No, You Are Not A Covered Wagon; Apparently You Do Not Have What It Takes.

[rionaleonhart]

Dear University of Sussex,

You have been ranked the second-best place to study linguistics in the country! Congratulations! Do you:

a) axe the Linguistics department, or
b) not be stupid?

Take your time. This is not a trick question.



I really hope this (massively stupid) decision is somehow reversed, because, even if it doesn't affect my degree (which it very well could), it is bloody ridiculous, and it will put some excellent tutors out of work, and did I mention that it is stupid? IF A DEPARTMENT IS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY, YOU DO NOT GET RID OF IT. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THIS OBVIOUS.

(Who even made this decision? None of the tutors or students appeared to know anything about it before BAM HEY NO MORE LINGUISTICS ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAYS. Also look at the last paragraph of this article: it hasn't even gone through the necessary processes for such decisions yet, and yet the university is already talking about it as a certainty and telling future students who have been offered places in Linguistics that, oh, hey, that course isn't going to exist any more. The whole thing seems appallingly underhand.)



Anyway! I do not like my entries to be entirely full of misery, so now it is time for something happy! AND I HAPPEN TO HAVE JUST THE THING.

A couple of days ago, I received a notice that someone had sent me a letter with insufficient postage, and so I had to pick it up from the handling office. (This, as it turned out, was a good thing, because otherwise it would probably have been crammed through the letterbox and damaged.) In excited anticipation, because man do I love getting post, I set off.

Now, you may have noticed that I am ever-so-slightly prone to exaggeration, and in particular to use of the term 'best thing ever'. Here is the problem with this: when something actually is the best thing ever, how does one express it?

The first sheet I drew out of the envelope was a drawing of Derren Brown in Silent Hill, holding a ukulele.















In conclusion: sos_your_face is amazing.

Comments

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

This post has the best hair ever. I can't get over the Doctor's epic hair! AND DERREN BROWN'S BALD PATCH. AMAZING <3

I can imagine the various and incoherent noises you made upon seeing these quite well.

[th-esaurus.livejournal.com]

(No, it's true. Oz Clarke is like the WORLD'S HARDEST DUDE TO DRAW because of his stupid head.)

[rionaleonhart]

I was rather glad neither of my housemates were (was?) home to hear my embarrassing squeaking, I have to say. (YES. I LOVE THE HAIR.)

[rionaleonhart]

You do know that this will just encourage me to want to draw more scribbly adventures of the Doctor and Derren Brown.

OH NO.

(asdfgjadndgdffgah PLEASE DRAW DERREN MEETING CAPTAIN JACK PLEASE.)

I would like to encourage you to post these scans to derrenbrownfic! (Direct linking to my Photobucket is fine.) There are a few people watching it who aren't on my flist, and I want to make sure there's enough activity on it to ensure people don't forget it exists.

[rionaleonhart]

All right! The image locations are as follows:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/rionaleonhart/silentukulele.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/rionaleonhart/derrenschoolmusical.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/rionaleonhart/trickortreat.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/rionaleonhart/powerofawesome.jpg

If you want to post an image (if you're posting using HTML; I've never used the Rich Text editor, but I assume it has some sort of 'embed image' button), the HTML is as follows (replace square brackets with pointy ones):

[img src="imagelocationhere"]

So, to post the ukulele image:

[img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/rionaleonhart/silentukulele.jpg"]

with the square brackets replaced by pointy brackets. You can use the preview option to make sure it has worked. (Also, they're quite large images, so you should probably place them under a cut.)

(YAY MORE AMAZINGNESS

I AM SO EXCITED)

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

What the hell, university of Sussex? That does not make a lot of sense at all.

AND YAY DERREN FANART! He's so adorably evil.

[rionaleonhart]

It really does not! I do not understand my university. At least there is adorably evil Derren fanart to take away the pain of stupid academic decisions.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you need Derren Brown to convince the university to reverse the decision.

[rionaleonhart]

Perhaps. I am sure he could be extremely persuasive.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

That icon scares me. KEEP YOUR MIND-CONTROLLING FACE AWAY FROM ME, DERREN BROWN!

If I write fic to appease him, will he go away?

[rionaleonhart]

He may!

...then again, I may use this icon to comment on your fic. But I think you should write it anyway.

[emmarrrrr.livejournal.com]

wat

the academic world is sorely lacking in common sense.

[rionaleonhart]

AGREED. I cannot quite make myself believe that this is really going to happen. Nothing so stupid can be allowed to happen, surely? Some superhero guardian of common sense will swoop in to save the course, surely?

[iwrotethissong.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is some spectacular stuff.

[rionaleonhart]

It is! I love getting ridiculous post so much.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

Stupid university. Hopefully there's a screw-up in there somewhere and they can still reverse it.

Awesome post. Truly awesome post. You are very lucky.

[rionaleonhart]

That's what I'm hoping. You cannot take away Linguistics! It is a fascinating subject! Ultimately, taking away one of the university's best-taught courses will lower its position and result in fewer applicants, so it doesn't even make financial sense.

But, yes, the awesomeness of the post makes everything better. It is amazing!

[bubbles-san.livejournal.com]

Ahahahahaha the big sparkly eyes.

[rionaleonhart]

NOBODY CAN RESIST THE BIG SPARKLY MIND-CONTROLLING EYES OF DERREN BROWN.

[cryforthemoon.livejournal.com]

*pokes university*

...That is an amazing thing to receive in the post. :D

[rionaleonhart]

I fear the university may need more than a poke to knock some sense back into it.

And yes! It is just so wonderful! I cannot get over how much I love it!

[saaski-moql.livejournal.com]

HEY UNI. LOGIC. WHAT IS IT.

(HINT: NOT THIS.)

Those drawings? Absomalutely amazing. I must go tell them so. Because amazing. I think the HSM one is my favorite just case of all the detail. (YOU WOULDN'T THINK YOU COULD GET THAT MUCH DETAIL OUT OF CHIBI DRAWINGS BUT YOU CAN.)

[rionaleonhart]

THEY ARE SO WONDERFUL. I AM FILLED WITH IMMENSE LOVE. Take note, University of Sussex: less scrapping good courses, more chibi Derren Brown/High School Musical.

[perrie.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's what my course did too! It was the fourth best drama school in the country, my course had a 90-100% employment rate after graduation and it was generally brilliant.

What did QM do? Oh, axe pretty much the whole drama department, move it all into CUPBOARDS in its new campus and wait for it to decline to death.

YEAH. WELL DONE, QUEEN MARGARET.

p.s. the Doctor is so CUTE!

[rionaleonhart]

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THESE DECISIONS?

P.S. He is! His silly hair!

[slasherfersure.livejournal.com]

WHERE DO I SIGN UP TO OFFICIALLY STALK YOU?

:D

[rionaleonhart]

I fear I do not quite understand this question! (I hear that not telling the target of your stalking that you intend to stalk her is generally a good idea.)

[shark-hat.livejournal.com]

It's all about the money; if a department is in something unsexy so it isn't attracting huge research grants, or it's expensive to teach, or it simply doesn't get enough overseas students at £15,000 per head per year to cover the costs of paying lots of expensive clever people, then who cares if it's intellectually exciting and a wonderful place to learn? Axe it! Media Studies needs more space! [*]
THANK YOU FOR COMMODITIZING LEARNING, THATCHER AND BLAIR, SEE HOW IT HAS MADE EVERYTHING BETTER???

[*]Media Studies isn't necessarily bad; it's just flavour-of-the-decade.

Derren Brown has been taking lessons from Rasputin's assassins! Excellent. Has he poured tulip-bulb poison in anybody's ear yet?

[rionaleonhart]

I have asked my mother, and she says it would be fine! Sorry to hear your friends let you down. (You're not being a pain at all!)