon things. So, I want to have my name be dragon-themed, if possible.

While I was brainstorming about this new online name, I remembered the children's book I used to read and love, the Paper Bag Princess. I forgot the story, so I went and looked it up. It's the typical save-the-girl-from-the-dragon story, but with a gender role switch. Prince Ronald, the betrothed of Princess Elizabeth (which is my middle name, interestingly enough) is taken away by the dragon. The dragon also burns all her clothes, so she is forced to wear a paper bag. Princess Elizabeth tricks the dragon into flying around the world, burning all the forests, but then the dragon tires out and sleeps, and she is able to sneak into its lair and take back Prince Ronald. But by this time, her prince does not think she looks like a princess anymore. So, she leaves him behind, deciding she's better off without him.

I'm falling in love with this story all over again, so I thought of making my new name @paperbagdragon. But I realized that rhymes with @paperbackdragon, which I think I like better. I prefer paperback books to hardback books, and I like to horde them like a dragon hordes jewels.

Look out for my new "handle," paperbackdragon.

Scorch

I do not like summer for the one thing most people associate it with.

Heat.

If summer was not hot, but perhaps occasionally mild and sunny, I would be happy. Summer, to me, does not mean just warmer weather. It means a break from work, perhaps a vacation, time for things you don't otherwise have time for. And this summer, though it seems like it with my writing, I'm not working that much. I couldn't even really get a job. So I don't need this much heat, making me feel like I couldn't get anything done even if I wanted to.

Sun is good, I know. It keeps you from getting too depressed, and it occasionally makes your skin less pale, even if that means lobster-red instead. But it's not good when it's making you sweat and keeping you from going anywhere. And it's worse when you don't have anyone to fry in the sun with. So, if I'm going to spend my summers alone, especially when I want to get work done, I want it to be cooler.

It's another reason Scotland is the place for me to be, I suppose. Apparently their summers are cooler than Seattle's summers, which I bet is hard to believe for most people. Even for me, it is. But it's also appealing.

I've also been working--but not too much--on getting rid of stuff. It's necessary since, for all intents and purposes, I'm permanently moving out this September. One box I found was the one with all my Ty Beanie Babies. Remember those good ol' days? I found a dragon that I forgot I had, which I am definitely keeping, but otherwise I'm going to try to sell them at our garage sale next weekend (if you are interested in any, please let me know, and I can send you a list of the ones I have). It's sad to see them go, but all I can do with them at this point is put the box back in a closet somewhere, and they deserve to be loved.

I have four chapters left of my book to revise, and then I'll give it a once-over and call the second draft done. The more meticulous third draft is far off on the horizon.

Stay cool! If you're in the northern hemisphere, anyway.

CLICK HERE for the final installment of my Elizabeth Muir story and tell me what you think in the blog comments. Or, if you haven't read all the other parts, please do. It didn't end like I expected it to, but I suppose how it was meant to.

Photo: Scorch, the Ty Beanie Baby that I found in the box. I've decided I want to start collecting dragon things. I already have a good start, considering my necklace, poster, mini-statue, and grocery bag. Here is the poem in Scorch's tag, which I thought was incredibly cute:

A magical mystery with glowing wings
Made by wizards and other things
Known to breathe fire with lots of smoke
Scorch is really a friendly ol' bloke!

Cats, Portland, And Obscene Library Hold Times

My short trip to Portland, Oregon was, in every sense of the word, wonderful. The weather (which is a perfectly fine starting point for any conversation, in my opinion) was rather cool most of the time, but the sun would make its appearances. On one such afternoon, I sat outside with my godparents eating dinner, and we watched a squirrel pluck a golden plum from their tree and eat it down to the core. Their cats are the sweetest things, one named Mr. Whiskers and the other Sweetie Pie. They get along quite well, occasionally grooming each other or racing around the house like madbeasts (I think fantasy-fiction vocabulary is getting to me). These two are relatively new, because when my godparents married, one had four cats and the other had two, and so they had their six cats for many years. Over time it dwindled down to one, Smokey, or Pokey as she was affectionately called, until she passed away recently. These two are the new felines in the house.

For some reason I consider Portland more of a "cat" city and Seattle more of a "dog" city. Maybe I'm biased because our closest family friends in Portland have cats, and I see a lot of dog walkers around Seattle. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of dogs in Portland as well. But Portland feels more laid back, content to just be. Like a cat. Sitting and watching a squirrel eat a plum, or people-watching in Peet's Coffee & Tea, or browsing Powell's bookstore, is a fine way to spend your day. In contrast, Seattle is more like an energetic dog, always something to do, somewhere to go. Eat, sleep, run around, poo, meet people, eat, sleep.

Speaking of Powell's, we stopped there briefly on our way back from Seattle, and I picked up their free "Map & Guide to Powell's City of Books." It almost looks like an old graphic novel, all pretend-faded and everything. It was too cute not to take. Free stuff = good. The back claims "Once you visit... you won't want to leave the City of Books!" I have to agree. The main store downtown has 77,000 sqft of space, 4 floors, and an amazingly organized system. Even their Neil Gaiman section had the largest selection of his works I'd ever seen in one bookstore. The Gold and Coffee Rooms, "Scenes of Discovery in 'Golden Grounds'" (as the pamphlet advertises) are by far my favorite. Sci-fi/Fantasy/Manga/Mysteries right next to the coffee. Score.

There is one book in particular that has caught my eye recently, if only because I see it everywhere and I can't help but be drawn in by the title, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. I haven't seen the movie, I want to read the book first. I went to try and put a hold on it at the library, and I was number 600 in the hold's list, and they had over 200 copies. Outrageous. My godmother found an article in The Oregonian about their local library having over 1,000 holds on this book, and being unable to keep up with the number of copies they need to buy. So, people have to be prepared to wait quite a while to get their hands on it. Instead of waiting an obscene amount of time, I decided to buy it, since it is out in paperback, at the local Barnes & Noble. I've heard its a gripping thriller, so I'm going to save it for my long plane flight to Scotland, and hopefully I'll be able to get a break from the feelings of extreme excitement and fear I'm certain to have that day. Though, it is a thriller novel. Please share anything you've heard about this book in the comments! Was it worth a buy?

If you haven't seen it yet, CLICK HERE to read the three parts of my new blog-story, with more to come (no new parts if you've been keeping up, I'll get one up in the next day or two).

Photo: From the left, Mr. Whiskers and Sweetie Pie zonked out on the guest bed. My godmother quilted the comforter.

Tea And Sushi

Let's see, where are we... I've started the arduous process of getting a UK visa, finished Anansi Boys, and not been in the right frame of mind for writing, so didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. But I did go somewhere interesting last weekend.

Mom and I met with her cousin at Teahouse Kuan Yin, a marvelous little shop in Wallingford (for those not in Washington, it's a little neighborhood of Seattle). They have hundreds of teas, most of them served loose-leaf in a teapot on a tray. Also on the tray is a small hourglass telling you when the tea is done steeping, tiny little cups, and a strainer. You put the strainer over the cup while you pour the tea to catch the tea leaves. I've been told this is the "English" way of making tea. Or possibly the "correct" way. They even put a tea cosy over the pot. I've never seen one in a cafe before. I bet I'll see another one soon enough.

If you ever go to the Wallingford or Fremont area and you like Japanese food, there are about four Japanese restaurants on this one street, not even a block away from each other. One of them is dingy-looking, one is quite fancy, and the two others are very reasonable and very delicious. The one we always go to, Musashi's, was closed for lunch, but the one a few buildings down--Kozue, I think--was open, taking advantage of the other Japanese restaurants being closed. It's typical for a Japanese restaurant to close from about 3pm to 5pm, before dinner. For some reason I'd never been to this other place, and I was glad to discover it was nearly as good as Musashi's. I ordered hamachi, albacore, and salmon nigiri, and ate the omusubi that came with my mom's nabeyaki udon. Yum...

CLICK HERE to see the new installment of my short story blog, in which Elizabeth learns of another meaning for the word 'brownie.' Or catch up and read the other parts, too.

Photo: Another picture from my Rattlesnake Ledge hike. I thought it looked rather Japanese. I rather liked it.