Current read. I bought it a week or so ago when I realised I’d be waiting over an hour for an appointment I’d been given the wrong time for. I absolutely adore the surrealism of Murakami’s work; he’s like a literary Salvador Dali only not quite as crazy - he uses a style, like Dali, that’s quite detailed, realistic and figurative, and applies it to a subject matter that twists the world in a brilliant and engaging way.

And my fiancé is convinced that he’s a ninja.

Guest starring me and my stupid hair :)

Okay, so I can't access the WiFi at Queen's when I'm in the Students' Union building. Weird. When I managed to get online yesterday I was in the PFC. So why can't I use the WiFi here?! This is usually where I come to lurk.

I've had no luck getting a copy of the book I need for Philosophy, 'Free Will and Determinism' by A. Macdonald. I'll have to pop to the PFC in a moment so I can get online, then check if it's available in the library, then if it is, dash to the library and get myself a copy. I hope to god it's available because if not I don't know what the hell I'll do.

Right. Off to the PFC. I'll put my laptop away for now and update later when I know something.

This is kind of old news on Planet Kelza but I got my list of Semester One set texts last week and it is frightening. Just as long as I'd expected, yes, and with a heckload of additional reading to go with it... the scary part is just how I'm going to afford it all. Here's what my first semester requires...

( No, not an LJ Cut. I wish. The reading list lies beyond... )

I know I keep saying this but I need to start working on the novel regularly again. My life recently has become something of a Jason-work merry-go-round - and while this isn't a bad thing (I adore both dearly), it's sad that my writing, art and guitar is once again being overlooked.

This weekend, I'm going to try and get back on track. I'll tidy my room tonight - particularly the innards of my wardrobe, which urgently need sorting out - and then sit down to write four pages on 'The Great Couch Happening of '69'. After so many false starts with crap-titled novels like the first five drafts of 'Shadows Rising', 'Trinity', 'Voices From Above' (plus its many alternate titles) and 'Crimson Dawn', I'm determined that 'The Great Couch Happening' will go somewhere.

It has to. I've broken both my record of time spent on a project (a year and two months) and my record of pages written - 340-something. All that time and effort simply can't go to waste.

( In which Kelza debates whether to go self-publishing or mainstream... when the book is finally done, anyway. )

Today's Thursday, which means that the latest issue of the St. Helens Star was released. Guess whose article ended up both in the paper and on the website?

This is big. Nay, this is huge for me. This is the first ever piece of writing I've ever had published, in all my years of scribbling. It's not the sort of writing I do normally, but it's still words, still penned by me. There's a piece of writing out there, being viewed by other people, with my name on it. On paper.

( Under the cut: further bits and pieces have been published/Kelza's views on an increasingly impersonal society/she gets crushed on FFVII/how she plans to slay the Dreaded Phone )

I've been quite busy today, figuring out how to move all my books and things back into my room without losing all of this wonderful desk space that I've been enjoying. As it happens, we had a couple of old storage boxes knocking about that weren't in use, so I've shoved all my art materials into these to keep the lot under my bed. This frees up a lot of the space at the end of my bed, by the wall, where I used to keep them. In this space, I've stacked all of my books in three neat piles, out of the way.

My only qualm is that they're in no real order, and if I want to read one book in particular I'm rather screwed if that book is at the bottom of the pile. Once I have a bookcase, it should be okay. I can keep it all in order and pluck the book in question off the shelf without a load of physical labour, first.

All I've done today, really, is tidy, clean and have the occasional telly break. This is the first time all day that I've held a pen. I'll put in more of an effort tomorrow, I think. The last thing on my to-do list is postcards. Hop on the Wii, check my LiveJournal (though I detest the Wii Internet browser) and see who wants them. God help me if I get more than ten replies, because I only bought ten!

I'm trying to think of anything I need to do tomorrow, and all I can come up with is have a bath in the evening before Holly's 18th and phone the Birthday Child to confirm her party pick-up and sleepover details. Because I - er - accidentally deleted her text in a fit of rage when my phone was being flooded by tweets. Two eighteenth birthday parties in two weeks. That's actually busy for me.

I've definitely gotten over last week's post-Ireland blues. Sorting out my bedroom was probably a contributing factor; there's finally a room in the house where I can bear to be in because the effort's been made to make it look nice.

I found a decent sized bookcase! It's sold at Argos, and it's 180CM high, 78 wide and 20 deep. That should be plenty of space. It comes in a walnut finish and costs £34.99. I just hope that stocks can hold up until I can scrape the cash together.

Well, Dad's snoring so I'm gonna nip downstairs when this album's finished (on 'Baby You're a Rich Man' now) and see to these postcards.