Today

It’s oh so very exciting! Our new house will be mostly being cleaned by our wonderful new cleaning lady… now before this comes across as really elitist I must plead my case…

She’s come highly recommended… She’s Caribbean and just the most full of love for life person I’ve met in a very long time! She bounded into the flat on Satuday afternoon and there was just no doubting the fact that she Loved her job and was going to be brilliant at doing it… I mean this woman pointed out dust in places I didn’t even know existed!!! The house is a Georgian town house and is a bit tired… so it does need all the help it can get to make it liveable… But I think beyond her personality and enthusiasm, I’m quite impressed with her entrepreneurial spirit… she employs a team of people whom if need be, she enlists them to do the work she doesn’t like (namely ironing)… The best bit of this is that she will sort out anything for you that you like, weather it’s a plumber or someone to de-weed your garden… she’s even offered to unpack Dan’s room for her (mind you it’s not so necessary anymore as Dan made some impressive unpacking progress yesterday)… If you put this together with a cost of 30£ for a clean house top to bottom… you just can’t go wrong!

It was a gorgeous weekend here full of lots of sun and relaxing… did manage to see miss woo for the first time in two months since we split up… wasn’t the smoothest of meetings but it could have been a lot worse. Time will heal… clearly I think we both need a little more time… Beyond that, I mostly did some work in the Garden (office work not actual garden work) which resulted in a bit of a sun burn… then I cycled off to read the paper in Regent’s park… then gymmed it… then stayed up till 1am trying to organize my ever growing list of project for work… Not a good idea to spend more than 7h on your weekend doing office work… bad bad!!!!!

Plans are in the works to see A this weekend… depends on a lot of variables as per usual… but it would be great to hook up… it will have been 3 weeks since we were last together... but we’re both being really optimistic about things… It’s a continual challenge for me as I’m much more of a ‘want and do right away’ person … guess my job and my lifestyle afford that behaviour… He works freelance all over the gaff and is much much more limited in making definite plans… we’re kind of dreaming about laying down some context and foundation and such… but no rush really… as this cautious heart is in no hurry to be broken again … or cause anyone else’s to be… But when we're together it all just seems to work really well... and that's fun and scary and exciting all wrapped up on one...

*crosses fingers and toes*

Brrr

It’s so cold here in the studio today… the nice weather we had at the beginning of the week has been replaced with a chilly 15 degrees… I was playing the cardigans and Fiona Apple earlier but as I write… we’re Micheal Jacksoning out… Thriller always reminds me of Vincent Price at the end… Vincent Price reminds me of being 16 and hanging out with Jenn Dobbin… Teaching her how to smoke… taking acid (while carefully trying to plan to drop at the right time so that we could be remotely normal before we had to return home for our curfews) and oh yes… Dr. Goldfoot movies … that’s where the Vincent Price comes in… What a laugh.

Needless to say, all those naughty activities of my youth have been replaced by far more deviant behaviour… and sadly a lot less Dr. Goldfoot… Ho hum

Did I mention how fab it is, that next weekend is another bank holiday? I am mostly being impressed with this fact.

Ginger Joeys and beastie staples

I was in a meeting this morning in town with our big parent advertising agency and in the meeting with the English version of Joey from Friends… only difference being, was that he was slightly ginger… mad me giggle.

The sun is just belting it down here today, not a cloud in the sky. I spent 15 mins outside at lunch and caught loads of red!

Took the flatmate out for supper last night to celebrate her day of birthing… was so late and we were both so hungry we literally inhaled our meals and a bottle of bolle in a matter of 45 mins! It was nice. Getting up this morning… a bit less nice as I had to be in town for 9h10… a bit earlier than I’m accustomed to.

I so so so totally have the coolest mini stapler (yes I have an unnatural affinity for all that is stationary…) it’s called a ‘beastie’ and it’s ickle and green with yellow mouth and tail… it makes a very distinctive ‘arggh arghh’ noise when you use it. (okay that’s just me making the sound effect… but no joke, I’m unable to use it without making the sound to go along with it. Everyone should own one.

So I figured…

That since everything in my life has changed lately I may as well give the old blog a bit of a facelift too! The most exciting thing about applying the new template is that you can now jump into the way back when machine and read all the very first entries that I made… Reading them is so surreal for me, as it seems like an absolute lifetime ago!

We’re having a bit of a preview of summer here in London… It was 25 yesterday and lovely… today it’s pretty much the same thing. I’m hoping that this sets the tune for the summer… cause with this new job I know there won’t be much room for time off… or travel so, the nicer it is here, the better!

Ah yes, today marks the 29th birthday of my lovely flatmate! HAPPY B’DAY miss B!

You know how sometimes history repeats itself?

Well in my life I’ve got this history… back when I used to date boys… they had the tendency to disappear. Now a few of my friends joke with me and allude to me burying them in the garden under the deck… but seriously… there is no exaggerating here…

First occurrence - > 2nd year uni… was dating this guy named graydon… went home for the summer after uni finished for the year… went down on the train to visit him in his hometown just before heading off on a holiday in Europe with my sister… Upon my return everything was still kosher… and I then headed back down to Ottawa to find a flat with one of my mates… On the way back we stopped in at the bloke’s house for a visit and a quick catch up before heading back on the road to Toronto… Again all was good. However that was the last time I ever heard from said bloke… He Stopped ringing didn’t return my calls… and then ultimately didn’t return to Uni that fall…MIA!!!!

Second occurrence: 3rd year uni… was living in Lyon in France. Met this lovely guy that I fancied the pants off of (literally) His name was Sylvain. We started seeing each other casually for about 2 weeks… then there was a bit of drama as this guy I knew from home pitched up and of threw a spanner in the works… we got past that… then he promptly fell off the radar.
But the real disappearance thing was that even his friends hadn’t heard from him… he didn’t return anyone’s calls and didn’t have any contact with anyone anymore… months passed and all of a sudden he re-surfaced! Almost like he had never been away… Of course I was well weary of him as I was beginning to think that I had this talent in making people disappear… We hung out a bit more and wouldn’t you know it… not but a few weeks later in some sort of panic relating to military service, he was gone again…. This time it was forever… okay well at least until I left the city… I know that the story leans towards him falling off the radar because of the other guy situation but truly it was quite a non issue…

I have never managed to figure out what happened in either situation… no warning… no clues… I mean even their mates had no idea what happened to them! Am I so horrible? Nahh… I don’t think so, I just think it’s funny that it’s happened to me so often… perhaps I’m a bit reinvent of this all since I’m sort of starting off a new relationship… brings up old paranoias… perhaps the fact that the person in question as of late is a bit less than local… and a bit more male than the last few people I’ve dated… I tell you… there are a lot of new things going on in my life… I don’t know quite how to write it all down… or even if I should… ahhh feck it. You only live once right?

this is so cute... http://www.animalsontheunderground.com/

Day four and the pace is quickening and work is piling up… mildly reminiscent of my first few days at frameworks but with a lot more organization.

I’ve got my leaving drinks tonight with the chello crew. I know it’s only been a week since I’ve seen them but it feels like a lifetime!

Cycling here seems to be taking me an hour each way as I’ve yet to navigate the most efficient route… don’t get me wrong it’s not too hard but I’m simply taking my time to familiarise myself with the wilds of west London. (that’s the story I’m sticking to) but the cardio is good good good!

There is a large ball of fire in the sky today… the likes of which I’ve only ever recently seen when I was in Spain…. I am most perplexed.

I just started my new job today

And I thought perhaps maybe I would return to the wilds of blogging for a while…

I just got back from getting lunch with one of my new co-workers. While at Sainsbury’s I had the strongest deja-vu’s I’ve had in a very long time. Someone once told me that when you have a deja-vu, that it means that, you’re in the right place at the right time. Here’s to hoping so.

Had a great weekend away in Barcelona... It was a last minute spur of the moment kind of thing... left Friday night and came back Sunday afternoon. The weather was lovely and I really had a chance to chill out and catch with A (this is a new character in my life) I just love that city...

The flat-move happened last Friday and things are slowly settling… It does take a while to adjust when this many things are changing all at once. It s indeed nice to have a garden again…

Best get back to it really… not so good to slack on the first day!

caught a lite sneeze
caught a lite breeze
caught a lightweight lightningseed
catch me if you can

first and last

since no one volunteered to guest blog... this will be the first thing new in ages.

Seestor and I had a fab time in Barcelona. The Apt. we stayed at that I wrote about before I left was FANTASTIC and I recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Barcelona.

We ate and shopped and drank and drank... beer for breakfast and cava for lunch... the second day we were there we managed to spend 4h at a café sipping beer and wine and having food and the grand total bill was 30euros... sweet!

The shopping was good but best so on our last day... as this bloke that I work with suggested... 'you spend the first day shopping to find what you want and then the next 3 trying to find the best price'

I did a lot of thinking during my time off and gosh was it ever rewarding to NOT be working for once... guess that's what having a holiday is all about...

One of the things I think is most positive for me at least, is my decision to take a hiatus from blogging for a while. It's been nearly 3 years since I've been at this and it's got to the point where I am unable to write down a lot of things that are going on in my head... perhaps time for a change of venue or perhaps a bit of a nip and tuck? Who knows.

You can however, always catch me here.

This morning

I went to have a blood test... I'd been putting it off for more than two weeks as it involves me missing work in the morning... So anyways I go this morning and it took nearly no time at all, which is a giant surprise since it's dealing with the NHS. The nice nurse who was taking my blood was asking me my date of birth to confirm that I was whom the slip of paper I had from my GP said... She noted that my birthday was next week and that I was to be 28. She remarked that I was still so young but that 28 was an age where you were nearly a full fledged adult... I laughed and agreed. She then asked me if I had a husband, to which I of course replied no. What happened next was the part that got me thinking... She asked why not? At this point in what I can only say was an effort not to shock the poor woman, I said no no I've a career. To which she responded... 'but you are only young once and you can't go back and time and find a husband before you're too old'.... Now why I was unable to simply state the truth in that I'll never have a husband nor particularly want one is what troubles me... I am probably the least rainbow flag ra ra gay person around... but just why I was unable to express myself freely and tell her that it wasn't that my career that was keeping me from having a husband, was pretty sad. I'm thinking that I'm part of the problem that surrounds the gay community... If, in an effort to avoid this woman's shock or disapproval I chose not to speak the truth then what does that say about me? That I'm ashamed of who I am?

This is not the first time that this has happened... but I guess having now written this all down I can perhaps start processing the issues that put me in these situations in the first place....

Heavy stuff yea yea, but on a lighter one... this will be my last blog for a while now as I'll be away to Barcelona with Kaffin who arrives tomorrow!

Perhaps I'll attempt to procure a guest blogger... Any takers?

Tee hee

my flat is on the internet... (no. 13)

thanks to a certain co-worker... I spent the night watching this series... it's like crack I can't stop watching it... I've only 5 or 6 more discs to watch... perhaps may even have to interrupt paradise hotel viewing to watch... oh yea, I was talking to miss woo on the phone last night who also confessed to watching it on Monday night, and loving it! Ha we're in it together!

Only 3 more sleeps until my seestor arrives!

Happy happy, joy, joy!

dales and birthdays

I returned from up north on Sunday evening... it was a great relaxing weekend. My poor belly didn't know what hit it, never in my life have I consumed so much food! I'm still not quite right... But fun was had by all... and on the train on the way home we were in the same carriage as this actor that you might know from such films as snatch and other English gangster films... Much shorter in person... it's always the way isn't it?

JoJo's b'day dinner was last night... quite the civilized event. Was nice to see all her peeps in one place! Woo and I got her this lovely leather bound notebook with which we hope she will fill with her fancy stories and such! She's 25 now! My god, in a week I'll be 28!!!!!!!! *runs and hides*

I accidentally ended up watching the first episode of this horrific American program that they were showing on channel 5 called paradise hotel. Never in my life have I ever seen anything more horrific... but yet like the scene of an acciendent I couldn't help but watch it! Today I feel shame and regret. *runs off to set VCR for Wednesday night's episode*

However if you missed the first run of the series you simply must watch the program called 'shameless' on channel 4 it's brilliant!

I'm off!

not of my rocker... but to Leeds with woo! I've never been there before and I think we're going to have a great time. Originally we were supposed to be going to Cornwall but that is not going to happen.... was going to be too expensive... oh well the ticket were only 20£ so nothing much lost there... Woo's dad bought us the train tickets to come up and visit and get this they're 1st class... how exciting!

Also it's not long now till Kaffin arrives! The apt. is all booked for Barcelona, now we've just got to sort out where to stay the first night and all will be grand!

I think we've witness the worlds longest meeting ever just come to a close... we've got people in from Japan and they were sequestered away into the meeting room near my desk since yesterday... when I left last night they were still in there and they only have seem to have immerged within the last few minutes... *runs off to call the Guinness book of records*

my recommendations continue...

I'm always appreciative of smart ad campaigns especially ones that make you go to the company's website for more information... job well done I say...

this is by far the most interesting that I've seen in a long time...

now this is what I call quite good

woo bought this CD yesterday and I copied it to my mini disc last night... and it's the best album I've heard in a really long time!

Imagine my surprise when I found out that The Stills were my fellow countrymen. Wow, Canada can acually produce something other than Alanis and Céline. And From MTL too... sweet.

Now stop reading and go out and buy!

I have just been re-named

by my flatmate... may I introduce myself as ... missy jarriot


*insert giggles here*

I had a lovely date last night with miss woo... we went to est est est in angel and it wasn't bad at all... two meals and a bottle of wine for 24£ not bad at all... It had been almost a whole week since I last saw her... I hate it when working like a mad woman gets in the way!

I've been sniffing about for places to stay in Barcelona when my sister and I are there in mid march. I found a groovy loft apartment that I think we may get... they even have a deal going for the week we're staying... stay three nights and only pay for two! sweet, you know how I love a bargain... There is just so much to do in Barcelona it will be hard to control ourselves as shopping in Spain means shopping for SHOES! Lord help us! Anyone have any other fun suggestions of things to do while in Barcelona?

how to save 20 quid...

I had a nice meal out with my co-workers who were in town from Austria and the Netherlands. We had a few pints at the posh pub near my work and then a nice meal at the French Brassiere just across the road from our office. I am such a lightweight when it comes to drinking I think I managed about 2.5 pints throughout the entire night... I fought off the temptation to take a taxi home with the money I didn't spend (as they expensed it) I took the tube home instead....

I was standing on the platform waiting anxiously for the train to arrive. 2 mins was what it said on the indicator... it was the longest 2 minutes... London underground clearly lies!

While I was waiting I spotted the cutest tiniest mouse I've ever seen in my life. It was no bigger than half the size of my pinkie finger. Just so ickle and cute. A few other people waiting spotted it too as it nervously flittered across the platform. The screams and agitation it caused were most fantastic... they were all sat on the benches with their legs curled up squealing... I can't stress just how tiny this little thing was.

The panic subsided a bit and a few more people walked onto the platform... it was kind of cool as this bloke walked by and spotted the tiny mouse peeking out from it's little hole... he looked at me and without words I knew he was trying to ask me if I saw what he did... I nodded and said yes, it's so cute isn't it? He agreed.

It's not often you have a quick friendly banter with someone on public transport in this city. but when it does happen, it's a nice thing.

So the moral of the story is... I saved 20£ and had a positive London moment!

eye spy...


last night when I was leaving work my boss and I spotted this lady ... at first we thought it was Iman but after some internet searching it was confirmed that it was indeed Grace Jones! I guess the spring thaw is bringing out all the celebs. It's been ages since we last saw anyone... this is south Kensington dharling!

i'm still in pain from my gym session the other day with luke... it was so funny, I was doing bench press in the 'boy area' but I could only manage to press the bar with nothing on it... mind you it did weigh 20 kilos without any weights on it... god how I laughed...

I'm thinking of opening my official pay pal support Sarah's bike repurchasing account ... now how cheeky is that? Feel free to be one of the first people to donate 50p... In no time I shall have a brand new tricycle... and my tube travelling days will be numbered. Join the revolution!

congrats

to Johnny Depp on his award for Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm not a big fan of big budget American films but I ended up watching the film at my cousin's place over the xmas holidays. Johnny was simply brilliant! The film lost me when it got to the whole undead crew business but that aside, it was all about JD!

The weekend was rather quiet as woo and I recovered from our colds...

I did however have an altercation with some drunk bloke at soblo near old street on Friday night... him and his friend felt the need to come barging up to woo and I and ask if he could join in our private snog... For some reason I thought that I would be able to reason with him and instead of telling him to F*off, politely explain to him why his behaviour was so out of order... so I say to him...

" hey there just wait two sec... what would you say if some bloke barraged up to you and asked you if he could join in while you were snogging your girlfriend? We're people and not objects for you to gawk at and barge in and join in with..."

The guy looked genuinely puzzled and pushed his friend away and told him to leave us alone... He reflected a few seconds and then said to me

"I'm sorry man but I've just never seen to birds snog in real life before"

I smiled and replied

"well the next time you do, you'll know what NOT to do, right?"

He then apologised profusely before leaning in and giving Woo a big kiss on the cheek and before I knew it he did the same to me... cheeky bugger... guess he didn't learn a thing...

*sighs* guess I can't change the world, one ignorant bloke at a time after all...

I'm back!

well sort of... I've been in bed with a nasty cold and cough and thus have been missing work and daily access to my computer and the information super highway! Too many sudafeds and day time television are enough to drive anyone to the brink!

The strange emails have stopped but I'm still convinced that it was Christie... oh what fun!

My mum has returned from her trip to visit her sister in Mexico... she reports that she had a nice time, I'm so happy she took some time out... and then to top off her time off she went to see Rod Steward in Toronto with her other sister... she reports that his voice is not the same as it used to be but he still knows how to strut his stuff! My mum is the coolest! It's quite amazing the change that we've seen in her since my dad died... she's a brand new woman!

My insurance company are now claiming that they are not covering my stolen bike. So I've no choice but to buy a new one... with what money? Ha. This year has just been a disaster thus far... first the tyre then the whole bike... then having to move just after I get back from NYC... I've had enough to be quite honest.

I'll get my coat

I've written before about...

this site that I used to enjoy writing at...

I've not been there for a while as I find some of the stuff people write is just so painful to read. I think that speed writing microficion is a very fun thing... If you're not familiar with it then the jist is... each day they give you a random word... and then 30 seconds to write something about it/ including it... the word of the day only shows up on your screen as the timer starts....


While reading my blog's visitor logs the other day, I noticed that someone visited my blog via my writing that I did for the word pendant:

I need a little something. a little piece of harmony for the soul... like a delicate pendant on a necklace... oh so barely there. Hanging around, having a purpose.
June 25, 2003 07:05 AM

Thank you to them for doing that... I had forgotten that I had written that, and I find it quite pretty.

well it was a close one a few weeks back...

but this week... they got it. the baddies got my bike... Double locked to a massive steel pole outside the pub 5 minutes from my house... my baby was snatched. Must have been pros as there was no trace of it... no broken locks no nothing it just vanished. *sigh*

It's now with my insurance people to hopefully sort out. What a pain... I wonder if hallmark makes a card for this sort of incident... 'we're sorry for the loss of your bike' ?

Perhaps it happened for a reason... perhaps I would have been shmucked on my way in today if I had of rode... who knows... I leave it to the fates... perhaps they were on my side after all

no more news from my mad emailer... I'm thinking It could be my friend Christie... but who knows... I know they come from a Canadian ISP as I can trace that back... Thanks to Jeffie for helping me do some detective work

what a strange week this has been... strange emails... death... stolen bikes... oh yea I forgot to write about how my uncle died ... I never knew him... he lived up in Lancashire... I hope he's chilling with my dad now... Too bad the news came so late or I would have gone up for the funeral...

this only happens in bad Hollywood movies

but no no, it's happening to me... I'm sure it's just a joke but it's got me quite amused...

yesterday I received an email in my hotmail account... the subject line was " ?" and the text in the message read " I'll never tell "

attached was a picture of me and some of my friends taken about 3 years ago at a Halloween party back in my house in Ottawa. We're all dressed up, but it's a good pic. But that's all besides the point...

Now I don't recognise the email address...nor can think of any of my friends that would do something like this... I responded with a *laughs* that's funny, who are you?...

Today I get into work and there is another message... it read "it means nothing"... and something like "the picture simply made them piss themselves".... attached this time were two audio files... one called 'who I really am' which plays a distorted voice that says 'I'll never tell' and then the second is an MP3 of a cover version of Bonnie Tyler's 'total eclipse of the heart'

I am at a loss for words...

I think I could write a screen play... but I hope it doesn't turn really freaky-like...

yea so the techie me is thinking... god, who has that photo? Do I have it posted somewhere online? So I ran off and checked everywhere and found it nowhere...

the saga continues...

could it be one of my 3 faithful readers playing a joke?

for some strange reason...
my diet coke tastes like grapefruit

it's summer here today... 18 degrees! what's that about? It's great, don't get me wrong... but wow, what a surprise!

At lunch I popped around to a few of the posh shops around my office with my boss... we helped a posh girl buy a skirt in Joseph while the snarky French shop assistants just snickered at her... we hated them and left...

Then we went across the street and braved the Gaultier shop!

The shop assistants in there wer lovely, friendly and down to earth. I tried on a pair of jeans that were on sale for 50£ bargain... too bad they didn't make it over my thighs :) However... I must let you know that they have the funniest fitting rooms in the world... I now know where to go the next time I'm stressed out at work -> out of the office, round the corner to the Gaultier fitting room... They're padded and white and squooshy... much like a fabled mad house... when you shut the door it makes this air tight swooshing noise... I prodded the walls and everything... you could go mad in there and bounce off the walls and no one would know. I love it! I think perhaps the high street retailers should take note and follow suit... may make for a more stress free shopping trip! I mean I could have thrown a proper fit about the jeans not fitting... get it out of my system- then return to the shop floor as sane as before...

well after a lot of work and many a worry lines...

i finally launched the music on demand site that I've been producing since the begining of time. It's far from over yet as this is only the soft launch and there are some residual issues with IP filtering and such but... for the most part, it's done!

it's so warm here in London today I was sweating do death while cycling this morning! Now if we could only sort out some sunshine and we'd be well on our way to summer.

tuesday nights bring excitement to all homes... well okay maybe just to my home but it's the property ladder with sarah beeny... we just love her... nice voice sugar! mmmm but her hair has varying degrees of niceness... but hey... she's just about the smartest chyk around... now if I could only muster up a few pennies and buy a house... wonder if I could get her to come round?

*giggles*

tonight I'm going to see

gene! gene are one of my favourite bands of the mid nineties. I never had a chance to see them as they were an ocean away. Tonight is the night I get to regress 8 years and see them live. I really wish I could tell my mate Fabien Cavana from France or my friend from Uni Kyle Garreau, god I miss those guys. Time can sometime be so cruel to contact.

Tonight as I sing along to 'we could be kings' or 'haunted by you' I be thinking of you guys.

Nobody realizes...

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. -Albert Camus

this morning

i took the tube to work

i sat next to a man who wore a monacle. a honest to goodness real old school monacle.

truly these things still exist beyond the pages of sherlock holmes... Only in London.

It came faster than I thought...

I had to do it

there was nearly no time left

today was the last day to book flights for miss woo and i to go to nyc for her b'day...

so it's done!

and from the 15th-19th of April... we will mostly be in manhattan! ( and forest hills as that where miss Yvonne lives!)

Just when I intend to do any work between now and then and all the other mad travelling I've got planned... the answer would be I just don't know.

I had a vivid dream last night that i had 5 numbers in the lotto and woke up, checked my ticket and

i had 4 numbers

2 in each row

ah well...

we're all off to spitz tomorrow night to see andy's gig. should be good fun!

yipee

I'm going to Belgium to visit sio!!! I'm going so soon! On a train under the English Channel... I best pack my snorkel! Not long after that I'm going to Cornwall! Then when my seestor arrives on the 13th of March, I'm going to Barcelona! Poverty jet set baby poverty!

but first I'm mostly having my performance review today eek!

I've been so bad at updating lately, I can blame work... but it's all too true you would never believe me!

I heard back from the channel4 people who informed me that they're looking for someone with 2 years asst. producer experience for the internship and that (it paid really well) nice... ahh well, I've been a pc producer for yonks but they don't find it relevant... I may just try anyways and do my darndest to convince them... nothing ventured nothing gained.

My sad bike is back in action and I'm thoroughly enjoying cycling too and from work even when it's damp as the weather is warming up and it's around 11 degrees :) The tulips are starting to sprout in the park! We're far from summer but spring may just come a bit early this year...

updates a plenty

well I'm very happy to report that Sean hasn't fallen off the face of the earth and he is alive and well! *phew*

KJ's boy interest is finally back in town and has rang her so that's all good!

I've got like a million things I need to do at lunch today but only one hour in which to do it all!?!?! what's a girl to do? I locked my bike up outside my gym just down the road and feel quite nervous about it... I've got the fear since my tyre getting knicked... *deep breaths*

Heading to the art fair at the design centre tonight with woo... will report back on that demain

So I'm wondering how mad it would be for me to apply to do an internship as a producer/commissioner with channel 4... I mean clearly it would mean a HUGE pay cut (and one would assume even that the training would be unpaid) but I saw the ad in the guardian on Monday and have felt tempted ever since... would I be mad to venture that far out of my sandbox?

I just hate it sometimes when I get a bee in my bonnet about something... I just can't seem to shake it!

so...

I've packed my bags and i'm ready to move... everything is on my G drive and it's just a matter of time before I'm out of this stupid little box... new computer to arrive soon! But it's got me wondering weather or not I would somehow manage to compress my life and store it all on the G drive too in preparation for a move.

Things are a brewing in my mind and I know change is a coming! I'm not sure how when or where yet, but gaud dang it's going to be soon. If you put your ear really close to the screen you can almost hear me whispering it to you. (write me and let me know what you hear)

I'll accept any ideas or cash donations towards the cause as my lotto number just did not come up last night damn it!

abs a plenty

I've been mostly getting over my anger towards the stupid little chav kids who nicked my front tyre when I locked up my bike outside of budgens on my way home on Monday night... I ALWAYS lock it but of course thinking that I would only be 3 secs I did not... and they stole it. little feckers! The pub owner across the road saw them do it but he was busy chucking out an unwanted patron so he couldn't help... He pointed up the road towards my flat. 'they legged it that way' he said. So I'm dragging my bike home feeling rather furious... and at the top of the road, who do I see? The kids! To add insult to injury they taunted me asking me where my tyre was. I wanted to rip their heads off. Sometimes I wish I was a 6ft tall bloke... as I would have caused some serious harm. *deep breaths*

well nothing I can do about it... just comes at a super bad time as the month after xmas is never a good time... like the last thing I can afford right now is a new tyre... and to top it off it was Luke's not mine... so I have to replace it for him! Thankfully my nice flatmates have offered to lend me their disused bikes until I can afford to replace the wheel :)

so gymming has been on the agenda a lot and I think it's not possible for my abs to hurt anymore than they already do. I did this mad 1/2h ab session last night, man oh man... but it's good to be back in the swing of things.

on another note, should I mention the Dan taping down the tongue of her trainers? nahh... would be too funny...

KJ has booked her march break trip over to see me! She's arriving on the 13th! Will be good fun. And I've got the entire week booked off already!

Still no sign of Sean McCann... I think he's truly missing in action this time... If you see him can you tell him he's got a pressie waiting for him at my mum's place in TO!!!

speaking of mums... I think I hear her calling... see ya.

it would just be far too much...

for me to even attempt to write down all my xmas exploits.

I will however summarize by saying that it was simply lovely to be home and spend such quality time with my family... even though my sister gave me what I enjoyed calling SARS... I was swiftly informed that it was not appropriate to joke about the disease like that... oh well, there's me the queen of the inappropriate!

I did however while on holidays... meet the cutest but most anti social Chihuahua named mya...

I also managed to lose my favorite black hat in my sister's school. Last year when I went I lost my fav black scarf... I'm now convinced that there is a bizarre curse with that place. I'm not impressed let me add!

I managed to see all my relations and even managed to spend a night in TO with Karm and then got to have a quick coffee with the lovely Mark. I even got to see Andy, Mark's son :)

Back here in London it was great to see miss woo again. NYE was V low fi as we just had supper at la porchetta near my house and then just stopped by Filthy's (local pub) on the way home. The neighbours from downstairs joined us which was fun.

Being back at work is decidedly evil. I'm not sure how much more I can cope with before I just chuck it all in and get a job in a completely un-related field... I'm just itching to do so but rational and logical thinking keeps pulling me back down to earth and convincing me that I would be mad to give up good money for an uncertain future....

anyone want to buy me a lotto ticket?

farewell

my blogubines!

I shall mostly be in the great white north for the next 10 days...

that will be me, there... right behind the polar bear and next to the penguin... if you need to find me I'll be at my mum's house it's the igloo on the corner.

goodbye jolly ol' England...

I shall see you again soon

happy holidays all!

well

some clever chappy tookphotos at our xmas party last night... and sadly, but more so surprisingly I'm not in any of them... but they're a good laugh anyways...

i had 5 or 6 glassed of champers... and one vodka

didn't make a fool of myself!!!

the only excitement was, that some drunk waaanker tried to snog me on the train home... he managed to lick my ear. ewwwwwwwwwwwwww! then had the audacity to ask me if i was taking him home with me? I mean is this normal behaviour? Hello, total stranger on train... let me stick my tongue in her ear that'll win her over! *shudders*

but i'm all good

off to social tonight for carlolyn's b'day...

need lard

*shuffles off*

so

it all didn't end in vodka it was more like tequila... but with the weekend all settled and my bank account still plummeting into the red it's still all good baby!

I think perhaps it's the sunshine that's been beaming over London town for the past two days that's put a spring in my step. Or perhaps it's the fact that I've got 3 more sleeps till I go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've put up some fairy lights in the flat (although most of them have had a mind of their own and decided to fall down) as well as some around my bed. Looks kind of like it's floating.... fit!

The office xmas party is tonight. I wonder if I will manage to keep myself from making an ass of myself... there's always a first time for everything. My oh so not carefully chosen outfit is quite hilarious... all black of course... with 3/4 length pencil skirt black button down shirt and black belt with brushed silver buckle... fishnets on legs and alternating footware... high top black leather converse for walking and black boots with heels for the party... some would say tragic... I simply prefer to see it as comfort first... and yea... I look funny... but I don't care... I swear...okay yea maybe I do since I find it necessary to write about...

I'll get my coat

i'm back

well I have been for a few days now.

Paris was lovely and the hotel really nice (free upgrade to boot!) We did loads of museums and lots of art bookshops.. sipped coffee, drank wine and had really nice meals. I highly recommend a 2 day break to Paris! At 130£ you can't go wrong really. The only down side is actually coming back. Don't get me wrong I love London but the Parisians are just much more refined in the way they live... cleaner metros a slower pace of life... great appreciation for the arts. I could go one... but I shan't.

work has been so busy since my return I've greatly neglected my poor blog. So much so that this morning I was dreaming about writing an entry. Of course the entry was full of wit and intrigue... sadly I fear that's been lost in the time between waking and arriving at work.

I'm hopped up on gourmet jelly beans and multiple chocolate miniatures... lord knows where I'm going to fit the team lunch in... we're heading down to a pub in Chelsea (just down the road)... the big xmas party is on the 16th at another poncy place near to the office... wonder how much champers I can scarf this year... when will I ever learn?

Xmas shopping is dragging behind me like a gimp leg... I keep thinking I'm almost done (or that's what my bank account is insisting) but alas 1 day of shopping hardly crossed off all the items on my list... someone please give me strength... me of all people, losing the will to shop? well I never thought the day would come!

My kingdom for anyone who's got a tip on where to find a pair of white addidas rod laver trainers in size 5.

it'll all end in vodka....

how class is that? i read that line in a mail out today for some club that we went to that one night for that popbitch party... I think that will be my weekend's motto...

I'm still recovering from the shock of having visited the Y are we here bar last night... I didn't think it possible for it to get any worse... *shudders* However miss Jo jo was looking fab with her new shorter locks... no more feather like whisps on top any more... she is the eternal beacon of change!

oh yea... by the way i'm now convinced that CAVA makes me retarded... I sense a trend here...

*runs away*

ah oui... je ne serais pas ici au début de la semaine prochiane, je serai a Paris! woo woo!!!!!!!!! a + tout le monde

today's numbers


dirty little stop out still dressed in xmas party dress spotted doing the walk of shame this morning 1

groggy half awake co-workers 5

co-worker firing Styrofoam gun at me while I threatened to send him to Poland to train a new employee 1

number of numbers I got in last night's lotto 2

days left of work until next year 8

more figures will be distributed as they become available

brilliant!


Furniture kits for divorced men


now i think i should drop this guy a line as he could have a niche market in lesbian breakups too... wonder if he wants a new business partener?

Canterbury tails...

ha ha had to misspell it for fear of getting inundated by school kids researching for their English papers!

we had a great time.

- chatting with mad Italian blokes and sipping champers on the train down

- enjoying 1£ double vodkas at a local... and felling very old compared to most of the clientele

- wiping of a lipstick bindi applied by the mad owner who is apparently an evil little boy fiddler (at this club we went to)

- missing the snake charmers that were apparently brought up on stage as part of the Asian inspired theme

- chatting with locals who for some reason were really impressed that we lived in London... as if it were a far off untouchable place!

-chatting with a wee French bloke in drag who was Very brave to go out in frock in the middle of chav* land.

-catching chips from the front window from some random bloke who was walking by and willing to share his food... still a mystery how he managed to throw them to me 3 stories up... and how i managed to catch 2 out of 3 of them! yummy! *laugh*

- all piling into Tim's bed as Sally held court and ordered people around to fetch her fags and water

-watching finding nemo on video

-having a brilliant veggie kiev as part of a Sunday lunch that only cost 50£ for 7 people including drinks!

t'was good fun! My grandmother would love the town. I must bring her down there for the day the next time she's on this side of the ocean

scary thought for the day... it's only 14h45 an already the sun is weary and getting ready to set!

* chav = argos jewellery wearing, ring on every finger, hair scraped back into tight pony tail, big hoop earrings, shell suit, Reebok trainer wearing, pram pushing, teenage pregnancy -esq people

i'm guessing ...

that this detox thing is working as beyond feeling a bit light headed I think my body is enjoying the break from all the bad things I put into it. It's quite amazing how quickly you realize much crap you do eat when you're forced to think about it... however in retrospect... I would not recommend such an activity so close to xmas and so close to Tasha's and Andrea's Birthdays! No chocolate cake for me *poo*

And yes, if you're wondering which I'm sure you are... it is possible to catch a chill on your ankles while cycling... I discovered that little chestnut on my way in this morning... brrrr...

so the plan is to do xmas shopping for CDN peeps today at lunch. I'm going to buy peeps here xmas pressies from home as it seems like more fun to receive exotic gifts... yea well, not too sure about Toronto being exotic but we'll just pretend.

After making a botched 20£ donation to Ryan air... I am the biggest ditz in the world... Siobhan is not coming this weekend as initially planned. Too bad really as I wanted to see her! But in all things sad there is something glad... I'm going to head down to Canterbury this weekend instead!

Prior to leaving, the girls and I are hitting the shops to attempt to decorate our sadly un furnished flat... It will be really nice to finally make it into a home... the last two places I've lived have always been a stop gap and I've never settled or decorated.

It's a gloriously sunny day which makes me well happy. They had announced rain all week. I just love it when they're wrong!

you know

i'm definitely not the first person nor the last to ponder upon the capacities of human emotions...

sometimes when i'm not experiencing any major high or low I wonder to myself how I could have let certain things in my past upset me so much... it just seems impossible... I cite it as just a simple chemical fluxes in my system... It's kind of fascinating how that emotions are purely chemical.

"Time heals" and all that jazz- I do wonder if it is possible to have an infinite amount of love to give? When you've been hurt or you've hurt yourself you think you'll never ever be able to open yourself up to such pain ever again... but nothing ventured nothing gained... and as time passes you meet someone new, and things re-develop.

So I come back to that nagging question... Is if it is possible to have an endless supply of emotion to share with each new person in your life, or do the marks of time eventually start to show? I feel slightly worn down in this capacity, but don't get me wrong I am most definitely happy in my new relationship (albeit cautiously)... now, is that cautiousness a mark of me being worn down or is it just a defence mechanism? It's all part of the process... or else i guess it's just true that it takes a lot of love, to keep the heart from breaking....

i'm detoxing

for the first time ever... it's a five day plan. the only hard part is having no dairy and no diet coke! If you know me you're probably thinking what on earth is that girl going to eat as she practically lives on dairy products... lets just say it ain't much. Lord knows how any one ever manages to diet! It's so hard to think before you eat!!! Oh yea, and it's just never the right time to not be able to eat chocolate cake... what was I thinking!? next time I will have to plan before I attempt to cleanse my body of all the abuse that I've subjected it to of late

16 working days left (not including weekends of course and not including the time I'm taking off to go to Paris with miss W at the beginning of next month. If I said that I was counting down the minutes it wouldn't be too far from the truth.

apples are so filling

I had...

a very vivid but strange and gross dream last night

I was on a subway of sorts with my sister... when a bunch of lads piled on and dropped their friend in the seat next to me. He was extremely drunk and not at all in a good state... I was really agitated as there was a fare collector that made my sister and I pay 19£ for a one way journey... citing some stupid reason that I couldn't get my head around... then before you know it the horrible man next to me was sick all over me... pretty vivid and disgusting... what in god's name does that mean?

on a brighter note... happiness is:

finding out you've got 3 more day of holiday on top of the 7 days I'm taking off at xmas!
coming home to an uber clean flat (thank you lovely cleaning lady!)
owning fab orange boots purchased in NYC
being booked in to fall into a vat of gin with the lovely dearbhla
not getting schmucked by a taxi (which I so nearly did on my way home last night)

this morning...

on my way into work I cycled past hotel near to UCL and saw a man entering a black cab wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist... he was also wearing blue socks and a fleece jumper...? So i'm thinking... that I can't even begin to come up with a story that could explain what I saw... do you think the bird he was with just up and left taking all his clothes with her? Hmm?

then as I cycled through Hyde park I was getting rather warm as it's quite mild here today... so I un buttoned my ever so chic bright yellow rain coat and then unzipped my blue jumper a tiny bit... then this middle age Scottish man shouted at me as I rode by something to the likes of 'cover your chest up lass!'

If I didn't know better I would think it was nearing a full moon

busy busy busy

weekend... but was good fun!

went to the nice organic pub in angel. The food was nothing spectacular but the wine was nice and the company really pleasant. Miss W's da and Margaret were lovely!

Sunday morning we all shuffled off to the Tate Modern and it was really something to see! I've got some nice pictures that I took on the camera built into my phone... think they are cooler than the ones on the Tate site.. Guess because they're more grainy. I wonder if I could convince santa claus to buy me a new digital camera for xmas? Ha I'm such a brat!

Catching up with a bunch of people this week I can't wait! Looks like Hon is going to be getting married! Very exciting news for him... Micha is off on her 6 month adventure starting in Thailand soon... and miss D is working like a trooper drowning- not waving... poor thing... but in her sound words she says 'lets meet up, I need to fall into a vat of gin' she's so funny!

Went to the gym at lunch today... was strange to come back to work afterwards... my poor brain was all confused as it only ever associates gym time with it being almost time to go home.

28 days till I fly home!!!!!!!!!

New York...

was a blast!

sadly, since I've been back there have been 12 h work days and enough work related stress to erase almost all my witty stories I was going to write down. Lets see if I can't rustle up some yankee doodle dandies

Yvonne and Benoit own the two fluffiest cats in the world... great to cuddle with, but no so great when I was skirting respiratory arrest due to my god forsaken allergies to cats... I think my wheezing was louder than their purring! Y&B were both looking great and their flat in Forest Hills is lovely!

Shopping was mostly on the cards on Friday and we shopped and shopped and ran into the cutest black 3 month old pug dog in this shoe shop near Broadway... the ugliest creature in the world but soooooooooooo cute at the same time! Lunched at balthazar t'was swell indeed, even if the only veggie thing on the menu for me was a salad.

I learned one important lesson... martini's in Manhattan make me retarded... clearly I can't keep up with the strength of their concoctions! I vaguely remember being at some bizarre place in St. Marks after having dinner with miss Y and the girls at gobo then kj and I were lost *pronounced with a lisp* as we took the wrong subway exit... I guess the 2h walked that ensued was most beneficial to my scullied state

Got all dolled up and got a manicure and pedicure in Queens with my sister on Saturday morning. It was the most hilarious salon in the world... right out of a sitcom let me tell you... the lady's accents were so unreal! Very cultural foray indeed. Then to add to the beauty I got a makeover at MAC at bloomies from the most lovely lady... she gave me the most large and luscious lips one could ever imagine... I've got pics to prove it. Angelina watch out sister!

The charity fund raiser at the waldorf was a good laugh. Rosie cancelled but she was there instead ... it goes without saying that she had the most spectacular bosom in the world! It was a very fun night watching rich people give away their yankee doodle dollars to a good cause... still, why the table of diabetic children were eating burgers with ketchup was beyond us... Our meals were fantastic! Then we ended up a pravda... strangely enough, my co worker who was in New York at the same time as me, ended up in the same place! Don't quite know how we managed to miss each other as we we most definately in the same place... what a riot!

Sunday morning KJ left and jetted back to TO leaving behind the very few purchases she made... I spent the day with Yvonne catching up and strolling through her neighbourhood. Then she took me to veg city diner! wow I almost cried from excitement... just made me think how limited the options are in ol' London town :(

One thing I can attest is that New York is a buzz with the cutest puppies in the whole world... I felt like I was becoming obsessed as every corner there was a new little squidgy face! I've already mentioned the pug... then there was the shitzu puppy at the charity auction (nuzzling into Lorraine's chest!) then the cute little bulldog puppy in Soho.... awww

Thanks for American airlines for bumping me off the flight home... the 500$ in travel vouchers is real swell!

god bless America *cough*

oh yea... just write me if you want to see pics

I shall go to the ball!

how exciting is this??!?!?!?! I'm going to the ball... The 31st Annual Promise Ball - International Chair: Mary Tyler Moore. Emcee: Chuck Scarborough. Auctioneer: Rosie O'Donnell. Entertainment: The Hank Lane Orchestra. Grand Ballroom, the Waldorf-Astoria. 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Reception. 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.: Dinner and dancing. Black Tie. Tickets: $1,000. (but free thanks to miss Y's work)

Well done miss Yvonne! I feel mildly jet set!

Mark- you could almost fake that my poverty jet set days are over--- almost (okay so i'm flying economy) I won't tell if you don't!

It's been a manic past few days. There is just no time between trying to get projects wrapped up and handed over and actually doing anything else before I leave tomorrow.

On an aside note... did you know that when you eat asparagus... even your tears smell funny (I discovered this on Sunday night...after laughing so hard I cried)

Miss W has sold a painting within 10 minutes of the start of the exhibition that opened last Thursday... the fastest 1k ever! Then the clever little minx got commissioned to paint another one for the same buyer... Go check it out! It's on at the crypt gallery (st. Mary's church) Islington open Thurs&Sat. Congrats to her!!!!!!!!!

Overheard at Starbucks on Monday at 11am from a table filled with ladies of leisure.... with posh accent and condescending tone " Yes, darling but you know... he's middle class"... *shakes head*
erm... any one have a fancy party dress for me?

pregnant monkeys, new jobs and new life!

I laughed so hard I cried this afternoon... We were messing about with the two monkey finger puppets I've got at my desk given to me by miss w as a present... There is a mum and a baby one... When the baby one was tucked up inside the mum one it looked like she had a pregnant belly... Doesn't sound so funny now, but I seriously laughed until I cried... And until my boss came out and glared around, then shut his office door in disapproval... Man laughing like that is sometimes so good for the soul, even if it's not so good for your professional credibility....

Congratulations young Mr. McCann on landing a new job! And to Dave and Lisa for producing another beautiful offspring into this world. Welcome Ryan David!

lots of funnies

so this Sunday evening I was bending over to collect my washing from the floor near the kitchen. We've got this huge glass vase on the floor there. All of a sudden I got this massive waft of smell... so I say to Sally and JoJo who were sat in the living room.. " my god these flowers smell like germoline, can you smell that?" Sally then turns to me and says " How should I know, I've never been to Germany" Oh how we laughed...

Saw Kill Bill on Sunday afternoon... god how I laughed... there were so many points in the film that I was the ONLY person in the theatre laughing... I don't get it, I thought it was so funny... maybe because I grew up in North America???? dunno, but it was pretty obvious that I was the only North American in the theatre when the "silly rabbit, tricks are for kids" line was delivered... AH HA HA!

Found a wonderful French bookshop in South Ken this weekend... I had to come down this way to meet up with my friend whom I was supposed to be going to the gym with... which never ended up happening because the silly goat kept ringing my old mobile number to try and confirm with me:) So I went on my own and had a super kick ass workout :) nice!

It's an extraordinarily gorgeous day here today, sunny, bright... chilly but not too freezing. fit!

no...

it's totally impossible to listen to any David Grey song without wobbling your head... it just simply is not.

tragedy thy name is

pink thong...

yup, you wouldn't think it possible, but it is. During my lunch break today I zipped over to the gym for a swim. Nearing the end of my workout a woman entered the pool area sporting a circa 1980's neon pink thong! the type that's high cut up to your ying yang and full on thong action at the back... I thought those only existed in bad America infomercials that are shown late at night!?!?!? I guess it's just another good example of money not buying class... truly amazing, you should see some of these 'ladies of leisure' types that ponce around my gym... mental... I don't think I'll ever get my head around south ken....

Sweetness!

Thy name is Tunnocks Caramel Wafers. At only 120 calories per bar, sin has never tasted so good!

ahem, who ordered the rain? I was not consulted! It's going to be a wet ride home let me tell you!

she's arrived!

my new baby has arrived... she's so pretty, and she's even got a blue tooth! She's so smart she was even talking with another baby just like her this morning when I got into work... now I've just got to figure out how to feed her and get her to check my email...

time is just spinning by which is a good thing as I'm dying for a holiday... this year has certainly had the better of me so I think some retail therapy in Manhattan will most certainly help!

brr brr chilly chilly cold cold! that's what my backside says for about 40 mins after I get off my bike... my grandmother would die if she knew my kidneys were being frozen like they have been in transit lately...

positive words or wisdom from miss crow


for anyone who's been feeling low...

snip from everyday is a winding road

I'm just wondering why I feel so all alone
Why I'm a stranger in my own life
Jump in, let's go
Lay back, enjoy the show
Everybody gets high, everybody gets low
These are the days when anything goes

Everyday is a winding road
I get a little bit closer
Everyday is a faded sign
I get a little bit closer

psst. I'll tell you a secret...
the project I've been working on has finally launched *shock horror* I'm still not quite over the shock of it all.
It's a beautiful sunny day here today and I've taken a break from cycling today to give my poor bell ringing thumb a rest... when it's cold and pedestrians in London have no concept that there are bicycles as well as cars on the road... I need to ding my bell lots on the way home. Last night was well chilly!

My tube journey was most strange this morning as I had the overwhelming feeling that I was either really early or really late for work. There was no one on my train... or on the down escalator... I had to seriously think to myself if it was truly Friday or if I had just gotten up to come to work on a Saturday!? Hmm it's Friday... and I was on time to work... stranger things have happened.

follow-through phobia bus conductors and naughty auto generated passwords

okay so there was a strange incident yesterday. I was on the bus on the way to supper with miss W we paid for our tickets to Highbury barn where we were meeting some of her work friends for supper... the nice conductor promised to let us know when the stop was... as he collected our fares with one of those new ticket machine thingies... he let the ticket print out and then tore it 3/4 of the way across and then handed over the little machine to us individually motioning for us to each tear off the final 1/3 of the ticket... how very odd... is this indicative of some sort of follow through phobia? Or do I simply notice very odd behaviours in people?

probably the latter

on another more humorous note... once of our microsite partners today produced a hilarious error... in signing up for the service their systems generate a random password taken from the English dictionary... the password can only be 8 words long and thus truncates the random word at the 8th letter... Apparently the test team requested a change to their password issuing system when they were assigned the password 'punish me' while testing! LOL! how hilarious is that! it truncated 'punishment'!

how much Dutch chocolate can one PC production team consume during a 9h period? approximately 600g /21.1 oz to be exact... won't be needing supper after all!

happy turkey day

to my family back home and to my friends too of course!

received this really cool shirt from my mum in the post today. It says trick on the front and treat on the back in orange writing... it's black and as you can guess it's a hallowe'en shirt :0) too cute!

the weekend was nice and relaxing, didn't end up in Antwerp as intended but chilled a lot and had great dinner with friends and a nice long bike ride. Monday morning, however... came too quickly.

less than a month till my trip to NYC getting well excited about it!

did you know that...

it's possible to do Signing With Your Baby: and that you can use sign language to communicate before your baby can talk.???

Well the other night when I was out with the lovely miss Hannah she was telling me about her boyfriend's brother's child who is learning sign language concurrently to speach. Apparently it's well popular in dem united states... it helps reduce frustration and subsequently crying in babies. How cool is that... man... not that I've got a degree in lanaguage aquisition or anything like that... (okay I do but I never talk about it) but it's such a brilliant idea!

My sign language interpreter friend would be most interested in this indeed....

excuse me while i run off and have babies so i can play!

dang... guess I'd need a bloke for that...

foiled again!

last night

when I returned home from my evening visiting with the lovely Hannah... I plugged in my mobile that had been dead all day. I cleared out the messages that I had received throughout the day. I noticed that I had one stored in my outgoing folder... I opened it and it read

'call dad'

now I'm absolutely clueless as to how that go there as I certainly didn't write it, nor did anyone touch my phone yesterday as it was out of juice...

I kind of wish I could call him as I would love to have a chat... but as my sister put it... but there is no way to call him up there!

message from beyond?

hmm I kind of would like to think so...

I'm thinking that he's been around London lately... Tuesday after work as I rushed out the back door of the office out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a man sitting on a chair... identical profile to my father... I didn't dare look back for a closer look as I didn't want to disappoint myself because I knew that it was in theory impossible to see him... maybe he's stopped by for a visit?

Hi dad! love you!

you know

it's pretty amazing...

for the first time since like forever I'm not skint. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why, but god damned, it's a nice change.

this month is just flying by and soon in just a couple more weeks it will be time to flutter off to NYC! so so so excited about that.

popped into Harvey nics at lunch and had some fab french guy make my face glow... tee hee... makeup counters generally scare the poop out of me but this guy was sound and it wasn't so scary (but i really just went in to buy my flatmate a b'day pressie)... I'm meeting hannah after work tonight... she'll wonder what the occasion is ... i so rarely wear makeup to work (anything more than lipgloss that is...

dang where did the day go?

flowers flights and physio

I received the most beautiful bouquet of flowers from miss w. I didn't think it was possible for me to blush so much... t'was the last thing I expected to be quite honest... I couldn't believe the admin who rang me to tell me I had received them. I was convinced that they were for someone else. Needless to say I was beaming for the rest of the day.

The goodness continued as I found a flight home for xmas for 477£ super deal considering that the other direct fares were much closer to 700£. I'm flying with Kaffin's airline and will be there for 10 days! I can't wait!


Had a great but hilarious evening last night as I managed to jerk my neck and cause some serious pinched nerve pain... I couldn't move an inch! Laughing and crying in pain I managed to make it to work this morning... re-affirming that tube and bus travel while experiencing neck pain is so so so not recommended! Back to physio for me tonight again... shut up tasha I can hear you giggling!

no i'm serious I can hear you!

sail away with me

what will be will be...

I know that i was yonkers ago but i keep thinking how much the girls from the Filament office would have just loved David Grey'sTrafalgar square concert...

i'm thinking i should name my wee cycle as I've been spending so much time with her commuting to and from work... any suggestions? she sort of champagne coloured...

do you ever wonder sometimes what it would be like to just pack it all in... leave your job and just head out into the unknown? I know that eveverything would be ordinary eventually.... but it's nice to dream. back to my long term financial planning... *playingcoughsthelotto* if only I could actually earn money off of playing celebdac

past life

while downloading some completely useless emoticons for msn messenger here... I got to thinking about sally... she often says that she is convinced that she was a tropical fish in her past life. I once asked her to describe the type of fish she was and she sounded like a fancy black fish with flowing fins...

I wonder if I was anything in my past life? I hear people say that piceseans are at the last round of your life cycle and that when I die I shall finally get some rest... no more coming back, but if you ask me I feel as if I was kind of a young spirit... don't know if I've been around before or not?

Have you?

Speaking of past lives... I was stood on the corner waiting to cross the road to get to my office, a motorcycle pulled up I looked at the driver in the eyes and swear to god it was my ex... Okay so yea maybe I made myself believe it because of the bike and all but the eyes, the nose the figure... I swear it was him... and there is a good chance that it was as the last time I spoke with him, he told me that him and his wife and his daughter were probably moving here in a couple of years... I wonder if that's true? I would so love to catch up with him, meet the baby and such ... ring me Shawn melito :)

because robert smith says so and that's why!


do the unstuck

it's a perfect day for letting go
setting fire tobridges, boats and other dreary worlds you know
lets get happy

it's a perfect day for making out
to wake up with a smile without a doubt
to burst scream giggle jump sing and shout
lets get happy

but it's much too late
you said, for doing this now now
should of done it then but it just goes to show
how long it's been and how you really should know
that it's never too late to get up and....... GO

tra la la

tra la la

it's the perfect day to
throw back your hair
and kiss it all goodbye

okay yea so while I'm writing this my co-worker walked by and placed a print out on my dest that reads:

----------------------------------
IF DECK
IS SALTY
THERE WILL
BE LASHINGS
-----------------------------------

Okay now it makes a bit more sense...

unsatiable hunger....

and extreme wanting to be back where i left you this morning. If i close my eyes I can almost feel your breath on my cheek.

blogging

these days has been a bit of a challenge to say the least. It's mostly having to do with working so gosh darned much... no excuses... what on earth will my one faithful reader do for enjoyment? *scoff*

since i've last written I've made an exorbitantly expensive train journey to Bristol where I worked my ass off for a day trying to get this damned project off the ground... fruitful as it was there is still a ways to go.

cycling to work continues like a storm... cooler mornings now are a bit more challenging to motivate and dark nights post gym are a little daunting but with blinkity blinkity lights it's better.

kaffin is now booke in to join me in NYC how spendid... i know another secret but i just can't tell *bursts*

oi how is it that flights to belgium and even train journeys costs almost as much as my flight to NYC? I will never understand!!!!!!!

during my recent bout of very uncharacteristic insomnia I've mostly been enjoying the amazing view of the sky from my bedroom window... nothing but sky for miles and miles and not buildings blocking the view... space in london- quite a luxury indeed :)

what to do...

in the morning to make you smile:

-sing been caught stealing by Jane's Addiction (changing 'stealing ' to 'speeding' ) to to flatmate who's just been done for speeding :)

- cycle to work through hyde park and breathe in the beauty

what not to do...

- attempt to disembark the number 98 bus on Oxford st. while it's still moving... the poor bloke spilt all over the pavement... he's lucky it was just a ripped suit!

- realise that the location that your beautiful cycle brought you is indeed work... and that yes, you're now a prisoner of your desk for the next nine hours!

naeot!
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

pttrey azamnig

desk

is now clean... all stray papers have been filed... a bit of neurosis to try and help get this mountain of work looking like something is attainable... We all had a good laugh the other day as our arsey Sr. Boss guy so gently put it to us... 'there are 7 days in a week and 24h in a day, so there is simply no excuse for things to not be completed' this is not the type of place where overtime is a common occurance for all staff and the reluctance for this to become that type of place was quite comical to say the least... oh boy.... when exactly is it that I will become financially intependant and not need to work anymore? No time soon I bet cha!

Tickets to NYC are booked for November, can't wait... seems like an eternity until then... There is always a weekend with sio in Antwerp to look forward to, but jaysus why is the eurostar just so dang expensive? I guess it still is faster than flying if you take into account that you've got your travel time to the airport then your check in 1h ahead thing...so I guess it's worth it...

The flatmates should all be back in the fort by the begining of next week... where did the month go? off and away like vapors...

this weekend I was mostly

having fun at this
free concert it was brilliant... even Carlione a die hard David Grey - hater was impressed with him... Sky and Morcheba were fantastic too. Thanks to Andy whom I work with for scoring me a ticket!

It was a nice quiet weekend before the gig on Sunday... Saw the lovely miss Dearbhla and Jane and Caroline and Dani and all that crew when I ventured down south to Clapham for a social gathering on Saturday. Jane jets off on her year long travel adventure with her gf starting in Peru! How exciting for them!

To Austria with me next week. The lovely Chris (our admin) has booked me into a fab hotel in the centre and I get to fly out the night before so I have a bit of time to explore Vienna, sweet!

Kaffin is still due to arrive on Friday morning. I think I might try and squeeze in a visit to the ol salon in the morning to get my hair coloured it's been ages... will be so nice to see her and have a whole day off!

My LAN line is to be installed tomorrow for an exorbitant cost of course since we're the first occupants of this flat... will be nice to hear my mum's voice again as it's been well over a month since we've last spoken... didn't quite appreciate the value of having a home phone before this...

Miss B has returned from her travels with Sally. Can't wait to hear about the wilds of Vietnam!

Tumbling class tonight for me but nothing involving my neck says my physio... can't wait!

Fitness kick is back on again... watch this space... I've taken to cycling to work (although this involves me getting lost as I am crapola at navigating west London). I've also joined the new gym near my work... it's got a pool, how fit!?!?!

Sean has apparently fallen off the face of the earth.

on my desktop right now...

is a picture of the ocean... taken from within the swell of a wave. nothing tacky nothing over stated nothing contrived... there is no break to the wave, it's just starting to swell... the angle is such, that you can feel the anticipation of how large it's going to be... the blue of the ocean melds with the sky, the scene is impending. when I look at it I can conjure the feeling of being right there, heart racing, feeling the swell grow, awaiting the moment when you get pulled with the surf.

pictures are just so amazing...

okay so i'm really really really naughty and ripped the picture from 28mm.org... but it's brill so shhh don't tell the photographer...

so

i'm not quite as low as I was last week... I think not having a home phone and not being able to speak to my mum in any means other than email in over a month just made things worse... I think my hormones are evil and punishing me for not breeding... PMS was an evil force in my broodiness lately...

I've just finished this article for mutationspottig and it's funny, how something like that give you such a great sense of achievement. A feeling that you don't often get once you've left education. Don't get me wrong, there is no chance of me going back for another degree or anything of the sorts, any time soon... but it's good to track these sorts of feelings... helps you keep track of time, attribute order to things in life.

My trip to NL was cancelled this week so I won't see my seestor tonight like I had planned... however, she will be in town next weekend, so I'm taking Friday off to spend with her. In theory I was going to go home for a visit as I could have had the week of the 8th off but why bother as the flights are insanely dear right now.. and Kaffin would be here...

However, in an effort to keep my will to live going... I've booked the rest of the holidays for this year. I'm going to NYC in November (providing miss Y will have me) then heading home for xmas on the 17th... I can always shave off some days from my xmas visit if I start going mad mid Oct. (very probable) but hey... that's not far off normal is it?

The lovely miss Siobhan rang me last night! It was so great to speak to her and hear about her new adventures in Belgium. I'll probably nip over there to visit her in the next two weeks to see how he and Annouk are settling. I'm so happy to be back in touch with her again!

last year

radiohead showed me how to disapear completely... thank goodness i've not forgotten how as i would sort of like to do that again.

if you're looking for me, look behind a cloud just north of the river

but really:

i'm not here
this isn't happening

celeb bingo

continues... Borris Becker was having lunch at the oyster bar this afternoon. He looked me right in the eye and then smiled as I walked past. I've figured that he must have thought I was a waitress as I was dressed all in black! Ah well... no broom closet and illegitimate child on the menu for me today...

I'm convinced that I either suffer from a major vitamin deficiency, or I have mild narcolepsy... sleep is just so so taking over every day of my life! HELP!

I

spent some time this weekend with jo jo's family. We took the tube up to Brent Cross and trapsed around a shopping centre with her mum and dad and cousin that was in town visiting... Strangely I almost cried when I walked into the shopping centre... it was quite surreal. The reason being... I live in central London and never encounter large shopping centres... they are very typical of the way things are back home... I've been feeling a little homesick as of late and really wanting to go home for a visit so I guess this just compounded it... so I've not got any deep spiritual connection with large commercial spaces but I guess it's just an odd link to home...

We then left the shopping centre with the pregnant cousin the ex- but now current boyfriend (who's baby it was not that she is carrying), mum and dad... off to the garden pub near jo jo's house. It was such a lovely afternoon. Lots of kids running around the garden... the 2 pints of lager went straight to my head. Then we headed back to jo's house and lounged in the garden sipping white wine... I had forgotten how nice it was to be out of London for a change!

I think I might be going to Amsterdam next week for business and may try and swindle a weekend stay over... perhaps it's the mini break I've been needing... *schemes*

the end is nigh

well at least for this big project it is... I can't wait for things to slow back down again... it's nice to reach a goal.

The weekend is looking like it's going to be great... heading to Canterbury for a little chilling and mostly having fun... I shall write some tales upon my return. *smirk*

I've been eyeing this lovely jumper in this shop near work... I'm so tempted to buy it... I'm going at lunch to visit it... I know I know I'm in South Ken... it's gonna cost a bundle but hey... if I can't afford it, I can always just visit it in the window everyday until the shop assistants get fed up of seeing me drool down the shop window... then just maybe they'll give me one to make me go away?

A girl can dream can't she?

Task number two for the day... take boss to Jimmy Choo shop to check out the sale... lord knows I could never afford anything but she can... *shopping by proxy* always a viable option non?

sweet

sweet sweet karma baby... what goes around comes around...

last night...

I dreampt of the
metro in lyon. It was a strange dream that involved a bit of anxietry, frustration, failing memory and flashed of all things that were part of my life when I lived in Lyon... including this mad Irish pub near the large shopping centre (which doesn't exist in real life). I wonder what on earth this dream means and where it came from?

I enjoy work so much more when it's busy like this... make you mind sharp... it's when all the political bs starts getting in the way that it all goes pear-shaped.

I was really hoping to fly home in Sept. for a holiday but the flights are inordinately expensive... will save my pennies for xmas... maybe go to France instead perhaps that's maybe what my dream was telling me!?

today is just mental busy here at work

had a fun chat with the lovely Tiago this morning ... i'm all hopped up on a mocha frappachino from Starbucks... I'm so buzzing!

Looks like it's going to be a late one... I'm supposed to go help sally with some canvases in her studio tongiht... doestn' look like I'll make it.

KJ and mum jet off to San Fran today to sail with Auntie Jean. I wish I was going with them as I adore sailing... I should have been born with money let me tell you! I would do it proud.

How brilliant is the new radiohead album? very let me tell you!

now i'm

miffed... no tumbling classes for 6 weeks! that sucks... my neck... damn it! I'll wait two and then go... I want to play!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The heat continues to oppress ol' London town... this is supposed to be the last scorcher for a while so thank goodness...sleep at night was beginning to be a huge challenge... and that's bad as I am the QUEEN of sleeping!

My morning commute has be confirmed at a solid 30 mins (if I leave at 8h15) sweet. Much better than the hour and fifteen that I was pushing prior to my move. Sweet sweet clerkenwell.

Dan and Sal are off to Vietnam on Sunday. How exciting for them... I know nothing of that country other than the imagery I've seen from the war... very green... Can't wait to hear of their adventures!

The party on Friday was great fun but was unbearably hot in our flat... met our new neighbour from upstairs who just bought the penthouse... never in my days have I seen such a nice flat! 270 degree view of London from a massive massive balcony... sweet woman too... she owns a flower shop of all things... perhaps I can learn something from her and one day own my own flower shop in some hot country. She must be doing something right if she's got a 600, 000£ flat!

Saturday in Brighton was good fun, it was a lovely chill day... much better than London pride... and it was free! I'm a big gayed out right now... but it was fun!

Back to the salt mines I suppose... we're approaching our infamous deadline... bring it on. quickly, please?

note to self

starting out a friday morning with a 7h15 physio apt. is not at all a nice thing to do. All I can say is ouch!

our flat warming party is this evening and should be fun but sweaty (dont' get the wrong idea...) I simply mean that it's so warm here in London right now. Miss Dearbhla will be away in Belfast but it will be nice to see some friendly faces!

Work is still on lock down which sucks... I don't know if they could possibly be crueler... it's August for goodness sake... the month were everyone takes time off!

Off to Brighton on Sat. if the trains allow... should be the 'hottest day of the year' they say... I say- bring it on!

i wish

i had an excuse... so many people have taken the summer off from blogging... curse them! However over the past few days I've been so swamped that I've not had a second to write anything down.... Alas I am no better than them!


time should fly when you're busy at work... but when you loathe what you're doing it doesn't help much... fleeting moments are spent by me day dreaming up a job that pays the same but doesn't require me to do what I do here... something that I love to do would be ideal... at this point I know if Mark is reading this he'll be sighing saying something like *hello, sarah... get your BBC production ideas together and start pitching*

maybe i'll just do that!

reducing the space and time between wanting and doing...

It's kind of funny sometimes, as I keeps stats on my blog... I can see who drops by and visists even if they don't leave comments... it's even funnier when people tell you that they've not read your blog in months and you can see right there in black and white that they have :) makes me chuckle...

We're having our big flat warming party this weekend. Should be a hoot... If I've forgotten to invite you and you're in town let me know.

Circus school again tonight... going to brave the hard class again tonight... I'm stoked... weather I'll be able walk tomorrow is another question entirely!

Celebrity Bingo

continues... I walked right by her outside my office at lunch today...

but she had been tangoed*

*tango- referring to the orange soft drink that they sell here in the UK... coined by Luke, referring to someone with an overly orange tan

I am in love!

with my tumbling class... i went to the level lower last night and it was too easy but was nevertheless fun! It's amazing how tricks just start coming back! It's like riding a bicycle. I had such and incredible buzz when I finished the class... not so handy when the class finishes at 10pm but hey... no complaints here

I think the nice weather just may return to o'l London town... They're calling for a warm sunny weekend and a promising next few weeks *fingers and toes crossed* I guess it will be a small consolation of sorts as I'm not able to go on holiday with my seestor and my mother to San Fran to go sailing on my auntie's boat :( It's so cruel that my work has us on lock down... my heart is broken into a million pieces...

I think this exploding dog cartoon found by my boss yesterday (and subsequently used on the front page of one of her briefs...) is kind of how I feel about not being able to go to san fran...

This

is my favorite new website... mUncH a S Lut at YOMiko.com. ... .. You must play the amputee fridge magnet game! Brilliance thy name is yomiko!

The weekend was fab. Very busy but fun!

The wine show in Olympia on Friday night was a good laugh. Made it home in about an hour on a random bus that I caught... Was very strange as I NEVER ever venture about west London... it's kind of like visiting a different city. When I got home I collected Jojo, Sally and Tim and headed to the flat... We stopped in at our downstairs neighbours party... it's always interesting to see what other people's places look like especially when you've both got the same flat!

Saturday morning showed some promise of sunshine... after an immense amount of faffing by someone that will remain nameless... we finally headed towards Hyde Park. Within 30 minutes of mincing in the champagne area we were 40£ lighter and one bottle of champers heavier... then the heavens opened. It wasn't too bad as there were many dance tents and they were quite large. We all laughed and danced and had lots of fun. We were all heading back home by 8h30 which was fine by me as I was exhausted!

Sunday morning I headed down to Brighton accompanied by miss wood. Met up with my sister and my cousins. Had a nice lunch and was generally windswept in a most proper manner... it was madness! The wind off the sea was almost enough to blow you off your feet.

I'm really hoping my friend Karm lands that job he went for a Microsoft yesterday... and also hoping that Sean lands that job at the home office that he applied for! How cool would that be? Oh yea, very!


KJ is back in the UK on Friday but only for 18... however as we're all on lockdown here at work, it doesn't look like I'll be able to see her... very sad really, as this is most likely her second but final trip to London this year...


I missed circus school yesterday as the class I wanted was at 18h15! dang! I think I might brave the advanced one again tonight .
Did I mention all the fabulous pressies my seestor and my mum sent for me? I think I'm the luckiest Jarrett in the world!

There are lots of pictures... email me or leave me a comment if you want to see :)

letter to the landlord from the flat part 1

Dear Mr Sha

It's been nearly one full week since we last chatted. The new tenants have moved in. Goodness do they ever have a lot of stuff! But you would be most proud as they've carefully placed pieces of felt on the bottoms of their potentially damaging furniture so as to protect my delicate wooden floors.

I watched the blond one read instructions on how to use the dishwasher... good thing she did or else she wouldn't have known to add salt to the first wash. Then I saw the brown haired one consult the washing machine instructions so as to know where to put the fabric softener.... You would be so proud of them!

I've got a sneaking feeling that they're planning on wall mounting this beautiful painting brought over by one of their friends... as the one girl with the longer hair was running a stud detector along the wall... then I noticed her re-charging a drill! I'm quite frightened as I've not had anything like this done to my walls before!

I hear you are planning to visit me on Sunday as you forgot to give the ladies a key to one of the bedroom windows. I can't wait to see you again and show you all the neat things they've done to me!

Yours truly,

the flat apt. 307

ps. the girls were speaking of how you call each of them individually at work on Tuesday to make sure that I was okay. You're so sweet, always worrying about me!

I've been

home being mostly sick.. I just can't shake this cold... so I've resolved to just let it win, and agree to be sick forever more...

I have however had the chance to unpack my room and fit everything in!

I must say that our new bathtub is heaven.

This weekend is jam packed... wine festival friday. Pride Saturday... Brighton to meet up with seestor on Sunday...

once upon a time

I had this lust thing with this bloke... yea yea it was a bloke... he was young... it was one weekend it was a blast... nothing that I wanted as it was terribly impossible due to a millions of reasons... just a few minutes ago I got this message from him out of the blue... god it was hilarious... I don't' think I could have any less interest in the fragmented conversation with him if I tried... god, I really am as old as I am supposed to be. I've really got to thank him though as I was terribly close to losing consciousness at my desk and his messenger woke me up! Guess there is always a good side to things like this... back to my big gay world now...

the move went well... was very tiring but it's done and that's what matters. Now it's time to unpack and compact life into a much smaller flat.

henceforth I will begin to feature a special segment that I will call 'letters from the flat to Mr Sha' it will be a journal-esq collection of thoughts and messages from our new flat to it's owner... who seems to have a very vivid passion for his flat... Just to give an example, he insisted (and then with great glee) spent 2h on Saturday morning flipping through the owners manual and page by page reading out it's entire contents! It made us all lose the will to live! So as an ode to the landlord/owner (complimented by his phone call to all three of us this morning to make sure the move went well and that we've set up all our bills) I'm going to commence a series of letters on behalf of the flat so that they can keep in touch throughout the tenancy. Oh how sweet they will be. Stay tuned!

Kaffin arrives this Sunday! I'm meeting her in Brighton. Friday night is the wine festival with work peeps and Saturday is pride...but not sure yet if i'm even going to go as there don't seem to be many tickets left and I seem to be living very far from where one can procure them... and I'll be damned if I'm paying lastminute.com's outrageous 3£ postage plus 4£ admin fee!

So I guess I'll be sitting at home then!