Monday, July 31, 2006


Kate --

[adjective]:

Smells like teen spirit



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What crazy thing will be your demise?
A super secure bank vault
... (why?)
Because it caused a parallel universe to form
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In the event of a lottery win, Kate should buy...

An Escher-like mansion in which people get stuck
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Sunday, July 30, 2006

Caravan

Monday, July 24, 2006

Mirror, mirror...

...on the floor.

My bedroom has/had three mirror tiles on one wall that made up a full length mirror. The joins were a little annoying as they were at the wrong points - it's hard to tell if a skirt looks ok when the mirror join cuts across in just the wrong place.

I say had for a reason...

Last night we'd actually gone up to bed relatively early as we were both knackered. Left the fan on for a little to cool the room off and then dozed off peacefully.

I was woken up at 1.30am by a really loud crash, didn't have a clue what it could be. Pushed the light up (it dims up and down since it's a dawn simulator), and couldn't see anything wrong, so assumed it was something outside and went back to sleep.

2.30am I woke up with a scream when something shattered on the floor next to the bed. I was convinced someone had thrown something through the window, but when I put the light up I saw mirror glass all over the floor.

It turns out that those tiles were just held up by sticky pads, which had obviously weakened in the hot weather. The second crash was what I thought was two of those tiles falling down and smashing everywhere.

I was very glad that Anthony was there as he managed to calm down my fit of hysterics and get me back to sleep again, promising he'd sort it all in the morning.

5.30am...the third tile fell off (but didn't smash).

This morning Anthony cleared up all the bits for me (as he had shoes upstairs and I didn't) and commented that it didn't seem like enough glass for two tiles. I found the first one behind the bedstead just by my head, unshattered but cracked in two. This one was what caused the first crash.

So I'm now without a mirror in the bedroom, I'm quite grumpy due to heat and lack of sleep, pissed off that someone could have fixed those up with just sticky pads, glad that Anthony was there, and very glad that the one that fell behind the bed didn't land on me.

Phil doesn't think it'll count as seven years bad luck since I didn't break the mirror, it broke itself.

Now I just need to find a nice new mirror and Anthony has promised to put it up properly so I don't get the heebie-jeebies at stupid o'clock in the morning when things start smashing.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Currently uninspired

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much, I just haven't been able to think of much to post about!

I haven't been having any deep thoughts (too hot), or funny conversations with Campbelli (cos I hadn't seen her for three weeks and on Monday she heads to London for some top secret Head Office thing and won't be back til November!). Even the cats haven't been doing particularly funny things.

My mother came to visit on Saturday and she met Anthony (and thinks he's cool "he actually talks! Not like the last one who hardly said a word to me.") and we went for dinner at Cafe Champagne which she also loved.

I have approximately 3,000,000,000 flea bites (bloody cats) on my ankles so the house is being defleaed, and all the washing I had done has to be done again.

I've joined Spark People in an attempt to eat healthy and have started drinking lots and lots of water. This means that I am challenging Campbelli in the number of loo breaks at work, and I've also managed to lose 6 pounds so far. I know that's almost certainly just cos I'm drinking more water so my body isn't storing it, but hey, it's a start.

Right, I'm off to eat some healthy chicken and turn the fan up higher.

Friday, July 14, 2006

More music

My parents have a whole batch of old tapes that they made back in the late 70's. They were living out in Bahrain and my dad used to set up the reel-to-reel (which is still working and used most days) to record Radio Dhahran. Then they would pick out their favourite songs and they'd get put onto tapes.

I think there are about 15 Dhahran tapes, and three or four more that are Best of's. The only problem was that they just used to broadcast the songs one after another, with no breaks apart from the hourly news and weather (one weather broadcast is immortalised on one of the tapes). This meant that the artists and song titles were never mentioned.

Because of this there are a few songs on the tapes that have ?? as the artist and a guess at the title. One of these I remember is "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac which was down as "Running in the Shadows" by ?? for a long long time. It's my writing on the case that changed it to Fleetwood Mac...

One of the songs has defied all identification for a long while. Dad thought it was possibly Suzanne Vega, but it was recorded before she started performing.

Tonight, prompted by the discovery of a Carole King concert on BBC4, I decided to google the lyrics...and I found the artist.

Falling Star by Karla Bonoff

Oh my heart aches
Deep inside me
Oh, how I miss you
Will you come back?
Oh, why’d you leave me?
Oh, what can I do?

‘Cause every night
I sit here by the phone
You know it rings a lot inside my head
I daydream you're home
I never knew that it would go this far.
Come pick me up
I'm going down
Like a falling star.

And the clock strikes midnight
And I'm lying here alone.
I can't sleep, I hear my heartbeat.
Oh, I can't stand the monotone.
And every day I have paced the floor
You know it rains a lot inside my heart,
But I still ask for more.
But now I know that love can leave a scar.
Come pick me up, I'm going down
Like a falling star.

And when the birds fly south for a while,
Oh, I wish that I could go.
Someone there might warm this cold heart,
Someone there might know.
But every day I have paced the floor.
You know it rains a lot inside my heart,
But I still ask for more.
But now I know that love can leave a scar.
Come pick me up, I'm going down
Like a falling star.

-------------------

That's another one crossed off, and I am a happy bunny. (Now I just need to get copies of all those tapes for myself...)

Cat

The other day I was sitting peacefully at the computer watching Foley running up and down the fence in the garden.

Then one of my neighbours came out and hit her with a broom so that she ran the length of the fence squalling and vanished.

Unsurprisingly I shot out into the garden to give the neighbour a piece of my mind (or as Anthony put it "to stick that broom where the sun don't shine").

But as I appeared in my garden the neighbour went inside, leaving me to fume.

Foley didn't reappear so eventually I went next door to see if they'd seen where she'd vanished to after they assaulted her.

Foley had apparently vanished into their garage full of junk, and after much crashing about by the lad, she reappeared and shot indoors.

What did the neighbour have to say about the hitting her with the broom? "We didn't realise it was your cat."

Fume, fume, fume...

I kept the cats in the next night but let them out last night and all day today (since I'm off work due to passing out after my blood test at the doc's earlier). No sign of anyone next door, but the cats have been mostly chasing flies rather than on the fence.

Foley is such a soft cat now. When I think of how she was in Feb, growling if you went to stroke her tummy, and now she sits on my shoulder and squeaks in my ear!

Although there are times...

Foley jumped on me just as I took this

Thursday, July 06, 2006

A short musical interlude

I have been inspired by Keris to do this ipod meme thing.

Well...since I don't HAVE an ipod it's going to be an MP3 player and media player meme (but that's besides the point).

The rules (as stated by Marie) are "no repeat artists, no foreign muck, no songs where the title is in the first line, and nothing that even you with the title in front of you have no clue what it is"
So here you go folks.

1. Well I came upon a child of God. Woodstock by Joni Mitchell. Got by Mark.

2. You don't know how you met me, you don't know why. Follow Me by Uncle Kracker. Got by Mark.

3. I know it's getting late, but if you'd like to talk a little more. Sleazy Bed Track by The Bluetones. Got by Mark.

4. She said she needed a break, a little time to think. Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling for Soup. Got by Mark.

5. I'll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today. Our House by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Got by Emily (in two guesses).

6. I got my first real six-string. Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. Got by Mark and Emily (although she got the artist wrong).

7. You got a reaction, you got a reaction didn't you? Blue Orchid by The White Stripes. Got by Mark.

8. Street's like a jungle. Girls & Boys by Blur. Got by Emily.

9. What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say. King of Bloke and Bird by Robbie Williams. Got by Michelle.

10. Sell the kids for food. In Bloom by Nirvana. Got by Mark.

11. In an upstairs room in Blackpool, by the side of a northern sea. Military Madness by Graham Nash.

12. Friday night I'm going nowhere, all the lights are changing green to red. Babylon by David Gray. Got by Emily.

13. Do you have the time to listen to me whine. Basket Case by Green Day. Got by Emily.

14. Four of us were having dinner and I threw down the paper with a curse. Tracks in the Dust by David Crosby.

15. I hate the world today, you're so good to me I know but I can't change. Bitch by Meredith Brooks. Got by Emily.

16. Three little birds sat on my window. Put Your Records On (Let Your Hair Down) by Corinne Bailey Rae. Got by Mark and Overnight Editor (combined).

17. I got a letter from a friend the other morning. Permanent Vacation by Aerosmith.

18. Where is the moment we needed the most? Bad Day by Daniel Powter. Got by Emily and Michelle (combined).

19. A wild ride, over stony ground. Animal by Def Leppard. Got by Mark.

20. Blue jean baby, LA lady. Tiny Dancer by Elton John. Got by Mark.

21. Got your tape and it changed my mind. Singing in my Sleep by Semisonic. Got by Emily.

22. He came dancing across the water with his galleons and guns. Cortez the Killer by Neil Young. (Best guitar intro ever).

23. Feeling blue, when I'm trying to forget the feeling that I miss you. Colourblind by Darius. Got by Michelle.

24. I thought I knew you, but I did not know myself. Turn Back the Pages by Stephen Stills.

25. Never win first place, I don't support the team. Don't Let Me Get Me by Pink. Got by Michelle

Good luck folks, I'll be updating as you get them.

Updated to show who guessed what and the final few answers.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Uh-oh...

I've been doing some work on my Booklist in a vague attempt to get it up to date. I was adding some Sheri S. Tepper books and needed to check the series order so made the mistake of going onto Wikipedia to check it.

Yup, I promptly spent lots of time looking up odd things and learning interesting facts (with a small break in the middle to fetch in the laundry cos it's started raining).

Sheri S. Tepper
Ecofeminism
Thiepval
Edwin Lutyens
Great Dixter
I Capture the Castle
Lucy M. Boston
James Toseland
Aston Martin
James Bond
Sean Connery
Labyrinth
House of Leaves
Neil Gaiman
Billericay
Ingatestone
International Baccalaureate
DiscWorld

Monday, July 03, 2006

Mmmmmm...

I'm more relaxed than I have been in such a long long time.

Last week I had a week off work and I chilled.

Ok, so on the Saturday night I was rather ill due to attempting to drink the same amount of wine that I would beer...but I'd stopped being sick by 2pm Sunday and I was actually feeling better by the time the Canadian Grand Prix came on.

I've been to Merry Hill and Dudley Zoo.
I've played varying amounts of World of Warcraft.
I've watched some football...
...and some tennis too.
I've played with the cats.
I've done ALL the laundry (the washing up has all been done too).

And I've spent time sitting in the sunshine, drinking champagne (only one little bottle) and reading DiscWorld without a care in the world.

Life has been pretty damn good.

Now I'm back at work and the man who enabled me to have such a stunning week is working 11pm til 9am shifts this week so I probably won't see him until Saturday night (and it's my weekend in at work). Guess what? I don't care. I have a heavenly week to look back on, I actually ate something healthy for lunch (chicken and salad pittas that I made myself) and the cats have stopped fighting too.

Now that I've experienced proper chilling out, I may have to do it more often!