The Chistmas tree is up . . .

Yes, the Christmas tree is looking at me from across the sitting room, all blue-lit and shiny :) My sisters decorated it this morning - I thought it best to stay away, as these things can get a bit cut-throat . . . I hoovered the house and watched last night's comedy awards on ITVplayer (so, so happy that Outnumbered won three awards, and that the little 8year old girl from it won best newcomer). And for the rest of the day I avoided doing important things, and instead watched trashy TV (Joe won Xfactor - it's disturbing that I actually care), surfing the internet (I've decided that I want to move to Canada after watching Twilight. The scenery is gorgeous, and the visas look relatively easy to get. I know it was America a few weeks ago. I'm a very fickle person), and, ummm, reading Twilight (yes, I know :-s I was very much persuaded into it by a friend. And my belief that you can't truly make fun of something until you've experienced it. Verdict 134pages in? Once you get past the grating prose, and remember that it's meant to be from the point of view of a rather pretentious and self-absorbed teen, it's not as bad as I feared. I mean, elements of her relationship with the Cullen are disturbing, especially his posessive nature and age, and I like it more when he's not around, but aspects of it are embarassingly reminiscent of my own hormonal teenage years - admittedly, more at 13 or 14 than 17 - and occasionally it has moments that are insightful, almost sweet. Bella is likeably indie, if annoying in many other ways. Anyway, there are still a few hundred pages to go, and it could certainly go downhill. It lacks subtlety, and steals many basic plot elements from 'True Blood'. And this is meant to be the best of the series, which is concerning. But I've certainly read worse - I've read bestselling adult books which are worse. And I can see why many a teenage girl relates to Bella, even if she is a weak role model).

Oh my goodness, the above paragraph is a mess. But I cannot be bothered to sort it out.
Quick bullet point of the rest of 'news':

*The ball was great. Lots of free food (from doughnuts and chocolate fountain, to meatballs in sauce, chips and pastries), an open bar, magicians and acrobats, bands of many genres, an awesome silent disco, and the decorations were amazing. They'd really captured the Christmas Carol spirit.

* I did manage to get to the library and read some dissertaton-related stuff, round the Twilight afternoon, packing etc. The train ride home was as gorgeous as ever. The East coast is beautiful all year round, but magical in the winter.

*I've failed to do anything productive so far since getting home. I've been on Beatles Rock Band, made a Youtube vid, been taken out for a lovely lunch by the parents, watched too much trashy TV, enjoyed Mum's homecooking, done most of my Christmas shopping on Amazon . . . and that's about it :-s This needs to change starting tomorrow.

Laters x