missmiz

Am continually amazed by the crappy quality of prose presented to me at work. It's understandable when a manuscript from a amateur enthusiast is a little...ropey, but some of these people make a living from it!

Military history has the capacity for extreme geekiness, an example being an artillery glossary (coming to a Blackwells near you in April), the result of a 20 year research project/dive into OCD, clocking in at 300,000 words on every aspect of artillery, from howziters to 'Jungle Fruity Pants' (why they are fruity he does not say). However, it is at least well written. This seems to be an increasing rarity, unless we get a manuscript from an academic. They tend to have spotless punctuation and prose style, even if they are rather bossy.

I have just had the pleasure of untangling a paragraph, running to 20 lines, but which had only one comma and one full stop. When my fellow editor attempted to read it out loud he reached the point of asphyxiation by line 12.

This is not to say that I don't love my job, I really do. The only aspect I dislike is photocopying, and I bribe the trainee to do all of mine with a six pack of ginger beer every week. Still, is there any reason in today's modern world not to know how to use a semi-colon correctly, or how to place a verb in a sentence without sounding like the Kaiser?

Am peeved that it is raining, because my new car keeps getting dirty.

Current Location: The History Press
Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Hungarian Rhapsody - Liszt

Ok, compared to global warming, mass starvation or the Christian Right, my problem is minimal. But I'm going to bitch anyway.
I want a new ipod. I even have the money for a new ipod. Many excellent retail establishments sell them. HOWEVER i want a WHITE one because:

a)they are super sexy and are the flag colour of the product
b)it will match my ipod stand in my car
c)it will match my headphones (im a bit anal about colours matching)

My present one is a 30GB video 5th generation but is on its last legs, generally giving up the ghost whenever possible and trying to delete itself. So, thinks I, now is the time to get an all new 'classic' 160GB. Oh the excitment!

So, imagine my irritation and general stomping when i discover that they are only produced in silver or black. Now far be it for me to criticise Apple (except to say they are so far up their own bottoms they are able to witness the digestive process) but why not provide the 'classic' in the colour that made the device famous? The one that made them stand out? There are plenty of mp3 players in silver (including the ipod nano and shuffle) for those who want to match their moonboots.

So, i gritted my teeth and decided to buy an 80GB video, more expense and with fewer bells and whistles, but at least in my chosen colour. You don't want to pay £200 for a product that vaguely irritates you every time you look at it. Off I toddle to Argos. None in stock. Curries, ditto. Turns out they no longer make it, it's 'classic' or nothing.

The internet! thinks I. Reliable for all your shopping needs. At last, success! Ordered, done and dusted. Until i get an email "out of stock, we are morons, please forgive us for taking your valuable credit card details".
Try again with a different company, ordered. Email: "out of stock, very very sorry, please take my first born as recompense".

Just ordered from yet another company... watch this space...

Current Location: Work.
Current Mood: crappy
Current Music: Whitney Houston. It's that bad.

Yeah, so according to the homepage I haven't posted for 50 weeks. I wish I could say it was due to extreme business and importance. But that's laughable.

So... update. Working in military history publishing. Because I'm that cool. As I write I am avoiding editing an extremely dull treatise on Admiral Jackie Fisher. He appears to have been a bit of a rugger bugger type. Can't say I'm warming to him, apart from the fact that he once accidently shot a butler.

Have a brand new car that I have christened Louie. He is a silver nissan micra and clearly homosexual, but that may be my fault, having decked him out in black seat covers with pink flowers. Driving him is an amazing contrast to my old car Milton, who was a dear soul but a little too keen to burn oil/stop randomly/turn his wipers on without being asked. I no longer feel that I have to provide most of the forward propulsion via prayer. I also feel less like a teenager in a battered 'first car', but rather a twenty-something in a snazzy one, even if he does listen to Judy Garland in the garage.

Must stop procrastinating and get back to Jackie and his 16-inch. guns. What sweet rapture.

Current Location: The History Press
Current Mood: bored
Current Music: Make Your Own Kind of Music - Mamas and the Papas

Alors, am back in Cambridge, well to be more specific, the tiny, slightly "this is a local shop" village of Rampton. For those cambridgites, head up the Histon Road past the all powerful Aldi and carry on going.

It's rather scary to be living in a house where every room is mine. No more keeping my entire life in one room and the occasional use of communal areas, nope, I can tap dance in the kitchen if I choose. Which I don't. We moved in on the 8th but the fridge and washing machine have only just been delivered (thanks comet. You live electricals? Why not hire more lorries) so now the move is complete. Which was very exciting, especially putting IKEA furniture together and having to remove the front door to get the sofa in.

Still, I haven't yet got to the complete post-uni lifestyle, since I haven't got a job and have been exploring the world of having ntl digital tv. Now, for those of my friends who have ever had a conversation with me, they know I didn't have a tv till I was 14. Anywhere in my house. Not anywhere. Very sad. But even this early and emotionally crippling experience has not made me NEED 50 channels. No, my excuse is that the house has no antenna and the only way to even get the usual 5 channels was to go digital along with the internet. Oh well, boo hoo. The continual repeats of Malcom in the Middle on Sky One are fantabulous. As we speak I am reliving 1992 with Home Improvement.

Anyhoo, a big shout out to all my homies, if I have any.

Current Mood: complacent

Apparently it has been 10 weeks since I last went on Live Journal according to their reminder. Chastisement is so sexy...

Have been completely nocturnal for the past few days, Getting up at 7pm and going to bed at 10am. I rather like it but Mom is unimpressed. It's not like I get more sleep than other people, I just do it at different times. Bloody diurnals, think they're soooo special! Meh.

Bf is here and so attempting to return to a more normal routine. Northerners appear to enjoy getting up early, makes them feel like they've accomplished something. WIERD.

Benjamin and Sowester now a ginormous 1 1/2 cm long. They grow up so fast. Sigh.

Shout out to all me homies, should I acquire some.

Current Location: At the Chinese Botanical Gardens. Not Really.
Current Mood: content
Current Music: Mamas & the Papas

I have internet again. After a week. Sad how much I rely on it. Is it possible to eat too many apples? I'm sure Laurie would say not, but I think I may have had a surveit. Or however one spells it.

Current Location: Hoooooome
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: CSI Miami background

Personality Report

Neuroticism 82
Extraversion 13
Openness To Experience 26
Agreeableness 1
Conscientiousness 0

You are introverted, reserved, and quiet with a preference for solitude and solitary activities. Your socializing tends to be restricted to a few close friends. You can be very easily upset, even by what most people consider the normal demands of living. People consider you to be extremely sensitive and emotional. As a practical person you like to think in plain and simple terms. Others describe you as down-to-earth, practical, and conservative. People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising and you have less concern with others' needs than with your own. You like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized.

Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: The sound of my sanity evapourating

Soon I will have to stop monitoring Benjamin and Sowester in such an anal way because, to be frank, all they do is grow. However, they are rather hypnotising. Am horribly horribly bored. So bored. May see if I can grow back hair bored. Hopefully see Helen on Thursday and will make something exciting and vegan. With secret meat pouches.

Am sad that it will soon no longer be flip flop season as mine have grafted to my feet. Alas, the confinement of shoes.

Benjamin and Sowester (thanks to Neil for the latter name) have become visible! Oh the joy. They are little freaky transparent cilliating crustaceans of cuteness. They enjoy eating pond debris and having James Joyce read to them. Well I assume they do, there have been no complaints thus far. I have placed more eggs in the tank and hopefully they will have some siblings, though it is likely the eggs will just be eaten. What the hell, it was annoying having half a pouch of eggs on my desk.

Day 2 of Triop watching:

Placed the sachet of eggs and detritus in the plastic tank of water and sat it under my desk lamp at around 9pm last night. supposedly they will hatch (eggs are microscopic so am going on faith) and be visible in 2-3 days.

Have already promised to name the first benjamin after Mr Parker, and he has requested than if there are more, one should be called Eddie Lizzard. I did explain they were crustaceans, but what the hell. Any other name suggestions, should I prove successful? Am very excited about having dinosaur offspring.

In other news, have discovered one can get free itunes with bottles of diet coke. Am now in caffeine haze. Tis gooood. I'm lovin' it.

Current Location: Inside Jurassic Park
Current Mood: enthralled
Current Music: Jurassic Park

Am in a serious pensive state over spam. Does anybody eat it anymore. Has anyone eaten it since WWII? Mom says she likes spam fritters. What are they?
I once bought a tin of spam and thought it tasted nasty. Genocide nasty.
Please, if anyone has any concrete knowledge or views on spam, share them with the group.

Anyhoo, I have been avoiding boredom by trying to raise triops. They are weird dinosaur age pond crustaceans. They aren't very exciting.

Current Location: Home in slippers
Current Mood: about spam
Current Music: The new adventures of superman (background)

Ok, now I have live journal someone better explain what I do with it...

Current Mood: cranky