molly ringwald blues

modernist women..

2010-08-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

because it is vaguely relevant to my thesis, i am updating this tumblr on modernist women a lot more frequently than i am updating anything else..

have a look..you might like it..

resurfacing briefly..

2010-06-14T05:26:00.000-07:00

yes, i've been away a while, but i've been busy writing my thesis and that..and also going to paris again..

it was just as good this time as it was all the other times i've been, you'll be pleased to know (although i did convince myself that they had rearranged montmartre after getting a little disorientated on the first night there)..

i spent most of my time mooching around - i took in some awesome feminist art, looked round many bookshops, ate some delicious meat, enjoyed some jazz, got quite hot and clammy, randomly hung out with ace bands (oh hello, sleigh bells), and accumulated several hours on the metro..paris never disappoints..

maud..

2010-01-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

well, mildred finally gave up the ghost..we were all very sad, but i just don't seem to be able to keep ferns in the manner to which they have so obviously become accustomed (i had another tiny fern called barry, and he died a short while ago as well..)..

bearing this in mind, i decided not to get another fern to replace her..i'm not sure what i ended up getting, but she's very lovely in any case, and i have named her - in what i feel is a rather fitting tribute - maud (those of you who still don't appreciate these references, please see me after class in my office)..

if we have it, they will come..

2009-10-30T04:45:00.000-07:00

we're having our annual halloween party tomorrow..always fun, but i can barely contain my excitement this year as my housemates have allowed me to create my very own daisy-steiner-party-room..i've made a glitterball out of tinfoil:

..and i've covered a whole load of other things in tinfoil as well, like this phone:

plus i've made some tinfoil stars, which i think really complete the look:

(more pictures here)

i myself will be dressing up as daisy tomorrow night..i'm a bit worried about the authenticity of my hair, as it's far too long (any suggestions are welcome, except for cutting it off)..and i have also compiled a playlist, consisting primarily of prefab sprout, spandau ballet, huey lewis and the news, and, of course, the 'timewarp'..

..this is going to be the best party ever..

music for sundays in autumn..

2009-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

i like sundays, and i like autumn..sundays in autumn are, therefore, one of my favourite things..with that in mind, i have done a playlist in appreciation of all things sunday and autumn..enjoy....

baking..

2009-09-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

i made a pizza from scratch the other night, using hugh fearnley-whittingstall's recipe in the guardian t'other week..now, i normally trust hugh implicitly, having followed a good few of his delicious recipes in the past to great success (my favourite's probably the spicy bean stew w/ sausages..brilliant in winter)..

..however, my trust was somewhat shaken when the pizza dough recipe he suggested produced nothing more than a sticky, glutinous mess, which was only saved by the arrival of a friend of mark's, who has plenty of pizza making experience and just added a shedload of flour..i probably would have worked it out on my own eventually, but more likely i would have just thrown it in the bin and opted for beans on toast..i shouldn't be too harsh on hugh, though - after all, it wasn't really his dough recipe, just one of his mates'..another saving grace was his guide to making roasted tomato pizza sauce..yum....it all worked out ok in the end:

the following night i baked my first cookies..oatmeal..and they were freaking sweet:

i did make more than this, but they were so assome that they were almost all gone before i had the chance to record them for posterity..

RIP john hughes..

2009-08-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

mildred..

2009-08-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

..found her today in an otherwise uneventful trip to morrisons..

edit: lex told me earlier this evening that he doesn't like the name mildred..well, he can bum off..for one - it's my plant, not his, and for two, i named her mildred after the worst witch herself..i read the books when i was little, but i have to say i preferred the film (but not the later tv series), part one of which is here for your enjoyment (and it looks like you can watch the entire film on youtube..it's worth it, i promise..tim curry as 'big daddy wiz'):

i love 'the worst witch' so much i dressed up as mildred to my friend's birthday party many moons ago:

..i also realised that i hadn't yet named my ivy plant which i bought a couple of months ago, and she was the only one without a name..so i named her maud, in honour of mildred's best friend in said book/film..take that, lex!

....

2009-07-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

i know i've already posted about kate beaton's 'hark! a vagrant' comic before, and i hate to come across like a crazy obsessed fan and all, but her latest installment is possibly my favourite yet (for obvious reasons)..go look at it..

..unfortunately her link to sally bloodbath's awesome comic journal has provided me with yet more distraction..i'll never finish this chapter now....

apologies..

2009-07-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

no blog posts for a while because my days generally look like this:

which isn't very interesting for anyone, not even me..

however, some good things have happened..
1. lex has moved in next door to me and changed life up here for the better..
2. been trying to take him on outings, the best of which was the ouseburn festival last weekend..saw b>e>a>k and drank too much booze on the saturday night..then on sunday we wandered over to the craft market at the star and shadow to see stacy at her stall, then moseyed on down the hill where i bought this:

his name is damo, after damo suzuki, because he is from japan..we finished the trip off with a drink outside the cumberland arms..in the sun!
3. also went with lex, schmark and schmoph to see 'moon' at the tyneside..really good..

other than that, though, i have mostly been spending a lot of time in a small concrete bunker in the library..hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly, but i wouldn't count on it..

conference rundown..

2009-06-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

lowlights:

* having to evacuate during the wine reception due to a fire alarm..20 minutes of standing outside in the rain..
* calling a paramedic for a delegate who had collapsed..
* realising half an hour before lunch at 12 on sunday that we had booked the caterers for 1pm..
* the 40 minutes of panic when it looked as if dj shaz (the dj for our 'historical karaoke') wasn't going to show..
* the distinct lack of sleep..
* the pub in which we were having the karaoke running out of red wine before i got a chance to buy any..
* having to drink disgusting pink wine instead..
* schmark deserting me..
* missing 2 roddick matches..

highlights:

* all the keynotes, but especially deborah cartmell's address on adaptations of jane austen, and kate mosse's very engaging talk..
* the few panels i managed to get to being really interesting, and hanging together really well = yey for me as programme editor..
* not having to worry about the little things thanks to our fantastic conference assistants..
* all the nice things the delegates said to us, especially the lady who told me it was "the best conference she'd ever been to"..
* getting more drunk than i meant to on sunday evening..
* managing to avoid a hangover all the way through..
* surviving it..

stressed to the max..

2009-06-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

currently experiencing increasing levels of stress and panic as the conference i (together with 4 other people) have been organising for over a year speeds towards us....how can it be in four days? urgh.

not much time to do anything other than freak out, although i am of course trying to fit in as much wimbledon viewing as possible..it's very calming, you know....here's hoping for a roddick win this year..

in my spare moments i am also very much enjoying the new album by alak (previously known as alas, alak, alaska)..it's unlike anything else i've heard recently, and is really quite charming.....go and listen to it here..if you like it, you can also download it for however much you would like to pay (minimum $1)..well worth it, i'd say.....

we've been holding this moment for you..

2009-05-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

go and listen to 'psychic city', the new yacht single, now please..i've had it in my head since i saw them perform it at latitude last year..now i have it in my grubby computer mitts i can't stop listening to it..

sidenote..

2009-05-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

have changed the font again..will probably change it again..

i quite like this one, though..garamond was good for a while, but a wee bit too small when small, and too big when medium..this one looks good in small, don't you think?

i do, however, want to know how to change the line-spacing so that the lines are a bit closer together..anyone have any tips? han?

vote vote vote!

2009-05-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

internet, i need your help..on han's recommendation i ordered 4 pairs of glasses to try on from glasses direct, and i have now whittled that 4 down to 2..

the safe black pair:

or the slightly bizarre and almost certainly inadvisable big grey pair:

i've kind of already made up my mind - almost certainly inadvisable pair have edged their way into my heart just by virtue of their inadvisable-ness....but i would like your opinions..if you have any thoughts, please voice them in comments..

yuk..

2009-05-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

this 'pride and prejudice' comic from marvel looks horrible....the drawings are not how i would have imagined them at all (not that i had ever imagined what 'pride and prejudice' would look like in comic book form)..far too smooth and sleek and, well, marvel-y..

i agree with kate beaton..her comic book reimagining of the novel looks like it would be much more fun..

check out my skills..

2009-05-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

so i have just changed the font on this blog to garamond....i think the reason i did this is because i have just spent the last 4 days typing in said font, and now anything that's not in garamond looks weird..

i read something on the internet, though, that said some people might not have certain fonts installed..so, if you can't read this, do let me know..

..and i just realised that if you can't read this, then you're not going to know to let me know, are you?

..it's been a long week..

ahem..

2009-05-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

..there's someone i would like to introduce to you all....

..everybody, meet henry*..we found each other in the grainger market today and instantly hit it off, so he decided to come home with me on the bus and take up residence in my room..he's going to help me concentrate and write better, and i'm going to keep him looking dashing..we're generally just going to have a lovely time together..

*the second - for those of you that don't remember/have actual lives, henry the first finally gave up the ghost a few months after being attacked by an evil weevil..it was a sad day indeed..

ha!

2009-04-22T09:55:00.001-07:00

i know i'm probably way behind the pack on this, but have just discovered poladroid..

almost makes up for polaroid's decision to stop manufacturing film..almost....

lovely lovely..

2009-04-22T08:47:00.001-07:00

i am definitely getting old..my new favourite thing to do is to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea (earl grey, please) and relax with an episode of 'grand designs' on catch-up tv..there's just something inherently calming about kevin mccloud and his musings on architecture and the nature of home..aaaah..

..i know it's achingly uncool, and i don't care..i recommend a good dose of it to anyone who's overtired and/or a bit stressed - it'll sort you right out..

[i am also having a lovely time with my growing collection of 'cosby show' box sets..i need never leave the house again....]

tweeness..

2009-04-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

still sniffly, but now am quite excited about this..

eep!

(via i like)

stupid germs..

2009-04-06T04:06:00.001-07:00

i am ill again with a cold..i'm pretty annoyed, because it's the same cold mark got over a week ago, and i was all proud of myself and my rockhard immune system for having managed to avoid it, but it seems my immune system was merely taunting me..or maybe it's not as rockhard as i thought it was. either way, disappointing. now i'm going to have to spend the next few days feeling sorry for myself and watching my new dvds (series one of 'the cosby show', series 1 & 2 of eighties classic 'moonlighting', and 'the piano' [for school], since you asked..)..all i can say is my condition better have improved by the time i get the train back to oxford on wednesday - there's nothing i hate more than spending a train journey trying not to snot all over myself and my fellow passengers, especially when i'm in first class (hurray for dirt cheap advance tickets), and so have to pretend that i am a lady..

weepity..

2009-03-31T06:05:00.001-07:00

also forgot to post this (probably due to being too distraught)..this aint vegas, who, as many of you know, were one of my all-time favourite bands (number 4 in the top 4, yes yes) split up a few months ago. it's very sad, espceially as they still had some amazing new material left unreleased (check out 'carry you on my shoulders' and 'wallace the lion' on the band's myspace)....
they did, however, leave behind two great albums and a smattering of assome singles for us to enjoy, including this last one:

and they are working on new projects, including b>e>a>k (who finally have a single out), so it's not all doom and gloom..

overdue listing..

2009-03-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

it's far too late for this now, i'm aware..but i've been, as you know, (mildly) agonising over the order of this for quite a while - i've now come to the conclusion that there is no order, after the first two..and so, in a shameless copy of axl, here are my albums of 2008..

1. youthmovies - 'good nature'
2. foals - 'antidotes'

and the rest, in no particular order..

mount eerie - 'lost wisdom'
fennesz - 'black sea'
the week that was - 'the week that was'
grouper - 'dragging a dead deer up a hill'
spiritualized - 'songs in a&e'
beck - 'modern guilt'
thao nguyen and the get down stay down - 'we brave bee stings and all'
mogwai - 'the hawk is howling'
belle & sebastian - 'bbc sessions' (yes, that does count)
school of language - 'sea from shore'
mirah - 'the old days feeling'
stereolab - 'chemical chords'
tv on the radio - 'dear science'
young knives - 'superabundance'
stephen malkmus and the jicks - 'real emotional trash'
the breeders - 'mountain battles'
department of eagles - 'in ear park'

..and i've probably forgotten a good few..

unfortunately, i am still quite a lot rubbish..

2009-03-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

left my purse in the postgraduate suite again yesterday..no, i couldn't quite believe it either..this time it wasn't quite as long before i realised - only the time it took to walk all the way to the union and attempt to purchase a cup of tea (which the lady then gave me for free, once again restoring my faith in humanity somewhat - i went and paid her back later, which i think did the same for her), and luckily it was still where i left it when i ran back there..i am worried this is becoming a habit..stay tuned for more exciting purse mislaying updates! what a nail-bitingly thrilling life i lead..look, i either write about the mundane events that intersperse my days, like losing my purse, or i write about the stuff i actually do all day, which believe me, is far less entertaining (hard to believe, i know)..for example, today i have taught a seminar, and will now spend the rest of the day preparing another seminar on postmodernism (a concept which makes me want to throw myself off a bridge, by the way..it's so bleak and depressing)..i may throw a trip to morrisons in there, followed by a clean of the bathroom..see? lost purses don't sound so dull now, do they?

but, all may not be lost, as i have visitors coming! yes, han & matt are presently wending their way up north on the megabus..i am very excited, as this may result in some actual experiences..

i am quite a lot rubbish..

2009-03-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

yesterday i lost my purse..when i say 'lost', i mean 'left it by a computer in the postgraduate computer suite in university,' of course..i only realised its absence one hour later, after my seminar, at which point i panicked and ran around the building looking for it..luckily, some kind person had handed it in to the school office, without even sneakily lifting the £5 note i had in there..(thank you whoever you are)..

the whole experience was yet another sign that i seem to be turning into one of those scatty academic types, who can't find their glasses when they're on top of their head, walk into the middle of the road without looking etc..i'm just like them, except without all the knowledge/learning/intelligence/importance..so really, i'm just a regular, quite rubbish person who can't cope with having to keep track of more than 2 things at a time, and if forced to do so, will inevitably shed valuable/essential possessions here there and everywhere..

umm..

2009-01-30T03:02:00.000-08:00

this looks wierd..i think i would like it if:

a) i wasn't such a scaredycat
b) i wasn't such an austen purist
c) the co-author wasn't also the author of the big book of porn..

new year's resolutions..

2009-01-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

1. procrastinate less.
2. work more.

that is all.

out of date northern weather..

2008-12-17T04:57:00.000-08:00

it's not snowing anymore up here, but i forgot to post these a few weeks ago..

i did enjoy the snow..even if it was ridiculously cold..it did also remind me that it's nearly christmas, and that means it's nearly time for me to do an albums of the year list..i'm still working on it, though, so bear with me..don't want to make any rash decisions - and it's a very close race for the top spot, so it needs careful thought..

..not that my puny albums of the year list will make any difference to anybody except me, but i feel if one is going to attempt such things, one has to take them seriously..

whoop!

2008-11-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

stayed up late last night watching the election, but, despite the great excitement, fell asleep at about 2am..woke up again at 4.15am to the wonderful news..what a relief! went to bed dazed and happy (and a bit stiff on account of sofa sleepage)..

have cleaned my room in celebration..

farewell hmv..

2008-09-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

i'm bracing myself for what will (hopefully) be my last ever weekend of music retail. yes, that's right, sunday will see me doing my last replenishments, helping my last customers, putting out my last bits of stock, arranging my last meos..you get the picture. it's not quite as satisfying as it sounds, as i will then still have to do the stockcount on tuesday evening.....but guess what? that's right, it will be my last stockcount..

having worked in music retail for the last 8 years, and having spent the last 7 years working for the same company, i have to admit that this weekend is bittersweet..on the one hand, it's a gigantic relief knowing that i might get a 'normal' christmas this year, and that my weekends will be mine to do with what i wish....but on the other hand, i will almost certainly miss the routine & the people, and i just know i'm going to be one of those annoying ex-members of staff who tidy the sections when they go in (i already do this on my days off, so i can't see it stopping any time soon)..

it's certainly been a formative experience..hmv has given me some of my very best friends..in fact it was responsible for a large section of my circle of friends in oxford..and in newcastle as well (4 out of 5 of us in my house either work, or have worked at hmv)..not to mention the fact that i got two pretty serious relationships out of it..ah well..good tiiimes..

to round off this post, here's one of my very favourite hmv moments:

he's just so dreamy..

2008-07-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

ever since i got hooked on the bbc series 'the supersizers go...', in which the wonderful sue perkins and the delectable giles coren attempted to live solely on the food of different ages for a week (my favourite was the seventies episode..their flat was so lovely, and they both looked so dapper), i've been lusting after the lovely mr coren..

so today, when i picked up my copy of the guardian from the corner shop, i was delighted to find a moody giles on the cover, and, inside, an article detailing his frenzied email rants at the times subeditors..

somehow, knowing that he has this mammoth temper and a propensity for inventive use of curse words just makes me love him even more..sigh....

cosby withdrawal..

2008-06-10T04:59:00.001-07:00

i have cold. i have a cold despite the fact that i've hardly left the house at all over the past week and a half, which seems a bit unfair. to make matters worse, virgin 1 appear to have stopped showing 'the cosby show' on weekday mornings. why is this? it's not like it had got to the end of the series on friday, as far as i could tell, and yet on monday i dragged my aching bones out of bed, only to get all the way downstairs and find 'that 70s show' where my beloved huxtables should be. boo virgin 1, explain yourself!

more treats for me..

2008-05-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

my lovely housemate bella is moving out today..she's a big folk star, and we're all very sad she's going..but! every cloud has a silver lining, as they say, and today this lining came in the form of the electric harmonium that bella decided to give away..to me!

i have coveted this lovely thing since i first saw it sitting in our hallway, where it has lived ever since..and now it is mine to make shiny sounds on..

thank you bella!

it's payday..

2008-04-30T09:15:00.001-07:00

so because i was very good last month and hardly left the house at all, and because i had two bank holidays in this month's paypacket, today i went shopping..wooo! i had a lovely time..went and got some necessities from boots, plus some lovely barry m coral nail varnish..it's delicious. then i went to h&m and lucked out by finding a) some wide legged black trousers that aren't the horrible shiny suit trouser material or linen, but are proper thick cotton - yey, and b) some orange/coral eighties style sunglasses which owlhead said looked cheap and tacky, but i told him that that was the whole point and that they are, in fact, beautiful..

i quickly forgave owlhead for dissing my lovely new shades, however, because then he took me to schuh and said i could spend the £15 that he had left on his christmas gift voucher on a pair of new shoes, and so......

ta daaa! aren't they nice? i'm so pleased with them..i am going to wear them all the time with a smug face..

on a lighter note..

2008-04-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

check out the website for the conference i'm co-organising..oooooooooh..it's like an actual proper event!

banging..head..brick wall..

2008-04-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

yet another advert that makes me scream at the tv..

i particularly like the part about "being considerate in bed"..really? you're not a real man if you're considerate in bed? what a great message..no, really, well done.

it's exactly this kind of lazy gender stereotyping that makes me want to tear my hair out..so much important work has been done, and so much effort has been made to try and change attitudes like the one 'jokingly' conveyed in this advert, that you feel like we've just lost the last 60 years or so..regardless of whether or not this advert is meant to be 'funny', i think it's harmful to present notions of gender like this one to the public at large. indeed, the fact that it is supposedly humourous means that people are more likely to absorb it after laughing at it, instead of questioning it....all of the men i know have interests that extend way beyond 'sport, girls and funny stuff', and i personally don't think that this compromises their masculinity in any way.

make up your mind already..

2008-04-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

yesterday was the first summery day we've had up here - it was so sunny and hot, everyone was having a lovely time.

tomorrow it's going to snow, and will carry on for the next 3 days.

what is up with that?

oops..

2008-03-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

despite having no money, i accidentally ordered this lovely thing:

i couldn't help it..it's an owl for crying out loud..and it'll be a wonderful addition to my collection of replacements for my beloved tape measure ring..

all is well..

2008-02-28T13:12:00.001-08:00

you can all breathe a sigh of relief..look what arrived in the post this morning:

..and it brought some friends..

now we are all one big happy family..

bit better..

2008-02-18T07:18:00.000-08:00

it's ok..this has cheered me up for the time being..

grrfng..

2008-02-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

i am not my usual self..i have lost my favourite pencil, and it's causing a full-on major freakout..this isn't just any old pencil..it's a zebra drafix 0.5mm, which has since been discontinued..and it's not merely the fact that it was the most comfortable piece of writing equipment ever, a pleasure to write with..but this pencil saw me through some tough times..my undergraduate dissertation (all 9 months of it)..my M.A., with it's own painful dissertation..and it has also seen me through the first 6 months of my Ph.D. ..it's like an old reliable friend has just upped and left without a word....bum.

to make matters worse, i thought i might calm myself down/cheer myself up by listening to this week's adam & joe show, but totally forgot that they were on holiday this week, and were replaced by alan carr..

..alan carr????? i ask you..

internet envy..

2008-02-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

i'm supposed to be doing a load of work, but i keep getting distracted by the darn internet..i noticed a new link on han's blog to this page, and yesterday i spent far longer than i should have reading all the archives..then last night i followed the link on there to this page (i initially just went to have a nose around this one, because the girl from the first site had embroiled herself in a bit of an online war with the guy from this site, and i thought i would just go and check out who he was, kos he sounded like a bit of a loser..turns out i really like it..), and the archives there are far far bigger..dammit. plus, axl has just posted a few really amusing blogs, most notably the song entitled 'frogs'..pure genius..

..all of these things have made me wish my blog wasn't quite so lame..i mean, it's ok and all, i guess, but it would be nice if i could draw and/or write amazing songs in the shower..

an important lesson for us all..

2008-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

this is absolutely appalling..a detailed article written by an american man on his disgust at the lack of care we british women take with our appearance, in contrast to our american counterparts. it has, thankfully, been a while since i have encountered such outright misogyny..we women are only there to be looked at, you know, so how dare we fail to keep up with the high standards that this man (and apparently, according to him, all men) expects? we should all, apparently, be spending at least £700 a year on grooming ourselves, maintaining a flawless, hairless, soft and supple physique..be warned ladies, the smallest details do not go unnoticed - skimping on hand cream is sure to make this man "recoil" from touching palms that are as "rough and leathery" as "a tree-climbing monkey's"..

however, those american girls are not without fault either. according to tad, american women are obsessed with money, looks (eh? i thought we were supposed to be obsessed with our looks tad?), "take themselves too seriously and are annoyingly confronta-tional" (the word confrontational, by the way, does not need a hyphen). also, according to tad, american girls are just big ol' sluts: "The good news for men, by the way, is they are convinced that the best way to prove they are equal to a man is by sleeping with him. Um . . . Go ahead, that’ll teach me. "

it's difficult to figure out exactly what tad wants from a woman..it seems he wants us to spend vast amounts of money and time on our looks, but then never talk about it. he wants us to provide him with good conversation, but not to take ourselves seriously. on top of all this, sex is a big no-no..apparently....

there's also a nice dollop of racism in the article when he refers to a failed attempt to engage his manicurist in conversation, an attempt which backfired "mainly... because my Cantonese is poor."

one of the many irritating things about this all-round odious article is the insinuation that all men have such outdated and sexist views. i don't know about you, but i find this insulting on behalf of my many, many male friends, including the lovely owlhead, who regard women as fellow human beings, and not mere decorative objects.

via penny red

?

2008-01-22T05:44:00.001-08:00

i just heard the track 'pink squares' by i was a cub scout on adam & joe..is it just me, or do they sound exactly like death cab for cutie?

weather news..

2008-01-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

it's very cold today and my hands are freezing, but that's probably because yesterday..it snowed! that's right people, get yr jealousy on, because we had real live snow..

..it wasn't quite as good as it could have been, though, seeing as it didn't settle because it had already been raining for ages..but it was really properly snowing, with huge massive snowflakes..i tried to take some pictures on my walk home..the first one wasn't so good, although you can still see a few snowflakes around the bottom..

hmm..it didn't really convey the impressiveness of the real snow..so a few minutes later, when i got into the park, i fiddled with the settings on my camera and tried again..

yeh! look at those snowflakes! they're massive! it was super cold, and my converse were soaked through, but it was all ok because snow is so much more exciting than rain..here's another picture taken a little bit later on..
lovely lovely snow..it did get a bit tiresome later on when i had to go out again and it had turned into sleet with a horrible wind..yuk..and now it's very cold, so i'm not going to leave the house all day..maybe i won't even leave the house tomorrow..it's ok, i'm sufficiently stocked up on biscuits (chocolate digestives, chocolate chip cookies, and a few oreos), tea and toast..mm..biscuits on toast..

....

2007-12-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

today, a woman walked up to me in the middle of the shop, at 8.45 in the morning, to ask me what time we were opening. in the middle of the shop. the doors of which she had just walked through. yes.

oh no..

2007-11-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

marks and spencer have just put a 3 for 2 offer on their belgian chocolate covered raisins..they're just too delicious..

..don't be surprised if by christmas i am a giant walking chocolate covered raisin..

it's official..

2007-11-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

..i have graduated from my MA with a distinction..woohoooo! feel a bit bad about bragging, but it's my blog so i can do what i like..

in other news it is very cold and wet and horrible..have been home for half an hour now, and my feet seem to be refusing to thaw out..i think maybe i'll get a hot water bottle, a blanket and a cup of tea, and then sit in my comfy chair to do some reading, while listening to saturday's
adam & joe show..then at 4 o'clock i'll listen to radiohead on steve lamacq..that sounds like a lovely day to me..

a tiny triumph..

2007-10-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

so....

this week i went to paris..on a plane..for those of you that know me, you will understand that this was a pretty big deal for me. i don't like planes. not one bit. i don't trust the fact that something that big and heavy and metal with so many people inside it should stay in the air. it's not right. also, i don't much like being in enclosed spaces, especially not ones from which there is no chance of escape, like a london undergound carriage in between stations, a moving train, a lift in between floors, a boat, and, of course, a plane. but on monday i got on a plane. the reasons for this were twofold. firstly, because it meant i got to go to paris with owlhead, and secondly, because owlhead was paying for the trip, and while the eurostar itself (my preferred mode of to-paris transportation) was not too expensive, the train journeys to and from london and newcastle were extortionate (i will not go into just how angry i am about the ridiculous amounts of money train companies charge in this country, considering that we are supposed to be trying to avoid carbon emissions and all that..).

so, i got on a plane. the journey there..well, i was fine at the airport..probably because 2 hours of sleep and trying to stay upright distracted me from the fact that i was about to face one of my biggest fears. however, as soon as i got on the plane and sat down, things took a turn for the worse. taking off was horrid..like a nasty fairground ride..and then the ensuing ascent was even worse..it made me feel super dizzy and sick (although, after having watched an old episode of 'qi' this evening, i'm beginning to suspect that this might have had more to do with the lack of clean air, and the high amount of co2 in the cabin..but that's beside the point)..anyway, suffice to say i was very glad to be off the plane.

interlude: paris itself was, of course, awesome. we arrived at our hotel only to be told that we couldn't check in until 2pm, which was slightly annoying since all i wanted to do was have a nice lie down..however, it meant that we got to have some lunch and then wander round montmartre..we watched some firemen putting out a fire in someone's apartment - very exciting. once we checked in and had a little sleep, we went and had dinner in a lovely restaurant, and then went to an even lovelier bar called au rendesvous des amis, which i first went to with jonny, dawn and axl when i went to paris with them a few years ago..here is a picture of owlhead and myself outside said bar:

it was very nice..tuesday was mostly spent walking around in the sun..i found the bestest gold eyeshadow in the world..it's super shiny and awesome, and makes my eyelids look like they are made of solid gold, which can only be a good thing i think. i also bought some bright red tights. on wednesday we went to the louvre, but my stomach had a bit of a tantrum, and i had to go outside..we did see the mona lisa, though..and the venus de milo..or, as owlhead called it, 'the fallen madonna with the big boobies'..not quite sure where he got that from, but i like it..thursday was time to come home, but unfortunately there was a rail strike across the whole of france, which meant that we had to get a taxi with a driver who was more than slightly insane at seven o'clock in the morning..i think the taxi ride was so nerve-racking that, by the time i got on the plane to come back, i was no longer scared..i don't know if this means i've totally overcome my fear of flying, but i did look out the window pretty much the whole way back (something i refused to do even once on the way over), and i didn't really get freaked out at all..which was weird, but nice..

[note for pc, if you're reading this, this does not mean that i will be getting in a swimming pool any time soon..]

excuses for not posting more often..

2007-10-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

1. moving house..
..well, 3 weeks ago..i no longer live in jesmond, home of the richest and most obnoxious students in the land (the north east at least)..instead i have relocated to heaton, and i have only seen said student type on my weekly visits to morrisons..and even then there aren't many of them, and the shop is big enough for me to avoid them almost entirely..unlike the tiny overpriced hellhole that is jesmond tesco metro, in which a great many of these students were lucky to escape with their lives from the encounters i had with them....anyway, heaton is quieter, has a better bus service, has better places to drink tea, is nearer to the cumberland arms and the rest of the ouseburn valley..it's just better all round, really..

2. trying to sort out my life..
..mainly, trying to get funding for my PhD, registering onto the PhD programme, going to all the induction meetings, freaking out that i don't really know what i'm doing, etc etc etc..

3. having visitors..
..steve came up the other week, and we had a lovely time..we went to see foals on the tuesday, and then this aint vegas on the wednesday [because, as steve so rightly pointed out, no trip up north is complete without a this aint vegas gig]..it was all very good. paul and axl are coming to see me on thursday, which is going to be totally awesome..i feel quite spoilt..

4. being a bit lazy..
..yeh, ok ok, so i haven't been totally rushed off my feet these last few weeks, but i've been having a bit of a break..i think i'm allowed that, bummers..i don't know why i'm sounding so resentful, by the way, it's not like anyone has complained about my lack of posts..in fact, i doubt anyone's even noticed..but to hell with it, i feel like having a strop so i shall..bah..

finished..

2007-09-05T08:51:00.001-07:00

look! here is my dissertation..isn't it lovely..i have finally finished and now i am free to mooch about as much as i want..earlier i watched tv for an hour and a half and didn't feel guilty..it was lovely..

sanity saviours..

2007-08-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

thank goodness for adam & joe..they're filling in on the breakfast show on 6music at the moment, which means that i've been able to listen again to it on the intranet while i've been typing up my dissertation..and i have to say it has made the whole experience infinitely more pleasant and amusing, if being a little bit distracting on account of its brilliance..

hooray for adam & joe..everyone should go here and have a listen..

also, i think we should start some kind of campaign to get them a permanent show on the radio..they really are very good..

panic central..

2007-08-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

in case any of you were wondering, the reason for the giant lack of posts on here is that i am frantically trying to finish my blasted dissertation..i'm starting to think that this won't ever happen, however, as it's due in in just over three weeks and i have written but a third of it..gah..

..normal service will be resumed shortly (after september 6th)..in the meantime, here is a picture of me and hannah having a lovely time at latitude..it seems so long ago..

[to make matters even worse, hannah is leaving me on sunday to move to stupid norwich..i hope stupid norwich realises how lucky it is..meh..]

raining tapes..

2007-06-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

it's wet and cold and horrid still, and me and the monkey are fed up, fed up i tell you..it's not that i want it to be baking hot, not in the least..but i wouldn't mind a bit of dryness..this damp is doing my head in..not only does it mean that i am even less motivated to do any work, but it means that wimbledon keeps getting rained off..boo..although i did just watch andy roddick storm his way through the 2nd round with no hint of a drizzle, so that's something to be thankful for, i suppose..

nonetheless, i have been cheering myself up by digging out my walkman and listening to old compilation tapes..flavour of the week is this one,
which was made for me about ten years ago by a girl i used to write to in my fanzine days called terri..she lived in durham and had an amazing mini-zine called 'irksome the cat'..i can't remember her surname, and have no idea where she is now, but listening to this tape has made me realise that she had quite an influence on my current music tastes..for example, i was introduced to milky wimpshake thanks to her inclusion of 'clicking it' on the tracklisting - i remember falling completely in love with it and rewinding it over and over again..this tape also introduced me to bikini kill ('reject all american'), cat power ('headlights'), the slits ('animal space') and mecca normal ('paris in april') among others..plus it opens with a full recording of kenickie's awesome 'catsuit city' e.p. ..definitely one of the best compilations i have ever received..

work schmork..

2007-06-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

back in newcastle after two glorious weeks in oxford..went to two wedding thingummys of two pairs of my very bestest friends..the first one, rob and rhyannon's, was the best day the star has ever seen..they invited all their friends and we all sat in the star garden, while matt barbequed delicious food, and there were awesome cupcakes made by him and han..yum!

i got to be a bridesmaid at the second one, which was very very fun, as i'd never done it before. i was quite nervous, and nearly threw up in the taxi there, but once we got there it was lovely..i even cried a little bit..who knew i was such a wet blanket? then we ate lots of food, dranks lots of booze, and generally had a lovely time..and i then quite unexpectedly caught the bouquet at the end..erp..

while i was in oxford i also:

* had a lovely evening round at hannah's house drinking pink wine, getting my hair cut, eating pizza and watching fry & laurie..
* had the pleasure of dining with pc..
* went to the star a lot..
* enjoyed hannah and russ's gig at the jericho with their new band the vatican cellars who were very good indeed..
* got quite a bit too hot on a number of occasions..
* had a really posh afternoon tea with my grandparents and my mum, which i liked very much..

but now i'm back here, and have so much to do, so much to do..mainly i have so much reading to do, and yet there's a billion and one other things i can think of right now that i could do before that..like get some food for a start, and clean the toilet, and upload photos onto flickr, and eat some food, and drink some more tea, and watch all the extras on my new 'hot fuzz' dvd, and mooch about a bit..so much to do, so little time..

quelle surprise..

2007-06-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

You Are 100% Feminist

You are a total feminist. This doesn't mean you're a man hater (in fact, you may be a man).
You just think that men and women should be treated equally. It's a simple idea but somehow complicated for the world to put into action.

Are You a Feminist?

well there you go..

"i'm so tiny, you're so shiny.."

2007-05-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

i have just finished my essay on walter benjamin and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, and thus i am now the world's leading expert on michel gondry..so i am posting this to celebrate and share the joy..

i will have more interesting things to say soon, in about a week..if my brain hasn't fallen out by then, that is..

le snot..

2007-04-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

am a wee bit ill..i seem to have been attacked by some kind of uber-cold/flu virus over the weekend, and it's hellbent on shaking me around, slapping me round the face, punching me in the chest, and not letting me go..meh..i'm already a good way through my second box of kleenex balm tissues since sunday, but the thought of venturing to tesco in my present state is enough to reduce me to tears..went in there on a soup/ice cream/ready brek/oranges mission yesterday, after having been to boots on a drug mission, and the high ratio of jesmond-ites (or rahs, to those who don't live here), which would normally merely enrage me, instead almost caused my brain and body to shutdown completely in my weakened condition..

..i also seem to have lost the ability to structure a coherent sentence due to this illness..oh well..

on a lighter note, i have recently ventured far enough into last fm to create my own profile, after having a look at han's when i visited her the other day..i have to say i quite like it for now (despite the fact that it doesn't seem to be working at the moment)..i'm enjoying the fact that you can listen to a radio station made up of your friends' favourite music - it's a bit like having them dj for you, in a weird, not really way..

although, talking of friends dj-ing for you in the comforst of your own room, check out biscuits, the excellent and highly amusing podcast done by my friend james and his friend roo..i can't find a direct link to it, but there is one on roo's blog, which is well worth a read also..

phew..that's quite enough for today, i reckon..think i might go and have a tiny snooze..

best tiny child ever..

2007-04-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

this was posted on feministing today..i just had to repost it because it keeps making me laugh a lot..

bah..

2007-04-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

i am fed up..mostly i am fed up with the fact that i have a bad tummy again, and that this happens all the time..it's very frustrating..

also i am fed up with people telling me i must go outside just because it is sunny..i will go outside if i want to..presently i do not want to, and this does not, i think, make me a freak..

another thing i am fed up with is the fact that i cannot seem to get motivated to do work..not at all..even though i don't have much longer left of my holiday to get some serious work done, i just can't concentrate..on anything..this, also, is very frustrating..

on the whole, i am quite fed up..

..however, i am going back to oxford on tuesday, and this, i think, wil cure my fed upness very nicely..

* disclaimer: i am not really all that fed up..i'm having quite a lovely time, really..my stomach is merely clouding my judgement at the minute..sorry..

adventurous bell-ringers..

2007-03-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

so yesterday, i was walking past the civic centre, when the bells in the tower started ringing..this was strange for two reasons..1. i didn't even realise the civic centre tower had bells in it, and 2. the bells were playing 'local hero' by dire straits....

..none of the other people making their way about their daily business seemed to notice this, however, which made me wonder if i was just going insane....

poodle schmoodle..

2007-03-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

i was determined to make good use of my weekend off work, and i think i was successful..on saturday i ate sausages and bacon and scrambled egg and toast, and mooched around on the sofa, reading the paper and watching 'journey to the centre of the earth' (aah, james mason..)..

then yesterday we went for a lovely walk in jesmond dene, which is something i've been meaning to do since i moved here, but hadn't got round to as yet..it's ever so pretty..found the old mill, which i thought was quite exciting..

there was also a ruined chapel, lots of kool old briges, quite an impressive waterfall, and a scary tunnel..but perhaps best of all is the tiny pet cemetary, best only because of this:

who knew i was named after a poodle?

i am bad for plants..

2007-03-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

hannah was visiting me in my room the other night, and suddenly exclaimed "oh no! what's happened to yr plants?" to which i replied, "nothing - they're perfectly happy as far as i can tell.." however, she then went on to inform me that this was, in fact, not the case, and that plants shouldn't look like this:

..i thought it was just having a lovely time chasing after the light..which, of course, it was..but apparently y're supposed to turn plants round every so often, so that they don't stretch over too far..otherwise they might fall over, hannah said..

..i think i must be very naive when it comes to botany..

in other exciting news, check out the new foals video - it's awesome!

slightly less grief-stricken..

2007-03-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

so i found a lovely new ring, one which sort of makes up a tiny bit for the fact that i lost my beloved tape measure ring..it's very pretty indeed, see?

i am, however, still quite sad about the loss of the old one..but this will do until i find sufficient funds to order a new one..

in other news, i have been mostly grouchy today..i think this was due to several factors:

1. i really did not want to get out of bed this morning, after staying up into the early hours doing the reading for today's seminar..but i therefore had to get up, because otherwise, well, what would've been the point of me doing the stupid reading in the first place?

2. i left the house all bundled up, with many, many layers on in my usual attempt to combat the cold weather, only to find that newcastle had decided, for the first time ever, to be nice and warm, which ended up in me being quite sweaty by the time i got to uni, and having a bit of a thrombo..

3. tesco did it's usual trick of exacerbating my bad mood to the point where i almost kill someone. today it was the idiot who somehow managed, despite being quite small and slender, to stand in the way of the entire cheese section, for what seemed like an eternity..

4. when i eventually made it back home, i burnt myself on a bagel.

goddammit..

jewellry grief..

2007-02-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

i lost my ring..you know, my awesome tape measure ring..i don't know how or where i lost it - i just got home and was washing my hands when i realised it wasn't on my finger anymore..and now i feel slightly lost..like a bit of me is missing..i've tried replacing it with other rings, but it's not working - none of them fit quite right, and they're all different weights and sizes..none of them fit so snugly and well..it was such a pretty ring - it inspired my choice of bedding - look....

it also inspired hannah to get me a tape measure belt fot my birthday..i was getting a whole tape measure theme going..but now that the thing that originated it all is gone, it all feels a bit wierd..meh..the only thing for it is to get another one..but maybe it won't quite be the same? and i'll have to wait ages for it to be made..and it's expensive..but i can't not have it - i miss it too much and it's only been gone a day..le sigh..

quit ragging on my fade..

2007-02-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

in the name of all things hot fuzz go and listen to this ..

hot fuzztastic..

2007-02-07T03:32:00.000-08:00

yesterday was pretty much one of the most exciting days since i've been alive..

..simon pegg, nick frost and edgar wright came to the shop i work in to do an instore signing..yes, that's right..you heard me..simon pegg..nick frost..*and* edgar wright..i got them to sign my 'shaun of the dead' picture that's been on my wall for ages..here it is:

look! simon pegg wrote "get off me you bummer" like i asked..and then edgar wright wrote "you've got red on you" without me even asking..how good is that?? very, that's how..

but the excitement didn't stop there..oh no..because after the signing i staggered off on shaky legs to a super-special-exciting preview screening of 'hot fuzz' - check it out!

..and it was awesome! you'd all better start preparing youselves now for how awesome it is, otherwise you're just not going to be able to handle it, believe me..oh, and i almost forgot to mention that this preview screening was introduced by simon, nick and edgar, and then followed by a question and answer session with the aforementioned geniuses..woohoo! although, unfortunately, they did confirm that there almost certainly would not be a third series of 'spaced'..which is a bit rubbish..well, quite a lot rubbish, actually..but i think you'll all agree that 'hot fuzz' more than makes up for it..and to tide you all over til its release, here is a lovely picture, taken by ian, of those three lovely gentlemen yesterday afternoon..look - it's really them!

slip n slide..

2007-02-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

since i've been living in this fair city of newcastle, i have noticed that the paving slabs in certain areas of town (grainger street and neville street spring immediately to mind) are particularly slippery after even the slightest bit of rainfall..at first, i thought that my sliding around on them was merely due to the fact that the grip on the soles of my beloved, yet ancient, trainers had been worn down to non-existence..so i got some new ones..and i thought, stupidly, that with my new, extra grippified trainers, i would be safe from the perils of said slippy pavements..alas, not so..this evening, i went out for a few leisurely drinks..and when i say "a few" i mean, not very many at all..like, three..which, as those of you who know me well can vouch, is not very many..so i was pretty much stone cold sober when i ventured down the steps of central station metro, only to for my feet to slip out from under me, and for me to fall, quite heavily, on my behind..i now have a very painful right hip/bum..i'm predicting quite a large bruise in the morning..maybe the size of my face..i'm just so ladylike, you know..

i'm wide awake it's morning..[sorry..]

2006-12-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

check me out..it's 11 in the a.m. and i've already been up for 4hrs and 15 minutes..so far today i've: been on two metros, walked around a bit, gone to tescos (at 7.45am..who knew it was even open??), cleaned the kitchen, had a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea, watched some crap telly, put some washing on, tidied the living room, had a bath, got dressed, and downloaded some music..phew. i am on fire today..the wonders of staying round at yr friend's house when they have to be at work for 7.30..

..still haven't got round to doing any of the huge mountain of coursework yet, but that's beside the point.

am going back to oxford on saturday, but until then i have been left on my lonesome by my housemates. boo. boo to them. it's ok, though, i am being babysat..later on, ian and alex will come round, and i will ply them with baked potatoes, before forcing them to watch the final of 'america's next top model' with me [it's ever so exciting..i want joanie to win..although i don't mind too much, as long as it's not jade..]..mwah ha ha.

oh dear..

2006-12-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

i have just returned from entertaining a bored and ill hannah in her room..this entertaining consisted of me falling backwards off the end of her bed, and getting myself wedged between her bed and bookcase, with my legs in the air..i actually thought i was never going to stop laughing and would therefore be stuck there for all eternity..i then tormented her (she has a temperature and is a bit delirious) by insisting that her duvet was a text until she almost cried..ha ha haaa..

thought you'd all like to share in my retardedness..take it as a christmas gift to you all..

geek schmeek..

2006-12-05T17:03:00.000-08:00

i know there are better things i could be doing with my time than making a list of my top ten albums of 2006, and generally i would be against this kind of geekery..but i find myself a) inspired by steve's post on the subject, and b) not particularly wanting to read yet another d.h.lawrence novel..so here i go..

1. thom yorke - 'the eraser'
2. sufjan stevens - 'the avalanche'
3. cat power - 'the greatest'
4. joanna newsom - 'ys'
5. beirut - 'gulag orkestar'
6. stereolab - 'fab four suture'
7. sonic youth - 'rather ripped'
8. fionn regan - 'the end of history'
9. futureheads - 'news and tributes'
10. the knife - 'silent shout'

close contenders included: the young knives, pete dale & the beta males, css, midlake and the organ..and my most looked forward to albums/releases of next year are (in no particular order): radiohead (if it happens next year, which it had better, quite frankly), field music, this aint vegas, foals, youthmovies and futureheads (maybe again..).

had an evening filled with lovely men last night, as ian had very kindly recorded jools holland featuring thom yorke, and jonathan ross featuring dylan moran and elijah wood (he really is ever so pretty..) for me. i had a lovely time swooning in the direction of the tv..my only complaint would be that thom yorke played but one song on jools holland, whereas the satanic spawn that is the red hot chili peppers played three..jools holland, what the hell are you playing at? you suck..

and, just as a reminder for those of you who don't have the date etched into the insides of your eyelids, it is my birthday on sunday. don't forget.

lovely drunken foul-mouthed scotsmen..

2006-12-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

arab strap, oh arab strap, how i have loved you. your foul-mouthed, drunken ramblings and gentle melodies have made many a dull dayshift in the star seem like an enchanted, long-forgotten afternoon, and have soothed away many a hangover..your set last night was wonderful. i liked it that you played 'the first big weekend', even if aidan moffat sounds about 50 years older than the fresh-voiced boy on the recording..that just made it all the better. you also played my favourite song of yours ever..i would have enjoyed that all the more had it not been for the morons behind me talking all the way through it. (dear morons, why did you stand there and talk loudly about how good the sound is, and how nice the acoustic guitar sounds? if i couldn't hear over your booming, ape-like voices, then i don't see how you could have. how about just shutting up? if you ever do that again i will have no choice but to punch you in the face and kick you in the nuts. i promise.) anyway, i am sad that you are gone, arab strap..

heat heat heat..i love heat..

2006-11-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

today we discovered 3 heaters at the back of the cupboard under the stairs..now our house will no longer resemble a huge walk-in freezer.

i am so very happy, i might do a little dance..

my week, by me:

2006-11-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

monday - hosted my very first dinner party..managed to cook sausages and mash for five of us without much mishap..then forced my guests to watch 'america's next top model' (again, sorry guys..but not that sorry..), before getting rather a lot drunk, which lead to..
tuesday - lots of feeling ill in university..
wednesday - lots of feeling ill at home..
thursday - paul and lex came up..took them to the head of steam..had a lovely time..stayed up til 6.30am, which led to..
friday - a bit of feeling ill while showing paul and lex round newcastle..then pizza at home, followed by a trip to the pubs of the ouseburn valley..
saturday - workworkwork, then james was here from london in the evening..took him to the forth and bodega..lots of fun was had..especially when ian and i finally procured the seat..
sunday - workworkwork..aching feet..and now essay hell. joy.

folkie folk folk..

2006-11-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

so today, exactly a month away from my 25th birthday, i got id'd in tesco for a bottle of wine..and she wouldn't let me have it..i'm starting to think that perhaps i should, at this stage, stop being flattered, and start worrying that maybe i am dressing like a 17 year old..

in other news, i am currently knee deep in marxist/socialist political theory and an essay on the search for happiness in 3 novels of the 1920s..whoop. despite my best efforts to stay in the house, chained to my books, i have been lured out by cunning fiends (yes, i meant fiends..) to several gigs, pubs, and last night, a folk night. yes, you heard me james currie..i went to a folk night. aren't you proud of me, you massive bummer?

am also absolutely distraught after reading that han's bike has been stolen..i actually cried at the end of her moving eulogy, and if you had known her and her bike together, you would too..

damp..

2006-10-20T05:23:00.000-07:00

it's raining a lot, and very cold..how am i expected to go to tesco's in this weather? how? i would get veritably soaked. muh.

the gig, at the egypt cottage, was awwesome..paper cut out rocked hard, milky wimpshake made me bounce up and down on my seat with glee, this aint vegas were just amazing as per usual, and bilge pump finished the evening off very nicely indeed..here is a (very grainy and a bit rubbish) picture of birthday boy pete dale rocking out to bilge pump on an amp at the side of the stage..

was going to go to all saints church to see peter brewis of field music doing some solo stuff last night, but would have had to go on my own, and wasn't entirely sure how to get there..so i thought it better to have some fun with my new coursefriends instead..and it was a lot of fun..partly aided by the fact that, in the bar we went to, wine is £1.70 a glass..somewhat dangerous, non?

and now, another fun-filled weekend of hmv and hangovers lies ahead of me..

eep..

2006-10-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

something wrong with blogger today..it has been naughty and not letting me on..

bad wine head this morning..bad bad bad. but i successfully remedied it with 2 nurofen, lots of water, 3 episdoes of 'sex & the city', and 'the red thread' by arab strap..now i feel all better.

ever so excited, as tonight i am going to see milky wimpshake, this aint vegas, paper cut out and blige pump..all at the same gig! honestly..milky wimpshake and this aint vegas.. and it's all happening to celebrate pete dale's birthday, who is one of my all-time heroes as the co-founder of slampt records, and member of milky wimpshake, avocado baby and red monkey, as well as his excellent solo outings..

so so so excited.

bah..

2006-10-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

how am i supposed to get any work done when i have this in my house?

..it's impossible, i tell you..

....i love it, though..

alreet and that..

2006-10-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

so, here i am in newcastle..sorry to everyone who's been hassling me for taking so long to post, but the stupid internet hasn't been working and at the moment i am stealing wireless..hee hee heee.

anyway, all is well here in the north..if a little cold. am currently recovering after a stupid weekend that involved too much alcohol, too much work, not enough food and not enough sleep..bah. course is going ok, if a little stressful - should really be writing a 600 word definition of 'modernism' at the moment, but it's a lot more difficult than it sounds, and i'm now stuck on word number 423..

here is a picture of a lovely window on the landing in our house:

nice, yes? well, i like it..also here are two of my housemates, hannah and nicola - they are very lovely:

that's nicola on the left and hannah on the right..this was just after seeing field music at the cluny the other week..you can see it got them quite loved up.

not much else to report really..have been walking into uni and work, eating relatively healthily [no microwave!], and drinking far too much wine for my poor stomach to contend with, i think.

more soon, i promise.

au revoir..

2006-09-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

well, off i go..this time tomorrow i will be in lovely cold newcastle. it's all a bit surreal, really. my wonderful friends got me a shiny new digital camera, so expect lots of annoying photos of my somewhat boring exploits over the next year. you lucky people.

goodbye oxford. it's been lovely.

sniff..

2006-09-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

so, i called time at the bar and then burst into tears..what a spaz....

end of an era..

2006-09-14T10:00:00.001-07:00

my six year stint of working in the same, wonderful pub is quickly coming to an end. last night was my last indie nite..i had to say goodbye to the baby i created three (?) years ago..what am i going to do on wednesday nights now? i'm pretty sure it will involve sitting in my room, all alone, listening to indie nite playlists..i'll have to spill some beer on the floor etc. to create genuine pub smell, though, or it just won't be authentic..

my last shift is on saturday. you know i'm gonna bawl my eyes out. sob.

phlegmphlegmphlegm..

2006-09-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

despite the fact that i am presently recovering from a nasty bout of 'flu that attacked me over the weekend, i am not wan, and neither am i pale or sickly..you hear that han?? just because i get ill a little bit more than most doesn't mean that i take to my bed under a veil of chintz wearing a bonnet, as you so wrongly assume. i have no bonnet or chintz to make my bedridden days more bearable..damn you.

am hoping that i will not phlegm and snot and cough my way through my graduation ceremony, which i will be attending tomorrow..i also hope that the horrible peely-nose-from-wiping-it-too-much-syndrome will have cleared up by then, so that i don't look even more freakish than necessary in the photos..urrgh..horrid, horrid photos..there's already enough of them from my school career littered around my parent's house, with me literally, literally looking like some kind of swamp monster..all greasy hair and shiny shiny skin..lots of powder tomorrow, i think. and no smiling, if i can get away with it.

squished kidney..

2006-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

my somewhat prolonged absence (for those of you who were wondering, because i know you are many..) has been the result of some frantic househunting up north..happily i was very successful, and now have a nice nice house with a nice nice room and four nice nice girls.

i am, however, more than a bit teed off today (is that how you spell teed? tead? tee'd? tiiid?) as i discovered that, being the only part time student in a house full of full time students, would mean that i was liable for the entire council tax on the house, and not just a fraction as i had previously thought..now, i know this may have been a bit naive of me, thinking that the government might give those who are studying part time in order to be able to afford to live and do the course a bit of a break..but there you go. the outcome of all this is that i have had to swap to a full time MA, because i can't pay the whole council tax for the house on top of everything else..

bum.

plus, these high waisted trousers, while be very nice to look at, are squishing all my insides together and making my kidneys hurt.

blech..

2006-08-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

erk..still not feeling well, so have stayed home from work in an attempt to get rid of this wierd face-ache + sicky thing i seem to have contracted (at least it can't be mumps....can it?)..

am yet more grumpified and saddened by the news that lee of the wonderful nice but wrong has decided to curtail his blogging exploits at the end of the month..my days will be a lot duller without the hilarity that this wonderful blog provides me with..sigh.

in happier news, however, i discovered (better late than never) that the beautiful adam & joe have made podcasts of their xfm show..not being a resident of london, i had never heard their radio show..i was even (shame on me) unaware that they had one. but i spent last night downloading all fourteen episodes and then giggling uncontrollably as i lay on my bed and listened to the first four (i feel i must save the rest for later, like lovely sweets or bottles of lucozade..). i particularly enjoyed their improvised music - joe is a magnificent slide-whistler. go and discover for yourselves! now!

shredded..

2006-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

quite fitting for the way i feel at the moment..

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

although i'm pretty sure that 'evilly' isn't a word..

there must and shall be aspirin..

2006-08-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

ugh..feel rotten, all achy and rubbish with a horrid cold. i blame the idiot spanish woman who coughed in my mouth in the queue for the toilets in versailles..literally COUGHED IN MY MOUTH..who doesn't cover their mouth when they cough?? stupid bummer..

anyway, am back from france and back to work..on 'holiday' again though at the end of the week when i scoot off to newcastle to look for a house..fingers crossed i'll find some people who aren't too offended by my appearance/personality/odour/etc that they don't want to live with me..and that i find something nice but affordable..eep.

je suis seulement une pauvre cassette, et je n'avais pas les pantalons

2006-08-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

check me out - i'm blogging in france! not particularly exciting, i know, but it' no mean feat finding your way around these french keyboards, i can tell you - they're insane! on holiday at the moment, in centre parcs in normandie..all very nice, with plenty of badmington, tennis and cycling being enjoyed. tomorrow i'm off to paris for some hardcore make-up shopping..

in other news, i had a pretty good dream last night, in which i found myself married to dylan moran..sigh..it was wonderful..

au révoir mes petits choufleurs..

don't forget your heatbegone booties..

2006-07-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

things i have discovered today..

..m&m's don't taste as good as they used to..they're making me feel a bit sick.

..i can wear hot pink lipstick without everyone weeing themselves laughing, like i had previously imagined..

..i am rubbish when it comes to people's birthdays - sorry in advance jenny for your lack of present..can't believe i left it to the last minute again, before realising that i have run out of money. and after you made me that awesome t-shirt and jumper combo for my birthday (really, it was awesome..the t-shirt was yellow with a butterfly/graph paper design, and the jumper was black with three butterflies fluttering up to the shoulder..). take heart in the fact that, even though, hog has been waiting for about nine months for his birthday present, he will receive it this weekend before he jets off to berlin..no, really, i promise. gah.

..my determination to wear all black has resulted in an unpleasant amount of stickiness, yet still i persevere.

..i am definitely moving to newcastle, having just received an unconditional offer for the MA i want to do up there. feel a bit sick from excitement/fear. on second thought, that's probably the m&m's.

fizzy good make feel nice..

2006-07-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

after a busy morning of slaying tourists with my mighty javelin, my eyelids are heavy and my mouth increasingly gapes in the occupation of yawning. the only remedy to such a dire situation is this:

look at it..look how good it looks....mmmmm..how i love you, wonderful delicious lucozade, how i love your sweet sweet taste of awakeness that cures all ills (especially those ills caused by nasty, dirty booze..), and the sugar high that is to be gained from downing two or more bottles..

if i could only drink one thing for the rest of my life, this would surely be it (with vodka added to it for parties and special occasions like the evening).

and then she burst into flame..

2006-07-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

i am hot hot hot and bored bored bored..whoever invented the summer was a massive idiot, and if i ever get to meet them i'm going to kick them in the nuts (because of course they would have nuts, because a woman wouldn't be so stupid..)

however, there is now a lovely new air conditioning machine in the office..it is so nice and clever and pretty, i am going to marry it i think.

so at least the hotness is sorted out somewhat (although only if i stay in the office for the rest of my life)....the boredness has been somewhat eradicated by visiting sites like this (mmm, look at those beards..), and this....here is my house:

nice, is it not? apparently it means that i "..have a strong personality and...like to command, influence and control people", and am also, at the same time "..shy and reserved." is this not a contradiction in terms? i think it is, to a large extent..although i suppose i could concede that, while i consider myself to be a shy and retiring wallflower who wouldn't say boo to a goose (well really, who would?), others might see me as a bossy know-it-all pain in the neck..

so i guess it's not that much of a contradiction.

wooo..

2006-06-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

fingers crossed for tomorrow..and no, i don't care if you call me unpatriotic, my loyalties will always lie with mr roddick, as he is the best..

betrayed..

2006-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

vic reeves and his wife are on the cover of bible of filth hello! magazine..i never thought i'd see the day, really i didn't..i suppose i should have seen it coming, after that i'm a celebrity debacle..

..dear lord.

forgive me simon, for i have sinned..

2006-06-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

last night i dreamt that there was going to be a final episode of spaced..while this may seem like it was shaping up to be the most awesome dream ever, it quickly turned into a nightmare..

for some reason i was playing a key role in this episode (i think i was playing the part of brian, worringly enough), and it was being broadcast live..and i realised about 5 minutes before we started shooting that i hadn't even read the script..arg! so i casually sauntered over to simon pegg (who seemed to have taken on a dual role of actor and director - lord knows where edgar wright was) and asked him if he had a spare copy of the script..then casually sauntered off into a dark corner to try and read it and learn it..and then there was just a panicked sequence of me not even being able to locate my first line, let alone learn the whole (hour long) episode..

i woke up with 5 seconds to go as i was contemplating throwing myself out of the window..and i still feel incredibly guilty for wrecking the final episode of spaced..

football schmootball..

2006-06-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

am starting to panic slightly about how i am going to avoid the football today..parks will be closed at 8pm (or at least soon after), so it's not like i can go and sit somewhere secluded..i think my best bet is to lock myself in my room, doors and windows firmly shut, and plug my headphones in..luckily, i spent last night downloading mp3s of stewart lee (and richard herring) on the radio from here..although i'm not sure if they will be loud enough to sufficiently block out the howls and screams of my football loving family....if only i had my own soundproofed padded cell..

bum bum bum..

2006-06-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

after much deliberation, primarily triggered by the realisation that looking at my own blog made me feel nauseous, i have changed it to plain and simple white, instead of garish pink. i know i chose the pink to go with the title of the blog, what with 'pretty in pink' and all that..but if i can't even stand to look at it, then that doesn't bode well for anyone who happens upon this page by chance.

have got some major blisterage on my heels as a result of walking 2 miles in unsuitable shoes to go strawberry picking..it was worth it, however, for the juicy strawberries and champagne (although apparently it was cava..like i can tell the difference) that were enjoyed in the evening sun afterwards. yum.

then, to continue my evening of culture and good living, went to see macbeth in the park, which was very nice indeed. felt like a little old lady when my flimsy summer dress proved to be no match for the dramatic temperature drop around 9pm and i had to wrap myself up in a blanket.

work tonight, then looking forward to a saturday of lazing around watching the semifinals of Queens tennis tournament - go roddick!

anyone? anyone? anyone?

2006-06-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

oh dear god..

am officially melting in this office that thinks it's an oven..

although did just eat an awesome ice lolly called an 'icejet' that helped a lot..it's pretty delicious and the stick is a water squirter thing, which i will be aiming surreptitiously at my co-workers at some point in the near future..

in other news, i got some results for my degree today, but, due to the recent lecturers' strike i have to wait another two weeks to get the final module result which will give me my degree classification..that's a long time to wait on the borderline..

oh well..

does barry manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?

2006-05-19T03:51:00.000-07:00

so so excited - sleater kinney are playing in oxford tonight..i've been waiting for this for months! the office i'm working in is right opposite the venue, and i nearly fell out of the window earlier when they turned up and carrie and janet walked right past..feel a little bit like i might be sick..

..have dilemma, though..it's very windy outside, and skirt i am planning on wearing is very susceptible to being buffeted..do i risk it? don't really want to wear these skanky old trousers..need something i can boogie in..will just have to walk with my arms flattened to my sides..

would you stop feeling sorry for yourself? it's bad for your complexion..

2006-05-15T03:23:00.000-07:00

have had a busy week yes i have..it all started last wednesday when i went all the way to london to have my photo taken..it was to help jess out with her portrait photography course that she's doing, and she told me that it would only be her taking pictured of me, so i reluctantly agreed, even though i hate hate hate having my picture taken..well, when i got there, all hot and sticky from 3 hours on the oxford tube and half an hour on a cramped up bus, there were at least ten photography students there, demanding i get underneath some kind of scary umbrella-light photo set-up thing so they can start snapping away..an hour and a half later, the only reason i didn't strangle jess was kos she bought me some expensive wine in a nice bar in soho [i think i might still have to get her back in some way, though]..i'm still waiting to see the results of the experience..will let you know when i do..

..then on saturday i went to james' birthday party in new cross [those who know me will be very stunned/impressed that i managed to go to london twice in one week] and had a very lovely time..i got to see paul for the first time since truck in july last year, and this time i was able to have a proper chat with him..felt a bit bad for my lame-o birthday present to james (a mix cd), but i was muchly skint..will try and get him something better when i come into some money..

..and then on monday i started my new job, working for my dad part-time..just photocopying and doing bits and bobs, but it's nice, and now that i have spent the last of my last ever student loan, i need to be earning money somehow..plus it meant i had enough money to go and see hot chip on monday night, who were totally rad..

finally, i went to see my friend valeska's private view of her paintings yesterday here, and i highly recommend it..my favourite's the biggest, most expensive one, of course..