Musings of Alice

Filling in the Gaps

2008-07-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

There have been a number of different things I've been meaning to blog about, and they've built up and up until I can't possibly write about them all. Also, this isn't really meant to be a diary blog, and if it was it would all make very dull reading, so instead of writing I shall make up for it with a run down of the last...however long it's been... in pictures.

Highlights are as follows...

A day out in Bournemouth...

...dining out with an exceptionally fine gentleman,

and spotting this little fella...

Then...after a few other things of which I have no photographs at present...

...Entertaining the (uhem...) in-laws to be and showing off the new-ish flat...

Southampton Concert Orchestra Summer concert, which was a Russian extravaganza, of which Kieran managed to take no photos of me actually playing. The programme included Spartacus, Polovtsian Dances, Dance of the Tumblers and the 1812 Overture, which was the finale accompanied by fireworks and cannon fire.

Elina and me... the rebel first violinists, we sit right at the back and giggle... (plus bored-looking harpist)...

Me and Elina hanging out with the guys...

A family "do"... Aunty Gills 50th B'day. Sadly I have no photo's of said Aunty available. Here is the motley crew, the White sisters with their plus ones. :oD

And finally...

A trip to Winchester...

Ate some delicious smoked haddock at a fish restaurant, which even did Veggie food Kieran approved of...

Marvelled at what can only be described as a big chunk of metal. It has little flashing lights, and if you send it a text it will change colour... yes, that's what I said, send it a text... and no we didn't. Pish and tish. I expect it's more exciting at night.

Creeping around in the vicinity of Winchester Cathedral,

Which is where, dear ones, our adventure must end... for now at least...

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How do you turn a duck into a Soul singer?...

2008-05-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Put it in the microwave until it's Bill Withers...

Sorry...

Some amazing things pass as jokes when you work with this many men.

Groan

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The Soggiest Office in All the Land...

2008-05-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

...Is suite 1, Woodside House in Eastleigh...

Over the Weekend it rained so much that the already vulnerable ceiling caved in in one of the corners. It is mildly amusing, and worryingly dangerous. I sit about 10 metres away from where the hole in the ceiling is. The central section of the building has already had it's mains electricity disconnected because the wiring is dodgey, and therefore the main store cupboard, full of painters brushes, paint ladders and other equipment, has to be entered with torch in hand.

Today the weather is, frankly, rubbish again and it is now easy to work out how the ceiling tiles came to be so sodden and collapse in. It is basiacally raining indoors, not all that far away from me, and as already mentioned, the wiring in this place is not too hot. Now, the piece de resistance, the water it raining THROUGH the wiring. Oh joy... There are four buckets currently doing a feeble job of collecting some of the water, but the carpet is soaking most of it up... I'm not going anywhere near it.

Everywhere else in the building is totally dry, but I wonder how much worse it has to get before someone sorts it out...

If I never post again, it's because in clicking the 'publish post' button I have been electricuted!

I'm living life on dangerous territory (for writing this post in aforementioned office as well as simply just being here!)

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We Have Moved!

2008-05-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

I want to put up pictures, but cant yet, as the internet at the new flat will not be working for another week or so. Yes, Kieran and I have moved flats... It's marvelous...

Kieran has been cleaning the Bathroom while I've been tackling the Kitchen. When one is cleaning a flat as small as the one we've just left, there are some logistical issues to overcome. The one and only ground-level kitchen cupboard does not really open wide enough to clean it without being a contortionist... I ended up twisting my shoulders in an excrutiating way, and practically getting into the cupboard (only my bottom didn't fit!) armed with a packet of antibacterial wipes and a jay cloth... Yes, my behaviour while cleaning can be rather eccentric but the job gets done...

Last night I went in by myself and finished the Kitchen and Bathroom... Kieran's done an awesome job on the bathroom, so all I needed to do was make the taps shiny and re-hang the shower curtain (which I de-moulded successfully - geez, my life is exciting!)

All we need to do now is change a lightbulb and re-hang the ends of the curtains (and pelmet...yuch...I hate pelmets...useless fabric abominations!) and put the Dyson round for the last time...

Anyway, we're doing a good job I think. I can't wait to have just one flat to think about... And the new flat is about 5 times the size of the old one... Marvelous!

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The Cake Conundrum

2008-05-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today I felt like baking a cake but I don't have any weighing scales, so I guessed. And I think I did pretty well...

However, the cake did something no other cake in the history of cakes has done...
I've made cakes that sunk in the middle before, because of over eagerness to take them out of the oven. But this one did the oposite... Can anyone tell me why?!...

Anyway, not to be put off from enjoying the cake decorating fun, I decided to make it into a jazzy looking 'Hat Cake'... Oh and I just can't resist...

...If this cake doen't taste good I'll eat my hat! (cake)... Which means I'll eat it anyway I guess!

And just so you know it tasted good, here is the reaction of an esteamed critic of all things chocolate and cake related... doesn't he look thrilled... He actually used the word cakelicious...

I'm still wondering what made it such a strange shape, and it is incredibly heavy too, on the stomach I mean, not to carry! Any suggestions, please comment...

More anon dear cakeless ones, more anon...

Norwich Adventures

2008-05-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to see my lovely sister in Norwich, where she is studying at Art College. I had never been to Norwich before so I took plenty of photos. So here, as I have not posted pictures in rather a long time, are some images of last weekend...

Laura by the river on way to lunch... Norwich FC were playing at home that day so there were lots of people wearing the canary yellow strip in the pub.

I've forgotten what this place was called, but its was basically a ruined tower by the river. I don't have any theries about the scars in the wall... There wasn't much infomation about it that I could see.
This disgruntled looking fellow was just one of the many details on the ceiling of the cloisters at Norwich Cathedral.

The Choir stalls and organ. Photographs are easy to compose when the architecture is as stunning as this.

The posh seats... they don't look any more comfortable than your average joe's pew

The sun shining through the windows made these pillars look all the more interesting.

As our parents weren't too far away, we met up for the afternoon. Here they are outside the Art College. Then we went home for a barbecue, as Laura's housemate is a chef it was a little more delicious than your averaged charred offerings. However, I didn't take any pictures then, sadly.

This is the breakfast Laura made me on Sunday morning... I'm not used to such treatment! Please note Ernest and Gordon, the plants in the background. :o)

All in all it was a marvelous weekend. I'm very proud of my little sister.

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I Really Need to Write a Proper Post Soon...

2008-04-30T04:49:00.000-07:00

...but my faith in human (and pig) randomness has been restored... oh and it also amused me because it looks like pigs fly afterall...

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A Profitable Use Of My Time

2008-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

I keep reading BBC news magazine in quiet moments... and today there was a familiar name in the mix.

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The Joy of Local News

2008-04-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

This caught my eye this morning, however, I am disappointed they didn't show more of Bath...

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2008-04-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Something has been bugging me about commuting to work... or rather something about commuters: people who get on trains to go to work very early in the morning and with very little spacial awareness or consideration for other people.

The buttons for opening the train doors light up when they are active, which means that pressing them when they are not lit up does no good whatsoever. It may be a simple thing to grasp, but not aparently to practically ANYONE who gets on the trains I get on. Before the buttons light up I have watched these idiot people jabbing repetatively and inpatiently at the button, to no avail. I just want to whack their hand away and tell them off like they are children. What is so difficult about the concept of waiting a fraction of a second. That way, no energy is wasted, they don't get frustrated at the apparent lack of the door opening (one person muttered this morning that the door was F***ed), and I will not get angry with them... benefits all round!

And now I'm off to catch a train.

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Canine Chance to Shine and a Spooky House

2008-04-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

...for Pip and Gromit maybe?! Take a look at this delightful report. I feel that mans best friend is getting a chance of a lifetime... If only there was a chance of being able to train the dogs I know to do ANYTHING on command! For treats... now thats a different matter!

On a totally different note, I am currently incredibly nosey when it comes to peoples front gardens. This all stems from the fact that to get to work I walk along a fairly bog-standard residential road, all bland, mostly well-kept semi-detached houses. The main difference between any of the houses is what the owners have done to the front gardens... But there's one that stands out as disturbing. Imagine, if you will, a 1930s semi-detached house with no garage. The white paint on the bay windows has turned grey and the wooden window frames are completely wrotten. Parked down the side of the house is a VW Camper van which looks like it was silver, but due to being parked under a tree for what I assume has been at least 20 years, is a patchy sludgy green colour. It leans to one side as if the tyres are completely flat. It looks like it's there to stay, or at least until corrosion turns it to dust. The whole of the front of the house is shrouded by an overgrown knarled and knotty tree. The net curtains in the windows hang crooked and yellowed. The strangest thing of all though is the driveway; there is just a thick carpet of white, green and blue broken glass leading up to the front door step... a rudementary security measure perhaps.

It made me wonder about what has happened to someone to make them create such a hostile looking facade to their house. Are they deeply paranoid and reclusive? Is it the house of someone who is desperately trying to preserve an older time and doesn't want change? Is it an art installation? Does anyone actually live there? Then the other day as I walked to catch my train I noticed there was a man in the front, tending to the broken glass, picking up any stray shards and chucking them back with the rest. It was a warm day and most people weren't wearing coats, but this man was wearing a thick anorak and a black wooly hat. He seems totally harmless, and most likely to be a lonely introvert. The VW van and all the other things just make me wonder about him... what kind of life has he had, and was he always like this? I think probably not. The hostile look of the house certainly puts me off even looking at it for too long, let alone going up to the front door. The quiet intimidation certainly has its desired effect.

Maybe I should respect his wishes and not notice the house. But I can't be the only person who looks at the house and wonders.

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First of all...

2008-04-14T05:48:00.000-07:00

I am very very very sad about this. He was awesome.

An secondly, I think this is a point for discussion, being a musician and all... Musical gender Stereotyping... I'll write about it in a bit.

I'm so gutted about Mark Speight though. He was one of the great ones.

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Brain Soup

2008-04-11T03:28:00.000-07:00

Keeping ones' brain occupied is something I'm very interested in. I like the feeling of being mentally agile, able to leap through thought processes and arrive at nice, sometimes philosophically charged conclusions. I am a thinker... and I don't really stop thinking even though what I may look like I'm doing is vegetating.

I'm blogging from work again... It's just a quiet moment, and I will be training this afternoon. And it's kind of lunchtime...ish... Just in case you think I'm perpetrating some kind of terrible idleness related crime... (I'm feeling guilty)

At this point in time my task is manning the phones, as there is not much else to do... and there has only been one phonecall in the last hour.

Yes, occupation of the brain is something I'd really like to use productively... So I'll read BBC News... again...

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2008-04-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

Good Day! I am posting form work... yes WORK! I have just started a new temp assignment at a building and surveying company. I'm only due to be here for 4 weeks, which is a nice chunk of time to temp for... and then I can leave with no further worries... apart from where I'll be working next... Ah, it's a chopping and changing world here in Southampton, or rather Eastleigh which is where I find myself... It is a 20 monute walk from the station here... so early mornings are back on the menu... 6:30Am get-up time to be precise.

There's not a lot going on really. It's so laid back I'm not sure what to do with myself. My manager is currently ordering a Pizza for everyone. Several people look like they are working, but if they're not, then I really wouldn't know. As far as I know, no one is ever stressed here... It's quite nice...

Anyway, I have no doubt I will be blogging more in future weeks...

More anon...

The Mean Migraine

2008-03-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have got absolutely nothing done today. I've been asleep, and then awake and in pain, and then asleep again in an alternating pattern just wishing my head didn't hurt anymore. The thing is, it's not a headache. I can cope with a straightforward headache but when I have a migraine I feel sick, the smell of food makes me feel faint and queasy and it's all I can do to stop myself curling up in a shivering ball of patheticness. By 7pm I was feeling better, having lost an entire day to the evilness that is my own head. Now to make up for it, me and Kieran are going to play Ticket to Ride... because we seem to be addicted to it!

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The New Blog

2008-03-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Wedding blog address www.aliceandkieranwedding.blogspot.com but there's not much to see just yet...

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A New Post!

2008-03-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

I've been contemplating many things since I wrote on this blog last... mainly, what on earth shall I do?! I am now job searching again. I finished working at HSBC on Friday 29th Feb, an I now have a pile of applications to fill in.

When I was growing up I always thought it would become obvious what I was meant to do...that there would be one thing that stood out an I could do that... but it's not obvious at all, which, is...well, obvious...! Careers advise at school wasn't much help either... I remember fill in an online test which told me could be a whole range of unrelated professions... I can't remember everything. but nursery school teacher, librarian and nurse were all part of it. Well, I know I couldn't be a nurse... I could be caring but medical procedures have been known to leave me lying ungracefully on the floor with the nurse/doctor leaning over me with a concerned expression on their face.

Anyway... I am applying for Arts admin jobs... I want to work in an area that makes me use my imagination, even though admin is notoriously unimaginative!

Also, I am making a NEW BLOG... dedicated to discussion of Wedding stuff... I thought it would be a good way to get ideas... Mr K will also have access to it. Lots of people have a wedding website but I thought this blog would be less cheesy... I am not a fan of cheesy weddings. :o) Watch this space!

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The Next Move

2008-02-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a full month since I last posted. Once again life has whizzed on by and I've found little or nothing to blog about. However, I've been pondering certain life choices of late...nothing drastic... I am in a job that pays very little, is good experience but has very little to do with what I'm good at, and it seems to have made me turn a corner. It's made me feel a bit more ambitious than I have been before. I expect I will stay in this job for at least a few months longer, but I'm certain that I can do better. That's never happened to me before. I've wanted jobs before, but never with any real sense of ambition behind it. And to get where I want to go I'm pretty sure I want to do a masters in arts administration, or similar. So I'm going to look into it.

In the meantime, I want to look for more jobs. HR in a bank is all very well, but to be honest my role has turned into a recruitment assistant rather than anything else. And the days in the office are filled with chasing people for information and then being chased for other information for which I have to chase other people. It's all a not so fun game of cat and mouse...on a constant cycle. Woo! Actually the days go by very quickly because I'm busy all the time, and I like it when things go well. Just last week it was a pain trying to get anything done. A good analogy of it is the idea of wading through treacle. Fun!

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SURPRISE!!

2008-01-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose that I could say I was waiting until an exciting event to blog about, but really the reason I haven't been blogging for so long is that, frankly, I'm, rather forgetful. In fact I it has slipped my mind that I have a blog for...well... as long as it's been since my last post.

However, despite not deliberately waiting for an exciting event, it would appear that I have aquired a particularly special one. On New Years Eve Kieran asked me to marry him (if you also read his blog then I am afraid I make no apologies for repeating the information) and I really didn't have to think that hard before saying yes.

I had known, but never told him, that if he asked me to marry him one day I would say yes, but I totally wasn't expecting it to happen for a few years. And still, after what appears to have been a few weeks when he was apparently planning it all, I was completely clueless... I mean I didn't even have an incling... and that just how I think it should be.

I can't help being soppy just this once. I'm amazed at how much more simple it is when you know something's right. I think I had some (hollywood-fed) idea that it would be a massively lifechanging and complicated decision... which is totally wrong.

Cloud nine is where I am. Hehe.... eeeeeeeeeeeee.....

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The Rat Race

2007-12-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

I've been at HSBC for a week now, and I like it. I work in a big open plan office, the kind I always thought would be mind numbingly impersonal and run of the mill. But it's much, much better than that. There are a huge range of different people to get to know, lots to learn, and I work with a great bunch of people. I'm still learning and it's going to take a long time, but I'm feeling positive, and pleasantly surprised.

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Yey!!

2007-11-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

It's not an exciting thing really, but...

I'VE GOT A JOB!!!!!

It's the thing I've been thinking about for so long. And now I don't have to worry about finding a job anymore I can enjoy everything else that previously I've felt guilty about doing because it wasn't job searching. phew!

I start on Tuesday at HSBC offices in Human Resources. We'll see what happens...

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The Dubious Hat

2007-11-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right. I have a dubious hat. My little sister gave it to me last Christmas. It is a knitted beret, with a fleece lining, and is patterned with green, turquoise, mustard, olive and blue. In theory it is a perfect choice for me, and my sister said she bought it for me because it was all the right colours for me. And it is... It's just... Well I have pictures to show you...

...you see, it is a hat that I find very aesthetically pleasing, but it also looks like a cushion cover.

However, no matter how I try to wear it, it looks totally absurd... for example...

...the jaunty angle... ridiculous...and impractical.

Then...

...the over the ears look, which is actually most comfortable, but which is frankly rather old-ladyish and disturbing. This may also be due to the face in that picture, but the hat really does do it all by itself.

I have also tried to wear it in the style of Jenny Agutter in The Railway Children, which makes me look like I've got a dinosaur crest...

I think it might be because it's octagonal. I put it on before going out, and then chicken out of wearing it. It is a very silly hat...

Is there any way to make it less weird?

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The Power of Facebook

2007-11-15T03:53:00.000-08:00

Facebook has been in the news lately, warning us that we may all be laying our sorry selves open to identity fraud. I can't honestly see who might be interested in using the details I've included seeing as they are mostly ridiculous, but the identity fraud thing is one of the reasons I resisted it for so long. I also have been known to avoid buying/taking part in/wearing/reading/doing anything that I feel people are doing just because everyone else is doing it.

I avoided facebook for a long time, simply because everyone was on it and I wasn't, but alas, I gave in eventually. The initial experience of finding all kinds of people on Facebook and being able to talk to them and find out about how they're doing was exciting. It's nice to update the pictures you have in your head of people you knew from years back. It's also borderline stalking, considering you can look up people who have a less than favourable presence in your memory banks and see if they look as worse for wear as you hope they do. But my discovery has been better than this.

I have all kind of memories of people at school, who at the ages of 13, 14 and 15, were capable of what I remember as being indescribable cruelty. I was picked on because I wore Clarks shoes instead of Kickers, which were cool but expensive beyond what my parents would allow, I carried a denim rucksack which I decorated with fabric paints instead of a record shoulder bag like everyone else. These crimes of taste and my comparative quietness and sensitiveness meant I was pretty much a sitting duck for verbal, flicking and pushing attacks and all kinds of one offs such as torn up paper dandruff dropped on my head!

Grudges had built up in my mind primarily because of the other kids' behaviour towards me and my friends, twinned with the fact that they were usually seen as "spirited and lively characters" who got good grades and were teachers favourites, and so never got what I felt should be coming to them. (I fantasized usually at least a good verbal dispute where I could tell them how morally pitiful they were, triumphantly winning back my dignity, which would stump them into respecting me forever - LAME!!! of course it wouldn't have worked. I would have been toast.)

But Facebook has enabled me to see how everyone has leveled out, and how my status, such as it is, is totally different. We're all equal, and people who I thought were totally unaware of my existence have turned out to remember me better than I remembered them...which makes me think that I possibly wasn't so great myself, maybe too wrapped up in avoiding the people I was afraid of to notice that there were plenty of other nice people. So I'm quite pleased Facebook exists, because it has let me put my stupid and frankly absurd bruises from the past behind me, which is a blessed relief.

Next post to follow later... brace yourselves to give me fashion advice... hummm...

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Remember Remember

2007-11-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

I have been to two Firework displays this weekend of 5th of November, and it was marvelous. On Saturday we went to Mayflower Park, a rather fairground dominated fireworks display, but it was great being by the waterfront and watching the fireworks set off from a barge on the estuary. K and I went along with some friends I made when I started going to Highfield Church, so it was a rather organised evening, and we ended up going to someones home for hot dogs and cheesecake and tea. Jolly good I say! I am particularly fond of this photo......because it came out just how I wanted, which is a rare occasion. In the distance is a cruise liner (if she's famous I know not) but her siren was let off to signal the beginning and ending of the display. The fireworks we saw weren't the official ones: they were being saved for monday night... ...which is when I went to a bonfire party with Elina, who plays in the orchestra I've just joined. We had mulled wine, corn on the cob, and toffee apples... and some Halloween hang-on's made an appearance...

There was a proper bonfire, and a somewhat disturbingly well thought out hanging and burning of the guy...

...here, Guy is dragged to the fire on a chair, which was not really for any reason except that he was a rather fragile, newspaper Guy...

...so fragile in fact that his body didn't make it to the hanging... his burning head can be seen swinging from the washing line while his legs are in the bofire...
...kind of sadistic really, which is something I've always thought about this bizarre tradition we English keep up. Burning ephigies usually happens just once, in protest rioting, along with burning of the flags of enemy countries. I wonder why this particular event turned into an annual one night of subdued political triumph and parade for something that happened in the 17th century. It was also a weird evening because I only knew one person. Such is life when you move somewhere new. I really love talking to new people though, as there's really nothing to lose...

Alas, it is my bed time...

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Bad News for My Teeth

2007-11-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

As an add-on to the previous post, we didn't get any trick-or-treaters at all. I kind of panicked and sent Mr K out to buy plenty of chocolaty goodness as I thought we might get at least two little oiks at the door as although we live in a student area, there are plenty of well-kept family type homes around here with inevitably young enough children. But alas, the trick-or-treaters missed out cruelly in that case by not knocking on our door, but now we have rather a lot of sweets to eat. So, here, in the form of a montage, is the range of marvelous chocolate creations we have in our cupboard.Mmmmmm... As I say... the trick-or-treaters missed out...

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Temping, Pumpkins and Cats

2007-11-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just to explain, blogging about anything at the moment seems pointless, mainly because I am finding life a bit dull. I live in a great flat, in a nice place, with a supportive allbeit strange flatmate,(:oD) but I'm still feeling kind of useless because of my lack of purpose. It's ok to be out of work for a few weeks, but now it's starting to feel like sending off for things is a waste of my time. There are plenty of people who have said to me that getting a job after Uni is difficult and that I shouldn't feel bad if it takes a while.

My new job seeking tactic is to sign up to temping agencies, and also to look for a couple of days work to fill in some of the time I've been spending humming and hahhing about not having work. I went to the doctors, partially to ask if there were any coping strategies she could recommend to help me feel better about the situation. To my surprise she has recommended I see a counselor for a couple of sessions. It's weird to think that's what I might need but I think maybe it actually might help. I'm prone to being a little sad at times, and with nothing to do I guess I have time to think about what makes me sad, which is currently my lack of work. It's easy to work out what's wrong, but not quite so easy to solve the problem alone.

On to more jolly things though, as I am currently really quite a jolly lass, I went to a Halloween Party. I had planned to go as a pumpkin, purely because I think it's a fairly hilarious concept to walk around for a few hours as a giant orange vegetable. I was all for making my own costume, so I went to B&Q to try to buy one of those paper lantern lampshades that cost about £2. I wanted to get the biggest size so that I could cut the bottom and top off and somehow fit myself inside with some ribbon to make shoulder straps and paint it. Marvelous fun would have been had. However, although they had one the right size, they wouldn't let me buy it as it was for display purposes only. This was a sad turn of events, but I decided to walk back to the other end of Portswood road (the longest road in the known universe, or maybe just in the UK) Alas, I ended up buying a hairband, some black and white felt, and black insulation tape, and making a cat costume instead. Simple but effective.

Turned out the theme of the Halloween party was not just scary Halloween cliches, but more generally, political incorrectness, one of my favourite party themes *SIGH*. Therefore, rather tasteless costumes were on display. Kieran's "Zombie Kieran" costume (which was really quite awful) and my cat costume rather paled in comparison. For example, one guy was dressed as a Marlborough cigarette box with the label "smoking makes you live longer" on it, another was dressed as Freddie Kruger, and another was dressed as something I won't spell out that involved wearing orange overalls. Maybe my costume could have been changed to "objectification of women", but I fear I wasn't showing enough flesh to justify that one.

I'll see if I can put some pictures up later.

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The Jobsearch

2007-10-24T05:31:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers! are you still out there?

Life has seemed difficult to write about lately, so I haven't been doing much blogging once again.

I had two job interviews last week. The first for a job I didn't want but was fairly sure I'd get, and the second which I did want, but which I knew would be more difficult to get, which made the week kind of stressful. However, I was highly relieved that my 6 weeks of making phone calls, waiting, filling in application forms and more waiting finally seemed to be going somewhere!

The first interview was for a job at Southampton General Hospital as an administrator and I had two so called interviews for that job. For the first one I arrived 15 minutes early and got a really bad impression. The office was at the end of a long corridor with no natural light. It was drab and there was no organisation in terms of a welcome or an explanation of what they did or what the job would be. Nobody offered me a drink or made an effort to represent the company to me. After 10 minutes of hanging around I was given a test, not an interview at all. It was a spelling and grammar test which asked you to fill in questions such as,

1) Fill in the blank in this sentence using one of the words provided:
John ...................... the ball to James. a) throwed b) threw c) threwed d) throw
Tracy found her passport in the ........................ . a) drwaer b) draw c) drawer d) drow

There were lists and lists of this and I nearly fell asleep. I guess there is a reason why a test like that exists, but the thing was 7 pages long! Needless to say I got a second interview for that job.

From that first impression I wasn't looking forward to the second interview at all but I thought it would be wrong to not to turn up and I wanted to give it a second chance. That plan backfired though, as the man interviewing introduced himself as Gordon and described himself 'un-politically correct' which he seemed to find rather funny. I wasn't sure what he meant but I knew I'd find out so I kept an open mind for about a minute until he asked me 'so, boyfriends. Do you have one? Are you planning to have any babies or are you trying for a baby?' and he explained that the previous person in the job 'surprise surprise' got pregnant and 'left of her own attrition'... (hmmmm, I thought, this man is an idiot) and then the nail in the coffin was 'it had nothing to do with anything I said to her, it was totally her decision'.... so he was a slimy nasty man and I answered all his other questions like 'what makes you laugh?', what makes you swear?' and some other equally unprofessional banter.

I got offered the job, faked 'considering my options' for a couple of days, and then called to refuse it. The thing is, I'm fine with doing a bit of skivvy work, but the job was not the only thing that was bad there and I think I'm better off without it somehow! In theory I could write to the hospital and tell them about him and he would be reprimanded at least but possibly sacked. Maybe I should. I'm glad I wasn't stupid enough to take the job. In fact I'm sure they were looking for someone stupid, in which case I'm not what they're looking for!

I still can't quite believe how awful it was there. It was appalling.

Anyway, shaking that off, the other job I went for I didn't get either, but the interview was a much nicer experience, which means I had a fair chance of getting it, and not getting it just means that someone else fitted the bill better.

Ho hum... so I'll keep searching and see what happens.

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Reminiscent Splurge

2007-09-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

I'm in the library of Southampton University, like a stealthy interloper... I have the advantage of looking like a student, which means that pleasant Southampton students smile at me, and nervous visitors ask me for directions. I find this all strangely satisfying. But isn't it weird how people assume things about your identity. For example, I wear jeans and carry a rucksack, and hang around the universitylibrary so therefore I am a student. (to be fair, I don't necessarily know that the people around me in the library aren't interlopers as well) If they were to talk to me they would discover an entirely different person. In my head I am still from York. I miss it terribly. In all fairness, I'm not exactly in an environment far removed from my own reality, so it really doesn't take much for me to fit in with the crowd. Useful really, considering K and I won't have Internet at home for another week.

I feel it's time to start saying goodbye to York as my home and to try to adjust my head to Southampton... and to do this, I've decided to post some pictures as a kind of ode.

My Ginnel/Snicket whichever it is... I don't know whether it was a made up story or not, but I was told a mad woman called alice used to frequent it (until August 2007 aparently!)... mmmm...

That's the RULE in the Yorkshire Terrier Public House!

The HOUSE OF DOOM... but I did love it right up until the end...

The minster by night... it's right there wherever you go in York so it symbolises home for a lot of Yorkian people.

No one knows where to get them from, but they sound delicious don't they?! This sign reminded me to take bile beans for 4 years... but I never did

Meal for one at El Piano... all vegan... all yummy

West Door of York Minster, with the story of Adam and Eve around the edge... I didn't notice this until my last week in York

There's nothing quite like drinking a glass of red with a view like this to look at...

And now I'll sign off, as the wireless internet, blogger and I are at war, and also I'm hungry...

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Petty Vandalism, Camels and Flatpack Furniture

2007-09-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Good Morrow fair blog perusers... all, er, three of you :oD Hope you haven't given up on me.

Life has taken yet another dramatic turn since I blogged last, as predicted. I'm now in the library of Southampton University, on a really tired and crumby (literally) computer with a mouse which only operates in and anti-clockwise direction as two of the three little wheels inside it which direct the cursor have mysteriously been removed. In fact it's a new kind of vandalism, which I will call "micro-vandalism" as it seems to involve the breaking or removing of tiny but vital parts. The keyboard has been a victim of what I'll call "gastro-vandalism", as it appears to have had an entire loaf of bread torn into crumbs and sprinkled between the keys. Why do I stay at this computing device you may ask? well, firstly I'm a strange mixture of stubbourn [help! I can't spell] and forgiving, and secondly, I was hoping for a topic to blog on and this seems to be suitably inane. Petty vandalism prevails whether you're in the north or the south.

Back to life at present though, (partially responding to dear Mr K's post) our sofa arrived today, Mr K's choice of colour - Camel - and yes he made the joke about whether it had humps or not - ha. ha. (because he doesn't like jazzy colours like I do and I have secret plans to make it more jazzy with some tasteful scatter cushions, not so secret now I guess) And we demonstrated master craftsmenship today in putting up our new coffee table... oh yes people... we are no longer students of hotchpotch dirty-plates-stored-on-floor fame, but proud owners of our very own furniture. From John Lewis. Because my mum gets discount.

When I finally have my laptop online again, which won't be for a couple of weeks I'll post all kind of catch up posts - my luck with internet access has been mean lately so there's a lot to blog about, which strangely I'm rather looking forward to.

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The Changing Tide

2007-08-31T01:45:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day of work at YSJ, and it's taken me all this time to really get to grips with the idea of leaving. Now, finally, to my relief I'm beginning to feel a sense of liberation... I think sometimes being tied to a place by a job or by people gets very comfortable but can go stagnant, and while it's nice to feel settled, it's not great to never want to change. Now I've never hidden that fact that the job I've been doing was a bit of a tumble weed affair, but I have worked hard when the work was there which is rewarding, and I feel so sad to be leaving such a hilarious and caring team of colleagues behind. They've made it worth it.

But, onwards and upwards, or in my case southwards. Honestly, for someone generally more comfortable with Notherners than Southerners, I really couldn't be going any further south! Someone I was speaking to earlier thought I was going to South Africa! which would be fantastic, but a whole other level of daunting!

Right then, on with the last day tidying up chores. I'm going to use the shreader. Good times!

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An Interlude...

2007-08-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

...in which I am drinking one of these veritable sachet's of loveliness... hot water added of course... and for todays option...mint. However, these thing's never look at good at in the adverts.

And I made an exciting descovery (which everyone apart from me probably knew already). I will remember it if I ever live anywhere outside the UK.

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The Big Wheel Keeps on Turning

2007-08-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

Fear ye not, I'm back for my last week at work after my holiday in the Lake District (pics to follow) and so naturally am managing to squeeze some blog time into my busy busy schedule!

I feel that I'm at a very strange, disaorganised and purposeless crossroads, and I feel like my future is completely out of my hands. I'm pulled in two different directions. York no longer holds much here for me apart from my three remaining (wonderful) friends, but I'm absolutely gutted to leave. I'm also wanting to have got to Southampton already and am very impatient to know all there is to know about the place. All infomation online is aimed at tourists or ocean liner/ship enthusiasts, which is lovely, but when you click on any link on the main tourist website it takes you back to the homepage, regardless of what you're looking for!

I've had two job interviews now, both of which were unsuccessful. I think that even though I'm applying for jobs that I could do, travelling from York to Southampton for an interview was a bad idea... I've been completely exhausted by the time I arrive at the interview, and then my usual ability to come up with good question answers and remebering my prepared points to include just seems to have diminished. Plus I have a suspicion that my "not quite feeling 100% sure I want a job " was showing through. It's like God doesn't want me to have a job at the moment... and whether you believe in fate or God or "all things happening for a reason" it doesn't really help my feeling of directionlessness. I was the same last year... so I keep reminding myself that things can change very quickly. At least I know I won't be alone when I finally reach the next phase of my life. Poor K! I am a bag of silly nerves and it will all be a lot less scary than I've been imagining!

More anon... next time with pictures! oooooo!

The Great Escape

2007-08-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Pssst... Word on the street is, Alice makes her escape tomorrow morning from the house that common decency forgot... And you can all rest easy that you won't have to read about the dreadful dastardly deathtrap of doom ever again...

I wrote the Landlady a letter... don't know how she is going to react to it but it was a well written and honest letter using my best professional writing skills. There were no threats or accusations. Just a simple indication that I know that what she has done is wrong, that I have the backing of YSJ Accomodation Office. So the ball is now in her court... and I doubt much will happen...

I'll just be glad to get away from there. The rest of August is going to be fun. I'm at Parents HQ for a week, then back in York staying with one friend, then in the Lake District, and then my final week in York. Just keep swimming. *sigh*

Ooh and I had a blood test on wednesday, after which I fainted, which didn't surprise me one bit because I'm hopelessly squeamish about anything to do with my own body. Got the results today and they were inconclusive, which is good, if a little frustrating. I must get more sleep... thats my solution number 1.

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A Tale of Woe and Baileys Cheesecake

2007-07-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Right, well I will attempt to avoid moaning as it makes really rubbish reading. The last few days have been tough. And weird. And I feel very displaced.

On monday last week I checked my voicemail and listened to a very organised sounding person named Sam telling me that I had an interview at Southampton University for a job in the international office. At first I panicked, not because I didn't want the interview, but because the reality of going to Southampton hit me very squarely...probably between the eyes... but I don't remember because I think I remained concussed for a couple of hours.

When I felt steady enough on my feet to get up and get myself organised I spent £70 on the train fair (sheesh!! although they'll pay me back) and got a load of research together. I had to take a day and a half off work to get to Bath, to stay at Bens (thank you for the stew and the comfy bed! :o) ) I got up early the next morning and went for the train to Southampton at 8:30, gleefully awaiting a first sight of the place I'll be living in by September (and trying to avoid staring too much at a very very all over tattooed welsh man sitting near me - *shivver*).

In reality, pulling into Southampton by train is a bit of a downer, even though there is a strong history and historic importance surrounding the docks...they really are butt ugly! I did notice a very large branch of John Lewis which can be seen from the station... a classy place... but as yet I haven't seen the centre of town.

The University campus and the place where our flat is are really pretty... and the office where I would be working if I got the job had a brilliant atmosphere, despite the fact that I have my reservations about office work.

I was really early for the interview and sat outside what turned out to be the interview room. I saw the candidate before me come out and breathe a sigh of relief and disappear off to do the written test. Then the people who were interviewing me came out and announced in a jolly way that they were going for a "comfort break". (incidentally, you know that situation where you feel you sould stand up when you meet someone for the first time but they're standing too close to you to stand up and if you did stand up you'd be standing uncomfortably close to them... isn't that awkward!?!) I felt encouraged by how friendly they were, but worried about how superior they were at the same time.

My interview went really well I think, but I felt unsure about my overall impression of the job as the interviewers gave a really different impression of it from when I read the job description in my familiar surroundings at YorkSJ. I don't think I'm right for the job. I was certainly the youngest candidate and while playing the "I can learn quickly and am enthusiastic and have great interpersonal skills" card, they didn't give away any clues as to whether they wanted an experienced administrator or some young whipper-snapper they could mould from scratch.

I still haven't heard anything, and am therefore feeling weird, in limbo, hanging by a string, or something of equal unsteadiness. I am assuming I haven't got it because I was told I would get a call on Friday afternoon, and as yet haven't even got an email to tell me I was unsuccessful. Oh well... I'm knackered. Can't bear the thought of a new job just now anyway!

Back here in York, I can't wait to leave the house of doom. After all, it is the HOUSE OF DOOM. However, the landlady had a complaint from another of the housemates who came back to collect her stuff and found it scattered around the house. She knew a lot more about the laws and tennants rights than I had known where to check up on, and told the Landlady (who tried to lie her way out of it) that we had the right to claim our rent money back because the living arrangements were impossible. Apparently, above all "Tennants have the right to quiet living". In this rapidly deteriorating state of the house I didn't use the bathroom, the shower or the kitchen for the whole of last week and was feeling miserable at how horrible it felt to be in such a massive house on my own with only some rude and disrespectful painters for company! The Landlady has now had a cleaning lady come to clean out the bath, which had been used by the painters to wash their brushes, and she made a feeble attempt at making a make-shift living room by putting the sofa in one of the bedrooms that's been painted already.

I knew it would be unpleasant to live on my own in a house that is being worked on, but I wasn't prepared for the emotional fall-out. It's incredible how uncomfortable these people have made me feel... and they seem to think they can take the micky out of me... I suppose they're being friendly but I get the impression they think of me as an obstacle and want me to leave.

In a desperate attempt to cheer myself up I went to city screen and had a slice of Baileys Cheesecake... which did cheer me up and I am now feeling ok. Well done if you've managed to read to the end of this marathon post. *Wild Applause and Whooping*

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Bouncers...

2007-07-26T02:59:00.000-07:00

... is a play written around 25 years ago, and is reworked every time it is performed to include whatever pop culture references are current at the time. It's a social commentary about british nightclub culture, told from the viewpoint of the bouncers who stand outside the door. It parodies every kind of clubber, from dizzy girls and boy racers to middle aged desperados...

It also has a serious message, but it never lingers long enough for the play to lose its pace and comic timing. Ultimately it's a bit of everything, with a high energy cast and an amazing performance.

Incidentally the cast of the production at York Theatre Royal includes Nick Figgis, who was in Byker Grove, Mr Jolly for Playdays, (the roundabout stop) and Mathew Kellys son. See if you can spot who's who...

I'm catching a train to Bath soon, to go for my job interview tomorrow in Southampton. Argh!

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Harry in less than 100 words

2007-07-20T05:01:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh so thought I'd share...

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WHEN TWO INCREDIBLE AWESOME WORLDS COLLIDE...

2007-07-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

Making today even better... *grin*

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Sunshine and Spontaneity

2007-07-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

I feel surprisingly contented. I just had the nicest lunch time for ages, and feel really refreshed.

Today the weather is perfect. The sun is shining and its hot, but not humid and theres a breeze, so I ate my lunch (Brie, Grape and Watercress wrap...mmmm...) outside in the sun and persuaded some colleagues to join me. Hui Wen decided she wanted a Frappucino so we all decided to walk into town to accompany her to starbucks. Am now back in the office drinking pommegranate and peach and am generally in the holiday mood. I haven't felt that in a while and it's krept up on me by surprise. Lovely.

In other news, I stayed at my desk until 7pm yesterday filling in an application form to work in the International Office at Southampton Uni. With any luck I might get an interview, as long as they don't find my supporting statement too cloying! Another reason to feel jolly.

Makes a change from moaning about the rubbishness of where I'm living. I just don't care about it anymore really. Although I will share this... when painters have made a mess of your house ALWAYS wear flipflops in the bathroom.

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The Smoking Ban

2007-07-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

We've had a smoking ban in all working environments and enclosed spaces in England now for almost 2 weeks, and I'm actully more pleased about it than I thought. Friends' smoking has never bothered me when we go out, (although I do get a bit maternal about a couple of my friends who are 'social smokers' and tell them off with glares...) but now the pubs are so much better without the clouds of smoke. You walk in and can see peoples faces clearly and your clothes stay smelling nice. The characteristic hazey pub atmosphere has been lost but the overall experience of going out is much more pleasant.

However, the way I see it, there is also a sense of ridicule hanging over the act of smoking now, which I find amusing probably because I'm a non-smoker. Workplaces now provide 'designated smoking areas', and at my workplace they look like childrens play pens, make-shift cubicles made out of concrete pots full of sand, and garden trellis! Proper smoking shelters are planned, but that just brings an image to mind of 13 year-old kids loitering in bus shelters, only they are academics and administrative staff.

I have lived right next to York Hospital for the past year and have to walk past every day if I want to go anywhere. When I leave for work at about 8:40am there are now whole line-ups of people leaning along the front wall of the hospital grounds having their cigarette break. For example, this morning the line-up included a three caretakers, a man and a woman in suits who I assume are consultants of some description, a man in motorbike leathers and a lady in a bright pink dressing gown who is obviously a patient.

Clearly, there is an irony about this situation, being a Hospital and all. I've seen people outside on the benches in pyjamas and dressing gowns who clearly should have quit smoking 30 years ago, with skin like old brown paper bags... STILL SMOKING... It's all topsy turvy and I find myself laughing at the weirdness of it all.

The world is full of bizarre truths and there is nothing more ironic than human nature. An Alice's quote for the day. Profound.

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2007-07-11T01:41:00.000-07:00

The painters start TODAY... and guess how I found out?... the ELECTRICIAN told me... Thank you landlady... I swear if I EVER end up as a landlady I will NEVER treat my tennants this way... I'm on the edge of my seat to see what the next surprise will be... Cirque du Soleil perhaps?! oh no, no, too expensive... cuh!

I'm in an incredulous mood... can you tell!

Also, when I got home last evening the toilet was gone and a new one had appeared in the bathroom (there wasn't one there before)... so I went into the little toilet room and there was nothing there, apart from cigarette butts and some scrap wood and dust, and some horrific wallpaper which has been revealed. Weird.

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Teachnophobes of the 13th century

2007-07-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

Next time I call out IT services I won't feel quite so bad. Tis a dilemma.

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"Saint Alice"...

2007-07-10T02:40:00.000-07:00

...would be a rather exaggerated view of myself... but I do feel justified in feeling happy with myself after yesterday...

I finally got back to York yesterday, after the trains had been silly on Sunday, and as I didn't feel too excited about the prospect of battling with them until Monday, I ended up missing work yesterday and am claiming it as a day off. I'm back in the office now... this is my break time I'll have you know!

The reason I feel mildly saintly is that when I got back to York at about 5:45pm I went home, and because it was a nice evening, and it hadn't rained, I was able to weed and tidy, and sweep the front yard. The landlady asked me to do this, which I found a little strange... I'll admit I'm a tad house-proud... but I'm trying to relinquish all feelings of reponsibility for the place now. I finished working at 9pm, having got thoroughly green, or rather brown fingered.... my thumbs are still slightly muddy, which scrubbing hasn't seemed to cure...

Never the less I was pleased with my valiant effort... I think I could get into gardening, given the chance...

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Pukker Up

2007-07-06T04:20:00.000-07:00

Today is National Kissing Day....which I think is a really stupid day to have... but... *MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWWWAAAHHHHH*

... a big smackeroon for you all... especially british readers because apparently we're all lagging behind the rest of Europe...read the article linked above! Shocking...I'm quite taken aback...

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A Film Review...

2007-07-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

...I went to the cinema all my own last night to see La Vie En Rose... I loved it and it gave me lots of good reasons to smile... its a film about the life of Edith Piaf, who was at one time the most highly paid perfomer in France at least...I don't know about the rest of europe or the world... My only criticism is that, like a lot of films about real lives, this film is sometimes difficult to follow in terms of details of Edith Piafs life, which leads me to think that it is relying on an audience already being fans of the singer and knowing her life story... It wasn't always clear to me exactly who each supporting character was, and there was no background given as to where they came from or how she met each person.The Real Edith Piaf

However, not knowing anything about her initially doesn't detract from the film itself. While her life was tragic in many ways, the film and the actress playing her, captured an amazing excitement about life, extremes and depth of emotion and a fiestiness which I admire so much. As a child she is neglected by her hopeless parents, (although her father is redeemed partially later on), and is left by her father to live in her grandmothers brothel, loved maternally by the prostitutes while witnessing what the women do for a livng is a deeply influential experience that could be said to affect her for the whole of her life. It's not a cheerful film but it still holds onto a humanity that made me laugh. When she's older the film conveys the reality of her character without making any apologies for it. She's is rightfully a symbol of hope, emerging from the turbulence of the first half of the 20th century, and more personally from her own numerous devastating heartbreaks. I recommend seeing this film because it lifted me up and also made me cry, and any film that takes you on that kind of journey is worth a go.

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf

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My colourful life in York

2007-07-04T01:41:00.000-07:00

The electricians were late today, which I thought was strange, so I waited around until 8:55 and then they rang the doorbell... which I also thought was strange...

Turns out that their van was broken into last night and along with some drills and other equipment, the keys to my house were stolen. Great...just great! They've gone off to get a new front door lock and keys, and I'll go back to collect my key at lunchtime...

I also have to tell everyone that need to come back at some point that their keys won't work in the lock and I'll be sending it to them. Do you think it's wise to send a key in the post?! I really don't know!! Someone advise me.

Anyway, work awaits... If only I had more to tell you, other than the day by day account of the electricians... what a lovely life it is! I'll try to get inspired for the next post...

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Update

2007-07-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

So far the electricians have been pretty tidy... although the house now has lots of wires hanging down everywhere (which with a bit of imagination could be turned into a Doctor Who set, no probs) and bits of the ceiling plaster on everything including the sofa and kitchen worktop which gives the place a lovely dusty ambience. *imagines self in kate bush style video, wafting through ceiling plaster dust cloud, on way to put kettle on*

Actually though, the guys did tidy up after themselves... and so far I still have water and electricity when I need them. Marvelous.

In other news...

Viking Radio played Tracy Chapman this morning... all is not lost... phew! and also I get a free lunch today... the lovely ladies in the Disability Service have ordered too many sandwiches and have asked me to help them eat them... I don't know... I'm just such a kind soul, I would feel guilty if I didn't do my bit for the worthy cause.

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Boo hoo...

2007-07-02T01:23:00.000-07:00

The electricians have started work in the house. They let themselves in this morning...I had to have a shower so had to walk right past them in a towel. Their names are Tony and Al. They need to work in my room at some point, which is something the landlady said wouldn't be necessary... she lied... again... either that or she hasn't got a clue what she's hired them to do! They seem nice enough... I just feel horrible with workmen around. They said they'll try to keep it tidy for me... hmmmmmm... how tidy is "tidy"?... considering they put a stepladder right in front of the front door so I couldn't get out without moving it. I also worked very very hard cleaning the house yesterday... Yes I am a mug!!! Oh well... bring it on!

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Vikings and Cheese

2007-06-29T02:37:00.000-07:00

We (the office) have "the best of the eighties, ninties and today" on the radio with VIKING FM... thats right...even the Vikings, in their gruff, unshaven, barbaric way appreciated some cheese on the radio... apparently... in my excitement starved cerebral zones!

Every region of the UK seems to have their own equivalent station. What is it about radio stations giving you the best of the "eighties, ninties and today"?!...possibly the worst eras for music, by and large... even the musicians admit it!! What about yesterday? What about the best of the fifties, sixties and seventies?! Thats what I want for a radio station to offer me...

Now Radio two... thats what I call music, apart from when they play the kind of country and western songs that go something like "Well I woke up in the morning and my heart was breaking, just like every other day of the year, so I was sad, and went and got drunk... (chorus) oh I guess I'll just keep feeling sorry for myself and go away somewhere but not today because I'm too darn miserable"... HEY it's a classic and you know it!!!! hehehe!

Anyway... It's Friday... Yey!

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and now, time for a dance...

2007-06-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

...this...

:o)

...and some simple joy...

2007-06-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

...I just had to share this because it makes me all giggly and smiley... here's the 1953 version and the 2002 version... *sigh of happiness*...

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I've got icky stuff under my nails...

2007-06-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

...because I've been cleaning the house...

Our landlady came round to do an inspection of the house, and was happy...according to Mike. However, she told him that we should clean the house from top to toe (scrubbing...not just light dusting) or she will have to get a cleaner in and will pay for it out of our bonds for the house Surely it's normal to get a cleaner in when there's a switch-over of tennants... but w reckon she's trying to save money, as usual... every expense spared!!!

Mike and I are the only two people left here, and as a result, I went anf bought a load of cleaning stuff and tackled the kitchen, and Mike hoovered and dusted the lounge and Jimmi's room (damn that Jimmi, he left it in a state!) Good ol' Mike! He leaves tomorrow, whic leaves me with the bathroom and the toilets still to do and the corridors.

What's weird is that she's getting an electrician in to put in new smoke detectors attached to the mains electricity supply (because they weren't already), and painters in to paint all the rooms in the house. She'll have to hire a cleaner after that lot anyway!

However... to aid me on my cleaning adventure invested in a quality cleaning product of high acclaim... and here it is featured in the much-hated advert... and if that's not irritating enough for you, click on the remix versions...

Also, work has been suddenly very very busy... just as I'm applying for new jobs...Tsk! I could have done with the work being spread out a bit more evenly but never-the-less, the days are going by faster, which means the weekends seem more often!

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Hum-Drum Magazine

2007-06-17T04:31:00.000-07:00

Hello there bloglings! What do you say to a new post then? Sounds good? Marvelous!

Lots of things have happened...things involving me that is...obviously things happen all the time! Bath Uni Grad Ball was on Saturday 2nd of June... and The Wedding of Paul and Eleanor, my jolly good chums was last Saturday 9th. Those should have provided a huge amount to blog about, but it's taken unitl I'm at home with my parents for the weekend to feel like writing.

I've been meaning to plug my friend Ryans magazine for a while now and feel that now is as good a time as any... so please take a look at HUM-DRUM Magazine (just a myspace site). Ryan is a friend from Uni and did the same English Literature course as me. His writing is grimly funny, and he had us in stitches of laugher in Creative Writing classes, which I took all three years of the course. The mag is full of short poems and little snippets of writing and sketches...all odd and funny and ludicrous. Particularly take note of the recordings of ryan reading some of his work (Soundeffects/music by Finn). My favourite is called "claude's trip to scarborough" (See the link below) I hope to have some of my own work published in it... although I'm not ready to let any of my poems (my babies) out for public scrutiny just yet. Also worth noting are Toby and Jeremy's Little Shorts... short films starring Ryan and Finn... Although the picnic one turns my stomach! I expect that more will appear on the site soon, as at the Hum-Drum gig last Thursday (evening soiree in a tiny pub in York with readings and music) more of their work was being videotaped. I'm excited about it anyway... See what you think. I'll also put the link in the side of my blog...when I remember how...

It's good to be back.

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Plugging the Zimmers again...

2007-05-22T02:12:00.000-07:00

...because I heard on Radio2 this morning that they are going to America to be guests on a show with George Cloony as the other guest. Go Zimmers!!! The lead singer is 90 years old, and the group has a combined age of nearly 3000. They've had nearly 2,000,000 viewings on Youtube so lets get even more... The oldies are fighting back and I'm really very glad that they are...I hope I get to record a rock classic when I'm 90!. Watch it again!

More anon

Can I just say...

2007-05-21T02:20:00.000-07:00

...without taking away attention from my previous post... (WATCH IT! WATCH IT NOW!!)...

I am very very upset about this. I went there on my first school trip when I was 8 years old. :o(

More anon

Marvelous, musical, magical, marvel...

2007-05-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

Many things have cheered me up lately, for which I am very grateful... Hopefully you will see what I mean when you watch this rather amusing clip, a lesser known Harry Potter production... there are others of the same ilk on a familiar video hosting site we all know so well. I'm still laughing at it now.. :o)

More anon

Anyone for a curry?

2007-05-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

No? Ok then...

:o)

Taking some good advice...

2007-05-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

...from enrish.com... It always makes me laugh...

It may be time for a... well... coffee?... during which I can ponder about this vital element of everyday life.

Classic.

More anon (see, not so miserable)

Burn-out

2007-05-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so this is not going to be an amazing post of excitement and joy. And I have never wanted to use my blog to moan about myself, other people (not seriously anyway) or my life... but I think I'm burned-out. Or depressed. But I don't like saying I'm depressed because I feel it's disrespectful/nothing compared to people who are actually clinically diagnosed and usually have reasons for their depression...

I have no enthusiasm. I feel hopelessly sorry for myself for no good reason... I'm tired ALL the time despite sleeping quite average hours (although possibly not enough)... When I eat I don't feel nutrition coursing through my veins (the oposite, I feel tired because my body seems to be putting all energy into actually digesting the food so the rest of me sits helplessly and waits for it to finish, by which time I should probably either eat again or sleep - ok I admit that I find this particular part quite funny in a miserable kind of way) I have felt like this before but I had a Summer holiday to look forward to at this time of year every year of my life until this year... someone help me! I'm not a nice person at the moment....at least I'm nice outwardly, I hope (apart from taking it out on a particular someone who really really didn't deserve it), but I'm dreading each day instead of loving it. I just don't feel like me. I keep saying I need a holiday, but I have whole weekends to myself to do whatever I like, and I dont feel rested after those either... It been like this for a few months now so I'm getting really sick of it.

I can feel I'm on a downward spiral...

More anon... (definitely not as miserable as this post I promise)

Eurovision!

2007-05-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

Yes lovely people it's that (hideous) time once more when nearly every country in europe comes together to compete against eachother with what can only be described as the worst music ever in the history on humankind.

I know, I know, it's MEANT to be kitch... but I get the impression that there are people taking it deadly seriously. I'll be watching because of the delightful and delectible Terry Wogan, becuase his satirical banter makes it all the more bearable, and of course, it's very important to turn on subtitles so you can see what on earth the competitors are singing about...some of this years lyrical sneak previews being:

Russia
"Oh, don't call me funny bunny
I'll blow your money, money
I'll get you to my bad ass spinning for you"... obviously... I quite agree...

Czech Republic
"Her den is there by the railway
She collects coins from fountains
And puts them on the tracks
She's building a temple, a tin bridge
The first guest is coming over
So at least his legs won't hurt"...which I personally think is ROCKIN'...

and the most sensible of all...

United Kingdom
"Ba-ba-da, Ba-ba-da,
Ba-da-da-ba, ba-da,
Duty free madam?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."... *sob*... I'm just so proud!

Having said all that, the Israeli song is making some kind of subtle comment about not wanting to be blown up by terrorists... so not all, how shall I say, lighthearted...

I'll be investing in a bottle of red and sitting down for a night in front of the telly. For those of you crazy cats who can't wait that long you can track rehearsal progress and other thrilling features on the Eurovision website. Marvelous!

More anon

Friars, Dr Who, Harry Potter...and some food for the soul.

2007-05-04T05:49:00.000-07:00

Oooo doing well, this is my 60th post... not as impressive as some but I feel happy that my blog now has more than 1 post by a significant amount. I'm also aware that many people have been crying out for something new to read... I mean I know that my blog is basically the centre of everyones coffee-break universe...tsk! (I really don't mean that!)

I am still recovering from possibly one of the best get-away-from-it-all weekends in the history of get-away-from-it-all weekends. I went to Alnmouth Friary, as a last minute guest, with York St John Chaplaincy. The friary is run by Franciscan monks and there are five of them living there from ages 30(ish) to 80(ish). They were inspirational people, for all the reasons you would expect, and more. Scrap any comedy monk stereotypes you may have floating around your head at this moment. My stereotypes have been completely dissolved... They were fantastic people, really funny, intellectual, down to earth, and most importantly from my point of view, they are completely in touch with what's going on in the world....possibly even more so than a lot of people bumbling around in this world.

Jessus!... no really I mean it's Jesus...

The Friary and the garden which was perfect...

The Friary is in a coastal village in Northumberland, on top of a hill overlooking the sea, with a beautiful beach, and cliff top walks going around the coast in both directions. They welcome guests of all beliefs and none. Guests could take part in as much or as little of the prayer life as they wanted. On Saturday evening, after eating supper in silence, we all wanted to watch Dr Who in the guest common room...when we got there we descovered that one of the friars, Brother Augustus, had already set the video to record it so he could watch it later (he was the coolest one!).

The Sea!

The following morning I got talking to the oldest Friar, Brother Edward, about London, and he talked about how he used to take the Tube to school everyday as a boy. Then I mentioned how the main thing I think about on the Tube is my memory of when the 5th Harry Potter book came out and seeing six people in a row all reading it. Then we started talking about Harry Potter, because he'd read it too!

Watching Dr Who... Awesome...(and my feet)

The stillness and peacefulness was exactly what I needed...to think. Sometimes I have trouble thinking straight in the city. It's too busy, too many noises that break my concentration. The weather was sunny, so I got some sketching done and no one interrupted me, and I went walking on my own. The only thing I missed out on was the library, which was one of those wall to wall Victorian style libraries complete with a sea view and so many comfy chairs it was difficult to choose where to sit. I should have paid more attention to it, but I spent most of my time outside or in the chapel.

Me and the sea... ok so I look terrible again... but the sea was bloomin' cold!

A weekend with monks is not for everyone admittedly... but I was really happy there, and I haven't felt that kind of peacefullness in a long time. It was definitely worth it.

More anon

Unimagined

2007-04-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Obviously I haven't read it yet, but Intend to read this book named Unimagined. Here is also a biography of the Author... hehe! This article explains it better than I can.... also the comments below it are worth a browse....all apart from the fairly feeble attempt at white supremacy by one gentleman from Doncaster.

I think what first attracts me to this book is it's title Unimagined. Its doesn't just say something about what it must feel like to try to live caught between two cultures, but also the mysterious nature of the "other" which can generate fear. How does an individual come to terms with a double whamy of cultural identity? Live through it I guess. As a stranger or "other", no matter what context you might be in it is very difficult to know what it is that you don't know. How do you find out something if you don't know what it is you don't know? hehe! With my lack of knowing spiralling out of control I'll leave it there, but will probably read the book and then be able to write more informedly... so yeah, read the article.

More anon

out of the closet

2007-04-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

You Are the Very Gay Peppermint Patty!

Softball is the huge tipoff here...
As well as a "best friend" who loves to call her "sir"

What Gay Childhood Icon Are You?

Well I really don't think this is quite right... Nevermind!

I feel in a pranky mood...

2007-04-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

...so check out the chaos caused by our feathered friends...especially in conjunction with student types... ah how I laugh...

We had a farm at the secondary school I went to.... the last day of 6th form prank one year was letting the sheep into the school...

More anon

Awesomeness of The Zimmers...

2007-04-20T02:45:00.000-07:00

...Just Awesomeness...hehe!

More anon

ooo la la...

2007-04-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

...Nothing to say really. I've been reading the news again... and felt there needed to be a bit of escapism from recent events... heres the story... and the object of the story. I say again... ooo la la...

More anon

Tunnocks Caramel Wafer

2007-04-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

...mmm... just about to eat one of these...

...yummy...

Also America....

2007-04-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

oh... and the radio just started playing Razorlights 'America'... spooky...

AMERICA....

2007-04-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

...Smell the friggin' gun fire!!! and stop being so precious about firearms.... ARGH! I don't mean to be tasteless or disrespectful... but there have been 19... yes thats 19 fatal incidents involving firearms in american schools/colleges in the last 10 years... what does it say...go on...take a guess... ARGH! I'm treading on political eggshells here...but frankly my dears I don't give a damn...

More anon

Dinner Time

2007-04-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

Mmmm Yummy! Yet another article, but it has to be done... I'm trying to work out if this hungry croc story is a genuine one... It made me chuckle anyway.

By the way, my tracking devices tell me that people from all over the world have looked at my blog. If you're looking at it now...yes, you... leave a comment... pleeeaaassee!

More anon

Worth a mention...

2007-04-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

Ooopps... I've never trusted removal men. However, they look devastated, which makes the photo more amusing!

Doctor Who

2007-04-11T02:27:00.000-07:00

I've actually caught up thanks to the Easter weekend, and the miracles of digital TV back in Saffron Walden... In york I only have the standard 5 channels... woo! I still live in the days where if you missed it you missed it and theres no going back, not now, not ever... Back to the Doc, I was highly amused by the shameless use of the Harry Potter reference... and also the comment that "50(something) academics just punched the air" as Shakespeare flirts with our dear doctor. Aaaahh... and David Tennant... wha.. what canIi say...?! *grin* I have a thing about men in long coats... it's really quite undefinable...

More anon

Lame

2007-04-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

My job is lame at the moment. I'm seriously lame at it. Lamesness is the theme of the day. LAAAAIIIMMMMEEEE!!!

The Doctor

2007-04-05T05:02:00.000-07:00

I have yet to see any of the new Doctor Who episodes, but I do hope to catch it this saturday. With that in mind I found something that I think will be of interest... especially to Venemous Bee... Check it out... a few years old, but I am in the presence of greatness here in York... The York Press... and Mark Troughton talking about his dad, Patrick.

I'm hoping to amend the previous post with some actual photos soon. My Laptop has a big problem and I'm very worried for it's wellbeing...

You may notice my tone of writing... i'm at work and I'm being very grown up. Tsk!

More anon.

Barenaked ladies!

2007-03-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

It was in 2001 when I wrote an email to my parents to tell them about my exploits in Chicago. At the time they didn't have internet or an email address so I emailed my Uncle who read out the email over the phone (high tech eh?!) which contained details, amongst others, of how I had been to see a Barenaked ladies concert. I was really excited about this, but neiether my uncle, nor my mum and dad had heard of the band. I'm told that when my uncle got to the part about the "unclothed women" he laughed so much that he couldn't carry on reading for a few minutes and both ends of the phone line were laughing so much they didn't know what to do with themselves.

Now they know better... and so do I infact. I was 17 when I saw them last, and on friday night I saw them agian, along with Mr K. It was awesome and we loved it. I thought it was a good excuse to post some pictures!

Peering through the darkness with an obligatory pre gig grolsch... £3.50... K bought so that's fine with me!

K with a Carling... bleurghhhh! (food stain on jumper...teehee)

YEAH they're on YEAH!!!! WOOOOO!

Kind of hoped this pic would turn out better...still, I liked the lighting, tsk!

My favourite... :o)

This was a really great part of the gig. One of the guys had something green on his tooth and decided to have a converstion for about five minutes. Marvelous!

Damn person with camera...did they not know that the most important person at the gig (me) was trying to create art?!

So I've finally posted the pictures a week later but hey... I'm keeping the memories alive... I Love this band!

More anon

So Sophisticated!

2007-03-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Just browsing the BBC website...you know the way one does (yah dahling!)... and came across this article and comments in the BBC Magazine pages. Written by Stephen Fry it's superb. I enjoy having my suspicions realised, especially by high profile people. Apparently with our english accents we can do no wrong. Cool!

More anon

Pie... I like pie!

2007-03-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet
Those who like you have well refined tastes

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Rather complimentary I feel.... PIE... I like PIE!

You Are 28% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd.
You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

How Nerdy Are You?

Probably true... However I think people would call me a nerd... just not a traditional one...

More anon

Snow!

2007-03-20T02:59:00.000-07:00

...thats it. SNOW! SNOW! it was warm and springlike last week. Now it's freezing and Snowing, and it's not even settling which means it's all for nothing. Mer.

SNOW!

A Proper Post

2007-03-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

After the speight of quizzes I completed on the blogthings page, I think I'll leave the self analysis for when I really need it... hopefully never! It is quite funny how your answers on those things equate to certain sentences which, when put together, contradict eachother very seriously! I think the love thing said I was serious yet lazy... I'm not sure... but maybe I'm a woman of contradictions. Actually, I think it's not too far wrong.

I'm slightly peeved today at hearing the news on the radio that UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service) want to be able to ask prospective students whether their parents have degrees or not so they can work out the intake attributed to lower income/disadvantaged families. Basically they are saying that if you're 'middle class' your parents will have degrees and if you're 'working class', they won't and you are judged to be 'disadvantaged'. I'm unsure whether they mean disadvantage due to lower income or lower intellect, but either way I find it...classist!

I guess they mean well, and it would generate usful stats, but they don't take into account the fact that there are plenty of so called advantaged people my age whose parents don't have degrees. My dad has a degree but my mum doesn't - both are clever, and in terms of the 'intellectually disadvantaged' label, nothing could be further from the truth. Ok they're not mega-rich... my dads a teacher after all... but it says nothing about their intellect.

Study is all very well, and I loved Uni and want to study some more some day, but it is not good enough to judge students on whether their parents have an official degree or not. It doesn't make me think of people any differently.

More anon

Beer for my Horses

2007-03-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

Here's proof of something that I always say... Music on films dictates how you feel about what you're watching... and in this case with hilarious consequences.

More anon

Ooo Errr

2007-03-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

Your Love Type: ISFP

The Artist

In love, you feel deeply and experience intense emotions.
For you, sex is serious. It's how you best express your feelings.

Overall, you are laid back, warm, and a good listener.
However, you tend to seem lazy and disinterested sometimes.

Best matches: ESFJ and ENFJ

What's Your Love Type?

Scatterbrain

2007-03-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a firestorm - full of intensity and drama.
Your thoughts may seem scattered to you most of the time...
But they often seem strong and passionate to those around you.
You are a natural influencer. The thoughts you share are very powerful and persuading.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

2007-03-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

Your Pirate Name Is...

Lieutenant-Colonel Mary No Beard

What's Your Pirate Name?

Open Mindedness - How Fun!

2007-03-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

You Are 64% Open Minded

You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.
Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.
But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.
You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

Pomp and Ceremony

2007-03-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

Firstly... BOOO... to Blogger, which wouldn't let me sign in for the last couple of days, and secondly, Phew! Life's been hectic lately so I didn't even want to sit down and write anything. However I had an exciting day on Wednesday, as Archbishop John Sentamu (who is just brilliant) was installed as the First Chancellor of York St John University and there was a big celebratory service in York Minster. It was a surprisingly enjoyable day and not at all as pompous as you might think.

Not only that, but I read a prayer which meant my voice echoed all around the Minster, which was just weird.

There was also a giant puppet of Edward Cordukes, the first, (and for a short time the only) student at York St John, back in 1841. There was also a graduation style procession... I love the bizarre robes people are so proud to be wearing for these occasions. You can see what I mean here.

I'm currently eating soup with noodles in it. I keeps dripping in down my chin when I get an unexpected noodle. How embarrassing. No one in the office seems to have noticed. which is good.

More anon

Embarrassing Myself Yet Again...

2007-02-23T05:34:00.000-08:00

...so I share it with you all. This is the most pointless video ever... Me and Paul were demonstrating how the macarena fits to everything, even when sitting down! Makes for horrible over movement of the upper body. This is one of those Youtube videos no one wants to see! Enjoy!

*shivver*

I'm going to Bath this weekend... Yey!

More anon

Minster FM seventh circle of hell

2007-02-21T06:26:00.000-08:00

The radio has been moved. The people in this office like to have the radio on throughout the day, which is fine. However someone tried to retune it to Radio 2 from Minster FM. It would appear that the Minster channel is the ONLY one we can get. It is truely horrifying. I wish I could share how bad it is. If you can imagine what it's like to have to listen to Ronan Keeting (i don't care if i've spelt it wrong) followed by and advert for McCaine Oven Chips, and one for "Debt Release" from a ethically questionable loans company, S Club 7 and then a Kylie track... over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over... Oh and then not forgetting the "after school" show that involves the DJ asking a 5 year old a rediculously impossible question, and low and behold... they get it right! (because the child has been told the answer!) Ah... it just doesn't get old... EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

More anon

Pesto and Cottage Cheese

2007-02-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

Another post after a lengthy absence. I'd like to say it's been along time because I'm very busy and important... but that would be a lie. I am at work eating a jacket potato, with pesto and cottage cheese... odd you might think, but it's genius! I therefore dubb it my *drumroll* DESCOVERY OF THE DAY!!!!! Ba ba baaaaahhhhh!!!

It's snowing outside and I am about to brace myself against the elements for the sake of... ah but that would be telling. February 14th... is all I'll say!

Thanks to Venomous Bee I was able to deduce that I am in fact the third Doctor Who, John Pertwee... Awesome... After my trip out this afternoon my hair might look just like his!

Well, thats my lunch entertainment done for today.

More anon dear folk

More Blasts from the past

2007-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

What a gem Youtube is turning out to be! I've been able to relive some key moments of little me's TV experience, first of all...check out Andy Peters in the Broomcupboard... This was key to Childrens' BBC when I was little. Now they have a big studio, and the TV programmes are not as good. Andy Peters ad-libbing with an unintelligable duck puppet is really and truely the only way to present Childrens' TV!...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs38dxf9siU&NR

If that wasn't enough, does anyone remember the sing-alongs? This one was Philip Schofield...bless him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAzFS4EucJE&NR

And classics like this are always worth finding...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3eVh-Pq32o&mode=related&search

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-dapSswWTQ

Never fear the world will be safe with... and yes it was ridiculously bad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwRMYz1vfcQ

I think thats it for now... I've had a good time finding this stuff...

More Anon :o)

Harping back to the Family Ness

2007-01-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

While searching YouTube for some kind of entertainment, I found a signature TV programme of my childhood. Not just one episode either... there are loads of them! Each episode was only 5 minutes, and I laughed even watching it now. I forgot how cool the music was too...tsk! And now I know where the children got their Thistle Whistles!! Take a look... Please excuse the poor resolution...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKBCbtxfU1Y&NR

More anon :o)

Hmmm... Or maybe I'm just ENGLISH!

2007-01-04T04:27:00.000-08:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

45% General American English

25% Yankee

20% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Happy New Year!

2007-01-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Well now, it would appear that I have not been paying attention to other blogs as I would normally, and missed the fact that I have been tagged by a second meme. Thankfully for you lucky people I will not be posting any pictures of myself this time, but I will be revealing...

... 6 Weird Things About Alice (thats me!)

1. My feet are very small, but because they are wide and I have a high instep I have to buy size 6 or 7 shoes. oooo I can tell you are thrilled.

2. I am unable to burp. GREAT, you might think, but instead I am afflicted with embarrassing burp/rumbling noises which come from my chest. I went to the doctor about it and he explained kindly that it is the result of...wait for it... "air swallowing"... After this enlightening experience I have given up on ever finding a cure.

3. I hate shopping... that is... girly shopping... The kind of shopping that involves agonising over some tiny garment that you'll get bored of by next month... I don't like waiting around, and when I seem to need to take a million hours to decide on something, it usually tells me I don't actually need it.

4. I had lessons to play the church organ for about a year, which struck me as a process of flailing both legs and both arms all at the same time... something one doesn't tend to do beyond the age of 18 months! Of course there was more skill involved. I intend to master it one day.

5. I still think Olives are the most beautiful food on the face of the earth. so many different kinds. Excuse me, I'm quite overwhelmed.

6. I tend to place my posessions in obscure places and then panic over their whereabouts. Consistently. And to the great amusement of my friends and family.

What a treat that was! More anon... :o)

Post Christmas Lull

2006-12-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

I'm back... for one blog at least... I'm also back in Ye Olde Saffrone Waldone... or thereabouts! I've been feeling the pressure to blog from some of those who like to check in on this thoroughly dull blog, so I will oblige with a rambling... of sorts...

I hope you have all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!! and are getting ready to indulge in more frivolity for New Year. For Christmas of course, I got the obligatory silly Christmas themed socks... which are a joy to behold as my feet nestle cosily inside their pink and sparkly exterior. My relatives don't see me mch and therefore have not idea that I HATE HATE HATE pink, and so I once again have obliged. I'm such a push-over, but hey it was Christmas! Tsk!

I also got Barnaked Ladies new album - Are Me - (very pleased) and About a Boy and High Fidelity by the wonderful Nick Hornby. Not to mention a beautiful Meowing Cat Alarm Clock... It will bring joy to my mornings...or alternatively I will loath Cats for their associations of waking me from slumber...

And of course, chocolate... marvelous!

More anon... More tomorrow infact... promise... :o)

2006-12-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

To my Darling Bloglings... I have neglected you of late, as usual. Have just been for Chinese with Clare at the Willow. It's a buffet, so I'm completely stuffed. I even ate desert which is amazing for me! The best thing about the Willow is that it's £6.95 for buffet and then you just go back to get more plus pudding, and it costs no more. Yey!

We're now in the University Library and the woman is making the announcement that "bing bong - library and information services will be closing at 9 o'clock. If you have any items you wish to borrow, please make your way to the help desk." I've really missed the atmosphere of this place... Consciencious study infused with a mild sense of panic/boredom, aleviated by the sound of chisps being crunched and fizzy drinks being guzzled! A girl just walking in with about 20 books... looks like she's doing an all-nighter. Alas I do not get to feel that panic anymore... I feel so sad that I'm not a student anymore. It could never be as good second time round. Damnit!

This is a silly post I admit... the blogs other people write tend to be really interesting and intelligent. I must regain inspiration from somewhere...

More anon dear folk.

It's here...aparently...

2006-11-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

York was full, I mean FULL(I was push into the road as the pavement was crammed shoulder to shoulder with little old dears) of tourists this weekend. They all came to York in coaches for St Nicholas Fair, which is a christmas market kind of thing... If you thought it's impossible to be run over by old ladies, come to York and you'll think again.

So Christmas fever is beginning to get to me now... I've got a few presents sorted, and I'm now really feeling slight twinges of pressure.

And to top it all off, I got to work today to see a Christmas tree in reception, apparently grown overnight, decorated beautifully with red and gold. Lovely. It struck me with fear to my very core... IT'S ONLY NOVEMBER!!!

Bloody commercial Christmas...baahhh!

More anon dear folk.

2006-11-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm currently being really nostalgic, listening to IDLEWILD the remote part..."and even if the breath between us smells of alcohol, we'll call it confusion in the best way possible" its the CD I listened to so much during A levels I can remember more about my past when I listen to it! It's taking me back to a whole other me... normally I'd love that, but I'm reminded of a strange awkward version of myself (I was still painfully self conscious and embarrassing when everyone was over that phase a few years before!) but I am always comforted by this music. At least I can see how much I've changed... Hey I'm not feeling like pond scum any more! Don't you love it when music has the power to turn your day around?!

I've also been wandering around in my usual state of awe at this time of year. I love Autumn so much, even though its bloody cold now and no one seems to know what they should wear out so theres a strange mixture of people in anoraks walking next to people in Tshirts (crazy fools!). Anyway, as a result I managed to collect some pictures together which have been compiled with the aid of my mobile phone... I'm one of those people who do the thing they do in phone adverts... I'll be walking along, see something worth photographing, and very smoothly take my phone from my pocket, take a photo, and pop it back in my pocket. I feel kind of sophisticated doing that... it's really tragic... but the results are cool... Que this Autumn documented in pictorial form:

River Foss, crossing the bridge... Have always meant to get a pic of this and now I have...

and a tree on the way to work (my way to work, not the tree's) I was late that morning because of this picture... every other excuse for being late has no evidence... sadly...

Now blogger is playing hovoc with my pictures... more pictures will follow in another post...if i can get it to work...

More anon dear folk.

Bill Bailey is my god...

2006-11-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

...apart from my other god, who is God, and a great god he is too... but more on the point of this post, Bill Bailey is a fellow countryman of whom I am very proud, one of the great people that make life more jolly, or rather, points out the joyfulness that can be found in the bizarreness that makes up what we call human existence...blarrdee blarrdee blarr... I'm so excited, I found this on Youtube today!!!!! how awesome is this?!...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diufvMIH8dQ

I've resorted to posting with a link again...but I feel it's worth it...

More anon

RAAAAAAAAARRR!!

2006-11-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well hello there my dears.... my goodness, I'm crap at keeping up with this blogging lark.

I made the the dreadful mistake of clicking on one of the "recently updated" blogs on the sign-in page, called "Finding Mr White"... and what is it you might ask? It's a site that promises to find White husbands for all your daughters... AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH is all I have to say to that... What kind of sick bastard goes on a bloggers website to find a husband of a paricular skin colour for their daughter... any of those things is just weird, and frankly offensive, especially when all put together! It even used a sentence along similar lines of "Is your daughter turnin to the dark side?" (I didn't read it much, honest guv!) I mean, URGH!...URGH... I mean seriously!!! I am appauled that such a thing exists...haha! bet you're all gonna look for it now though... I despair of this world sometimes, it's full of idiots!

Some idiots are great... I'm living in a stange bubble of working/sleeping/eating, not necessarily in that order. I'm sure there must be more to life. I've also just got back from Leicester, where I visited my Kat, and also saw some pretty spectacular fireworks (they would have been even more spectacular had there not been a tree in the way!) but the loud speakers near us weren't working and we couldn't hear the band or the announcer well at all. Alas... life is so hard! Tsk!

More Anon

Terry Wogan the god of Morning Radio

2006-10-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well, now... I get up at 7:30am and put on the Radio for company. It's BBC radio 2's Wake up to Wogan show. As a result I laugh like a loon every morning and find it impossible not to dance as I'm trying to get dressed... it makes the whole process that little bit more complicated, in a good way! I love the music line-up, not because it's my music taste, but because it upholds a kind of all-encompassing random ethic, and old fogie classics, like Dolly Parton (sniff) but they like playing the Rolling Stones 'Paint it Black', which I love, and Eva Cassidy... It cheers me up on a morning anyway.

Children In Need is coming up soon... Which is always a joy... I do think Wogans a great man, for all his strange Irish ramblings...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/wogan/podcast/index.shtml

I've really gotta start writing stuff instead of resorting to links!

More anon!

A Very Old Bear

2006-10-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

My good friend informed me earlier today that it was in fact Winnie The Pooh's 80th Birthday last week... so I though I might as well find a picture... None of that American Pooh in a Tshirt nonsense! Hehe! Happy Birthday Pooh!

More anon.

Meet Mr Monk...oh...and Korn

2006-10-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbnKtnEW5hM

This is not the best example of the wonderful Monk in action, but I felt it was a significnt clip, not only because I love the show... but the pleasure of Korn's appaling input into the episode is hilarious!! Check out the line... "maybe we should, uh, find out his name and dedicate a song to him"...truely heartfelt....hehe!! I don't mind Korn, but oh my! It's just quite surreal!!

More anon.