raven: [hello my name is] and a silhouette image of a raven (doctor who - in bed together)
[personal profile] raven
Finally, finally, after days and weeks and respectability and life out of a suitcase, I am on my way home. It's such a lovely feeling that I even managed to get out of bed this morning at nine - and, wow, nine was a lie-in, I really have been being respectable - and venture out into the grey warmth with scarcely a backwards look. There's a softness in the air again, a faint hint of springlike things to come. Of course, it felt like this last week, and well. It snowed. I love England, sometimes.

Last night, I finished work at half five, ran through the city, took the world's quickest shower, was just about to run out again when I had one of those moments, where you're standing holding an eyeliner pencil thinking subtle, subtle, and then, clearly: actually, I don't fucking want to, and what the hell did I do with the glitter? Some rummaging revealed said glitter (Urban Decay heavy metal in Baked - it's sunshine and joy in a tube) and my own very favourite eyeliner, which is actually kajal, and the effect was not subtle at all. I was pleased. And I ran out to Hammersmith in a very cheery mood indeed.

None of this is to say that I haven't enjoyed this vacation scheme or that I'm not glad I did it. If I do go down this route, actually do become a lawyer, then I will have to deal with normality and respectability as part of the job. Respectable is a mantle you can put on and take off. I'm just not very good at it at the moment. As I was bemoaning to several people earlier in the week, I made it to Thursday lunchtime still passing as normal, and then came out accidentally. It was faintly ludicrous, at that; one of the other students started an anecdote with, "My ex once had a mishap with a breadmaker."

"Oh," sayeth I, "I had an ex who once had a mishap with a breadmaker. She put icing-sugar in it instead of flour."

And you could see it - you could see the clicking gears in all their brains, as they processed, first icing-sugar, and laghed, and then the pronoun clicked, and then there was a sort of quiet oh. I was a little vexed at the time, but ah, what the hell. What can you do? You can't watch your mouth all the time, you'd lose your mind. What the hell. And there are compensations to being me. I met [livejournal.com profile] anotherusedpage for coffee that night and we put fandom to rights, as usual - several hours of gesticulating wildly at each other and talking about fannish paradigms and OTW and atypicality and what it means to be a new type of person are very good for the soul.

So, on Friday night, I got on a Tube train to Hammersmith which was clearly being driven by one of the world's nicest humans - "And look at that!" she said, as the train emerged from below ground, "It's sunny! Watch you don't get dazzled and fall on the track! And by the way, Hammsrsmith station is closed!" - and I didn't actually mind. They re-opened the station just before I arrived at it, and some confusion later, I met [livejournal.com profile] chiasmata and there was much glee. We were going to the Apollo to see KT Tunstall and it was marvellous. We timed it well, missed the support entirely deliberately in favour of getting a very nice dinner at a small restaurant run by a pair of exuberantly delightful Italians, who fed us a ridiculous amount of baked pasta and we kept laughing and scaring the other patrons and it was joyous.

(On the way into the gig, we met one of the other people I'd been at the Vaguely Notable Law Firm with - she had warned me that she'd be there, taking her middle-aged mother to her first Rock Concert (awww) - and there was a moment or two of small talk and awkward introductions, and it didn't dawn on me until a few minutes later that she clearly thought that [livejournal.com profile] chiasmata and I were together. I'm surprised that this happened this time around, and no one assumed we were together when we went to see the Indigo Girls last year!)

Speaking of which, the gig itself was ahhh, lovely. KT Tunstall would be very entertaining even if she didn't sing. But she did, and most of her songs are cheering, wonderful things that made the venue bounce, and yes. It was just the right thing to have done, last night. Musically speaking, I think the high point was about halfway through; I'd been reading that very morning in one of the Tube newspaper review sections that she'd been trying out a different cover at every gig on the tour, and this one, she did a haunting, soft acoustic version of "Every Day Is Like Sunday", and I just... yes. I love that song with an unholy passion, and she did it so well, with such clean, sparse layering of instrumentals and voice, and it was... um. Yes. Wonderful.

Afterwards we hung around for coffee and made happy noises at each other before running down to catch the last trains. The journey back was a little surrealist, a little hallucinogenic in quality; I'd been up for eighteen hours and the tunnels and stations were a bit of a clean-lit contrast to the Apollo and the night outside. I saw a man carryig a surfboard onto the last Tube train of the day. It was a little bizarre. Opposite me there was an odd couple, a very pale man and his very drunk girlfriend, whose voice was clear as a bell; she kept saying, "Are you sure? Are you sure? I don't want to be an evil temptress. I'm not an evil temptress. Are you really sure?"

I guess he was; at any rate, they stumbled off into the night at Knightsbridge and I wended my way back. And now, I have had some sleep, I have had some breakfast, and this morning, I was back on a Tube platform looking at the curving adverts on the opposite wall, and I was reading something for Orange pay-as-you-go, with the small print at the bottom, and it talked about limited liability and terms and conditions apply, and, without a break, Thank you for reading this far, it makes our legal people feel valued.

Well, it made me laugh. In about forty-five minutes, I will be back in Oxford, and tonight there is new Doctor Who. I also have about 1200 words of remix to write in the next twenty-four hours, alas. Ah, well. Very nearly home, and the sun's at my back.

(Of course, I wrote all of the above, and it wouldn't post. Fail, internets, fail. So, what else can I regale you with?)

Oxford! Oxford is beautiful. I came back and it was all awash with sunlight and Morris dancers, and I came home and filled my room with my stuff - oh god, I hate unpacking, I still haven't done any - and I let the afternoon drift by in a shamelessly slow sprawl of sunlight and wandering. [livejournal.com profile] shimgray and I were supposed to be making pancakes and hosting the assembled masses watching Doctor Who. (Domestic? Very.) And it was lovely, lovely. Everyone turned up and was sweet and [livejournal.com profile] chiasmata provided a TARDIS cake that dyed my tongue blue and after some technical difficulties - including the procuring of a teatowel to gag [livejournal.com profile] apotropaios with, should he decide to be a classicist about proceedings or indeed harbour a secret desire to resemble Yasser Arafat - there was watching of Who.

So, yes, David Tennant is great, and Donna is really really growing on me, and aha, classical setting, I like, but OHMYGOD CAECILLIUS. The moment they said the man's name, the whole room sort of exploded into incoherent joy, which resolved into people yelling "sedet in horto" and "Cerberus est in via" and "servi in tablina laborant", etc., etc., it was awesome. Hurrah for the Cambridge Latin Course! And of course his wife's name was Metella and his son's name was Quintus - what else could they be called?

Three points that became apparent very quickly: Evelina was clearly evil and/or a Mary-Sue or something similar, because Quintus was originally an only child; secondly, some of the dramatic tension was lost because we know Quintus travels to Britain in the second book, having survived Pompeii; and thirdly, in a room of nine people, when eight of them have done Latin at school, it seems painfully apparent that they're middle-class. Ohgod, etc.

This level of spectacular geekiness aside, it was a good episode. It really was. Oddly paced - it started off a little creakier, and although I liked the funny little asides ("I'm sorry, I don't speak Celtic!" Win), I was waiting for it to actually get started - but it had a lovely denouement, as it were. And, awww: as [livejournal.com profile] jacinthsong noted, they all live happily ever after in Rome and the Cambridge Latin Course is soundly jossed. Hurrah.

(Although, a further comment: we don't know who the bodies were, that were found in Caecilius's house. They could have been anyone. Maybe they did live happily ever after in Rome. I hope so. I am a geek, and I hope so.)

Following which, some idle speculation from all concerning the arc of the season - two episodes in, two planets have been inexplicably destroyed, the Doctor will start asking questions soon - and, again, [livejournal.com profile] jacinthsong is win for remarking sagely, "Let's do the Time War again." Aha. Yes. Of course.

And then, pancakes - mostly shaped like the Flying Spaghetti Monster - and sugar, and joy, and tea, and sleep. I walked home this morning through showers and intermittent sunshine, and now I must unpack my room, take a shower and get to work. My life, she is hard.

on 2008-04-13 11:48 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] hathy-col.livejournal.com
two episodes in, two planets have been inexplicably destroyed

ROSE DONE IT. This is my theory. I spent ages howling it yesterday, admittedly in a pub.

on 2008-04-13 11:55 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
YES. YES. I can get behind this theory. Gosh, wouldn't it be great if Rose had turned evil? Seriously! It's about the only cool thing they could do with her at this stage.

on 2008-04-13 12:01 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] hathy-col.livejournal.com
Well, yes. I'm willing to forgive a lot if Rose is the supervillain. Or EVEN BETTER is actually Davros! Details, smetails. Bring on the crack!

on 2008-04-14 10:13 am (UTC)
tau_sigma: (Default)
Posted by [personal profile] tau_sigma
YES. Please write this now, omg. Oh. I would be SO HAPPY with this. Davros!Rose crack for the win.

on 2008-04-14 11:21 am (UTC)
ext_20950: (pink slightly special way)
Posted by [identity profile] jacinthsong.livejournal.com
I have been shouting "Rose = Davros" at random intervals over the past few months. There should be icons.

on 2008-04-13 12:10 pm (UTC)
ext_6483: drawing of a golden hare in front of a silver moon (Grin)
Posted by [identity profile] sunlightdances.livejournal.com
Oooooooooh, this theory is marvellous! :D

you know what?

on 2008-04-13 12:17 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] hips-lips-tits.livejournal.com
iona, i goddamn LOVE YOU. because you are all of the things right now that i felt like, even in college, i could not be.

and i won't say that i'm not slightly (EXTREMELY) jealous at all the traveling you get to do, and for whatever reason, it seems like you have learned so much more in your college years than i did in mine.. but all the same, i am envious, because if nothing else, you have had much more of an experience than i ever did.

you are such an amazing young woman, and i could only ever wish to do all the things you have done! if you do go to school in the us.. well. i should be an RN by that time, let me know and i can put in for a position where ever. ;)

Re: you know what?

on 2008-04-13 10:50 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Oh, wow. Love, thank you for this. I'm honoured and touched that you've been reading me for so long, and I'm really glad I've been good company for you all these years. If I do go to the US, I will let you know! :)

on 2008-04-13 12:29 pm (UTC)
ext_6483: drawing of a golden hare in front of a silver moon (Doctor Who)
Posted by [identity profile] sunlightdances.livejournal.com
Must say - it was nice reading the Latin-related squee. <3 Has mellowed me somewhat from my state of bewildered, hurt, confusion last night! No longer think the episode was a direct v-sign to everyone who didn't go to a grammar school. XD *rolls eyes at self*

I'm still lost, and will have to watch it again, but I don't begrudge squee. If they had a sign language joke, for instance, I would leap on it like a kitten on string.

on 2008-04-13 10:32 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Heh. I think the jokes were the right type of in-jokes - they are ridiculously amusing to the few people geeky enough to get them, but they really didn't have much impact on the plot. I think the geekiest of the actual Latin jokes was "Appian Way"; other than that, they were all random Latin phrases in use in English. (I appreciate that the fact I just spent two weeks working for a law firm may have warped my biases in this respect.)

on 2008-04-13 10:55 pm (UTC)
ext_6483: drawing of a golden hare in front of a silver moon (Default)
Posted by [identity profile] sunlightdances.livejournal.com
*giggles*

on 2008-04-13 12:58 pm (UTC)
ext_20950: (the world is quiet here)
Posted by [identity profile] jacinthsong.livejournal.com
According to wiki the archeological record suggests Caecilius actually died in the 62 quakes. THE CAMBRIDGE LATIN COURSE GOT JOSSED BY HISTORY, I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO UPSET. *cough*

on 2008-04-13 10:26 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
You are sitting right behind me but I am replying to this comment anyway because I am COOL LIKE THAT. I kind of want to learn Latin again. After quizzes I can maybe spend entire days on the finer points of the genitive.

on 2008-04-13 10:41 pm (UTC)
ext_20950: (Default)
Posted by [identity profile] jacinthsong.livejournal.com
Mwaha STEALTH REPLYING!

I am going to relearn German. Honestly I am.

on 2008-04-13 01:25 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] absinthe-shadow.livejournal.com
Remix! Aieee! CAN'T WAIT. (Possibly am over-invested in challenge I'm not even doing...?)

See you SOON!

on 2008-04-13 10:24 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
I FINISHED IT OMG. Fourteen hours after the deadline, 4000 words, no beta, probably canon mistakes all over the place, but I FINISHED IT.

Sooooon! When exactly are you back?

on 2008-04-13 10:31 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] absinthe-shadow.livejournal.com
YAY for you! *waves sparkly pom-poms*

I get back tomorrow, argh! (Or should that be 'Yay!'??) I really should stop reading rubbishy CSI h/c and go to sleep now, what with all the bag-hauling that awaits...

on 2008-04-13 01:56 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] tmpe5t.livejournal.com
I have bad news for you - you're more than middle class if you get jokes about school latin textbooks and go to oxford - you're probably full on posh... :P

For some odd reason people never assume me and any females i'm with are a couple (people have said to my gf "i saw your er, brother? walking your dog" Ew..! And what?), unless they decide to shout 'lesbians!' at us. Which has also happened to me when i'm by myself. This is funny...

I also want to know what happens if you put icing sugar in a bread maker? Do you get a hybrid of bread and icing? Sounds rather good..?

on 2008-04-13 02:27 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] purplerainbow.livejournal.com
It disappears! I expected to find actual icing at the bottom, as water is also a key ingredient, but no. There was just some mush at the bottom made up of yeast and seeds. No bread, no icing. I felt cheated.

on 2008-04-13 06:04 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] tmpe5t.livejournal.com
Well thats no fun.. There has to be a way of making hybrid icing bread or the universe is just far too dull...

on 2008-04-13 02:00 pm (UTC)
chiasmata: (Default)
Posted by [personal profile] chiasmata
Does Watching the English have anything to say about Latin textbook recognition as a class trait?

Also, I noticed your glitter! It was pretty!

on 2008-04-13 10:23 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
I don't know! I would ask Shim, but he's currently very deep in a Paxman book about British politicians and their peculiarities...

Glitter! I begin to think I may be fixated! But still! Glitter! Is worth many many exclamation points. :)

on 2008-04-14 04:22 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] shimgray.livejournal.com
I skimmed the index and didn't see anything...

on 2008-04-13 02:30 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] purplerainbow.livejournal.com
"Oh," sayeth I, "I had an ex who once had a mishap with a breadmaker. She put icing-sugar in it instead of flour."

Um, oops? :) I can only apologise! xx

on 2008-04-13 10:22 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Heeee, yes. I am still amazed that you didn't notice when you were putting it in!

How're you, anyway? Long time no hear...

on 2008-04-14 10:37 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] purplerainbow.livejournal.com
Well if nothing else it taught me to always sample the flour before including it in bread. Not every pale powder in containers is what it seems!

I am very well at the moment. A little swamped at the moment with the threat of impending doom approaching, but remarkably chipper nevertheless! I regularly vow to get back onto livejournal but somehow can't manage it. I still check back every so often to read though. And how are you? I can't believe how quickly time flies - I still remember sitting on the grass in Liverpool contemplating the Big Adventure that was uni, and now it's 2008, Liverpool Capital of Culture, and we're graduating! *is bewildered*

on 2008-04-14 10:48 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Glad to hear you're well, and not being killed by impending doom. I'm also not too bad - I imagine that as the full enormity of Finals hits, I'll be less calm about proceedings - but right now, I'm doing all right.

It's not a very original sentiment, but yes, yes, time does fly! I was thinking that, too; it seems like so recently we were sitting on Chavasse worrying about the next three years.

What do you do next, out of interest? Are you going to stick around in Manchester?

on 2008-04-14 10:56 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] purplerainbow.livejournal.com
I often find that it is in cases of most fear that we remain the most calm; all my attention is occupied just keeping up with work so have little time to worry about the exams right now!

Yes am hoping to stay in Manchester with James next year. We're planning a sort of post-uni gap year, although with many months of necessary employment before we do anything fun. The plan is to travel for a while - he wants to go to America, I'd like to visit India; we've yet to agree on a destination. But we've got plenty of time to ponder it.

And you? Am I right in thinking you were keen on law school?

on 2008-04-14 11:11 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Ah, that seems like a sensible approach. I have nothing to do except panic about exams. This does not, on reflection, seem to be exactly sane-making. We shall see!

A post-uni gap year sounds delightful. I have friends thinking about doing the same thing, with much the same arguments. It does sound like fun.

Law school, yes. I was - and am - keen on the idea, but I buggered up the LSAT fairly spectacularly and am having a bit of a rethink of next year. I need to reapply for law over here, too, so I'm not sure what's going to happen. Ah, the joys of indecision, etc.

(I like your icon! I take it your taste in colours hasn't changed? :P)

on 2008-04-17 07:38 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] purplerainbow.livejournal.com
Actually, I have now given up on the not-panic principle, as yesterday I had a major panic about my essays and got a lot more work done. Now I am thinking that maybe panicking is good as the adrenaline gives you a boost. Without it I mostly spend my time napping in the library.

And no - my taste in colours hasn't changed much! The brighter the better, and purple if possible. Are you still a flaming red?

on 2008-04-13 04:39 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] thunderemerald.livejournal.com
Let's do the Time War again.

THANK YOU for making me snarf my tea. :)

on 2008-04-13 10:21 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Hey, I take no responsibility at all for that gem of wit. *g*

on 2008-04-13 05:23 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] macadamanaity.livejournal.com
Let's do the Time War again.

It's just a jump to the left...

on 2008-04-13 10:21 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
And a timeslip to the right...

on 2008-04-13 10:30 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] macadamanaity.livejournal.com
And suddenly my brain is making David Tennant do the Time Warp on repeat and it's just this side of terrifying...

:-)

on 2008-04-13 10:59 pm (UTC)
ext_6483: drawing of a golden hare in front of a silver moon (*smirk*)
Posted by [identity profile] sunlightdances.livejournal.com
Well, now you've just put that in my brain. *watches him amusedly*

on 2008-04-13 10:40 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] gamesiplay.livejournal.com
omg I MISSED your entries. Welcome back! (and congratulations on finishing your remix!)

"Oh," sayeth I, "I had an ex who once had a mishap with a breadmaker. She put icing-sugar in it instead of flour."

I swear it took me about five reads to parse why that might be considered a violation of the typical Respectable Business-World Paradigm. Oh my god, how are we going to survive in the real world, Iona?

I'm surprised that this happened this time around, and no one assumed we were together when we went to see the Indigo Girls last year!)

Hee. I don't think it is possible to go to an IG concert as a female, with another female of similar age, and not have that assumption made at least covertly. When I took Kib to see them, we'd only been there about ten minutes before she leaned over and whispered to me, "Everybody who looks at us thinks we're together." At which point I FREAKED OUT. Lesbianism okay! Incest not okay!

on 2008-04-13 10:55 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Heee! I missed making them! Hurrah for being back where I belong!

I DON"T KNOW, is the answer to that. I DON'T KNOW. Remember our big queer fannish hippie commune in West Virginia? YES. THAT.

And, aha, that is wonderfully horrifying. Lesbian incest = not okay, children!

also. I have a very important email to send you shortly. (Well, for a given value of very important. I feel the need to point this out.)

on 2008-04-13 11:02 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] gamesiplay.livejournal.com
YES, THAT. I will sign the lease.

Baby, all your given values are very important to me. *waggles eyebrows*

*uses token icon of gay*

on 2008-04-13 11:40 pm (UTC)
ext_20950: (middle-aged homos)
Posted by [identity profile] jacinthsong.livejournal.com
I forgot to ask during the NINE HOURS I was on your floor, but if you don't mind...why were you vexed at letting that slip? (Phrasing not meant to indicate this was illegitimate or anything) I can guess at reasons, but would rather hear you articulate it, because...well, as far as I'm concerned you didn't reveal anything more about your life than s/he did. They had an ex, you had an ex. So I want you to talk about the factors you consider beyond that :)

Re: *uses token icon of gay*

on 2008-04-14 12:22 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Part of it, I think, was to do with its being a two-week placement. If it had been a real job, my thought processes would have been different, but as it was, I basically thought: I am here for two weeks, I can and will pass for straight/normal/non-geeky/NORMAL (and, bizarrely, Shim makes this easier), I have Finals and my own real life elsewhere. So, why make it hard for myself? Why come out and deal with that when I'll never see these people again?

But then part of the vexation is anger. Because I went down on the train to London two weeks ago and was sat next to a nice little old lady who seemed lonely; anyway, she got to chatting, and asked, "And do you have a boyfriend, dear?"

"Yes," I said, easily enough, and it was one of the first times in my life that I've ever not second-guessed myself or had the momentary mental panic on that question. And so, I feel sort of guilty, because I can pass - and I shouldn't; if I, bright and employed and even looking vaguely respectable, can also be queer, and show people that that's what being queer is, it's just a thing you are in addition to being bright and respectable and all the rest of it - and I do and did only because it was easy.

So I was angry I'd forgotten to pass, and I was angry with myself for being angry about that, and then I was angry with society in general for the very fact of my having to have this internal debate, and then, like I said above, this is the quickest way to lose your mind. So I stopped thinking about it, because, well. When and if I get a real job, I will be out. But perhaps not right now.

Does that answer the question? It got a little longer and more rambly than intended...

Re: *uses token icon of gay*

on 2008-04-14 05:25 pm (UTC)
ext_974: (Default)
Posted by [identity profile] vampire-kitten.livejournal.com
Because I went down on the train to London two weeks ago and was sat next to a nice little old lady who seemed lonely; anyway, she got to chatting, and asked, "And do you have a boyfriend, dear?"

Is it improved if you parse it as her subtly hitting on you?

on 2008-04-14 10:19 am (UTC)
tau_sigma: (clouds)
Posted by [personal profile] tau_sigma
Oh, Iona. It is nice, you being back online. :)

I was rather upset that Cacilius wasn't in horto at any point, that being the only thing I know from the Cambridge Latin Course (I don't quite understand all this, because I did Latin GCSE and I'm sure we used Cambridge Latin books, but it wasn't the CLC; possibly it was a baby version for some odd reason). Also, huge marble circuitry for the win!

I'm glad you enjoyed your law firm working thing, even if respectability is entirely overrated. Much love to you, my dear.

on 2008-04-14 12:13 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Huge marble circuitry ftw - and that's not something you say every day. *g*

It's good to be back! Have missed everyone such a lot. How are you doing at the moment? Are you back up north yet?

on 2008-04-14 03:22 pm (UTC)
tau_sigma: (Default)
Posted by [personal profile] tau_sigma
I'm doing good just now - have just had an awesome weekend with Anwar, who came to stay for a few days. *g* Not back up North yet, no, but term starts a week today.

on 2008-04-14 02:26 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] clubhopper15.livejournal.com
I miss learning Latin :( Did it for 5 years!

on 2008-04-14 11:48 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] loneraven.livejournal.com
Me too, almost! I do miss it.

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