"God hates baguettes. "

I've just got back from a meal out with my parents and Mike Davies' (not to be confused with Mike Davies) family.  It was alright.  He's starting Lancaster University on Sunday (he's in Fylde college) so his parents thought it would be good for him to know someone who had already experienced Freshers' Week and could let him know what to expect.  Also it was a chance for them to catch up as they have been friends for about 100 years.  My dad sat in the corner and joined in conversation with slurred speech about 5 minutes after they'd finished. 

I can't wait to be back in Lancaster with Liz because it's much better than being in Garswood without her. 

I started packing today.  Now I've got two half empty bags that are half full with pens and notepads and files and folders.  There is also a bag that has the books Liz brought for me to read last time she was here.  More on that later. I'm going to spend tomorrow packing everything up apart from my laptop so I can go early on Saturday morning and arrive in time to have a decent pick of the kitchen space.

At the weekend I tried to get a new machine head for my acoustic guitar but none of the shops had a spare one for me to buy.  I didn't fancy paying £15 for six when I only need one.  I'll try the shops in Lancaster next week and if I can get a replacement I'll ask my dad to bring the guitar up on his way to/from work.

Over the last few weeks I've been reading and reading and playing Golden Sun and reading.  But I got bored of Golden Sun when I decided I wanted a load of rare items and it was taking me too long to get them.  The Bartimaeus Trilogy was fantastic and I had wished that it wouldn't end and I could just keep reading it forever.  Obviously I eventually got to the end so I started An Abundance Of Katherines.  I'm up to chapter six.  I wanted to like it, really I did, but it's just so silly and the main character is so annoying.  As if anyone would know 19 people called Katherine - none of whom shorten their name in any way and none of them spell it 'Catherine' - and all of them would be the same age as him (or close enough) and all of them would date him (and then dump him).  Even more ridiculous is that he isn't even 18 yet.  19 girlfriends before turning 18 is hard to believe but I could cope with it and call it poetic license.  I think I could accept 19 girlfriends all called Katherine, too, if there was the possibility that some of them shortened their name or spelled it with a 'C' or both.  But K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E 19 times?  It's taking things a bit too far.  However, I wanted to like it so I just went with the flow.  Then I found out how annoying the main character is.  He's so depressed because of being dumped for the 19th time by someone called Katherine.  He needs to man the fug up (fug?  Surely that should be fuck?).  If he's smart enough to come up with a theorem that "predicts the future of any relationship", as the synopsis on the back cover seems to suggest, then he should be able to work out that he might be better off trying a girl with a different name.  I know it isn't correct to think that the next Katherine will follow the trend and dump him - each Katherine should be independent of the others - just like it isn't correct to think 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 won't come up on the lottery.  But, despite it having as much chance as any other combination of six numbers between 1 and 49, you'd never make 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 the numbers you pick every week.  Similarly, you wouldn't risk another heartbreak with another Katherine after being dumped 18 times by girls called Katherine.  And that's why it's my pick of the week.

Master Chief's Spartan Laser lets out a howl!

Had my hair cut today.  Then Lucy came to show me her new car and we went for a drive.  We were going to walk around on top of the hill but it was too muddy and we were hardly wearing the right shoes for it so we came back to my house and had a chat in the kitchen.  We would have gone to meet people for a bit but we couldn't think of anyone who wasn't back at uni or busy getting ready to go back or at work. 

This summer I've seen Mike, Laura and Lucy so, with no more friends left to catch up with, there's nothing more to do other than go back to Lancaster. 

Except there is more to do.  I need new trainers, a backpack, slippers and to finally get my acoustic guitar fixed.  I'll try to get an early night so I can go to Wigan tomorrow morning and sort all of those things out.

I'm going to have to do a lot of reading next week if I'm going to finish all these books in time.  I'm bored of level grinding on Golden Sun now though so I don't have as many distractions. 

The Halo soundtracks are making me want to go out and shoot aliens.  It doesn't feel right having such epic music playing while I just sit in my room at the laptop - I should be out saving the galaxy! 

Wibbly wobbly.

More Golden Sun.  

More reading.  

I'm getting the £22 uni was trying to deduct from my deposit back.  

Dear James

Thank you for your email and the queries you brought to my attention.  I am so sorry to have mistakenly made deposit deductions in respect of the ‘Desk Damage’ and ‘Carpet Stains’.  I have checked your inventory and on it you clearly stated that there was glue on the desk and marks on the carpet by the bed.  I overlooked this when going through the large number of room inspection results, and must apologise for this.

I will ask the Finance Office refund £22.00 to your nominated bank account as soon as they are able to do so.  Many thanks for looking after the room so well for us.

Best wishes

Pam

Well done for being thorough.  That email was sent a week ago and I'm still waiting for the money to go back in.  

We have until Friday 23rd October 2010 to re-register with the university.  More evidence that time doesn't work properly on campus. 

I can't wait to live on my own (with Liz) again. 

((Mass Effect)(Pokémon))^Zelda = Golden Sun

Liz was here.  That was good.  I can't describe how good though because of how the dictionary works. As usual you can just read her blog to see what we got up to so I don't have to repeat it for all you people who have already read them. 

Since Liz went home I've pretty much just been playing Golden Sun.  I finished the first game yesterday and immediately moved on to Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age.  It is the best game in the entire world ever.  As long as you can get into it.  There is a lot to consider when it comes to kitting out your team and it can be a bit overwhelming at first.  I love it though.  It's much better than Mass Effect and Pokémon added together.  In fact it's like Mass Effect multiplied by Pokémon.  To the power of Zelda. I like it even more now that the real world is awesome (because of Liz).  It used to be the case that I'd finish playing and feel sad that all that fantasticness was just a game.

It hasn't all been saving Weyard though.  I've started reading The Amulet of Samarkand.  I think it's amazing because it has Djinn in it (there are Djinn in Golden Sun too) so it is obviously set in the parallel universe that connects this universe we live in to the Golden Sun universe.  I'm going to read eight chapters now before I either go to bed or go back on the DS.

"I'll tear down the building just to pass through the door. "

I didn't read The Book Thief.  Sean the decorator asked if I wanted to help him for a couple of days and make some money so I said yes.  I was just sanding walls down before he painted them (which isn't the most engaging job) but I didn't complain - I didn't have to use my brain at all which is always nice.  I'll read The Book Thief when Liz has gone home at the end of next week.  And then maybe Lord of the Rings.  I'll see. 

I got the email about deductions to my deposit the other day.  Absolute joke.  No way was there £22 worth of damage.  £10 for minor desk damage and £12 for a carpet stain.  There was nothing wrong with the desk or the carpet!  I've sent an email asking about it but all I've had back is a generic auto-response to say it will get looked at soon.  "Soon" hopefully meaning before I graduate...

I can't wait for tomorrow.