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Wow, haven't had a chance to actually log on for around two weeks.
Youth hosteling/visiting Poppy was a blast! I learned how to make banoffee pie at Poppy's! Plus we went to see Shrek 2, which rocked! And we shopped in Brighton, which I love. There was a sale on in the bear factory and I got a hippo! I have named him Alvin.
We went hosteling near Milton Keynes, and activities included ice skating, shopping, bowling, walking along the Grand Union Canal and hanging out in the village, basking in the glorious sunshine, which held out until the day I decided to wear a miniskirt, and there was promptly a storm.
Got back to two parties in one weekend - one at James' and one at Ed's. Both were pretty cool, although by the end I was feeling a wee bit homesick since I hadn't really been home for ages, what with hosteling and partying and visiting my Dad. Nice to get back home and just chill for an hour or so, before I had to go right back out to work!
Today I went into school to give all of my textbooks and things back, and go to the final lesson with my Maths brats. Strange to be leaving, but such a relief!

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Thought I would post this interesting IM conversation I had with my good friend Patrick today.

thegrimreaper_58: hi de hi
llinosll33: ho de ho
llinosll33: how goes it?
thegrimreaper_58: not bad
thegrimreaper_58: and mit du?
llinosll33: cool. went into school today to drop off books, visit maths brats etc
llinosll33: btw, since when are you black with a little beard?
thegrimreaper_58: since recently, evidently
llinosll33: lol
llinosll33: i thought of what your project for the summer can be
thegrimreaper_58: completing final fantasy 9
thegrimreaper_58: im already well on the way :P
llinosll33: working on your web comic?
thegrimreaper_58: oh yeah heh
llinosll33: bit more worthwhile, i thought
thegrimreaper_58: FF9 is an epic!
llinosll33: it's a frelling computer game!
thegrimreaper_58: ok
llinosll33:
thegrimreaper_58: LORD OF THE RINGS IS JUST A BOOK!
llinosll33: never read it
thegrimreaper_58: i didnt mean that!
thegrimreaper_58: okok
thegrimreaper_58: star trek is just a tv show
llinosll33: i only watched the films for aragorn!
thegrimreaper_58: THERE
llinosll33: GGGGAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
llinosll33: STAR TREK IS A SUB-CULTURE IN OTS OWN RIGHT!!!!
thegrimreaper_58: as is final fantasy!
llinosll33: meh, fair enough. but i still thing you should work on your web comic
thegrimreaper_58: yes
thegrimreaper_58: or
llinosll33: oooohhh, instead of fair enough, i should have said 'touche'!
thegrimreaper_58: i could write a 200 page essay on why final fantasy is far more important to the world than star trek
llinosll33: with the accent, obvioulsy
llinosll33: what would the main points of your essay be?
thegrimreaper_58: 1. STAR TREK SUCKS
thegrimreaper_58: 2. FINAL FANTASY DOESNT
thegrimreaper_58: :D
llinosll33: that's hardly academically sound
llinosll33: >:P
thegrimreaper_58: hehe
thegrimreaper_58: ok
llinosll33: now give me some proper reasons
thegrimreaper_58: right
llinosll33: and i will explain why you are totally wrong!
llinosll33: brb, fetching coal!
thegrimreaper_58: final fantasy presents a logical and intelligent challenge to its players dwhilst still finding time to create 13 entirely different storylines, all with unbelievably different characters who are devloped to an extremely advanced level, with devlopment spread out over the period of the game, which can often take upwards of 100 hours to complete
thegrimreaper_58: star trek has the same premise for every series
llinosll33: it does not!
thegrimreaper_58: "Ooh lets go journey into space to find some aliens that we didnt know existed and OH MY GOD LETS NOT GET VIOLATED IN EVERY HOLE BY THE BORG"
llinosll33: lol
llinosll33: actually, the 'big three' recent trek series had significantly different premises
thegrimreaper_58: star trek is only broad because they have a technically infinite universe to draw upon
llinosll33: the next generation was straight exploration, with a side order of diplomacy and 'let's be friendly to the universe', whereas deep space nine was more hard-edged and was more along the themes of religion and the effects of war, voyager was about the struggle to get home against desperate odds. and all of the characters were totally individual!
thegrimreaper_58: final fantasy games are limited to single planets and ergo cannot be as broad with as many different things in as star trek, so its not really the FF fault if theyre a bit narrow
thegrimreaper_58: but they are all of set races
thegrimreaper_58: basically you have the empire, the klingons and the ferengis and then a few other races that comprise the characters in these shows
thegrimreaper_58: FF have to develop new races of character for each game
llinosll33: yeah, but they're all individuals, with different issues and complex interpersonal relationships, no character is like any other
thegrimreaper_58: there have been dragoons, monkey men and dogs - in the last 3 games alone - as characters
llinosll33: trek had cow-people!
thegrimreaper_58: its the same with final fantasy, never have any of the characters been like another
thegrimreaper_58: dragoons are like bloody horses on 2 legs
llinosll33: nice
llinosll33: but star trek has deeply affected society
thegrimreaper_58: elaborate
llinosll33: it is the largest, most wide-ranging franchise on the planet - it inspired many of the black astronauts today to go into that profession because they were the first sci-fi show to have a black person on the bridge, not to mention challenging racial boundaries by having tv's first ever interracial kiss.
llinosll33: also, its principles of responsibility towards the environment have resonated deeply with many people
llinosll33: and the prime directive, starfleet's most important law, has inspired many people to live their lives in a better way
llinosll33: and, it consistently raises challenging contemporary issues in the guise of alien problems
llinosll33: so nyah!
thegrimreaper_58: final fantasy raises many issues relevant in todays society
thegrimreaper_58: a character in final fantasy uhh...4 i think was forced to execute the orders of the king against his will, and spent most of the game trying to overcome the moral dilemma involved in working against personal politics
llinosll33: hmm
thegrimreaper_58: final fantasy 9 deals with the discovery of onesself and ones existence, as one character is thought to be the only emotionally functioning member of a race of 'puppets' used to kill mercilessly and without emotion or remorse
llinosll33: mmm..
thegrimreaper_58: until he discovers a village containing others like him, and finds out that he has a limited lifespan
thegrimreaper_58: and must deal with the idea that he will die
thegrimreaper_58: much like a human child would have to when he finds out hes going to snuff it eventually
llinosll33: cool. i'm not saying that isn't all very interesting and nice, but star trek doesn't suck!
thegrimreaper_58: and lots of other things from the various games that i cant remember
thegrimreaper_58: star trek is just so...cliché nowadays
llinosll33: and how many tv shows have people watched and then wanted to live their lives in a better way? not many, that's for damn sure
llinosll33: i'll admit, trek has suffered from over-exposure, but that doesn't invalidate its many wonderful attributes
thegrimreaper_58: i would say that i have lived my life in a different manner from having played the final fantasy games
llinosll33: pourquoi?
thegrimreaper_58: oh, Square (the company behind FF) also made a short film on the Animatrix which allowd people greater understanding of the matrix films, which in turn affected the way many people saw the world
thegrimreaper_58: i dunno, just the messages the games have put across and the experiences the characters...experience has taught me to live my life in a different way
llinosll33: fair enough. but star trek doesn't suck!
llinosll33: and it has influenced the way i live my life.
llinosll33: i think: what would captain janeway do?
llinosll33: and then i make the right decision.
llinosll33: of course, if i was captain janeway, i would be able to fuck chakotay
thegrimreaper_58: what would jesus do?
thegrimreaper_58: :P
llinosll33: :-P
thegrimreaper_58: one track mind i swear
llinosll33: btw, this is so interesting, do you mind if i put it in my lj to preserve it forever?
thegrimreaper_58: go ahead
llinosll33: thankies!
thegrimreaper_58: you have an LJ?
llinosll33: yup
llinosll33: fairly recently
thegrimreaper_58: oooh
thegrimreaper_58: whats your username?
llinosll33: cosmic_llin
thegrimreaper_58: k
llinosll33: oooohhh, also, trek has an entire language of its own!
thegrimreaper_58: final fantasy has a couple
thegrimreaper_58: there was the desert peoples language in FFX
thegrimreaper_58: which required translation via books
llinosll33: with proper syntax and an entire vocabulary and everything?
thegrimreaper_58: i dunno, i havent played ten
llinosll33: hmmm.
thegrimreaper_58: there was an alien langauge in 8 and 9 but neither was featured much
llinosll33: although one linguist decided to speak nothing but klingon to his infant son, which i disagree with
llinosll33: that kid is going to end up fucked up bad if klingon is his first language
thegrimreaper_58: yup
thegrimreaper_58: imagine if he didnt like star trek
llinosll33: i imagine in his household that would probably be an offense - although trek usually does pass down the generations, i've found
llinosll33: i grew up with it as a part of everyday life
llinosll33: we used to play it when we were little - i was deanna troi, my brother was captain picard and we always made my sister be the alien!
thegrimreaper_58: heh
llinosll33: one of my earliest memories is of watching the epsiode where tasha yar dies - i had to hide behind the sofa when the slime monster was on, but every time troi was on screen i had to watch - i was a big troi fan even then
llinosll33: aaahhh! it's patrick stewart's birthday!
thegrimreaper_58: hehe
llinosll33: i'm on startrek.com, btw
llinosll33: it didn't just suddenly dawn on me
thegrimreaper_58: tut tut
llinosll33: old, but still sexy
thegrimreaper_58: ¬______________________¬
llinosll33: what is that supposed to be?
thegrimreaper_58: its an emoticon
llinosll33: of?
thegrimreaper_58: ¬_¬
thegrimreaper_58: someone looking disdainful
llinosll33:
llinosll33: he is SO sexy!
thegrimreaper_58: he bloody isnt
thegrimreaper_58: thats like saying chers sexy :|
llinosll33: cher isn't bad..... but anyway, patrick stewart rocks! he has a very sexy voice, too. i just love those chip and pin ads he voices
llinosll33: btw, found the info i was looking for: the ep i mentioned a minute ago was first transmitted in april 1988, so probably a few months later in the uk - so I must have been about two and a half when i saw it from behind the sofa
llinosll33: just an intesting bit of info there

After that, it turned into a conversation about train tickets for our upcoming trip to London.