Countdowns

Ding Dong.

I am a big fan of counting down. There is always something to look forward to, and the daily humdrum of working and paying bills is so much easier to cope with when you have something fun coming up.

For me, it's usually travel, or someone coming home from overseas. Then there are birthdays, parties, concerts, comedy gigs.. always something to fill the gaps.
Lately it has been harder for me with Dave being gone, family issues here and there, and the uncertainty of what I will be doing with my life in the next year or so. I spend a lot of time thinking and planning the next excitement, and usually spend many hours watching DVDs or reading to allow myself to sleep without letting these excitements keep me awake!

As of today, I am expecting my friend Tim home in 4 days. There are 9 days until a big group of us goes to see Bill Bailey live in Welly. And then there are just 20 days until we leave for London.

I get back from the UK October 8th, and I have no idea what will happen then. Not a lot to look forward to, and a whole stretch of new time without Dave. I guess the countdown will begin again: counting down to my leave before Christmas, to 2009, to my not-yet-confirmed move to Scotland.

I wonder if there'll always be something more exciting than the now. I only know that my time with Dave is going to be fairly precious, and it's hard to believe that it'll be it for another 4+ months.

I think I need to post tips on surviving a long-distance relationship...

Well then. Huh.

Life.. life continues to stump me. Mere hours after my last post, about the happiness of my day, my mother bursts into my apartment to tell me that my auntie has passed away. I'm holding plates in both hands from the dishwasher, and I just look at her and wave them around, blinking. I hug her with plates in my hands. I don't know what to say.

The week has been tough so far. The service is Friday.

I've had someone die every 6 months or so for the last.. I'm losing track of years. I can't stand it. It sucks.

But for some reason, life continues to chug on around me. I continue to work ridiculous days, get chores done, plan for my UK trip in 4 weeks. Some things are on auto-pilot.

But there are those times when I'm alone, and I'm just flabbergasted. Blown away. Who could have seen this coming? We were so sure it was, and then she was good, and then she was gone...

It also seems more and more definite lately that I'm going to be packing up my life again next year and moving to Scotland. I couldn't have seen that coming, either. My life has become impossible to predict, and slightly ludicrous at times.

At the moment, I'm just rolling with it.

Things that make me happy today

1. Finishing up my essay on time.
2. Being another .5kg down!
3. Paying only $3 for parking.
4. My new camera! Fujifilm Z10FD. Bought at $219 as it was ex-service (but barely even touched), and returned with the wrong manual.
5. Dropping my Rarotonga underwater films in finally.
7. My course folder being returned! In my letterbox today. My pretty, pretty black leather folder.
7. Researching tattoo ideas.
8. The adorable little Muslim girl on the Vespa scooter following me home.
9. Dave.
10. Making lemonade. My last week or two weren't so great, but this one is going to be better. And after a gift of a bag of lemons, it's lovely to now make lemonade, both literally and figuratively. Tasty, too.

XF Top 12 - #7

7.Triangle. (Season 6, Episode 3)

A fan favourite, Triangle is one of the most technically-difficult episodes of the series' run. Mulder goes searching for the long-lost Queen Anne, and finds it, to his surprise, to be in its original condition, as he is suddenly back in September 1939. He is pulled from the water by the sailors, who take him for a spy, and refuse to believe any of his story about this mysterious 1998..

The whole episode is a vague homage to The Wizard of Oz (which may be one of the reasons I love it), down to the names of a few characters (Yip Harburg, in particular). It also features various X Files regulars as different 'characters' in the situation, with the goodies still being goodies, and the baddies being, well, Nazis. It is interesting to hear CSM (the wonderful William B. Davis) speaking German and Scully is fantastic as a late-30s heroine. The characterisation is a little intriguing, however, with Kersh set up as the man who goes along with the administration, but rebels, which we know eventually happens.. (I have such trouble seeing him without thinking about Grey's Anatomy now!)

Often filmed in long single shots, the episode features some great slides and some technically brilliant moments, including one of my favourite shots in X Files history, where 1998 Scully in one split-screen crosses past 1939 Scully in the other. Oh watch it, I'm terrible at describing that.

The flip-side to this episode are the 1998 Scully moments, where she is approached by the Lone Gunmen and asked to track Mulder down. She asks Spender for help, almost falls over in the hallway by the office, kisses Skinner (!) in the elevator, almost screws herself over in front of Kersh and CSM, and is generally pretty badass.

We also get our first Mulder/Scully kiss, although as it is in an 'alternate universe', only Mulder remembers, so it doesn't really count. And of course, it is badly-lit. Because Chris likes to taunt us so. And then there's the end. The sweet, sweet ending. Our agents are reunited, and Mulder is okay because Scully saved his ass. There are Wizard of Oz moments, and he loves her. All in all, magic.

Memorable quotes:

Mulder: Scully?
1939 Scully: I suggest you get your Nazi paws off me before you get one in the kisser.

Skinner: You're out of line, Scully.
Scully: No, sir, you're out of line. I'm sorry, but I'm coming to you for help and I've got nowhere else to go. I would hope that after everything that we have been through that you would at least have the courtesy and the decency and not to mention the respect to listen to what I have to say. Now, all I need is information. You don't have to do anything else. Look, sir, if you know anybody at the Office of Naval Intelligence it would be of great help.
Skinner: I could lose my job, my pension, I could even be subject to legal action. Use your head, Scully. It'll save your ass.
Scully: Save your own ass, sir. You'll save your head along with it.

Scully: I want you to do me a favor. It's not negotiable. Either you do it or I kill you. You understand?

Mulder: You saved the world, Scully.
Scully: Yeah... You're right. I did.
...
Mulder: I would've never seen you again. But you believed me.
Scully: In your dreams. Mulder, I want you to close your eyes and I want you to think to yourself "there's no place like home."
Mulder: Mmm. Hey, Scully.
Scully: Yes?
Mulder: I love you.
Scully: Oh, brother...

---

Honourable mention...Detour (Season 5, Episode 4)

People go missing in a Florida forest! Mulder and Scully discover the case at a road block! Mulder wants to do it, and of course Scully is roped in!

There are jokes about team-building and room service and people falling into holes. Invisible monsters. Being stuck in the wilderness. Mulder getting sick. Scully singing to him, so very joylessly. Innuendo. Cute Mulder quotes. Love love love.

Memorable quotes:

Mulder: One of us has got to stay awake, Scully.
Scully: You sleep, Mulder.
Mulder: If you get tired, you wake me.
Scully: I'm not going to get tired.
Mulder: Why don't you sing.. something.
Scully: No... Mulder.
Mulder: Well, if you sing something, I'll know you're awake.
Scully: Mulder, you don't want me to sing. I can't carry a tune.
Mulder: It doesn't matter. Just sing anything.
Scully: ......... (slightly off key, no enthusiasm) Jeremiah was a bull frog ---
(Mulder's eyes pop open.)
Scully: ---was a good friend of mine. Never understood a single word he said... but I helped him drink his wine.
(Pause.)
Mulder: Chorus.
Scully: Joy. To the world. All. The boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me.


More to come, folks, I'll get 'em done..

I get a little warm in my heart..

Light of choice.

So 2008 gave Wellington a really great summer. And now it's trying to match that with the opposite kind of winter. Brrr.

Not that we've got snow on Cuba, mind you. The temperatures have been low, the lowest I've caught has been a 3C morning, but it hasn't dropped below that here. But we've had high winds, pouring rain, hail, fog and well, more high winds. We've been hit by several storms, the next one apparently is just to the left of our little nation, and apparently bigger than the entire country.

Right now, despite the cold, I have my curtain open so that the lightning can, well, light my room up. And the thunder is fun. The heater is definitely staying on, though (and I'm glad I use a laptop in case the power goes out. Oh no wait. That buys me another half hour). Also, judging by the count, the storm is getting closer.

Things have been okay around here. The closer it gets to my UK trip, the more exciting things are. The current plans for London involve: Brazilian restaurants where you pay by the kilo, free museums, The Church (a club, not a house of worship, though we will be very fond of booze) and introducing my best friend to my boyfriend. Whee.
Scotland involves: Laziness in Edinburgh. Not-so-laziness in Edinburgh. Drinking. Meeting friends. Meeting D's mother (!). Travelling to Stirling to see the castle. 3-day side trip to Inverness to see Loch Ness. Roselyn Chapel. Distilleries. Underground ghost tours.

And Dave. My lovely Dave. I can't believe I've been without him so long. People ask me all the time how we've done it. And all I can really say is great communication. Trust. Honesty. Commitment. And well, love.

Tonight's plan is to finish an essay, watch some X Files and attempt to write the next episode post, because damnit, I'm going to finish them. And some others tomorrow, I suspect.

Stay warm! (or cool!) stay dry! (or.. wet!)

Stay gold, ponyboy.

Things that are driving me insane right now.

1. I have my laptop back, but it still has a few teething problems. It'll get there.

2. I really want to get those X Files posts up, and a post about the film which I saw (!) 3 days ago.

3. I miss Dave. With a vengeance. For the first 14 weeks? Hard but tolerable. The past few days I've been hating it. Hate hate hate. Hurts. Sucks. Makes me cranky-girl.

4. I'm cursing myself for taking on this business course. I want to do it, but the words are all such management-speak that my head is spinning. First assignment due Friday.

5. I have to wear my glasses the now - my eyes are kinda infected and need a rest from contacts.

6. Allergies. Run out of allergy drugs.

7. Being on my own 90% of the time.

8. My neighbours. Upstairs they stamp, run up and down the stairs and slam their door. Downstairs throw parties every Saturday night, yell at each other and generally misbehave like the teenage punks they are.

9. Tired. Tired tired tired. Stupid earlies. No sleep. Too busy. Mess everywhere in the bedroom.

10. I miss Dave. Did I say that yet? Scotland is 6 weeks away.