That's kind of neat how your signature gets bigger as it goes along, I mean. John Hancock, the first man to sign the US Declaration of Independence, had a really large and swirly signature, but I think he was just singing the DoI that way so that King George would be able to read it without his glasses. George III was, they say, quite near sighted. Most of the forms I've ever had to sign had a line instead of a box, but endorsing cheques always gives me the devil. You know, you've got to stay in that little box on the back and not get on the other part, and my signature loops and swirls like a bloody piece of Tamil poetry or something. It really rather irritates.

I haven't done Halloween properly in a couple of years--it gets rather crowed on Halloween night, sometimes--but I shall be sure to do Halloween with you when you're here so that you get to enjoy a proper, American Halloween. The Celtic nature of many of our immigrants (in the South from the beginning and from the 1840s or so in the North and Mid West) made us quite crazy for it, and now it's our second biggest holiday, right under Christmas in popularity. One of my friends, last year, she had to get in costume for her job and she wore a Robin Hood suit, and her boyfriend was Friar Tuck. I think that my best bet would be to use my Hawaiian shirt and be Wash. I could do that whole thing pretty well. House might work, too, as I have the requisite stubble and a cane for when it's really cold and my leg freezes up.

Oh... speaking of House. I just finished watching USA network's ten hour marathon and Oh. My. Goodness. At least, now, I know where a lot of disposable income for the next month or so is going. I've simply got to get the whole series on DVD and watch it over and over again. Seriously. I haven't been quite THIS immediately impressed with a series since I saw Firefly for the first time. I mean, the snatches I'd seen of this before without any context had been okay, but watching arcs of it all the way through as it should be... hee. House is a such a mean old cuss, isn't he? Well, on the surface. I get the impression that he acts that way so he won't go crazy for caring about people so much. Man was completely born in the wrong century... he's very much a 1760s sort of man what with the humanism and rationality and all. He appeals to me in the same way Wes did, all angry and fierce but not underneath. And Cameron's impossibly cute/cheerful, which makes their interaction wonderful. Oh, and the medical stuff is great. I love logic. So. Now we've got another show to obsessively talk about, and nothing can go wrong with that.

I don't see anything wrong at all with being compulsive about cleanliness. I brush my teeth a few times a day, and wash my hands... well, usually whenever I happen by a sink, which is pretty frequently. You never know where germs could be lurking (I accidentally typed Germans at first because my fingers are in Never-Never Land... I suppose one can't know where Germans are lurking either). Sigh. I sound crazy. But, well... it's like checking all the locks a few times at night. You can never be too careful. It only takes slipping up once for something awful to happen, after all. And anything could possibly effect almost ANYTHING else. I guess that's why systems and logic are so cool, to me. It's all about trying to figure out how things affect each other.

Well, crocodiles could certainly be an instantiation of a carnivorous reptile situation. In America we have alligators, which looks sort of like short, fat crocodiles, and I'm sure a large enough snake could eat a person, if it so chose, and a person was really, really slow. Oh! And if you're in Komodo, you have to worry about the Komodo Dragon, but since they don't seem to have flight capability... you're covered, there, love. Sigh. I'm babbling. I'm just excited that it appears I'll get another month or two to show you stuff and talk and just in general have you around. It shall quite likely make my year.

So, well, until tomorrow Happy Halloween as we All Hallows Eve obsessed American often say. Be good and safe (and good look on your essays and finals) dear.

My mum has the easiest signature to forge (if you ever felt the urge). She just has a big S and then kind of a line signifying "ara" and then a big W with another wobbly line standing in for "isnia" (I really like her last name, and I guess she does too and that's why she didn't change it? It's Polish, of course, though I think it used to be Wisznia and maybe her dad changed it when he moved over here to make it easier for the poor Australians). In Middle School, we were supposed to get our school diaries signed every night by our parents so the teacher would know we'd shown them our homework written down. That was just so ridiculous, if you ask me, and it was useful to be able to forge my mum's signature on it. She didn't care. I would never commit any kind of fraud with it. Probably.

Hee, maybe I could bring my Serenity costume over, if it still fits! Or I could just choose someone else. There are so many possiblities! I can't believe you guys have a holiday that exists solely for getting chocolate and lollies and dressing up! That's seriously the best thing ever. I love dressing up. You can show me the Halloween ropes! Today I have... nothing planned. My friend's probably coming over and I haven't seen her for a couple of weeks so that should be good. And I need to ring SBS and abuse them for now showing Jon Stewart AGAIN this week. Also a fun activity. Wow, what a full day I have!

YAY FOR HOUSE!!! What season were you watching? It's very important - the two are quite different. Or were they showing the start of s3? There have only been four episodes so far but maybe they were. Oh my gosh, I LOVE HOUSE SO MUCH! He is one of the most ingtriguing characters ever, right? God... I have analysed him more than any other character with all of my House friends. We have spent hours and hours and millions of words on him. Which of the other characters do you like? Word of warning: stay away from the House fandom. It is the wankiest thing EVER. Well, not quite as wanky as the Harry Potter fandom (which is why I would never go there) but it's a scary, scary place. The 'ship wars are vicious, especially House/Cameron Vs. House/Wilson. The Cameron hate is immense because of this, and even though House/Cameron is CERTAINLY the most canon couple on the show, House/Cameron fans have to APOLOGISE for it. They'll be like, "Hi, I'm Sally. I 'ship House/Cameron. I know, I know! I'm sorry." because, seriously, people are just so harsh. A lot of the House/Wilson fans GENUINELY BELIEVE that has a chance of happening. Which... no. NEVER. I try to just see this from a far distance, but sometimes I get angry and bitch about it. I'm all for House/Cameron, by the way. For sure. But I appreciate that everyone has their own tastes and can like whomever they want (my mum wants House and Cuddy to get together, heh). And Cameron is my girlfriend. More than any other character, I just completely get where she's coming from. In a lot of ways, and I know this sounds weird and just about ME ME ME, I totally think she and I are pretty similar. Not in all the things she does, but in the reasons she does them. And I love her for it (wait... is that like saying I love someone 'cause they're like me? That might be a little narcissitic. Maybe I just have an extreme amount of empathy for her. That's certainly true.)

I've never checked the locks before but I assume they're generally fine. Although in the summer we leave all the doors open at night. I used to lie awake at night and plan what I'd do if there was a fire, though. I'd get the shopping trolly and put all of my soft toys/dolls in it and then the photo albums and everything would be all right if I got those out safely (this was me under the age of 10). I would have SUCH METICULOUS plans about getting my dolls/soft toys to safety. It would have been the best executed rescue mission ever.

I can't wait! Show me even the things you think are boring because to me everything will be fascinating! And I'm looking really foward to meeting your family, too, because... they just sound like such lovely people! The whole thing is just going to be unspeakably wonderful. Okay, should get back to the essay. Have a Happy Halloween!

Not for now, you see, but later. I'm currently on higheredjobs.com finding out what the jobs available for a person who is interested in teaching at the university level are. They're not nearly so grim as people like to pretend they are, either. I know some are like, "Oh noes, you'll never find work!" I'm finding that, especially in criminal justice and sociology (and parts of anthropology) the jobs are available, you just have to have interest/specialization in some specific areas that are of interest to that department and some (especially Latin American studies) are very popular right now. Of course, goodness knows what those areas of interest will be in ten years but... for right now, it's not too disheartening a search.

How ridiculous of them for not showing Jon Stewart so frequently; truth be told right now, though, he's mostly riding on the US midterm elections (which are in some senses very regional), which might not be of interest to his wider audience. Of course, Stewart is so funny that thirty minutes of him making barnyard animal noises would probably be relatively amusing, so maybe that's not a good reason for pre-empting him for WHATEVER after all. Speaking of barnyard animals I got to go and see the "pigs of the world" exhibit at the fair, today. They had a Kune Kune pig from New Zealand and it was truly one of the cutest things that I've ever seen. A little leopard spotted pig and, supposedly, very fast runner, as far as pigs go. I've had a pet pig that I had to chase, once and, believe me, they're surprisingly fast.

I haven't had any run ins with the House fandom yet but, considering how you describe them (comparable to the Harry Potter fandom? Ye gods and demons!) I think that I shall stay well away. I'd have to get better acquainted with the show before I even ventured near the fandom (it's best to speak the language before traveling to the village, after all) and, well, it looks like at least my time will be well invested in looking at the show. Cameron does actually make me think of you, and I think that's one of the things that drew me in in the first place. She's so lovely. Cuddy's a beautiful woman, too, but a little... I don't know how quite to describe her, but I can't imagine her and House being very good for each other in a romantic sense (although probably mutually destructive in a very sexy way) as for House and Wilson... oh my goodness. I just DON'T think I know where they're getting that from. Unless it's first season; I was seeing second season stuff, including the very cool season two ender. You're going to have to guide me through this like I did with you and the X-Files. I'm looking forward to much discussion!

Oh dear... the dog's not only hidden but actually wedged herself under the couch. Does your dog ever do such foolish things? No, wait. I remember; he's gotten under the house and up trees. I guess worrying about the locked doors is a by-product of America. I don't want to frighten you (because we have proportionally much less crime than we're frightened of having, if that makes any sense) but I imagine we have somewhat more crime than you folks do, at least in some areas. I completely feel you with the fire worries, though (and your soft toy rescue operation is absolutely darling, by the way). My greatest fear from ages 4-9 was that the house would burn down while I was asleep. Utterly horrified.

Hee. The things that interest me are not what would normally interest people so... you'll be getting an eclectic tour of my home-area. Like cemetaries (which are cool!), flea markets (like the circus, only you can buy stuff) and wooded areas for walking, picnics... that kind of thing. Really whatever you want to do, though... America really is a land of infinite possibilities, after all, and very few of them involve explosions (except on the fourth of July, and those are brightly colored). We've got lots of good places to eat, too, and that must count for something.

Well, until tomorrow I'm going to keep looking at jobs and wondering what the heck exactly I'm going to do. So, all my love until tomorrow night, and be sure to bring your Serenity costume. Good luck on the essay.

If you're smart (which I kind of think you are) you can pretty much be guaranteed work as long as you advertise yourself well at interviews. Not that this has been my experience because every job I've ever had, my mum has got for me. But still. I foresee nothing but good jobs for you! Teaching is also my fallback career though it would more likely be high school teaching (more power, you know *insert maniacal laugh here*) and, as far as I can tell, they're ALWAYS complaining about low pay and bad conditions, so... yeah. That sounds like fun. Something to look forward to!

I rang up SBS and was told that he will be back next week and for three weeks before they take him off againn, for whatever reason. Well, I had a mildly productive day today. Technically only have 500 words of my essay left, but that's just... IT'S NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH! I'll have to stretch them out. Oh, you know that French group project I had to do last week? Well, first we had to record our dailogue, and then evaluate our pronunciation and all of that. We only had one tape, and my lovely partner handed it in before I could do my evaluation. Since it's a non-teaching period, I have no idea how to get it back. I sent an email to my teacher, but... she hasn't replied. So I don't really know how I'm supposed to do this assignment. Hmm. Tricky.

This is how it goes with the heirarchy of the House fans:
House/Cuddy - think they are above everyone because they 'ship the more subtle, infinitely mature couple who treat each other as adults and have a healthy relationship. Look down on all other fans as rabid fangirls or delusional slash addicts.
House/Wilson - feel that they're open-minded for liking a potentially gay couple and, again, not taking the "obvious" choice. Many believe that House and Wilson are genuinely in TEH LOFF!!!oneone!11 and think other 'ships are just boring.
House/Cameron - the bottom of the ladder. Are seen as pathetic fangirls who believe that "two broken hearts make a whole" and can only see the prettiness of the couple, but no emotional benefits.
As you can, these are stereotypes, but are mostly true, in my experience. Oh yeah, and each 'ship denies the chemistry of any of the others. This, to me, is ludicrous, especially in House and Cameron's case. There are CLEARLY "moments" between them that imply something deeper than colleagues who tolerate each other. Most particularly in the first season where they actually go on a non-date (!) and a real date (!!). Hee, I will be only too happy to guide you through it! Oh, I love the last episode of s2 (and see? Evidence of House and Cameron! He touched her up with a robot! Heh). You should definitely see s1 as there are some completely BRILLIANT episodes, including the emmy award winning Three Stories (my personal favourite) and... Love Hurts (it REALLY does), Babies and Bathwater (actually, this is where a lot of people get their House/Wilson from) and Role Model. Those are my favourites, but... there are just so many. I like s1 better than s2 because I think House is "nicer" in it. They took his character too far in s2. There's no way anyone could be that snarky ALL THE TIME. He's more human in s1. And Cameron is even more adorable! You won't believe it! Plus there's some really good backstory with her that's established in s1 that you might not know about already. Oh, I can't wait 'til you get all caught up! It's going to be the best!

Ha, yes, my dog does do stupid things like that. For goodness' sake, she climbs trees very occasionally! Especialyl when she gets scared in thunder storms, she'll go anywhere to get away. I'm not good with locking doors, anyway, 'cause I'm just too trusting. It's probably not that good a habit. Bad things can happen, you know! Fire isn't fun, is it? On the West Wing, Josh's big sister died in a fire when he was a little kid. Yes, everythign relates back to fandom, doncha know. But that one makes up a lot of who he is today, so... yeah. I don't know. I love Josh.

I like cemeteries too! They're definitely interesting! One of my favourite Smiths songs is 'Cemetry Gates' and I've always wanted to listen to it while actually visiting one. Mmm, lots of places to eat! I like the sound of that. Ow. My eyes hurt. Be loved!

The parts of medicine that I'm interested in, which are of course histopathology, diagnostics ("I am a board certified diagnostician etc grump" hee hee... I wouldn't be quite as angry, of course) and morbid anatomy (doesn't that just sound amazingly cool?) are all really big and growing fields right now. And you don't really have to have that many people skills to be an expert in morbid anatomy. Well, dead people skills, perhaps. And it would provide me with the necessary experience to be a really good teacher one day so that I wouldn't just be at the head of a class, you know, rambling theory at them constantly and boring them with my lack of anecdotes about my life in the morgue, or something. Also, as before said, MDs (even those who work on *maniacal laughter* THE DEAD) make tonnes of money, and it would allow me to buy you DVDs even if you are a low paid secondary teacher (which, by the way, I think you'd do marvelously at teaching, secondary or post-secondary, once you figured out it was acting and broke your shyness barrier) which, well, that's a noble goal, say I.

I hate when essays get like that. The one I'm writing for human rights... well, it's only supposed to be about 10 pages long, and it's supposed to be written in three or four very distinct sections. You know, which human right is being violated, which treaty or law it is, then some case studies and then suggestions for improving the situation and such and... well, dowry murder's such a huge freaking topic and it's just quite difficult to cut anything short but, you know, if I don't it'll end up being a book and not a ten page research project. Jeez... what that girl did to your French thing, well, it's why I disapprove of group work. As far as academics I'll stand or fall on my own, thank you, and not have to drag 100 pounds of dead weight around. Does your teacher have a telephone number or office hours? In lieu of that, you could call her department at the college and see if they could put you in contact with her.

Yeah, I totally don't get the House people being so "rar, teh anger!" at the House/Cameron people. That's one of the first things I picked up on when I watched my first episode of the marathon (can't remember the title... had a baby in it, though, and an alcoholic father and a mother with pellagra, and House was grumpy which, well... that's every episode) was how well they just seemed to compliment each other. Sort of like anti-acid medication and that ferocious Pad Thai that I made for supper last night. Pwah. I don't know if it's more fun to pick on House or to stand in awe of his brilliance. And, yeah, in the last episode of season two he got all friendly in his sub-conscious with the little robo-surgeon and, you know, what you do in the sub-conscious, at least when you don't realize it's the SC, is generally what you want to do in life, a fantasy that you're scared to have, as were. I could imagine House and Cuddy, I don't know, having angry sex or something, but then there would have to be a sword fight between them (so delightfully snarling their relationship). Tonight's looked very good, so I'm glad I taped it and will watch it later on. I'm glad that he's nicer in season 1. Season two he's kind of liking watching a wild animal, sometimes. How is he in S3, comparatively? After being shot? Or would that give too much away?

Your dog's amusing. Well, except when she climbs trees and you mess up your wrist rescuing her from this fate. I remember when this happened... goodness, it was a while ago, wasn't it? A lot of animals are frightened of thunderstorms; probably the noise and the pressure change. I found a lizard in my sock drawer today! Cute little fellow; I put him outside without hurting him, because I don't like to hurt animals if I can avoid it. Graveyards are amazing, too... and that's a pretty good song. I haven't heard much of the Smiths, but it was certainly worth listening to.

Well, until tomorrow dear be well and I shall think of you when I eat my candy. By the way, did you get my last email? I hope your eyes feel better, too and, until tomorrow, all the love I can send, which is lots.

I am very disoriented right now. Just before going to sleep last night, I sent a message to my friend that I knew she'd reply to this morning. So this morning I woke up when my phone buzzed a little and I thought to myself, 'I should have really turned that off so it wouldn't wake me'. It was quite dark and raining and I really didn't want to get up before eight o'clock, so I tried to go back to sleep. But I just couldn't. I looked at it and I had three messages and also... it was 12:30. So past midday. I am completely out of it. I keep thinking it's really early but it's late and I just want to go back to bed but I can't because I was supposed to get up at ten to do some stuff and have you ever been disoriented like this? It's a weird feeling. This should explain any strangeness on my part right now, at any rate.

No... I wouldn't imagine people skills are that important when working with dead people. But I'm sure you HAVE people skills so it's probably not an issue for you. Also, a teacher with anecdotes bout his time in the morgue? BEST TEACHER EVER. So you should do that. And buy me pretty things with all your earnings. I'm really liking this plan. And I will work to get over my shyness! I will! You'll have to train me. There should be exercises and prizes and everything! Wow, why is this the kind of thing I find really fun?

If you write over the word limit, do they just stop reading? 'Cause that's what they do for us. As soon as you've reached 10% over the word limit, they'll just draw a line and not read anymore. So it's kind of important to stick to it. BUT SO HARD! Hmm, an essay on an actual thing that happens, like dowry murder. Interesting. I don't think I've had to write an essay based on fact and actual events for almost two years... most of mine are analysing books/movies/tv or different theories for, um, looking at such things. Ha, for Professional Writing, we're supposed to keep all of our stories strictly non-fiction. I rarely do, but my travel story marked the greatest deviation from this, being almost 70% made up. Guess which one I got the best mark for? Seems my imagination is truly better and perhaps more believable than my "real" life. That's not exactly surprising. And don't worry - I got the French tape back from my teacher. Everything's going to be fine!

That first episode you saw was Forever, which is the third last of s2. What kind of order were they showing these in? 'Cause that's a strange place to start. Anyway, yeah, they TOTALLY complement each other, and more than that, House finds her intriguing. She surprises him. Chase and Foreman almost never surprise - same with Cuddy and usually Wilson - but he can't quite keep Cameron's choices straight in his mind, and we all know that House loves things he can't figure out. I think a lot of the Cameron hate stems from inconsistent writing of his character, which is definitely a problem. Also because one of the things I love most about her - how damn compassionate and empathic she is - people think makes her unsuited to be a doctor. I guess I can see where they're coming from, but I just so often agree with her that it blinds me a little. Hmmm... he's nicer in s3, actually, and, um... well, I can't say how much of it has to do with his being shot and his leg and all that. You really have to watch. Heh. Oh, yeah, last night's episode was quite good, but perhaps not the best example of House being, um, nice. In fact, for the first time EVER, I liked Foreman more than him (on an ethical level, anyway). You have to watch it and tell me what you think!

Yeah, it's not so good whne I have to sacrifice my health to save her. No, that's not true! I'd do that and more for my little Tansy! I love her! Aw, I love lizards as well. There used to be all these skinks in our back garden and their tails would fall off if they got freaked out - but then grow back! It as fascinating to me when I was a youngun.

Okay, I'm feeling more awake now and ready for lunch. I did get your last email and I'll reply to it tonight. I'll have some more free time considering there'll be no Jon Stewart. Grrr. I think I have an obsession with complaining about him not being on. Sorry. You also take all the love I can send which is also a lot! That was great English.

Or so I think. Especially when it's sending such lovely love my way. Anyway, I know about your feeling, right now. A few weeks ago when I was sick (and even right now, a little bit, because I just took a flu shot yesterday so... hopefully that'll help my weakened lungs here stave off influenza) I took a Benadryll before going to bed which, well, no matter how much you're hurting or dripping, Benadryll will make it better. But it made me sleep for TWELVE FREAKING HOURS and left me hungover for the rest of that day until I went to bed again that night. I totally felt like I had my head stuffed in cotton, that day. I had sort of the same reaction when I had the anaphalaxia in my years eleven and twelve (the one in year twelve was really bad, and was right after I met you... I like to think that wanting to better get to know such a lovely person helped me pull through, hee) and, yeah, it's not cool.

I'm fairly good with people; they seem to like me okay, that is. I mean, I'm not at the unpleasantness level of House, or anything, but sometimes lots of people milling around me can make me uncomfortable. Hey, did you know that there are programs where you can go and get an MD and a JD at the same time? That was intriguing; be both a doctor AND a lawyer. Perhaps useful for some places where the coroner is sort of like a vice-sheriff. Anyway yes, indeed, I shall make up little confidence building things for you to do, and when you complete them properly I shall give you bits of candy because, as I've discovered, there's nothing quite so inspiring as a piece of candy, especially chocolate. And don't worry about getting shiny stuff; I love to buy for my people. DVDs, nice dinners, books, a necklace or two... giving to those I love makes me happy.

Well, a teacher's cut-off depends on the teacher. A lot of our teachers believe in the old thing of you can't really have too much information/understanding of the subject, but they have to balance it with wanting to be able to practically grade it. Like my anth teacher won't accept anything over 30 pages (last assignment I did for him I skated up to 28), and my philosophy teacher will go up to about 1000-1200 words over the limit, although if it's really good he keeps on reading. I just can't imagine telling students, "Don't give me as much information as you possibly can!" although I suppose that you want them to be able to organize it well/intelligently, too. Hee. I think that'll be funny to begin lectures with, 'Well, when I did an autopsy on that chap with a 68 pound tumor in his duodenum..." and such-like and to watch their faces.

Yeah, I couldn't really discern any intelligent order that they were showing the episodes in. It may have been a fan favorites marathon, or something. In any event it proved a good introduction to the characters and all. My mum loves it too, now. I saw the one from last night; it was quite good, in my opinion. The one with the interracial couple, right? If not, then the rest of this paragraph is spoiler. Er... that's the one. House... he's so obsessed with 'truth' and the 'real' that I don't think he believed that the couple could have had a life with any meaning if they didn't know the truth about the nature of their biological relationship. Whether this was right or wrong I can't tell, but it did provide some insight into his character, for me, almost as much as the S2 closer did. It made me like Foreman, too, because he was willing to follow up his decision with the necessary action to, er, not soften but to help integrate the knowledge, at least. Oh, and by the way, under American law his arrest would have been thrown out before his motorcycle cooled.

Sigh. Come live with me and be my love, etc. I love that poem. It's quite delightful. I hope Stewart comes back on for you, soon. I'm watching Colbert, tonight... and he's claiming that he's pregnant for November sweeps. What an odd man. So, until tomorrow night, be well and feel all my love.

ps. new story up! yay, I'm so cheered.

I'm more awake now but I, um, had another of my unproductive days. I did about half an hour of work. I did draw some lovely pictures of tv characters in my notebook. That was fun. Just had a really good pencil and it inspired art work. Does that ever happen to you? You get a really lovely pen and you just need to write long swirling letters, or your pencil is just soft enough but not too soft so that it will draw in a satisfying way? These things are important. And I'm glad I helped you through your time of illness, even though I might have been doing it unknowingly. Whacked my knee good and proper today, causing me to jump around in a circle for several minutes. THat made me feel sick. You know, one of these days, I am ABSOLUTELY going to stop walking into furniture. It's just a bad habit, you know? So unnecessary.

House can be nice when he knows he absolutely must. Am wracking my brains for an example and coming up with nothing, though. Yeah, at Melbourne Uni, you can do Medicine and Law as a double degree. Well, you used to be able to (they introduced it a couple of years ago) except I think that people were finding it WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE (gee, what a surprise) so they might have taken it away now. But seriously, what's the point? It's like when people do more than six subjects for VCE. You only need to do four, most people do five and if you wnat to be gauranteed of going well, you can do six. So why do more than that? I know some people who crammed two or three Year 12 subjects into Year 11 so they could eight over all, which is just POINTLESS. Only four are counted, no matter how many you do. SO WHY WORK WORK WORK so you can do more? It makes. absolutely. no. sense. to. me. I did five, and not only did I get in the top 1% of the state, but you know what? I had a fun and semi-relaxing year. I didn't waste my last year of high school working until my my fingers bled. Sorry, this is a topic that confuses me no end.

Mmm, chocolate. You surely do know the way to my heart! But yeah, I love giving presents to my dearest friends/family. I love receiving them too, ha! No secret there. 30 pages? How many words to a page? That's... a lot of writing. Yeah, they're pretty strict over here with word limits. I think because they want the writing to be really academic and economic rather than just informative. Not that I necessarily agree with that... I don't know. I remember in English when they'd be like, "Your essays should be at least 400 words" (we could write as much as we wanted) and people would be like, "what? seriously? THAT MUCH?" which, guys, it's a page. HANDWRITTEN. How could you not write that much? I'm confident I could write that much on a topic I knew NOTHING about.

Yay for your mum! My mum's a huge House fan too. It's the only thing she watches, though she hasn't seen last night's yet. But yes, that was the episode (I'm downloading them - that's how I'm keeping up with you). I asked my dad, and he said that it probably would have been a medical imperative to tell them about the condition because it potentially could have harmful effects on their kids, so he was on House's side, essentially (not that he watches it, but I asked him) and... I was on Foreman's. I don't think they needed to know. I haven't liked Foreman for a long time (I don't know that I ever really have) but I think the reason I was so supportive of him in that episode was that he played Cameron's role. Heh, seriously, in any other episode, that would have been her. I'm scared about his arrest! He looked freaked out, and when does House ever get freaked out? It seemed so wrong!

I'll come and read your new story and reply to your email tomorrow. I have to go out tonight and that'll require some effort. I like my solitary life. ANd yes, I love that poem too! I remember writing it on the bottom of one of my Latin exams, subsituting "Lesbia" for my teacher's name. I don't think it helped me go better, haha.