all i can say is this
two comments? no wonder I stopped posting
birthdays
+ In short, the rest of that meal at Simpson's was terrific. But it was almost a month ago, now, so I feel a bit strange describing it here, mostly because I can't remember it all that well. But yes, the food was grand, and I had vivid taste flashbacks throughout the whole month of April. Sense flashbacks are weird. Do you ever have them with bits of music, or a certain smell?
+ Do you know, Emma and I went to Cafe Rouge at some point during April, and I decided in a break with tradition to try the minute steak instead of the usual paupiette de poulet. And it wasn't the meal that was brilliant, but the point at which the waiter kindly informed me that minute steak means it's a small steak, rather than a steak that cooks in a minute. The humanity.
+Niamh turned two on April 13th. She had a party with all her tiny friends the Saturday before that (I think the 13th was a Wednesday, so the 9th) at Wyndley, and then we had her presents and cake on the day itself. She's interesting, at the moment - by turns a bit of a spoiled brat and the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen in life. We've just put a superb photograph of her up in the kitchen that I got Rich to frame for us, it's really lovely. But yeah, she's wonderful, and we love her like mad (ha, compare this with my comment on her third birthday).
+Simon turned 19 on April 20th - he didn't do much, but I did join him for a pint late that evening - also a Wednesday, if you think about it. I think that was the day I drove from work to Moseley to home to Kingstanding to Rachel's to home to Kingstanding to Handsworth Wood and back home in the space of about ten minutes. I usually go see Mum on Wednesday afternoons after work. So, yeah. Pretty much all my friends have turned 19 by now - I always was the baby of the group. On the bright side, I'm better than all of them put together. Mwah :D
+ Okay. For the record, if any of you steal this idea, i'll come after you with a power sander and a couple of pretty heavy books (that'd look good). My sister has just invented probably the best idea in the history of, you know, human civilisation. AHAHAH the kid who broke our table just walked past wearing a silly cap. AFTER HIM. Ahah, but no. Anyway. This invention concerns SHOES, and don't think I didn't just feel you all sit up and pay slightly more attention. Here it is, in her own words: "any time you like can't find your shoes or just one of them, you go out and buy - put this in capitals - Helen Smith's shoe bleeper finder thing. Erm, basically, you put some bleepers on your shoes that aren't even noticeable because they're so small and cool, and then if you lose shoe(s) you press a little button and it starts bleeping and HEY PRESTO you find your shoes.
+Genius. I can't see a single flaw with that plan. And if we see this in the shops within a month we'll be sending the lawyers round.
+the day after Simon's birthday was my grandpa's birthday, and to celebrate we all went round to my aunt's house - my grandparents, sisters and cousin, with a husband or two thrown in. Oh, and Niamh was there, of course, making sure she was still the centre of attention. It was lovely, actually - had about sixteeen bits of pizza and some lovely desserts (roulade is the new crumble, I think), and everyone was in a good mood, so it was awesome.
+Okay. I've just been given another gem from Helen - apparently her friend told her once that you should always spray a little perfume behind your ears when you go to a club, so anyone who tries to whisper in there gets a whiff of perfume over the smell of alcohol, sweat and dried blood (i'm told). She wants to know why the back of your ear should smell in the first place - i mean it's not like you put cheese there or anything (shows what she knows). It's an excellent point for discussion, anyway.
+speaking of dried blood, I keep getting nosebleeds when I wake up in the morning, and only down one side of my nose. What's up with that?
+ Heh, a little too much information there. Anyway, let's move onto another subheading:
Sport
+I eat a lot of crap, it's true, but I also eat and drink a lot of fruit/veg and water, and that coupled with playing squash and football most weeks means I stay pretty much the same shape. Which is not in shape, necessarily, but it's a shape. Keep it to yourselves.
+I learnt an important lesson about playing football last week - always bring a bottle of water. I intelligently took a big litre-and-a-half bottle in and left it in the fridge at LION (that was the day when I was picking mountboard with cotton gloves and lost track of time - got suspicious when everyone started leaving the building, and almost forgot my kit), and consequently almost died during the game. It didn't help that their team was pretty much better than ours and we had to do a lot of running around. Alas and woe, and all that.
+Squash! Squash is still great fun. Mr H and I usually play and then go to the pub, which sort of defeats the point, I suppose. A couple of weeks ago I went for a game of squash on a Friday afternoon, then went for a few pints in the Jockey with Mr H - and then went and had about another four pints in the Royal with Andy, DC, Haribo and co. So I was in a pretty merry sort of mood for the rest of the evening, and when we went for some burgers down in Sutton - pretty much until I woke up at 8.30am the next morning to go and work on the Trade Counter at LION. Ech. That was a really unpleasant Saturday. I managed to get through the morning, all the while sobering up (three pints of water before bed, another two at 7.00am) but feeling ridiculously tired. In the end, I got the train home and had a little sleep between 1pm-4pm, at which point I woke up, showered and went out to work at the chippy. Ugh.
+Squash's good, though. Am looking forward to being able to play when I get to University, even if a bit of stupidity/forgetfulness means I forgot to get my student loan application in by the 29th April, so that's a pain in the arse. Although it has little to do with squash, come to think of it.
+So Chelsea are Premiership champions, which I suppose hasn't put Millie in a very good mood. their form this season has been pretty unprecedented, though - they're set to break the records for most points, fewest goals conceded, most games won, best goal difference - loads, if they win their last few games. After Villa's abysmal performance against Spurs yesterday, I guess all we can hope for is to finish above the Blues, which we should manage with a five-point advantage, but you never know. What I'm really looking forward to seeing is what would happen if Liverpool won the European Cup - however unlikely that is - because in theory, only four teams from any country can enter the competition.
+have hardly watched the snooker at all this World Championship. And have yet to watch a single F1 race - what's wrong with me? Well, nothing, I suppose some of you might argue. But I think even though Ferrari's dominance seems to be waning, they put me off F1 for quite a while. As for the snooker, I watch Williams' 147 and that was enough for me, really. I suppose I might see the last few frames of the final tonight, but I'm not all that bothered.
God, I watch too much TV
+I spent last month discovering a fantastic show I'd never seen before - Daria - and going over old Buffy and Angel episodes and remembering how great they are. At Helen's firm request, I bought all the episodes of Daria over Ebay. It's a great show though, isn't it?
+I hardly ever watch TV, in spite of the misleading title. the above are videos and DVDs, for one thing - the only TV I regularly watch is Neighbours. I haven't even been to the cinema for ages - well, two days ago - but before that, there hadn't been a decent release in months. I went to see Hitchhiker's Guide, which was pretty good, I suppose. I'd say 6/10, for want of an actual review. It was visually impressive, and all, but the genius of the book isn't in the plot or what have you, it's Douglas Adams' hilarious writing style, and all the little tangents he goes on. I didn't really think Stephen Fry was right for the voice of the Guide, to be honest - a bit too, I dunno, obvious or something. All the technical stuff and the casting was fine, but I feel it's a book that just doesn't translate to film. And the ending was a little bit too optimistic for my liking ;)
+ha - just as i was saying about too optimistic for my liking, Radiohead's Creep came on my playlist.
+ In other news, I've recently taken up being illiterate. I can't remember the last time I read a book - although I am expecting three new ones to arrive from Amazon on Tuesday or thereabouts. It's bad, though. I come home from work, usually watch Neighbours, go and play squash/go to the pub/watch DVDs until about 11, then go on the internet and moan to anyone who'll listen about how I never update my LJ, then shower and go to bed by about 12. I just never read books any more, and don't even talk to me about writing. I'm going to be in all sorts of trouble when I get to Durham, no doubt.
+When Helen and I watch Neighbours, we usually end up throwing cushions at the TV. Mostly at Izzy. In fact, we do a lot of cushion-throwing during the adverts, too. The only advert you're not allowed to throw a cushion at is that new M&S one - you know the one, with "this is not just a chicken..." etc. That's a damn good advert.
Work
+Work's good. A pretty mixed bag last month, actually - picking, packing and working in the office. I'd not really done much picking until last month, so it was an experience. Having done all three, I'd definitely say picking is the most stressful thing you have to do - in the office, you sit on your arse all day and take orders, and whilst you can occasionally get bogged down sorting out a lot of problems at once, it's not that bad. Packing is the easiest - by the time an order reaches you, every problem or nil stock has been dealt with, and it can go. Picking is a nightmare. The basic problem is that people in the office leave nil stocks on orders even when the computer shows they're nil stocks, so you wander round the bays collecting people's items until you realise three of them aren't there, and the three missing products are invariably the highest priority items on the order. So it can be a bit draining, picking, but it's a good laugh. It's challenging, and satisfying, so i enjoyed doing it this month.
+On Friday it was LION's annual Spring Clean, and I spent the day cleaning the front yard and sorting out the archive area. Surprisingly enough, even though tidying the yard means sweeping up more than your fair share of used condoms (hookers use the car park on the weekends), that was much better than organising the archive area. Because I was outside, at least, and the weather was gorgeous, and there's something quite satisfying about tidying up a horrible mess (and yet my room always seems to resist it). The archive area, though, is inside under the mezzanine stairs, and consequently dusty and claustrophobic. Besides, organising paperwork from 2004 starts to gnaw away at your brain after a while.
+But I can't complain too much. I got a box of Guylian and four cans of Stella Artois for my troubles - even if my brother STOLE them before I could even have one, the bastard.
+the chippy's fine as well, at the moment. I'm going in later on today, actually, for about four hours. Should be fine, though. Last week I had to work Friday, which was a bit of a nightmare, but most weeks it's just a simple Saturday, which suits me fine. Plus, the boss just gave me an extra Saturday off when I go on holiday - which basically means I won't have to land at Heathrow at 5.15am and be at the chippy within 12 hours, which I think is good news.
Boston
+ this week I am going to get some dollars sorted out for Boston, which is getting closer and closer - just three weeks on Thursday, now. I'm really excited. I haven't seen Maria since 2002, or something ridiculous, and I'm sure we're going to have a great time.
+ Conveniently, since I became a contract employee of LION and became entitled to eleven days paid holiday, I'll still be earning money while I'm away in the States. That's a pleasant thought.
It must be love
+ in a break with tradition, I went up to town a few weeks ago after working at the chippy (Rachel's fault), to a club called Subculture. Breaking even more with tradition, I ended up kissing a friend of Rachel's there, this random girl called Stef.
+ nothing came of it, though. I mean, I texted her a bit the following week and we went out for a drink on the Sunday, but there was no spark there at all, it was just awkward. So my classic line about clubs - they're only good if you get drunk or pull - turns out to be wrong as well, at least as far as I'm concerned. Clubs are entirely too much like hard work.
+ what has upset me, though, is that Rachel's not talking to me at the moment. Not that she doesn't completely have the right, it's just upsetting. See, a couple of Sundays ago I asked her if she wanted to go for a drink, but then when she and her friend Greg came over to go to the pub, I sort of realised I wanted to go to a different pub with some different people, and completely fucked them off. Ha, I'm not saying it wasn't bad, I'd just forgotten how good at holding a grudge she can be. It takes as much maturity to forgive as well as to apologise, right? Well, I've been apologising for a while now, and still nothing. I'm sure one of us is being unreasonable, I'm just not sure which one it is - either way, I miss her.
old friends
+ one of the highlights of last month was getting to see Tarik again. I hadn't seen him for months and months, and then he randomly called me one Thursday and asked me to go for a drink, which I did. We only saw each other for an hour that night, but I met his lovely girlfriend, and we arranged to go out for a meal the following Wednesday. That was really nice, actually - we went up to Angelo's in Wylde Green, which does really awesome Italian food at a really reasonable price.
+ In fact, on Saturday I was up near there with Alex and Andy - we actually went to the Domino's two doors down, which is slightly less classy. Plus we bought loads of cakes. Mm. It was fun, actually, because I hadn't seen Alex since his birthday meal. he's pretty enigmatic and hard to track down.
+Tarik, though, is a legend. He's probably the most refreshingly open-minded person I know, and he seems to be doing really well - studying criminology, of all thinks, up in Lancaster. We had our meal then went for a drink with his girlfriend and one of her friends - really pretty, actually - and it was just a fantastic evening.
+ another person I caught up with recently was Chris, from my form at school. Hadn't seen him properly for ages either, but randomly texted him and asked him to go for a drink a few weeks ago (the same day I went for a drink with that girl and it was awkward - that was the weekend I was hungover at LION and knackered at the chippy later in the day. See, it's all linked). That was a good laugh, as well. We sat in the pub for about three hours getting drunk (pair of lightweights) and just chatting about girls and having a laugh. It's really nice to have people to just call up out of the blue and have a really good evening with.
la temps
+why exactly is it RAINING? It was sunny earlier - in fact, it's been a gorgeous weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Andy and I drove out to the country south of Birmingham to see my friend Rich's gallery, and it was an absolutely stunning day. We looked at Rich's stuff, which was awesome, then went for a drink in the local pub's beer garden and sat down by the lakes for a little bit. And yesterday was nice as well - and so was today, until it just started RAINING.
+ mind you, there was a storm and a half on Saturday night/Sunday morning. At about 2.30am, there was some of the loudest thunder I've heard in ages, and sheet lightning that looked like a bomb exploding in the distance. awesome. If it'd been earlier in the day I would've opened my curtains and played LOUD CLASSICAL MUSIC. Because everyone knows that's what you're supposed to do in storm weather.
long weekends
+long weekends are funny, they always leave me at such a loose end. There was a four day weekend over Easter, and this is a three day weekend - although it feels longer because I didn't work at the chippy on Saturday. I just end up sitting around the house eating bananas, and humming "where do we go from here?" from the Buffy musical to myself.
+ it's a shame, though, because I wanted to go to London this weekend and meet up with Hayleyscarfie. However, I hadn't counted on just how bad British public transport can be on Sundays. To get to London, I would've had to spend about six hours of the day travelling - replacement bus service from here to New Street, and again from there to Nuneaton - then a train from Nuneaton to Milton Keynes, then a bus service to London. Ew, no, especially when the alternative was to stay home and see my family and have an awesome Sunday lunch.
+ I even ended up moving some bricks this weekend, which is more hard work than it sounds, especially when there's a hole in one of your gloves and the sun is shining.
everything else
+ I really need to replace my car stereo which I lost at, um, Christmas. I mean, that's bad, right? I still have my Jeff Buckley CD trapped in the car's CD player, and I can't get it out. oh well. I've just put a bid in for one in Switzerland, so hopefully that'll work out.
+ there was definitely a point during last month where my family wanted me to go to Tesco at 1am. this was met with a lot of puzzled eyebrow movements and some wtfs? I can't remember why at the time, but I'm sure at some point Helen and I ended up doing the sibling dance of love. haha. we have some laughs, me and that sister of mine. she is possibly the best person ever, but not in a scary bad way like in that episode of Friends the one time. hurrah for Helen! <3
+oh, I failed my Grade 8 piano exam. With 95/150 - which wasn't ultimately all that surprising, but still kind of a shame. I mean, when I took my exam I knew I'd screwed it up, so for it to have only been by five marks made me feel better about it, really. Obviously I'd love to have passed, but it wasn't to be - as I've been saying to people, it could've gone either way on the day. what this means, technically, is that I'm only a grade six level pianist, because I failed grade seven as well. Maybe that should've told me something.
+still, what can you do. at the moment I'm looking at Moonlight Sonata, some jazz, Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven, and the Revolutionary Study by Chopin. No points for guessing which is the hardest. But it's a nice bit of variety - hey, the sun's back out! - and my lessons are really chilled out at the moment, which I like. Hurrah for the piano!
+So, I have a weird and inexplicable love of chickflicks, which sort of relates to the films i was discussing earlier - ones like Mona Lisa Smile, Girl Next Door and Serendipity, and all. I'm not sure why it is. I don't like horror films at all, so maybe it's a kind of reaction to that. But they're so FUN and EASY to watch. Maybe it's because I'm dead romantic at heart. ahhahaa but seriously, they're great. And so is Die Hard, although it doesn't really fall into the same category, I just happened to buy it recently.
+I am so addled, in fact, that I took Die Hard back to the video shop at one point before realising that I owned it and hadn't rented it. Luckily nobody else was around at the time.
+Ha. My uncle made me laugh a week or two ago by handing me a longish article from Business Weekly or some such about how blogs are the business tool of the future, and it's time to get on board or be left behind. that was the introduction. After reading the article, which was brilliantly vague on how exactly blogs are the key to business success, I got thinking about it all. Could any of the stuff us lot write about be of any commercial use to anyone, anywhere? My point exactly. So yes. Anyone who can find the missing link between me complaining about nosebleeds and making millions just using the power of the keyboard, let me know.
+ This Thursday is Great Britain's General Election, and whilst a lot has been said on all three sides, my opinion is that I have no opinions. Not really, anyway. I just tend to hold the beliefs of the last person I talked to about politics. So I think I will vote on Thursday - even though I disagree with Lou's contention that one has a civic obligation to do so - but I'm not sure who for, at the moment. They're all as hopeless as each other. Besides, thinking about it, my vote's going to be wasted anyway, because there's no way the Conservatives will lose the Sutton Coldfield constituency. Oh well. I guess this is what it feels like to be a Republican in Massachusetts.
+speaking of the election, did Queens of the Stone Age steal their riff for No One Knows from Radiohead's Electioneering, or what?
+Mm. I'm looking forward to the summer. I love this time of year, after the clocks have gone forward, and the weather's steadily getting better. I was saying to Andy the other day how much I love looking down my road on a gorgeous day. I've got quite a bit of SAD going on - the seasonally affected thing, as well as the other thing - and mmm. This is just such a fun time of the year. Especially since everyone's getting ready to do exams, and I'm really not. Heh
+So, this week. Obviously the highlight is the election on Thursday, but on Friday Andy and I are going to see the Queen concert, with Paul Rodgers standing in for Freddie Mercury. Obviously, it's not going to be the same - but it's not claiming to be. So I'm excited, I think it'll be really cool. it's the closest I'll ever get to seeing one of my favourite bands, isn't it? A few people from LION are going, as well, so we'll probably meet up for a drink in town afterwards. It should be a really good night.
+ I went round to my sister Rachel's the other evening after dropping Helen to her drum lesson, and we were having a look through the Next catalogue. I was wondering to myself, what ever happened to my sense of fashion or style? I mean, even unfashionable people buy clothes, right? I just don't ever buy any, ever. It's weird. I'd love to get myself a whole new load of clothes, and throw all the old ones out. It does smack ever so slightly of effort, though - and even though I recently updated my Solo card to a shiny new Maestro card, I need to save a little bit of money for Boston and Europe and all the rest of it. I should definitely get some stuff, though. Questions? Comments?
+You're going to find this hard to believe, but this post started out as a list of maybe fifteen, twenty words or short sentences, as sort of prompters of what to write. What I'm wondering now is, how long will it be before I post again? Will it be another three weeks before you hear anything about what's happening in my life? I hope not, but I make no promises. It's weird. The first few weeks of this month, I literally stopped coming on the internet altogether - except maybe briefly at work to check email and my flist and all. What I love most about LJ is that it's a great way to communicate with people via the comments who I never get a chance to speak to on Messenger or the phone, or what have you. I don't like being out of touch - which is surprising, for how often I post. It's a classic vicious circle, anyway, and you've heard me explain it sixty-five times before, so there's no need. Yay for posting ;)
+Congratulations if you made it this far. I'm glad some of you are still interested ;). Anyway, I'm going to go and get some lunch now, and maybe watch some West Wing Season 5. Feels really good to have posted again, though. Cheers, everyone - hope you're doing really well <3
-andy xx
current music:
current mood:
birthdays
+ In short, the rest of that meal at Simpson's was terrific. But it was almost a month ago, now, so I feel a bit strange describing it here, mostly because I can't remember it all that well. But yes, the food was grand, and I had vivid taste flashbacks throughout the whole month of April. Sense flashbacks are weird. Do you ever have them with bits of music, or a certain smell?
+ Do you know, Emma and I went to Cafe Rouge at some point during April, and I decided in a break with tradition to try the minute steak instead of the usual paupiette de poulet. And it wasn't the meal that was brilliant, but the point at which the waiter kindly informed me that minute steak means it's a small steak, rather than a steak that cooks in a minute. The humanity.
+Niamh turned two on April 13th. She had a party with all her tiny friends the Saturday before that (I think the 13th was a Wednesday, so the 9th) at Wyndley, and then we had her presents and cake on the day itself. She's interesting, at the moment - by turns a bit of a spoiled brat and the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen in life. We've just put a superb photograph of her up in the kitchen that I got Rich to frame for us, it's really lovely. But yeah, she's wonderful, and we love her like mad (ha, compare this with my comment on her third birthday).
+Simon turned 19 on April 20th - he didn't do much, but I did join him for a pint late that evening - also a Wednesday, if you think about it. I think that was the day I drove from work to Moseley to home to Kingstanding to Rachel's to home to Kingstanding to Handsworth Wood and back home in the space of about ten minutes. I usually go see Mum on Wednesday afternoons after work. So, yeah. Pretty much all my friends have turned 19 by now - I always was the baby of the group. On the bright side, I'm better than all of them put together. Mwah :D
+ Okay. For the record, if any of you steal this idea, i'll come after you with a power sander and a couple of pretty heavy books (that'd look good). My sister has just invented probably the best idea in the history of, you know, human civilisation. AHAHAH the kid who broke our table just walked past wearing a silly cap. AFTER HIM. Ahah, but no. Anyway. This invention concerns SHOES, and don't think I didn't just feel you all sit up and pay slightly more attention. Here it is, in her own words: "any time you like can't find your shoes or just one of them, you go out and buy - put this in capitals - Helen Smith's shoe bleeper finder thing. Erm, basically, you put some bleepers on your shoes that aren't even noticeable because they're so small and cool, and then if you lose shoe(s) you press a little button and it starts bleeping and HEY PRESTO you find your shoes.
+Genius. I can't see a single flaw with that plan. And if we see this in the shops within a month we'll be sending the lawyers round.
+the day after Simon's birthday was my grandpa's birthday, and to celebrate we all went round to my aunt's house - my grandparents, sisters and cousin, with a husband or two thrown in. Oh, and Niamh was there, of course, making sure she was still the centre of attention. It was lovely, actually - had about sixteeen bits of pizza and some lovely desserts (roulade is the new crumble, I think), and everyone was in a good mood, so it was awesome.
+Okay. I've just been given another gem from Helen - apparently her friend told her once that you should always spray a little perfume behind your ears when you go to a club, so anyone who tries to whisper in there gets a whiff of perfume over the smell of alcohol, sweat and dried blood (i'm told). She wants to know why the back of your ear should smell in the first place - i mean it's not like you put cheese there or anything (shows what she knows). It's an excellent point for discussion, anyway.
+speaking of dried blood, I keep getting nosebleeds when I wake up in the morning, and only down one side of my nose. What's up with that?
+ Heh, a little too much information there. Anyway, let's move onto another subheading:
Sport
+I eat a lot of crap, it's true, but I also eat and drink a lot of fruit/veg and water, and that coupled with playing squash and football most weeks means I stay pretty much the same shape. Which is not in shape, necessarily, but it's a shape. Keep it to yourselves.
+I learnt an important lesson about playing football last week - always bring a bottle of water. I intelligently took a big litre-and-a-half bottle in and left it in the fridge at LION (that was the day when I was picking mountboard with cotton gloves and lost track of time - got suspicious when everyone started leaving the building, and almost forgot my kit), and consequently almost died during the game. It didn't help that their team was pretty much better than ours and we had to do a lot of running around. Alas and woe, and all that.
+Squash! Squash is still great fun. Mr H and I usually play and then go to the pub, which sort of defeats the point, I suppose. A couple of weeks ago I went for a game of squash on a Friday afternoon, then went for a few pints in the Jockey with Mr H - and then went and had about another four pints in the Royal with Andy, DC, Haribo and co. So I was in a pretty merry sort of mood for the rest of the evening, and when we went for some burgers down in Sutton - pretty much until I woke up at 8.30am the next morning to go and work on the Trade Counter at LION. Ech. That was a really unpleasant Saturday. I managed to get through the morning, all the while sobering up (three pints of water before bed, another two at 7.00am) but feeling ridiculously tired. In the end, I got the train home and had a little sleep between 1pm-4pm, at which point I woke up, showered and went out to work at the chippy. Ugh.
+Squash's good, though. Am looking forward to being able to play when I get to University, even if a bit of stupidity/forgetfulness means I forgot to get my student loan application in by the 29th April, so that's a pain in the arse. Although it has little to do with squash, come to think of it.
+So Chelsea are Premiership champions, which I suppose hasn't put Millie in a very good mood. their form this season has been pretty unprecedented, though - they're set to break the records for most points, fewest goals conceded, most games won, best goal difference - loads, if they win their last few games. After Villa's abysmal performance against Spurs yesterday, I guess all we can hope for is to finish above the Blues, which we should manage with a five-point advantage, but you never know. What I'm really looking forward to seeing is what would happen if Liverpool won the European Cup - however unlikely that is - because in theory, only four teams from any country can enter the competition.
+have hardly watched the snooker at all this World Championship. And have yet to watch a single F1 race - what's wrong with me? Well, nothing, I suppose some of you might argue. But I think even though Ferrari's dominance seems to be waning, they put me off F1 for quite a while. As for the snooker, I watch Williams' 147 and that was enough for me, really. I suppose I might see the last few frames of the final tonight, but I'm not all that bothered.
God, I watch too much TV
+I spent last month discovering a fantastic show I'd never seen before - Daria - and going over old Buffy and Angel episodes and remembering how great they are. At Helen's firm request, I bought all the episodes of Daria over Ebay. It's a great show though, isn't it?
+I hardly ever watch TV, in spite of the misleading title. the above are videos and DVDs, for one thing - the only TV I regularly watch is Neighbours. I haven't even been to the cinema for ages - well, two days ago - but before that, there hadn't been a decent release in months. I went to see Hitchhiker's Guide, which was pretty good, I suppose. I'd say 6/10, for want of an actual review. It was visually impressive, and all, but the genius of the book isn't in the plot or what have you, it's Douglas Adams' hilarious writing style, and all the little tangents he goes on. I didn't really think Stephen Fry was right for the voice of the Guide, to be honest - a bit too, I dunno, obvious or something. All the technical stuff and the casting was fine, but I feel it's a book that just doesn't translate to film. And the ending was a little bit too optimistic for my liking ;)
+ha - just as i was saying about too optimistic for my liking, Radiohead's Creep came on my playlist.
+ In other news, I've recently taken up being illiterate. I can't remember the last time I read a book - although I am expecting three new ones to arrive from Amazon on Tuesday or thereabouts. It's bad, though. I come home from work, usually watch Neighbours, go and play squash/go to the pub/watch DVDs until about 11, then go on the internet and moan to anyone who'll listen about how I never update my LJ, then shower and go to bed by about 12. I just never read books any more, and don't even talk to me about writing. I'm going to be in all sorts of trouble when I get to Durham, no doubt.
+When Helen and I watch Neighbours, we usually end up throwing cushions at the TV. Mostly at Izzy. In fact, we do a lot of cushion-throwing during the adverts, too. The only advert you're not allowed to throw a cushion at is that new M&S one - you know the one, with "this is not just a chicken..." etc. That's a damn good advert.
Work
+Work's good. A pretty mixed bag last month, actually - picking, packing and working in the office. I'd not really done much picking until last month, so it was an experience. Having done all three, I'd definitely say picking is the most stressful thing you have to do - in the office, you sit on your arse all day and take orders, and whilst you can occasionally get bogged down sorting out a lot of problems at once, it's not that bad. Packing is the easiest - by the time an order reaches you, every problem or nil stock has been dealt with, and it can go. Picking is a nightmare. The basic problem is that people in the office leave nil stocks on orders even when the computer shows they're nil stocks, so you wander round the bays collecting people's items until you realise three of them aren't there, and the three missing products are invariably the highest priority items on the order. So it can be a bit draining, picking, but it's a good laugh. It's challenging, and satisfying, so i enjoyed doing it this month.
+On Friday it was LION's annual Spring Clean, and I spent the day cleaning the front yard and sorting out the archive area. Surprisingly enough, even though tidying the yard means sweeping up more than your fair share of used condoms (hookers use the car park on the weekends), that was much better than organising the archive area. Because I was outside, at least, and the weather was gorgeous, and there's something quite satisfying about tidying up a horrible mess (and yet my room always seems to resist it). The archive area, though, is inside under the mezzanine stairs, and consequently dusty and claustrophobic. Besides, organising paperwork from 2004 starts to gnaw away at your brain after a while.
+But I can't complain too much. I got a box of Guylian and four cans of Stella Artois for my troubles - even if my brother STOLE them before I could even have one, the bastard.
+the chippy's fine as well, at the moment. I'm going in later on today, actually, for about four hours. Should be fine, though. Last week I had to work Friday, which was a bit of a nightmare, but most weeks it's just a simple Saturday, which suits me fine. Plus, the boss just gave me an extra Saturday off when I go on holiday - which basically means I won't have to land at Heathrow at 5.15am and be at the chippy within 12 hours, which I think is good news.
Boston
+ this week I am going to get some dollars sorted out for Boston, which is getting closer and closer - just three weeks on Thursday, now. I'm really excited. I haven't seen Maria since 2002, or something ridiculous, and I'm sure we're going to have a great time.
+ Conveniently, since I became a contract employee of LION and became entitled to eleven days paid holiday, I'll still be earning money while I'm away in the States. That's a pleasant thought.
It must be love
+ in a break with tradition, I went up to town a few weeks ago after working at the chippy (Rachel's fault), to a club called Subculture. Breaking even more with tradition, I ended up kissing a friend of Rachel's there, this random girl called Stef.
+ nothing came of it, though. I mean, I texted her a bit the following week and we went out for a drink on the Sunday, but there was no spark there at all, it was just awkward. So my classic line about clubs - they're only good if you get drunk or pull - turns out to be wrong as well, at least as far as I'm concerned. Clubs are entirely too much like hard work.
+ what has upset me, though, is that Rachel's not talking to me at the moment. Not that she doesn't completely have the right, it's just upsetting. See, a couple of Sundays ago I asked her if she wanted to go for a drink, but then when she and her friend Greg came over to go to the pub, I sort of realised I wanted to go to a different pub with some different people, and completely fucked them off. Ha, I'm not saying it wasn't bad, I'd just forgotten how good at holding a grudge she can be. It takes as much maturity to forgive as well as to apologise, right? Well, I've been apologising for a while now, and still nothing. I'm sure one of us is being unreasonable, I'm just not sure which one it is - either way, I miss her.
old friends
+ one of the highlights of last month was getting to see Tarik again. I hadn't seen him for months and months, and then he randomly called me one Thursday and asked me to go for a drink, which I did. We only saw each other for an hour that night, but I met his lovely girlfriend, and we arranged to go out for a meal the following Wednesday. That was really nice, actually - we went up to Angelo's in Wylde Green, which does really awesome Italian food at a really reasonable price.
+ In fact, on Saturday I was up near there with Alex and Andy - we actually went to the Domino's two doors down, which is slightly less classy. Plus we bought loads of cakes. Mm. It was fun, actually, because I hadn't seen Alex since his birthday meal. he's pretty enigmatic and hard to track down.
+Tarik, though, is a legend. He's probably the most refreshingly open-minded person I know, and he seems to be doing really well - studying criminology, of all thinks, up in Lancaster. We had our meal then went for a drink with his girlfriend and one of her friends - really pretty, actually - and it was just a fantastic evening.
+ another person I caught up with recently was Chris, from my form at school. Hadn't seen him properly for ages either, but randomly texted him and asked him to go for a drink a few weeks ago (the same day I went for a drink with that girl and it was awkward - that was the weekend I was hungover at LION and knackered at the chippy later in the day. See, it's all linked). That was a good laugh, as well. We sat in the pub for about three hours getting drunk (pair of lightweights) and just chatting about girls and having a laugh. It's really nice to have people to just call up out of the blue and have a really good evening with.
la temps
+why exactly is it RAINING? It was sunny earlier - in fact, it's been a gorgeous weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Andy and I drove out to the country south of Birmingham to see my friend Rich's gallery, and it was an absolutely stunning day. We looked at Rich's stuff, which was awesome, then went for a drink in the local pub's beer garden and sat down by the lakes for a little bit. And yesterday was nice as well - and so was today, until it just started RAINING.
+ mind you, there was a storm and a half on Saturday night/Sunday morning. At about 2.30am, there was some of the loudest thunder I've heard in ages, and sheet lightning that looked like a bomb exploding in the distance. awesome. If it'd been earlier in the day I would've opened my curtains and played LOUD CLASSICAL MUSIC. Because everyone knows that's what you're supposed to do in storm weather.
long weekends
+long weekends are funny, they always leave me at such a loose end. There was a four day weekend over Easter, and this is a three day weekend - although it feels longer because I didn't work at the chippy on Saturday. I just end up sitting around the house eating bananas, and humming "where do we go from here?" from the Buffy musical to myself.
+ it's a shame, though, because I wanted to go to London this weekend and meet up with Hayleyscarfie. However, I hadn't counted on just how bad British public transport can be on Sundays. To get to London, I would've had to spend about six hours of the day travelling - replacement bus service from here to New Street, and again from there to Nuneaton - then a train from Nuneaton to Milton Keynes, then a bus service to London. Ew, no, especially when the alternative was to stay home and see my family and have an awesome Sunday lunch.
+ I even ended up moving some bricks this weekend, which is more hard work than it sounds, especially when there's a hole in one of your gloves and the sun is shining.
everything else
+ I really need to replace my car stereo which I lost at, um, Christmas. I mean, that's bad, right? I still have my Jeff Buckley CD trapped in the car's CD player, and I can't get it out. oh well. I've just put a bid in for one in Switzerland, so hopefully that'll work out.
+ there was definitely a point during last month where my family wanted me to go to Tesco at 1am. this was met with a lot of puzzled eyebrow movements and some wtfs? I can't remember why at the time, but I'm sure at some point Helen and I ended up doing the sibling dance of love. haha. we have some laughs, me and that sister of mine. she is possibly the best person ever, but not in a scary bad way like in that episode of Friends the one time. hurrah for Helen! <3
+oh, I failed my Grade 8 piano exam. With 95/150 - which wasn't ultimately all that surprising, but still kind of a shame. I mean, when I took my exam I knew I'd screwed it up, so for it to have only been by five marks made me feel better about it, really. Obviously I'd love to have passed, but it wasn't to be - as I've been saying to people, it could've gone either way on the day. what this means, technically, is that I'm only a grade six level pianist, because I failed grade seven as well. Maybe that should've told me something.
+still, what can you do. at the moment I'm looking at Moonlight Sonata, some jazz, Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven, and the Revolutionary Study by Chopin. No points for guessing which is the hardest. But it's a nice bit of variety - hey, the sun's back out! - and my lessons are really chilled out at the moment, which I like. Hurrah for the piano!
+So, I have a weird and inexplicable love of chickflicks, which sort of relates to the films i was discussing earlier - ones like Mona Lisa Smile, Girl Next Door and Serendipity, and all. I'm not sure why it is. I don't like horror films at all, so maybe it's a kind of reaction to that. But they're so FUN and EASY to watch. Maybe it's because I'm dead romantic at heart. ahhahaa but seriously, they're great. And so is Die Hard, although it doesn't really fall into the same category, I just happened to buy it recently.
+I am so addled, in fact, that I took Die Hard back to the video shop at one point before realising that I owned it and hadn't rented it. Luckily nobody else was around at the time.
+Ha. My uncle made me laugh a week or two ago by handing me a longish article from Business Weekly or some such about how blogs are the business tool of the future, and it's time to get on board or be left behind. that was the introduction. After reading the article, which was brilliantly vague on how exactly blogs are the key to business success, I got thinking about it all. Could any of the stuff us lot write about be of any commercial use to anyone, anywhere? My point exactly. So yes. Anyone who can find the missing link between me complaining about nosebleeds and making millions just using the power of the keyboard, let me know.
+ This Thursday is Great Britain's General Election, and whilst a lot has been said on all three sides, my opinion is that I have no opinions. Not really, anyway. I just tend to hold the beliefs of the last person I talked to about politics. So I think I will vote on Thursday - even though I disagree with Lou's contention that one has a civic obligation to do so - but I'm not sure who for, at the moment. They're all as hopeless as each other. Besides, thinking about it, my vote's going to be wasted anyway, because there's no way the Conservatives will lose the Sutton Coldfield constituency. Oh well. I guess this is what it feels like to be a Republican in Massachusetts.
+speaking of the election, did Queens of the Stone Age steal their riff for No One Knows from Radiohead's Electioneering, or what?
+Mm. I'm looking forward to the summer. I love this time of year, after the clocks have gone forward, and the weather's steadily getting better. I was saying to Andy the other day how much I love looking down my road on a gorgeous day. I've got quite a bit of SAD going on - the seasonally affected thing, as well as the other thing - and mmm. This is just such a fun time of the year. Especially since everyone's getting ready to do exams, and I'm really not. Heh
+So, this week. Obviously the highlight is the election on Thursday, but on Friday Andy and I are going to see the Queen concert, with Paul Rodgers standing in for Freddie Mercury. Obviously, it's not going to be the same - but it's not claiming to be. So I'm excited, I think it'll be really cool. it's the closest I'll ever get to seeing one of my favourite bands, isn't it? A few people from LION are going, as well, so we'll probably meet up for a drink in town afterwards. It should be a really good night.
+ I went round to my sister Rachel's the other evening after dropping Helen to her drum lesson, and we were having a look through the Next catalogue. I was wondering to myself, what ever happened to my sense of fashion or style? I mean, even unfashionable people buy clothes, right? I just don't ever buy any, ever. It's weird. I'd love to get myself a whole new load of clothes, and throw all the old ones out. It does smack ever so slightly of effort, though - and even though I recently updated my Solo card to a shiny new Maestro card, I need to save a little bit of money for Boston and Europe and all the rest of it. I should definitely get some stuff, though. Questions? Comments?
+You're going to find this hard to believe, but this post started out as a list of maybe fifteen, twenty words or short sentences, as sort of prompters of what to write. What I'm wondering now is, how long will it be before I post again? Will it be another three weeks before you hear anything about what's happening in my life? I hope not, but I make no promises. It's weird. The first few weeks of this month, I literally stopped coming on the internet altogether - except maybe briefly at work to check email and my flist and all. What I love most about LJ is that it's a great way to communicate with people via the comments who I never get a chance to speak to on Messenger or the phone, or what have you. I don't like being out of touch - which is surprising, for how often I post. It's a classic vicious circle, anyway, and you've heard me explain it sixty-five times before, so there's no need. Yay for posting ;)
+Congratulations if you made it this far. I'm glad some of you are still interested ;). Anyway, I'm going to go and get some lunch now, and maybe watch some West Wing Season 5. Feels really good to have posted again, though. Cheers, everyone - hope you're doing really well <3
-andy xx
current music:
current mood: