So...
that's about enough of the doom a gloom. It's all a matter of perspective, and yes as my mother would say, you could be dead tomorrow.
In town last night Hazel and I stumbled upon a great little sushi restaurant. I had the best avocado rolls ever. mmm. Funny how so many nights we've looked for a good sushi restaurant and found none... then when you're not looking they appear as if by magic.
Ventured to the Y bar to meet up with Jo on our way home. Why lesbian bars are always such tragedies is beyond me. *shakes head*
Getting excited about planning our April holiday to St. Petersburg! Also excited about heading to St. Thomas to Yvonne and Benoit's wedding at the end of November... I know it's a ways away but I will be such a fun trip! Must save pennies... must save pennies.
I think that I have finally broken my shop o holic tendencies, ironic as it may seem... living in a city like London offers so much in the line of lovely wares but when the monies aren't there it's easy to cut back.
It's Friday and the minutes are slipping trough my fingers... there are clients to call and fires to put out...
*flutters away*
8.2.02
5.2.02
Have you ever been?
So disapointed and so fucked off about something that you laugh so hard you cry? So frustrated with something that you just want to pack it all in, because in the end of the day a job should not evoke such emotion. Commitment and hard work seem to bring dissallusionment. *sigh*
Some one, please remind me why?
So disapointed and so fucked off about something that you laugh so hard you cry? So frustrated with something that you just want to pack it all in, because in the end of the day a job should not evoke such emotion. Commitment and hard work seem to bring dissallusionment. *sigh*
Some one, please remind me why?
28.1.02
Every good movie needs a caputcian monkey!
Or perhaps not... I was thinking so when we started watching The Kids in the Hall movie called "Brain Candy"...
It rained sideways here today. The blustery burst of wind actually caused it to rain sideways. I cut away to a clip of Forest Gump in my head... the part in the film where he goes on about the types of rain he experienced in Vietnam. It's all new and exciting.... bet you a fiver I won't be saying the same thing 3 years from now!
Caught up on some delinquent e-mails today... all of the Irish nature, wrote Aisling, Denise and Blaise. I've been so very naughty as of late, letting work take over my life. *scoff*
Had a most leisurely weekend... Met up with Dan and Sally on Saturday night. Ended up in the Jazz bar till very late. It is indeed good fun. We're due to start off our Thursday night hosting our "off stream" night this week, we'll see how it goes. Might be a bit of a struggle to lure people who've never been there to Dalston... keeps life interesting.
I am officially in love with Mr. Hell The cartoon is pure genius. I don't know if I can stand waiting another 2 weeks until the next episode. Bless Serge the psychopathic seal... my favorite piece from last night had to be the "exor-sister" tres drole indeed!
24.1.02
sleepover party syndrome
so as it happens, after a hectic day at work and a 70£ trip to the grocery store, I met up with Hazel, Tam, Jo, Nat and Amanda at the Wellington... the whole gaggle of girlies ended up back at our flat...
Hazel and I hid under the covers and giggled madly and tried to avoid listening the various bumps that went thump in the night... nous sommes les petites cupidons!
With all sleepover parties there comes the inevitable lack of sleep... feeling a wee bit slow today but did manage to laugh till I cried when I saw this site that Dearbhla sent to me... I think we just must purchase something to compliment Tim's upcoming nuptials...
so as it happens, after a hectic day at work and a 70£ trip to the grocery store, I met up with Hazel, Tam, Jo, Nat and Amanda at the Wellington... the whole gaggle of girlies ended up back at our flat...
Hazel and I hid under the covers and giggled madly and tried to avoid listening the various bumps that went thump in the night... nous sommes les petites cupidons!
With all sleepover parties there comes the inevitable lack of sleep... feeling a wee bit slow today but did manage to laugh till I cried when I saw this site that Dearbhla sent to me... I think we just must purchase something to compliment Tim's upcoming nuptials...
22.1.02
As i walked to work today the sky was blue blue blue, the big white fluffy clouds drifted by above. Just as I was about five minutes from the office a gray cloud passed over and sputtered down a few hundred drops of rain all around me. Two tiny rain drops fell on my face, one directly under the other. Funny thing was, that they both fell onto that delicate skin right under my left eye.
very strange.
16.1.02
Addendum to the Hail!
In response to my recent posting about hailing behaviours, Drew has been so kind as to provide me with an addendum of sort, the following details Drew's personal hailing activites, bless him:
Well that's a tricky one...you see, if there's alot of people around, I'm a "no hailer" - why bother when someone else can do it for you. If I'm on my own, I do the "point" and expect it to stop in the exact location where my finger is pointing to. But then there is one other hail that I have been known to use, yet it was not detailed on your blog.
For some time know I've seen those posters of an old lady picking up and holding out her hubbies to get the drivers attention. "MAKE A CLEAR SIGNAL TO YOUR DRIVER!" I think it said. So I decided to adopt the "lower body hail". Similar to all of the arm hails, but instead of using your arm, you throw out your leg
do you have a bus hailing speciality? write me! sj_chick@yahoo.com
In response to my recent posting about hailing behaviours, Drew has been so kind as to provide me with an addendum of sort, the following details Drew's personal hailing activites, bless him:
Well that's a tricky one...you see, if there's alot of people around, I'm a "no hailer" - why bother when someone else can do it for you. If I'm on my own, I do the "point" and expect it to stop in the exact location where my finger is pointing to. But then there is one other hail that I have been known to use, yet it was not detailed on your blog.
For some time know I've seen those posters of an old lady picking up and holding out her hubbies to get the drivers attention. "MAKE A CLEAR SIGNAL TO YOUR DRIVER!" I think it said. So I decided to adopt the "lower body hail". Similar to all of the arm hails, but instead of using your arm, you throw out your leg
do you have a bus hailing speciality? write me! sj_chick@yahoo.com
poor poor poor...
Three words to describe our performance last night at the retro bar's pub quiz. A meager 4 out of 21 is such a disgrace... on our way home Hazel and I decided that we should take this as a hint to not so gracefully retire from this Tuesday night activity.
Yellow tulip in hand Hazel pranced off to work and later will be boarding a plane to Berlin... what a beautiful sight the contrast of bright yellow and green against her black jacket...
Three words to describe our performance last night at the retro bar's pub quiz. A meager 4 out of 21 is such a disgrace... on our way home Hazel and I decided that we should take this as a hint to not so gracefully retire from this Tuesday night activity.
Yellow tulip in hand Hazel pranced off to work and later will be boarding a plane to Berlin... what a beautiful sight the contrast of bright yellow and green against her black jacket...
14.1.02
Hail!
If NYC is the city for hailing cabs, London is the Mecca for all those whom love to hail busses. I've been watching over the past few weeks and noticed a remarkable phenomenon of how Londoners hail busses. It's a veritable sport in it's self!
Tall arm hail:
Subject extends arm above head as if the bus conductor was driving seated on the upper deck, fearing that if it is not raised quite high enough, the conductor will not see them. Alternately this maneuver can be seen as the subject anxiously raising their hand as in to ask a really important question to the approaching London transport vehicle.
The Sly hail:
Subject slyly extends the bare minimum of hand necessary in order to hail bus. Generally it is only the palm that is put forth as if there was a secret drug transaction about to occur.
The Standard straight arm hail:
Subject extends arm in a stiff outward manor at about a 45 degree angle, various finger positioning has been noted but on the most part, this is a text book hail.
The Point hail:
Subject extends arm at standard straight arm height then accentuates the hail with a very marked point of the finger as in a very confident attempt to get the bus to stop at the exact position in which their finger is pointing. This can also be coupled with the subject making direct eye contact with the driver, this variation of the point hail can sometimes be quite effective some conductors have actually been spotting taking heed to the subject's instructions and stopping at the exact point where the subject is pointing.
The extenda-hail:
Subject extends arm as if frozen in time, long after it's quite obvious that the conductor has spotted his request and is clearly pulling over to stop. From what I can tell it seems like the subject is very untrusting and had a bad experience with a rogue conductor who once foxed them into thinking that they were stopping and then pulled away again suddenly because the hail was not long enough. (please note: this is one of the most common hails)
The group hail:
As if all players on separate teams multiple subjects standing at the same stop have been spotted throwing out all sorts of various hails. Oblivious to one and other's motions, it seems as if each party feels that their hail is the one that is going to stop the bus.
The no hail:
Subject is generally foreign (or too busy noting bizarre hailing behavior) no arm movement is noted. Bus stops without a problem, sometimes right in front of the no hailer to generally the amazement of the rest of the parties at the stop. Some aggression can be noted as the hailers feel a sense of deceit as if all their hailing efforts were in vain.
If NYC is the city for hailing cabs, London is the Mecca for all those whom love to hail busses. I've been watching over the past few weeks and noticed a remarkable phenomenon of how Londoners hail busses. It's a veritable sport in it's self!
Tall arm hail:
Subject extends arm above head as if the bus conductor was driving seated on the upper deck, fearing that if it is not raised quite high enough, the conductor will not see them. Alternately this maneuver can be seen as the subject anxiously raising their hand as in to ask a really important question to the approaching London transport vehicle.
The Sly hail:
Subject slyly extends the bare minimum of hand necessary in order to hail bus. Generally it is only the palm that is put forth as if there was a secret drug transaction about to occur.
The Standard straight arm hail:
Subject extends arm in a stiff outward manor at about a 45 degree angle, various finger positioning has been noted but on the most part, this is a text book hail.
The Point hail:
Subject extends arm at standard straight arm height then accentuates the hail with a very marked point of the finger as in a very confident attempt to get the bus to stop at the exact position in which their finger is pointing. This can also be coupled with the subject making direct eye contact with the driver, this variation of the point hail can sometimes be quite effective some conductors have actually been spotting taking heed to the subject's instructions and stopping at the exact point where the subject is pointing.
The extenda-hail:
Subject extends arm as if frozen in time, long after it's quite obvious that the conductor has spotted his request and is clearly pulling over to stop. From what I can tell it seems like the subject is very untrusting and had a bad experience with a rogue conductor who once foxed them into thinking that they were stopping and then pulled away again suddenly because the hail was not long enough. (please note: this is one of the most common hails)
The group hail:
As if all players on separate teams multiple subjects standing at the same stop have been spotted throwing out all sorts of various hails. Oblivious to one and other's motions, it seems as if each party feels that their hail is the one that is going to stop the bus.
The no hail:
Subject is generally foreign (or too busy noting bizarre hailing behavior) no arm movement is noted. Bus stops without a problem, sometimes right in front of the no hailer to generally the amazement of the rest of the parties at the stop. Some aggression can be noted as the hailers feel a sense of deceit as if all their hailing efforts were in vain.
10.1.02
What a sight!
I took my time on my way to work this morning. left the house at 10am... the bus came so I got on it. I sat behind this gentle looking man who was furious reading his book in brail. Looking around and out the window, I tried to absorb everything I saw, the perfectly trimmed hedges, the vines that crept up the side of the house with the green front door, the colour of the sun as it reflected off the cars traveling in the opposite direction. Every colour and every hue, I soaked them all in.
Sometimes you forget to look, this morning I saw it all.
9.1.02
does it count...
when you show up late for work but you're at home sleeping off a hangover and in your state of guilty, half conscious sleep, you're dreaming that you are at work and you are getting things done?
After attempting to go somewhere new for a bevvie Hazel and I were strangely drawn towards the Retro bar. Can't help it, it's too easy. Then walks in David. Now, I don't know David, but I have kind have been reading his blog for the past few months... I stumbled upon one day while updating mine, and found his blog very sharp! So there we sat with our acquired pub quiz team. Laughing at myself, I continued to mention to Hazel, how much I felt like a voyeur, and that is was so strange to see this person that I read about everyday in person. As she motioned to get up and go talk to him, I held her arm and swore that I would die of humiliation if she talked to him... by the end of the night and 3 pints later, while leaving I went up and talked to him. Now, to be quite honest I've never felt so much like a geek in my whole life. Poor thing, looked mildly terrified... perhaps it was the part where I was telling him about this pic I took in Dublin about this crazy Kebab shop with a sign that read "Homos- £2.50" that I thought he might find funny... Oh man, in writing this down, I am thinking that yes, I am mad.
What have I learned from all this? Don't be weird to nice boys that you don't really know... and more interestingly, that reading someone's blog that you don't know really does give you a great new perspective on life, because you have no personal relationship to them, everything you read about them is very honest and raw... not much in life that can give you that sort of perspective, how refreshing indeed.
when you show up late for work but you're at home sleeping off a hangover and in your state of guilty, half conscious sleep, you're dreaming that you are at work and you are getting things done?
After attempting to go somewhere new for a bevvie Hazel and I were strangely drawn towards the Retro bar. Can't help it, it's too easy. Then walks in David. Now, I don't know David, but I have kind have been reading his blog for the past few months... I stumbled upon one day while updating mine, and found his blog very sharp! So there we sat with our acquired pub quiz team. Laughing at myself, I continued to mention to Hazel, how much I felt like a voyeur, and that is was so strange to see this person that I read about everyday in person. As she motioned to get up and go talk to him, I held her arm and swore that I would die of humiliation if she talked to him... by the end of the night and 3 pints later, while leaving I went up and talked to him. Now, to be quite honest I've never felt so much like a geek in my whole life. Poor thing, looked mildly terrified... perhaps it was the part where I was telling him about this pic I took in Dublin about this crazy Kebab shop with a sign that read "Homos- £2.50" that I thought he might find funny... Oh man, in writing this down, I am thinking that yes, I am mad.
What have I learned from all this? Don't be weird to nice boys that you don't really know... and more interestingly, that reading someone's blog that you don't know really does give you a great new perspective on life, because you have no personal relationship to them, everything you read about them is very honest and raw... not much in life that can give you that sort of perspective, how refreshing indeed.
7.1.02
Chinese lessons, Bliss, Sausages, Cherries, Jazz bar and a whole lot of time in bed...
The end of the week was just such a good thing. Slid out of the office at 6:20 and went for a drinkie across the road with Hon and Steph from the office. After giving way to my hunger pains I headed home brining Hon with me. He is teaching me Chinese... okay, so all I can say thus far is "sing darn fie lork" which means "Merry Christmas" so I figured we could catch up on my lessons. He's such a fun guy... he even ate the veggie pasta I made before we head to the Wellington to keep Jo's new "friend" company whilst she worked. Even Hannah ended up coming to the pub with us. Later that evening Miss Hazel joined us after her night at the retro bar.
Saturday was full of lethargy and breakfast at cafe Bliss. Not sure if I written about cafe bliss before, but it's this strange dive cafe where you can get 24h a day breakfast, but be warned if you don't ask, your eggs will not be soft poached. Later on... much later on H and Jo and I ventured out to go to Bar Med for their Cherries night. We met Miss Dan and Miss Sally sat awaiting our arrival. I can't quite do justice in trying to explain the collection of women in this place. There was copious amounts of double vodkas going on so soon things were on their way. After leaving Dan and Sal, Jo and Hazel and I head back towards home and to Jo's new find... The Jazz bar in Dalston. What a neat place. Open till god knows when. It was a good time. Very chill atmosphere! What fun!
Sunday... yes, this is the part where the rest of the laying in bed thing comes in.... When finally driven by hunger I ventured out of bed to Sofra to purchase some much needed nourishment. Hazel had a craving for sausages... Note to self... vegetarians are crap at buying meat. I thought I was so butch finding what I thought were sausages.. turned out they were more like wieners... ah well... god, I make myself laugh sometimes!
I am so happy that Sean is blogging! I had several laughs out loud today while reading of his weekend's exploits! God, I miss that boy!
Oh yea, Dearbhla's ex-coworker announced today that he is marrying his first cousin... hmmm isn't that illegal? Man, the world just never ceases to amaze me.
The end of the week was just such a good thing. Slid out of the office at 6:20 and went for a drinkie across the road with Hon and Steph from the office. After giving way to my hunger pains I headed home brining Hon with me. He is teaching me Chinese... okay, so all I can say thus far is "sing darn fie lork" which means "Merry Christmas" so I figured we could catch up on my lessons. He's such a fun guy... he even ate the veggie pasta I made before we head to the Wellington to keep Jo's new "friend" company whilst she worked. Even Hannah ended up coming to the pub with us. Later that evening Miss Hazel joined us after her night at the retro bar.
Saturday was full of lethargy and breakfast at cafe Bliss. Not sure if I written about cafe bliss before, but it's this strange dive cafe where you can get 24h a day breakfast, but be warned if you don't ask, your eggs will not be soft poached. Later on... much later on H and Jo and I ventured out to go to Bar Med for their Cherries night. We met Miss Dan and Miss Sally sat awaiting our arrival. I can't quite do justice in trying to explain the collection of women in this place. There was copious amounts of double vodkas going on so soon things were on their way. After leaving Dan and Sal, Jo and Hazel and I head back towards home and to Jo's new find... The Jazz bar in Dalston. What a neat place. Open till god knows when. It was a good time. Very chill atmosphere! What fun!
Sunday... yes, this is the part where the rest of the laying in bed thing comes in.... When finally driven by hunger I ventured out of bed to Sofra to purchase some much needed nourishment. Hazel had a craving for sausages... Note to self... vegetarians are crap at buying meat. I thought I was so butch finding what I thought were sausages.. turned out they were more like wieners... ah well... god, I make myself laugh sometimes!
I am so happy that Sean is blogging! I had several laughs out loud today while reading of his weekend's exploits! God, I miss that boy!
Oh yea, Dearbhla's ex-coworker announced today that he is marrying his first cousin... hmmm isn't that illegal? Man, the world just never ceases to amaze me.
3.1.02
Garlic lunches
That's the best way to start things off. Today I'm on the major garlic pasta lunch... a true test of how much my co-workers can put up with. The past few weeks have brought many many stories... let me see if I can harness them...
Magic Champagne bottle count= 4
Thursday December 20th
Pre Xmas chaos built up to a crescendo as the hours grew closer to the holidays my poor back muscles grew tighter and tighter. I am now a converted Shiatsu Massage woman! One visit with the lovely Bev Breeze (no joke that's her name) and there was a vast improvement.
Friday December 21st
Oh yes, it was... It was the last day at the office for most people who were not heading of town for the holidays... On the other end of the lolli pop... there were Rob (the developer) and I held up here with a Deliverable that had us here till 22h30! When finally all was complete... I staggered home. Jo had the night off work and was pacing around the flat-bored... With a small whine and a grunt, I signaled her towards one of the bottles of Champagne in the fridge... Not but a few minutes later all was well and the bottle was on this side of empty... Ahhh. bring on the holidays!
Magic Champagne bottle count= 3
Saturday December 22nd
Roni Size Heroes and Villains Theme here we come. After much pondering and confusion it was established the Roni Size was indeed spinning... Dragging my body out of bed late afternoon, I ventured into Angel to sus out 3 costumes for the event. The costume gods were smiling on me as I quickly picked out a Zorro mask for Jo and a Gangster hat for myself... A little bit further down the road (dodging xmas shoppers left and right) I made the bargain find of a most fabulous dress for hazel... tiny in size and very perfect for her Bonnie costume... all for the low low price of £7! Soon after I met up with Hazel and procured the last few items for our costumes then ducked into the Welly for a pint to warm the cockles. The show was at 93 ft. east in Brick lane... T'was a bit odd as not that many people were in costume... However, we were in fine form having consumed the bottle of Bolli pre-departure. Bring on the big beats. There are things I suppose I should write down... like falling off the stage while trying to help Jo up onto it... and then both of us falling into a bin full of empty beer bottles... but I shall spare the embarrassment... Uh oh, yea.. I think I forgot to mention the consumption of another bottle of champers... any ways... you get the picture...
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Sunday December 23rd
Sleep... sleep... the sniffles begin.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Monday December 24th
Full on head cold is brewing... head into work hoping to clear up the desk and prepare for a fresh start in the new year... Problems arise when Rob and Hon begin watching the Movie very loudly on Rob's machine... Too much noise... too many distractions... 4pm rolls around and I disappear into the darkness, finally free! H and I lounge at the Welly on the big brown leather sofa... consume a few bevvies and welcome in Christmas Day with Jo and Holly.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Tuesday December 25th
Jo's dad arrives around Mid day to take us to theirs for the day's festivities... we drop Hazel to Hampstead to play with Nat and continue along up North to Baldock (sp?) Spend a lovely quiet day feasting and relaxing (and sniffling and coughing if you're me) Watched the movie Annie on TV for the first time in well over 15 years... Look mum, I still know all the words to all the songs!
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Wednesday December 26th
repeat of previous day, add in a walk in the woods and failed attempt to visit the pub at the end of the road... it was closed.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Thursday December 27th
Return home to London and hook up for Hazel for a Dinner that is being paid for by my boss in penance for making me work so late the previous Friday... We have a mediocre Moroccan meal in Hampstead... the highlight being the bottle of champagne and the yummy apricot tobacco they served Hookah (sp?) and all!
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1+1 purchased with meal - 1 consumed with meal = 1
Friday December 28th
Visions of matchmaking brought Hazel, Jo, Nat and Tam to the Wellington in Soho... How nice it was to go out and have a laugh! Although we all promised that we were NOT GOING TO THE CANDY BAR... 12h30 rolled around and it was really our only choice for more drinks... so we ventured in...
Saturday-Monday December 31st
Sniffles, more coughs, and a quick trip to Habitat to buy a Duvet cover... rubs and other goings on... mmm. Rest!
Boycotted New Years completely... bought nine tins of bud 2 pizzas and christened it the "wife beater new years" sat back and laughed my ass off at Hazel's fast expanding belly... rang in the New Years on the couch... Hazel with beer stain on shirt by this point LOL! Oh yes, there was that final bottle of Moet... drank that.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 0 *sniffle* *wipes tear*
Tuesday January 1st.
Late afternoon found us in Nat's pub with Jo, Kat, Kerri, Lou, and Jo... watching "Weakest Link- Drag Queen edition" What a riot!... all was well till but seconds after some dodgy guys with dog in toe who were sitting in the far corner of the pub decided that they needed to lunge at the bar staff and lob a chair at them behind the bar! Being her bar, Nat fired out of her seat and dove behind the bar and with her supa fly Israeli army style moves pins one of the culprits to the ground... not a minute later the cops arrive and the bad guys are removed... a few million shards of glass littered the ground... and it was calm yet again... Very strange indeed... what a way to spend new years day!
Ahh, the fun!
That's the best way to start things off. Today I'm on the major garlic pasta lunch... a true test of how much my co-workers can put up with. The past few weeks have brought many many stories... let me see if I can harness them...
Magic Champagne bottle count= 4
Thursday December 20th
Pre Xmas chaos built up to a crescendo as the hours grew closer to the holidays my poor back muscles grew tighter and tighter. I am now a converted Shiatsu Massage woman! One visit with the lovely Bev Breeze (no joke that's her name) and there was a vast improvement.
Friday December 21st
Oh yes, it was... It was the last day at the office for most people who were not heading of town for the holidays... On the other end of the lolli pop... there were Rob (the developer) and I held up here with a Deliverable that had us here till 22h30! When finally all was complete... I staggered home. Jo had the night off work and was pacing around the flat-bored... With a small whine and a grunt, I signaled her towards one of the bottles of Champagne in the fridge... Not but a few minutes later all was well and the bottle was on this side of empty... Ahhh. bring on the holidays!
Magic Champagne bottle count= 3
Saturday December 22nd
Roni Size Heroes and Villains Theme here we come. After much pondering and confusion it was established the Roni Size was indeed spinning... Dragging my body out of bed late afternoon, I ventured into Angel to sus out 3 costumes for the event. The costume gods were smiling on me as I quickly picked out a Zorro mask for Jo and a Gangster hat for myself... A little bit further down the road (dodging xmas shoppers left and right) I made the bargain find of a most fabulous dress for hazel... tiny in size and very perfect for her Bonnie costume... all for the low low price of £7! Soon after I met up with Hazel and procured the last few items for our costumes then ducked into the Welly for a pint to warm the cockles. The show was at 93 ft. east in Brick lane... T'was a bit odd as not that many people were in costume... However, we were in fine form having consumed the bottle of Bolli pre-departure. Bring on the big beats. There are things I suppose I should write down... like falling off the stage while trying to help Jo up onto it... and then both of us falling into a bin full of empty beer bottles... but I shall spare the embarrassment... Uh oh, yea.. I think I forgot to mention the consumption of another bottle of champers... any ways... you get the picture...
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Sunday December 23rd
Sleep... sleep... the sniffles begin.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Monday December 24th
Full on head cold is brewing... head into work hoping to clear up the desk and prepare for a fresh start in the new year... Problems arise when Rob and Hon begin watching the Movie very loudly on Rob's machine... Too much noise... too many distractions... 4pm rolls around and I disappear into the darkness, finally free! H and I lounge at the Welly on the big brown leather sofa... consume a few bevvies and welcome in Christmas Day with Jo and Holly.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Tuesday December 25th
Jo's dad arrives around Mid day to take us to theirs for the day's festivities... we drop Hazel to Hampstead to play with Nat and continue along up North to Baldock (sp?) Spend a lovely quiet day feasting and relaxing (and sniffling and coughing if you're me) Watched the movie Annie on TV for the first time in well over 15 years... Look mum, I still know all the words to all the songs!
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Wednesday December 26th
repeat of previous day, add in a walk in the woods and failed attempt to visit the pub at the end of the road... it was closed.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1
Thursday December 27th
Return home to London and hook up for Hazel for a Dinner that is being paid for by my boss in penance for making me work so late the previous Friday... We have a mediocre Moroccan meal in Hampstead... the highlight being the bottle of champagne and the yummy apricot tobacco they served Hookah (sp?) and all!
Magic Champagne bottle count= 1+1 purchased with meal - 1 consumed with meal = 1
Friday December 28th
Visions of matchmaking brought Hazel, Jo, Nat and Tam to the Wellington in Soho... How nice it was to go out and have a laugh! Although we all promised that we were NOT GOING TO THE CANDY BAR... 12h30 rolled around and it was really our only choice for more drinks... so we ventured in...
Saturday-Monday December 31st
Sniffles, more coughs, and a quick trip to Habitat to buy a Duvet cover... rubs and other goings on... mmm. Rest!
Boycotted New Years completely... bought nine tins of bud 2 pizzas and christened it the "wife beater new years" sat back and laughed my ass off at Hazel's fast expanding belly... rang in the New Years on the couch... Hazel with beer stain on shirt by this point LOL! Oh yes, there was that final bottle of Moet... drank that.
Magic Champagne bottle count= 0 *sniffle* *wipes tear*
Tuesday January 1st.
Late afternoon found us in Nat's pub with Jo, Kat, Kerri, Lou, and Jo... watching "Weakest Link- Drag Queen edition" What a riot!... all was well till but seconds after some dodgy guys with dog in toe who were sitting in the far corner of the pub decided that they needed to lunge at the bar staff and lob a chair at them behind the bar! Being her bar, Nat fired out of her seat and dove behind the bar and with her supa fly Israeli army style moves pins one of the culprits to the ground... not a minute later the cops arrive and the bad guys are removed... a few million shards of glass littered the ground... and it was calm yet again... Very strange indeed... what a way to spend new years day!
Ahh, the fun!
21.12.01
Four bottles of champagne in the fridge at home and I'm not there!
So It's half past nine on Friday night. I'm here at work. CD on the fritz and really annoying clients whining at us because they have to stay past four their time. Man, I definately don't get paid enough for this.
So, yes... there are four bottles of champagne in the fridge at home. I had quite the haul this year from suppliers... my boss even got me a bottle of Boli. It's a shame really that I can't even be at home to drink them.
The week has been absolutely frantic. Bring on the holiday season. I can't even begin to feel like it's xmas. Hmm.
Back here on Monday, I hope to get some writing done and report some excitement over the weekend.
Bring on the future.
So It's half past nine on Friday night. I'm here at work. CD on the fritz and really annoying clients whining at us because they have to stay past four their time. Man, I definately don't get paid enough for this.
So, yes... there are four bottles of champagne in the fridge at home. I had quite the haul this year from suppliers... my boss even got me a bottle of Boli. It's a shame really that I can't even be at home to drink them.
The week has been absolutely frantic. Bring on the holiday season. I can't even begin to feel like it's xmas. Hmm.
Back here on Monday, I hope to get some writing done and report some excitement over the weekend.
Bring on the future.
17.12.01
"Carry me home and bury me decent"
Says Dearbhla in her Irish exclamation of the day... when I told her that I was going to write it in my blog she was not impressed, she would rather I write " Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the little donkey" . There now I've written them both... Weather you can tell from them or not, they're both expressions of defeat.... it's the general sense of dismay that her and I share while trying to wade through all the chaos of what is our work. Only a few days left before xmas and patience is wearing thin...
While walking in Dalston this Sunday morning prior to heading to my cousins for an "out of town relatives in town, lets all meet for lunch do" I stumbled across some really interesting things... I wish I had my camera with me to have captured them... the first sighting was...
1. A sign in the furniture shop that faces the grocery store " Fraud detection system in place. We will not tolerate fraudulent payment in any way shape or form" hmm, really? Damn, I was hoping to cash that fraudulent cheque and buy that white leather sofa that I've been eyeing? LOL
2. While walking out of the shopping centre I walked by the large barrels of chicken and beef carcasses that were teeming out of two huge blue barrels out side the butcher shop. Seeing the poor mangled feel and piles of flesh and skin. Let me tell you, if I weren't a veggie, I would have changed my ways right then and there... It was fascinating... kind of like the scene of an accident... really horrible but you can't help yourself from looking. Sometimes I feel society is just one big accident scene.
3. As I continued on my way back to my flat, I crossed the street to be greeted by a huge hand drawn sign in the window of one of the several wig shops. "Special on Human Hair!" Oh my, just what I've been looking for! I love it! I really wanted to go in and inspect this human hair and inquire just as to where they procured the product... I thought it best that I leave such exploration for another day.
4. Just before I turned the corner back on to my street and away from the parallel universe that is Dalston. I walked by the large Irish pub. I noticed a sticker on the door that read " Avoid being barred for life from this establishment, don't deal drugs in here. Anyone caught dealing drugs of any sort will be barred from entering this establishment for LIFE". Now that's a warning. I think the fact that it was a manufactured sticker, proved as the most interesting feature of this warning. I'm half saddened and half amused to think that someone sat down and had a sicker designed and printed that read that message!
Life is very interesting when you notice these little things... mind you it's not hard when you live round the corner from a very concentrated cultural area.
Roni size is playing next weekend. I think, although I'm not financially adept enough to do so... I'm going. It should be amazing to see him spin live. Plus it's on Saturday night. I'm only working Monday and then it's Xmas... plenty of recovery time for a night of dancing! Yea!
Says Dearbhla in her Irish exclamation of the day... when I told her that I was going to write it in my blog she was not impressed, she would rather I write " Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the little donkey" . There now I've written them both... Weather you can tell from them or not, they're both expressions of defeat.... it's the general sense of dismay that her and I share while trying to wade through all the chaos of what is our work. Only a few days left before xmas and patience is wearing thin...
While walking in Dalston this Sunday morning prior to heading to my cousins for an "out of town relatives in town, lets all meet for lunch do" I stumbled across some really interesting things... I wish I had my camera with me to have captured them... the first sighting was...
1. A sign in the furniture shop that faces the grocery store " Fraud detection system in place. We will not tolerate fraudulent payment in any way shape or form" hmm, really? Damn, I was hoping to cash that fraudulent cheque and buy that white leather sofa that I've been eyeing? LOL
2. While walking out of the shopping centre I walked by the large barrels of chicken and beef carcasses that were teeming out of two huge blue barrels out side the butcher shop. Seeing the poor mangled feel and piles of flesh and skin. Let me tell you, if I weren't a veggie, I would have changed my ways right then and there... It was fascinating... kind of like the scene of an accident... really horrible but you can't help yourself from looking. Sometimes I feel society is just one big accident scene.
3. As I continued on my way back to my flat, I crossed the street to be greeted by a huge hand drawn sign in the window of one of the several wig shops. "Special on Human Hair!" Oh my, just what I've been looking for! I love it! I really wanted to go in and inspect this human hair and inquire just as to where they procured the product... I thought it best that I leave such exploration for another day.
4. Just before I turned the corner back on to my street and away from the parallel universe that is Dalston. I walked by the large Irish pub. I noticed a sticker on the door that read " Avoid being barred for life from this establishment, don't deal drugs in here. Anyone caught dealing drugs of any sort will be barred from entering this establishment for LIFE". Now that's a warning. I think the fact that it was a manufactured sticker, proved as the most interesting feature of this warning. I'm half saddened and half amused to think that someone sat down and had a sicker designed and printed that read that message!
Life is very interesting when you notice these little things... mind you it's not hard when you live round the corner from a very concentrated cultural area.
Roni size is playing next weekend. I think, although I'm not financially adept enough to do so... I'm going. It should be amazing to see him spin live. Plus it's on Saturday night. I'm only working Monday and then it's Xmas... plenty of recovery time for a night of dancing! Yea!
12.12.01
To Dublin and Back... with lots of events and sillyness inbetween.
Wow, I think this is quite possibly the longest I've gone without blogging. It was nice to have a break. It's not easy trying to discipline yourself to write every day...
Left very early ie: 4h20 on Thursday morning last week. Stayed up till 2h30... so the two hours of sleep didn't do me much good. I had gone to the Hayward gallery with Hazel to finally see the contemporary Japanese culture exhibit. It was really good. I especially like the piece that this one guy did, that involved transporting an octopus from a fish market on one side of Japan and then setting it free in the ocean at the other end of the country. It was done in video format and was accompanied by a really nice 11x17 run out of his octopus projects. I'll bring it into work one day soon and transcribe some of the paragraphs. He's truly brilliant. I like his mind.
Got to the airport with not a minute to spare. 500 people (at least) stood in the line in front of me... to get through customs. Knowing full well that if I waited I would never make my flight... I sauntered around and nestled into the front half of one of the lines. Presto.. Through customs and onto the flight! Arrive to find fab Denise waiting for me at the airport. Indeed it is still such a thrill to re-unite with a friend like her after all these years... mind you now after having seen her for 8 out the past 30 odd days.. it's kind of hard to say we never see each other. Had a great time on Thursday just relaxing and sleeping while she was at work. I read some Wittgenstein and Butler (some light reading provided by the fab Hazel) *smirk*. After a few hours my fidgets got the better of me and I laced up and went for a jog. It didn't take me long to realize that jogging in Dublin was not a common occurrence. People stared at me with worried looks on their faces, wondering if I was being chased! Ah it was all good.
Friday night Denise and I met up with her BF named K.P and his friend Simon at a bar in town. We stopped in briefly at a Kebab shop so that KP could get something to eat.... That is where I snapped my fav. photo op in recent history. On the board listing all the specials I found a listing for -> Homos £2.50 Wow what a bargain! LOL. Don't believe me? write me, I'll send you the pic. We ended up at Whelan's and had a great time dancing to some Indy tunes that reminded us that we were getting old. Ah well, you're never too old to dance the pixies and stone roses! Met up with Dan and Sally there too! It's neat to see people that you know from home in places that are normally out of context.
Saturday was a relaxing day. Did a wee bit of shopping with D and just generally hung out. Bought a new pair of pumas... thought I deserved a treat... Went out again Saturday night... didn't have very much energy to stay out all that late so I left Denise and her fab friends at the Tomato bar and walked home. It's quite a surreal thing, to walk through the streets of Dublin at 2am. They are just teeming with people... not just that, it's kind of surreal because everyone who is in the street is between the ages of 18 and 35... and everyone is pissed. The only thing I can liken it to, is Frosh week in Ottawa, where tons of students from both Uni's are all milling about.
Sunday was all about rest and catching up on the marathon episode of Eastenders... sad to say, I've not been here quite 4 months and I already am up to speed on all the trash TV! We finally ventured out in the evening to get some food. We met up with Brendan, Denise's brother. Followed by, what is now my favorite Dublin bar " The Globe". D and KP went home to rest and I stayed on and chatted with Brendan. It was a good laugh.
Monday Denise had the day off of work and she and I did a little bit more xmas shopping or "crimbo" shopping as they say here... had a nice lunch and then headed to the Guinness storehouse. It's a really neat place. Saw how it was made did the whole tourist thing... It's strange because I normally have to be dragged kicking and screaming to any activity such as that... Got my dad and grandfather some neat little souvenirs. Met KP and went to see Zoolander that night. It was a funny film... but as always, they give too much away in the previews...
Headed home early Tuesday morning and before I knew it, it was 13h and I was back at my desk with stress pain in the neck wondering where my holidays had went...
Doing the late shift tonight, good time for me to write this all down.... so much in the works leading up to mass... I just can't wait to have some more time away from this madness!
Yea, so I can't be arsed to put up all the 150 odd pics I took... if you're interested in seeing any drop me a line sj_chick@yahoo.com
Wow, I think this is quite possibly the longest I've gone without blogging. It was nice to have a break. It's not easy trying to discipline yourself to write every day...
Left very early ie: 4h20 on Thursday morning last week. Stayed up till 2h30... so the two hours of sleep didn't do me much good. I had gone to the Hayward gallery with Hazel to finally see the contemporary Japanese culture exhibit. It was really good. I especially like the piece that this one guy did, that involved transporting an octopus from a fish market on one side of Japan and then setting it free in the ocean at the other end of the country. It was done in video format and was accompanied by a really nice 11x17 run out of his octopus projects. I'll bring it into work one day soon and transcribe some of the paragraphs. He's truly brilliant. I like his mind.
Got to the airport with not a minute to spare. 500 people (at least) stood in the line in front of me... to get through customs. Knowing full well that if I waited I would never make my flight... I sauntered around and nestled into the front half of one of the lines. Presto.. Through customs and onto the flight! Arrive to find fab Denise waiting for me at the airport. Indeed it is still such a thrill to re-unite with a friend like her after all these years... mind you now after having seen her for 8 out the past 30 odd days.. it's kind of hard to say we never see each other. Had a great time on Thursday just relaxing and sleeping while she was at work. I read some Wittgenstein and Butler (some light reading provided by the fab Hazel) *smirk*. After a few hours my fidgets got the better of me and I laced up and went for a jog. It didn't take me long to realize that jogging in Dublin was not a common occurrence. People stared at me with worried looks on their faces, wondering if I was being chased! Ah it was all good.
Friday night Denise and I met up with her BF named K.P and his friend Simon at a bar in town. We stopped in briefly at a Kebab shop so that KP could get something to eat.... That is where I snapped my fav. photo op in recent history. On the board listing all the specials I found a listing for -> Homos £2.50 Wow what a bargain! LOL. Don't believe me? write me, I'll send you the pic. We ended up at Whelan's and had a great time dancing to some Indy tunes that reminded us that we were getting old. Ah well, you're never too old to dance the pixies and stone roses! Met up with Dan and Sally there too! It's neat to see people that you know from home in places that are normally out of context.
Saturday was a relaxing day. Did a wee bit of shopping with D and just generally hung out. Bought a new pair of pumas... thought I deserved a treat... Went out again Saturday night... didn't have very much energy to stay out all that late so I left Denise and her fab friends at the Tomato bar and walked home. It's quite a surreal thing, to walk through the streets of Dublin at 2am. They are just teeming with people... not just that, it's kind of surreal because everyone who is in the street is between the ages of 18 and 35... and everyone is pissed. The only thing I can liken it to, is Frosh week in Ottawa, where tons of students from both Uni's are all milling about.
Sunday was all about rest and catching up on the marathon episode of Eastenders... sad to say, I've not been here quite 4 months and I already am up to speed on all the trash TV! We finally ventured out in the evening to get some food. We met up with Brendan, Denise's brother. Followed by, what is now my favorite Dublin bar " The Globe". D and KP went home to rest and I stayed on and chatted with Brendan. It was a good laugh.
Monday Denise had the day off of work and she and I did a little bit more xmas shopping or "crimbo" shopping as they say here... had a nice lunch and then headed to the Guinness storehouse. It's a really neat place. Saw how it was made did the whole tourist thing... It's strange because I normally have to be dragged kicking and screaming to any activity such as that... Got my dad and grandfather some neat little souvenirs. Met KP and went to see Zoolander that night. It was a funny film... but as always, they give too much away in the previews...
Headed home early Tuesday morning and before I knew it, it was 13h and I was back at my desk with stress pain in the neck wondering where my holidays had went...
Doing the late shift tonight, good time for me to write this all down.... so much in the works leading up to mass... I just can't wait to have some more time away from this madness!
Yea, so I can't be arsed to put up all the 150 odd pics I took... if you're interested in seeing any drop me a line sj_chick@yahoo.com
30.11.01
Trendy Sausages?
Yup, only in London. I went to this trendy restaurant last night with my co worker Dearbhla. It was off of Oxford st. Their specialty was Sausage and mash. Nothing but sausage and mash... I can't believe it. The place was jammers and everyone was chomping down on sodding wieners! What a laugh. I chose the one of two vegetarian options... it was a Glamaorgan sausage (that thankfully didn't look like a sausage) it was made with leeks, broccoli and cheese. Lovely indeed. but for 8£ I can imagine that it wouldn't be hard to find something more appealing to eat!
After our sausage extravaganza we ventured next door to a bar called Social.... inside I was amused to find that, what appeared to be the wardrobe for sex in the city was being worn by the occupants of the bar! It was trendy. The music was fab. Apparently it's owned by a record company and there are often sightings of your favorite celebs... hmmm. Sometimes I'm just so Canadian. Grooving away to Massive Attack, I sat there giggling and people watching.... It was the type of place that as a Canadian you generally only read about in magazines... I kind of had to pinch myself to prove that I was really there... I'm not quite sure yet if it was a good or a bad thing....
Chatted with Christie and Yvonne and got e-mails from Darrell and Mark. I'm so lucky today... Funny how sometimes you don't hear from people in ages and then all of a sudden everyone writes at once!
Good news!
I'm taking Thursday and Friday off next week and the following Monday as well...Heading to Dublin to visit my friend Denise. I got a flight for 20£ return tax included! They have the best deals here. The flight was 1p each way and the rest of the fees were just taxes! I'm off to do my xmas shopping. The punt is weaker than the sterling so I'll be able to get more bang for my buck!
The mere thought of having time off has lifted my spirits and reduced my stress level considerably! I can't wait to go! I love Dublin! Plus I might even be able to meet up with Dan and Sal during the weekend, as they too will be in Dublin....
28.11.01
So after about a week long hiatus I'm back at the blog thing. It was a nice break really. It does take a lot of energy and commitment to update this everyday. It's good though... a little bit of structure does the mind some good.
Had a busy and fun weekend... Went to he aquarium, then out for supper.... Met up with Dan and Sally at Vespa... Good fun. Spent almost the entire day in bed on Sunday. What a treat, literally. When finally out of bed Hazel showed me this great Indian restaurant in Stoke Newington... We had great eats and tasty wine. Went to Due south for a bit of relaxing... ended up playing pool with these two mad middle aged ladies... All was well until she started going on about how all "Canadians are thick".... hmm. not much you can say to someone who's that ignorant... It was good for a laugh though. I can't imagine ever saying that to someone. She thought herself rather clever.
Work continues to dominate most of my hours during the day and night. Swimming on Monday and Tuesday this week... H is the best new swimmer I've ever seen... from floating to swimming in the deep end in the span of just an hour and half! In all my years of teaching I've never seen someone make so much progress in such little time. What fun!
I'm sitting here listening to one of my designers chatter away to one of our clients in German. It's amazing after how a few weeks of being exposed to the language, you start to pick up some familiarities. In North America, you're always exposed to other languages but very rarely are they European or Germanic or Scandinavian... speaking of the Scandis... this blond number made off with my towel at the gym last night... honest mistake really. We both had green towels... typical sit com moment...
I am now the proud owner of a nice space heater that provides me with some well needed heat on my feet at my desk. I hope it lasts the winter... I don't think I could without it.
21.11.01
Oh so quiet
So I'm sitting here staring at my mini Zen garden on my desk... visions of burying myself in the sand swirl through my head... If that didn't work I could just hide behind a rock, avoid the chaos of work.
I think it's gotten to the point where I have so much to do I no longer have any motivation to do any of it. I'm like the naughtily school girl in the back of the class, not doing her maths.
shh. no one is on to me.
Shhh. Shhh. If you ever have the unfortunate experience of being in a Karaoke bar, don't despair... A few weeks back I was at the Oak Bar on a Sunday night with Jo. Between the trauma of being there I enjoyed the pleasure of the most fabulous rendition of Bjork's "oh so quiet". It was fantastically done. She was brilliant, and so is the song. So if you're ever forced to do Karaoke... search for that song. It was a real crowd pleaser.
20.11.01
Cold Feet and Mugging... all in an evening
Finally managed to watch that program "Cold Feet" that Mark has been glowing about. It's quite good really. It's the Brit 2000 version of the 80's American classic "Thirty Something". I sat watching it remembering really liking 30 something... but when I do the math, I am really quite puzzled... I wasn't even in my 20's and I liked that program? What does this mean...
So as Hannah pranced off into the night to visit her boyfriend... she was mugged. Got a call in the middle of Cold Feet from her BF's roommate telling me to deadbolt the door as Hannah had been mugged and her keys, wallet, phone and bag were stolen. She was alright... wee bit of a twisted ankle but good. It could have been far worse... I sat there on the couch huddled under the duvet waiting for the scary key in lock sound from the front door. Visions of mad men letting themselves into the flat raced through my head. With no deadbolt on the lock there was nothing more I could do but wait... and hope that the person who stole her purse did not have the brains to find the address of the flat on a bill in her purse. I did the best I could to keep my mind busy by texting Hazel, who was kind enough to take time out from her evening with her friend to calm my fears... Her friend even thought she was cheating at scrabble because of all the texting! *too funny* Anyhoo. Jo finally came home at around 1am and I felt safer...
Woke up this morning and felt like a dweeb. Kind of like that feeling you get when you are really spooked after watching a horror movie, then when you wake up in the morning you're like.... Damn... I'm so silly.
Finally managed to watch that program "Cold Feet" that Mark has been glowing about. It's quite good really. It's the Brit 2000 version of the 80's American classic "Thirty Something". I sat watching it remembering really liking 30 something... but when I do the math, I am really quite puzzled... I wasn't even in my 20's and I liked that program? What does this mean...
So as Hannah pranced off into the night to visit her boyfriend... she was mugged. Got a call in the middle of Cold Feet from her BF's roommate telling me to deadbolt the door as Hannah had been mugged and her keys, wallet, phone and bag were stolen. She was alright... wee bit of a twisted ankle but good. It could have been far worse... I sat there on the couch huddled under the duvet waiting for the scary key in lock sound from the front door. Visions of mad men letting themselves into the flat raced through my head. With no deadbolt on the lock there was nothing more I could do but wait... and hope that the person who stole her purse did not have the brains to find the address of the flat on a bill in her purse. I did the best I could to keep my mind busy by texting Hazel, who was kind enough to take time out from her evening with her friend to calm my fears... Her friend even thought she was cheating at scrabble because of all the texting! *too funny* Anyhoo. Jo finally came home at around 1am and I felt safer...
Woke up this morning and felt like a dweeb. Kind of like that feeling you get when you are really spooked after watching a horror movie, then when you wake up in the morning you're like.... Damn... I'm so silly.
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