Dear Clau-Clau-Clau-Claudius. One of the most curious of the emperors, you have a clubbed foot and stammer all the time, but these have only served you well in avoiding notice. Behind the facade of a fool is a penetrating intellect that will lead the empire wisely. You conquer Britannia, and later the BBC will make a series about you. Your kind heart however will do you in, as your loved wife will poison you for her own schemes.
Claudius - 86%
Tiberius - 79%
Augustus - 68%
Nerva - 64%
Domitian - 61%
Vitellius - 57%
Antoninus Pius - 57%
Hadrian - 54%
Marcus Aurelius - 50%
Nero - 50%
Commodus - 50%
Trajan - 43%
Vespasian - 32%
Caligula - 32%
I never got that phone call, just as I assumed, but at the moment I couldn't care less.
I cannot express with words how grateful I am. Grateful that I have someone to talk about anything, be it relationships or school or sex. To ask questions, no matter how stupid or trivial they would sound to me, without the fear of being laughed at or judged or rejected. I am so grateful it makes me cry at times, cry out of joy. Despite how bad a day or how miserable the feeling, the mere memory of her laughter or voice or scent makes me smile. Thank you, Wanderer, thank you for making me forget, even for a little while, that I don't really deserve your kindness and affection (I sounded like a caterpillar again, didn't I?).
The reason why I'm feeling this particularly strongly today is because I didn't know who else to ask that somewhat ridiculous question. And she spoke with me about it without making fun of me, not once, even though I felt so stupid to ask something like that.
A little background information: some time earlier this year I was (surprisingly enough) in the IT class one evening. There was this guy who had some trouble with the printer. We tried to figure it out (poorly, I might add) and spoke a little in the process. Anyway, ever since we've said hello when passing each other in the hallway or when we happen to be in the IT class at the same time. Today this happened again, only this time he came to talk to me. First it was just general small talk and then he asked my name and email address and he gave me his. At some point he also asked if I was married (???). Now, even if some of you may frown upon this, I googled him. Only one hit and it was some kind of a Christian site that had listed him (or his namesake, albeit I doubt that) as a new member. So, since this was a completely new situation to me and didn't know (or even have a slightest clue what to do) I went to ask an advice from the only person who I knew wouldn't laugh at me when hearing the probably peculiar problem, Wanderer. After all, I’ve never been the object of anyone’s interest (or maybe once, although it took me four years to even think of the mere possibility of such a thing…).
How the hell am I going to survive next year when she will no longer be there and my place in the department will be torn asunder (there's going to be some kind of a rebuild thing due to the asbest problem in the building)?
Well, not a prisoner really. I just sent my application to the local polytechnic and that's my aplication number. Now I'll just have to wait a call to the entrance examination. The Triplet would like to add that I got maximum points from my high school final grades and 14/15 from my marticulation exam grades. Left me wondering... how the hell *did* I manage to screw up my English exam back then?!
But anyway, the maximum points to get out of the whole entrance exam is 100 points. I now have 34 out of the possible 35 points just for my school grades, and the rest (65 points) will be graded based on the actual physical entrance exam next summer. We'll see how it goes. I've probably said this before but the exam includes a psychological test, and I'm still worried I'll manage to mess it up. Although I felt very relieved, in a way, today when I told Wanderer about this plan B of mine and she said I would be a good nurse.
Funny, actually. When I met Wanderer for the first time I felt anxious because superficially she seemed like my mother; they're both loud and they even look a little like each other. But it went without saying within the first fifteen minutes that I was very wrong. They may have a few remotely similar characteristics on the outside, but they are nothing like each other on the inside. I keep having these moments when I'm suddenly reminded of that mistake, like today. When I tell my mother about my plan B, her first words won't be like those of Wanderer, that I'll make a good nurse. She'll probably ask me why I'm doing this and then jump into a conclusion that I'm going to leave the university. As if.
1. Someday I want to ______________.
... spend the entire day without having to worry about my monetary situation.
2. I hate it when ______________.
... butterflies ambush me during summers.
3. Last nite I dreamt ______________.
... about Her, among other things (the spelling of the question may require correcting if we're being puritanists...).
4. My greatest fear is ______________.
... falling back to my previous, hopeless emotional state in which I couldn't laugh, cry, or love.
5. I'm most proud of ______________.
... my independence, both emotional, spiritual and physical.
12 870 points, 248 lines and 16 levels. I can't believe I actually managed to screw it up on that level. One mistake and the whole thing came crubling down. Or piled up to the top, more like.
Well, have got to keep trying. Maybe I'll be able to top this personal record later today.
Top 100 Movies
Take this list of the top 100 movies from the IMDB and mark the movies you have seen.
1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
* 5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
* 6. Pulp Fiction (1994)
7. Casablanca (1942)
8. Schindler's List (1993)
9. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
10. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
12. Star Wars (1977)
13. Rear Window (1954)
14. 12 Angry Men (1957)
* 15. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
17. Cidade de Deus (2002)
18. The Usual Suspects (1995)
19. Goodfellas (1990)
20. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
21. C'era una volta il West (1968)
* 22. Psycho (1960)
* 23. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
24. Citizen Kane (1941)
25. North by Northwest (1959)
26. Memento (2000)
* 27. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
28. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
29. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
30. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
* 31. Fight Club (1999)
* 32. Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
* 33. American Beauty (1999)
* 34. The Matrix (1999)
35. Vertigo (1958)
36. Apocalypse Now (1979)
37. Taxi Driver (1976)
* 38. Se7en (1995)
39. Léon (1994)
40. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
41. Paths of Glory (1957)
42. American History X (1998)
43. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
44. Chinatown (1974)
45. The Third Man (1949)
46. Untergang, Der (2004)
47. The Pianist (2002)
48. M (1931)
49. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
50. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
51. Laberinto del fauno, El (2006)
* 52. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
* 53. Alien (1979)
54. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
55. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
56. L.A. Confidential (1997)
57. Boot, Das (1981)
58. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
59. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
* 60. The Shining (1980)
61. Double Indemnity (1944)
62. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
63. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
64. Metropolis (1927)
65. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
66. Rashômon (1950)
67. The Departed (2006)
68. Raging Bull (1980)
* 69. Sin City (2005)
70. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
* 71. Aliens (1986)
72. Modern Times (1936)
73. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
74. Rebecca (1940)
75. The Great Escape (1963)
76. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
77. Some Like It Hot (1959)
78. All About Eve (1950)
* 79. Amadeus (1984)
* 80. Forrest Gump (1994)
81. Touch of Evil (1958)
82. Vita è bella, La (1997)
83. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
84. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
* 85. Jaws (1975)
86. The Sting (1973)
87. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
88. Strangers on a Train (1951)
89. On the Waterfront (1954)
90. Batman Begins (2005)
91. The Elephant Man (1980)
* 92. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
93. Braveheart (1995)
94. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)
95. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
96. The Apartment (1960)
97. Blade Runner (1982)
98. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
99. City Lights (1931)
* 100. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
I need to start watching the classics. The whole list (Top 250) can be found at http://imdb.com/chart/top.
Nothing special going on at the moment. I am more and more sure by the day that I'm not going to get that job; they're supposed to call me tomorrow if they've chosen me.
I saw V for Vendetta again last night. That movie gets me every time.
I was being a bit of a smart ass to Wanderer today: She had forgotten the essential part of one of the exercises we had to do, so I couldn't resist the temptation to quote one of the Potter books in the answer sheet; "The inner eye does not see upon command!" (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
- - -
The Meme of the Day:
Would your rather....
1. ...eat a live cockroach (the big hissing ones) or eat a stick of butter?
The Triplet: A stick of butter.
2. ...go bungee jumping or sky diving?
The Triplet: Bungee jumping, of course! Did you know that the world's highest supervised bungee jumping site is the bridge over the Bloukrans river in South-Africa? 216 metres high!
3. ...eat a lime or a lemon?
The Triplet: What's the difference? A lime.
4. ...be stranded on a deserted island alone or be stranded on a deserted island with someone you hate?
The Triplet: Alone. Alone! Alone!!!
5. ...be able to read minds or be able to become invisible?
The Triplet: Now this is a tricky one. Technically everyone can behave in a way that won't make it easy for others to remember you. So we would like to read minds!
I just finished watching Saw III. Not as good as the previous ones but frightening nonetheless. In a way I was sorry to find out that the game is over for good. Even thoug Amanda's traps were interesting, they were also -as Jigsaw pointed out- unbeatable. She was on the path of revenge, instead of teaching them the importance of one's will to live, in a very gruesome and twisted way. Jigsaw, on the other hand, had a some kind of justification: he tested those who more or less deserved it.
Anyway, now I'm going to continue my movie night with 'Femme Fatale'. I once saw a glimpse of it which is why I want to see it completely now. The glimpse, obviously (since I'm not that much into Banderas), had something to do with Rebecca Romjin-Stamos's character making out another woman. Enough motivation for me to see the whole movie. Am I turning into a man or is my libido just over-active again?
- - -
The Meme of the Day:
Roxette's 'Listen to your heart' is making me sneeze again. How long does it take for me to live one day without having to think of Her every second minute?
I'm feeling a little sad, again. I've been on a good mood ever since last autumn so it's no wonder I'm going to the other direction once again. Maybe happiness really is just a short moment between two sorrowful moments.
I guess my mood is due to the change in my routine. Many of my courses ended this week so my hectic timetable of the past three months is now relieving a little. But as I have more time to pursue my own interests I also have more time to worry about the forthcoming summer. I know I can't be sure but it still feels like I lost that summer job I was so excited about last week. I hate if I have to go back telemarketing. I know it would pay my rent but... Hell, maybe I will try the Harlequin translations anyway. After all, I have more time for the examination anyway.
- - -
I was just given an assignment last night concerning Mark Twain. We are to analyse a short story by him, called "The man that corrupted Hadleyburg". I know nothing of the story but it made me think of all people who, in addition to Mark Twain, share my birthday. Some people say that it tells something about your personality to know the famous people born the same day. So, as The Meme of the Day I gathered a short (and highly subjective) list of a few people born as the eleventh month dies. Draw your own conclusions whether or not their... occupations... reveal some underlying layers of my personality.
Elliott Blackstone, an American LGBT rights fighter.
Winston Churchill, a British politician.
Billy Idol, a British musician.
Edmund Kemper, an American serial killer.
Ridley Scott, a British film director (e.g. "Alien", "Thelma & Louise")
Jonathan Swift, an Irish writer and a misanthropic.
Mark Twain, an American writer and a cynic.
Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer, also died this day.
What important, famous or otherwise interesting people were born on your birthday throughout the history of birth records?
I'm listening to Roxette again. Just in case there's someone who hasn't yet seen the connection: Roxette = Her. Especially all the ballads;
'You don't understand me'
"You don't really see that I live for your touch..."
'Listen to your heart'
"Listen to your heart before you tell her goodbye..." I revised the lyrics a little.
'Fading like a flower (every time you leave)'
"Every time I see you oh I try to hide away/
But when we meet it seems I can't let go/
Every time you leave the room/
I feel I'm fading like a flower..."
'I don't want to get hurt'
...now I'm crying again.
Why do I keep doing this to myself? And who was that bloody mockery of a philosopher who came up with the saying "out of sight, out of mind". Yeah. Sure. When the cows come home.
