Cypress moon; or, market research

lilka has this theory that if there is a gay gene, then some sections of it somehow code for a love of the Indigo Girls. I don't know how true this is, but I downloaded Touch Me Fall from thunderemerald and now have it constantly on repeat. As for the gay thing, I don't know. Hannah's a fan, and it comes up the Buffy episode Conversations with Dead People when Cassie/the First is trying to get Willow to commit suicide: "I can see it now. Candlelight, the Indigo Girls playing, picture of your dead girlfriend on your bloody lap." Can anyone recommend me Indigo Girls songs? Or better yet, send me them? I can't use any filesharing programmes on this computer any more.

Anyway. Moving on from there, I am more tired than I thought I knew how to be. Seriously, the sleep-deprivation thing gets very old very fast. I was all right in the morning, at least, not so bad; Cath had an early birthday present for me because she's going to Martin Mere tomorrow. I've been meaning to hunt my own old Martin Mere project to help her out with it when she comes to do it, so I had a rummage round last night. I didn't find it, but did find any number of interesting things. All my old textbooks and exercise books, some stuff from primary school(!), back-issues of the Birkenhead school magazine going back to 1991, and a battered old document wallet holding all my treasures from SG-5, the first convention I actually went to. There's all my notes, Chris Judge's autograph, the pink wristband (Clare broke hers, I remember), some fanzines (which I plan to re-read in the bath) a little Jackfic badge, all sorts of stuff. I met Colleen at that convention. I can't believe it now.

Today, I went into school against my will, mostly. Cath's birthday present for me was a frame (which is enormous, the right size to put about a dozen pictures of the residents in) and an Eat Me, Keep Me Eeyore. Don't ask. There can never be enough Eeyore in the world. Miranda is talking about banana cake, and I love everybody. This may just shape up to be the best birthday ever. Touchwood. I got some stuff in the post today, which I haven't opened yet. Tomorrow, methinks.

Hopefully I'll feel better. I was tired enough to walk out of Politics, pleading a splitting headache. It is being made no better by everything else going on. Miss Brandreth is apparently ringing in changes all over the shop; Merchants' is becoming corporate. She's started by having the entire school painted blue and yellow. This includes the mural. Anyone who ever went to my school remembers it - the one between the side-door and the sixth-form stairs - and it's been painted blank yellow. They refuse to let us paint another mural over it. New start, she says. Change for the sake of it, I think. And besides, that mural was a work of art. Sarah wants to buy some paint-pots and just handprint our way across it. I'm strangely tempted by the idea.

Today, they had market researchers in. Apparently the head is terrified by the falling intake (no assisted places, less people, it's quite simple) and wants to attract more people. Personally, I hate the way the lower school now comes almost entirely from Stanfield, and is much less selective than it was when I arrived. About a third to a half of applicants got in then; now all of them do, and so many are spoiled rich kids. Stanfield itself isn't selective, and everyone from there gets in. It's annoying. I admit I was a special case, being the only person to have come from a public primary school that wasn't Stanfield, but still.

The market researchers are by themselves annoying. They came into the library and remarked that it was "old-fashioned." I wasn't there at the time, but, well, really. Of course it's old-fashioned, it's four hundred bloody years old! If they paint it blue and yellow - and yes, they're threatening - I may have to start hitting things.

To finish, the obligatory Chemistry, for mettanna:

1. pH + pOH = 14

2. pv=nRT, where p is pressure (Pa), v is volume (metres cubed), n is number of moles, R is the ideal gas constant (8.31) and T is temperature (Kelvins).

3. Asymmetrical carbon atoms result in two enantiomers, positive and negative, that rotate plane polarised light in opposite directions. All alpha amino acids except glycine show this type of stereoisomerism.

4. Amino acids are zwitterions (from German for "hermaphrodite"). The COOH group donates a proton to the amine group, resulting in ions in aqueous solution - however, I think they will not conduct electricity. [My notes say "I think..." while everyone else's notes say "Iona thinks..."]

5. When all else fails, reduce things with lithium tetrahydridoaluminate.

Going to bed now.