The Duck Pond
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
The worst web page of the week goes to: ALL ABOUT RATS
This is silly, but it's one of those things that where if you have plenty to blog about, you're too busy to blog and if you have time to blog that's because you're doing fuck all and have nothing to blog about.
So...
Summer Sundae was terribly exciting, it being my first ever festival and all.
The Friday was fairly good but I was knackered and my feet hurt. Saw Mr. Scruff and bought a cd of a band called "Tandy" which I still haven't listened to.
Saturday was excellent. Super Furries were splendid although we did leave early due to them doing some crap synth stuff and us getting bored and having the usual feet-achy thing. Apparently we didn't miss much. I really liked a band called Kasabian and will buy their album when it comes out.
Sunday also excellent. Again saw a really good act that I've never heard of before (Jim Moray), ate lots of hippah burgers (mmm hippahs) and saw Air, who were fab and seemed a bit surprised that people were happy to see them. We got right at the front. Hooray.
Hoped to write a bit more but it was Aeons ago and I can't remember it.
Went out in London with Dave and Mark (and Mark's colleague) this weekend for great expensive cocktail burger ROCK night out. Great fun, although I might have enjoyed it more had I not the hangover from hell.
Two new additions to my household: Minsc & Boo (yeah, yeah, so I like Baldurs Gate, so what?!) who are two adorable rats although I'm worried about Minsc as he's so painfully shy.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Yay
I'm in an incredible amount of pain today and generally feeling like shit. Like a crazy person I came to work anyway. Now I just want to get back home and feel sorry for myself while tucked up in bed. Far too much to do though and I might as well carry on, now I'm here.
I'm going to get round to blogging about Summer Sundae and Matlock eventually, honestly I am.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
It's Just Not Cricket
I was mucking about on my computer (which is still on the floor, fucking Allied Carpets, incompetent fools), when I noticed something large hopping towards me. Further inspection revealed it to be a cricket. I stared at it in disbelief for a few seconds, perhaps expecting it to start singing to me about whistling, before getting Matt to take it outside in a plastic cup. It didn't like that at all and was jumping against the cup with all its might, which was quite something; I'm surprised it didn't brain itself. A short while later I was chatting with Matt, when he stopped and pointed over my shoulder, mouth open. I slowly turned round with a sense of dread for what I might see, and there was the daddeh of all crickets, merrily hopping up my wall. This was also escorted off the premises with the plastic cup, while also trying to brain itself. It was really odd as I've never seen a cricket in real life before and two in one day, especially in my flat, was somewhat alarming. I haven't seen any before or since though so I'm not sure what was going on. Perhaps crickets have mating days, like ants, where you can't move for the bloody things. When I get a cat I'm sure it won't be a problem anyway.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Gym Bore
Well I did it. I signed up for the gym and as I've signed up for a minimum of a year I'd better bloody well use it, although they do have this system where if you have to take a month or two off due to injury, holiday or just plain laziness (the instructor's words, not mine) then you can and just add them on to the end, which sounds like a bloody good idea to me.
I'm going to be paying 37 quid a month. Painful, but I was expecting something more like 50 quid so not too bad and for this I am a "Gold Member" (fnar fnar), which means I get:
- Unrestricted access to the gym and free weights area
- Unrestricted access to all the classes, of which there are many, and the ones I've been to so far (admittedly 2) have been splendid
- Unrestricted access to the pool
- Free use of towel (woo)
- 12 w@w free sunbed passes (uncertain whether I will use these)
- 12 w@w free guest passes for dragging other buggers to the gym with me
- Off peak access to other gyms of the same chain around the world
I like being able to go to a class straight after work and I can already feel some effects. I've lost weight too although it's too soon for that to be the gym, it's probably all the painting and DIY (and stressing) that's caused that.
This Week's Film
Stepford Wives. I don't understand why it got such a slating. I thought it was great.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Ahhhh Fresh Meat...
I am being increasingly amused and a tad surprised at how some* people make such a big deal out of me being a hippah. I don't tell people that I'm one if I don't need to because I don't think it's very relevant, unless I'm invited to a tea party or whatever. When I do tell people I expect maybe a few questions and a bit of pisstaking, which is fine and I love the attention *grin*. Some are really wufferly and go out of their way to make sure there's veggie food at their party etc. but there's always people who constantly go on and on about it, usually being quite rude and often probably thinking they're being so smart and original, although I've heard it all many, many times before. I've given up arguing and never felt the need to justify myself so I just grin or scowl at them depending on my mood. What is a bit annoying is, if I were to make comments about what they were eating they'd probably bang on about "self righteous vegetarians stuffing their beliefs down everyone else's throats " (*waggle eyebrows*). Excuse me?!
* Not very many, most give even less of a flying fuck than I do about them eating meat, as long as I let them nibble their sausage in peace, everyone's happy. This is how I'd expect it to be
Bun in the Oven
I had a bizarre dream that I was heavily preggers and ready to drop at any time. I was in this strange nursery place and there were lots of nurses/midwives around waiting for me to have contractions or whatever (I'm quite ignorant of the whole process so my brain just made it up). My dream didn't specify the father's identity.
Hrrrwwwhheeeeeeeeeee!!
I have bought a plant that looks like an alien. It rocks.
The Day Before Two Weeks After the Middle of Last Year's Second Month
Noone told me Newbury had a monsoon season. So very hot but raining all the time at the moment. We've had 4 thunderstorms in under 2 weeks hyah, maybe we're coming to another ice age and I get to run around being chased by escaped wolves and rapidly moving frost.
Friday, August 06, 2004
Oh the pain
I went to aerobics last night to sweat my way through a most painful experience, which I actually enjoyed, for the most part, masochist that I am. The instructor was the smiliest woman in the world although even she looked like she was in pain for bits of it. My legs are screaming every time I even think about moving them today but shockingly everything else must be in quite good shape. My arms are fine and even my stomach is only slightly twinging every now and then.
Oh the flat
Getting better. I think the bedroom's going to look fab. the list of what I want to do to it is getting ever longer although none of it really needs doing in any particular hurry so I'm quite happy to leave the more tricky stuff for a couple of months. Major but unnecessary work such as swapping the horrid strip light in the kitchen for a wubberly spotlight thing and changing the fan in the bathroom for something that doesn't look like a reject prop from a cheesy sci-fi movie might not even be done until next year.
Frankenstein's Monster
It was release day yesterday and, quite appropriately, there was a huge thunderstorm, complete with flickering lights and so on. My boss took to giving a huge scary laugh every time there was a particularly loud clap of thunder. There was even a scene as follows:
Thunder: BBBRRMMMBBBLLMMMBBBRRRRRBBBRRRRRLLLL
Boss: MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Colleague: er, your not going to believe this but my PC has just crashed
Spooky.
Pity I didn't have my hobble yesterday, really, else I could have been Igor.
Monday, August 02, 2004
What a weekend. Recarpeting plans were thwarted by hot weather, leaky taps and a hangover from hell. Spent another small fortune at B&Q and saw lots of cute duckies trying to jump in and out of a pond, slipping in a comical fashion and then pretending they didn't want to get in/out anyway.
I have to decide whether to bother with a gym subscription or not. I want to get fitter and although I'm not hugely fat anymore I would like to lose a few of those pesky extra pounds that are hard to shift. The problem is that gyms are expensive and I don't want to pay all that money and then not turn up and/or to not enjoy or even loathe it. On the other hand the money factor might give me a bit of extra motivation to exercise because the thing with me and exercise is I usually enjoy it when I get started but I find that getting started is so difficult! Bleurgh this is all making me sound terribly weak-minded. The most local gym to me, helpfully, does a 6 week "trial" run so that's probably the best option for now.
When I get an allotment that'll all be terribly good exercise anyway.
