A Brief History Of Rhyme
Just time for a quick sweep around my life in the annual LJ update.
Ongoing things
Writing- Should have two stories in the 'Re-Vamp' anthology (mad_docs_of_lit) out on Hallowe'en 2011 and the 'Space 1889' novel 'The Dark Side of Luna' is expected to be released in December this year. 'Squalling Brats' is still expected to be published at some stage through Untreed Reads, although I'm not entirely sure when. I should have an announcement soon about my second novel in my own universe too, so look forward to THAT. Basically I spend my entire week writing at the moment.
Wrestling- I've been attending wrestling training more or less every week at the moment and while I'm still light years away from being enough cop to have a match that I'd realistically expect anyone to pay for, I'm having rad times learning suplexes and wristlocks and things. It's not easy, y'know.
Living situation- Inigo moved out at some point a few months ago; his stuff followed a month later. Lucy, with nowhere else to go, stayed on the sofa for a month, but she departed at the end of August, meaning I'm back on my own again. At some point in November, SB and I plan to live together, which will obviously be sweet. Obviously we're still seeing each other and it continues to be unproblematic.
Latitude
Worked Latitude 2011, meaning it was the fourth or fifth year straight I'd been, in the company of firemasque and, for the first time, Cait. There was also supposed to be a Cieran but let's say no more about that.
The festival was, of course, lovely and the shifts were shorter than usual, meaning more time for ambling around looking at stuff or hiding in the tent waiting for the rain to stop, depending on circumstance. Eels were obviously the highlight of the stuff we saw- I'd been a fan since 1996 but had never caught them live. Naturally they were everything I wanted and more. Anna Calvi, Esben and the Witch, Jonny, Admiral Fallow, British Sea Power and Bellowhead were also awesome. Cait and I also checked out Echo and the Bunnymen, who were sensibly backlit and covered in dry ice, miraculously disguising their hideous ageing.
Cousin's wedding
My cousin Harriet married her long-term partner Brett in Sawtry in late August, which served as a decent excuse for SB to meet the family. Everyone said nice things about SB, of course, but more important, obviously, is the wedding itself.
At the wedding, the vicar invited Brett to take Harriet as his eternal wedded husband and offered a prayer to eternal 'Glod' before the organist played something resembling the Wedding March. At the reception, the mother of bride and groom both did a speech (the former in the absence of the father of the bride, the latter inexplicably containing a confession about how Mother of Groom had spent months trying to separate the couple). The groom's family ribbed him constantly about his decision to get a spray tan the day before the wedding and his grandmother grinded her booty to Ja Rule on the dancefloor (I am not making this up) before the karoake came out. Some performances were genuinely excellent; others, such as the guy who did 'Delilah' but didn't seem to know either words or melody, were not. Me and Em did CeeLo Green's 'Fuck You' (censored version of course), which could have fallen into either category.
It's safe to say that the only thing that my wedding and Harriet's wedding had in common were that a marriage took place; but then the same could be said for my wedding and anybody else's. The important thing is that the couple clearly adore one another and that their married life is as happy as it can be, which I have no reason to doubt that it will.
AMP Wrestling
Appeared on a wrestling show earlier this month in the corner of Deacon Frost and Dante. I was doing a preacher gimmick and had a whale of a time. We did two matches, losing both- the first was a battle royal and the second a tag match. In the first, my boys eliminated Edgar Stryfe, who did not take kindly to this and subsequently beat Frost up all the way into the concession stand, ignoring my exhortation "not among these delicious refreshments!". In the second, we lost (obviously a fast count from that biased ref) and I got moonsaulted for my trouble.
Paris
Sarah-Beth and I have just spent four days and three nights in Paris, as, for my birthday, my parents were good enough to give me funds with which to do so. Huge amounts of pictures are already on Facebook. As well as seeing the usual sights (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Sacre-Coeur), we got our art on at the Centre Pompidou, which was awesome if exhausting, explored the grisly skull 'n' bone collection at the Catacombs, which is spooky as hell, and looked at a load of statues of dicks at the Musee d'Eroticism. The famous sights, of course, were full of amazing detail and craftmanship: with both Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe there were about a hundred different things to look at every time you turned your head. We also indulged in a spot of romance with a love padlock at La Pont d'Archeveche. We didn't go to the top of anything.
Other adventures in brief with SB
Durham included a stay in the Sci-Fi lodge at the Fallen Angel Hotel, a room which no longer exists, it seems. While we were there, it had a Tardis door, a 60s egg chair and an outdoor hot tub, which was hawt. We looked around the Cathedral and the Castle, which was lovely... Oxford at the end of May included a couple of meetings with friends along with our usual museum wanderings and sightseeing... We visited London twice. Once was for a zine convention, the venue of which was too small. We did meet mrs_leroy_brown, pippaalice, shewho and atommickbrane, in some cases for the first time, which was nice. We also went there for LD's birthday and Anna's head-shaving. Travelling on the same day in the tropical temperature was a bad idea- we were fucked by midnight... Colchester is where SB is from, so we spent a weekend with her mum, which was the first time I'd met her. I don't think I disgraced myself particularly...
Coming up- moving, published stuff, more wrestling fun, the same chaos but more so.
Ongoing things
Writing- Should have two stories in the 'Re-Vamp' anthology (mad_docs_of_lit) out on Hallowe'en 2011 and the 'Space 1889' novel 'The Dark Side of Luna' is expected to be released in December this year. 'Squalling Brats' is still expected to be published at some stage through Untreed Reads, although I'm not entirely sure when. I should have an announcement soon about my second novel in my own universe too, so look forward to THAT. Basically I spend my entire week writing at the moment.
Wrestling- I've been attending wrestling training more or less every week at the moment and while I'm still light years away from being enough cop to have a match that I'd realistically expect anyone to pay for, I'm having rad times learning suplexes and wristlocks and things. It's not easy, y'know.
Living situation- Inigo moved out at some point a few months ago; his stuff followed a month later. Lucy, with nowhere else to go, stayed on the sofa for a month, but she departed at the end of August, meaning I'm back on my own again. At some point in November, SB and I plan to live together, which will obviously be sweet. Obviously we're still seeing each other and it continues to be unproblematic.
Latitude
Worked Latitude 2011, meaning it was the fourth or fifth year straight I'd been, in the company of firemasque and, for the first time, Cait. There was also supposed to be a Cieran but let's say no more about that.
The festival was, of course, lovely and the shifts were shorter than usual, meaning more time for ambling around looking at stuff or hiding in the tent waiting for the rain to stop, depending on circumstance. Eels were obviously the highlight of the stuff we saw- I'd been a fan since 1996 but had never caught them live. Naturally they were everything I wanted and more. Anna Calvi, Esben and the Witch, Jonny, Admiral Fallow, British Sea Power and Bellowhead were also awesome. Cait and I also checked out Echo and the Bunnymen, who were sensibly backlit and covered in dry ice, miraculously disguising their hideous ageing.
Cousin's wedding
My cousin Harriet married her long-term partner Brett in Sawtry in late August, which served as a decent excuse for SB to meet the family. Everyone said nice things about SB, of course, but more important, obviously, is the wedding itself.
At the wedding, the vicar invited Brett to take Harriet as his eternal wedded husband and offered a prayer to eternal 'Glod' before the organist played something resembling the Wedding March. At the reception, the mother of bride and groom both did a speech (the former in the absence of the father of the bride, the latter inexplicably containing a confession about how Mother of Groom had spent months trying to separate the couple). The groom's family ribbed him constantly about his decision to get a spray tan the day before the wedding and his grandmother grinded her booty to Ja Rule on the dancefloor (I am not making this up) before the karoake came out. Some performances were genuinely excellent; others, such as the guy who did 'Delilah' but didn't seem to know either words or melody, were not. Me and Em did CeeLo Green's 'Fuck You' (censored version of course), which could have fallen into either category.
It's safe to say that the only thing that my wedding and Harriet's wedding had in common were that a marriage took place; but then the same could be said for my wedding and anybody else's. The important thing is that the couple clearly adore one another and that their married life is as happy as it can be, which I have no reason to doubt that it will.
AMP Wrestling
Appeared on a wrestling show earlier this month in the corner of Deacon Frost and Dante. I was doing a preacher gimmick and had a whale of a time. We did two matches, losing both- the first was a battle royal and the second a tag match. In the first, my boys eliminated Edgar Stryfe, who did not take kindly to this and subsequently beat Frost up all the way into the concession stand, ignoring my exhortation "not among these delicious refreshments!". In the second, we lost (obviously a fast count from that biased ref) and I got moonsaulted for my trouble.
Paris
Sarah-Beth and I have just spent four days and three nights in Paris, as, for my birthday, my parents were good enough to give me funds with which to do so. Huge amounts of pictures are already on Facebook. As well as seeing the usual sights (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Sacre-Coeur), we got our art on at the Centre Pompidou, which was awesome if exhausting, explored the grisly skull 'n' bone collection at the Catacombs, which is spooky as hell, and looked at a load of statues of dicks at the Musee d'Eroticism. The famous sights, of course, were full of amazing detail and craftmanship: with both Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe there were about a hundred different things to look at every time you turned your head. We also indulged in a spot of romance with a love padlock at La Pont d'Archeveche. We didn't go to the top of anything.
Other adventures in brief with SB
Durham included a stay in the Sci-Fi lodge at the Fallen Angel Hotel, a room which no longer exists, it seems. While we were there, it had a Tardis door, a 60s egg chair and an outdoor hot tub, which was hawt. We looked around the Cathedral and the Castle, which was lovely... Oxford at the end of May included a couple of meetings with friends along with our usual museum wanderings and sightseeing... We visited London twice. Once was for a zine convention, the venue of which was too small. We did meet mrs_leroy_brown, pippaalice, shewho and atommickbrane, in some cases for the first time, which was nice. We also went there for LD's birthday and Anna's head-shaving. Travelling on the same day in the tropical temperature was a bad idea- we were fucked by midnight... Colchester is where SB is from, so we spent a weekend with her mum, which was the first time I'd met her. I don't think I disgraced myself particularly...
Coming up- moving, published stuff, more wrestling fun, the same chaos but more so.