Sigh.

I have nothing to write about this week.
Sigh.

In a moment of surprising technological know-how, I had a subscription box added to my blog. It's on your right, so do subscribe. If you feel like.

J. K. Rowling's new book 'A Casual Vacancy' came out this Thursday. I haven't read it yet because I didn't preorder it and I find it in the book stores near me, but I shall have it by next week and I shall finish reading it  by two Saturdays from today.
I'm looking forward to that.

Also, I've just finished reading Life, the Universe and Everything, the third book in the Hitchhiker's series.

It's a great book. The best bit is Marvin's lullaby, How I Hate The Night.

Now the world has gone to bed,

Darkness won't engulf my head,

I can see by infra-red,

How I hate the night.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

Try to count electric sheep,

Sweet dream wishes you can keep,

How I hate the night.

I bought myself a new journal on Tuesday, and I've begun to write in it already. I'm a compulsive journal writer and record my life in notebooks by volume.

This is Volume VII.

So, if you have ever wondered what I like the most in the world (which is not something you would wonder), it's books. I've spent a lifetime building up my collection, and there is nothing I would rather have with me at any moment than a good book.

Unless the moment were a zombie apocalypse. Then I'd rather have a machine gun.

Enjoy your weekend!

N

In The Aftermath

Being sick over a weekend is horrible. But never matter that.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have resumed their lives as fighter pilot for the RAF and, well, wife, after their royal tour to the South-East, and I'm back to writing about royalty.

The tour, which had the Duke and Duchess visiting Singapore, Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, lasted nine days.

This was their itinerary in Singapore

Unfortunately, all eyes were not on the Cambridges at their best, as they should have been, but rather on a scandal involving them that cropped up in their absence.

Despite that, the Duke and Duchess kept their heads high and carried on, resulting in a fantastic tour.
Here are pictures.

At the Singapore Orchid Garden.The Duchess is wearing Jenny Packham.
















The hybrid named after William and Catherine. The cross between the flowers signifies the Prince's wedding to a commoner.

At the Rolls Royce factory. Dressed in Alexander McQueen, the Duchess helped put the last part of a jet engine in place.

Visiting the Kranji Memorial. The graves are those of the soldiers from overseas who died trying to defend Singapore. The dress, again, is Jenny Packham.












 And this video of Catherine's first speech on foreign soil.

And some more pictures.

In the rain forests of Borneo.

Arriving at the Solomon Islands in a boat.

William should wear things like this more often.

Recieving a royal welcome to Tuvalu. The Queen recieved a similar welcome when she visited many years ago.

 Leaving Tuvalu. The Duke and Duchess stopped at Australia for a while before returning to England.













This, perhaps, is the last we shall see of the Cambridges this year. In the aftermath of the tour, the only thing that will bring them back into the public eye is the big announcement that we have all been waiting for: Prince Harry's engagement.

No, I kid.

Until next time,
N

NOTE: For more information about the tour and a detailed look at Catherine's outfits, visit The Royal Order Of Sartorial Splendor. 
Also, if you like this blog, don't forget to tell your friends about it. 

French the Llama,

The Vlogbrothers made a thousand videos!

Huzzah!

This week has been awesome. I wrote a few exams at the very beginning of it, which is why I was busy last Saturday, after which I've been living off the Internet. You know, as you do.

Prince Harry turned 28 today, but it seems that his birthday has been forgotten, what with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge being in the South East and being caught in the middle of a massive scandal.
Well, I haven't forgotten it. I haven't forgotten it for a moment.
Happy birthday, Your Highness.

And yesterday, Hank posted the Vlogbrothers' 1000th video. Here it is, for those of you who haven't seen it yet:

Isn't it great? 

No, don't answer that. It is great.

So, because it's such a special occasion for YouTube and the Internet in general, I am going to do my third favourite thing after Googling royals and watching videos.

Make a list!

My Favourite YouTubers (And What I Think Are Their Best Videos Yet)

1. John and Hank (Vlogbrothers)

I began my journey through YouTube with the Vlogbrothers and they have always been my favourite. A friend of mine introduced me to them this year and I have been a Nerdfighter since June the tenth. 

I can't pick between John and Hank, and so this is my favourite Vlogbrothers video

Adorable Squirrel and Table Topics

because it features Henry Green.

If you're new to the Vlogbrothers, you should probably watch this video before you watch any of the others. If you aren't, Don't Forget To Be Awesome.

2. Alex (Nerimon)

Two years ago, I read Twilight because all my friends were reading it and I wanted to see what the hype was all about. To describe it in one word; terrible. I swore never to read it again.

This summer, I read Twilight for the second time. Why? Because I found the best video playlist ever.

Alex Reads Twilight

Genius. 

I liked chapters 10, 11 and 14 particularly. I liked all the others, too.

3. Kristina (italktosnakes)

She's a nerdfighter. She makes videos. She's cute. She likes Harry Potter.

What's not to like about her?

Kristina and Alex fight back

It's really on the Five Awesome Girls' channel, but it's my favourite video of Kristina, so it's on the list. 

It's particularly nice as a response to Lauren and Matt's video, which I am not going to direct you to, because I didn't like it very much. It shows that relationships can be things other than romantic. Like fun.

4. Charlie (charlieissocoollike)

It was hard for me to choose my favourite video of Charlie's because I like them all. And so, on Wednesday, I did a day long viewing of his videos and I chose this one.

Questions!Answers!YEAH!

The last 30 seconds always make me laugh so hard.

5. Bryarly (BryarlyBishop)

When Charlie announced that he had a girlfriend and that it was Bryarly, I was more excited about the video she would post in response to his than I was in the actual relationship.

Needless to say, she did not disappoint.

HELP WHAT I CAN"T EVEN

I was so glad that people were nice to her. I was anticipating some meanness myself, but there was none.

My faith in humanity on the Internet was restored.

6. Dan (danisnotonfire)

Reasons Why This

I Will Go Down With This Ship

Is An Awesome Video:

1) It features Alex and Charlie and Phil.

2) It's about shipping, one of my favourite things to do on the Internet.

3) Dan in his tight jeans.

Enough said.

7. Phil (amazingphil)

I had the same problem with Phil as I had with Charlie; I couldn't choose my favourite. So, like I did with Charlie, I watched a marathon of Phil's videos on Friday.

I still haven't chosen a favourite, but, for the purpose of this post:

The Awkward Spa Experience!

I love it when funny things happen to Phil. Or to any vlogger, for that matter. They make videos about it, and I get a great deal of entertainment.
And odd looks from people when I begin to laugh out loud.

~

And that's all for this week. I'm sorry there aren't any pictures.

A Bunny
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( --)
((')(')

N

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been frightfully busy this week. So busy that I couldn't think of anything to write about. Or a decent title, obviously.

As a matter of fact I'm busy today also. Too busy to even spend ten minutes writing about why I've been busy. So, I'm just going to leave you with a nice picture to keep you satisfied until next week, when I'll be back and not so busy.



Degas' The Ballet Rehearsal

N

A Candle In The Wind

Fifteen years ago to the day, the Princess of Wales was killed when her car crashed in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. Since then an astounding number of people have paid their respects to the late Princess. Elton John modified one of his songs in her honour. Her foundation, Centrepoint carried on, with her sons as patrons. They even had a Concert for Diana, in 2007, so that no one may forget to remember this marvellous person.

Perhaps the biggest tribute to Diana was when her son, Prince William, gave his mother's engagement ring to his (then) girlfriend Kate. William said that it was his way of keeping his mother in the middle of things, when she couldn't really be there.

Nothing I do could ever compare to that, and I do not wish for it to either. But I liked Diana, and I admired her and so I am going to remember, fifteen years since she was last alive, the People's Princess, at her very best.

On her wedding day

Dancing with John Travolta

Prince William's first Official Portrait

Prince Harry's first Official Portrait

At Spain

With Prince Harry at the Trooping of the Colour

Cycling with her family

Walking amongst land mines

Telling an audience about Centrepoint

Prince William's first day at Eton

In The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara

And it's true about Diana: Her candle burned out long before her legend ever will.

N

This Post Comes To You In Two Parts

Part One.

I've heard from fairly reliable sources that later this year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are going to be touring Singapore, Malaysia, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands as official representatives of Her Majesty, the Queen. Of course, I'm getting super, super excited about this royal tour because of the massive success of the last on the Duke and Duchess went on, to Canada and the United States. 



Now, this tour to the South East won't be quite as grand or quite as special, but hopefully, we will see some lovely moments.

 

Part Two.

On Friday, John Green turned thirty-five.



This is John Green.

I really like John. It was his video, Thoughts on Romance and Sex in an Airport, that made me want to keep watching videos posted by the Vlogbrothers and become a Nerdfighter (I'll save the story of how and when and why I joined Nerdfighteria for another day). And, John's a writer, which is great, not only because I like and admire writers, but because it makes him one of the few YouTubers with an actual job.
But even if he didn't have an actual job, or any job, for that matter, he would still be one of the best vloggers around. Because John Green is made of awesome.

Happy birthday, John, and DFTBA.

N

PS. I was greatly saddened to hear the news of Neil Armstrong's death. He was my favourite astronaut.

Rest In Peace.

A Fancy Diary

I've never quite known how to start a blog. Do you write about yourself? About your reason for starting a blog? Do you ask the people reading it to tell all their friends? Do you ask them to comment? Do you ask them anything at all? I don't know. And so, I'm going to start blogging the way I start just about everything; by saying whatever I want, and using And inappropriately at the beginning of a sentence.

I once read that a blog without a focus is nothing but a fancy diary. Which is good, really, because I like fancy things and I like diaries. And I don't particularly care for things that have a focus. And that is all my blog is ever going to be. The periodic musings of an ever-so-slightly wierd person who loves royalty, romance novels, Luna Lovegood, vloggers, making lists, pretty things and starting sentences with And.



And here is a picture to keep you from getting bored.



Now, a fair warning. When I say I love royalty, I mean I really, super truly, absolutely LOVE royalty. I love reading about them and I love looking at pictures of them, and I love events where royals turn up by the busload, bringing all their shiny clothes and sparkly headgear out with them.



And here's another picture. Yes, that is the Duchess of Cambridge.

Infact, one of my main reasons for wanting to start a blog was so that I could have a fantastic post in Queen Elizabeth's honour when she dies (My other reason being that I spend a whole load of my time on the Internet. Also, I like writing about meaningless things. A blog seemed like a perfect way of combining the two, and so here we are).

But, until then, I'm afraid the only thing that I have to keep you entertained are my mindless ramblings and the occasional picture, courtesy of the Internet.

Until next week!

N