You will never suceed*

[bending_sickle]

A Day in the Life of the Sickle:

• I've been reading The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Actually, I've only gotten two sittings in, and both times I've been fighting tears the whole while I was reading it. It's not even that particularly sad or dramatic, just inciteful and beautiful and ow my heart. I knew I was going to love this book from the quotes on literaryquotes. I've been wanting to read it for years and years now.


• I went to the Goethe Institute today to register for a course which starts Monday. (Eeeeeep!) I told them I'd gotten my Zertifikat Deutsch in 2005, and that my last German class (in 2007) had been a B2.2. level. I took their placement test just in case, because it'd been a few years since my German saw the light of day and all. So the test is 99% grammar and 1% Short Text Comprehension. My resulting level? B1.1. FAAAAAIIIIIIL. I AM A FAILURE. That's basically what my mind went to at light speed. And while I get it, intellectually, that of course I lost some German, and of course it's rusty, and that if you don't use it you lose it, but OMG FAILURE FAILURE FAILURE. Anyway, I also got to talk to one of the teachers (who spoke extra-fast on purpose) and she said that my comprehension and speaking was fantastic, it's just my grammar, so I can take the B1.2 course and do extra work on the side to spruce up my grammer. Stupid grammar.


• What this means is that between the book and the test, I'm all a-wibble. The win, it is not here.

Castle, 3x12:

• Espositoooooo! Rawr.


• No, really. Sweet mother of pearl, rawr. Seriously.


• And I still can't decide between him and Ryan.


• (Can I take them both home? They're so perfect!)

Random Sickle Photographs:

Barcelona (Airport)


Tuareg goes above and beyond the concept of advertising by placing >5 living, breathing, slightly-moving pythons in a glass enclosure with their car. No, really.


Chicago in December




Flame for the Unknown Soldier, methinks. There were many pigeons with badly singed tail feathers, and you can see why.


The Art Institute of Chicago's fantastic stairs.


Rome in December


View from the Pincio at Villa Borghese.


Castel Gandolfo from the bridge.


My favorite photo of mine from this the past year. An angel on the bridge to Castel Gandolfo.


At Villa Borghese, a stone eagle gargled, reminding me of Dean Winchester.


Santa Maria in Trastevere Church. With literally hundreds of churches in Rome, they may get old fast, but dude, a camera chair? Awesome (mainly because it was the first one I've seen up close.)


San Giovanni in Laternao. That is one gruesome statue. (It's holding a marty's - he better be a martyr - skin.)


Quo Vadis Church and the supposed "this is where Jesus was standing" stone. Know your Bible stories.


Tombs for the Ardeantine massacre. There's about double that off-camera. Haunting. The cave where they were shot? Distressing.


Modern art. What the fuck.


I repeat: what the fuck.


It had music playing in the background. Awesome only because it made me think of Chip and Kezef and their bizarre red-vision.


Street art. So much cooler (and funnier) than modern art.






Ostia Antica in December




That goddamn elephant mosaic I couldn't find last time (because, it turns out, it was in a then-cordoned-off area).

Video of the Day: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Jan. 10, 2011 - Jon talks about the shootings in Arizona in the opening and I love him for it but we all knew that already.


Song of the Day: "When the Body Speaks", Depeche Mode (live) - This is the year's first Song I Put On Repeat. It is made of love and awesome. And apparently sweat, because ye gods, Dave, you're dehydrating!

* 11 Reasons Why You Will Never Suceed, Gary Vurnum

Comments

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

There should be a plaque by the statue of the angel guarding the bridge to Castle Gandolfo. It would read "YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!"

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Actually, the intimidation factor is already high on that bridge, considering that all the angels are carrying some sort of implement of torture a la "Look what Jesus had to put up with! For you!". The plaque might be overdoing it ;)

[seschat.livejournal.com]

The Perks of being a Wallflower is made of sunshine and love and epicness! ♥

AND YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE you'll brush up on your German grammar in no time! And hey, I've been studying Spanish for four years now and I still don't know when to use the SUBJUNTIVO DAMNIT. I mean, I know the rules and all? But I don't feel it, which pretty much means I don't know when to use the subjuntivo. *facepalm*

I love the pictures! (But what is up with SAN GIOVANNI? CREEPY.)

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

But it's just so depressing to know that there was all this stuff that I knew and I could do and now I can't. Which just brings to mind the next question of "What's the point of learning it in the first place?" It's just...I could, and now I can't, and I can't help thinking of all the other things that I knew and have now forgotten and then it's just one step from that to "My whole CV is a lie!" because like I remember any of that. The spiral of woe sucketh, yea, verily.

Apparently (http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/San_Giovanni_in_Laterano) that's Bartholomew the Apostle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_the_Apostle#Tradition) who got flayed and crucified upside down. *shudders* I can't think of flaying ever since I read Follet's At World's End (WARNING: Graphic description liek woah omg squick).

*smiiiiiiiiish*

[seschat.livejournal.com]

*offers you huggles and love* So what if your grammar is a bit rusty, really? If you've already learned it, it'll come back to you ultra fast, right? And then you can move on to GREATNESS. >:D I mean, I get where you're coming from, it's the exact same thing with learning a piece on the piano and then forgetting and then having to re-learn it, but the muscle memory's there, so – *\o/* go, Sickle! Also, I'm at your disposal if you need help with anything, you just say the word, love. ♥


Flayed alive whattttttttttttt. *hides*

*goes to watch Sherlock* *is excited like a flaily excited thing*

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

A Study in Scarlet is ♥. I expect there to be much squee :D

*MOAR SQUISHES*

[seschat.livejournal.com]

A Study in Pink, actually. ;p I'm currently one hour in and I am loving it so hard, omg. O_O

JOHN ♥. SHERLOCK ♥.

*GLOMPS*

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Oops, yeah, Scarlet is the original story.

THEY ARE ADORABLE, ARE THEY NOT? *snuggles*

[seschat.livejournal.com]

They are, gods. ♥___♥ I CAN'T TAKE THAT THERE ARE ONLY TWO MORE EPISODES. (MY SLASHY LITTLE SOUL WASN'T DISAPPOINTED EITHER. IT'S PRACTICALLY TRADITION TO SLASH THESE TWO, DON'T DENY.)

And now I have such spectacular urges to re-read the stories. ;p However, HAS TO DO MATHS FIRST. STUPID MATHS.

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

JOHN + SHERLOCK = HAWT SLASH

THERE, MATHS DONE!

[seschat.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHA I LOVE YOU FOREVER

SERIOUSLY.