'Tis the season

Have lost my way somewhat with this blog, which matters not much, as it is written for myself - not a wider audience.
I suppose t'week before Christmas is as good a time for a resurgence as any!

I love watching how people dress when the weather gets colder. Men in dapper business suits wearing their football scarves, the bright stripes incongruous with the greyness of the rest of their attire. It's even better when teamed with a matching beanie - rather than look proud of sporting their team's colours, most look a little embarrassed that they didn't have anything in plain black.

Ladies either get super sensible in sturdy boots & a multitude of cosy layers, or they cast aside attempts at practicality & dress as if they were in Costa Del Sol, not heading out to Cost Cutters.

Manchester is disappointing greatly in the weather front, with the snow being heavy enough to cause annoyance & delays, but not heavy enough for employers to give their frostbitten staff a 'snow day'.
After 12 hours stuck in the airport last year trying to get home for Christmas, I just hope it holds out until my flight on Tuesday... after which, I would quite like a bit of the white stuff, it has been much too long since these hands made a snowman!

Bonfire of the Benefits

So, the much anticipated spending review is now in. Working within the third sector, any cuts in welfare benefits is of particular importance to me, and my clients.
Once again it appears the current generation of pensioners continue to reap the rewards, whilst the young are penalised. Those who are 60 (or approaching this age), will be those who benefited from free University education, from generous public sector pension schemes, and from the now-controversial 'right to buy' scheme.

Anyone unfortunate enough to be of school age now has to contend with :
- ever-rising debts if they choose to go to University, and possibly a sub-standard service due to the job in government support for higher education
- joblessness & a cut in support if they do enter Uni - as many 'Connexxions' (advice/training providers for the youth) are being axed
- a fiercely competitive job market filled with qualified & newly unemployed public sector workers
- a never-ending battle to save up enough money to buy a house, with prices inflated & greedy buy-to-let investors snapping up all the 'starter' homes
- endless bureaucratic hoops to jump should they, woe betide, find themselves ill or without a job & at the mercy of the Jobcentre Plus.
- low rates of housing benefit compared to those over 35 (a bar that has been raised from 25)

An under-25, who finds themselves unemployed is expected to live from £51.85 a week. The maximum they will now get towards any rent is £51.85 a week. Exactly what property can be rented for this meagre amount? A shed in the outer Hebrides?
The poverty threshold in the UK is said to be £100 a week - this is what needs to be left over after paying rent, council tax, water charges. This figure of £51.85 is meant to provide heat, food, clothing, (and no doubt also have to be chipped into for extra rent payments) & other essentials for a young person everyweek.

Compare this to what a single Pensioner receives from the State as a bare minimum. State Retirement Pension, usually at the very least £58 a week. This is then topped up with Pension Credit to £132.60 a week. They are given another £132.60 a week towards rent, maximum.
Based on this scenario, they can actually have £27,000 in savings before their full housing benefit is stopped.
Pensioners moan & cripe about having to sell their homes/use their savings to fund a move into a care home, and conjure up various loopholes to avoid having to do so - this older generation seem to take no responsibility for the current financial climate we are facing, and believe they should be exempt from the pain.
Keeping the winter fuel allowance of a minimum of £250 a year for every pensioner (regardless of how many thousands of pounds are sitting in their bank accounts) is a pathetic and unaffordable attempt to sweeten the generation most likely to vote. There should be more lobbying at the major gas/electric company's for social tariffs (NOT just for the old, but the less well off as well), rather than the government taking responsibility for high prices. If the government insist on such handouts, they should be in the form of vouchers - not free money.

I think for now, I am done, but this is a subject I have a lot more to say about in the future - when we can see how these cuts really unfold.

Living la vida loca (well, not really)

Have definitely been neglecting thee old blog lately. My blogger posts are the modern day equivalent of talking to myself, the oft quoted first sign of madness. Perhaps this is a sign that my inner malaise is retreating!

I was reading an article about how LSD/cocaine et al used to be prescribed routinely by doctors for depression & other ailments in the 60's. It goes without saying that had I been young back then, these chemicals would probably have made even the following mundane events seem a little bit more rock 'n' roll. In the last month of pleasant banal-ity I have :

- discovered there is a squirrel living in my car park, it steals conkers.
- somehow given my left elbow an inexplicable corker of a bruise (my partner does not seem to have a matching bruise anywhere, so at least I know I'm not subjecting him to sleep-abuse!)
- ate & drank myself to oblivion, Italian-style (watching too much of The Sopranos is a bad influence)
- finished that doorstopper of a Stephen King book 'Under the Dome', (can finally get my literary life back)
- sat in a couple of airports, got a couple of planes, obtained cold virus from recycled air within.

Ah, there have been other moments of excitement, happiness & general joy at the world - but this is not the place for those!

"Next blog..."

I'm not quite sure how Blogger delegates which blogs would be of interest to me when pressing the "next blog" function, but I was quite amused/baffled when I was sent to 6 blogs in a row written by women who are obsessed (their own words) by knitting.

This is not a hobby I have ever partaken in. Being an impatient, sloppy & short-attention spanned harpy, I don't think it is something I ever will partake in.

It could be funny to try it as a cheap alternative to buying friends/family things they actually want for their birthdays, I can see their strained little faces now: "thanks - I've always wanted a pair of knitted knobbly, half-finished, coffee stained, holey egg-coseys."

I am somewhat unconvinced of the value of many 'crafty' gifts, even if they are well made. Does anyone really need egg coseys, even if they are lovingly stitched in the shape of some cute little owls? [By the way, I didn't actually come across anyone who made these in my random blog trawl. I thought it was something silly to use as an example, but lo and behold, google provided me with proof that such things have indeed been created...]

The main craft that I adhere to, if you could call it such, is baking. But not of the pretty-little-cupcake variety - I have no skill with frippery. I like making big manly batches of banana bread, or childish concoctions of melted chocolate, fudge & biscuits. A big whack of gooey brownie is also hard to beat, although mine usually do look like they have taken a bit of a beating.

Anyway... "Next blog" please!

This week I've most been watching movies

I have watched 3 films at the cinema in the last fortnight. This is in addition to various flicks I've watched [sometimes slightly illicitly] on my computer monitor, such is the rich & fulfilling life that I lead. All had vastly different plots/genres/styles, and were viewed in 3 different cinemas. Here follows my own short synopsis :

1. The Human Centipede, watched at the Cornerhouse.
I made the mistake of telling a couple of work colleagues I was going to see this film - trying to explain the plotline without people assuming I was a sick f&*k was not easy, "It's erm, about this mad doctor, who you know, abducts people..."

The atmosphere in the cinema really made the film shine for me - mass audience laughter, appropriate groans, and cheering at the end - it was akin to watching a vaudeville act rather than a German horror movie.
Not as gory as the reviews perhaps made it out to be, however there were definitely moments when I involuntarily shuddered with disgust. I shall certainly be in the line to watch Part 2...

2. The Exependables, watched at AMC Deansgate.
This film promised an amazing cast, impressive explosions, and a style reminiscent of the big 80's action movies. Whilst it did on paper fulfil this brief, it was an extremely disappointing & at times embarrassing picture.
The close-up on Mickey Rourke's surgery ravaged face as he broke down about his action during the Bosnian war was awkward & bizarre, coming out of nowhere, completely out of sync with the brainless dialogue preceding it. He was not the only one who 'benefited' from extreme close-ups, Stallone's directing ability ensured we had ample time to study his weirdly-ravaged eyebrows & 'roid arms.

During Arnie's approx 30 seconds screen time, the joke about him gaining weight was not only unfunny, but completely inappropriate given the fact he is a measly shadow of his former beefed-up self.
A complete waste of time, which would have been better spent at home reliving some genuinely funny 80's action classics - Predator, Lethal Weapon, Robocop to name a few.

3. Dog Pound, watched at the Odeon Printworks.
Basically a remake of Ray Winstone's breakout movie, 'Scum', although not advertised as such. Shows 3 teenage boys who have been committed of drug offences/assault, and placed in a young offenders institute. They didn't have a fun time once there.
It's sad that such a dark film elicits such a hum-drum response, but it failed to add any new insights from 'Scum'. It did however make me glad that a) I was not born a boy b) I was never bad enough to warrant being sent to borstal.
& on a related note... me & the other half were 2 of 5 people that went to see this film. Out of an entirely empty cinema, another couple chose to sit in the 2 seats directly in front of ours. This is quite odd, akin to sitting next to a stranger on a desolate bus. We could have moved, but it's the principle of the damn thing. Weirdos.

Yellow-y goodness.

To counteract the last couple of pieces of customer-service induced bile, I think it is time for a positive post. In praise of bananas!

Have been eating a lot of banana's lately, as a colleague in work keeps bringing them in (I think most of the office would prefer doughnuts). Having gotten sick of eating them as plain old fruit, I have started a culinary quest to turn them into delicious treats. This week I have had :
Banana bread, frozen banana's (transforms them into a different being altogether), banana & chocolate brownies, banana & peanut butter sandwiches, banana ice-cream.
I also plan to make : Banoffee (best. desert. ever!) and banana pancakes.
Hopefully I shall not suffer the same fate as Elvis (banana devotee), and die on the toilet sometime next week.

Manchester Taxi Drivers - a rant.

This is turning into a blog where I 'have a go' at those in the service professions. Given that I work in a front-facing role myself (and no doubt get other people incensed every now & again), this is perhaps a bit rich. I have no moral quandary about this duplicity though, and this subject has been brewing in my brain for awhile, and needs a rant.

To put it simply : Manchester Taxi Drivers are mostly rather rubbish. And no, not in the murderous DeNiro way.
There are mainly 2 ways that they accomplish this :
1. They don't know where anything is. Many private taxi workers seem to have only just arrived in Manchester, and are unable to drive anywhere without a specific postcode and detailed directions.
Given that you tend not to know the postcode of your chosen pub/cinema/shopping precinct (nor the intricacies of Manchester city centres numerous 1 way systems, especially after a drink or two) - this can be tricky.
Once a driver even told me he had only arrived in the Uk the day before, and did not seem to understand basic English phrases such as 'STOP!!', 'WE'RE HERE', and 'FOR &**^SAKE WOULD YOU STOP DRIVING!', as he kept overshooting my destination.

2. They know where to go but are intent on taking the least direct and slowest route.
This is a tactic beloved of many Hackney cab drivers. Unlike taxi drivers in good old N.I (who like to show off with 'secret' shortcuts & their break-neck speed ability to cruise through red lights), they relish that light turning orange. They claim that certain roads are closed, even though you know they were open as the bus went through them earlier. They then have NO change, even when a fair is £7.80, and you're paying with a £10 note.

Other methods of rubbishness that I have been subjected to include :
- listening to sexual lyrics supposedly written by a horny 14 year old while being driven to the train station at 6.30am (it went something like : I wanna f&ck you on the table, f&ck you on the chair, f&ck you on the floor, f&ck you everywhere)
- being subjected to Islamic prayers at top volume ( bit of a party killer on a Friday night)
- drivers who insist on asking if you have a boyfriend, why you aren't married to them, why you haven't had children...

Anyway, I think I have vented. The moral of the story is perhaps I should use my own two legs every now & again.

A tirade against hairdressers...

If I was to spend nearly £60 on a hat, and dislike it immediately afterwards - I could at least take it back, and not be forced to adorn my bonce with it. Unfortunately, with hair, it isn't that simple.

I hate my natural boring mousy brown hue, and the unmanageable frizziness of my curls. I therefore have it dyed copper, and spend most mornings 'de-frizzing' the waves with twists of my straighteners. After years of attempting to dye it at home, I find the professionals usually do a better job of my roots than I do, seeing as I have yet to evolve a set of eyes on the back of my head. When it comes to the actual styling however -things generally go awry.

They usually leave the styling to some 17 year old hungover trainee, who has knowledge of 2 styles. She will either blow-dry and straighten the fuck out of your hair with ghds (resulting in the sort of limp, lifeless hair that 'our cheryl' of the bouncing mane campaigns against), or she goes bloody mental with the biggest diffuser she can find - leaving you looking like a victim of electro-shock therapy gone wrong.

Then they have the cheek to ask 'So are you going out tonight?', as if it would be a colossal waste to visit them and not somehow have a big event planned that evening. I lie. My mouth says 'Yeah, probably out for a few drinks with the the other half'. My brain screams 'are you f*&king kidding me?! I literally have to stay in & WASH MY GODDAMN HAIR after you are through with it!'
I have no idea why I play along with this charade to protect their feelings.

So yes, I have been to the hairdressers today. I am still feeling slightly bitter. Please excuse me while I go shampoo my hair...

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Ah, sleep.
I will never again overlook the glorious feeling of refreshment that follows a night in your tender embrace! A night without waking up in a cold sweat at 4am, a night without raucous crows calling at first light, a night without the pounding-pounding techno music beloved by the wankers in the flat below...
After seemingly endless nights of poor quality slumber (not helped by several evenings out on the trot indulging in cocktails & rich food), to remain unconscious through the whole of last night was marvellous. I have felt like a reanimated corpse most of the week - despite taking up 'berococca' supplements (the 'fun' way to take vitamins apparently).

Today has been spent taking in some fresh air - well, as fresh as Manchester air can be - baking cake, doing some art, and generally giving my body some r&r after a knackering, crazy ol' week. I needed a few hours locked away without human company in order to recharge my ailing batteries.

On that note... am off to make the most of the last hour or so before the OH returns from work.

Art of the teese

Burlesque - essentially watching women take their clothes off in various dramatic & comedic fashions.
It's a rather enjoyable way to spend a Friday night.
I would never muster the courage to do it myself (can barely don a bikini without immediately throwing a sarong over the top), but I applaud the brave ladies who get down to their skivvies with such flourish for our entertainment!
Cocktails, glamour & a bit of a boogie... rather fabulous.

Back to reality today - the grey sweatpants have been donned, the coffee has been drank, Team Fortress is about to be played...

Drinking alone..

is, in my opinion, quite fun (within context). That giddy, happy feeling somewhat heightens the enjoyment in whatever solo activity you wish to get up to (mind out of the gutter), such as movie watching, making crochet swans, or giggling along to '50 best stand-ups' - to use a current example.

I think there is an unfair stigma attached to lone drinkers, it is treated as the badge of an alcoholic. If you are dependant on drink to get through the day - then this is worrying, not the fact that you enjoy the odd tipple in your own company. When drinking solo, I tend to drink slower and savour the taste of the alcohol - be it rum and coke, or a glass of red wine.. there is no rush to conform with others drinking speed, or to get onto the next round of jagermeister & get up on the dancefloor.

I only wish I had half the creative zest of Bukowski, who turned his drinking sessions into amazing novels & short stories... I turn mine into evenings singing along in front of 'YouTube', playing Warcraft, and blogging!
Ah well, 24 is still too young to be completely jaded, cynical & have a set view of the world... maybe a few more years of sporadic solo drinking will turn me into a poet laurete yet.

Basically, this article sums up my feelings more concisely than I could ever hope to -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-egan/in-defense-of-drinking-al_b_554636.html
I raise my glass to thee!

Holidaying like a pensioner!

I love seaside resorts. I was brought up in a seaside town, albeit not one you could call a 'resort' as such (the beach certainly wouldn't get a blue flag, and is probably more sewer-water than salt-water.)
I'm just back from a trip to LLandudno in Wales, and thoroughly enjoyed it... fish & chips, walking along the pier, seaside amusement arcades, homemade ice-cream etc.etc. It's not exactly a rollicking, mad 18-30 style holiday, but it's pretty fab. With the temperatures at 26c, who needs the med!

The seagulls let it down a bit though, huge and nasty creatures they were. They scared the life out of me by landing on our b&b windowsill - they would have came right in if it hadn't been for my screams & my partners swift closing of the window.
Not sure how I feel about the use of birds of prey in neighbouring Rhyl, to keep the seagulls numbers down... to be honest, a lot of them where bigger than any hawks, so I don't know if it's much of a deterrent!

I'm so happy, cause today I found my friends...

Have been rediscovering my angst ridden youth this week, listening to the king & queen of the grunge scene - Kurt & Courtney and their respective bands.
I think it was a pre-requisite of any alternative teen in my day to own at least one 'smiley face' branded hoodie or t-shirt. There is something magical about Nirvana's MTV unplugged session - hearing & seeing the emotion during 'Dumb' just gets me every time... thank ye YouTube!

Have made up a CD for my epic drive down to Wales this weekend, which will actually be the longest drive I've ever made, at 90 or so miles... there's a bit of britpop in the form of Pulp & Mansun, some Pearl Jam & Metallica for rocking out to, and some Phil Collins for a cheesy singalong (Sussidio has me going everytime!) Perfect. Even more perfect would be if I could drive without needing a sat nav, then I could just plug in my IPOD... making up a CD seems rather archaic in this day & age...

Animal killing scum

Sadly, there has been a lot of stories in the press lately about animal cruelty - from the sad state of the horses rescued from Millbrook Farm, to the woman found piercing her 'gothic' kittens.

I'm incensed to hear of a recent case of extreme animal cruelty from my hometown of Carrickfergus. For the 2nd time in as many years, one of the town's swans has been viciously killed. The first offence was an act of idiocy from a man struggling to handle 3 pitbulls at once - the second offence is of a much more sinister nature.
Last Thursday, one of the beautiful birds was found dead, with a crossbow arrow in its neck. The police are 'investigating', and the culprit could be fined up to £1,000. A potential £1,000 fine is not enough for deliberately taking the life of a protected bird, a bird which was part of a couple & had recently had sygnets.

Carrickfergus Council however are not blameless for this incident occurring - the area in which it happened is under policed, badly lit and a black-spot for anti-social behaviour. Until the area is cleaned up, these kind of thuggish acts will keep occurring. Let's hope the remaining swan & babies are kept safe...

Morning glory

Today was an epic morning of Magpie-ness. And I do mean that in the literal sense.
As I went into the bedroom to slip on my shoes (already running slightly late), I heard a terrible & familiar din outside the window... this could only mean one thing. Magpies on the rampage!

I didn't know where to look - on one nearby rooftop, a vicious battle for the right to stand at the very summit of the TV aerial was underway, between a magpie & a crow/raven (not sure if ravens live in Manchester - but it was bloomin' maaasssive!)

On an adjacent tree, two magpies gallantly protected their territory from an interloping cat. The cat looked exactly like the one in this pic!

I actually felt very sorry for the cat. It looked quite young. It obviously thought - birds! I can catch these & eat them! What fun! But after a minute stuck in a tree with magpies attacking its tale & swooping at its face, I'm sure it'll rethink its strategy in the future. The poor thing wasn't even granted respite when it managed to come down - it ran underneath a car only to be followed by the irate birds! It eventually emerged very sheepishly minutes later - only to hide under another car. The magpie later returned & let loose its machine gun style chatter at the cars, as it peered underneath them.... I'm sure this cat will be suffering PTSD.

One of the magpies who had been causing ruckus with the cat soon flew up to join its team-mate in chasing off the crow-ven. The creature definitely had size to its advantage, but the magpies had persistence. They won the top of the aerial, but only for a few seconds - they eventually all flew off - chasing the crow to goodness knows where, chattering incessantly whilst they did so.

I hope nobody in Hulme had been planning a lie-in this morning.

Naught to see here g'vnor

Well, this month I seem to have been neglectful to thee auld blog. This is obviously due to an influx of important things, such as :

- baking & devouring chocolate cake
- narrowly avoiding £400 root canal treatment (chocolate cake evidently taking its toll)
- leveling 30 in WOW & acquiring a gorgeous purple, feathery hawkstrider to travel around on
- watching Avatar, which is soo bloody long it must be responsible for at least 72 hours of my life
- oh... and work. I guess it takes up around 40 hours a week :(

Ah, Avatar. Glad it didn't win all those Oscars. It may be something to do with the fact I watched a slightly fuzzy-not-altogether-legit torrent version of the film, but I didn't rate it very highly.
Hope to go see Chris Morris's film debut 'Four Lions' soon, hope the cutting satire & general hilariousness of 'Brass Eye' and 'The Day Today' is in evidence.

Anyway, must dash. Researching for the perfect 'Tiffin' recipe! Vital business.

Cupcakes... a feminist issue?

Granted, there are a lot of them about these days : mostly sold in retro-styled boutiques, lovely little sugar-infused & candy-coloured delights in the most diverse array of flavours imaginable (Jammie Dodger? Ginger & Lime?)

I have sampled quite a few in my time, from places like : Lola's, The Tea Boutique, Bread & Butter, The Sweet Tooth Cupcakery, Cocoa Emporium, Dish and Spoon... there are dozens just popping up all over the country.
A perfect cupcake should be sublimely light, fluffy & flavoursome, in a pretty little package.
Some promise the earth and massively disappoint - all the gimmicky decoration in the world cannot save a bad sponge recipe (Cocoa Emporium, I mean you...)

The recent spate of cupcake businesses has now attracted somewhat of a backlash, with many newspapers already writing about their demise... indeed some writers feel that they infantilise women, who apparently "coo over the cutesy, calorie-jammed treats as if they were newborn babies".
To this I say : how very silly. They are attractive looking, often tasty, cakes. They are not leading to the downfall of women-kind in anyway (other than perhaps causing an explosion in waist-lines).

Pretty as they are, I think I I have had my share of cupcakes for awhile, and shall devote my attention to other, equally worthy treats... chocolate torte anyone?

Darn sailors.

Oh dear. To the left we have the culprit - the wretched rum that I thought it was a good idea to guzzle last night like, as if it was refreshing mineral water.

To the right we have the cure - a dazzling choice of food & drink to settle my angry belly.
A sad state of affairs all around.

The day the music died..

... was somewhere mid 1999 I'd say. I listened to a retrospective of 90's indie classics last night, which plunged me into deep nostalgia - a place I seem to wallow ever more of late. Ah, the 90's. Back when there were no TV shows to set up wimpy little girl&boy bands & bland solo artists (although I admit that before X-Factor et all, newspaper ads seemed to perform this function - hence the creation of the Spice Girls/Take That).

It's sad that many of the great and original Britpop scene are no longer around, at least to my knowledge anyway - Sleeper, Suede, Sleeper, Skunk Anansie, Garbage, Mansun, Pulp (I was lucky enough to see them in concert, supported by Dubstar, when I was very wee in October 1995 - my first gig!)

There's a few that were arguably less notable/prolific, but still had a fantastic couple of 'choons' - The Lightning Seeds, Dodgy, Kula Shaker, Space, Shed Seven, Bluetones, Elastica, Alisha's Attic etc. etc..

Some bands have fractured, leading to solo success for several of the members, or indeed splintered into entirely different bands (Blur - I mean you). Then there's Oasis, who until very recently, continued to tour & release new material. Doesn't look like the Gallagher Brothers will be getting together anytime in the near future though, their brotherly tiffs have not mellowed with age.

Radiohead are one of the few examples who seem to have weathered the storm, and continue to tour & release new music - much different to their mid-90's output, but still hugely respected and full of creativity.

I could write on this subject for ages, delving into more trivial banter about how much better looking the male singers were - the raw appeal of Mr Cocker in all his tradmark lankiness in 'Common People', the scrumptiousness of Blur in their video for 'Universal', the strangely appealing face of Thom Yorke as he stares at the screen in 'No surprises'...

Many bands nowadays, even the 'indie' ones are styled within an inch of their lives, expert lighting and retouchers doing all the rest - what a dull, homogenised lot.

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, it's off from work I go!

Used up my last day of annual leave today, and had a much needed day off. Was a nice mix of productivity, laziness and indulgence! Did a boring task I'd been putting off til the last moment, and re-registered/re-taxed my car... the DVLA office was something straight out of Kafka.. get in this line, get a ticket, wait to join another line, fill in a form, join this other line & wait again.. I was glad to make it out of the maze of bureaucracy & back into the sunshine again, sanity intact!

I really love working a 4 day week. It makes all the other days fly in twice as fast. It also makes for an amazing feeling on Friday night - knowing that so many niggly things have been accomplished before the 'real' weekend even starts! I don't know how these full-time working mothers do it, I feel tired & trained just by looking after myself!

At the risk of sounding like one of those annoying 'twitterers' who declare to the world what that they just ate a mars bar, I have really eaten like a Sultan today. Amazing Pancakes & crispy bacon for breakfast from Manchester's 'Muriels Cafe', and a delicious (homemade by the OH) Jerk Chicken 'n' Rice 'n' Peas for tea - it's just as well that gym going has started to feature on my itinerary again...

"Who ya gonna call?"

Well, 10 days have passed, and what a (mostly) great 10 days they have been! Last weekend the OH & I visited York, home of vikings, ghosts & cream teas. We, of course, experienced all three.
Staying in a 'haunted' hotel was an experience I'm not sure I would try again, as it resulted in being kept up until 4am, my imagination running riot, causing me to be spooked by every little sound... the various locally brewed beers fermenting in my stomach, (alongside a vast portion of fish 'n' chips) probably didn't help much though!

One of my highlights, other than a delcious afternoon tea@ the institution that is 'Betty's (pictured), was the Castle Museum. It's a very odd place, with a section devoted to old-style washing machines & the etiquette of Victorian funeral's, but it is precisely this randomness that made it absolutely brilliant! Much better than smelly old Jorvick centre, which made Viking life out to be like a less-dramatic & technologically advanced episode of Eastenders.

This weekend has been spent back in Manchester. It has involved Italian dining, cinema going, gym-bunnying, coffee slurping, bolognese making and... housework. Can't all be good. A few drinks at some of the local watering holes later should hopefully make the Monday morning dread abate somewhat!

Woe is me!

Feeling rather bleaughhh for the last couple of days, which is such a bore. Not that anyone loves being ill, but it probably makes me angrier than the average person. Even when it's a simple cold (like now), I feel so damn angry the whole time that I'm sniffling and coughing - it's just gross & inconvenient, ugh! It's also that stage were you feel absolutely horrible, but don't demonstrably look/sound terrible (i.e. a hacking cough), so no visable reason not to be in work... Sigh.

To top it all, my car has conveniently decided to pack it in, in my moment of greatest need. Having to walk 1/2 hour to the bus stop whilst sneezing pathetically hasn't been great for morale!

Anyway. Enough whingeing. A trip to York is planned for Saturday morning, and I will be well. I'll eat a whole damn vitamin c factory if I have to. The other half got me some 'Percy Pig Tails' (which contain 'pork gelatine', aptly enough), I reckon they probably have some vitamins in them, any excuse really to lie on the Sofa watching 'Star Trek' and shovel them down my gob!

Oscars Dahling

Still recovering from a great weekend at home. The main object of the trip - to complete the annual Oscars watchathon! Mission was accomplished. Bed was not reached until around 6am Monday morning.

I'm not a betting gal, but I think next year I may give it a go, seeing as I predicted 15 of the categories correctly... although it must be said that no great skill or insider knowledge was involved this year, it was fairly predictable & shock free (unlike last year when Sean Penn triumphed over Mickey Rourke's amazing come-back performance in The Wrestler).

Better than the actual awards, is gawping at the gowns. Meryl Streep looked the proverbial million dollars in her gown designed by the flamboyant Chris March from Project Runway - she is on a winning style streak with this guy, as he designed her gorgeous Golden Globes look also.

There's too many to talk about really, so I'll bow down to the DM for their picture coverage of the event.

Anyway, am wrecked. Work tomorrow, boo hiss. I could get used to this mid-week lounge lizard lifestyle. Signing off while still vaguely compos mentis...

Just another (non)manic Sunday

Ah, Sunday night. The OH is preparing a prawn-based feast, and my weary soul is much looking forward to devouring it while watching the new series of 24. It's been a bit of a trashy day - much telly watching (My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding/Snog, Marry, Avoid), and lying in bed at daft hours due to my inability to sleep like a normal person at nighttime. Could've be something to do with the late night McD's sitting in my tummy though...

It's not all mindless TV though - I've 3 books on the go at present. 'Seven Troop' by Andy McNab, 'Notes of a Dirty old Man' by Charles Bukowski, and 'The Long Walk' by Stephen King. All extremely different tales & styles of writing, but I'm loving them all. If only I had but an ounce of their talent, or as in McNab's case, a wildly dramatic personal life & a good ghostwriter! No more 9-5 for me, nosiree.

Ah, wretched cupcakes. I have been eating far too many of them lately, and need to go back to the gym before they wreck their havoc... this weeks offering (no photo, because I smushed it by accident) was from 'Cocoa Emporium' in Afflecks Palace. Nice flavour, sponge was a bit heavy though. I'll definitely be up for trying one of their 'Jammy Dodger' offerings though next time, inventive!

Off to check ebay. There's a stuffed squirrel on a motorbike I've got my beady (& demented) sights upon...

London's calling...

I never seem to be able to catch up on sleep at the weekends these days, which means I am forever accruing a massive sleep debt that can never be fulfilled... I am so, so very tired.
However, I am at least glad that the tiredness is the result of living a rather good life!

Saw 'The Mode' again last weekend, in grand Londinium. Was one of the best concerts I've ever seen - the Basildon trio were greeted with rapturous applause, and an all-singing/dancing audience! Even from the 'gods' seats, the atmosphere was electric, the sound quality superb.
I do love London, but couldn't live there. There's just too many people, too many sights & sounds competing with one another... not to mention the expense! I'd be bankrupt eating designer cupcakes everyday! Speaking of which, these little mini beauties from 'Lola's' were to die for...

Had a Greggs vegetable pasty for my lunch, can feel it just sitting in my stomach... all the starch & fat combining together to form a sleep inducing& brain sapping affect on my knackered mind!
It was dead good though. Like a giant samosa.

And on that note... I think my brain needs a rest.

Roses are red...

Have had a rather brill couple of weeks, so it is a shame I didn't keep a better record of them... am feeling a bit 'done in' though today, even after essentially doing nothing but sit around & eat & drink last night. Actually, probably because I did nothing but sit around & eat & drink last night.... My stomach is most definitely protesting at this today. It was worth it though :)

In the name of Valentines, myself & the OH ate jerk chicken, gourmet cupcakes, drank Cava & watched Ross Kemp on Gangs. Not typically romantic perhaps, but that's how we roll...

I got the most amazing painting as a pressie. A cat as Van Gough! Again, not typically romantic perhaps, but he fits in with the general madness of the flat & it's occupants. I love it!

Not only is today an over-commercialised excuse for gift giving, it's also Chinese New Year! The year of the Tiger I do believe. A quick google shows that I was born in the year of the Ox. Apparently 1985'ers are eccentric, and bigoted and anger easily. However we are also generally easy-going and eloquent. I think it's safe to assume that many of us 'Ox-ers' will suffer from schizophrenia.

I am off to imbibe some peppermint tea, and recline on the sofa. Hopefully I will not fall asleep. Nothing says 'Happy Valentines' like your partner coming home to find you lying on top of important Uni work, drooling on the cushions, black eyeliner smudged halfway across your face...

Redrum... redrum...

The usual Sunday post didn't happen this week, due to the fact that I felt as sick as the proverbial dog. Ingesting around 39489023 units of alcohol, often in the form of ludicrously coloured & titled shots will do that to a gal. Following it up with raucous dancing at Jillys did not help matters I'm sure. Not that I'm proud of my behaviour, but it provided a nice balance for the civilised start to my weekend!

I have been allocated my OU tutorial group with 2 very prolific writers, who have bursts of inspiration at 1.30am & then share their efforts with the rest of us. This however, is rather intimidating.
At 1.30am I am comatose, dreaming the dreamless sleep of someone who pretty darn exhausted... not great for creating literary inspiration.

Anyway. I baked. They were darn good, if I may say so myself.

It's a black celebration tonight

Well, the whole people-watching-in-Starbucks-for-inspiration-thing turned out a bit less innocuous than it first sounded. It was more of a trying-to-read-the-guardian-while-pointedly-NOT-watching-the-couple-one-meter-away-eating-the-faces-off-one-another-thing.
I could probably have been put on the sex offender register for looking at them for a prolonged period of time. 14 year old emo children, writhing around in an unbecoming fashion on one of the comfy chairs - it was a blur of poker straight hair & smudged eyeliner, hard to tell where one ended and the other began, nevermind what gender they were.

It does sadden me though that there seem to be less 'alternative' folk around the place these days, even the much maligned emo kids are becoming an endangered species. I was reading on facebook that Jilly's (a Manchester alternative institution) shut it's goth night awhile ago, and apparently it's Saturday night goth/80s room may also soon be spinning it's last disc.
Is it the final nail in the coffin for goths? (excure the pun).

I associate rather strongly with the goth subculture - the music, the literature, the art (the moping) - I would be very saddened to see it disentegrate. Oh, and of course I couldn't resist a picture of Dracula. The ORIGINAL goth!

We can't stop here, this is bat country

The 'Creative Writing' course is proving trickier than I envisaged. It is very challenging to come home after a day at work surrounded by people& all their life problems, and have the mental energy to think up an intriguing character, or well-crafted simile.. not to mention putting the whole lot together.

I have sat for the past hour trying to write a 500 word piece "in the voice of a character telling a story either about him/herself or another person." On first read I thought "hmm, sounds easy - lots of scope.." The optimistic "lots of scope" has now became too much goddamn scope!

If only I could engage in some drunken& mind-altering escapades at the weekend, & experience a 'Fear and Loathing' style day or two of madness, full of interesting, inspiring and hopefully insane characters... I will probably just have to make do with people watching in Starbucks.

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy

I have had the laziest day known to man, or indeed woman, and I am absolutely aghast that it has sailed in so quickly. In this time in... oh, 14 hours say, I'll be tapping away at the work computer, needless to say it'll be at nothing as self-indulgent or relaxing as a blog!

I have played Warcraft (for too long), sat on my OU course forums (for too long) and read trivial articles that in no way improve my life (for waayyy too long - and at the expense of reading fascinating & mind enhancing books, argh!)

Productive activities? Well. I had meant to bake : this didn't occur. Ditto with hair dying (it takes a lot of time to keep up this unnatural shade of red!)

The carpets however are hovered, and the sinks cleaned. That's something, right? If I died this second, at least it will be in the knowledge that I left behind me clean worksurfaces...

I used to think of Sundays as a blah type of day - Saturdays are where all the fun is at. In fact, yesterday was mostly bloomin' brilliant! My bank account was full from Fridays payday, I raided 'Paperchase', bought a vintage dress, went out for dinner, went out for drinks... but I digress.

Really though, as unproductive as it was, I don't know if I'd change today. I have had plenty of 'me' time, & don't actually feel my stomach churning with dread as I contemplate Monday morning.

Next Sunday though... I will have chocolate brownies at the end of it, and shiny, newly dyed hair. Oh yes.

“Some people never go crazy, What truly horrible lives they must live”

Well, I'm happy to report that my 6 day headache seems to have abated. I can spend my evenings actually doing normal things again, and not lying for hours in a darkened room as soon as I get home from work. 'Normal things' for me isn't that much more active than lying in a darkened room, but it's a start!

Strangely, the only time I got real relief from the pounding pain was during an impomptu pub crawl on Sunday evening... perhaps my body is trying to tell me something? Maybe I am meant to live a Bukowski-esque lifestyle - downing beers, fighting with people, flitting from one mundane job to the next.. doesn't sound too awful really! Of course the difference between Bukowski & a park bench tramp is astounding writing talent, I don't think I would be able to master that distinction myself.

Trying to tell the difference between a lemon & a lime

Another Sunday post - you'd think I was never on the computer during the week, which is sadly very, very untrue.

I have been spending so much time on the wretched box that it is probably the cause of my deteriorating eyesight, my flat is becoming a graveyard for my out-of-date prescription glasses! Give it another couple of years of retina abuse, and I'll be the cliché to the left...

My "to-do" list for 2010 is slowly becoming bigger, as I add ever more ambitions & hopes... which actually makes the whole darn motivation thing a lot harder. I look at the list and think "GAHH, how shall I ever squeeze all that in!", and then I go back to Warcraft. At least soon I can tick off the 'reach level 20' milestone, if nothing else.

Have signed up to do my first OU course, which starts in Feb, and will hopefully put my writing 'skills' to their use, looking forward to trying my hand at something new... and hey, if I complete the course, there's another accomplishment to tick off the list!

Must dash & get ready, heading out to meet the OH for a spot of gaming, eating & possibly to imbibe some alcoholic drinks, who knows! The magpies to the right remind me of he & I, prancing along smugly...

No business like snow business...

Ok, I am more than ready for the snow to go away now, pretty please. I have narrowly avoided landing on my posterior more times than I can count, my car battery has died due to the cold, I am bored of wearing ugly, sensible trainers, and I have seriously dented my flexi-time at work due to the non-arrival of buses. I am not a penguin, and am not suited for this climate!

My day at work on Friday was actually so horrendous that I look back now and it feels like a bad dream... After a 20 minute walk & 2 buses, I finally arrive at the office. I then find there is no manager. Manager eventually arrives, but with no keys. Off goes manager for 40 minutes to another office to find keys. Meanwhile, self & a wonderful, elderly volunteer wait outside, the minus 7 temperature making the wait excrutiating!

Upon finally entering the bueau, we discover there is no running water, and no heaters. This means no toilet, no cup of tea... & it was in these conditions I had to work for nearly 3 hours solid, as by this stage there was a queque of clients at the door!

Anyway. My awful Friday morning certainly made me appreciate the rest of my weekend. I have been seriously recharged & generally just enjoyed myself! Was a quiet one, snow isn't exactly condusive to faraway journeys and nights out! Got a bit tipsy with the other half on Friday, had a jaunt around town on Saturday, did some cooking, re-dyed my hair, gamed (rather a lot), read the latest Margaret Atwood book, rearranged the flat...nothing 'exciting', but very enjoyable to me :)

Anyway, its treat time - off to finish munching my danish & slurping down my tea!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Having a 'snow day' today, as work is cancelled! I'm not out building a snowman though, the ice is too much for me - would rather be indoors and smug :) Just looking out at my car in the carpark makes me eeever so happy not to be out & about driving today!

Have started an epic 'To Do' list now for 2010...13 things on it and counting! One of which is to start my 'Dormouse' blog, which is being hampered due to the loss of Photoshop on this computer - I want to do it right, which means making some nice graphics!

The other half is currently studying on the sofa - Unis are off too. I am listening to some factual radio programmes on the BBC Iplayer, to prepare me for applying for some interesting internships... may venture out soon though for some Carribean take-away goodness, it'll be worth skidding across the treacherous pavement!

Leaving the noughties.

Well, I'm back in Manchester now after my lovely Christmas break - it is now a new decade since I last wrote!
My New Year started with a very nasty cold, so 2010 can only go up in estimation for me.

I'd love this year to be one where I finally feel 'settled' career-wise. I'm always daydreaming about all the different jobs I could be doing, or different courses I could be studying... I need to just take a step in a new direction, rather than just thinking "what if?"

Ideally I'd really like to go back & study, as University wasn't the most pleasant of experiences for me first time around. The decision of what to actually study is the hard one though... is it best to go for something that sounds hugely interesting, but with few vocational ties, or something less interesting that gives a better guarantee of a career at the end? It would be a nightmare for me to take years out to study & still end up unsatisfied in my career, or no further up the payscale.

This post is already going deeper into my mindset that I intended this blog to go, so I'll get back to vague fripperies as per usual!
Did some amazing baking whilst at home, Delia's chocolate yule log was a biiig success! Will have to do more culinary experiments in the New Year, I only wish that the other half had a sweet tooth...

Have just looked out my window & have seen a rather thick layer of snow on the already treacherous ground. I think I'm in grave need of an escape from the icy reality I'll have to face up to when heading to work tomorrow... seeing that I have now went 2 weeks without Warcraft. I think that this must be rectified, immediately.