James James Robinson Robinson
This morning I received the sweetest email from my friend James in Ottawa. He's so great! We lost touch for a while after I moved but have been in touch off and on over the past few months. He's going through a bit of a rough spell as his little boy is moving out of town with the mother and they'll be about 6 hours away from each other. My heart goes out to him as I know what an amazing father he is to his child and it's sad that he's going to have to be so far away from the little guy. I'm not in touch with many people from back in Ottawa anymore... we're all scattered around the world. It's funny how a few words from him bring me swirling back to the days where we hung out at zahpods before it was over run by all the 'jocks' back in the day where we could queue jump and pop in there leaving our massive winter coats at his place that was next door. The bjork, the stone roses... 'I wanna be adored' ah the fun times we had. I'm fully aware that I broke James' heart when I broke up with him. I know this and I will always feel bad about it. I'm very lucky to still have him as a friend.
it's grey and rainy today and I'm dreaming of Spain.... also realizing that I have to get my arse into conversational Spanish lessons in a hurry if I want to get things in order.
we're off at lunch today for celebratory drinks today to mark the launch of the FR portal that happened while I was away last week. Not particularly in the mood for drinking mid-day. I don't think I'll ever become accustomed to mid day drinking rituals in this country.... it feels too naughty!
16.5.03
15.5.03
I am the complete antithesis of my humour yesterday
I've got a spring in my step ad smile on my face and a glow in my belly. (no i'm not pregnant). Well it would be the immaculate conception if I were... I'll just leave it at that.
My boss is away today and the sun is shining. I'm probably wearing the most dodgy outfit I've put together in a while involving fishnet stockings... high top converse and a red hooded jumper. I feel like a tarted out little red riding hood but I don't care. Now if someone would be kind enough to hook me up with some peeps in Seville for a job then please please please feel free to contact me.
What else is up? hmm lets see. Spoke with Siobhan this morning on messenger and she said the her consultancy is picking up and that she's got another job training and may even have a contact from London shipping over a horse for her to train and compete with... which would supplement her income and strengthen her consultancy name! At this rate she may just need an assistant some time soon! !?!?!?
Sean is still humming and hawwing over his life that's in transition... no amount of bollocking from me seems to make him 'turn it into a positive' as my old boss would say. He'll click on to it. Got better advice for him? Tell him!
tenga un día fabuloso
I've got a spring in my step ad smile on my face and a glow in my belly. (no i'm not pregnant). Well it would be the immaculate conception if I were... I'll just leave it at that.
My boss is away today and the sun is shining. I'm probably wearing the most dodgy outfit I've put together in a while involving fishnet stockings... high top converse and a red hooded jumper. I feel like a tarted out little red riding hood but I don't care. Now if someone would be kind enough to hook me up with some peeps in Seville for a job then please please please feel free to contact me.
What else is up? hmm lets see. Spoke with Siobhan this morning on messenger and she said the her consultancy is picking up and that she's got another job training and may even have a contact from London shipping over a horse for her to train and compete with... which would supplement her income and strengthen her consultancy name! At this rate she may just need an assistant some time soon! !?!?!?
Sean is still humming and hawwing over his life that's in transition... no amount of bollocking from me seems to make him 'turn it into a positive' as my old boss would say. He'll click on to it. Got better advice for him? Tell him!
tenga un día fabuloso
14.5.03
this day is dragging
I think my hormones are churning... it's the one unholy day of the month where for my sake and for the sake of all those around me I should just be alone! I wish Hazel would just listen to me!
the post holiday bubble didn't burst but it slowly disintegrated in the London smog. The Strawberry tea I'm drinking is calming me a bit but it's not helping me stay awake. Watching the Sopranos on Tuesday night is always a dangerous thing as I get to sleep so late!
today I do not want to re-integrate... I do not want to play well with others *stamps foot*
I think my hormones are churning... it's the one unholy day of the month where for my sake and for the sake of all those around me I should just be alone! I wish Hazel would just listen to me!
the post holiday bubble didn't burst but it slowly disintegrated in the London smog. The Strawberry tea I'm drinking is calming me a bit but it's not helping me stay awake. Watching the Sopranos on Tuesday night is always a dangerous thing as I get to sleep so late!
today I do not want to re-integrate... I do not want to play well with others *stamps foot*
12.5.03
so as per usual when I have too much to say I think it's best that I just jot down some high points of my holiday... perhaps expanding on them later.
day one
-arriving Thursday and heading straight to Seville and went to the festival. the costumes were so pretty and the whole city was alive! with music and dance. it was truly a wicked night. Trailing around the different casettas
-finding the only public casetta with drag queens... or 'fake women' as Tiago called them... how we managed to do that... I'll never know!
-winding up at a gay bar at the suggestion of one of Tiago's clients (the hilarity comes from the fact that Tiago is not gay) and after the 'fake women' was already a little shaken
-dancing and drinking and laughing till 4am
day 2
-witnessing a bloke have an unfortunate but hilarious incident involving a used condom falling out of his pocket in the middle of the street.
-amazing breakfast in a local restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Seville
-did I mention I'm going to move to Seville?
-drive to a horse ranch for a business chat with a man who simply could not sit still while negotiating with Siobhan... me standing outside desperately trying to rid myself of my white London hue
-bob marley and giggles and deliriousness on the way back to Portugal
-sleeeeeeeeeeep
day 3
-beautiful bbq at Sally and Tony's farm... the weather was amazing
-tan... nope not a chance... still as white as a snowflake
-arrival of Line and Sophie... annouk's cousin and friend and her two babies waalt and daan from Belgium
-girlie giggles
day 4
why can't I remember anything?
day 5
-slept till 11
-there was rain
-yummy Belgian food
-major business planning with Siobhan... building her a consultancy model (which ROCKS btw)
-drink
-gossip
-girlie chats
day 6
-helping Siobhan train her horses and ponies
-learning how to walk a horse... and generally trying to be of assistance... city girl with horses... never a dull moment
-boat ride with Tiago
-drinks
-crying babies
-dizzying amounts of Flemish and Portuguese mixed... I was in language overload
day 7
-more horse training
-trip to badajoz to visit Oopie and Soleil and check on some ponies that Sally has living there
-trip to Carrefour (including the purchase of a lovely pair of red sandals for me and my seestor)
-drinks
-dinner in a local restaurant including more than 11 beers between Sio, Marina and I including food that cost 21 Euros (gasps! how inexpensive!)
-crying babies
day 8
-witnessing a gypsy kid get struck by a car in town... and watching no one help him except Siobhan... I dared not as I couldn't communicate to him but no one else would go near the little guy cause he was a gypsy
-boat trip with annouk, line, sophie, all the kids and some of annouk's relatives
-the most thrilling motorcycle ride of my life wearing nothing more than a mini skirt and flip flops and no helmet. Over bumpy terrain, though olive groves. It was the most terrifying thing but also the most fun/stupid thing I've done in a long long time.
-Hugo landing the job he wanted in Spain (thus securing his ticket out of his limited possibilities of work in Portugal) BIG celebrating for him!
day 9
-lots of sunning and relaxing
-car trip into the Spanish mountains
-buying a huge picnic lunch for under 10 euros for 3 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-picnic by the side of the road... playing football, laughing... taking pictures
-stopping random donkey drivers to ask if they had a bourra for sale to mate with Siobhan's Donkey Eeore
-picking up a very old man who was hitching and giving him a lift to his house to help him avoid the heat and the long journey!
-night time trip into Evora with the boys for a friend's b'day party
-controlling my laughter at the age difference and the major language barriers between the kids at the party and me... had a blast anyway
-watching Hugo attempt the pseudo juggling tricks that the hippy girls were doing outside of the cathedral including the wiggling of the hips!
-staying out way too late
day 10
-recovery
-napping
-afternoon bbq
-donkey hair cuts!
-dinner under the stars
day 11
-loading up the car with Hugo to be dropped in Spain at his new job... lots of good byes
-stopping at a festa just on the border and having a beer... lots of lovely Spanish traditional dress and lots of pretty horses...
-noticing that the festa was in the middle of have a mass (and they were serving beer) now mass with booze.... that's a concept!
-honking and every car we passed, waving and laughing!
-did I mention how friendly the Spanish people are?
-lunch with Hugos new boss in a sandy (western looking ) village
-driving along side a massive motorcycle rally along the coast on the way to the airport
-quick check in and immediate boarding and off I was winging my way back to London town.
I'm still a glow from all the wonderful fun I had.
I will surely never forget it!
Thanks Siobhan and Annouk!
day one
-arriving Thursday and heading straight to Seville and went to the festival. the costumes were so pretty and the whole city was alive! with music and dance. it was truly a wicked night. Trailing around the different casettas
-finding the only public casetta with drag queens... or 'fake women' as Tiago called them... how we managed to do that... I'll never know!
-winding up at a gay bar at the suggestion of one of Tiago's clients (the hilarity comes from the fact that Tiago is not gay) and after the 'fake women' was already a little shaken
-dancing and drinking and laughing till 4am
day 2
-witnessing a bloke have an unfortunate but hilarious incident involving a used condom falling out of his pocket in the middle of the street.
-amazing breakfast in a local restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Seville
-did I mention I'm going to move to Seville?
-drive to a horse ranch for a business chat with a man who simply could not sit still while negotiating with Siobhan... me standing outside desperately trying to rid myself of my white London hue
-bob marley and giggles and deliriousness on the way back to Portugal
-sleeeeeeeeeeep
day 3
-beautiful bbq at Sally and Tony's farm... the weather was amazing
-tan... nope not a chance... still as white as a snowflake
-arrival of Line and Sophie... annouk's cousin and friend and her two babies waalt and daan from Belgium
-girlie giggles
day 4
why can't I remember anything?
day 5
-slept till 11
-there was rain
-yummy Belgian food
-major business planning with Siobhan... building her a consultancy model (which ROCKS btw)
-drink
-gossip
-girlie chats
day 6
-helping Siobhan train her horses and ponies
-learning how to walk a horse... and generally trying to be of assistance... city girl with horses... never a dull moment
-boat ride with Tiago
-drinks
-crying babies
-dizzying amounts of Flemish and Portuguese mixed... I was in language overload
day 7
-more horse training
-trip to badajoz to visit Oopie and Soleil and check on some ponies that Sally has living there
-trip to Carrefour (including the purchase of a lovely pair of red sandals for me and my seestor)
-drinks
-dinner in a local restaurant including more than 11 beers between Sio, Marina and I including food that cost 21 Euros (gasps! how inexpensive!)
-crying babies
day 8
-witnessing a gypsy kid get struck by a car in town... and watching no one help him except Siobhan... I dared not as I couldn't communicate to him but no one else would go near the little guy cause he was a gypsy
-boat trip with annouk, line, sophie, all the kids and some of annouk's relatives
-the most thrilling motorcycle ride of my life wearing nothing more than a mini skirt and flip flops and no helmet. Over bumpy terrain, though olive groves. It was the most terrifying thing but also the most fun/stupid thing I've done in a long long time.
-Hugo landing the job he wanted in Spain (thus securing his ticket out of his limited possibilities of work in Portugal) BIG celebrating for him!
day 9
-lots of sunning and relaxing
-car trip into the Spanish mountains
-buying a huge picnic lunch for under 10 euros for 3 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-picnic by the side of the road... playing football, laughing... taking pictures
-stopping random donkey drivers to ask if they had a bourra for sale to mate with Siobhan's Donkey Eeore
-picking up a very old man who was hitching and giving him a lift to his house to help him avoid the heat and the long journey!
-night time trip into Evora with the boys for a friend's b'day party
-controlling my laughter at the age difference and the major language barriers between the kids at the party and me... had a blast anyway
-watching Hugo attempt the pseudo juggling tricks that the hippy girls were doing outside of the cathedral including the wiggling of the hips!
-staying out way too late
day 10
-recovery
-napping
-afternoon bbq
-donkey hair cuts!
-dinner under the stars
day 11
-loading up the car with Hugo to be dropped in Spain at his new job... lots of good byes
-stopping at a festa just on the border and having a beer... lots of lovely Spanish traditional dress and lots of pretty horses...
-noticing that the festa was in the middle of have a mass (and they were serving beer) now mass with booze.... that's a concept!
-honking and every car we passed, waving and laughing!
-did I mention how friendly the Spanish people are?
-lunch with Hugos new boss in a sandy (western looking ) village
-driving along side a massive motorcycle rally along the coast on the way to the airport
-quick check in and immediate boarding and off I was winging my way back to London town.
I'm still a glow from all the wonderful fun I had.
I will surely never forget it!
Thanks Siobhan and Annouk!
i'm back
I have a hundred stories to tell. My holiday has changed the way I look at a lot of things in life and what I want to achieve and where I want to live. I will eventually jot it all down... probably within the next few days... or maybe even today if I can manage.
My company is moving to South Kensington. This is a big shitter. I will have no recourse but to travel by tube to work... something that I have actively avoided for a long time. No matter really, I think some plans are falling into place... the fates are aligning.
I've had an amazing amount of time to think about things in the past few days and have come up with some pretty liberating thoughts... those will also follow in due course...
I have a hundred stories to tell. My holiday has changed the way I look at a lot of things in life and what I want to achieve and where I want to live. I will eventually jot it all down... probably within the next few days... or maybe even today if I can manage.
My company is moving to South Kensington. This is a big shitter. I will have no recourse but to travel by tube to work... something that I have actively avoided for a long time. No matter really, I think some plans are falling into place... the fates are aligning.
I've had an amazing amount of time to think about things in the past few days and have come up with some pretty liberating thoughts... those will also follow in due course...
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