I’m feeling materialistic lately.

First off, there are the pillows. If you saw my room before you would notice very little in terms of pillowage. The pillow was the one provided by the university, and thus shit, to be honest. So I bought pillows. And napkins. Napkins?? Yes, napkins. And at £2.33 apiece from Marks & Spencers, throw pillows. A couple of hours later and a grand total of £3.29 per, I have amazing pillows, a prettier room, and neck support for when I sleep. What a concept.

Then there is the bag. Do you remember my obsession with trying to get the perfect laptop bag? Well, I decided I needed a good black purse. Walking around York with Ros, I found one, though at a price I wasn’t willing to pay. Days later, after emails and posts trying to find out the style name (”Horizontal Stripe” by Radley) and stalking online shops and eBay auctions, I found it. It is perfect. Amazing quality, A4 size, perfect pockets, classic style… More pictures on my flickr.

[Because things have been so hectic, here is merely a quick rundown of the past week is the best I can do for now! Lots of pictures, and lots happening enroute to my new home in York!]

Day One - Food and Departure

Too much food! Dim sum with Bachan, Mom, and Daniel. Claude decided to head over to the aquarium and got up close to some of his relatives. Off to see Patty and to ship boxes! (THANK YOU!) David cooked more food for dinner. Get squished by Daniel and David. Off to the airport with Mom and Dad.

The Flight - More food

Hop on the Globespan plane - aisle seat, last row. Line up for the one functioning toilet is noisy and inconsiderate, meaning no sleep. Safety instructions in Icelandic. Free wine! And more food which makes me unimaginably full. After letting people off at Glasgow, I get a window seat for the highlands. And landing at Manchester Airport.

Day Two - Landing in York

Take the train from the airport to York - nice scenery and musical fellow passengers. Finally get to York station from where I can see the Yorkshire Wheel, which I’ve yet to visit. My luggage and I somehow get to my empty room! Sure it’s a dorm, but Wentworth is pretty nice - block C from the outside. TONS of waterfowl on campus which for the short meantime I love. I find my new home at the music building where I pick up my enrolment pack.

Day Three - My First Trip to the City

After thirteen hours of sleep and a fire drill, I make my way into the city for the first time - the River Ouse. The streets are amazing - I can’t believe I live here, but quickly am so tired and frustrated with having to set up that I stop taking pictures. Clifford Street. New flatmates Ros and Kai. Then me, Demitrius and Ros at Wentworth Karaoke. My room set up, with new bedding - the stuff that was supplied was utter crap!

Days Four and Five - Settling in

More incredibly tame birds on campus. I’m eating well - see Mom? The first thing, the postgraduate welcome, mostly just emphasizing the fact that “we’re people people”. Chicken bacon and smoked cheese sandwich from Krusties in town. My first peek at the minster, but I’ve more errands - no gawking yet! My new mobile, which has been the cause of some problems.

Day Six - Back again, with Ros

There’s more things to pick up so I go into town with Ros and can’t resist the Minster. Amazing foot traffic. Our first fish and chips is yummy! A peek of Clifford’s Tower. The room is getting there, with a reading light! (It’s such a fiasco without one!) And the famous Miquelrius notebooks - I FOUND THEM. Oh, and Ros is a stationery freak, too.

As a gift for heading off to grad school (T-minus ten days!), my parents bought me a new luggage set. Because I only have a 50kg luggage allowance, we went on a search for ultra-lightweight sets. Keep in mind that this includes my carry on bag, which will have my laptop in it, and that I am essentially moving, so every ounce counts! After everything, I ended up with three pieces of softside luggage: large roller, duffel roller, and a (surprisingly spacious) tote for carry on. It’s a line from Roots called “Clouds”, but I can find NOTHING about it online. Oh well. Regular price? $550. With a sale at The Bay and my dad eligible for a senior’s discount, we got it for $213. My new cosmetics case will go within a larger piece for packing.

And because there was a group for it (what’s in your bag?), I took a picture of the contents of my purse nowadays. Between cream for my bug bites, pounds sterling, a card game, and Claude, I think it sums up my current life pretty well.

My baby Toshiba endured some scratches since birth and bears the small (but noticable) scars. I decided to try a laptop skin and eventually purchased this one at iStyles. It’s a little “out there” in design, but for now I’m quite pleased with the result.

In the future I may try more subtle grey dots (large or small), more feminine (though might look odd on a grey-based case), or more artsy (kind of looks like a cello).

NOTE: I placed this order in 2007 and have no plans to place another. If you are looking to order music, please visit the publishers’ websites now linked below. Please also note that Kallio’s Dobbin’s Flowery Vale is permanently out of print. (Sept. 2009)

I am placing an order of sheet music with three companies that carry some of the Rajaton titles. I could probably manage a hand-off situation to those who live in the Southern Ontario area. For those outside of this area, I can mail out orders if you are interested; this might work well if there is a group of people from the same area (say, Alberta) that would like to order.

I will be placing the orders on Friday, February 9th - please get any orders in BEFORE this time! To place an order, email me at laura.kishimoto@gmail.com with “Rajaton Music” in the subject. I will calculate shipping and exchange costs after the order is sent in.

Laura

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SULASOL (Rajaton Choral Series):

Rissanen: Jabberwocky (S654) €6.94
Gustafsson: Varhaiskesä (S781) €2.05
Chydenius: Stabat Mater (S919) €3.24
Kostiainen: Salus infirmorum (S938) €2.46
Kostiainen: Sancta Maria, Vas Spirituale (S939) €2.05
Makaroff: Butterfly (S971) €2.46
Makaroff: Were You There (S1038) €3.28
Makaroff: Armottoman osa (S1040) €3.69
Makaroff: Lintu lauleli lehossa (S1074) €2.05

There will be a 10% discount if over 10 copies of one title are ordered from Sulasol.
I will combine the order to try and help this along.

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ANUNA:
McGlynn: Wild Song €2.70
McGlynn: Summer Song €2.70

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LIGHTHOUSE:
Smallman: Where the Wind Blows (SSATBB) CAN$2.85
Smallman: Where the Wind Blows (SSATBB/SATB) CAN$3.45
Smallman: On suuri sun rantas autius (SSATBB/SATB) CAN$2.65