100 things that make me happy in 2013.

• the seating plan in english
• the atmosphere of the library
• ellie screaming "hi linda!" whenever she sees me
  • "you know, i think you'd be great at football!" haha no
  • ellie's constant pain bc she has to sit next to shauna
  • ellie's bitchy texts
  • "you smell worse, you tramp"
  • & her spontaneous hugs after she bullies me
  • "we'll meet after university because i'll be in tooting!"
  • "i'll take you out to a nightclub ... [RAUCOUS LAUGHTER]"
• strangers muttering wiry and witty observations underneath their breaths
• speaking more than 10 words throughout the day
• francois' constant banter (i think this makes the list every year)
  • "see this mark scheme? ... she wanted the d!"
  • "see this drawing (boy friend). the gap between that is the friendzone" omg
  • "my linlin!" #stop
    • "i'm going to call you super lin from now on." "i thought you called me linlin? how about super linlin!"
  • birthday messages
  • this bastard has been a part of my life for 5 years that's horrible
  • (13/05) now it's just a game of who can steal the other person's answer the quickest
  • (17/06) "you're thinking of king's too? oh, i can pop around your dorm for noodles whenever i want!"
• calum always talking to me when he's around
• reconnecting w/ claes
• the feeling of lipstick
• anne remigus, for being a constant
• having more friends to chat to than i think i do
  • matthew ('why didn't you guys tell me this is what i was going to be walking into?!'), olumide, bonita ('i miss sitting next to you too!'), james
  • jennifer throwing her coat at me; daniel and francois banter about 'copying and pasting my essay'; talking to vi about suits on the way home
• seeing strangers light up when i genuinely laugh at their jokes
• making people comfortable with themselves
• getting validation from someone you'd never expect would give you that satisfaction
• participating in political debates (especially with loser jennifer)
  • esp when we rip into tories and everything they do and represent
  • esp when we both know, as current students, that educational reforms are detrimental and full of bs
• (14/02) ms golding's validation: 'i overheard ms golding saying she wants you two in bc you're good at this kinda stuff'
• (15/02) mynhi: "please come!" / "why me?" / "because i like you, and it'll be awkward if you don't come!"
• (17/02) "you evoke curiosity, because you're a closed book, you're mysterious, and people want to get to know you and get closer to you. they get dragged in by you. you're interesting like that."
• (26/02) tied runner up for the poetry by heart class competition. i never thought it'd happen, but it did! onto the finals, now...
  • (07/03) failed real bad but it was an experience! :')
• (28/02) accepted into the smf! AAAAAAHHHHH
• (08/03) impressed the head of house so much that i'm now being nominated for senior house captain
  • got house captain!
• (13/03) UCL uni taster course. a girl called mira sat next to me; cue hilarious moments, christian cookies (the christian union selling cookies for questions on ~*religion*~), stuffed bodies of dead dudes, butterflies, making beanbags our territory, and being desperate for the loo for 45 mins. perfect, perfect day and not awkward at all!
• (22/03) "that was sensational, linda, your best work yet - you always do good work, but that was the best."
• (28/03) the best birthday of my life.
  • english class wishing me a chorus of happy birthdays (ugne, lucy, violeta, helen, matthew singing)
  • seb asking me what i got and being generally chummy
  • hugs from gilburd, olu, lisa, emily and anne
  • homebaked cake + chinese food + wii games!
  • the sisters' two terrible cards
  • ellie's HOMEBAKED CUPCAKES bc she is amazing cries
  • ainalwara's beautiful card
  • emily's thoughtful lemsip presents and her 'retirement' card
  • lisa going nuts in tesco for me
  • ann's p e r f e c t shirt for a gift
  • and even more tbh today was really perfect
• (19/04) smashing it in the debate. 'you were really amazing, you know!' / 'so were you, you sound so clever and you don't even have to practice. i'm jealous-' / 'you? jealous of me?! what?!'
• (23/04) meeting the extraordinary actors luke newberry and emily bevan after watching the most stunning national theatre performance of 'othello', front row seats w/ adrian lester. OH MY GOD JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY HEAVENS RAIN LUCK DOWN ON ME etc etc best day of this year so far
• "don't change anything! i'd pay for you to paint a portrait that i can put on my wall!"
• (13/05) "linda's vocabulary skills are second to none"
• (18~19/05) old vic new voices: thank you.
• (21/05) "not to patronise you, but obviously you just ended your GCSEs – you're speaking at an undergraduate level instead. your vocabulary is far, far beyond what is expected from you." 28/30 on my oral commentary. i can finally quell my fears.
• OTTOKAJI? 오오오오또카지이이이이이이?
• 28th may, the day we all called xuan a betrayer for listening to the leaked exo album: "this is like a hidden camera. we all make her feel bad and then we jump on her w/ a cake, except instead of a cake we just have xuan's salty tears"
• 14th june, exo's first win
• winning two speech day award prizes: year 12 geography and year 12 art (holbrook-wilson drawing) prize
• ainalwara's constant skinship
• lizzy: "i wish you were going to flatford!"
• (25/06) induction day, with the ~quirky art table~
• gilmore: "lots of people were saying your painting style is very sophisticated."
• "you're a pacifist, you're not a coward - you're just not a fighter - and i don't think you give yourself enough credit for that. your first irrational emotion is shock, to bottle it all up and feel numb. your second rational emoticon is anger, when you've rationalised your feelings and realised that it's not you at fault, it's them."
  • (something that has been said to me all year) i rarely get angry and i have one of the largest tolerance levels of people i know, so when i do get angry people know that they've done something wrong
• getting compared to lee jaehwan (loud, qt and obnoxious mood maker with a social shyness and an inability to make friends, but also a tendency to become silent and contemplative when tired. also, appearing to not take anything seriously in order to allow others around you to be reassured and happier, when in reality you do)
• the moral selfishness game: the only one in my class to pick the 'green' card out of an innate, stomach-pulling and purely emotional response
  • it's been conditioned in me to help others and let them rest while i take all on the work, which shows i am quite selfless (a nice surprise, really)
  • i'm actually HUGELY uncomfortable with the idea of making another person do more work than me
• "the thing with you is that you really want to know about the world, you want to know about everything that's happening in current affairs and the news and the events in great breadth and depth. you want knowledge as well as skills."
• ainalwara: "YOU WALK WITH PURPOSE HOW DO YOU DO THAT"
• griffin: "i heard your commentary was good. mr morris was very impressed, he was moderating it and you got very high marks. i can't say, obviously, what you got, but clearly the mock you did with me helped you!"
• getting 40/45 on my last term summer report LIKE A BOSS
• york residential!
  • ASTRO KNEE KNOCK OUT HERO LINDA
  • meeting the perfect ot5 on day 3
    • being the only ones not to enter the dance floor lbr
    • singing gentleman and fantastic baby outside at midnight
    • "there's a hierarchy here isn't there? we're the ones who are scared of being judged by others, the ones who are introverted, the ones who hate talking to others. the koalas vs the falcons!"
  • monica: "oh you're funny~~~"
  • precious: "you really don't do economics or politics? you sound so confident, like you really know your stuff!"
    • precious was actually the most precious person; tolerating a one hour talk on the woes of my life. the loveliest person i met by far!
    • staying up til midnight to wish her a happy birthday
  • "i thought you were actually really confident when i first met you."
• xuan and i
• barn fam becoming free! characters complete with ~icons~
  • xuan is weird ass mf haru
  • superstar butterfly boy rei is me
  • jen is shark teeth rin
  • lisa is kou DON'T CALL ME GOU
  • julia is crazy nagisa
  • angi is qt makoto
• barn fam also becoming vixx members bc JUST BECAUSE
• SUMMER 2K13: barn fam all being alive again on twitter leading to typos of the night, tlist polls and swapping of icons (bc we all need disgusting ken)
  • "your icon is a guy pretending to give head..."
  • "prob the Strong Attraction i feel towards ken is that he gives no fucks about his idol filter" BC HE IS ME
• margate-ramsgate! going to the beach, writing messages in the sand, arcades and fish and chips and the nicest latte i will ever experience in my life.
• k-hiphop apocalypse 2k13: CONTROL
• 27th-30th / internship. go through leaps and bounds. i have initiative and ideas - and now i finally have the confidence to expand upon them
• 30th-1st / teen wolf wolfsbane convention! meeting the cast, high-fiving sinqua, keahu and sinqua's audition stories ('so they called me up and i got the offer and i was like, no shit!'), tyler and JR's endless banter, melissa's gorgeousness, SINQUA SINQUA SINQUA
• learning about charlotte's introversion and finding out that we're eerily similar - it's a comforting thought and it's nice to know that i'm not the only one
  • "okay so on the scale of neuroticism and anxiety, i think you're slightly worse than me?!"
  • we're both going to end up in an asylum
• noodle city with lisa on fridays
• vixxeurope growing in 2 weeks because of our amazing team ilu all ty for making me happy and busy!
• striking up chats with justine
• meeting claudia, who is the cutest canadian ever
• "biology buddies~" with jonathan and being a terrible team
• my personal statement being used as a model for others
• ms t constantly saying that i'm an amazing geographer and being proud of me ;_;
• (30/10) visited house of commons and got to witness 3 hours of parliamentary debate. PMQs (energy price rise), cameron, milliband, gove, clegg and the speaker. the most intense and entertaining atmosphere; full of quick wit and cutting insults. one of the best days of my life thus far!
• (01-04/11) VIXX IN MILAN. the highlight of my life. always smile, ken~ (like the way you smiled at me!)
  • ABBY IS MY FAVOURITE. vixxeu girls fighting!
• cutting my hair for milan to the shortest it's ever been – and suiting it!
• chatting with hanna and bonding instantly
• my ken art piece is displayed in the hall
• (11/12) OFFER FROM KINGS!
• sebastian?? ???? ?? is a part of my life now??
  • my nickname is lindol, named after the chocolate 'lindor'
  • "i used to think you were regimental, but i've seen you swear over a korean guy now"
  • asian squadron fights over who is the real leader YOU'RE NOT EVEN ASIAN
• spontaneous hugs from alex
• ainalwara is a beautiful kind soul forever my therapist forever the person i grab the most hugs from amen
• i also haven't mentioned olu despite the fact he's a fool he's also v. lovely to me and has been there for hugs too
• 131206: vixx's first win on mubank
• christmas holidays: twitter clique
• viva le(n)ocean
• expanding vixxeu and loving absolutely everyone i love /everyone/ and i'm so proud of vixxeu, our baby!
• in the last few days of 2013 i met khao and we had a five hour long kakao talk and two 8 hour long video chats on skype and now i'm meeting her in february and we'll be touring europe for vixx this relationship is really moving fast
• getting early access tickets to vixx in february. TWICE.
• i never got to 100 on this list, but it's okay. i didn't need reminders to know how great this year has been. ♡