Not a normal week.

On Thursday night, my friend Emily and myself went to Leeds O2 Academy to see Black Veil Brides. They were absolutely amazing. Their show was outstanding (and the 'mosh pits' were very violent- I'm now sporting a bruised cheek bone, and I wasn't even directly in one.) and I managed to catch the drummer's drumstick between my knees at the end (but unfortunately dropped it and lost it in the crowds.) We waited for around an hour outside in the cold to meet them. We were at the front of the barrier next to the bus so they kind of had to walk that way. We met 4 of the 5 members (one was asleep on the bus) and they signed our ticket, hugged us and we got a photo with their drummer after a conversation with him. This band has helped me through a lot, and I'm not just saying that.  I have suffered depression in the past, but it seems that ever since I started listening to more music, like this band, and distracted myself with things like Sherlock, my guitar and art, I've stopped. It probably sounds a little pathetic to you, but it is quite hard to explain what those things mean to me and what they've done. They are the most genuine guys I've ever met and they are lovely. They get degraded by other musicians because of their looks (think Kiss crossed with Motley Crue and you've pretty much got it) and some people go to their concerts to shout abuse at them. Thankfully, no one did on Thursday. No one should ever do that to musicians when they're on stage. This applies to every band out there, not just Black Veil Brides. It takes bucket loads of courage and skill to get up on stage and perform in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of fans.

So, that was Thursday. Waiting in the queues also presented me with the perfect opportunity to do some deductions. Stood around 3 people in front of me was a 35-40 year old man, obviously with his young-ish daughter who was practically dancing on the spot from excitement. He seemed tired, bored. His watch and phone were on/ in is left hand, suggesting that he is left-handed. Of course, that isn't always the case as there is exceptions. I didn't get much else as we started moving, but I was just happy that I had actually done a deduction this week.

Our Easter break began on Friday, which is excellent. (Pun not intended.)

I managed to start and complete my Moriarty/Moran fanfiction this weekend, which is an accomplishment as it proves I have actually done something instead of sitting around watching Sherlock and reading my forensic guide (Best Christmas present ever. Seriously) all day. Well, I did do those things too.
I just have to survive this week and then it is our Easter break. Hurrah! That, however, is easier said than done. My English Lit tutor loves to make me read out loud, mainly because she knows that I get easily embarrassed and I'm the quietest one in the group. Apparently, when I missed a class to go to the dentist she said "Phoebe, you can have the role of Scout. Oh, she's not here?" (We're reading To Kill A Mockingbird, despite the fact that I had already read the book years before in another class.) I have learnt to avoid eye contact with her and pray she doesn't notice me.
As deductions go, I'm not doing very well.
For some utterly silly reason, I feeling like John Watson. I will expand- I am sat here blogging in my John-style jumper. I also have a little limp that doesn't seem to want to go away and a curly haired best friend.
Unfortunately, my room is still without a skull. I must go and find one.

I will be motivated, I will be motivated..

The plan for this weekend: do something! I have been like a ghost since last Sunday; hardly talking to people or venturing far. I have even started falling asleep halfway through TV shows and it has been almost a week since Italy, so I don't think jet lag is still a problem.
I'm lucky enough to only have stats coursework and RE revision to do this weekend. I received my exam timetable for this year, and so far there's only a 90 minute RE one and a 2 hour statistics one. I will bet my very limited savings that it won't stay that way for very long.
I am determined to write some more fanfiction tonight as I haven't uploaded any in ages. My Moriarty/Molly one didn't turn out the way I expected it to, so it is safe to say that idea has now been abandoned. I am actually swaying towards the Moriarty/Sebastian ship, as Moran has suddenly started to seem interesting to me. I really hope they introduce him in season three, even if it is without Jim *sob*. Emotionally attached to a fictional character? Me? Well, I suppose I am...

The true friends.

Only true (and slightly crazy) friends would happily go as a Moriarty and John to your Sherlock, understand what you meant when you texted them "Jumbo jet. Dear me, Mr Holmes. Dear me." from the airport, share your love for crime and forensic science, find serial killers fascinating like you do, quote Sherlock and Doctor Who in normal conversations, and basically be there for you whenever you need their help. This is all Beth and Saffron. I feel like I'm going to burst out into Sherlock by saying "I was so alone, and I owe you so much", but the quote pretty much covers everything. This post was originally not going to turn into some cliché, soppy, "I luv u bezzies4eva" type post, but it kind of is now. Oops. 

I am quite literally unable to move as a result of the obscenely large amount of food I have consumed over the past five days. Every meal in Italy was at least three courses, if not more, and then add on the numerous snacks on the flights there and back and you'll get the picture..
This trip turned out to be more "Sherlocky" than I had originally imagined. At the travel station there were numerous soldiers in their army uniforms, which sparked off the trend of Saffron and myself shouting "Baskerville!" at each other whenever we saw one. We also left a Believe In Sherlock message in the sand on the beach and left a few notes in our already messy bedroom (skittle fights between five mentally immature girls at two in the morning often create more mess). We had to be up and ready for half three this morning, so we didn't actually go to sleep last night, which is why I am so shattered now. Our German next door (or next room to be more precise) neighbours kept phoning us, so I answered like Moriarty and they surprisingly stopped after that. "I will find you and I will sssssssssskiin you" usually does the trick. Watching The Great Game and A Study In Pink did not make the taxi journey a pleasant one. I blame my over-active imagination. And caffeine.

A very inventive title,as you can see...

I'm going to Italy tomorrow on a school excursion! I am actually pretty excited as Italy is one of the places where I've always wanted to go. I have my "A Study In Scarlet" and "A Scandal In Bohemia and Other Stories" books, Cabin Pressure and far too many sweets to keep me entertained on the journeys.
Regarding music for my mind palace, I downloaded "The Game is On", "Mind Palace and Solution", "Grimm Fairy Tales", "Prepared to do Anything", "Deductions and Deceptions" and "Blood On the Pavement" and they suit my different moods rather well.

So I suppose this is goodbye until Sunday (at the earliest)! I will be spreading the "Believe In Sherlock" movement in the Fasano region of Italy during the next 4 days, so sorry in advance any Italian readers...

Bye!

Operation Mind Palace- part two

I have finally finished a mental sketch of my mind palace, so now it's time for deciding the music. I was thinking of a piece of music with very little vocals in it, or none at all if possible. I have a few picked out to decide from, including:

• The Exogenesis symphony pieces from Muse's Resistance album (not quite sure which of the three yet)
• "Blood on the Pavement." "Prepared to do Anything" or "Mind Palace and Solution" from the Sherlock Season 2 soundtrack.

I'll need to get an iTunes voucher today in order to get the Sherlock tracks, and possibly some episodes of Cabin Pressure for the Italy trip on Wednesday. I was forced into dress shopping against my will yesterday by some of my friends, which turned out to be unsuccessful. I'm going again today, so my luck may improve. I dislike wearing dresses, but there's a party on the Friday night and apparently "I'll be the only one wearing jeans and a top." Oh well...

I also tapped into my nerdy side yesterday when I downloaded the iTunes U app for my iPod. It's this pretty cool application where you can download free courses from universities on all subjects. I downloaded a course from the Open University on DNA and Sickle Cell Disease to keep me entertained on the flight on Wednesday. It took me by surprise when I realised who the narrator of the introduction was- Andrew Scott! Now, it may just be my fragile over-imaginative brain mistaking accents, but his is pretty recognisable and it really sounds like him. I don't know what sounds sadder- the fact that I can immediately recognise his accent, or the fact that I am now downloading podcasts on DNA.

Musings of a Sherlockian

So today was the day in which we had to dress up. I used to absolutely hate going to fancy dress parties when I was around 6-7, but going as Sherlock didn't seem so bad. If I had prepared earlier, I could have bought some hair dye and at least curled my fringe, but I woke up late and had to run to the bus stop (yes, in a deerstalker). I got plenty of strange looks and double-takes, as you may have guessed. My friends Beth and Beth (I know a lot of Beths...) came as Moriarty and Watson, so I wasn't the only fool. We also got a green screen done in the IT department, but it hasn't been processed and uploaded to the website yet. 

I also had an idea for a Molly/Moriarty fic at the weekend after listening to a certain song over and over again. Hopefully, it should be finished soon. 

When boredom strikes, grab a pencil.

As a result of watching far too much Saturday night TV and being desperate for something to do, I decided to take the first step towards creating a set of Sherlock stuffed dolls (like my UglyDoll Andy, but not ones that look like monsters) that look like the characters. It's going to take a lot of time, patience and material. I already have something for Mycroft's tie and Lestrade's shirt (slight hints to Mystrade. Yes, I ship it..) and the perfect material for John's jumper. I am actually excited about doing this 'project'! I tend to come up with an idea, and if I'm focused, I'll achieve it. The drawings are just basic designs and guidelines for the dolls. If all goes well, I should have a line of mini Sherlock characters sat on my bed in a few months.

Apart from being told that our idea wouldn't be successful, yesterday was actually pretty good! Unfortunately we didn't find any sponsors, but one company said they would support our idea if we won and decided to go through with it. We left plenty of "Believe In Sherlock" messages on napkins and scraps of paper.
Deductions are much more interesting when you're at a large event. One lady presumably had a tabby cat, judging by the fine ginger hairs on her cardigan which looked too smooth to be dog hairs.
I'm sorry these posts are a little on the short side and hardly interesting, but this week has been pretty quiet.

So I'm going to this buisness conference style thing tomorrow and I really do not know what to expect. We were put into groups a while ago and had to come up with a buisness idea that would solve a current planetary issue (hence the name, Solutions For The Planet), so tomorrow is basically an event where we meet other people in the buisness already and look for potential sponsors. I really dislike speaking in public, so I may prove to be totally useless. My plans are all on a memory stick, which is a bad thing for Saffron and myself....

Sherlockians + memory stick = "ah, the missile plans... boring! I could've gotten them anywhere!" (complete with tossing the stick somewhere.)

So yes, it should be fun. At least there will be plenty of people for me to test my deduction skills on...