Hoots Mon!

5 Things About Last Night's Doves Gig

1. I really like Doves. In fact they are one of my favourite bands, so I was very excited to be seeing them at the Brixton Academy last night, with my lovely boyfriend Alex. They played a solid set of stuff from all three albums, but it just lacked something. There was no real connection or excitement. Pleasant enough, and they played well, but not very gripping.

2. We were sitting in the circle and in front of us there were three rows of seats reserved for 'EMI'. Now, I have nothing against perks, as anyone who knows me will understand, BUT, half of these seats stayed empty, those people who did turn up arrived half way through the second song of the set, and then they all kept getting UP and DOWN the whole way through the show and were just generally very annoying. I mean, REALLY!

3. Doves were supported by The Magic Numbers, who Alex thought were fab. They were all very hairy (including the women) and had a love of xylophones, and were actually really good in a sort of folky, country rock sort of a way.

4. The lights were purrrty.

5. When we got back to my flat we disturbed a wee mouse scampering across my worktop. Cute they may be, but they must go. Am going out to buy sonic deterrent thingy today in the hope that I can get rid of them without resorting to slaughter.

Dirrty

5 Things On My Mind This Morning

1. I am getting a cold. Slept very badly in an unmade bed (shocking!), and have totally failed to get rid of sneezes as a result. Surprise, surprise. Am thoroughly annoying Steph and Leigh who sit next to me at work, as they are bored of saying bless you.

2. Last night my dreams largely revolved around the music of Christina Aguilera. At one point I was definitely running down a street in pink pyjamas to the strains of Genie In A Bottle. It seemed right at the time, somehow.

3. I'm looking forward to going to see Doves tonight at Brixton Academy. I love living so close to such a cool music venue. It's making me very lazy though, as I only ever check who's playing there and rarely bother going anywhere else.

4. Work is incredibly busy at the moment. We have a big new product launch tomorrow and there is a big pile of stuff still to be done. I really shouldn't be blogging now, but I'm just having my cup of tea and gathering strength for the day ahead. Desperate for a holiday but no cash. Boo.

5. My shelves are still up, even though they have books on them and everything. Very proud. I am a DIY genius! If I can't go on exotic mini-breaks at least I can paint stuff.

Virtue & Sin

5 Things About My Easter Weekend

1. It started badly. Having promised myself I would be productive and do sensible things on Friday, all I wanted to do was go out in the sunshine and spend my pay. I ended up neither productive or enjoying myself and spent the whole day on the sofa watching Buffy and half-heartedly sanding bits of wood for the shelves I've been meaning to put up for months.

2. It got better. Saturday saw me full of energy and trying to make up for lost time. By the time I headed off to catch the train up to Cambridgeshire to see Alex's parents, I had bought Easter eggs for everyone, flowers for Alex's mum, sawn all the wood to size, drilled holes, painted wood and was general feeling very pleased with myself.

3. I spent Easter Sunday in the country doing the girlfriend thing. Church in the morning, which was wierd, as I haven't been for years, and I think I was the only person in the whole church who didn't go up for Communion. Felt a bit silly, but I got to see Alex in a dress (he was singing).

4. I broke my lent caffeine abstinence on Easter Day with four cups of tea, three cups of coffee and a huge amount of chocolate, including fab 7 Seven Deadly Sins chocs from Alex, each of which came in its own little box. I still have a Lust and a Gluttony to go (the best two, I thought).

5. Coming back to London today, determined to make good on my bank holiday promise, I first lunched with Emma, which was very chilled out and lovely, and then came back to the flat and PUT UP MY SHELVES. Well, half of them anyway. Am exhausted, achy, blistered and covered in bits of paint and bruises, but feeling all smug as I have three lovely shelves looking at me from across the room. Can I go to bed now?

Men in Skirts

5 Things I saw since Friday:

1. On Friday evening I went to a seminar on music psychology at the Dana Centre. This was sort of for work, and it involved a very Californian "doctor of pleasure" leaping around saying things like "I want you all to close your eyes and think about how this piece of music makes you feel. Isn't that fabulous?" It was rather amusing.

2. Sunshine! Did you see it? Wasn't it brilliant? I went for a long walk and bought new sunglasses.

3. I went to seen my cousin Alice playing her cello on Saturday evening. She was fantastic, and played a long Bach piece entirely from memory! Amazing! There was also a rather good counter-tenor who Alex thought was marvellous. There was also a rather exciting bit of news, that my cousin Matt & his girlfriend have just become engaged. Hooray for weddings. Am v pleased for them as she is lovely.

4. As I was walking to tube this morning I reaslied that I was walking behind a big bald bearded black man. Wearing a long green flowing skirt. It was an unusual look, and one which I hope to see more of.

5. I've just come back from the Ideal Home Show, which I also went to for work (honest!). Was being very restrained until I saw the Tiffany lamp stall. My credit card is now the proud owner of a green & cream New York style Tiffany lamp for £45! Bargain!

The Blog is Back.

5 Things about my new blog:

1. This blog should be called 'Pink Hat - The Revenge', but during my time out of blogdom, someone has STOLEN the Pink Hat name. Yes, it's true. I was devasted, but I'm coping with it. I shall keep a close eye on her in case she falls behind and loses vigilance. Then I shall take back the name of Pink Hat in a bloodless coup!

2. This all-new Blog is called '5 Things'. That means that each time I post an entry it will be 5 Things about whatever I'm writing about. Geddit?

3. I'm out of practice at blogging, which means that I may take me a little while to get back up to the standard I had attained at the height of Pink Hat.

4. I have Dylan to thank for the 5 Things format. Thank you Dylan.

5. Even though this blog is not called Pink Hat, it is still PINK!