The Life Of... WHAT?!

That's what I felt like during most of the film...

This week's been relatively busy, considering it's January and my recent laziness.

Went to the movies on Wednesday with flatmate and some of her friends to watch Life Of Pi, because people have said it's a good film and it looked pretty shiny in the trailer. Looking back I should've known better to watch a film based on a book I wouldn't even consider reading because it sounded boring as fuck, but hey, you live and learn. And it's not entirely bad, really, just... well, it's not particularly good, either. It's very much in meh territory, which is not a good place to be for anything. It certainly is pretty, it even has moments of the Avatar-shiny, but mainly it's a rather huge pile of What The Fuck. I'm sure it's got a deeper meaning, it might be a philosophical exploration of whatever it is that philosophers explore, but to be honest, I really don't care. I didn't get it in the theatre and I didn't get it when I read the explanation of the ending on the internet. I'd make a really shitty philosopher, but to me philosophy is having an argument that no one can win because no one knows the answer which makes it pretty pointless to argue over in the first place.

So, 2 stars out of 5. I'm still disappointed the tiger didn't speak and/or eat the boy in the end. It would have greatly improved my experience.

On Friday I went out for drinkies with my flatmate and the neighbours. It was nice, I got out of the house and  collected some sociable points. Also found out that one of the guys spins staff and is not opposed to setting stuff on fire. There'll be FIRE in our backyard soon. I'm excited.

Saturday saw me trekking to Liverpool Street for combined birthday funtimes and iceskating. The beginning turned out to be somewhat of a fail because I couldn't find the pub we were supposed to meet at, mainly because I didn't look up directions before leaving. It all turned out fine in the end, though, because I located the ice rink, I located my friends and with a leettle bit of delay (one hour or so) we actually made it onto the ice. After a bit of flailing I found my ice feet again (it's like riding a bike, once you know how to do it you're sorted) and skated around in circles for 45 minutes. There were drinks afterwards, and food, and lovely conversations and it was a really great day. 

I probably shouldn't have turned on my computer when I got home and started writing, but I've signed up for a challenge and have to write a fic by next Friday and I'm worried that I don't get it done and disappoint people. Suddenly it was 3 am and I was still wide awake. Yeah. So today's been a bit lazy and I'm doing my best to procrastinate instead of writing that fucking story. Which is why I'm writing this. Oops. 

I'll get going now, then.

Xmas/NY roundup

Hey, I'm only a few days late *cough*

I went home for Christmas, as usual. The only acceptable excuse not to go would be that I've got a family of my own, and we know that's not gonna happen anytime soon. So off I went, the weather played nice (no fog, no snow), which meant I actually got home without any further problems apart from having to brave Heathrow at Christmas.

It really was the usual, I ate a lot, I slept a lot, I spent some time with the family and my brother's girlfriend. He intends to marry her and for some reason beyond my understanding thought I'd be right person to ask for suggestions on how to propose. I had to bite my tongue to ask why he wants to get married in the first place (well, I did ask in the end, it's because he wants to start a family and that's the "right" way to do it) and then proceeded to suggest that he just says "hey, wanna get married" and hands over the ring. Apparently that's not sufficiently romantic and a big deal enough. I think it's perfectly ok. Would be nice if it was on a beach or something, but kinda popping the question after a nice fuck would be acceptable as well. Just in case it ever comes up.

Fled back to London after 5 days with the folks, I've discovered that that's long enough for us to catch up  but short enough for them to not drive me crazy.

Which brings us to New Years and related celebrations. I spent the weekend not doing much, apart from writing and enjoying having the flat to myself (it was a bit too cold for naked flat time, but I had a quick run through for good measure). Went to a friend's party for the last day of the year/month, it was a big party and really rather nice. Apart from the part when I got a bit wasted and ended up snogging someone I'd been talking to on and off during the night. I really should know better. I really should know NOT to stick my tongue into someone's mouth/let someone stick their tongue in mine just because I feel like kissing someone at the time. Turns out he somehow (really don't know how) got the wrong idea and is now chasing me a little bit. Ahem.

Before I could cause any more damage I got dragged off to an afterparty, which merged with another afterparty shortly afterwards. There was an awful lot of snuggling and hugging and regrettably no more snogging (it's perfectly ok to snog my friends, they know me) and I ended up trudging back home around 6ish in the evening to faceplant gracefully collapse into my bed.

I had the next day off, which was spent mooching about being tired, and then had to go back to work for the last 2 days of the week. In hindsight I should've taken those off as well, but I didn't think that far and in the end it wasn't all that bad. Ok, it was that bad, but I survived.

Last weekend I went for a coffee with the downstairs neighbour, which at least got me out of the house and made her happy.

I've stopped wanting to kill people now, which means I've probably recovered from the NYE shenanigans.

Just in time to go to the movies tomorrow (Life Of Pi) and for drinks with the neighbours (this is becoming a habit) on Friday. There will be iceskating (aka me falling over on cold surfaces) on Saturday for a friend's birthday.

Hey, look at me, I'm sociable!

Vive Le Long Weekend

Got back from spending a long weekend in France with a friend who's visiting from Australia last night. Really late last night, thanks to some shit going on at Gatwick and EasyJet being EasyJet. Subsequently have spent the day in a sleepy haze, well, almost a sleepy haze if it hadn't been for some chemical (all legal) help. Will be attempting an early night, but as most times when the sun goes down I'm actually not that tired anymore. I'm pretty sure I was meant to be a vampire.

So, weekend in France, you say? Mais oui. Which is about all the French I can still remember from back in school, I really should know more but for some reason it just never stuck. We caught a flight to Toulouse on Friday afternoon to spent the weekend at friends of my friend, who own a lovely little house about an hour away from the city. Once we were in town we did a bit of sightseeing, then drove out and got comfy. It was mainly meant to be a relaxed, catching-up kind of weekend, but we still got to see the Pyrenees (including snow), a bit of the village we stayed in (got massively rained on, though), the Space museum and Carcassonne. Lots of wine was drunk, quite a few pain au chocolat were eaten, we played games and had good food. I would've come back relaxed and rested if it hadn't been for the messed up flight home which had us getting back sometime beyond midnight. I'm still somewhat relaxed, but yeah, the whole rested affair kinda went out of the window when I crawled into bed around 2.30am only to get up at 6.50am again. Not fun!

I was a bit, but only a bit, surprised that the French grasp on vegetarianism is just as loose as the American one. I usually relax my dietary requirements when travelling, partly because I don't want to cause too much hassle and partly because I don't want to starve. The rules abroad usually are no meat, but fish is ok, and no milk/yoghurt/cream because that makes me ill, but cheese is acceptable. Eggs are tolerated as is questionable animal content in sauces and soups. I'm vegetarian (more or less strict) because it makes me feel better, the no-animal-cruelty aspect is a welcome bonus (and tends to cause quite a bit of smugness occasionally), but it's not the main reason.

Despite of that it's still surprisingly hard to find non-meat stuff that's not green salad or heavy on the dairy on the average menu. For some reason the fact that I don't want to substitute the lack of animal protein with dairy is a bit of a mystery to a lot of people. My friend's friends were lovely, we had yummy veggie stir-fries, but eating in restaurants was difficult, especially if you're hungry and want a main dish. And don't even try to find anything edible at Toulouse airport. In fact, you're lucky if you find anything to eat there if you arrive after 8pm...

But yeah, I didn't starve, my stomach didn't get too upset about the amount of cheese on everything and I hope I didn't stress people out too much.

Got a few nice things lined up for the rest of the week, too. There's a birthday dinner with Babs tomorrow, who always insists on taking me out for dinner when it's her birthday (it's a German thing). I'll probably try to hit the Bikram on Thursday as I haven't been for a while (since last Monday, to be precise), there's the going-away party for my Australian friend on Friday, a possible clothes-swap on Saturday (I'm assuming we're bringing the clothes in bags, not swap the ones we're actually wearing, but you never know with my friends) and a catch-up session with a friend that I haven't seen for bloody ages on Sunday.

I'll better get into a severely sociable mood and some sleep fast, otherwise the next few days will be a tad difficult.

Changes Ahead

It has been two weeks, I know. Don't look at me like that, I still love you.

In those 2 weeks, there has been the last Planet Angel until autumn, a birthday-afterparty, a trip to the IMAX & a meeting with my favourite lead guitarist.

In order of appearance, let's start with the trip to the IMAX. Stu had suggested to go watch "Prince Of Persia" on the big screen, yes, the movie adaption of that console game. It could only be ridiculously bad, I thought, but actually it was rather nice. Like watching a 90 minute computer game, & I rather enjoy watching someone playing a computer game, so it all worked out. It did help that Jake Gyllenhal is proper eyecandy.

Next up, Planet Angel. I was really tired & had been for the whole week, mainly due to not being able to sleep very deep (somehow). Therefore I had been really, really tempted to just not go, despite having a ticket & all, but managed to convince myself that all would be fine once I got there & for once there were loads of people I knew attending. I got there still not convinced that I really wanted to be there, but in the end it turned out to be a pretty good night. I didn't do too much dancing, but talked to lots of people, made a new friend & got many hugs. And yes, I went to the afterparty as this was also a combined birthday party & again, all turned out absolutely enjoyable. Andy was there & very cuddly towards me, Emma was there & very cuddly towards me - all I needed, really. Throw in more lovely friends & munted entertainment & you get a rather happy me. I finally trundled back home early on Saturday evening, still in the afterglow which is probably the best way to cope with London transport.

The following week was, unsurprisingly, a bit rough. My brain only returned to almost normal functionality on Thursday, maybe I'm actually getting too old for this (erm, no, I don't think so).

Last weekend was quiet, I didn't go out Friday or Saturday, but went to Westfield on Sunday with John. We got there relatively early (noon), which unbeknownst to us was just when they opened. It was almost empty for the first hour or so, which made browsing the shops so much more pleasant. I bought a lovely strawberry nighty, which is way too cute to just wear it in bed so I might combine it with jeans & use as a top. We had lunch at the food court (lebanese nibbles, yummy), browsed some more & had a vegan milkshake. John had to head off around 3pm to meet up with his brother & have dinner with the family, so I got on the bus to Acton to return some dresses I'd foolishly bought on the interwebs (Pearl Lowe for Peacocks). To my defence I must say they looked so much better & more high quality online, in real life they were pretty disappointing & didn't even fit me. Got a refund for two (hooray) & only kept one of them.

On Tuesday I met up with Robin, who I hadn't seen for almost a year (I think). He's recently split up with his girlfriend, is couch surfing at a friend's & is broke. Not that much has changed since I last saw him, really. Spend the evening having dinner at Wetherspoons & catching up.

Now it's Saturday, I've been lounging on the roof terrace for a while taking advantage of the bit of sun that occasionally manages to wriggle itself out of the clouds. I'm heading over to the Monkey House later for a bit of socialising & to get my hair cut. Wish me luck.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Lynn to look at a flat she found & which I might move into with her & Kate. Carmen came home last night with the news that she has been offered a great job in Bristol & probably will leave London, which prompted me to bring up that I'm thinking of changing flats & flatmates. I have been feeling for a long time that I need a change of scenery, my room is too noisy & I just want something else. The decision is not final yet, but it all points towards a new flat.

Changes are in the air.

I've also started to feel the need to change me. Not quite sure how to do that, though. I definitely have to loose some weight to fit into all my clothes again, but I can't help but feeling that I might need change on a deeper level as well. Lots of things have been just ambling along in my life, it is as if I'm just getting dragged along instead of actively taking charge. I want closer relationships with my friends (which would involve me trying to see them more often), I need a holiday somewhere that's not Europe, I want to change my style a bit, I want to be happier.

I'll keep you posted how I get on.

The Elysian Project

 

photo credit 

As you could probably guess from lack of updates, the week wasn't particularly eventful. I've managed to get an interview for the upcoming role in my team, which will be better paid (+5k) & permanent (hooray). Now all I have to do is to get the job.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but some of the people I know have been busy setting up an event company/music label (The Virus Project) and these people put on a rave on Friday. It was a co-operation with other event organisators, ALAN and Wonderland. I knew it wouldn't be totally my cup of tea music wise, but I was intrigued to find out what they're doing & if they're any good, so I bought a ticket for £10 and, John in tow, ventured down to Vauxhall on Friday.

There was a pretty serious queue going on when we got there, but having advance tickets we were able to jump it. The decoration of the venue was simply amazing. I'm somewhat of a regular at Hidden as most of Planet Angel's parties are there and have seen the venue "naked" (very bleak & dark) & in all kinds of disguises. Angel usually do a great job making it look pretty, but Wonderland must work with magic or something. They transformed a rather dull set of rooms into something resembling a children's book. There were lampshades dangling from the ceiling, a clock you could walk through, random doors, mushrooms you could sit on & tunnels to crawl through. The outside area featured a wishing well & more mushrooms. Apparently the guys who were supposed to run the shisha cafe had got too stoned while setting up & were nowhere to be found. 

The music had it's moments, one of them being Celladore's set which started out a bit weird & transformed into something quite banging halfway through & I think Wingnut would've been great if his set wouldn't have been at 4am when most of us were tired already. But most of the tunes were a tad weird (I'm never going to understand the attraction of Glitch, whatever that is) & while the people were friendly, most of them were also really young. I had a good night, but got a bit bored by the end. My friends must've felt the same as we piled into a taxi & headed for the afterparty way before the event was scheduled to end.

The day passed in a pleasant, somewhat hazy way. We played lots of games & had quite a few giggles, people stayed awake & conscious throughout. The evening ended with us ordering a take-away & me getting the bus home.

I'm feeling a bit tired today & my nose has reached a totally new dimension of blocked, but other than that I'm doing rather well. I've been down to the tube station to renew my travelcard (having forgotten my bank card yesterday), to Holland & Barrett to get tasty vegetarian chorizo, to Boots to get nasal spray & stock up on painkillers and Sainsbury's to get a few bits & bobs for dinner that I'm going to cook either tonight or tomorrow (the latter is currently more likely). I've done the laundry & hoovered my room, even translated a quick email for John. One wouldn't guess that it's an after-afterparty Sunday, really. 

Next week's plans so far are a visit to the angelic planet on Friday & of course that interview on Tuesday. I've turned down a free ticket to see Mama Mia tomorrow from Lynn because, frankly, I don't think I'd be able to survive two hours of ABBA tunes without going mental. 

All in all, things are pretty good (but I'd still like to add a little whinge about being single...).