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.