Nail biting tennis final again this year! I figured Federer would win, but damn, Roddick didn't make it easy for him.

So, I got back from hols on Friday morning, and as if England wanted to rub it in, it rained all day on Friday despite the fact that there'd been a heatwave while I'd been away. Though to be honest, I was grateful for it. I'm not used to constant sunshine and heat, so after two weeks of it, a day of nice cool rain wasn't so bad. But anyway, time for a quick breakdown of holiday stuff.

Very Good:

Gorgeous weather, sea that's actually the colour it's supposed to be instead of a muddy blue like on UK beaches, daily walks next to said sea, jumping through the waterfall into the pool when it got too hot to sunbathe, finding a sports bar just across the road from the resort and getting to watch Wimbledon.

Not Good:

Finding out Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon so I wouldn't be able to sit and STARE at the display of hotness awesome tennis skillz. And then finding out about MJ. :( :( :(

Slightly Exasperating:

Days when there wasn't much breeze and the heat sapped my energy enough that it was an effort to do much of anything. Getting sunburned shoulders on the first day due to washing off the suncream by swimming for too long.

Annoying:

Children, and the children's disco, and children crying in stereo and screaming on the plane journey home and just children in general. It was a family oriented place though, so children were to be expected. That fact didn't make them any less annoying, however.

Also annoying was the occasional 'oh, you're really pale, you'll need to make sure you put lots of suncream on in this weather' from people with lovely tans. Yes, I'm fully aware that if I stood in front of one of the pretty white walled villas in the resort I'd probably blend into it like a chameleon. Yes, I'm aware that the sun tends to burn people with pale skin. Seeing as I've had this skin for 23 years, I do not need to be told what to do in order to keep from turning day-glo pink, thanks very much.

Despite the above complaining though, I really enjoyed it. I'll have to share some pictures here when I get copies. :)

Nothing else to report on really, apart from the fact that my exam results were supposed to come in today, but now I have to wait til Thursday. RRRRR. Fuck you, uni.

I'm on my hols now! So far it's been lovely sunny weather, and my shoulders are a lovely red colour... ^^; But that aside, am having a wonderful time of it, and I will be for another 11 days. Ahh, I think I needed a bit of a chillax. Anyway, hope everyone's doing ok, gotta go cos my credit's running out!

*points at subject*

Trufax.

I've been adding doujinshi pics to Spun Sugar (my Tifa minisite), hence the thumbnail-making. It's either just my eyes, or with this new version of Photoshop, the 'save for web' option washes out colours something fierce. The reason I posted such boringness? I've just changed the layout for the minisite, and it looks fine on my screen, but I'm not sure if the text on the header is readable for other screens. So please could you guys check it out if you have a moment and comment to let me know?

Link: http://keep-tryin.net/tifa/index.html

Oh, and the new Placebo album is FANTASTIC. ALL THE TRACKS ARE GREAT. EVEN THE BONUS ONES. LIFE IS GOOD.

Sooooooo...

I'm in the annoying limbo bit between the end of exams and the results date at the moment. Until the sixth of July, I won't know whether I have to retake any other modules in September, or whether it'll just be the one. Yeah, I can't graduate because I have a complete cock of a tutor who has utterly ignored my attempts to contact him with regards to my project, and there is no possible way I can pass that module now! :D :D :D

Awesome!

Ok, bitterness aside, I have one big thing I'm really looking forward to, which is my holiday in two weeks. Ah, only fourteen days or so before I'm either in the pool or lounging next to it in my 'kini and pink sunglasses blinding everyone with my complete lack of tan and reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, or A Wild Sheep Chase, or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Or maybe I'll buy something new to read. I can't wait to get away for a while.

It means that my puppy will have to survive without me for a fortnight though! He'll be staying with Anthony while I'm gone. I don't think I've mentioned the pup here, but he's the most gorgeous thing ever. His name's Monty, and I got him about three weeks ago. Here's a pic of him. Rufus isn't impressed with him, but I'm sure he'll get used to him eventually.

What else? It's hard to write an entry when you've been doing absolutely nothing since the last one...

Watched Terminator 2 at Ant's house today. I haven't watched it in ages. Ohhh, I forgot how much I enjoyed that film. The chase scene with John on the crappy little nin-nin bike and the Terminator on the Harley (and the awesome way he reloads his shotgun) and the T1000 in the huge truck. The bit when the Terminator steps out of the lift and scares Sarah to death, then throws people around for a bit, and then the T1000 morphs himself through the barred gate and showcases the usefulness of having liquid metal powers. THE MINIGUN SCENE AT THE CYBERDYNE BUILDING. ESPECIALLY THE MINIGUN SCENE AT THE CYBERDYNE BUILDING.

I'm gonna catch the first film on Friday night, in all its eighties glory. There aren't many films that I try to watch whenever they're repeated on tv, but Terminator and T2 get that honour, heh. Along with the Die Hard trilogy (especially if it's the first one and it's on at Christmas) and The Rock. I guess having an action film loving older brother kinda got me addicted to 'splosions at a young age.

OH AND NEW PLACEBO ALBUM ON MONDAY. MUST BUY EEEEET AT SOME POINT.

I broke the screen on my Macbook. :( :( :(

Luckily though, my dad took pity on me and said I could have his Macbook Pro as long as I bought a new battery for it since the old one wouldn't hold any charge. So there ya go, there's always a silver lining!

...Oh yeah, if koibito take two is actually in Case of Lifestream, then well played, Nojima. However, the whole 'we win' thing? Um... no. Not to harsh anyone's squee, but I know that koibito can be translated as 'beloved' as well as 'lover' or 'sweetheart' or whatever, and to be honest I can more easily believe 'Cloud was the woman's friend, beloved' than 'Cloud was the woman's friend, lover' since there's nothing in FFVII to suggest Aerith and Cloud's relationship ever got as far as that.

EDIT: Yep, I was actually right for once! *buffs fingernails*

Also, I got a hold of a copy of the Ultimate Megadrive Collection. It's like crack. And I am now going to shoot up.

I think this is the first time in my whole life that I've started crying in relief. Just found out that the research project I thought was due on Friday is not due until May 1st. I'm not even joking, I actually cried. I was so sure I'd have to submit an extension request and that even with the maximum extension (ten days) I probably wouldn't be able to get it done.

So as far as the final semester goes, my dissertation first draft is complete, Shakespeare essay was handed in on time, Shakespeare exam isn't until May, AND NEITHER IS MY RESEARCH PROJECT. OH CHRIST I AM SO DAMNED HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

Ah, I forgot how much I liked Final Fantasy Pray. It's so relaxing. And Wanderer of Time is gorgeous. I've always loved Terra's theme. Might get Love Will Grow too, but I preferred the tracks on Pray if I remember right.

I need escapism, so I forced myself to play FFXII, at least to meet Balthier, and I'm so glad I did. The leading man's awesomeness is worth putting up with Vaan's odd looking abdomen and annoying voice. There's Basch, too, who is also mmm, but Balthier is the most mmm worthy. Not really liking the guest-joins-your-party thing, because no, GTFO, I'm not good with guests and I don't want you kthx. Unless you have hi-potions, in which case I suppose you can tag along. And the battle system... eh. But still, Balthier!

Real life isn't great at the moment, hence the escapism. My father's chronic depression is making him impossible to live with. I had a headache the other day and I actually made sure to put the paracetamol away because I was worried that if he saw them he might try and take an overdose or something since he's mentioned on more than one occasion that he doesn't want to live anymore. As a result, I can't really focus, so writing my dissertation is like getting blood out of a stone, and I have an essay on A Midsummer Night's Dream due on Friday which I haven't even started yet.

I'll get it done, I'm sure. I'm not gonna give up this close to the end! Uni's almost finished, I have a holiday to look forward to, and after that I have to look for a job again and start being an adult. The quicker I can get these last assignments done, the better.

I finished Crisis Core.

:( :( :( :( :(

The very very last battle where Zack was so injured he could hardly even walk towards the soldiers? I couldn't see the PSP screen properly.

And then the "Hey. Would you say I became a hero?"

T_T

THANK ALL THAT IS HOLY FOR THAT.

My writing hand is killing me now.

I caved and bought Crisis Core while I was shopping with Anthony. Oh, Zack, you're such a mix of dorkery and fun. I love you. You can sometimes verge towards the Tidus-esque, (the annoying fist clench thing doesn't help with that) but I am going to cry buckets when I complete the game. And yay for sane Sephiroth, too! I really like him in CC, especially the scenes with Zack. I smiled at the part where he contacts Zack to tell him to go the the Mako Reactor and Zack screams down the phone at him, then it switches back to Seph and he's holding the phone away from his ear looking mildly irritated. Such a shame he turned into such a psycho. Angeal, I'm not too fussed about either way. As for Gacktesis, he might be pretty, but his quoting of LOVELESS is more than mildly irritating. I was right there with Zack when he yelled at him to shut up. The fact that there are fanclubs for Sephiroth, Gacktesis and Angeal amuses me. And the clubs have fansitey names! Definite shoutout to the fangirls, there.

So, battle mode. One thing that annoys me, that damned 'Activating Combat Mode' and 'Conflict Resolved' every bloody time. ARGH. At first I found the DMW reels really distracting too, but I'm used to them now - the Aerith limit break provides invincibility! It is made of win. Speaking of Aerith, I LOVED how she answered Zack after he joked that she just wanted to spend more time with him. It's such a refreshing change, considering the other, more complicated relationships in the FFVII Compilation, to just have her come out and say 'yeah'. And he helped her put her ribbon on. AWW. I really like their relationship in this game, it's so simple and sweet. They just like each other, you know? It's not some deep, all consuming, can't-live-if-living-is-without-yooooooou kind of love, instead it's light hearted, honest, innocent, and it just makes me melt.

I've got to the bit where Zack's given the infiltrating mission while Cloud and Tseng sit on their asses and watch him fail at being Solid Snake. Teenage Cloud is utterly adorable. His scenes with Zack have been cute so far too, what with their bonding over both being from 'backwater' towns. And I'm liking Tseng getting lots of screentime, since he got screwed over in Advent Children. Needs moar Rude though.

I also got Clock Tower 3. Good voice acting, a lot like Haunting Ground, but some of the murders are a tad disturbing, even to me. I thought the little girl's death-by-hammer and subsequent ghostly playing of piano while soaked in blood was bad enough, but then there was the acid bath murder... *wince*

What else? Oh yeah, I'm still ridiculously excited about my holiday in June. I bought the cutest two dresses ever. This one is for day, and this one is for evening. I'm not usually a pink dress kind of girl, but I couldn't resist it! I have silver glittery shoes too! They are made of awesome.

Hope everyone had an awesome time over the holidays! I can't believe it's 2009 already, it doesn't seem like a moment since it was the year 2000 and everyone was going crazy over the millennium. Not that I particularly wish it was the year 2000 again, I mean, I was an awkward fourteen year old with terrible hair. Whereas now I'm an awkward twenty three year old with passable hair. ;)

When I think about how I was back then, I'm happy that I've changed as much as I have where my disposition is concerned. Even though I can fall victim to depressive moods, I've mellowed out and take life much less seriously. (Uh... maybe I should take life more seriously now I have responsibilities...) Plus, I get on with my brother and my parents much better!

But I digress. Back to the holidays. I had a great time, before Christmas I made cookies and watched A Christmas Carol, (the one with Patrick Stewart in - it's the best version hands down) on Christmas Day we went to my auntie's for dinner as usual, and on New Year's Eve I couldn't be bothered to go out since it was freezing and it's always busy as hell, so I stayed in and watched TV in the warmth.

New Year's Resolutions: Find and download more great dance music, read more Haruki Murakami, have more fun.

Christmas present haul consisted of: Amazon gift vouchers, clothes, a snuggly leopard print dressing gown, fairy cake perfume, a Cute Overload day calendar, money, and pink GHD hair straighteners. I was most pleased!

I'm dragging Anthony shopping with me on Thursday. We're most likely gonna hunt for good preowned/reduced price videogames, eat junk food and talk about the good old days of the Sega Megadrive. I think it says a lot about me that out of all the PS3 games that are being released in 2009, I'm most looking forward to the Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection. But come on, it's got Streets of Rage I, II, and III! I can't wait to get my sticky mitts on it! Step aside, Ms Lockhart and Ms Croft, Blaze Fielding was the original and best kick ass buxom brunette babe.

When I first found out the game lineup, I was wondering why Desert Strike was conspicuously absent from the collection, but I found out there's a game called EA Replay for the PSP that has the first two Strike games on it. However, the reviews aren't favourable. Apparently scenes have been taken out and music changed. Hmm. I think I'll leave that one for now.

Speaking of PSP, my own has been neglected for a while, so I'm thinking about making buying a new game for it my first priority on Thursday. I might get Crisis Core, but I'm not sure whether I'd have the heart to complete it if I did get it. Zack's so adorable, I don't want to see the ending... *cries*

I've been looking at survival horror games for the PS2, too. I just ordered Kuon preowned. I can't remember ever seeing any adverts for it back in 2005 when it was released. Hopefully I'll enjoy it, it got so-so scores in the reviews I've found - due to the battle mechanics - but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt considering the same reviewers think that Fatal Frame's battle system is fiddly and slow too. Since I'm used to the aforementioned battle system, I think I'll be fine with Kuon.