Pixel Love!

Me ♥ pixel games. Dirk Valentine is the shit!

Today I tried Magnum Temptations Caramel - very meh. Also, it came in a fancy box! WTF, what a waste and how unnecessary for the price (23 SEK for a tiny Magnum.)

Also, if you haven't got one already, get Twitter so that I can stalk you 8) My username's astaldoia.

That's it for today, folks.

Last weekend...

... was great fun.

First, a fun afternoon with Sarah, Felix, Charm and Emma at G Chocolat (where else?). There was cake buffet for 50 SEK! Ah, happy days ♥ It was a shame that Anna couldn't grab her share, though when she dropped by after her errands we force-fed her some of our slices.

(I actually restrained myself and took 3 slices - there were 7 different cakes in total.)

There were also free chocolates on the counter, and free semlor. Is it any wonder why we're there so often? ♥

Later on in the evening, Anna, Felix and I headed to Annedalkyrkan for Anúna's performance - and what a performance it was. Hearing great choral voices in the acoustics of the church is nothing short of breathtaking. And the great thing is that Anúna's not a professional choir, which is why they also have a personal and humourous approach when addressing their audience. The McGlynn brothers are very amusing xD

(All my favourite songs were performed! When they announced "Dúlamán" there was a very audiable "Yes!" from the front row which could or could not have been me... 8D;)

After the concert was over we got to talk to some of the singers - I believe it was Rory, Kevin, Lucy, Alice and John. So much fun to be able to converse with them about random stuff. Also, Felix bought the Sensations album but forgot to get Michael to sign it Dx We fail. But it was fun to see him stand behind the sales counter like some comical manager who's selling merchandise to people after getting his trained monkeys to entertain the crowd - you get the picture x)

Fast-forward to Saturday evening - "movie night" at Felix's. When I arrived only Magnus was there, and shortly after Hedvig joined us. We shared a really nice spicy tomato soup which Felix had prepared. Eventually the rest arrive - Emma, Anna, Sarah and John (or Slinzer). We watched Knocked Up, had Sarah's quick-fix kladdkaka and then just goofed around and talked.

(We had frozen blueberries with the kladdkaka. People forgot to put them back in the freezer. Looks like menstruation blood, doesn't it? Slinz smeared some on his face and ran roaring into Felix's room, in true war-paint style.)

Anywho. That was last weekend, all great and stuff. This week, not so great. At least I found a new song that I like ("All Spark" by The Editors :D)

Oh hell no.

Yours truly has gone and caught herself a cold. Fucking faboo.

(On the other hand, I haven't had a cold since October or November sometime. Guess it's high time I caught one now.)

Anyway, I will blog about last weekend... this weekend. Once I have my school and newspaper duties taken care of. *thumbs up*

Insert thought here.

I have slight issues with being thought of as cute.

It's not that I dislike it - it's usually a positive remark. I understand why some would find my appearance cute, but I can't really wrap my head around it. It really does not fit in with the image I have of myself. But, I guess it can come in handy to play cute at times >)

Anyway. Just a passing entry before I write about the weekend.

DUDE.

http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/
and
http://www.bornofhope.com/

How freakin' cool isn't this??? :DDD

TGIF.

All mind-boggling life questions aside, it looks like it's going to be a great Friday :) I can forget the project for the weekend, I'm seeing Anúna perform tomorrow (♥), it's a short school day and I have 100 SEK to spend at Kicks.

Spent a cosy afternoon with mom today - she's back from Malaysia. I'm happy that she's back but at the same time, there are certain things which I've not missed... like her nagging x) Oh well. Lots of treats have been brought home, such as kaya (coconut jam for those who don't know), cookies and clothes. I wasn't able to get a tailored white cheongsam for graduation, but mom found a cute but classy white dress that fits. AND she got a pretty pair of white pumps for it too. Thanks mom! :3

Anyway, we had banana muffins with teh tarik whilst watching a film (The Magdalene Sisters - highly recommended!)

(Quite a strong film set in '60s Ireland about 3 "fallen" women sent to Magdalene Asylums.)

Anyway, for once I'll actually go to bed early.

*fumes*

Erwin har rätt - ibland inser man inte hur lyckligt lottad man är när man kan sitta hemma och bara "vara".

Jag vill inte har något mer med projektet att göra. Faaaaan, varför valde jag inte något som intresserade mig mer? (Jo, därför lärarna vill att man jobbar i grupp. Who else would want to work with food? Yeah that's right - no one.)

Fakkit alltså.

Anywho, skippar så klart skolan imorn. Orka dra mig dit för advisory, "project time" och en ynklig geografilektion när man istället kan använda tiden för att jobba arslet av sig på reporten. Måste till skolan vid 3 dock, har newspapermöte.

(By the way, I'm considering if I shouldn't just write in English from now on. I assure you I'm considering this because of my audience and not because I might be too lazy to write in Swedish at times :P)

Nu är det snart 4 på morgonen. Jag är trött men känner inte alls för att gå lägga mig än. So let's do that list of expenses I was talking about, ey?

Smaller costs
Cambridge exam (1750 - refunded 875 from school)
Mabel's birthday present (?)
Caitlin's birthday present (?)
New school bag (?)
Possibly a pair of shoes for spring (?)
UngMedia årsmöte (around 600)

Larger costs
Trip to Alicante (paid 1320 so far. Will probably need another 3000 at least.)
Prom (paid 2000 so far; will need at least 1000 more.)
Graduation (approx. 300 so far; no idea how much this will go up to or if I'm paying the costs or not. Excluding studentmottagning.)
Possible trip to Amsterdam (probably need at least 4000.)

So. We're looking at around a total of 13 000 SEK if I'm paying everything myself; 9000 SEK if my parents are feeling generous. This means I will realistically speaking be coughing up 4000 SEK before the Alicante trip. We have 3 more utbetalningar of our studiebidrag before graduation (our 4th utbetalning will be on the day we graduate xD), which will be 3150 SEK in total (minus a few smaller expenses). Then, after graduation we will get our last studiebidrag in June (i.e. 1050 SEK).

If I plan my economy accordingly, I won't have to kiss goodbye to all the stipendiums I received last year. (And thank god most of my friends have birthdays later in the year.)

Snabbt ska det gå.

Min (sista) sportlov tillbringades så här:

Måndag: Träffade Anna och Felix för att hämta Anúna-biljetterna. Gick sedan till Biscuit nära Hagakyrkan med Felix för fika. Vi blev besvikna =/
Tisdag: Besökte ungdomsmottagningen och sedan träfade jag E.
Onsdag: Slapp dag. Kommer inte ihåg vad jag gjorde. Läxor, tror jag.
Torsdag: Firade anti-Valentine's med Anna, Charmaine och Annas kusin Erika. De kom hem till mig för en snabb lunch, sedan stack vi in till stan för lite shopping (fruitless, unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately, considering the money I need to save up for this year.) Anna, Erika och jag svängde förbi G Chocolat efter window-shoppandet innan vi gick hem för att fräscha upp oss för en kväll ute. Kim och födelsedagsbarnet Sarah hoppade senare in i kön till Sticky som vi stog och frös i, men eftersom Sarah hade en flaska champagne i väskan var vi tvungna att gå till ett annat ställe. Det blev en lugn men rolig kväll på The Queen och sedan Burger King :)
Fredag: Fick för mig att jag behövde köpa några grejer så Mabel och jag bestämde oss för sushilunch och shoppingrunda på Frölunda Torg. På vår spårvagnshållplats kom vi på att Asienköket har stängt under sportlovet(!) så vi hoppade på nästa spårvagn på väg in till stan. Lunchade på Asienköket i Nordstan och sedan shopping. Gick hem med fynd från Monki (deras rea är verkligen skitbra!)
Lördag: Slö dag och stressig kväll. Började jobba 20:00 och kom hem 04:30!
Söndag: Seg dag med inget gjort.

Nu har skolan börjat igen och som vanligt fick jag nästan inga läxor gjort under lovet, även om jag hade lovat mig själv att jag skulle vara produktiv. Snacka om lathet. x) I guess I'll be paying for my laziness... A couple of days of intense stress with the project report? Yes please. (But, one reaps what one sows.)

På tal om det här med shopping. Jag har märkt att mitt shoppingsug växer för varje dag. Not good! Jag tänker mycket på vad jag vill ha (i.e. clothes, pretty heels and gadgets) och inte lika mycket på vad jag behöver (i.e. new school bag and a proper pair of shoes for spring-wear). Jag lägger också ganska mycket pengar på fika utan att känna ångest. Basically I'm consuming a lot more, and doing it almost without care, even if I know I can't afford it. Förr har jag varit väldigt sparsam och försiktig med vart jag lägger pengarna, men inte längre so it seems. Vilken dålig timing, säger jag bara! Ekonomisk recession, många utgifter, planerade resor... My newly developed shopping habits couldn't have surfaced during a worse year. *thumbs up* Will make a somewhat detailed list of expenses in next post.

(Köpte denna snygga BH:n igår till full pris... Fan att jag missade Kapp-ahls Room for Change-kampanj by one freakin' day!)

Bittersweet, and not the chocolatey kind either.

On one hand, I have finally come to terms with this intricate relationship so I feel more confident.

On the other hand, this eerie experience tell me that, yes - what I had before was great, and so I feel... sad, for lack of better words.


Why? I don't want to be sad over such a thing.

Vem vet, inte du. Vem vet, inte jag.

Once again, har haft en produktiv helg! Städat, fixat grejer, rensat skräp, etc. Tycker att jag måste ta tag i livet och få saker gjort :) Känns riktigt bra faktist. Samtidigt verkar det som jag har nått en punkt där jag faktist kan lose myself (tack till Skins som inspirerade detta) - eller ja, nästan i alla fall. När jag flyttar hemifrån, då kommer det hända saker.

(Skins - a fuckin' amazing show, yah?)

Onto my next topic though (taking it in English because it's quick); the game of love. I really detest how we get sucked into this game of wits and clever facades. Sure, it's fun if you're not serious, but what happens when you get serious? Everything gets so unnecessarily complicated. If we could boycott the game of love, people would probably not torture themselves with crushes/unrequited love. I've seen it tear people down and it seems pretty dreadful and pointless.

Well, my dears, I'm going to screw the rules and speak my mind on my next date. There's my two cents on the topic.

Älskade fredag...

Fredagsmystajm! ^^

Ska nog på kafé med Sarah efter skolan - hon besökte äntligen G Chocolat förra veckan och sa att "I want every bite of food I ever eat to be from there" xD Haha. Jo, G Chocolat är gudomlig men jag har en kafélista som jag gärna vill gå igenom...

Café Villekulla
Blue Mountain Café
Café Kardemuma
Café Marmelad
da Matteo
Sucré-salé
Biscuit

Eftersom Anúna-biljetterna måste hämtas från Pustervik på måndag ska jag försöka övertala Anna och Felix att sticka till Biscuit efteråt (den ligger nära Hagakyrkan).

Ja! Nej! Ja! Nej!

Causes for celebration:

1) Fick reda på att J-Rock-bandet Girugamesh kommer till Metaltown nu i juni. O_O ♥♥♥ OMFG!! (Cue fangirling. Okay, MUCC and Dir en Grey will be there too but I'm a Girugamesh fan!) Biljetten kostar dock 1325 SEK - no way, inte värt det om jag ska bara se dem inta scenen en gång =/

(Hoppas de kommer tillbaks i framtiden *gråt* TT___TT)

2) Fick MVG i slutbetyg för CAE :) Total amount: 17 stycken.

3) Lov nästa vecka, tack gode gud. Anna, Charmaine och jag ska nog ha en liten anti-Valentine's filmkvällsmysgrej x) Vi kommer nog börja shoppa grejer för balen också.

4) Sky Doll has finally been translated to English! ♥

(Varning! Serien är inte lämplig för barn 8P)

Causes for concern (more like dismay, but okay):

1) Haha, vart ska man börja? Jo, typ PROJEKTARBETET. D8 Oh what's this? Just an anxiety attack? Okay. I can deal with that... (not).

2) Det började snöa idag. Igen. (När ska eländet ta slut?? Jag vill ha sol nu!)

3) Pengar, alltså brist på det. Eller rättare sagt, det finns för många utgifter. Dx Just nu har vi Anúna-konserten, balen, studenten, Alicante och Malaysia (hoppas jag). Har börjat dra ner på fikandet och andra "lyx" utgifter - spara spara får jag göra =(

Symbolist art FTW.

I discovered Lawrence Alma-Tadema, a brilliant Symbolist painter, a while back in one of my art books, but never really took a look at his artwork till now.

(Why don't people paint like this anymore?)

His style really appeals to me - very Grecian - and he's got a marvelous eye for detail! Some of his paintings are a little darker, but I prefer his works to have a more light, floral touch like the one above.

(An example of his darker works.)

He's so on my list of favourite artists (which include Gustav Klimt, John Bauer and Alphonse Mucha) now! :D

(One of my favourites. ♥)

If society didn't have demands, I'd be a housewife.

Making this a quick entry (which means writing in English) so that I can get some homework done (D8).

Good stuff - it's the end of the month and I've had a productive weekend. Made a batch of chicken curry for dinner on Friday, as well as the chocolate cupcakes I made the other day. Also made crêpe batter before bedtime so that I could have some scruptious Nutella & banana crêpes for breakfast 8D Which I did, before heading over to Charmaine's to work on our project.

(Made bacon & mushroom crêpes for brunch today with the leftover batter. Nomnom ♥)

I also stumbled upon two very awesome sites whilst looking for recipes/ideas: Startcooking.com and Mr Breakfast.com :D You just gotta love the Interwebs.

Speaking of productivity, we seriously got to buy Helia and Annika a round of drinks when we go to - Alicante! Yep, destination's been changed because KLM is being uncooperative (plus the flight to Alicante is cheaper). Before I had decided to go on the trip I was pretty much indifferent when I heard we were going to Spain. It's not a country or culture I have any particular connections to, so I wasn't as excited like most of my classmates. But still, I did a little research on the province and city and now I'm psyched. xD (Seafood, seafood, seafood! ♥) It'll be my first time to the south of Europe and the Mediterranean basin, and I've got to learn some basic Spanish before we go. I'll ask Felix and Anna for some help (need to learn how to read menus in Spanish... Very important!)

(Bonus photo for the hell of it. Nice day today; too bad I was too busy in the kitchen to enjoy it.)