It's not a cry you can hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light...

I was reading my usual Irish news online site which is more Irish-American than actually Irish. I read it for roleplay, shut up. But anyway I stumbled across an article that made me smile.

They are doing an exhibit of Irish immigration to Montana in Cork!

Now my family immigrated to New York, but my step-father's family is also Irish and they immigrated to Anaconda. Most of them then moved to Helena, but I think this is awesome. Especially since one of the US' biggest St Patrick's Day parades is in Butte, Montana because it was a major Irish settlement. It's in the middle of buttfuck nowhere but goddammit, they drink green beer and have street fights on March 17th. No. Really. Every year they arrest huge amounts of people for being idiots after the parade and too much drinking. It even has a mention on wiki on the Saint Patrick's Day PAGE.

Anyway, I just thought this was really awesome. Montana gets overlooked a lot because hardly anyone lives there. Hell, some Americans don't even know where it is despite the fact that it is the 4th largest state. It's the size of GERMANY. Makes me happy.

I have three assignments due in the next two weeks, but I have just finished one. My case study (easy peasy) is due on Friday and it is only 2,000 words. I just wrote 1,00 rambly words on service users and blah de blah for social policy. And then I have a 3,000-3,500 word essay on more social policy stuff and I cannot possibly express how bland I find social policy. But oh god. OH GOD.

My mouth is feeling slightly dry again today, but I think it's actually just because I'm having an off day and I am feeling a little (I just typed 'Littleton'...) anxious and depressed. And I think I am getting dear Alison's cold, though it could just be allergies!

I think the kitten is going to be named Echo. If you saw her, you would know why. She's a runty little thing. She needs a small name. And she is not stately. So something grandiose just doesn't fit. Echo or Clio, though I am now 99% sure it's Echo. I'll sleep on it, though feel free to weigh in there! I like opinions! She is adorable though. Every once in a while she just darts over and jumps up for a cuddle. She's perfect.

Tomorrow I have to remember to pick up a flea treatment from the vet for the new kitten, drop off my essay, hand in my form for withdrawing from my placement (asking why it has taken this long will only result in me ranting your ear off, so I would advise against it) and then going to class from 4:10 until 7. And THEN stuffing my face full of curry. Must remember to go to an ATM some time tomorrow too. Need cash for Indian foods.

I actually wrote today too. Not just essay stuff. It was wonderful. ...oh right. I should eat dinner. You know, if my appetite could return to me full time, that'd be nice too. :|

My books came *squeals* I got The Legends of Saint Patrick with a prettier cover. It is a reprint from 1889 and full of ridiculous myths which I love. I don't think he turns any blasphemers into foxes like he does in Jocelin's 'biography' (we shall use that term loosely) but it's still amazing.

I also got The Life of Saint Patrick another classic reprint. They're so sexy, you guys. Sosexyomg.

Helios is chewing on my FOOT. Little bugger.

But boooookkksssss. *glee*

Now I am going to go make some salsa and watch Most Haunted while fondling my sexy books.

Saint Patrick's Day is nice :D

And Chelsea is adorable.

We ate chili (I was too lazy to plan something Irish and I like chili better than Irish food anyway) and watched Tim Minchin and had wine and Bailey's.

And we watched All Dogs Go to Heaven. It is awesome.

Good night!

I don't know.

I posted a thingy on Tumblr last night which was metaphorical of how I'm feeling inside, even though I was talking about something else. It's here in case you feel like reading it. Behold how goddamn deep I am, you guys, omg.

I just feel really fragile. I managed to actually write something I didn't hate. In fact, I really love it. And that made me want to watch Michael Collins so I could Irish!historygasm. Yeah. If you're feeling fragile, watching Michael Collins WILL make you sob for two hours straight. Just, you know, FYI. But GOD that movie. I love it. It is so well done. And it amuses me to see Jonathan Rhys Meyers in one of his first film roles. Where he gets to use his actual accent!

I'm just worn out. And people keep asking me questions I have no way of answering and it pisses me off when it shouldn't. But I don't know when my course will start again and I don't know when my placement will start again and I don't know when real life will resume. We only just got water on at full strength and considering the way it's been going on and off for days at a time, who knows if it will stay that way. Some of the city is still without power and water at ALL, let alone the people who lost homes and families and lives. So yeah, I don't know when classes will resume again.

Stop asking.

Today I went in to visit Ness at her work and I purchased a new phone since my old one was a little dilapidated and the battery was annoying. New phone is wi-fi enabled and snazzy and I downloaded apps for my yahoo!mail and a few other things. It also has a Tim Minchin background (took me forever to find one that worked because it has to be really wide instead of long) and it plays a Sherlock Holmes ringtone when the phone rings. I enjoy this! So farewell to the Barbie Dream Phone. I shall miss you BDP. You were good to me and you rotated pictures of my favourite people (the ones I don't know in person...). Alas, the time has come to part ways.

On the uni front, I have finally enrolled but this is after the head of the program himself had to call me and assure me they would get onto getting me through the approval process right away. US student loans at an NZ university are frickin' FUN, I'll tell you what. But I can't complain too much. Without them, I'd be up shit creek with no degree. Well...with two degrees I don't use, instead of three with one I DO hope to use.

Miss my housemates. They're at Canterbury Faire and I remain home, alone with the cat! Ness came over to watch Sherlock and entertain me, which was awesome! <3 And now, since I spent almost all of yesterday sleeping (I was literally awake for about 6 hours of yesterday in total. and then I slept until 10:30 this morning...), I will spend the night drinking tea from my dragon tea pot and writing things with myself and trying not to panic about poor Queensland and the category 5 cyclone headed towards them :(. Just fuck, man.

Had a wonderful time the other day with Kate and Tina, despite the random rain and Westfield Riccarton being evacuated. I still have no idea what that was about... But yes, YAY lovely! We went to The Cup and had lunch and Tina and I talked about American Things, you see. :D

After having a wonderful day, I was all hyper and lalalala! and then I tried to sleep early because I had to get up at 7:30 for a conference call. I was smart and stuff. I went at like 9:30 because I actually felt tired. But no. I stayed awake all night. And thought about things I had to do. And when I ran out of real life things, I thought about role play things. I fell asleep for about fifteen minutes and dreamed a conversation with Simon I only remembered wasn't real in the middle of the next day when I realised it was about John and Patrick opening a donut bar... (Chelsea suggests they call it HOLY DONUTS and I think she is the most adorable thing ever)

But mostly I was awake. And THEN I couldn't figure out the STUPID number to the conference thing, so I was 20 minutes late to the conference call. And then I was tired all day yesterday because of no sleep. So I kept almost crying for no reason. Finally put myself to bed around 10, hoping to sleep for about 12 hours and then get started (well more started, I did some when I was sleepy) on this work thing for my Mom.

Then I was awakened by a 5.1 earthquake (as I wrote this, the tiniest aftershock just happened!) and they have been happening all day and ARGH!

But I am warm, despite the cool day outside. I am safe, there was no damage to the house, my housemates are okay, and I have my kitty. And so much else. Despite the little rant, I reckon I'm doing far more than just okay.

I braved the mall for shopping. I had to take the bus (as ever). It is raining. Everyone was on the bus with me. Everyone in the world.

So...reading a book called Saint Patrick; Patron Saint of Ireland leads to weird looks on the bus. Usually from hoony teenagers, the bastards. I can only assume these people are looking at me and deciding I am some kind of fundie, since I do tend to look like a goddamn prude though I have NO idea why. If only they knew that my TimPod was playing Tim Minchin singing Inflatable You or Ten Foot Cock and a Few Hundred Virgins in my ears as I read about Patrick's religious experiences.

Might I also add that listening to that latter song, as well as So Fucking Rock while being literally surrounded by octogenarian women is a little uncomfortable. They are judging me with eyes full of wisdom!

I did some Christmas shopping, and yet I still need to get my flatmate presents next Monday. The LFoD are having a Tim Minchin Christmas and giving each other socks, jocks and chocolate. Because we're awesome.

And my TimPod played White Wine in the Sun when I was about nine minutes from home so it fit in perfectly at the end of the trip, leaving me feeling all lovely. Thanks, TimPod! You're the best!

It's 6 pm and I've already been awake 12 hours. I am so ready for bed. All of my clothes are too big because I have been eating...like...nothing. Lara. Stop.Being.Stupid. I just feel too bleh to eat most of the time lately, which is probably why I am bleh but low blood sugar =/= sense. And my tooth hurts. And I'm worried about everyone ever and what's supposedly coming to me in the mail and now I'm worrying that it might not be coming and is that somehow worse? And I just want it to be stupid Christmas because I hate Christmas and I want it over with so my Jayann can be here.

*deep breaths*

Anyway. I'm fine, sometimes I just need a dump.

... *giggles*

I did this though. And that isn't even close to half of the resources I have in my bookmarks folder, and it doesn't count the four books I ordered though I haven't read them yet so I suppose that's fair!

I was looking up Tim Minchin photos on Google because, you know, I do that all the time now. And I found one of him in the RMIT theatre I believe he booked for the 2005 Melbourne Comedy Festival gig where the lady from Edinburgh saw him which jumpstarted his career. And I was looking at the photo and there's a sign in it that says 'Swanston Street' and it made me so homesick for Melbourne.

Damn you, Tim Minchin! ...I take it back, I love you forever.

That theatre was where we went to go see Chris' movie premiere and that is the street the beautiful bathhouses are on and Melbourne Central where the movies live. And that stupid fountain right in front of this theatre that looks like a post box and with the water shortages it can't run anyway most of the time. Which is fine. It's ass ugly. (EDIT: AHAHHA I found a photo which makes it look all fancy. It's nice. And even in the photo it's still just a square with water coming out. Usually there's garbage floating in it. Lovely.)

It's such a weird feeling being homesick for a place. I have never really been homesick for the US, despite missing the people. This time, it's kind of the other way around (PLEASE DO NOT TAKE OFFENCE TO THIS, seriously, I miss the people, but you are not my family) and I miss the place a lot. I do not miss water restrictions and overcrowded trains and rampant dinnertime racism and I am like...200% happier here. I love Christchurch. I love New Zealand. I still miss Melbourne.

( So here. Have a little bit of Lara's Melbourne! )