Current mood:	hot
Current music:	School Rumble Second Term - Sentimental Generation
Entry tags:	countryside, dresses, food, hazel close, internet, lyrics, memes, ps2, rants, rurality, summer, travel, video games

Surrey Summer
I'm updating from the Computer Centre at Royal Holloway. Gracious, but it's odd to be back here again, especially given the plce feels deserted compared to its student days. It's also quite hot at the moment, so that all campus is slowly baking under a blue sky. That and certain aspects of the local landscape give me the impression I'm in warm Europe. I'm reminded of Provence and the lakes of Bohemia. It's divine, although well above the optimal for me...then again, rural places shine in such an azure glow.

Travelling down on Saturday, for example. In the car, laden with my possessions, we passed across Middle England again, basking in the heat and occassionally resembling scenes from fictional rural idylls. The flat fields made a great setting for motorway travel, but it was the hills of North Leicestershire and the Chilterns which really reached out to me and whispered of countryside living. My mind conjured up scenes of large, remote houses, where there was little need to imprint personality onto a room, as they already had them. The radio danced with excited reports at the Rhythms of the World festival in Hitchin, and whilst I began to wish I were there, it was a pleasant journey. Travel always picks me up and paints silvery stars in my beckoning eyes. See the world, on the move, under the eternal blue and towards the untold horizon...yes.

I had a chance to sample rurality the following day, when my parents picked me up from Englefield Green to go to a special church service in Eversley. Eversley was were the Cambereley congregation were once based, many years ago, and I had visited there a few times as a child. As such, I began to wonder if it was the hazy place from the back of my memories, of sunlight, big bushes and floaty dresses. Well...it may have been, but I saw it through very different eyes. The service took place in the garden of a house, beside another building which functioned as a summer house, large shed and former church. The horizon floated lazily miles away, across rows of heathland with scattered trees and horses basking in the sunlight. The garden stetched away past bushes and homemade sheds, and it all felt very different from anywhere I'd been for a long time.

It was like Germany, or France, or Eastern Europe...but not England. No, this was too rural, too old, trapped in a dream from the 60s, but that was fine with me. I happily sat on a bench in the shade and a breeze caught my thoughts and fluttered them away to a world where I owned the summer house, and was sitting in my beautiful summer garden, in floaty white summerwear, writing novels in the shade as curious butterflies chased punctuation marks across my pages. I caught myself by surprise as I thought that perhaps I'm not as much as a city person as I thought...although I've never pretended I were one way or the other. Both worlds have their charms and their difficulties. Oh, but the heath sparkles in a timeless way and I was glad to spend a lazy afternoon in a timeless garden

...and then later we drove back across a wonderland of the English summer! An avenue of evergreens tall enough to feel akin to an epic, country roads with views over wide valleys sprinkled with woods and villages, a meadow with young couples sitting and embracing love over picnic mats, and the Thames itself, with pleasure boats and walkers all enjoying the azure dreams rippling on the river's surface. Oh, how I'd love to take a day like that and be part of it, to be the girl spinning on the meadow rather than the one gazing out a car window in appreciation but longing...

The house itself is warming on me. My room actually feels more like my room now, even though I've added barely anything but my elegant bedside lamp. The windows to the garden mean that the sun hits me early in the day, and that the room is very warm by around 10 or 11. I basked in the heat this morning, having a lazy lie-in simply because I've been getting up early these past few days...it's just Holly, Brian and me there at the moment, so it's usually pretty quiet anyhow. Here's a quick run-down of things at the moment:

* The PS2 I brought with me has stopped reading discs again, which is annoying, as I'd just started playing Phantom Brave, and was trying to intoduce Holly & Brian to Worms. The CD drive Sony put in there is rubbish, and now I'm left with a stack of unplayed PS2 games and a PS2 that only seems to load screens half of the time, making playing any game a risk. I might buy a new (second hand) one, because I fixed the PS2 before, and it's back to being a useless black box...

* The oven is broken, and we won't be getting a replacement for a while. As such, food is generally whatever we can get. I made pasta yesterday, but without much to have with it, I soon felt blanded out, and later even felt slightly ill. Yet...I cannot live on toast and cereal...but at least the hob is operational.

* No internet for a while, hence me being here and missing the chance to go to Tescos through writing this oversized update. We'll have it eventually, but for now, life is free of google. In some respects, its refreshing, like going on a retreat. I have suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands, however.

* The local area is pleasant enough to walk through, although we do seem to have a family of street children at the end of the road. The pavement is an extension of their house, and there nearly always are a few members of the family outside on it. They almost rival the local cat population, seemingly dominated by two cats, one white, the other white-and-black, and the two don't get on. The ginger around the corner is very friendly, however.

* It's not as bad it may seem. It's just easier to write about what's slightly off than what is going as normal, because, well, it's normal. I could write about how the lights work fine, or how the toaster makes nice toast, but I'd then be here all day...

And finally...the
1 'And when the lamb opened the third seal, I saw the third horse. The horseman held a balance'

Axxis - The Four (my version by Gregorian)

2 'Ein Herz, ein Schlag, ein Blitz für die, die einsam sind. Augen auf, schaut euch das an.'

Wir sind Helden - Wenn es passiert

3 'Now the sun's gone to heaven, the moons rising high. Let me bid you farewell, every man has to die'

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms

4 'I was deprived of a young girl's dream from the cruel force of nature from the blue'

Grease - Raining on Prom Night

5 'So steht es in den Stein geschrieben, am großen Tor zum Schoß der Welt'

Schandmaul - Der Talisman

6 'My mind is clean since it was washed. All evils fall when innocent lives are lost'

DeaD Person - The Weapon Known As Bravery

7 'Through the darkened fields entranced, music made her poor heart dance, thinking of a lost romance, long ago'

Blackmore's Night - Shadow of the Moon

8 'And you don't seem the lying kind. A shame, that I can read your mind'

Boa - Duvet (from Lain)

9 'I'm in love with my lust, burning angel wings to dust'

Nightwish - Wish I Had An Angel

10 'In Coffee City we borrowed heaven. Don't give it back, winter is coming and I need to stay warm'

The Corrs - Summer Sunshine

11 'You're always window shopping but never stopping to buy. So shed those dowdy feathers and fly'

The Seekers - Georgy Girl

12 'If the world is so green, then why does it scream under a blue moon?'

Tasmin Archer - Sleeping Satellite

13 'Clearly and free, she wanted to be a part of the future, a girl like me'

Groove Coverage - God Is A Girl

14 'For all the things I'm losing, I might as well resign myself to try and make a change'

Counting Crows - I Wish I Was A Girl

15 'This city desert makes you feel so cold. It's got so many people, but it's got no soul.'

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

16 'It's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along'

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved

17 'Listen to your heart, you'll find your way. You gotta learn to leap, do you understand, oh baby?'

Nicole - Don't Break My Heart (Romanian entry, Eurovision 2003)

18 'When every race is run and the day is closing in, I don't care 'bout the world, I'm living for the light'

Ace of Base - Life Is A Flower

19 'Ne t'arrêtes pas. Au dessus des barbelés, des coeurs bombardés, regarde l'océan'

Desireless - Voyage Voyage

20 'There must be the third and last dance. This dance will last forever'

Dream Theatre - Metropolis (Part One)

21 'I start before I can stop, before I can see things the right way up'

Coldplay - Speed of Sound

22 'And the man in the rain picked up his bag of secrets, and journeyed up the mountainside'

Mike Oldfield - Far Above The Clouds

23 'One touching one, reaching out, touching me, touching you'

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

24 'In his eyes you see no lies, arms held loosely by his side, yesterday's papers telling yesterday's news'

Ralph McTell - Streets of London (my version by Sinead O'Connor)

25 'The peace the evening brings, the world for once in perfect harmony, with all its living things'

The Lion King - Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

26 'I see your pitiful smile and I would like to run away from reflections of me in your eye'

Sonata Arctica - Shy

27 'Flowing to silence, my mouth is full of blood and my mind is chilled'

Susie Van der Meer - Someone Has To Pay (from 'Lola Rennt')

28 'Lost in a riddle that Saturday night, far away on the other side'

Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow

29 'I hear a song, makes me think of a girl I used to know, I sing along when I hear it on the radio'

Everclear - Brown-eyed Girl (Not the original by Van Morisson)

30 'It's time to cut the ropes and fly to a dream, far across the sea'

Nightwish - Dark Chest of Wonders

31 'He waited his whole damned life to take that flight, but as the plane crashed down, he thought 'well, isn't this nice?''

Alanis Morisette - Ironic

32 'Hush, lay down your troubled mind, the day has vanished and left us behind'

Secret Garden - Prayer

33 'Birds and butterflies, rivers and mountains she creates, but you'll never know, the next move she'll make'

Within Temptation - Mother Earth

34 'Looking back, I realise, we are learning from mistakes, I can see it in your eyes, I can feel your heartbeat break'

Lumina Engel - Let Me Try (Romanian entry, Eurovision 2005)

35 'Said to myself, I knew you'd set me free, but here we are, right back where we started'

Blackmore's Night - Street of Dreams

36 'I remember standing by the wall. The guns shot above our heads, and we kissed, as though nothing could fall'

David Bowie - Heroes

37 'And on the street tonight, an old man prays, with newspaper cuttings of his glory days'

Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next

38 'I got a green light, I'm not afraid of nothing, 'cos heart and soul, I'm here for life'

Bryan Adams - Open Road

39 'There's a whole generation, with a new explanation, people in motion...'

Scott McKenzie - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear A Flower In Your Hair)

40 'The whole place is pickled. The peoples are pickles for sure!'

The Beautiful South - Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)

41 'But how many heartaches must I stand before I find a love to let me live again?'

The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love (my version by The Dixie Chicks)

42 'Hier, nimm meinem Hand. Ich nehm' dich ein Stuck mit, den Weg das du jahrelang geführt hast'

Schandmaul - Ein Stuck Des Regenbogens

43 'Ask myself what it's all for, you know the funny thing about it: I couldn't answer. No, I couldn't answer'

Yoko Kanno - Blue (from 'Cowboy Bebop')

44 'So what's the point of robbery if nothing is worth taking?'

Adam & The Ants - Stand and Deliver

45 'How come it ended up all like this? And who's going to be there when I've lost control? I'm having to crash-land!'

Feeder - Just A Day

46 'There goes Mr. Skinflint, there goes Mr. Greed, the undisputed master of the underhanded deed'

The Muppet Christmas Carol - Scrooge

47 'And in the street, the children screamed. The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed, but not a word was spoken'

Don McLean - American Pie

48 'O môr henion i dhû: Ely siriar, êl síla'

Enya - Anìron (from 'Lord of the Rings')

49 'Reflections of fear makes shadows of nothing'

Akeboshi - Wind (from 'Naruto')

50 'The sun shall rise in the East. So shall my heart be at peace. And if you're asking me when, I'd say it starts at the end'

Jon & Vengelis - I'll Find My Way Home (my version by Gregorian)

51 'It's quite a sunset. Good for the country in a roundabout way: we've made the front page of all the world's papers today'

Evita - Oh, What A Circus

52 'I reached inside myself today, thinking there's got to be some way to keep my troubles distant'

A-Ha - The Sun Always Shines On TV

53 'I've got this feeling that won't subside. I look at you and I fantasise, you're mine tonight'

Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes (from 'Dirty Dancing')

54 'People might need some tension to relax. Me? I'm too busy dodging through the facts'

The Jam - Going Underground

55 'Now all that's left is a place dark and lonely, a terraced house on a main street, back of town'

Herman's Hermits - No Milk Today

56 'He sings the songs that remind him of the better times: 'Don't cry for me, next-door neighbour''

Chumbawamba - Tubthumping

57 'You think you dwell in wisdom's sea, still sweet ignorance is the key, to a poet's paradise'

Nightwish - The Riddler

58 'Is this the place we used to love, is this the place I've been dreaming of?'

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

59 'But adventure calls with unknown voices calling you astray. Be careful or you may regret the choice you made someday'

Martina McBride - The Love Is Gone (from 'A Muppet Christmas Carol')

60 'Speaking strictly for me, we both could have died then and there'

Joan Baez - Diamonds & Rust (my version by Blackmore's Night)

61 'What would I give if I could live out of these waters? Would would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand?'

Disney's The Little Mermaid - Part of Your World

62 'Take me over forests, take me to the stars, fly me over deserts, fly me so far!'

Harmony - Dragon Song OC ReMix (based on soundtrack to 'Secret of Mana')

63 'This war has nothing to with us, but somehow, we're so involved in it'

New Order - State of the Nation (my version by Industry)

64 'I don't need no superheroes, I don't care for gods with wings, I hear teardrops on the pavement'

Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust

65 'Neon lights know their prize. When a leader speaks, the reflection lies'

Living Colour - Cult of Personality

66 'I'm almost drowning in her sea. She's nearly fallen to her knees'

Counting Crows - Sullivan Street

67 'I love so much doba making boom-boom, now get your body moving, follow that tune'

Zdob si Zdub - Boonika Bate Doba (Moldovan entry, Eurovision 2005)

68 'Some things will change. I can feel it coming, but I don't know what it is'

E-Type - Paradise

69 'But every time it rains, you're here in my head, like the sun coming in. Oh, I just know that something good is going to happen!'

Kate Bush - Cloudbusting

70 'Watching you watching me, all that our eyes could see, all of the nights we chased into the dawn: It was the best time of my life'

Linda Eder - Vienna

71 'Hypodermics on the shore, China's under marshal law, Rock'n'roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore!'

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire

72 'And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free. To those who ground me, take a message back from me'

Wicked - Defying Gravity

73 'And we went for ghost hunts in the mist. I remember the first time I was kissed'

One More Time - Highland

74 'How can you document real life when real life's getting more like fiction each day?'

Rent - Rent

75 'Can't you hear the thunder? You'd better run, you'd better take cover'

Men At Work - Land Down Under

76 'It's either this or that way, it's one way or the other, it should be one direction, it could be, on reflection'

Enya - Anywhere Is

7∩ 'War is the last sensation, the final song with the longest note, like a silence never broken'

Capercaillie - God's Alibi

77 'What happened to that innocent place? Can we get it back, or is it past? If it is past, can we start again?'

Alundra - Tears (English version)

78 'How does she so perfectly surf? I wonder what she does when she wakes up'

Scott Matthew - Lithium Flower (from 'Stand Alone Complex')

79 'Deep down inside we know that we're wide awake, and the world's aware'

Shona Laing - Soviet Snow

80 'If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself, I would find a way...'

Nine Inch Nails - Hurt (my version by Johnny Cash)

81 'A paradise untouched by man, in this world touched by love, a simple life, we live in peace'

Phil Collins - Two Worlds (from Disney's Tarzan)

82 'If I should leave this lonely world behind, your voice will still remember our melody'

Nobuo Uematsu - Melodies of Life (from 'Final Fantasy IX')

83 'Looking back, I could have played it differently. Won a few more moments...who can tell?'

Chess - I Know Him So Well

84 'But it takes me so long to figure out what I'm gonna wear. Blame it on the train, when the bus is already there'

The Bangles - Manic Monday

85 'Wings on my back, I got horns on my head. My fangs are sharp, and my eyes are red'

Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah (Finnish entry, Eurovision 2006)

86 'There are seasons to feel bad, sad and mad: it's just a bunch of a feelings that we had'

Travis - Flowers In The Window

87 'Lost in the darkness, try to find your way home. I want to embrace you and never let you go'

Within Temptation - Somewhere

88 'Fills your dreams and wakes your slumber, lost your way, a fallen knight'

Nobuo Uematsu - Otherworld (from 'Final Fantasy X')

89 'But the turbulent waters won't reflect this life, only the sun, moon and sky...and all illusions shatter'

Tracy Chapman - Paper and Ink

90 'If all we told was turned to gold, if all we dreamed was new, imagine the sky right above...'

Enya - Carribean Blue

91 'Gotta ask yourself the question: where are you now?'

James Blunt - Wisemen

92 'I guess I'd like to be alone. Nothing broken, nothing thrown. Just...don't ask me how I am...'

Suzanne Vega - Luka

93 'Yes, I said it's fine before, but I don't think so no more. I said it's fine before...I've changed my mind'

The Cardigans - Erase and Rewind

94 'Clocks are ticking the night away. You can only fly until dawn has set'

Mike Oldfield - Pictures In The Dark

95 'Don't question why she needs to be so free; she'll tell you it's the only way to be'

Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday (my version by Rod Stewart)

96 'I thought I knew what love was. What did I know? Those days are gone forever, I should just let 'em go, but...'

Don Henly - Boys of Summer

97 'I tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone, but though you're still with me, I've been alone all along'

Evanescance - My Immortal

98 'I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to lie. So this is goodbye...'

Moby - Porcelain

99 'Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr, und auch keinen Düsenflieger. Heute zieh' ich meine Runden, seh' die Welt in Trümmern liegen'

Nena - 99 Luftballoon

100 'If I was crying in the van with my friends, it was for freedom from myself and from the land'

Surfjan Stevens - Chicago

Although, I wasn't overjoyed with a few people who never normally comment on my entries pouncing upon that entry and then replying to other posts about the same entry. Don't love me for my lyrics, people (and that only applies to a few. If you tried the quiz, that doesn't automatically make you applicable to the above statement!)

'Til next time...