Angels in the Architecture

Uh. Hi. Been a while, hasn't it?

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:32:26 GMT

*creeps in, utterly shamefaced*

Hullo all. Um. I have no excuse for having been away nearly a year. Except that I suck.

How are you all?

I'm...pretty good. We've been having a fairly tough few months of it, family and work-wise (the usual mix of deaths, divorces (not ours, I hasten to add), stresses, pay-cuts etc etc) but are keeping our heads above water.

Some good things:

I passed my bike test last summer, *finally*, and in October *finally* got my gorgeous little 400 on the road.

Isn't he gorgeous?!

I went to Berlin and Tampere (in Finland) in September and October respectively to see Negative, and by a series of coincidences and flukes managed to meet all but one of the band (met the two guitarists on the way to check in at Berlin Airport and spent fifteen minutes chatting with them and telling them off for having been up all night drinking, despite the fact that that was exactly what we'd been doing too)...and had a marvellous time. Going back to Tampere in two weeks for Tammerfest (week of gigs, basically) to see lots of bands including Negative and Lovex, and paying a flying visit to Berlin in September to see the thoroughly lovely Private Line. Three cheers for Ryanair and its dirt-cheap airfares, if not its customer service.

Mark is off to Assen in the Netherlands for the motorbike grand prix next weekend with a couple of friends - they're taking the bikes and are all insanely excited about it. *pets them*

Work is trundling along as usual, too much to do and not enough time to do it in, or money to do it with, but never mind.

The cats are thoroughly gorgeous.

Can't think of much else, which is quite shameful. What have you lot been up to?

And Lindsey - omg. I suck so badly. I'm soooo sorry I never replied to your email...I'm a terrible correspondent. Also my memory is lousy, and every time I thought 'oh, I must reply to Lindsey' I was nowhere near the computer, and then when I was, it fell out of my brain again. >.< I will do it, I promise. How's things?

Holy crap, Batman.

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:01:09 GMT

Apparently Gloucester came within two inches of being evacuated. Two *inches*. Complete evacuation. Jesus.

I knew that the electricity substation that provides us all with our power very nearly flooded - the water came to within two inches of the top of the flood defences earlier in the week, and it was only because of the absolutely heroic efforts of the emergency services and armed forces keeping it pumped out that it wasn't overwhelmed, but I hadn't realised that they were going to evacuate us if it had gone. Apparently, with the other substation out of action from the floods, because we'd have had no power to boil the emergency water that's being distributed, they would've had to get us all out. That's...somewhere in the region of 300,000 people, being taken to rest centres in Bristol and Birmingham, those who didn't have relatives they could go to. I mean...whoa. Guess we can all be thankful it didn't come to that, thanks to those who kept that substation dry. lol, Mark pointed out that it was like Shaun of the Dead up by the shops the other day because everywhere was closed - think how it would've been if we'd all been shipped out completely. Whoa.

It's been raining again today, mind you. Still, I had plastic boxes and tubs and buckets out in the back garden catching the rainfall and got about three bucketfuls, at least, plus what's gone into the water butt, so we have water to flush the loos with for a while. Which is reassuring. Also, we escaped to the in-laws last night as they still have water, so we could have showers and wash our hair and do laundry and washing up - and raid their water butts for rainwater. :D I maintain, we're still a lot luckier than some. I'm still in the position where I can regard it as an Awfully Big Adventure - and I know for a lot of people (including the family of the father and son who died overnight in Tewkesbury after being overcome by fumes from the petrol-powered pump they were using to pump out the local rugby club) it is nothing of the sort. We are very lucky indeed.

(lol. And yay, finally a chance to use my 'wtf?!' icon, featuring the inferior Matt from Game On. Been waiting for an event worthy of that one...)

Update

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:20:44 GMT

So. You may have seen on the news where you are that the Gloucester area of the UK is under quite a lot of water. I live in Gloucester...fortunately not in the flooded bit, and the waters that delayed my route home on Friday have now receded, but we have no water as the local pumping station got flooded over the weekend. We seem to have the power back now, after heroic efforts by the army and emergency services to keep the electricity substation from flooding, but we are not expecting to have running water for at least seven days, maybe fourteen. We have half a bathful and some pans and bottles, and the developers (we live on a very new estate that's still being built) just dropped round a 19 litre watercooler bottle of spring water, so we're not doing as badly as many people.

I'm doing three-hour days at work, we have no computers as the central network was shut down when they thought the council's hq was going to flood, so we're doing other stuff that needs doing, but can't stay longer because no water = no toilets = health and safety nightmare. The rest of the time I'm kind of working from home, I've got various bits and bobs that I can do.

But we're okay, that's the main thing. Download was good practice for this! We are escaping for a bit this evening, going up to Worcester to visit the in-laws, who still have water and are kindly letting us shower and do laundry and washing up and food shopping (supermarkets here being very busy with people buying water etc). However, it's still not fun not being able to have a shower every day, especially with this much hair. Am considering cornrows.

Still. We didn't flood. We don't have small kids to worry about, we're not elderly or ill, and the cats are okay. All in all, we're lucky. Just wanted to let you all know we're okay. *hugs all round*

The Potter thing...

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:47:39 GMT

So. Not exactly a review as such, but a list of things. Overall I liked it, really enjoyed the pace and the storytelling etc etc. But I do have a lot of disappointments and wails in among the squeeing...

I knew she was going to drop the ball on Draco. I knew she was going to do it, relegate him to underused plot device again, after he seemed to be getting some character development in the last book. I knew it...so why am I so disappointed that she did it so *thoroughly*?

I may have missed something, but can someone *please* explain to me the passage where Harry is telling Voldemort about the flaw in his plan surrounding the Elder Wand? Is the Elder Wand the one Voldemort is holding, or the one Harry is holding (which used to be Draco's)? Because it sounds like Harry took the Elder Wand off Draco, except that Voldemort took it off Dumbledore, except that Harry's implying that Draco took it off Dumbledore and I'm *confused*. Bearing in mind that that's the big plot point that makes the whole thing work, I'm currently a little bit lost. (it would probably help if I'd managed to reread book 6 before this, so I might've forgotten something from the end of that one)...

Remus! Holy fuck, if anyone deserved to die gloriously, it was him. I actually missed the line that said he and Tonks were dead, got to the next mention of them a few lines later, and had to go back up and read it again. I mean, I thought Sirius got a crap death, but compared to poor Remus, he went out in a blaze of glory.

The epilogue...is a bit cutesy, but it was *so* nice to hear about Professor Longbottom. *squees* at Neville teaching Herbology. Actually, I spent the last bit of the book squeeing at Neville quite a lot. And the bit at the end, where he's sitting at the table with Gryffindor's sword...ohgod. Cried like a girl at that, reckon nobody deserves it more than Neville.

The whole Harry-not-dying thing felt a little bit like a frantic piece of fancy footwork so that she didn't have to kill him off. I knew she wouldn't have the guts to do it, but still...guess I have to be impressed, but still.

Fred! Ohmygod, why him? Why one of the twins? And why on earth no mention of George afterwards? I want to know what happened to George. I hope someone looked after him. I love the twins so much, and I had a horrible feeling she'd kill them off, but...one and not both somehow seems crueller than both.

Colin Creevey, poor silly baby, too young and sneaking back in and ohgod.

Ron and Hermione! Still the most convincingly-written relationship of the lot. Although the snogging-in-the-face-of-danger bit was a bit cliched.

Teddy Lupin's snogging our Victoire! *dies*

Draco, oh, Draco. I'm going to have to write you some fic and make up for it.

Liked Narcissa at the end there, though, only concerned for her boy.

Dobby! I never liked him before, but now... and Kreacher, though I think that was a little underdeveloped.

Loved the humour. There were several bits that made me giggle and/or squee.

Molly! Ohmygod. Definite 'take your hands off her, you bitch!' moment. *fangirls Molly*

Snape. Oh, Severus. Redemption at last. Shame it was all crammed into one chapter right near the end, but oh, what a hero in the end. I cried like a girl when Harry was explaining to little Albus about his name and the bravest man he ever knew being a Slytherin.

Um. That's all for now. Can't think of anything else, but I'm sure more will occur to me.

Right now I'm off to Tesco to stock up on juice and drinkables, apparently we're soon going to be without water (how ironic) because the pumping station is flooded...

Arse.

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:34:29 GMT

So yesterday evening the lovely blackdogdark and I were supposed to be going up into town to Waterstones to the Harry Potter release party event thing. Dressed up (I was going as Bellatrix Lestrange cos that's just about the only one I can get away with, given the long black hair and all) and everything. We missed the last one because Becki had a better offer at the last minute (REM in Hyde Park, so fair enough), and the one before that because it was my friend's wedding. So, this being the last book, we were really looking forward to it.

And then it rained all of yesterday. No matter, I thought, we'll be okay getting back to mine, my route home never floods. Oh, no it doesn't. Except yesterday. It took me three and a half hours to get home, and I had to abandon the car about a mile away and wade through knee-high water (there is only one entrance and exit to the new estate I live on, and I couldn't get to it because all the ways I could access it, and there aren't many, were flooded. What sort of idiot builds a massive housing estate with only one entrance and exit?) and then walk and then cut across some waste ground and through a fence. Mark came and found me, and thank god he did because I think I'd have given up otherwise.

Becki, meanwhile, was a bit behind me, got utterly misdirected and ended up across the other side of town and unable to get back. So she's in a hotel over there somewhere. We are meeting up this morning, with any luck, and going into town if we can get there, picking up our reserved copies of the book, and then crashing out in Starbucks for a bit. Because of course we'd reserved our copies. If we hadn't, we could each have gone to the supermarket nearest us (we are currently each within ten minutes' walk of one) and bought one at midnight. But no.

*So* disappointed. Yes, we are overgrown fangirls, but then you knew that anyway. I just...I mean, of all the days Gloucester has to choose to succumb to the waves, why bloody yesterday when we've actually got something planned for a change, something that's important to us?

And now I'm awake and it's 5.30am and I can't get back to sleep because I keep sneezing (because yes, I think I'm getting a cold, and no, it's not from wading through knee-high floodwater, I was sneezing all yesterday afternoon too). *sigh* I mean, at least the house isn't flooded (unlike some of the new houses we walked past on the way back, which are lower down and closer to a brook), so it could conceivably be a whole lot worse, but... >.< wretched weather. It's supposed to be summer!

So no Harry party for us. Gutted, basically. Please nobody tell me what happens. If anyone wants me today I shall be in Starschmucks, reading. Or on the bus, reading. Or on the sofa, reading. If I ever get into town.

So. Fic meme.

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:17:15 GMT

Comment to this post with an offer to write in any fandom that you and I have in common. I will answer with a prompt. Then, you will write me comment-fic, snippets, or whatever comes to mind.
Now go post this in your own journal and demand fic of your very own! Make your flist work!

The fandoms in question, I suppose, being LotR, King Arthur, Harry Potter and X-Men (comic or Evolution). Although if anyone fancies writing me anything Memphis Belle, Kinky Boots, or 10 Things I Hate About You-related, please indicate! :D

Download!

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:57:21 GMT

So. Back from Download. Well, we've been back since Monday, but first I was too knackered to write it up and then I got floored by the cold of doom so have been too sick. Am now both too sick and too knackered, but sod it, if I don't do it soon I'll have lost all momentum. I know what I'm like.

So. On with the show.

We showed up on the Thursday evening - me, Mark and Mark's boss Dave (who is our age and very cool). Pitched camp and went to investigate the 'village' - stalls and bar, mostly. There was a 'Guitar Hero' competition going on on the smallest stage which was quite entertaining...and I found the perfect cowboy hat but failed to buy it because I am useless.

Friday 8 June

...well, we ambled into the arena pretty much just after it opened (I'd been to try on the cowboy hat again but decided it didn't suit me as much this time) and settled down with some beer in the main field, where we stayed all day. Bands as follows:

Zico Chain: all right. Catchy, rocky, and better than they were on Rockworld.tv's battle of the bands (although they were busy being overshadowed by the gloriousness that is the Deathstars on that occasion...). They're not really doing anything that's not been done before, but they're not letting that stop them, so good for them. Good fun, and would see them again at this sort of thing.

Buckcherry: Ohmygod. Disappointing. Really, *really* disappointing. This really isn't the sort of show where you can get away with turning your biggest hit into an extended jam session, and that's what they did with Crazy Bitch. Next To You was good, but that's about all, the rest was just noise. Sorry, guys...but you really let yourselves down.

Hinder: surprisingly good; I'd had low expectations due to the hype on Kerrang!TV, and the fact that despite them selling themselves as hellraising, wild living types, their singles seemed pretty downbeat and shoegazing. But I was proved wrong - they *do* know how to do upbeat, they do know how to rock, and I'll be interested to hear more from them, especially if their next single is something more upbeat please.

Megadeth: Well. Godlike, of course. So good to see them again, and to see Dave still looking fucking amazing and completely, righteously pissed off. Much love.

Dragonforce: possibly the fastest band in the world, apparently. I'm not sure, but...well. Relentless, terrible muso showoffs, but still good. Just a bit much after a couple of songs...

Wolfmother: very Sabbath, very stoner. All right with a pint in a field on a sunny day but wouldn't buy the albums.

Velvet Revolver: Well. Highlight of the day, really. Godlike and then some. Slash and his 'I eat sushi' shirt (complete with...um...diagram), Duff looking great...even Scott was looking pretty healthy...or healthier, anyway. And Mark and I were sat there with coffee and doughnuts and thinking of getting camping chairs for tomorrow because we'd been sat on the ground all day and everything ached. How rock n' roll are we?! Think we're getting old...

My Chemical Romance: did not get bottled nearly as much as I feared they would. They are sweet boys and they don't deserve it. Loved the singles...but sadly the album tracks are a bit of a racket to these ageing ears, and much as I love Gerard, he just doesn't have the vocal strength the songs require. But the singles...triumphant. Bless 'em.

And back to the campsite and to bed. Aching. Ouch.

Saturday 9 June

Much wandering, mostly, finding cool t-shirts in the market, including one with an evil kitty on it who is the image of my Jamiekitten, so I had to buy it. We bought chairs - well, two stools and one leopard-print chair...no prizes for guessing who chose that... *eyedart*

Missed Elliot Minor - had wanted to see them as I'd had Parallel World stuck in my head and was hoping that seeing them would solve that, but never mind.

Shadows Fall: very noisy. Not my thing.

Glorious weather, though, and my hay fever was out in force, dammit. There was a text-message facility throughout the weekend by which people could send messages and pictures to display on the big screens either side of the stage; couldn't help being amused at the drama that unfolded after one message on the Friday from 'Carolyn' declaring her love for 'Grant' was followed on the Saturday by one (in all caps) going 'Grant what the fuck are you doing with my wife Carolyn??'. I would *love* to know what was going on there...I would also like to know what on earth 'ftw' stands for. Anyone out there know? (all right, I admit it, I'm old. Most of this txtspk stuff has me totally confused.)

Lots of Backyard Babies fans around, including two lads with Swedish flags as capes and Nicke's 'Rocker' tattoo across their stomachs, and one boy with a leopardprint armband tattoo à la Dregen. \m/

Aiden: all right. Singerboy has learned his lesson from Warped and is not wearing whiteface (it melted off him in the heat, hahahaha). They are much heavier live. Bless them, I just want to pat their little heads and give them tea. Which I'm sure is not the intention.

30 Seconds to Mars: were on the wrong stage. Midway down the main stage on a Saturday afternoon is not the right place for them, they don't have enough upbeat noisy stuff (or if they do, they didn't play it)...they should've been headlining the little stage. Still, points for trying...catchy as they are, they're not quite my cup of tea. And Jared wants to be Davey Havok...*whistles*

Bowling for Soup: omg. I love these boys so very very much. They have a sense of humour! In rock music! So much love for them! Silly banter, reproducing inflatable sheep (I kid you not), all fucking wonderful. Jaret: 'are you showing me the finger because you want to have sex with me? I don't do dudes...but show me both fingers and I'll make an exception. But keep in mind, I'm pitching, you're catching...' - now there's a good way to put down an asshole in the audience. As for the comment about being glad that planes don't take dumps...*dies* (Donington is next door to East Midlands Airport, and planes were going over all very low all weekend. Some bands drowned them out...)

Machine Head: Well. Pleased to be here. Very noisy. Not my thing. So I went off to...

Bowling for Soup Q&A in the Nokia tent: well, I just wanted to thank them for having a sense of humour and being utter dudes, but didn't get chance to. However, they did a very good acoustic set, and they're touring over here in October. Can't wait. Bought a pair of pink leopardprint flipflops on the way as it was hot and my New Rocks were killing me...

Slayer: I was in BFS's Q&A at the time, but they sounded okay in the distance. Very noisy. Of course.

Marilyn Manson: has stopped trying to look like Cat from the Deathstars, which is a good thing given the 20-odd year age difference (check the video for Heart Shaped Glasses...). He has a mic with a knife blade for a handle...and is a little less than brilliant, really. Bit disappointing, though Sweet Dreams and Beautiful People are okay. Who's in the band these days, anyway, is that still Twiggy up there?

We then decamped to the second stage (though I'd have liked to see Linkin Park, but never mind, maybe another time) to see...

Mötley Crüe: Well. Um. Disappointing, actually. Musically they were as good as ever, but Vince has gotten lazy - he can't get through a line without mumbling and running his words together. He is trading on the band's (well-deserved) legendary status and it's just fucking disappointing, quite frankly. I know I have my issues with him, but...he needs to shape up. Mick is still a fucking legend (Voodoo Chile! \m/ ) and Nikki and Tommy are just stars, but...yeah. Heh. Oh, and Private Line blow them away on Live Wire. (*giggles* Nikki says Mötley, the crowd says Crüe. He says Mötley, they say Crüe...and I say Private Line...)

Aaaaaand back to the tents. The Crüe overran a bit so we didn't get to catch the end of Linkin Park, but never mind. Bugger all sleep really due to the campsite being full of wankers running around and shouting, but that's just par for the course really.

Sunday 10 June

Not much to say about the bands today as mostly they were very noisy and Not My Thing. What was going to be My Thing was Hardcore Superstar on the small stage - we got there a little early and I spied that I could get down the front so I nabbed the camera from Mark and headed off to do so. And then there was an announcement saying that Hardcore Superstar had cancelled (no reason given) and the next band would be coming on a little early. Fucker! I was less than pleased, as HCSS were the main band that I really *really* wanted to see. Like...desperately. Missed them last year as they played inaccessible places, and I'd seen most everyone else on the bill before, or wasn't that fussed. Absolutely gutted, and at the same time hoping that nothing was wrong. (It turned out that their tour bus had broken down in Germany and they couldn't get it repaired, get a replacement bus or get flights in time, as I found out when I messaged them on Myspace)

Still, the DJ in the tent did play Lips Like Morphine by Kill Hannah as everyone was dispersing, which was more than cool, especially as it's not out over here (but omg, it should be. Come on, boys!)

So. Main stage. Didn't really pay much attention to Lamb of God, Stone Sour, or Killswitch Engage, and Mark and I went for a wander round the stalls during Evanescence (from which I returned wearing a very natty pair of bright pink trousers with black stars on them), cashed in our beer cups (collect five and they give you a pound - we collected 35 and got £7 which was a bit of a result), and went to spend our last two beer tokens on a pint each to watch Iron Maiden with.

And oh boy. Maiden. Fucking spectacular. Godlike. I'd never seen them before - or rather, I'd seen them with Blaze Bailey, so...may as well never have seen them - and ohgod. Utterly utterly wonderful. Can't wait for them to tour again so we can go. Donington belongs to them, I think. Can't really think of any other band you could say that about, of all the bands who've headlined there over the years. Donington and Maiden...just go together. Wonderful.

We missed Paradise Lost, Within Temptation and Dream Theater cos we just couldn't be arsed walking over to the second stage (told you we were old and knackered), and I missed Billy Talent cos they clashed with Maiden - though I did catch a snippet of Reel Big Fish on my way to the loos; they sound like fun, bouncy ska stuff and the lyrics 'fuck everything but fuck you most of all, fuck everyone but fuck you most of all'...gotta love that. :D

Finally bought the cowboy hat on the way back to the tents...Mark haggled the guy down to £8, gave him £20 and got £17 in change...oops, don't think he meant to hand that fiver over...still. Result. And it is a dude of a hat, though I didn't *really* need it as I was wearing the top hat (with Kristian-Buff) all weekend, but never mind...had to be done...

So. That was it really. Shit night's sleep again on Sunday, even worse than Saturday, due to more wankers shouting and setting things on fire (not our tents, thankfully), and we staggered our weary way home on the Monday morning, utterly utterly exhausted.

Just one thing really disturbed me about the weekend, though, and that was the metalheads vs emo kids thing. It seems to be far worse than the metalheads vs glammies and goths thing that I remember. Kids going round with 'say no to emo' t-shirts, with 'death to emo' written all over them - going to that sort of trouble. It really really worried me. Given that the emo kids in general are the quiet, sensitive ones who're probably being bullied at school for being different - this is just another form of bullying and the metal kids should be fucking ashamed of themselves. The emo kids aren't doing anyone any harm, (they're too busy snogging each other, as __undertherose_ will confirm). All they need is a hug and a pat on the back and to be told that everything's going to be all right. Is that too fucking much to ask, you ignorant assholes?

*breathes*

Okay. So. Rant over. But really. Hug an emo kid. They're cute, and they'll love you for it. (and really, emo is goth's little brother. Look at it, all black hair and eyeliner and melodrama and poetry and misunderstoodness. Isn't it cute? *pets emo*)

Anyway. We ran into lots of people, including dmh and Ant and the rest of the Coventry Massive, and Gary and his little gaggle of girlies, and generally had a fabulous time. So. Who's up for next year? *bank account groans*

Actually I want to go to Ruisrock next year, or one of the other Finnish festivals, if anyone's up for it - should work out about the same as Download, even with the flights, as the tickets are so much cheaper.

Speaking of Finland, blackdogdark, jayce47 and I are going to Berlin in September, yay! What does that have to do with Finland? I hear you cry. Well, the main reason we're going (apart from having a nice cultural weekend, of course) is that Finland's prettiest sons since Michael Monroe grew up, otherwise known as the very very lovely Negative, are playing a gig in Berlin on 23 September, and we're going. Huzzah! Given that they don't play over here, Berlin was a) closest and b) a damn good excuse for a weekend away. And lots of our other friends are coming too, so it's going to be bloody brilliant. Can't wait.

and finally...*dies* is it just me or does Ozzy Osbourne sound exactly like Ali G when he goes 'Aiii!' at the beginning of Crazy Train?? Just a little random thing for you there...

...and with that, I'm off. This is stupidly long and I'm still sick.

Swinging by to say...

Tue, 22 May 2007 06:08:21 GMT

...a belated but no less heartfelt Happy Birthday to my sisterli eowyns_musings for yesterday - hope you had a lovely day!

And thank you also for the brilliant day we had in London, you, me and undomiel_48 - was lovely to see you again and to meet Domi at last. And to revisit some of my old haunts, particularly Camden. :D Even if I was a good girl and managed not to buy anything much... ;D

Anyway, it was an excellent time, and hopefully I'll see you again soon. There's a medieval fair in Tewkesbury in July if you're interested...

And in other news...there isn't much of it. Saw Spider-Man 3 the other day and...enjoyed it, but not as much as 1, though I wasn't all that blown away by 2 either. Hmmmm.

Mark is preparing frantically for his trip - he leaves on Friday. I'm then having a week off to have the house to myself and chill out, not having had any substantial time off yet this year. Can't wait. It'll be scarily quiet without him, mind...this'll be the longest we've been apart almost since we got together, so it's going to be very strange indeed.

Planning a trip with blackdogdark, as payback for Mark buggering off on his bike with his mates - heading off to some random European city in September with a bit of luck. I was hoping to coincide with someone's (anyone's!) gig schedule in Helsinki or Stockholm but it doesn't look like it's happening. However, Berlin at the end of September is looking promising... ;D

And we're going to Download in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. :D Mmmmmm, Hardcore Superstar, Velvet Revolver and My Chemical Romance...(much to Mark's despair, but then Megadeth, Mötley Crüe and Iron Maiden are playing too...) :D:D:D

Um. taptap Is this thing on?

Thu, 03 May 2007 19:32:43 GMT

Deargod. Been a while, hasn't it?

Well. Um. So what have I been up to in the *counts* five and a half months since I last updated?

Mostly, I've been working. We are somewhat shortstaffed in my team (we've gone from five full-time equivalent qualified staff to one and a half, me being the one), and the workload just keeps getting bigger. I've also had a project to finish, a whole load of freelance work to do, and we've just launched a very high-profile exhibition marking the 200th anniversary of the British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, for which I built the web resource (available here if anyone's interested in taking a look). My time management is useless as usual, so I've mostly been running around feeling very flustered and losing track of time. Still, five and a half months is pretty shockingly neglectful. Sorry, all.

On the non-work front, I've been seeing a lot of bands. Since last year I've seen AFI, Doro Pesch, the Backyard Babies (including having a pint kicked over me - accidentally - by the lovely Dregen), Vain, the Wildhearts (twice), Keane (finally, having been stuck in traffic for six hours the first time we tried to go), Placebo, the Eagles of Death Metal ( \m/ ), the Deathstars, and most recently the very very lovely and huggable Kill Hannah. Also been doing a lot of writing, though not much on the books, and have discovered the fun world of rp.

The cats continue to grow up shamefully cute, and the house and garden are coming on, though slowly - plenty of trips to Ikea, and I've just recently planted myself a little formal herb garden with box hedges and everything, which is something I've wanted for a long time. The cats keep digging the plants up, but I'm hoping that if I keep reburying the roots they'll establish...

Oh, and I redid my CBT at the weekend, so I'm legally allowed to ride my little 100cc practice bike again - or I will be when I've got the tax, MOT and insurance sorted. Shouldn't take too much training before I'm ready to take my test, and then I can ride my lovely 400cc sportsbike - once we've got it working, of course. Mark has recently been given an advance on his inheritance in the shape of an utterly gorgeous 2004 Yamaha R1, which is extra incentive to me to get my licence - not that he'll let me ride it, most likely, but it's bloody uncomfortable to ride pillion on...

Think that's all for now. So. How've you all been?

cries

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 14:40:28 GMT

edwards no 8 destroyed by fire

Fuck.

I wouldn't exactly say spiritual home, but I practically lived in this place when I lived in Birmingham, and it was the only rock club left from those days, the only place we ever went back to. I was there a month or so ago with redwendi and samphirette. And now it's gone.

This keeps happening to the places I love. When I lived in Coventry, the pub we used to go in, with the only decent rock night in town, was burnt out one night. It never opened again as we knew it, only as one of those hideous yellow 'Scream' student pubs. It had a rock night for a bit but it wasn't the same.

And now Edwards. I have to admit I'd wondered how long it'd stay open, given that posh new apartment blocks have been going up all round it and the sort of people who live there probably don't want a scuzzy little rock club in the area (which makes me wonder if this was a pre-emptive strike or an insurance job - but why do it on a Saturday night when there were 500 people inside?). I note that the fire service 'believe' everyone got out. I fucking hope everybody did.

Fuck. I'm rather wishing I hadn't looked at the 'in pictures' story because it's got me in pieces, that beautiful building just a burnt-out shell...all the amazing artwork on the walls, gone, the place I had *so* much fun, made *so* many friends, just...gone. Burnt. Gutted. And fuck, __undertherose, this means I'll never get to take you there. Which means you'll never get to see where Matthew met the Twins. Which means...fuck. Bastards. Just...bastards.

It'll be yuppie flats before a year has passed.

(Sorry I haven't been around, by the way. Work is insane, the rest of my time seems taken up with various things, including work, and I just haven't really felt like updating. Thought this merited it though.)

I'm going to go away again now. See you all...whenever.

exhaustion

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 07:38:10 GMT

Deargod, I'm tired. I've just finished my last week of work before two weeks off and have been frantically rushing around trying to get everything done. Failed miserably, of course but whatever didn't get done will have to wait until I get back. The last substantial time off I had was in April when we went to Whitby (which seems *years* ago) - I had three days off in May for housemoving things, and a couple of days in June, one to see sasha_b in London, and one to go to my sister-in-law's wedding. And since then everyone else in my team has had substantial time off because they've all got kids and I haven't, so everything has been landing on me (I'm the only full-time member of the team, also)...including my line manager being off for a month and therefore everything she usually deals with mostly landing on my desk. I'm knackered.

Had quite a good week musically, though. Ordered Negative's albums and singles (finally) from cdon.com last Sunday - based in Sweden - and they arrived Wednesday which is pretty stunning. All except the new album which isn't out till the end of the month but that's okay because I've got a non-existent leaked copy *eyedart* thanks to wickedvalo666 :D

Also discovered yesterday that Vain are coming back!!!!!! Squeeeee! They're doing a festival thingie in Nottingham (with the mighty Tigertailz) and a gig at JBs on 18 and 22 November respectively. Can't wait. colfish and pinstrype, fancy going? They're playing Camden Underworld on 21 November too, which might be more useful to you guys of course.

So there you have it. I'm taking two weeks off now, mostly just to write and chill out and recharge my batteries. Really looking forward to it... :)

(in memoriam...)

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 07:25:35 GMT

...Marc Bolan, who died 29 years ago today. Much loved and missed.

Also, a belated one for Freddie Mercury who would've been 60 last week. I'm sure he'd have loved all the fuss.

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 05:56:39 GMT

Title: Home
Word Count: 100
Challenge: 1A (picture prompt)
Characters/Pairings: Gawain (slight implication of Gawain/Galahad)
Author's Notes: O.O Whoa. I honestly thought my KA muses had given up on me (been too distracted by original muses of late), but I clicked on the prompt anyway, saw the pic, and suddenly there was Gawain going "It's so *small*! You know, it used to be a lot bigger than that." And then there was the drabble. So thanks to sasha_b and ka100 for kicking him into action for me!

The Wall, now, is so small as to be unrecognisable as it snakes away across the landscape. Gawain's incorporeal form still guards the place where his bones lie, where his heart lies, watching it change with the centuries. He dreamed of home, but how could he leave when Arthur needed him? How could he leave without Galahad, who declared he was staying with as much vehemence as he'd always declared he'd go home at the first opportunity? So he stayed until old age claimed him, just another ghost now among the ghosts of his friends, reunited at last in death.

birthday girl!

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 07:09:31 GMT

Swinging by very quickly before work, just to say:

Happy birthday, niniel_amaya!!!!

Big snuggles to you, sweetie, and I hope you're having a lovely day. *squishes*

Well. That was an interesting day.

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 22:12:11 GMT

So. It turns out that the National Archives are putting Domesday Book online from today (here, if anyone is interested), and because it was commissioned in Gloucester, the local media have been wanting to do interviews and stuff. Of course, nobody else wanted to do it, so guess who ended up talking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire at 7.15am this morning in a car park in Churchdown (once a village, now a suburb of Gloucester), and to Central News (local TV) at 4pm this afternoon in front of Gloucester Cathedral. Fame and fortune beckon? Probably not. The spot on Central News was a tiny soundbite in the middle of an article (though I didn't look too bad, having had about zero time to prepare myself), but the Radio Glos thing was a little more expansive. We've managed to snag it from the 'listen again' bit of the BBC's website and Mark is currently editing and tidying it, so if anyone wants to hear me rambling on about the Domesday Book on local radio, drop me a line and I'll sling it on over.

In other news...well. I've been insanely busy. The big scary changes didn't materialise after all (I applied for a rather frightening but interesting management-level job at work but didn't get shortlisted due to a huge number of far more experienced candidates applying - but I think I've done myself a big favour by doing it as the boss said it was an excellent application and she was really pleased I applied, plus she's now more aware of what I can do - she's only known me just over a year - and it's given me quite the confidence booster; having spent about three weeks telling myself I'd be really good at the job, I find I'm now rather more prepared to do things like, for example, go and be interviewed on the radio and TV...)...but work has been the usual manicness, the house is inching closer to being sorted, though only very slowly...and I've taken up going to the gym. The what? I hear you cry. Yes, the gym. Really, you did read that right. Mark and his friend Rich decided to start going weight training, Rich because he used to do it years ago and wants to get back into it, and Mark because it might do his various motorcycling injuries some good - and I figured, if they're going, I might as well go and play with the rowing machines and cross-trainers. I've rather taken to it and am enjoying it a lot, and have even started doing some (light, girlie) weights with the boys on occasion. Most of all I think I like the fact that once I've done a fair bit of work on the cross-trainers, I'm absolutely out of my tree with the endorphins, cheerier than I've been in a long while. Brilliant. :D

The kittens have settled in well, though Magick and Faerie are slightly less convinced...still, the little'uns are so much better than they were when they came to us, both very friendly, to the extent that Jamie, who was so timid when we got him that all he'd do was hide behind the sofabed, will hop up on my lap of his own volition and follows me round like a little puppy, bless him. Photos will ensue, once we've got some decent ones. Sadly, it's quite hard to get a decent pic of Jamie, at least, as he's jet black and just blends in to all our clothes...and the carpet, which is dark red...*sigh*

This year is shaping up to be another year of gigs, also - or the autumn is, at least. So far I've got AFI, Keane and Muse lined up, and probably Placebo too once I get myself sorted out and tickets bought. (squeee AFI!! I was all sulky cos Birmingham Academy had sold out and I was going to have to faff about with ebay, and then I discovered they're playing Bristol two days later - more convenient, smaller venue, and most importantly, not sold out! Huzzah!) Musically I'm currently still obsessing over Negative, and also AFI, to whom I have converted Mark, against all odds, mostly by the underhand technique of leaving the Sing the Sorrow CD in the new car which only has a CD player so you can't listen to ipod in it - he then went and bought Decemberunderground from itunes and burned it to CD so he could listen to it in the car. Result. I think I win. (those of you who know Mark will be aware of his absolute refusal to consider liking any bands formed after about 1990...) So we're going to see them in October, huzzah! *squees madly*

Ooooh. And the book meme. Tagged by my sisterli eowyns_musings (*snuggles* to you, sweetie, I promise I'll get online sometime soon for a chat! Miss you hugely!)

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

"I would not be in debt to a mere scullion!"

"Then he must die," said Gareth.

"Spare me, I beg of you," gasped the Green Knight.

- from one of my favourite childhood books, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green, being part of the Tale of Sir Gareth, or the Knight of the Kitchen, my second-favourite of all the Arthurian tales (behind the Tale of Sir Gawaine and the Lady Ragnell, my retelling of which I really ought to post here sometime) - which reminds me that I ought to get working on my Arthurian (or rather Gawaineian) project when I'm a little more sorted.

Not sure I can be arsed tagging anyone, you've probably all done it already, but if anyone hasn't and fancies doing so, feel free!

Right. I think that's it for now. I'm off to watch nice loud rock videos on Scuzz (and hope they play some AFI, Placebo or HIM *is a shocking girlie*)

slightly belatedly...

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 05:30:09 GMT

Happy birthday, sasha_b!!!

Sorry it's late! Yesterday turned extremely hectic...hope you had a brilliant day, and here's hoping for many more. *hugs* :D

please cheer me up...

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 16:13:03 GMT

...someone? I'm feeling oddly down today. Too much to do and no idea where to start. Scared of starting. I don't know. Possible big changes are in the air, and it's making me nervous.

*sigh*

So. A plea. Cheer me up, please. I don't mind what with - a ficlet, a picture, a joke, a funny story...anything you think might make me smile. Eternal love and gratefulness for those who feel they can help. :)

In the meantime, I'm off to help build a shed. Maybe that might lift my mood...though I doubt it, somehow.

oh, thank fuck for that.

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 22:09:16 GMT

England are out of the World Cup. Finally. Maybe now the country will go back to some semblance of normality and everyone will stop talking about fucking football all the bloody time. *is not a fan*

Also, maybe now all those idiots with flags on their cars might take them off and stop risking killing bikers when the cheap plastic breaks and the flag flies off at 90mph on the motorway. I don't buy all this 'oh, we're being patriotic' bullshit. If they were being patriotic, they'd fly the flag every day of every year, not just when there's a football tournament on.

Okay. Rant over. I just kinda needed to get that off my chest.

In much cheerier news, we have two new kittens!! Mark volunteers for Cats Protection and knows a lady who fosters cats and kittens, and she had these darling wee kitties that had been born under a shed and are still semi-feral...would we like to tame two of them up? Would we ever?! So we went to pick them up today and are now the proud guardians of a little black male called Jamie, and a little black-and-white female who is awaiting a suitable name. They're still very wary and tend to hiss when we go to pick them up, but they came and sat with us while we watched Underworld Evolution earlier (not that we were paying much attention, didn't think it was that good), and wee Jamie pretty much fell asleep on my lap, which is a breakthrough as he's very nervous and prone to hiding; and his sister spent much of her time running around and hiding under the bed and in the litter tray. Bless. We're keeping them separate from our other two for a few days and then introducing them gradually - Magick and Faerie are young enough to adapt fairly well to kittens apparently, so that should be okay. They really are incredibly cute...*happy sigh*

And it's hot. Very hot. Glad it wasn't quite this hot last weekend and during the week when we were frantically cleaning and clearing the old house ready to hand the keys back on Thursday evening. blackdogdark very kindly came over last Saturday and helped me clean upstairs, and we've spent the rest of the week cleaning the kitchen, clearing the garden, shifting rather a lot of soil (clearing an old compost heap mostly consisting of the turf I moved to create the flowerbeds four years ago), hoovering anything that stayed still long enough, and generally wearing ourselves out. And then it was Mark's sister's wedding yesterday, which was very lovely, if a little dull for us because we didn't know many people there. Still, we got to see some family we don't see very often, which was nice, Tracey looked gorgeous, and it was about fucking time they did it, too, so three cheers for Tracey and Jon.

Right. I'm off to bed, I think. It's been a long week. See y'all soon.

sneezes

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 21:03:18 GMT

*sigh* Bloody hayfever. I've taken three tablets this evening (three times the recommended dose) and I'm still bloody sneezing.

However. In other news. We are nearly all moved in; tomorrow and Sunday are set aside for clearing and cleaning the old house and clearing the garden; blackdogdark is very kindly coming over to help and hopefully we'll get it all sorted, as we have to give the keys back next Friday.

The new house, meanwhile, is lovely, if full of boxes. Need a few more bookshelves (hello Ikea) but the third excuse-for-a-bedroom has bookcases on one side and CD shelves on the other and is beginning to look rather like a library (inasmuch as a six-foot-by-six-foot-nine room can look like anything approaching a library...), which was the intention. :) The cats are settling in, the internet is working, and it's all beginning to feel like home.

In other other news...this month I have mostly been listening to Negative and AFI. And heaven help me, Davey AFI's new haircut is growing on me. I was all devastated at first cos he had *such* lovely long hair, but that whole asymmetric thing...does rather suit him. I'm also rather intrigued by the very long-haired-and-muso-esque Dragonforce...we've got Sky now rather than Telewest, so we get the fabulous Scuzz, which appears to be like Kerrang!TV but better. And we went to see Mesh last Friday night with Ciaran and Cat and blackdogdark and redwendi (who was en route to a film set, having signed up to be an extra in Sean Bean's new movie...which frustratingly has been being filmed around here and I had no idea about it until afterwards...), and they were bloody wonderful *happy sigh*. Meanwhile, am contemplating a little email campaign about Negative, cos I suspect they'd go over a storm with the classic rock community over here. Reckon Arrow, Planet Rock, Scuzz and Classic Rock ought to be nudged and informed about them, at least, not to mention possible gig venues. Because they really need to get their skinny Finnish asses over here and tour. :D

Anyway. I'm off to wait up for Placebo on the Friday Night Project on Channel 4. Hopefully the sneezing will abate eventually. *sigh*

Happy birthday undomiel_48!

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 07:12:15 GMT

A flying visit to the house with the internet connection, just to say...

Happy Birthday, undomiel_48!!!

Have a lovely day, and hopefully I'll speak to you soon! *hugses* ♥

Happy birthday __undertherose!

Sun, 28 May 2006 10:19:15 GMT

And a little early, in case I'm not about on Tuesday, a very very big

Happy Birthday, __undertherose!!!!

to my partner-in-crime, mutual bad influence and fellow sucker-for-pretty-Finns. Have a brilliant day, and I'll speak to you soon! *hugs*

Update

Sun, 28 May 2006 10:16:49 GMT

So. Where are we? Well, we've got the keys to the new house and have been moving in over the last week or so. Today we move ourselves, the cats, the bedding and the kitchen gear and move in officially. The rest of the week will be taken up with moving things like the kitchen appliances, the rest of the clothes, the final bits of books and paperwork and all that. Luckily we've got the old house till the end of June so we can take our time getting the non-essential stuff sorted and out. I shall be offline, pretty much, until Thursday when we're having the phone connected, and then I shall only be on dialup until we can persuade Virgin that giving us broadband would be a good thing. *has been incredibly spoiled by having a 10mb cable broadband connection which is not yet available at the new place*

The new house is gorgeous, if a little problematical (mostly little things, but the day we moved in the boiler was leaking and someone had broken the window in the second bedroom), but things are slowly being straightened out. We had a most successful trip to Ikea last week and bought exciting things like bookcases and CD towers and a sofa and a new desk for me (so now I have a nice big desk with drawers instead of the crappy little workstation thing I've been using for the last seven years or so) - just got to go back for a few more bits and bobs.

In among that I've been discovering fabulous new music, thanks to Denica over at buzznet - further proof that Finland produces the best rock bands in the world (well, Scandinavia does, being as the Backyard Babies, Hardcore Superstar and Stefan Olsdal are all Swedish...). No, not Lordi, much as I am overjoyed that they won Eurovision - this lot are far prettier. Their name is Negative, and they are totally stuck in the Eighties and I love them hugely. They look like Hanoi Rocks did about 25 years ago (complete with absolutely stunning blond omg-is-that-a-man-or-a-woman?? singer), and they sound like...well, I can't quite do them justice, but they do big fluffy ballads and kick-ass rock n' roll and they are the prettiest thing to come out of Finland since Ville Valo. I am being a bit of a girl about them, as you can probably tell. Oh, and the singer and guitarist are the slashiest thing in the world - see icon. :D

Right. I'm off to move stuff. See you all when I see you. :D

happy birthday eowyns_musings!

Sun, 21 May 2006 06:40:23 GMT

ohyes, it's that time of year again!

Happy Birthday eowyns_musings!!

hope you have a wonderful day, sisterli! pressie in the post, umm...just as soon as we've moved and gotten ourselves sorted! ;) *hugs* ♥

The Very Big and Exciting News

Fri, 05 May 2006 06:57:33 GMT

I think it's about time I let you all in on the Very Big and Exciting News that I've been dropping dark hints about for the last couple of weeks. It looks like it's all in place, so I hope I'm not stepping out of the cosmic line and tempting fate by letting the cat out of the bag as it were...

Well. Here goes. Mark and I are buying a house.

It's something we've talked about doing for a long while, something we've both really wanted to do but just haven't been in the financial position to be able to do anything about it. We're getting there now (which is a good thing, all things considered), so we ambled down to the big new development on the old RAF site near us on Easter Saturday, just to have a look...and walked away having put our names down for a little three-bedroomed (well, two-and-a-half-bedroomed really, the third bedroom you'd be lucky to fit a cot into, and no this does not mean we'll be having kids) mid-terraced place. It's got a garage over the road to keep the bikes in, and space in the garden for a nice big shed for M to work on them in...and enough space left over for me to have a bit of garden to potter in. It's finished, ready to move into, all we have to do is find the mortgage and complete the purchase within 28 days or the Fabulous Deals the developers are giving us will not be valid. Well, it looks like it's all sorted, the mortgage is going through, the legal stuff is going through...so by next weekend or thereabouts it should all be done and dusted.

Oh. my. gods. We're buying a house. I've been in shock ever since. I guess if we'd been left to it we'd never have done it, it took having an offer we could barely refuse to kick our asses into gear to take the plunge. It's very frightening - but also rather exciting. We've been in to measure up and I'm now happily drawing little room plans on graph paper and cutting out bits of paper to represent furniture (just checking that everything fits in, which it does if we squeeze it).

So that's where I've been while I've been AWOL (that and Whitby of course). I shall be continuing to be mostly AWOL for the next month or so as we have to have a huge clearout and start packing (I hate moving house. Hate it hate it hate it) before beginning to move stuff over to the new place. Luckily it's only about a mile or so away so we can take stuff over in batches, and we have offers of transit vans and pickups from various friends coming out of our ears. Huzzah.

So yes. That's what's happening, that's where I've been, and that's where I'll be continuing to be. We're going to have to give up the cable broadband, sadly, as the estate is so new that the cable hasn't been put in yet and they don't have a date for it to be done - so it's off to see the nice people at BT and Virgin.net, I think. So any of you still using my old blueyonder.co.uk email addies, those will be obsolete from the end of May. Scared of Sunlight will be staying active in some way, shape or form, though we might have to find it a server to live on somewhere, and it'll probably be down for a few days while we move.

New postal addy available on application to those as what want it, although we'll be having our mail redirected from the existing address for at least six months, I should imagine.

So yes. Ohmygods. We appear to be joining the ranks of the grownups at long last. Does this mean we actually have to grow up? Hope not.

Right, I'm off to work to earn the mortgage repayments (ohgods they're hideous). Speak to you all sooner or later! *hugs all round*

ETA: I absolutely love this mood icon. It's so apt! *snuggles mr h*

Whitby Whitby Whitby!

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 14:58:22 GMT

We made it there! We made it back! We even managed to squeeze in a holiday and a tiny bit of culture in among the drinking...

Got back about 45 minutes ago and already appear to have unpacked at least the suitcase - there's even a load of laundry in the machine. I must be getting domesticated in my old age. Off to pick the cats up in a bit (if they're still speaking to us of course) and finish the rest of the unpacking.

Not to mention tidying up and clearing out, but that's another story...one which I shall tell later. For now - Whitby!

We'd planned to make it a week-long thing this time as we never seem to have time to do much other than drink a lot and be hungover, and consequently never get to see much of Whitby and the surrounding area...we'd planned to go up on the Wednesday and come back the following Wednesday. Then in January a certain clumsy Finnish guitarist slipped on some ice in Helsinki (ha! a likely story. New Year's Eve in Helsinki? Pissed off his face, more like) and the HIM gig that blackdogdark and I were going to on 24 January got postponed to 20 April. The Thursday of the Whitby weekend. Some discussion ensued between myself and Mark, the upshot of which was that I'd go to the gig on the Thursday night and we'd then haul ourselves up to Whitby on the Friday and stay till the following Friday. Which is essentially what happened, although there were added complications on the way, which are part of the other story.

So. I was expecting Mark to disown me because of going to see HIM - who were absolutely bloody wonderful, by the way, fucking brilliant musicians and oh, that voice, I'm most impressed that he can produce the whole range live as well as in the studio. Very pretty, too. :D However, he's been deigning to talk to me so I guess it wasn't such a terrible sin after all.

So. Friday we dragged ourselves up as far north as we ever quite manage to go without falling off the edge of the world (no kidding, the B&B is practically on the clifftop), and eventually staggered out to the Elsinore to see who was about. Most people we knew were up at the Spa, but we'd decided not to go as the only band we wanted to see all weekend were Manuskript and as they're touring this year anyway we decided we weren't paying £35 each just to see them and a bunch of other bands we don't know. So we perched in the Elsinore wondering if anyone we knew was going to turn up...and then ulfilias attracted my attention by throwing a beermat at me and we joined him, colfish, toripink and oldnick1971 for more beer and lots of getting-to-know-you, culminating in us being dragged off (kicking and screaming, naturally) to Laughton's for the alternative Friday-night thing. Which was huge fun, and went on until 4am, so we were hideously drunk by the end of the night. Much fun!

Saturday we hauled ourselves round the Bazaar, bumped into colfish several times, went for a pint in the Elsinore and ambled back to the B&B, fully intending to grab forty winks, get changed and head back into town for more beer. Except that forty winks turned into eighty, and by the time we'd crimped Mark's hair it was nine in the evening. We went to the Chinese for tea...and decided we couldn't be bothered going into town. So we went back to the B&B and fell asleep in front of Parkinson. How rock n' roll is that?! (not very much at all...)

We managed slightly better on Sunday. Ambled round the Abbey, ended up in the Elsinore for more beer, where we encountered dmh and ulfilias. We'd been planning to go back to the B&B for tarting-up purposes (mainly cos I wanted to wear the corset again) but decided we were having too much fun and stayed in the pub until it was time to queue for Laughtons. Collected Simon on the way, having not managed to see him all weekend, detoured via the Magpie for fish and chips, except that Mark couldn't have any cos their chips aren't veggie-friendly. I didn't want the chips so most of the queue ended up eating them instead. Had an insane amount of fun in Laughtons, admired colfish's very fetching skirt-and-boots combination, took some photos, and generally enjoyed ourselves. I even found a poor abandoned lightstick on the floor, so I had to adopt it for the rest of the night. Lightstick! Wheeee! And ended up rather drunk again. Oops.

Monday was rather quieter; a bit of shopping, more drinks in the Elsinore with ulfilias, colfish and oldnick1971 before they headed back south - leaving us a bottle of Sambuca as a parting gift, generous souls that they are. Big hugs all round, three cheers for new friends, and yes, we would love to come to B-Movie sometime!

The rest of the week saw the culture bit - Scarborough sea life centre on Tuesday to say hello to the seals, penguins, turtles, otters and other cute maritime creatures (I want an otter. Can I have an otter?), the Captain Cook museum on Wednesday and Whitby Museum on Thursday. Liberally interspersed with trips to the pub, of course - it's so strange seeing the Elsinore in its usual plumage of old men's pub, without all the Hallowe'en decorations and goths in various stages of inebriation.

Did a tiny bit of shopping, though we'd promised ourselves we weren't going to buy anything - we were very good at the Bazaar, but Mark bought a rather nice jacket in Pandemonium and I'm now the proud owner of a Tibetan singing bowl from the fair trade shop on Skinner Street, having wanted one for some time.

And now we're back, and we're skint, but we've had a good time. The cats still seem to be speaking to us (just), the house is still in one piece, and the Something Very Big and Exciting seems to be rumbling on apace. But more of that anon...

Angels in the Architecture

Uh. Hi. Been a while, hasn't it?

Holy crap, Batman.

Update

The Potter thing...

Arse.

So. Fic meme.

Download!

Swinging by to say...

Um. *taptap* Is this thing on?

*cries*

*exhaustion*

(in memoriam...)

birthday girl!

Well. *That* was an interesting day.

slightly belatedly...

please cheer me up...

oh, thank *fuck* for that.

*sneezes*

Happy birthday undomiel_48!

Happy birthday __undertherose!

Update

happy birthday eowyns_musings!

The Very Big and Exciting News

Whitby Whitby Whitby!

Um. taptap Is this thing on?

cries

exhaustion

Well. That was an interesting day.

oh, thank fuck for that.

sneezes