Hi everybody!

It's cold outside now. And it's rainy. And it's windy. I didn't realise the skirt I wore yesterday was quite so flarey until a car honked at me. Not to worry, I was wearing thick tights underneath.

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut. Fun times! Not sure if I'll just trim or do a proper style - it's getting quite long and I like it. But I've had the same hair (well, the same sort of non-style) forever now. I'm just such a girl...

Mum&Dad are coming over Friday! Yay! Going to see the UoM String Orchestra, and possibly Tommy Steele in Dr Doolittle - if there are tickets left. Hahaha. Could be fun. Maybe?

I'm thinking of making all my Christmas presents this year. But will I? You'll have to let me know what you want. Although to be fair, I won't be giving out many presents so best not get your hopes up:P

Soooooo...

Been working at the uni for three weeks now, enjoy it so much! It's stressful (esp now the students are back - apparently it'd be a great place to work if it wasn't for the students;)) but fun. Hopefully they'll advertise the position externally soon so I can get it permanently. Getting a bit ahead of myself now but I keep getting told I've pretty much got it... Still looking for other jobs cos I don't like not knowing what will happen job-wise in November. It's not that far away!

Finally gotten my thank you cards for graduation done. And if you're one of my readers (cos I've got so many... Hah!) you probably won't get one. They're reserved for lovely relatives. Going down to Wales this weekend, so have in total 8 hours on the train - think they will be spent either reading or writing letters. Knowing me I'll be reading, and drifting off to look out the window... But I need to get some letters sent out, I'm all rubbish and haven't been keeping in touch with people. Rubbish rubbish rubbish! Have had a lot going on though, in my defense.

Doing a basic IT course at BTH (uni in Sweden) and it's proving to be more difficult than I expected! It's a lot more detailed at any rate, but it's all useful. Tech tech tech!

Back to essaying I go!

I got a job! Full time, two months to start with but with possibility of it becoming permanent. It's with the Music&Drama Centre and Man U, which sounds absolutely perfect for me! So everyone wish me luck for Monday and send me all your positive energy! Well, some of it.

It's started raining now. Well, the other night. Today it's been one of those days when you can barely feel the rain, it's slightly cold but you don't actually feel like you're getting wet, the fine droplets build up though and when you get home you realise you're soaked.

xx

Been a while!

Since we last spoke/I last wrote, I have: Graduated (2.1, not too unexpected), turned 22 (waaah!), went to Sweden with Mike (yay) and moved to Manchester. I would write more about all these, but can't promise I will. Anyhoo.

Living in a studio flat in central Manch at the moment. It's pretty good, a few glitches consisting of a broken stove (cooker? Pah!), cracks in bathroom floor, mould in bathroom etc. Most of it was fixed pretty quickly though, and the room is really nice so I've decided to like it, despite it being absolutely tiny. I mean, cosy. It's all blue, with blue curtains and tiles and notice boards... and we all know I like blue! Well, if you didn't, you do now. We have an orangey bedspread, a red cosy lamp and a green rug, and the general impression is just.. lovely. Haha, interesting, eh? I'll post pictures soon. Maybe.

It was amazingly hot in Sweden. We stayed in Stockholm nay on two weeks, then went down south to my summer house for a week. Went to a safari park (where we saw 2 boars, a bird and some deer. Or similar), lay in the sun and got a tiny bit burnt, went swimming (nearly 20C! Niiiice!). Cibbe and Ellinor came down from Lund for a day, went rowing - and I managed to avoid having to do any physical work, score! - mini golf (would say crazy golf, but it really wasn't that crazy...) which I didn't win... shockingly enough. And we had pizza.

Saw loads of people in Stockholm, had a bit of a BBQ which was fun, catching up and that. Again, might post some pics... Maybe.

I'd like to say I've got a job by now. But nooo... Applied for literally hundreds though, so keep fingers crossed for me, please.

xx

I leave from softball practice every night
It's getting dark, but the "Golden Arches" light up the way
I turn the corner at the traffic light
I count my money and then I rehearse what I'm going to say
"I'd like an order of fries, a quarter-pounder with cheese,
I love the light in your eyes, will you go out with me please?"

I am in love with a McDonald's girl
She has a smile of innocence so tender and warm
I am in love with a McDonald's girl
She is an angel in a polyester uniform

[Can I get you some fries with that?]

She doesn't try to impress anyone
She doesn't act real tough like all the other girls that I know
She don't treat me like a simpleton
She's not ashamed to be the only other virgin I know
And when my hamburger's cold, I get up ready to go,

She's only fifteen years old, and I'm in love with her soul
She's got a gold tooth, you know she's hardcore
She'll show you a good time, then she'll show you the door, boy!

I am in love with a McDonald's girl
She has a smile of innocence so tender and warm
I am in love with a McDonald's girl
She is an angel in a polyester uniform

(Spoken): Paper, not styrofoam. With a little, uh, cardboard grid, mind you.
But the thing is, then they cover it with cellophane. Paper...shrink wrapped.

Well, there she stands behind the register
She's taking orders from the Saddle River Little League
If they knew how much I wanted her
Their home-room teachers would have to send them home for a week
And as I head through the door, the movement catches her eye,
My heart begins to soar she smiles she waves good-bye, good-bye
Good-bye, good byeI am in love with a McDonald's girl
She has a smile of innocence so tender and warm
I am in love with a McDonald's girl
She is an angel in a polyester uniform

Uno, dos, tres, quatro
Big Mac, Filet o Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fries
Icey Coke, Thick Shakes, Sundaes and Apple Pies
Sing that song of taste [Yeah, sing that song of taste!]
You can only find at one place, McDonalds
I am in love with a McDonald's girl
She has a smile of innocence so tender and warm
I am in love with a McDonald's girl

So... grad ball is on Monday. I've not yet finished my dress, oops! Will do though. Soon...

Cousin is getting married tomorrow, congrats!! It's also Midsummer's eve... which if I was in Sweden would mean meatballs, dancing around an erect penis (don't ask..) and drinking. Fun!

Getting my results in a week, can't wait. I hate waiting! It's just not my thing. Keep your fingers crossed for me anyway.


If your native language isn't English and you feel like doing me a favour, please please let me know. I shall love you forever!

xx

...and one for the Swedes!

Min C-uppsats (eller ja, motsvarande) är nu inlämnad
och betygsatt, och fick så pass bra betyg att jag och min handledare
ska försöka få den publicerad i The International Journal of Speech,
Science and the Law. Jag vet, mkt populär publikation... Hehe.

Uppsatsen, eller artikeln, handlar om forensic phonetics, igenkännande
av höjda röster. Experimentet bestod av ett antal ljudfiler som vi bad
folk para ihop. Det uppstår relativt ofta situationer där polisen bara
har sk. öronvittnen, men tyvärr finns inte så välformulerade rutiner
för att hantera sådana vittnessituationer. Jag vill mäta hur väl folk
kan känna igen en röst som de under brottstillfället bara hörde i höjt
läge, dvs skrikandes.

En av sektionerna vi vill utvidga och utveckla handlar om hur väl folk
som har engelska som andra-(eller tredje, osv) språk klarar detta test
i jämförelse med engelsmän. I flera av dessa situationer är vittnena
första generationens invandrare eller turister, därför är detta en
viktig fråga. Testet är ganska svårt, jag är medveten om att det
består av många röstklipp, men ni kan lyssna så många gånger ni önskar
eller behöver. Bli inte avskräckta av svårighetsgraden - jag är inte
nödvändigtvis ute efter perfekta resultat ;-)

Så, efter denna långa och något omständiga introduktion hoppas jag att
du har tid och lust att hjälpa mig? Länken här nedanför består av fyra
sidor med olika meningar, och tar ca. en halvtimme att gå igenom. Glöm
inte att skriva ert namn på varje sida!

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/ug/forsberj/julia.html

Vore väldans tacksam för all hjälp jag kan få - om ni har vänner och
bekanta ni tror skulle vara intresserade så skicka detta vidare!

Alright then!

So I can't remember when I last wrote. I suppose I could check, but I'm not gonna.

Have now finished uni. Just waiting for my results... Gah! Fingers crossed:) Currently working in a call centre, only for a few weeks. It's money. Not too bad, but long hours.

Actually, I don't get that expressions. I like it, but it doesn't make sense. Or.. I guess it does. Time is all relevant, isn't it? Maybe the world does spin faster for me when I'm having fun and hence it feels like time goes faster. I'd love to be good at relativity. Physics.

It's really nice and warm out. I'm sleeping with my windows open and I'm still boiling. Summer... Tis great, though working 9-18 isn't so great. Ah well! Mike's moving in soon, prob won't take on any jobs after that - though we'll see. I just want a long ass holiday, I've worked hard enough this year!

And on that note I'm bored of writing. TTFN!

I know most (all?) people who read this are people I speak to on a nearly daily basis. So you're allowed to skip ahead a bit! But I just want to brag a bit. Or, brag is wrong. Basque in my own glory? No. Let you all know...? Nah, brag pretty much covers it.

You know that dissertation I was worried about? I got 80%. Am going to work together with my supervisor to get it published in the International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law. I think I have a pretty good chance anyway, but if it does get published I'll def get onto the MSc Forensic Speech Sciences in York for 2008. VERY excited!

Mike and I have now booked tickets to visit Sweden, 26 July-13 Aug. Very cheap tickets, but the 13th is such an annoying date - Joanna's and Mum's birthdays are just after that, but the Silverchair concert in Manch is on the 12th!! I don't know. I've been wanting to see Silverchair since I was 13, they just haven't toured Europe since then. And now they're here and I'm not going! Although they are playing in Nottingham on the 13th... Daz, could we stay at yours?! Pretty please! Lol.

Anyhoo, it'll be Mike's visit to the lovely Sweden. Any suggestions on where I should take him? We are going down to my summer house in Blekinge (or here) for about a week, but apart from that...? Tom Tits is a must - is anything there adult sized by the way? Grona Lund as well. Probably a boat trip in the archipelago... Can you tell I'm very excited? I just want to share all this with him...

Just because: I've been told SOMEONE is going to South Africa to volunteer for a few months, wow!! Just hope I get to see you before you go!

So now, with only one exam left of my university career (well, for now) I'm feeling strangely calm. Probably because I'm pretty confident about Stylistics (knocks wood) but also becuase there's nothing I can do to change my Creative Writing mark. And the 80% didn't exactly upset me either. Haha.

Now I'm bored, so am going to eat bread and watch Crossing Jordan. (It isn't very good, but don't tell anyone!)

xx

Huja!

So I was flying home for the funeral, and to stay a few days. Got a flight, changeover in Copenhagen. Bad idea. My plane was the 3rd or 4th to get cancelled as the strike started. By the time I got to the SAS counter where I could try to get booked on another flight, approx 1000 people were queueing already. Dad checked night trains for me, decided it wasn't worth risking trying to get a morning flight - lucky that, they were all cancelled as well! When I got down to luggage place, about 800 people were already waiting to get their luggage out. So I left it and hopped on the train to Malmö (south of Swe). Lovely city, by the way! Only very boring when you have 2.5 hours to kill on own in the evening. I went to McDonalds! Spoke to Cibbe, who suggested I come to Lund to eat and meet him, though I didn't dare as I was getting another train to Stockholm. Turns out the train I was on stopped in Lund, so wouldn't have been a problem. Banghead! Argh! Anyhoo. Didn't get a sleep carriage thingy, so had to sit up all night. Not overly comfortable, but beats sleeping in the airport which a lot of people had to do.

The funeral was beautiful. It was in Skogskyrkogården, a large cemetary with big hills and a lot of trees and lawns and stuff. It's lovely. A lot of Erik's friends from his hiking club came, which was nice. We'd never met them before. Mum had written a little speech that the priest read during the funeral, it was just a perfect goodbye. Sweet dreams, Erik, rest in peace.


I feel like I've done so much this week, but thinking about it I really haven't. Met up with some friends and some girlfriends of friends. There appears to be an inflation in girlfriends and boyfriends being acquired across my friends. It's great! And they're all lovely as well. Also, the name Moa for my friends' girlfriends is becoming increasingly popular. Well, up to two now. But considering I've only ever met one Moa before in my life (that I can remember) I'm a bit surprised to see two in the space of a few months. Someone who does stats or a related subject may want to ponder that one a bit? :)

Am only blogging now because I need to pack. But my room is cold and I hate packing. I'm just so bad at it! Seem to be getting more and more stuff to take over to the lovely Britain every time. Doesn't make sense... Well, it does. But argh! Ah, as long as Mike can put up with living with me and all my junk it'll all be good.

I really should get on with it. Not sure if my family reads this blog but: I love you. Been great seeing you :)

xx