Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Brunhilde's LiveJournal:

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Monday, August 16th, 2004
1:40 pm	A Righteous Tirade I suppose that this little rant has been in the works for a while, but now I have dead-time at work and am posting it for all to think I'm a freak and/or share in my wrath: What MORONS have taken over the Harry Potter paraphernalia marketing campaign? It was bad enough when they failed to manufacture a Lucius Malfoy action figure after Chamber of Secrets. (What kid or twentysomething squeeing fangirl doesn't want a beautiful blond villain with a snakeheaded stick to play with?) But at least there was plenty of variety: lots of professors, Harry and Draco in various incarnations, even Dobby and the Weasley twins. So I was about to pee my pants in anticipation of the Prisoner of Azkaban figures. I mean, I was going to have Professor Lupin and Sirius Black to play with--right? Nah. On offer for this year's film are four action figures, I believe: a couple of Harrys (one bearing the ridiculous name "Expecto Patronum Harry"), a dementor (which does look pretty cool) and a mid-metamorphosis Lupin whose head can be changed from wolf to man but whose adorable ratty suit is forever molded in ripped-up form with grey fur poking through and wolf feet sprouting out of the trousers. Not sexy. Not even cute. This, even this, might barely be tolerable, were it not for the fact that Werewolf Lupin is a couple of inches taller than every previously marketed professor figure. I must protest! Even if one could look past the permanent fur problem, how can Lupin have a midnight confrontation with Snape or have chance run-in with Gilderoy Lockhart if he, in comparison, is the size of Hagrid? Clearly, this will never work, and the Harry Potter reenactment games of children all over the world have been destroyed, as have mine. Penultimately, THERE IS NO SIRIUS BLACK. Actually, I stand corrected. There is a shitty, devoid-of-detail Sirius Black who comes in a little boxed set and is about an inch and a half in height. Great--party in the Shrieking Shack with midget Sirius and monstrous half-morphed Lupin! Just what I've never wanted! Of course, you can always buy ickle Sirius and equally titchy Lupin in *separate* little boxed sets. Then they can have their fun, even if they're likely to be squashed by an intriding normal-sized Harry in the process. Last, but not least: in my time abroad in England, they have changed the Chocolate Frogs! Or rather, the wizard cards. Back in the day, you got one of 25-ish nifty holographic cards bearing the images of actual famous witches and wizards: historical figures, pop icons, Quidditch players, &c. Now, there are about half that number to collect, and they're all frickin' Hogwarts professors. As if any wizard child would discover Quirinius Quirrel or Poppy Pomfrey in his chocolate frog box! They're pandering to the Muggle masses, that's what. And I am not pleased. Grr! >:( (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 8th, 2004
12:06 am	New Icon! Is this not cute? (Not to mention tres moi.) (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 21st, 2004
10:04 am	Julius Caesar For being performed in a theatre called "The Chocolate Factory," it was pretty damned incredible. For the typical viewer, I would probably award it 3 out of 5 stars--my biggest beef with it was that their director must be one of those iambic pentameter nazis who demands a stop at each line break--but for myself, as an avid and opinionated fan of the play, it gets 4 out of 5. Never have I seen such a fierce, rigid, odious Brutus! (Usually I think of him as flawed but imminently cuddleable.) Never has my heart broken so for Cassius! (Standing at attention during the Tent Scene, with tears welling up in his eyes, while Brutus raged at him! Ohh!) And I got to see Cassius on his knees in front of Brutus, which was intensely gratifying. Mwahaha. Less zealous items of note: Ben Kingsley's son played Caesar! He was good--and his mannerisms are just like his dad's. : ) Also! Juliet Stevenson sat right behind us! We didn't even realize it until the play had ended. Juliet Stevenson watched me and Tina having a breathless conniption over the Tent Scene, and probably thought we were weird. That is something to be proud of. Petty observation: almost everyone in the cast was hot. Especially Cassius. *snuggles him* (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 20th, 2004
11:33 am	End-of-term Euphoria Indeed, Lent Term is over! Five weeks of freedom have begun! (I am currently not considering the papers that I have due at the beginning of next term. Ugh.) So last night, Tina and I embarked on a rather massive pub crawl to celebrate! I got fairly well sloshed. Intoxication in moderation is such a delightful novelty. We also discovered two fun new pubs: the Bugle (low-key, local, and stoically masculine, we thought), and the Sun, which we overheard a chap at the Bugle say was the oldest pub in Reading. They have insanely good port. And tomorrow, we have tickets to go see Julius Caesar in some crackass London theatre that is also a chocolate factory. Don't ask me. But Julius Caesar! At last! I woke up this morning around 11:30, not with a hangover thank-you-very-much, but with a sudden surge of joy that I was living somewhere where I could just pop over to London if I fancied it (London! wow!), together with friends who will still be so when we are batty old ladies wreaking havoc in some nursing home. And I am flying to Ireland on Monday! : ) Life is amazing. I am happy. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 28th, 2004
1:56 pm	And proud of it. 'Fudged in the Head' PLEASE VOTE!!! What Type of Lunatic are You? brought to you by Quizilla Also--had very bizarre dream last night about actor Paul Bettany. He was sitting by a hotel pool in full "Master and Commander" regalia (for some random film promotion--you know how dreams are), and when the ARLLL trooped by and meekly asked if Kim could take a picture, he consented. Yet somehow it was only he and I who ended up in the photo, and he began coming onto me in an extremely bored and offhand sort of way. In fact, his whole manner was similarly blase--he seemed both vaguely arrogant and vaguely self-deprecating, as though he considered himself pretty awesome but believed that no one else did. In the dream, I told myself that he must be in a bitter mood because he didn't get an Academy Award nomination. Sample dream dialogue: "They must not care very much about this movie promotion, because they only sent me." Me, attempting to brighten his mood: "We really loved your performance!" Him, dismissive and toneless: "Yeah." (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 25th, 2003
3:19 pm	Christmas in Merrie Olde England Merry Christmas, one and all! I hope you are all having grand days with your families and friends, wherever you may be. As for me, I am in Reading, with my friends, who are my family. After returning to England from France and Ireland several days ago, I feared that it would not seem much like Christmas here--but I was quickly proved wrong. Kim and Sara Marie and I set immediately to work making Christmas cookies; after a while, we tired of cutting out normal boring shapes and started custom-making things like the One Ring, the Eye of Sauron, Lucius Malfoy, Dobby, Trogdor, etc., etc. I made Aimee an archaeolinguist, whom she ate with relish. Then there was caroling at the Ivys: a smashing success. The Very Reading Christmas cantata was much appreciated: Dr. Ivy managed to stammer out something about how such a performance would never be equalled. How I love my surrogate Dad and Mum. Midnight Mass: a delightfully quirky Irish priest officiated, and we could not be completely certain that he was not drunk. But Christmas feels hollow to me without carols in a church, which proved to be all the better in the company of friends. Kim came skipping into our room in her kimono just before nine o'clock this morning to rouse the other four of us (Sara Marie was sleeping at the opposite end of my bed) for present-unwrapping. (Just like Christmas at Hogwarts!) I received an Elven-esque leaf pendant from Kim, a bag to match my medieval dress from Aimee, a bottle of whiskey from Tina (mwahahaha), and a soon-to-be-decorated-with-exciting-pictures frame from Sam. My package from my family has not yet arrived, but I have barely even been thinking about it. : ) A helpful Christmas tip: do not inhale into a mug of mulled mead. Your head will explode. Jason Isaac's "Peter Pan" arrives at the cinema tomorrow! In honour of this, there will be a post-Christmas-dinner viewing of "Hook." Does it get any better than angsty Charles-II-lookalike pirates with big hats, velvet dressing gowns, Freudian complexes, and sharp steel appendages? I think not. So once again, Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 21st, 2003
11:52 am	1. What did you do in 2003 that you'd never done before? I flew over the waves to a foreign land! 2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Hm. I can't recall that I made any. Perhaps I shall. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Hmm...no. 4. Did anyone close to you die? No. 5. What countries did you visit? Whee! Since September: England, Ireland, France. Not too shabby; more to come. 6. What would you like to have in 2004 that you lacked in 2003? This requires an abstraction, since 2003 was so full of wonderful things: harmonious continuity between the different "sides" of my life, perhaps? 7. What date from 2003 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The first I can think of is September 25th, when I left for England. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I'll be a nerd and say maintaining my 4.0. That should be a New Year's resolution: achieve something deeper than that. 9. What was your biggest failure? Further abstractions involving my self-centeredness, I suppose. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? None to speak of. I am still recovering from the black lung. 11. What was the best thing you bought? Plane tickets to places. : ) 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Tina and Aimee, for caring so and being exciting. My father, for being more than anyone should ever have to be. Brian, for kicking some college ass. Patrick, as himself. 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? This is actually a pretty easy question to answer. But doing so would feel a bit treacherous. Matters have improved, anyway. 14. Where did most of your money go? Travel, and Cadbury's from the BP. Alas. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Need you ask? I am in England! 16. What song will always remind you of 2003? Goodness, far too many. Perhaps the Indigo Girls' "Hey Kind Friend." 17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? Wow--on this precise date last year, I was about to be showered with the happiness that marked all of 2003. ii. thinner or fatter? I'm not sure. Thanks to my erratic diet at Reading, I am probably thinner. iii. richer or poorer? Ha! Both: I have more money and it leaves me far faster. 18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Reading for myself. Going out of my way for others. 19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worrying about silly, silly things. 20. How will you be spending Christmas? With my dearest friends in my house in England: gifts, carols, mulled wine, and midnight Mass. 21. Did you fall in love in 2003? Ah--no, unless you consider falling in love to be a continuous process, which I suppose that it is. 23. How many one-night stands? Not my bag, baby. 24. What was your favorite TV program? I never watch television. 25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No. I hated people temporarily this year, but I do not now. 26. What was the best book you read? "The Once and Future King," I think. Oh! And a deserved nod to "Order of the Phoenix." 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Goodness, I don't know. 28. What did you want and get? Nigh onto everything. 29. What did you want and not get? Brian says: "Perfection, but who can expect that?" True. 30. What was your favorite film of this year? Perhaps I could come up with something better, but my mind is still clouded by the haze of "Return of the King." 31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 20 on April 13. I seem to recall spending a grand time in the West 4th Long lounge with my friends, breaking one of my presents by dropping another present on it, and watching "Chamber of Secrets." 32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? This year *was* immeasurably satisfying. 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003? Elf princess. 34. What kept you sane? This summer, my soul was saved on numerous occasions by Patrick, and less predictably by late-night intellectual *third-person* cybersex with Tina. Slashtastic. 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I will always love Alan, but this was not his year. The award goes to Jason Isaacs, probably. 36. What political issue stirred you the most? Bah! Humbug. 37. Who did you miss? All my loves in Virginia--merry Christmas to you. 38. Who was the best new person you met? Dr. Ivy, hands down. 39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2003. Love others for the joy you can bring to them, not merely for what they bring to you. 40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "I forget what to ask for / There isn't anything I haven't been given / How could I wish for anything more / As I am here, living in heaven?" --James Taylor, "Carry Me On My Way" (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003
11:08 pm	Gratitude In my boredom, I have been skimming my 2+ year-long Livejournal. And it occurs to me--my God. What have I done to deserve my life? I mean, I am awesome, but not *that* awesome. It's a blessing, pure and simple. Hm. Perhaps I am quasi-worthy of the awesomeness, in that I have come to expect it, while not ceasing to appreciate it. Perhaps not enough people expect their lives to be awesome. Give it a try; it seems to work. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
9:33 pm	Aemilia goes to Londinium Today, I went to the Royal Academy of London to see an exhibit on the Pre-Raphaelites. I felt very slightly out of place, seeing as how most of my fellow museum-goers were old women who seemed, in fact, to know something about art, while I was just like, "Ahh. Beauty." I wonder if Renaissance damsels really did sit about on terraces reading books while their besotted lovers stole kisses from their hands, or if the Victorians only wished they did. I mean, I do. Then, I went across the street and into Fortnum and Mason because I had to. No one should miss an opportunity to walk pretentiously into the gaudy grocery store where Her Majesty supposedly shops. And of course, I had to see Hamley's, London's biggest toy store. And oh, is it huge-ass. Unfortunately, their HP and LotR selections were not as orgasmic as they might have been; only the five-story staircase decorated with things like the Whomping Willow and the statue of Salazar Slytherin was really worth hyperventilating over. At the very least, it was a good excuse to buy candy for lunch. I have discovered, however, that I begin to feel overwhelmed after a fairly short time on the crowded streets of London. So many tall buildings, so many cars, so many busy people and ridiculously beautiful and expensive shops, to say nothing of the ridiculously tacky touristy ones. It's a grand city, indeed--and it certainly doesn't churn my stomach, as New York does--but I think that I prefer local pubs, country churchyards, and green hills. I suppose I could always be a Pre-Raphaelite shepherdess with a book and a besotted lover, as well as a city terrace-sitter. : ) (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 30th, 2003
11:34 am	Originally, I got "Elrond Half-Elven and his PMS," but I liked Haldir better. Congratulations! You're Haldir! Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you? brought to you by Quizilla (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 21st, 2003
9:01 am	Nostalgia Rush I've just been looking at the pictures from Romeo and Juliet--you people all look absolutely grand. Would that I could have seen it. And on a different note, I was mildly terrified to note shades of Dan Keegan in all-grown-up Karl. I think it's the extreme lanky floppiness of both hair and body. Does anyone who remembers know what I mean? (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 17th, 2003
3:40 pm	I feel, right now, as though only present love would satisfy me. Failing that, I suppose I could be soothed into sleep by the rain falling outside the window. Seeing as how that is not an option either, I guess I'll turn to academia. Very well--I submit to the embraces of my term paper. Current Mood: morose Current Music: "Boots of Spanish Leather" (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2003
1:56 pm	: D My medieval dress is finished! It is dark red and black and has a lace-up front and very large sleeves! Aimee is awesome! I am one step closer to gratifying my fantasies involving anachronism. Current Mood: Elf-princessy (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 7th, 2003
9:47 pm	La! I am happy! I like cider! Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham in the movie "Elizabeth" is mad sexy! That is all. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2003
6:40 pm	Happy Guy Fawkes' Day! Even from inside the house, I can hear the fireworks popping and sizzling like mad. (Whoo! There go some massive ones now!) What a delightfully ironic way to commemorate a failure to blow up Parliament. Aside from the fireworks, today has been unusually quiet--for once, I had no work to do, so I kept myself amused by teaching myself some Old English and starting "I Capture the Castle." Ah, pleasure reading. And now for something completely different: I found a dark red silk pajama/dressing gown set at a thrift shop for £3.50. It's oh so Lucius Malfoy. Fetish? Me? Nah. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 2nd, 2003
3:43 pm	Lest I Forget All right--I hereby resolve to do better about updating this journal, since my efforts to keep a paper log of my adventures have failed miserably. And this is definitely a good day to begin. On Saturday morning, Tina, Aimee, Kim, and I left bright and early to hop a train to Stratford-upon-Avon. (Just bright and early enough, actually--we nearly missed it, which would have been tragic.) Our mission was to enjoy a double feature at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre: Richard III as a matinee and the infamous Titus Andronicus in the evening. The wonders began with a picnic lunch beside the Avon (perhaps not quite so picturesque as it sounds, as I was eating cold pizza out of a tupperware container.) But we had ducks and geese and swans for company, who swarmed around us a bit menacingly, and the swans ate pizza crust out of my hand. They're rather mean little buggers, really. Then there was Richard, who was (not surprisingly) evil, adorable, and bizarrely sexy. He wiped his face and then licked his hand when Lady Anne spat on him. Mmmmm. It's so hard not to root for him in that play. So what if he murders innocent children? The poor crippled man just wants to be king! Is that so much to ask? After the show, we got dinner at the Dirty Duck pub--apparently a popular hangout for the actors, though alas, we saw none. (Yet.) I ordered bangers and mash (ah, that's sausages and mashed potatoes for the uninitiated--very English) and tea to keep me awake for Titus, which was probably not necessary. The pub was delightful--a real fire, cozy booths, and Shakespearean quotes all over the walls. We amused ourselves playing "Which Character Would You Rather?". (Some examples for those of you who wish to ponder: Hamlet or Mercutio? Oberon or Puck? Edmund or Iago? Romeo or Horatio? Brutus or Cassius?) Then there was Titus. It starred none other than DAVID BRADLEY of Harry Potter fame. And oh, was it a ride. Aaron the Moor was an unparalleled bastard and sex god. Tamora was wild and frightening. Saturninus bore a very strong resemblance to John Hurt's Caligula of "I, Claudius," which was delightful. Titus himself was alternately funny and entirely pitiful, which he should be. But all the rape and murder and mutilation and cannibalism left us considerably shaky. But not nearly as shaky as we were about to become. We learned that we were welcome to wait outside the stage door to MEET THE ACTORS after the show. It was cold and rainy, and so only we poor freaks, two of us in blue velvet cloaks, came out and stayed to wait. Our chilledness and dampness were not in vain. We met David Bradley. We talked to him. We shook his hand. We got his autograph. Oh my God. I MET ARGUS FILCH! (Mrs. Norris was nowhere to be seen.) The rest of the trip is anticlimactic, though not much less wonderful. The following morning, after a restful night at the Stratford youth hostel, we got up and walked in an old country churchyard--appropriate for All Souls' Day. (Un?)fortunately, the heavens opened up, and we got soaked. We finally caught the bus to get back into town, looking extremely bedraggled--I felt very Marianne Dashwood. Perhaps I will get consumption! The weather shifted once again just as we stepped off the bus, and as we walked back along the Avon, past the old Tudor buildings, the sunlight streamed through the autumn trees by the river, and a church began a joyful bell peal. I was in awe. I am at home. Last, but not least, we made brass rubbings--I did one of my noble ancestor Robert the Bruce! He looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. Then it was back to the train station and back to friendly old Reading, with not a single mishap. I have come to the belief that all the forces of the universe conspire to make my life perfect. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 12th, 2003
11:59 pm	Quiet English Night *Yawn* I have just returned from a backyard barbecue (ah! American food!) over at 153, where I and twenty-one other delightful ladies stuffed our faces with hamburgers, danced with one another to Gershwin tunes, and finally settled down to watch a British miniseries on Henry VIII. (I can't decide whether it's good or a mite silly. But Helena Bonham Carter plays Anne Boleyn, and not at all badly either.) And now I am very tired, as I spent all day reading about Tudor politics and avaricious Frankish kings, but I cannot go to bed until I return my family's phone call, which I do not want to do. Sigh. It's a little sad when the thought of spending Christmas without your family is actually a pleasure and a relief. I miss. But I still love England. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 11th, 2003
9:10 pm	Ah, the glory of English liquor laws This evening's festivities included: Mead Port* Amontillado Sherry Bailey's* (O sweet warm creamy concoction of Satan!) * denotes excellence when poured over vanilla ice cream Bwahahahaha. Current Mood: pink-cheeked : ) Current Music: Irish drinking songs, courtesy of Gaelic Storm (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, September 26th, 2003
6:01 pm	Ahhhhh... *Melts into a puddle of jet-lagged bliss* Current Mood: enthralled (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 25th, 2003
1:42 pm	More Found Poetry Lost bird caught amid migration, far away to a foreign land-- Land where my fathers died, of thee I sing. This precious stone set in the silver sea, This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. I don't know what there lies in store But it's better than this-- (I was raised up family, but man I'm glad I'm on my own I mean God bless the child that can learn to live alone) --That's why I'm willing To stake my claim on a foreign shore With me spoons and me fiddle and half a shilling. I've dreamt a place (Earth's only paradise!), I know it's true, Where the dolphins play and it's always sunny (And if the sun don't come You get a tan from standing in the English rain.) It's foreign on this side, but it feels like I'm home again-- Yes, let this be a sign! Let this road be mine, Let it lead me to my past, And bring me home at last-- And when I'm home, curled in your arms, and I'm safe again I'll close my eyes and sleep, Sleep to the sound of London rain. (3 Comments |Comment on this)