5 Things

Stuck On A Boat For Five Days Blues

2007-04-22T23:54:00.000Z

Oh I wanted to sail the ocean, sail the ocean wide and blue,
Yes, I wanted to say the ocean, so big and wide and blue,
So I climbed on Puerto Eden, with a coupla´ hundred tourists, some sheep, some cows and you.

We sailed a little further, a little further every day,
Yes, we sailed a little further, oh a little further on our way,
Eating pork chops, rice and salmon, but those cows, well they only got hay.

They said we´d get there Monday, yes on Monday get to port,
Oh well, they said we´d get there Monday, Monday we´d arrive at port,
But so far this boat, baby, is taking longer than it ought.

CHORUS
´Cause I´m stuck on a boat baby,
And there´s nothing left to lose,
I got the stuck on a boat for five days blues.

Oh, I´m going a little crazy, is it something in the air?
Well, I´m going a little crazy baby, maybe it´s something in the air.
Or I could be going crazy, ´cause they keep playing Chumbawumba and Cher.

Well, I´ve been trying to learn some Spanish, all I can hear is that wind blow,
Oh, I said I´ve tried to learn some Spanish, I can just hear that old wind blow,
So all I´ve learned to say, baby, is how to echarse un pedo.

CHORUS
´Cause I´m stuck on a boat baby,
And there´s water in my shoes,
I got the stuck on a boat for five days blues.

Well, the boat shook left and right, but I´m sure glad we didn´t drown,
Oh the boat shook right to left baby, I guess I´m glad we didn´t drown,
But my cabin-mate Karim, well he couldn´t keep his dinner down.

CHORUS
´Cause he´s stuck on a boat baby,
And I´m telling you the news,
He got the stuck on a boat for five days blues.

Oh all around is water, and all we do is eat and sleep,
Yes, all I can see is water, and for five days all I´ve done is sleep,
But I´ll tell you something baby, I´m sure glad I ain´t one of those damn sheep.

CHORUS
´Cause they all stuck on a boat baby,
And they don´t think this is much of a cruise,
They got the stuck on a boat for five days blues.
Oh yeah.

Guest Columnist Richard Donnelly shares his enlightened view of the world...

2007-04-09T23:47:00.000Z

Ladyboys. What do I know about ladyboys? Well, in my experience, once you´ve been accosted by one of ´em you ain´t likely to be keen on meeting too many more of ´em. So as soon as I saw just how tall our young Rebecca was I thought to myself, Tricky old chap, alarm bells are ringing! And for good reason too I may add. You see back in the days when I was a younger man wandering the outskirts of Singapore´s lesser known streets, a tall girl approached me (with a very similar height to our Rebecca, you´ll note) and grabbed yours truly by the short ´n curlys and gruffly promised, "I´ll give you good service!"

Well, as a young innocent abroad in those days it shook me to the quick, I can tell you. So since then I´ve learnt to look out for adams apples, facial hair and feet sizes! But with all ladyboys apparently it´s the height that gives ´em away - so as soon as our Rebecca stood up, old Richie had his guard up, and started checking out the size of her hands...

But whilst Tricky was thinking this one´s gonna be trouble, there´s our Jonty Rhodes asking her out for drinks in the bar. Well, if we had known then what we know now, would we have headed into the bar that infamous Friday night? Hindsight´s a lovely thing, you know, when you´ve got it but no matter how old you become there´s always one that gets through the safety net - as our poor Jonty has found out. Cos let´s face it dear blog reader, she´s not slow on the old uptake, is she now? Quizzing on left right ´n centre, she was in that bar. About the old yacht, where I´m from and how much money I´ve got or haven´t got more likely! Ordering litre bottle of beer one after t´other and coming out with jokes quicker than Mike Reid himself! So after we discovered that all was well in the ladyboy department (Rebecca does not own an adam´s apple), we got down to introducing ourselves which I suppose is what I should be doing now:

Name: Tricky Dicky
Address: Essex boy, that´s all you need to know, alright?
Age: 32, Scorpio (that´s what I tell the ladies anyway, sends ´em wild, tho´ they soon discover the truth!)
Height: Same as a ladyboy
Occupation: Gentleman Adventure Traveller on the "You Only Live Twice Tour 2-007" with the legendary Lord Jonty Rhodes

The point of this blog entry? Well, it´s worth noting down a few things about Old Lady Barrett, as she is affectionately known by her travelling companions. It´s also worth noting her affection for what is known as the old Cuba Libre. Bleedin ´ell, can that bird put a drink down her. Puts both me and the Lord Rhodes under the table in quick time, I can tell ya.

Only the other night we was out in some Argy bar samplin´ the locals´ partyin´. Pedros everywhere there was (Pedro: our slang for an´ Argentine bird or geezer), all of ´em singing away whilst our Old Lady B is ordering yet another Cuba Libre. There must ave been about ´alf a dozen of ´em celebrating a birthday. Either way there was some kind of raucous fiesta going on and then all-of-a-sudden one of ´em starts adancing with old Tricky ´ere. And shall we just say she weren´t on the small side neither. And these birds don´t just dance, not like me Romford lovelies anyway. No, these sorts like a bit of a wiggle and a twirl around. Before I know it, there´s Old Lady B clappin´ away encouragin´ this old thing to dance the wot-ya-call-it with me, all the others jeerin´ and a cheerin´ and this bird pushin er u-know-what into mine and me thinking well this is fine ´n dandy ain´t it, I´ve only gone and pulled a bleedin´ 45 year old local argy! One of ´er mates barges past Old Lady B (who, Cuba Libre in hand it must be added, is still encouraging these birds to dance with me) and comes up to me pointing to its mouth, indicating I should be kissing my new found woman-friend. Oh my gawd thinks I, can this get any worse?

How d´ya get out of this one, eh Tric? Well there´s nuthin´ else for it in these rummy siutuations but to run. Bein a bit sharp on me toes when it comes to leggin´ it from the birds, thankfully I knew just what to do. Tight spaces is the trick, you see. Cos they ain´t gonna follow ya thru a space they ´ave half a chance of gettin´ stuck in. So there I am runnin´ ´n squeezin´ between people ´n tables just trying to get to the other side. Minutes later Lord Rhodes and Old Lady B find me, expressing surpise that I didnt pull her. Jeesus Christ thinks I, if that´s the type I should be goin´ for then my old eyesight is getting worse than I thought - maybe I should be joining our Old Lady on the Cuba Libres...

The End

2007-02-21T22:12:00.000Z

5 Things About 5 Things

1. It´s no good. I can be constrained by the rigid dictates of ´5 Things´ no longer. I must break free and express my literary creativity without restriction. Henceforth, my musings can be found upon another site, ´Viva Loca´, named in honour of my current expedition to Latin America. For my loyal and adoring readers who have followed me to this point, despite the rarity with which I add anything new to this site, I now direct you to vivaloca.blogspot.com.
Enjoy. x

Feeling Jaded

2007-01-21T10:10:00.000Z

5 Things About Jade Goody

1. Jade [dʒeɪd] n 2. Derogatory or facetious a woman considered to be ill-tempered or disreputable. (Times English Dictionary)
2, 3, 4 and 5. I don't think that needs anything else, does it?

Hurrah!

2006-12-06T14:36:00.000Z

5 Things About Which I Am Pleased
1. Just before lunch I was offered another week's work at the agency I am freelancing for at the moment (yes, that's right, no longer unemployed). Wasn't looking forward to being off work for the fortnight before Christmas! Everyone is very nice here, and even though the office is a portacabin, they have decorated it with a giant Christmas tree and frequent rounds of mince pies.

2. I have just offset my estimated carbon emissions on my flight to South America (which I'm definitely going to buy before Christmas) by investing in a renewable energy fund and tree-planting scheme. Find out how here: http://www.carbonresponsible.com/

3. Last night I finished painting my living room, returned all the furniture to its original positions and realised how lovely it is looking. It will be so nice to have a relaxing evening when I don't have to pick up my paintbrush.

4. I have arranged to have lunch with Yak, Phil and their rapidly expanding bump next weekend.

5. This morning I realised that I have almost finished my Christmas shopping. HOW organised is that? I am in shock. But v. v. pleased.

Santa Baby

2006-12-01T19:56:00.000Z

I seem to have started a trend, so here are five thing-types I wouldn't mind for Xmas. I don't want all this, it's just for inspiration.

Food
Chocolates
Things with almonds in them
Cheese-flavoured things
Panettone, maybe with chocolate and almonds, but definitely not cheese.

Clothes & jewellery
Comfy, pretty pants. Size 14.
Dangly earrings, but not too huge
Secure, pretty hair clips and fabric headbands

Books
Books about South America
Spanish language-books (note use of hyphen)
Novels (no chick-lit), particularly set in South America, Heian Japan or China

For the travels
A digital music player with a huge memory
A new mobile phone that I can also use in Argentina
Memory cards for my camera

Music
Fratellis – Costello Music
Akira the Don – When We Were Young
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Razorlight – Razorlight
Ripple – I Don’t Know What It Is But It Sure Is Funky
Muse – Origin of Symmetry
Scissor Sisters – Ta-dah
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
Red Hot Chili Peppers back catalogue
Dirty Pretty Things – Waterloo To Anywhere

Lady of Leisure

2006-10-13T20:26:00.000Z

5 Things About Being Unemployed

1. The Reason.
Friday was my last day at Music Choice. Ever. Amazing to say that after almost seven years. I recently decided that it was time to move on, and then, half way through my three-month notice period I had a brainwave, like a neon sign flashing so close to my face that I hadn’t spotted it. Don’t get a new job – go to South America instead! Well, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, and I’m now planning on heading off in a couple of months, or as soon as I buy my ticket, let my flat and generally do all the organisation that is required. In the meantime, and until I can sort some temp work, I am unemployed.

2. Not alone.
Lizzie and Podmeister came to meet me on my last day to congratulate me on joining their club. Of course, our circumstances aren’t quite the same, but we nonetheless nicknamed ourselves “Les trois sans emploi”. It sounds more glamorous, somehow, in French. Since then I have realised that I have one more cousin, one ex and several million friends who are also in ‘alternative’ states of employment. Which made me feel better about the whole thing. Temporarily.

3. Feeling strange.
I am struggling a little. Not panicking about the mortgage just yet, but I’m finding the total lack of structure quite hard to deal with. The idea when I get up in the morning that no one else is making any demands on my time, and it’s all entirely up to me. Amazingly, I’ve been up at 8.30 every day, and not slept in until 12, but I do spend quite a lot of time worrying that I really ought to be focussing on something else. Typical Virgo trait possibly?

4. What now?
I am looking for work. This week I’ve been focussing on things that are relevant to my experience and I’ve been harassing the PR and marketing agencies for something. Lots of ‘conversations’ have been happening, but no joy as yet. However, I do have a meeting at Weber Shandwick next week, and I might have my first freelance copywriting commission, which is great news if it works out.

5. Killing Time
I've spent this week drinking a lot, basically (she writes, with glass of red lurking temptingly inches away).

I’ve decided that, no matter how many important productive things I have to do (like painting the living room, applying for jobs and booking a flight – some of which I have done), I ought to get out of the house to meet someone at least once a day otherwise I will go insane. So far this week I have:
Enjoyed a very chilled out afternoon and two bottles of rose with Princess Em. We fell asleep on the sofa watching The Princess Bride; then I cut her hair and gave her a whole new look.
My very good friend Mattyo stopped in London on Tuesday evening en route to Norway. He came round for some M&S lasagne and a bottle of red. We realised we have been friends for nearly twenty years. Scary thought, that.
Cousin Izzer took me to lunch on Wednesday. Lovely lady. We had great chats about behaviourism, cyborgs and whether or not I am a slapper (we agreed definitely not).
Yesterday Paul took me for a gorgeous dinner at The Upstairs Bar and then came back here for MORE wine.
Today, I was supposed to be having lunch with Andrew, but surprise, surprise, he changed his plans and still hasn't let me know whether he's coming over. Chuh. Why do I bother?

Right, time to drink some more red wine and decide whether I am officially allowed the rest of Friday evening off from worrying.

Princess Em

2006-09-27T16:51:00.002Z

IMG_1166
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

5 Things About Emma

1. She is very funny and clever and makes me laugh at loud at my desk so that people look at me and wonder if I am mad.

2. She is very generous and does things like take me to see Madonna for my birthday. Hooray for Madge!

3. She is very thoughtful and sweet, and sent me a thank you card after our weekend in Brighton (I don't think I sent her one after Madonna, for example).

4. Daily Mail readers would disapprove of her ability to flagrantly enjoy life at every opportunity.

5. She always tells me off when I don't update my blog.

Sweets For My Sweet

2006-08-20T20:25:00.000Z

5 Things About Sugar

A prominent ingredient of my weekend, in different forms.

Baklava I
I had a strangely pleasant hour in Camberwell yesterday, while I was waiting for my car to be MOT’d. I didn’t expect to enjoy wandering the streets of SE5, particularly after a random Nigerian called Chris insisted on accompanying me. He was actually very nice, and we talked about London and travelling, and he didn’t get upset when I refused to give him my phone number. After he’d departed on a bus to Lewisham, I discovered a food market on Camberwell Green where they were so desperate for customers that they insisted I try their baklava, olives, bread, and feta cheese even though I protested that I only had £4. I bought a stack of sticky sweet baklava, with the intention of taking it to cousin Izzy’s on Sunday for lunch.

I had eaten most of it by 6pm.

Black Sambucca
Last night was Andy Young’s (ssshhh) 30th birthday party at Cargo. I love the way Andy so effortlessly mixes his friends and colleagues, so that there were very few people there that I didn’t know. Social cross-pollination; it made for a great evening. At 3am, after two ciders, a glass of champagne, five vodka tonics and a black sambucca, we drunkenly piled a cab back to south London. The driver stopped at a 24-hour garage and bought us each a bottle of water. My saviour.

Baklava II
I didn’t have any food in the house when I crawled out of bed at 11am this morning. Instead of trekking the, oooh, fifty yards over the road to the Costcutter, I ate the last of the baklava for breakfast while watching old episodes of Sex and the City. Isn’t that disgusting? The sugar set my teeth on edge, but I couldn’t help myself.

Fondue
Cousin-tastic in Hither Green. Izzy and Jon hosted and Tom, Ruth, Alice and JohnB were all there. Lovely Andyroo came along as well. As usual, the food was delicious and abundant. After home-made pizzas, potato salad, olives, cheese and biscuits we ate:
Mini-muffins
Chocolate brownie bites
Pink wafer biscuits
Green & Black’s dark chocolate with ginger fondue with:
Marshmallows
Cherries
Sugar shrimps
Pineapple
Grapes
Jelly beans

I have realised that the reason so many cousin affairs disintegrate into giggling silliness after a couple of hours is not that we all share an infantile sense of humour, but that we consume so much sugar we are all high.

Need more evidence? After lunch we all played a game where we had to think of a cheese that started with every letter of the alphabet and Izzy sang a song about making her neighbour’s dog eat superglue.

Overdose...
Ruth gave me some nougat that she bought for me in Italy. I wonder if I might just have a little bit now...

Hot Fun In The Summertime

2006-07-26T18:38:00.001Z

5 Things About Brick Lane in the Heatwave.

1. Our offices don’t have any air-conditioning. This is only not a problem when the resting temperature is about 18°. Our thermostat only goes up to 30 however, and it’s definitely hotter than that, so you see the issue. There’s a limit to how many clothes I can decently remove, but some of us in here are definitely pushing the boundaries of office-acceptibility. A friend said to me last night, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your tits out before. It’s a good look.“ Hmm… and I thought I was being so modest!

2. The Brick Lane beach is proving v popular, and there is now a bar and a smoothie stand, enticing people to relax on the sand in their lunch break and try and pretend they are in the Caribbean and not in a car park in east London. I’ve tried it a couple of times, but am fed up with having sand in between my toes all afternoon.

Beach at Brick Lane, Friday
Originally uploaded by blackbeltjones.

3. It encourages my friends to do silly things like try and recreate the now famous ‘Mentos and Diet Coke’ experiment in the park off Brick Lane.

4. It makes for a great excuse to eat loads of ice creams.

5. It makes the endless curry houses seem strangely unappealing. Despite what everyone says about how spicy food should be perfect for the summer, considering where it originates, I really have no desire to sit in a tiny restaurant with no aircon eating a Madras. There’s only so much sweating a girl can do and retain any modicum of elegance.

5 Things About ‘A Big Weekend For The Barretts’

2006-07-26T17:56:00.000Z

(In chronological order)

1. I jumped out of an aeroplane
(See previous post)
It was, without a doubt, one of the scariest things I have ever done (possibly with the exception of appearing on Sky News), but I am so pleased that I have done it. I think it’s important to do things sometimes that scare the bejesus out of you. It helps you know who you are and to remind yourself that you can really experience things, rather than keeping yourself in your comfort zone all the time. I’m not sure if I’d do it again, but at least I’ve done it once! And I have the DVD to prove it...

2. We enjoyed our annual trip to Stourhead Fete Champetre. This year’s theme was ‘An Evening With The Stars’, so Lizzie and I decided that the only thing to do was go as Paparazzi fodder / WAGS. It was really just an excuse to wear blonde wigs, but I think we carried it off rather well, don’t you?

Paris Plaza?
Originally uploaded by Becky.

Paris Regent Beverly Wilshire?
Originally uploaded by Becky.

3. Lizzie graduated!
My very clever sister, who I have always known was a genius, has finally had it officially confirmed. We had a lovely day, she graduated in a rainstorm (under a marquee, fortunately) and we went out to dinner at Charlton House to celebrate.

IMG_0996
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

4. Ma & Pa celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary on Sunday.
For a while we thought they might never get to this point, but they have, and if I’m thrilled about it, imagine how they must be feeling! They set off on Sunday afternoon for a romantic night at a posh hotel in an undisclosed location (that just means I can’t remember where it was). It is so wonderful to see them truly enjoying each other’s company again.

5. That’s actually it.
I had an annoyingly slow drive back to London, listening to Muse and Foo Fighters (heavy rock is the best driving music) and contemplating all the changes that have happened in the first half of this year and all that will be happening in the second half of it. I did say in January that this year would be all about new beginnings, and it’s turning out to be true, but not quite in the way that I would have thought. But then, if things always happened in the way that you predicted them, wouldn't life be boring?

Leap Of Faith

2006-07-26T17:19:00.000Z

5 Things About Jumping Out Of An Aeroplane
1. You have to wear a silly outfit...

Originally uploaded by Becky.

2. Your cameraman clings to the side of plane to watch you jump out...

Originally uploaded by Becky.

3. Falling is quite scary...

Originally uploaded by Becky.

4. This is what a cloud looks like from the inside...

Originally uploaded by Becky.

5. Oh, and it's what I did last Friday...

Originally uploaded by Becky.

Handy Andy

2006-05-28T18:04:00.000Z

5 Things I Have Achieved This Weekend

My dad has been visiting this weekend to help me with some DIY on my flat. I find it hard to get motivated on my own, plus, I'm just not that good at it! This is what we have done.

1. Made a new bookshelf. Well, dad actually made it, but I designed it! It's beautiful and is now hanging on the wall in my hallway accomodating all my paperback books. Hurrah!

2. I filled all the gaps in my newly re-fitted skirting boards. My flat is now 75% polyfiller.

3. Bought a desk. Perfect fit next to my fireplace from Greenwich market. It's v cool and am delighted that it isn't from Ikea.

4. I resisted chucking a brick through the window of Alex's car which I saw parked round the corner. It was tempting...

5. Through all this I have managed to nearly recover from a chest infection and cold which had me off sick for three days. I have been quite feeble and had to go for little lie downs quite often, but am definitely on the mend. Aitchoo!!!

On The Stereo

2006-05-19T16:45:00.000Z

5 Songs I Have Been Listening To This Week

Muse – Supermassive Black Hole

The Academy Is – Slow Down

Delays – Valentine

The Kooks – She Moves In Her Own Way

Panic! At The Disco – I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Charity Skydive Madness

2006-05-09T11:49:00.000Z

5 Things About My Tandem Skydive For Charity

1. I am leaping out of a plane on 15th July to raise money for the UK children's charity Childlife. You can sponsor me by visiting my fundraising page on Justgiving. www.justgiving.com/rebeccajumps. Childlife consists of four charities, which are:

2. Acorns care for life-limited children and support their families at our children’s hospices in Selly Oak, Birmingham, and Walsall, as well as through our community team who are on call around the clock for families in their own home.

3. The NDCS is the leading UK charity solely dedicated to supporting all deaf children, young deaf people, their parents, carers and professionals working on their behalf, through 110 local groups.

4. National Children’s Bureau (NCB) promotes the interests and well-being of all children and young people across every aspect of their lives.

5. The ataxias are rare neurological disorders which cause key nerve and muscle cells to die. Ataxia UK fund research into causes of ataxia and provide advice, information, grants and contracts to everyone affected by ataxia.

Life's Rich Tapestry

2006-04-22T14:01:00.000Z

5 Things I Have Learned This Week (in no particular order).

1. It's a really bad idea to go to work on your day off. That whole, "I'll leave as soon as I've finished this," thinking really doesn't work.

2. It's worth paying the extra £3 at Willie Smarts for a senior stylist to cut your hair. I forked out last time and had a gorgeous cut, but this time I plumped for the cheaper option and now look like Rod Stewart / Peter Stringfellow circa 1981.

3. It's a very good idea to follow the instructions on the can of inflatable filler which say 'Do not bring into contact with skin'. I really don't know how to get this off...

4. Exercise really does make you feel better! I actually managed to drag myself out of bed this week to go running and felt better all day than I have done in weeks. Who knew? (Don't answer that)

5. You really can't avoid wrinkles for ever. I have a brand new one. Strange to think, it'll be with me for the rest of my life!

Family Ties

2006-03-12T21:13:00.000Z

5 Things About A Weekend With The Folks

My mum AND dad came to see me this weekend (lovely). They wanted to do 'silly London things'. I'm not sure we achieved that entirely, but we did pretty well. This is what we managed (I forgot to take pictures).

1) I discovered (thanks to Shona and Urban Junkies) a gorgeous little bar and restaurant just over the road from my flat in Brixton. It seems to be a house that someone decided to turn into a hip eating place. The door is very inconspicious, and you have to ring a buzzer to get in. The first floor is a bar, and the second floor is the restaurant. There was a great atmosphere, lovely food and very sweet staff, one of whom we bumped into on Acre Lane the following morning, who was very smiley and pleased to see us.

2) We went to the Political Cartoon Society on Store Street on Saturday to see an exhibition called 'Misunderestimating The President' which was (in case you hadn't worked it out) cartoons inspired by George Bush's stupidity. It was funny, but also rather disturbing, as it was very angry and reminded us of just what an insane mentalist he really is.

3) On the way back from the Political Cartoon Gallery, we happened upon the centre for New London Architecture, which had a huge model of London, showing all the new buildings planned for London, including the ' Cheese Grater all the Olympic planning, the Battersea Powerstation developements. It was fascinating, although I was a little disappointed that the model didn't quite reach to my house.

4) Yesterday evening we went to see Richard Galliano at the Barbican. He is an accordian player, and did a series of Latin style jazz and tango pieces. It was very engrossing, and got huge cheers and standing ovations, although it did rather go. I've never heard a concertina used so vigorously before.

5) And finally, today, we went to Horniman's Museum, in Forest Hill. We picked up Izzy, and spent an intruiging few hours looking at skull bones of Australopithecus remains. Which I only know anything about as I just reached that bit of Bill Bryson which is where I get most of my scientific knowledge.

All in all, it was an educational weekend, whether new cultural experiences, new eating experiences, or models of Dodos. This afternoon, however, the three of us have eaten two pizzas, a bag of Kettle Chips, two bars of Green & Blacks, drunk four bottles of wine and watched two movies. Tomorrow I start work in Brick Lane and am just trying to summon the energy to sort myself out and have an early night. Does it count as an early night if I sleep on the sofa?

Tossers!

2006-02-28T23:33:00.001Z

5 Things About Kitchen Experiments

I have had many kitchen experiments in my time. Some involving 15 chillies and a severe case of stingy bottom, some involving permenant scarring as a result of the 'no hands cucumber' trick.

But the most recent involved myself, Charl, Shona, Cat and a large amount of pancake batter (and some actual pancakes, in the end).

As pictures speak louder than words, here are five pictures:

Does that look right?
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

Becks, it doesn't look right.
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

Chucked. Yuck.
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

Hoooraayy!!!
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

DELICIOUS
Originally uploaded by Becky Barrett.

Let The Music Play On

2006-02-23T22:06:00.000Z

5 Bands I'm Going To See Soon

Rather naughtily, as I'm a bit broke at the moment, I've gone on a mad ticket buying spree as there are so many great bands playing in London over the next few months. I haven't been able to bring myself to fork out for 50 quid a pop Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers tickets yet, but I am looking forward to going to see:

1. The Go! Team
The Go! Team are a bit mental. For some reason they sound to me as though they should be Japanese, but I don't think they are. Well, I will find out next week!

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are what I listen to when I'm feeling a bit rebellious and lyrics like, "I got a man who makes me wanna kill" seem like the right thing to listen to! Love seeing rock bands live, so this should be wicked.

3. Hard-Fi
I've been listening to Hard-Fi since last summer, and think they are one of the best rock-lite bands around at the moment (even if my boss calls them Chavvy). They've had loads of hype, so this should be great, and if I don't fancy it, I can always flog the tickets on Ebay.

4. Fall Out Boy
I've only heard one Fall Out Boy track, and it's cheesy teeny pop-rock, but for some reason it's my track of the month and I play it on repeat at work (usually through my headphones, otherwise Steph would throw things at me). Hope I still like them when it's time for the gig!

5. Editors
Possibly take themselves too seriously, and I've not heard great things about them live, but this is my favourite album of the moment, so I've got to take my chance to see them live.

I also want to see The Delays, Joseph Arthur, Ok Go, The Dead 60s, We Are Scientists, The Subways, Terry Callier and, of course, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters. I get paid on Tuesday - will I spend all my cash on nights out? Who needs food?

Who'd A Thought It

2006-02-20T16:49:00.000Z

5 Things I Wasn't Expecting This Weekend

1. I wasn't expecting not to lose at bowling

Stephanie organised a bowling night out to All Star Lanes in Holborn on Friday night. It's tres chic, with a great bar, only four bowling lanes and quite new shoes that not that many hundreds of people before you have worn. I did suck, but not quite as much as I expected. Today my right inside arm, right knee and left butt-cheek are aching just a little from the repeated bend and swing motion.

2. I wasn't expecting to be in St Thomas's A&E until 4am on Saturday morning

Unfortunately, our decision to go to a club after bowling ended in disaster when Hanna slipped in a splilled drink on the dancefloor and slashed her hand on the broken glass. I switched into bossy Virgo mode and had her swathed in paper towel with her hand up in the air within seconds, and someone ordered us a cab to the hospital. There was no way I was going to leave her alone in A&E on a Friday night. For one thing it was too interesting. The doctors were very nice when they finally saw her and said they appreciated seeing at least one person that night who wasn't drunk. She is in hospital today for a minor op on the nerves. Yuck!

3. I wasn't expecting someone to drive into the back of my car

Fortunately I wasn't in it and they did leave a note. Annoying, but it did make me realise one thing. Many people criticised my decision to get a Grey Toyota, but if I had bought a more desirable car then I'd probably be a LOT more upset about someone ramming the back of it.

4. I wasn't expecting to get woken up by foxes doing it outside my window

Indeed. Probably the less said about that the better.

5. I wasn't expecting to finally make a new post

I know! It's incredible. I think I've been so busy that I've had a really hard time narrowing anything down to just 5 things. Finally, I've had a weekend uneventful enough for me to break it down. The blog is back (again).

Tum Te Tum

2005-12-15T18:29:00.000Z

5 things that cheer me up at work

1 Chatting to my sister or Emma on IM (actually spoke to my dad on it this morning as well!)
2 Eating my very first mince pie of the season and listening to really loud music
3 6pm
4 Getting a travelogue email from Rob
5 Working very hard on an important project and getting the personal satisfaction of a job well done. *

*last ditch attempt not to sound like loafer who spends all her time at work emailing her friends. Right, must crack on. Crikey, is that the time?

Desperately Seeking Sarah

2005-12-14T16:31:00.000Z

5 Things About Long Lost People

Linda
I was in East Sussex over the weekend seeing various family members who I otherwise won’t get the chance to see over Xmas. Ma, Pa, aunt Bea & husband Neil, cousin Jacob and girlfriend Phil. Lovely to see them all and we all met up with a very old friend of my parents’, Linda.

She recently had some personal tragedy, and my parents, particularly my dad have been very supportive of her, which is how the friendship has become rekindled.

It turns out I haven’t seen Linda for 24 years and the last time we met I was a cute, blonde thing with chubby cheeks and fat thighs (hey, not everything changes!). She was lovely and bought us all lunch at her local pub and opened champagne for no particular reason. Which is always my favourite reason for drinking champagne.

Mattyo
Mattyo is one of my oldest friends. He and I went to secondary school together and, I think, went out for about half an hour once at a school disco when we were about 12 years old (I hid in the toilets for the whole time because I was scared). Somehow, we’ve just kept in touch, while I’ve moved to London and he’s been to various universities, studied in Spain, finally got that first he deserves and got a proper job. We communicate every couple of months and see each other barely once a year, but I somehow know we’ll never lose touch entirely. He emailed me last week and we’re going to meet up over Christmas. Hooray!

Sarah
Two years ago, my very good friend from school, Sarah, sent me a sweet Christmas card with her phone number in it saying how much she’d like to hear from me. I utterly failed to call her. I don’t know why, but every time I looked at the card stuck to the fridge I thought, “I must do that soon” until it just seemed far too late. This year I have finally overcome my guilt and embarrassment and yesterday I wrote her a short card apologising and suggesting I go and see her while I’m back in the country over Xmas. She was always a bit mad, very funny and the same height as me at the age of 13, which meant we could scare all the boys at school.

Ross
Ross is my oldest friend. Or he would be if we were still in touch. He and I went to playschool together and became good friends again as teenagers. We used to do things like drink cider on Eastbourne beach at 3am, nick flashing bollards then take them up to his room, turn all the lights off and listen to Soundgarden really loudly. Pretty cool, no? I’m sure his mum thought so, anyway.

We kept in contact for a few years, but sadly for the last five years or so we’ve completely dropped contact. I’m quite sad about this, but so far old email addresses and Friends Reunited have proved fruitless, so I may just have to accept it.

My sister
I haven’t spoken to her for, like, two whole days! Except for Instant Messenger, of course. Tsk.

They Say The Neon Lights Are Bright...

2005-12-07T11:27:00.000Z

5 Things About New York

Food

The Stage Deli on 7th
Originally uploaded by Becky.

When you’re somewhere as exciting as New York for less than three days, every moment is precious. It’s very easy to spend your time wondering if you’re doing the right thing. Perhaps you should be in the restaurant opposite or the next street along to get the full experience? So we were very pleased to have had great eating experiences! On Friday we encountered the Stage Deli, on 7th, a proper old Jewish New York deli, and somewhere renowned for its huge portions, even in NY. I had hot borscht followed by potato pancakes with apple-sauce and sour cream. And a giant gherkin. On Saturday we found Camaje, a tiny bistro in Greenwich Village, where the chef gave cookery classes, so the food was really excellent. And on Sunday, tired and not looking forward to getting up at 5am to catch our flight back to the UK, we found a great Italian place, opposite Carnegie Hall, where the waiter remembered my mum’s seven selection anti-pasti order without writing it down and my dad had the biggest slice of panettone I’ve ever seen.

Weather

Central Park in the Snow
Originally uploaded by Becky.

Cold and bright on Saturday, we were surprised and delighted to find on Sunday morning that everything was covered in a couple of inches of snow. We forewent the ferry trip to see the Statue of Liberty in the belief that we’d all freeze and miserable so instead went for a crisp walk through Central Park. It was beautiful and we were entertained by horses and carts, fat squirrels and small children experiencing their first snow-ball fights. I also got Ma with one in the back. Heh heh heh.

People
Lizzie’s NY guide book opens with a joke, “Q. How many courteous New Yorkers does it take to change a light-bulb? A. Both of them.” If it’s true that New Yorkers are rude, then we barely saw it (apart from one girl in the Guggenheim Museum, but the less said about her the better!) and everyone was chatty, polite and friendly. All of our waiters wanted to talk, the shop staff were friendly and we chatted to all sorts of people. This, for my non-stop family, was perfect. The rudest people I encountered, in fact, were two British women getting out of the lift at the hotel.

Sights

Times Square
Originally uploaded by Becky.

After being used to London and small villages in England, I was unprepared for the long, straight streets of New York. Looking left from our hotel we could see Central Park and right we could Times Square with it’s huge buildings stretching up out of my camera screen. Just walking around New York was a sensory overdose that regularly took my whelm-levels to tipping point!

To see the whole city we visited the Empire State Building on Sunday evening. This was a wise choice, as it was completely empty and, judging by the roped queue areas we cut across, it must take hours to get up there when it’s busy. The observation deck gave us stunning views of the sparkling city stretched out below us but the bitingly cold wind that meant we could only stand it for a minute and scurried into the gift shop to buy skyline mugs and cocktail glasses. I’ll never forget it though.

Shops

Bloomingdales
Originally uploaded by Becky.

I was a bad Christmas shopper. The main things I bought in New York were a pair of purple suede Camper boots and an old-style black and gold MTV t-shirt. Both for myself. Oops.

We planned to visit the famous stores. Our first was Macy’s, which we very quickly decided was just Debenhams on steroids and we hated it. There were queues for the escalators so we left after a few minutes.

Bloomingdales was more fun, including the restaurant, as was FAO Schwarz, where they had a fantastic selection of cool toys of the kind Aron loves, like Kid Robot and Ugly Dolls. We didn’t venture into Barneys, although we took pictures of the Charles and Camilla windows and spent a good half an hour in the Virgin Megastore and Toys R Us at Times Square.

It was such a short time to spend there that of course I’m going to feel like I didn’t get to do everything I wanted, but it was a wonderful gift and a fantastic taster that gives me enough knowledge to properly plan my next visit!

Pie in the Skye

2005-11-26T09:42:00.000Z

5 Things About Brick Lane

1. I've visited Brick Lane a few times recently, as it's Rob's favourite part of London. He does the tour guide thing very well, pointing out to me where Jack the Ripper killed his victims and so on!

2. On Thursday we went to see Skye (old Morcheeba singer) do her first solo gig at 93 Feet East. I left work late after talking to the security guard for 45 minutes (lovely chap, but boy, can he talk!) and having a quick drink with finance director Jeff and head of sales Andy. (On a side note, how do you respond when your finance director asks you how your date went? It was a challenge I faced on Friday morning.)

3. The gig was great, although, being Morcheeba's front woman for so long, it was hardly earth-shattering. The best bit was the encore which Skye performed by herself with nothing but an accoustic guitar. It was the only time when the entire audience was paying complete attention.

4. Afterwards we went to a weird little hippy cafe just off Brick Lane (which sold to-die-for chocolate caramel shortbread) where there were loud old-skool rave DJs and lots of people getting stoned.

5. Oh, I haven't got a fifth thing. Pointless post, but I've drunk too much red wine this evening. Hic.

Haiku

2005-11-23T14:24:00.000Z

5 Things About The Poetry Cafe

1. Last night I went to an open-mic poetry night in Covent Garden to hear my cousin George perform some of his works. Poetry is not my favourite artistic medium, but I am always happy to see people I love doing what they love. I'm also quite keen on listening to George say stuff. He has a beautiful voice and I never tire of hearing him. It could be a shopping list and I'd still listen raptly.

2. It actually was really cool! Possibly the four beers helped, but I found most of it entertaining, much of it interesting and very little of it dull or pretentious. There were 19 poets performing everything from odes to a greasy spoon cafe, love poems, political tirades and the obligatory awkward girl doing a piece about periods.

3. The Poetry Cafe is not at all as I expected. It's tiny and George, his friend Paul and I had to cram into a sofa about two foot away from the mic at the front. It was a very intimate setting though, which made you root for all the poets and feel like you probably knew them all from somewhere and ought to be nice.

4. George was definitely the most animated! He is an actor first and a writer second I think, and he leapt about, gesticulating and shouting. He was brilliant. I particularly liked his Fire in Soho poem which was completely different from everything else performed during the evening. I think George is hugely talented at expressing himself, even though I sometimes disagree with what he says, I find myself envious of his ability to put across a point. And I'm hardly inarticulate. Am I?

5. I particularly enjoyed a poem which was really an ode to words. It was clever and funny and made me think about my relationship with those strange little noises and shapes. I love words and realised what an unsual experience it was for me to be in a room full of people all of whom cared about words as much as I do. Quite exciting in a way (is that weird?) and it made me want to read and write more, hence two blog entries within one week! Whatever next?

Let's Go On With The Show!

2005-11-20T21:47:00.000Z

5 Things About Die Fledermaus

1. Last night was the final performance of the Southgate College Opera production of Die Fledermaus. We've been rehearsing since September - a very short rehearsal time - and had an almost sold-out three-night run in Potters Bar. The company actually made a profit - woohoo!

2. I had someone I knew in the audience every night, which was great, and really helps me enjoy it and do my best. Four-dates Robbie came along on Thursday with his 16 year-old brother (bless), Izzy, JP & Alice on Friday and Ma, Pa, Lizzie and Aron loyally drove up from Somerset yesterday and arrived on time, despite being messed around by the trains from Southgate.

3. The show is extremely silly, with one of the worst and most pointless plots, full of cross-dressing, mistaken identity and flirtatious behaviour. There was an extremely misguided bit added in in the third act with a female-impersonator dressed as a German jailer who, for reasons none of us could work out, crawled along the stage like a dog. Oh, so very wrong. The rest of the show managed to be quite funny and move along at a good pace.

4. I quite enjoy being props lady. I get to rush around organising everyone and very visibly working hard. It means I get to hang around by the wings during the show watching the principles do their solos, and it's a great way of avoiding the 'get out', the day after the final show where everyone goes along to tidy up the theatre. I just couldn't face going back up there today!

5. I really love getting dressed up and prancing about like a fool singing my head off. Despite this, I'm overjoyed it's over and I am not going to do the next production. It's hugely time-consuming (particularly with doing props as well) and is such a long way from home in Brixton! I don't know what I was thinking, joining a company in Southgate! The problem is, I don't want to join another group now because I like everyone and anyway, they might make me do an audition.

BANG! Ooooh!

2005-11-05T17:45:00.000Z

5 Things About Fireworks

1. I LOVE fireworks. They are one of the few things that can still make me feel like a kid (the other two are flying and Christmas). I can hear the bangs going off outside and I always find it exciting.

2. I was driving back from Somerset last night and there were fireworks going off all along the horizon of Salisbury Plain. It was tempting to stop at Stonehenge and try and have a 'moment' and, had it not been for the torrential rain I might have done!

3. I usually go and watch the fireworks on Clapham Common. I always make the mistake of thinking that I can meet up with people and try and call them when I get there. It never happens, so I usually end up watching them on my own! Who cares though? They are still great.

4. HOWEVER, I don't think I will manage it tonight. The Common fireworks were last night, and tonight the closest ones are Battersea. Then I have a party to go to in Brixton, and I'm really not sure I will get my act together in time.

5. Also, I would be too tempted to go out in my new knee-high brown boots, and then they'd just get muddy and I'd be upset. I think I'll stay in the warm and then go straight to the party!

Sick

2005-10-20T22:56:00.000Z

Five things about being off sick today

1. I think I brought it on myself. In the run up to the Run London 10k last Sunday (yes, I did it), I was saying "oh, I bet I'll get ill after the run!" So of course, I have. Last night I was out to dinner with a new boy and at about 9pm it suddenly landed on me and I had to dash home. By the time I got home I had full-on knives in the throat and hot and cold shakes. Boy probably thinks I just couldn't stand him.

2. I always feel guilty when I take the day off sick, even though I average about two days a year. I worry that I'm not really sick enough to justify a day at home, so I got work to have my laptop couriered to me so I could work from the sofa. I have barely moved all day.

3. After an entire day spent festering on the sofa it's impossible to tell whether you still feel ill or whether you just feel scuzzy. My neck and throat still hurt quite a lot, so I think it's at the very least a bit of both.

4. Being ill makes me want to burst into tears for no particular reason.

5. I'm sure it must be bed time, but I can't tell as I've slept for at least five hours today. It could be six.

Moments of Madness

2005-08-16T22:47:00.000Z

5 Things That Are New To Me

It's a bit hard to write a blog again after so long being useless. But here goes.

1. Windsurfing
Last Saturday I went windsurfing for the first time ever. Charl invited me, and after initially saying 'er.. alright then', I was completely terrified and convinced I'd hate it be awful. We went to Bray near Windsor and had an hour's instruction with a blond surfer-type dude. I LOVED it. It was so much fun, and I actually got the hang of it. It's my new hobby!

2. Running
As a result, I think, of windsurfing-high, I decided that I'd also like to do something else active so I registered to do the Nike 10k Run London in October. AM I INSANE? Well, possibly, but I have decided that the only way to make it right is to do it for charity, so I'm going to do it for Unicef. More details to follow!

3. Internet Dating
This now a few weeks old to me, but I think I've decided that I'm raaaather unimpressed with the whole thing. There are many many weirdos out there and I'm not enjoying being given hassle by a bunch of people I've never met. Perhaps it will be good for me to be single for a while!

4. My Car
Last week I collected my new car. I lurve it. It's not terribly exciting, seeing as it's a Toyota Corolla, but I wasn't after anything exciting. I am looking forward to driving places in it.

5. My tent
Off to V on Friday afternoon and staying in my brand new Argos tent. That's not very interesting, so I won't write any more. Byeeee!

Rosemary's Haircut

2005-07-25T10:47:00.000Z

5 Things About a True Friend

1. True friends are wonderful. They trust you. They trust you to cut their hair for them, instead of paying over the odds at a swanky salon.

2. True friends feed you delicious food and give you sparkles to drink on a Saturday evening in exchange for cutting their hair for them.

3. True friends even trust you to cut their hair after you've drunk half a bottle of Cava and you're watching Rosemary's Baby out of the corner of one eye.

4. True friends don't mind when you're supposed to be giving their hair a trim and you accidentally give them a bob instead.

5. True friends love their new look, and realise it's just hair and it will grow back, don't you Emma? Please say you do.

A Moment In Time

2005-07-21T16:50:00.000Z

5 Things I'm Doing Right Now (apart from writing my blog)

1. Watching Sky News report the new explosions on the tube, and wondering whether the world really has gone mad. www.skynews.co.uk

2. Listening to the soothing sounds of Martha Wainwright via the delights of Napster. www.marthawainwright.com

3. Wondering how a ladybird ended up on my stereo. It's a baby one, with only two dots crawling around among my CDs. I think I'll leave it there. www.ladybird.com

4. Hearing sirens whizz up and down the Clerkenwell Road. They can't help but make your heart jump at the moment. Every time.

5. Thinking I've probably eaten too much cake. Everything's an excuse for cake in my company. "More explosions! Let's have cake!" It's a philosophy I can truly appreciate.

Tales of the Unexpected

2005-07-19T10:20:00.000Z

5 Things That Took Me By Surprise

1. Last night I planned to have a nice relaxing evening in and an early night. But instead I went to a Thai restaurant in Soho and watched The Wedding Crashers on Tottenham Court Road. Emma will try and make out that it was all my fault.

2. It rained.

3. On the way home I made a blind man cry. I didn't mean to. It was nearly midnight and he got off a bus as I was walking up the road and started careening across the pavement without any indication that he knew what he was doing. Perhaps he was drunk? So I called out, "Are you alright there? Would you like any help?" He screamed and ran away.

4. When I arrived home I accidentally got a spider in my cleavage. I was trying to gently dispose of it out the bathroom window when it leapt across the room towards me and landed down my top. I kept very calm under the circumstances and only made mild panic noises.

5. I actually had a good night's sleep and awoke feeling refreshed. Kerrazy.

1..2..3.. PACHA!

2005-07-11T22:02:00.000Z

5 Things About Ibiza

1. It's where I have been for the last week on holiday! That's part of the reason that I haven't written for so long; I got a promotion just before I went, so it's all been work work work and then holiday holiday holiday. Lucky me, huh?

2. I've never been to Ibiza before, and had decided that I needed to go at least once before I got too old. I consulted all my friends who had been before and quickly realised that Ibiza Town (Eivissa) was the only place to stay. Nicky booked us a fantastic apartment two minutes from the port and old town, complete with stereo, air-con and giant marujana plant on the balcony.

3. We did spend quite a lot of time at the beach. We visited Talamanca (seaweed), Playa D'en Bossa (desert) and Ses Selinas twice, which was amazing. Clear, clear sea, sandy bed and beach bars every few minutes offering expensive cocktails, footballer's wives and loud beats. I'm not a huge beach holiday person, but it was stunning, despite the crowds and I did lots of swimming. We also visited SiAigua Blanca on the east coast, where we very nearly succumbed to the nudist vibe, but couldn't quite bring outrselves to whip our knickers off, despite being the only clothed ones on the beach!

4. I've never paid so much for drinks in my life. My £21 for 3 straight vodkas at Stringfellows story pales into insignificance next to €40 for 2 vodaks and a glass of wine! The strip along the harbour is packed with bars and shops and it's impossible to take more than two steps without a promoter grabbing your arm with a; "Hey ladies! Where you going tonight? You wanna drink? I give you best price."

5. We clubbed twice. Space on Sunday (it's the only day to go daaahlink) and Pacha on Friday night where I met Roberto from Big Brother!

No Such Thing

2005-06-17T14:52:00.000Z

5 Things About Reliable Builders

1. Now, I'm not one for generalisations, but I'm still waiting for someone to disprove this one. I booked today off work, so a patch of damp in my living room could be repaired at considerable expense! I got a call at 9am to let me know that their guy was ill, and wouldn't be turning up.

2. I'd also booked someone to come and fit locks to my windows. They didn't turn up either, and when I called they claimed that they had rung the bell at 9.30am and got no answer. At 9.30, I was in the kitchen eating a muffin.

3. The lock man turned up eventually, but with my whole day booked off with nothing but gardening to tempt me, I was at a bit of a loose end, and feeling rather sorry for myself. So I decided to go to the hairdressers! I have got nice new hair colour, and a cut booked for tomorrow. Woohoo!

4. On the positive side, I managed to get a quote for repairing my bay window. On the negative side it will cost over a grand. Humph.

5. As I keep asking everyone I know, if you do know a reliable builder, then please let me know!

We'll Meet Again...

2005-06-14T18:43:00.000Z

5 Things About Old Friends

1. Last night I met Andrew & Isabelle (old uni friends) for a drink at Freud's bar in town. We were getting together to catch-up with Caroline, en-route from Bogota to Paris, and incapable of being so close to London without seeing us (I think there was something about seeing her mum too, but nevermind about that).

2. Caroline has lived in Columbia for, I think, around 3 years, and I've only recently started keeping in touch with her via the wonders of MSN. It's reassuring to see that she is still exactly the same.

3. Andrew was 90 minutes late. We love him anyway.

4. After a few swift Pimms (the tourist drink in the English sort-of-summer), we did what everyone seems to want after a few years out of England - went for a curry!

5. I have known these guys for ten years and love the fact that we still find new things to talk about and are still as interested in each other's lives. I love new friends, but there's something about old friends and old friendships that just makes me smile. Tonight I am seeing some relative newbies, who I've only known for seven years!

Sneezy, Dopey & Grumpy

2005-06-10T12:19:00.000Z

5 Things About Hay Fever

1. Today there is a very high pollen count in London. See? I woke up with itchy eyes and a runny nose, and things haven't really improved since then!

2. People at work are really tired of saying 'bless you', and in fact have entirely stopped bothering. By this rate my soul will be gone by lunchtime.

3. One of the worst things about hayfever is that it's just so disgusting. Manky tissues everywhere and bits of bodily fluid leaking out all over the place. Sore nose, red eyes, dry skin. Yuck. Why can't I have a glamorous ailment like consumption?

4. My dad and sister also suffer with various allergies, including hay fever. No one who has never suffered can really understand how horrible it is to be allergic. Moan moan moan moan moan moan moan.

5. I really must go out and buy some soft balsam tissue thingies, as my office recently switched to using cheaper loo roll and it's making my poor nose bright red!

Why Don't You....?

2005-06-07T21:57:00.000Z

5 Things About An Evening With No Telly

1. A few weeks ago, Alex lent me his TV for a video party I was having (my TV was tiny; not big enough to experience the joys of The Incredibles). He said I could hang on to it while he's still living at his parents'. Somehow it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to put my other tv in bedrooom. This means I now have three TVs in a one bedroomed flat. I can watch TV as I drift from room to room. The problem is, with the telly on, much drifing doesn't get done. I sit, and I sit. Then I feel guilty for doing nothing on my extensive life to-do list. I have begun to impose TV bans on myself for evenings at a time. Tonight is one of them.

2. I have phoned 3 friends, one of whom has been rather ill recently with severe food-poisoning, and also my cousin George, who I hadn't yet congratulated on his play a week ago. I've also chatted on MSN with Isabelle. They all seemed pleased to hear from me. Hurrah!

3. I still haven't done any gardening. Or ticked off all the other life-changing things on the list of life-changing things I plan to do at some point. But I feel calmer and less guilty.

4. I have FINALLY installed my printer! Only had it since Christmas, so not too bad really.

5. I don't plan to do this every night. I don't hate telly, or want to live without it, but I want to learn when to switch off. SO much harder with cable. Right! Am off to clean the kitchen and rearrange my room! Ha ha! Just you wait, this won't last....

A Traditional Sunday?

2005-06-06T10:26:00.000Z

5 Things About the Sunday Service

Yesterday I went to hear Alex's brother Ollie, singing at a Confirmation & Communion service at Magdalen College Chapel in Oxford.

1. I have been to church quite a few times now with Alex's family, as it's a big part of their life. I don't mind going with them at all, and I always enjoy the music. It's also quite interesting for me, but as a Godless heathen, I do feel slightly awkward when they're all squeezing past me to go and take Communion.

2. Magdalen Chapel is lovely. Three rows of pews facing each other, made from carved wood with candles along each row. Above them are rows and rows of stained glass windows depicting all the saints. It was very atmospheric sitting there with all the choir boys, the incense and the candles, and you could really feel the years of tradition wrapped up in the service.

3. Any awkwardness was worth it for the music, which was beautiful. They sang the Eucharist and helped us all out with the hymns. The choir boys ranged from age 7 (tiny cute blond boy) to uni scholars, Ollie's age in their early twenties. The previous night had been the end of exams for the final year so at least a third of the choir were struggling with hangovers and trying not to throw up all over their service books.

4. It was (I think), a very formal service, with the Bishop of Peterborough & another minister, three female assistant people in black robes who had to carry candles around and wave incense. Also, after the five candidates had been confirmed, the Bishop brought a bowl of holy water down among the pews and flicked us all with water. Not a single drop touched me, which I thought was kind of fitting.

5. Magdalen College Chapel backs on to one of the Main Roads in Oxford, which meant that there is always a risk of your declaration of faith in God being interrupted by a siren or a heavy thumping bassline. We escaped with just one police car.

Wild Night

2005-06-02T14:01:00.000Z

5 Things I Did Last Night

1. Drank a whiskey cocktail.

2. Nearly got hit by a flying shoe.

3. Gargled the Wedding March (I had some trouble with the high notes).

4. Ate a LOT of chips.

5. Fell asleep on the sofa until 3am.

I am, like, so rock 'n' roll.

To & Fro

2005-05-30T22:34:00.000Z

5 Journeys I Have Made This Weekend

1. This lovely warm bank holiday weekend before half term, I went to visit my parents in Somerset. Funnily enough, I don't think I was the only person travelling out of London on Friday. Which is probably why they cancelled my train. After standing bewildered in a packed Paddington station for half an hour, I decided the only thing for it was to sneak into First Class. Hallelujah. I successfully became a class traitor and travelled the whole way without paying any extra. Woohoo!

2. After a lovely evening in Bath on Saturday with Lizzie & Aron and various cousins, watching George's new play (which was fab), I drove back to the folks at about 1am through the lanes which I know so well, listening to Tom Waits. The roads were full of animals! I saw foxes, rabbits and a Badger cantering through the streets of Holcombe.

3. Yesterday we travelled to the Carpenter's Arms pub Stanton Wick for lunch, in my Dad's 1965 Humber. It's a gorgeous car, black with cream interior. We listened to 60s love songs on the way and sang along as we drove through the villages in the sunshine. Lovely.

4. Today we walked to Kilmersdon (the home of Jack & Jill), to visit their 'village day'. It was a 6 mile walk in the cool sun, and would have been nicer if we didn't take a wrong turning and end up on the Main Road. Still, it was one of two long walks this weekend that were not only v healthy, but also a good chance to catch up with my ma.

5. Just got home, after a lovely weekend, and a nice cab driver back from Victoria. My flat is safe and sound, and I'm off to bed! My very last journey of the weekend....

Let's Recap

2005-05-16T22:01:00.000Z

5 Things That Have Been Happening Lately

I have started to write blog entries several times over the last week, but things keep getting in the way! These are some of them:

1. I went to court on Thursday to testify against my mugger. It all went pretty smoothly, but I was fairly sure he'd get off, as I couldn't identify him and the other witness didn't actually see it happen. But, as I found out today - he was found guilty! Do you think I could get him to do community service doing my gardening for six months? I am glad it's over.

2. Friday night was my girly movie night. 8 girls drinking wine, eating pizza and lying wrapped up in duvets on my living room floor. It didn't go quite the way I remebered it from those sleepovers when I was 12 however! We didn't make it past three films, and I don't think anyone made it quite to the end of film three. They were The Incredibles, Dodgeball (why did we watch that?) and I Heart Huckabees.

3. Got up at around 5pm on Saturday, to go out dancing at Eve Club in the West End for my friend's birthday. Danced, drank and laughed at the 15 year olds pretending they were dead hard. How the hell did they get in? Also, had my first pedal cab experience (in London, anyway).

4. Yesterday I spent money I don't have on King's Road, was insulted by a Kinckerbox sales assistant, and went to see John Legend at Shepherd's Bush Empire with Leigh. Fun, if not my favourite thing ever.

5. Right now the tv is on. On channel 5 is The Girl Without a Face, where a family struggle to cope with their badly deformed 2 year old daughter, putting her through painful operations to help her breathe, hear & see more easily. On ITV is Celebrity Love Island, where 12 shiny, vapid and pointless human beings who've achieved such wonderful things with their life as sleeping with people slightly more famous than themselves, get treated to a luxury holiday on a paradise island. Mental.

A Request

2005-05-10T10:52:00.000Z

The Birkenstock online store is: www.birkenstock.co.uk.

The Otter & The Spaniel

2005-05-10T10:48:00.000Z

5 Things About My Weekend In Cornwall

1. Yesterday I got back from a long weekend in Cornwall with Alex. We stayed at the Whiteford Temple, which is a little Landmark Trust place stuck out in the middle of nowhere, just the other side of Dartmoor. It was built as the summer house of a bigger estate; the rest of the estate was demonlished about 90 years ago, and the Temple is all that's left on top of a hill overlooking the Tamar valley. We made the most of the three huge floor to ceiling windows by waking up at 5am on Sunday morning to watch the sunrise. And then go back to sleep for another five hours....

2. On Saturday we went to The Eden Project, which was v touristy of us, but I'm glad we did it as it's really interesting, and very cool. I like what they're trying to do there; to make people realise the effect they have on the world, and get a real sense of the environmental cycle. It's not done in a preachy or self-righteous way, it's just very informative and interesting.

3. We walked quite a lot. We went for a late afternoon walk along the cliffs at Polperro for about two hours on Saturday, and on Sunday took the brave decision to walk five miles for our dinner! We went to the Springer Spaniel in Treburley. It took about 70 minutes to walk there in the dusk, but the fun bit was walking back after dinner! We were both quite pissed by this point, and thought it was a great idea to walk along the lanes without using the torch. It was worth it though, just to see the stars. You're lucky in London if you see five stars in the sky at night and at my parents in Somerset you see hundreds more, but I've never seen as many as this. The whole sky was sprinkled with them, and the more you looked the more you saw. Miraculously we made it back without getting lost.

4. It was gorgeous sunshine all weekend, with fluffy white clouds and cool wind. We spent Sunday wandering around Cotehele house and gardens. The house was good, but the gardens were better, and we wandered down to Cotehele Quay in the sunshine and had a cream tea. We took everything slowly this weekend, which is just what I was after, and had a lovely relaxing time, with no particular stress about anything, except when I navigated badly around Exeter. An easy mistake to make.

5. Bless Alex's car. He has a 1967 Morris Minor 1000. It's everso cute, but is not the speediest or the most comfortable thing in the world. It took us more than seven hours to get back yesterday, although that did include a short stop at a pottery on Dartmoor and lunch in Ottery St. Mary. Ottery St. Mary is a very odd little place, and you can't help thinking that it has suffered from having the bypass built around it, as it has the look of a place which used to have far more tourists, but hardly anyone ever goes there any more. We were disappointed to discover that the 'Ottery Nursery' was in fact a flower market, and not a home for baby otters.

Panic Over

2005-05-04T17:49:00.000Z

5 Good Things

1. Much relieved to discover half dead bug actually looked a lot more like a June bug than a cockroach, which sounds plausible as I had my patio doors open most of Sunday afternoon. Not entirely placated yet, but am nearly back to being able to sit in my flat without constantly scanning the corners for evidence of life other than my own.

2. Last night I slept well in a clean fresh deliciously cotton bed. Always suprised what a difference it makes.

3. Today I have made people smile by giving them free tickets to see Black Eyed Peas on Friday. Of course, this is all down to my friend Garret who sent them to me; I am just a middleman. Am only slightly concerned that according to the Black Eyed Peas website, they appear to be touring in California this week, with no stops scheduled for Brixton at any point. Hmm...

4. I can't go to said gig (also a good thing) as on Friday morning I am off to Cornwall for a long weekend with Alex, who has now officially moved to Cambridge. I'm very much looking forward to it, although have made no plans at all about what to do, although may have to try the Eden Project. Four day weekend - woohoo!

5. I have ordered a pair of Birkenstocks online. According to many people I know this will be the greatest footwear decision I ever make.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

2005-05-03T10:10:00.000Z

5 Things About Trying To Sleep Last Night

1. I've been traumatised recently by the number of things intruding into my flat. There was the burlgar, obviously, although that was a few months ago now. There are the mice (one of whom payed a visit on Sunday night), the spiders, and a strange large bug I found dying on my living room floor yesterday morning which looked suspiciously like a cockroach. There are also the noises: cars, music, shouting and animal sounds and the lights. Last night it all got a bit much and I was curled up in the middle of my bed convinced they were all coming to get me at once.

2. On Sunday morning I was woken at 7am by my nail clippers leaping off my chest of drawers onto the floor. I have no idea why. Is my flat to be haunted now on top of everything else? Last night I kept turning the light on to peer at them and see if they had moved. Perhaps I'll just keep them on the floor (like everything else) from now on.

3. When it is 2am and you are by yourself it becomes much easier to get worked into a bit of a stressed-out state and be unable to calm down.

4. I was also very thirsty and kept having to get up for water.

5. The few times I did sleep, I dreamt about things like going on holiday by myself to the Isle of Wight. All in all, it wasn't a very restful night.

A Life On The Stage

2005-04-29T11:35:00.000Z

5 Things About SCO's 2005 Performance of La Traviata

1. I went to see it last night. This is the group with whom I have sung twice (in The Mikado & Eugene Onegin), but I had to drop out of this production due to illness, mugging and the Naomi Awards (longer story). Last night was the opening night, so Alex and I headed north to Southgate to witness the spectacle.

2. It was actually rather good, with the second half much better than the first. In (quite a few) places the singing wasn't quite in time with the orchestra and there were some misplaced tambourine rattles, but it was beautifully staged, acted, (on the whole) sung and gave me geniune tingles. I was quite jealous that I wasn't taking part! There's always Die Fledermaus this autumn.

3. There was a double cast, and unfortunately we picked the wrong night to go, as we missed Lee Mason in the part of Violetta. I have a sneaky suspicion that she would have been much better than the star of last night's show. She has a stunning voice.

4. There were quite a lot of old people in the audience who insisted on singing along. This was quite funny. At first.

5. The wine served (in plastic beakers) during the interval was de-icer with food colouring.

Early Bird

2005-04-28T11:00:00.000Z

5 Things About Waking Up at 4am

1. It gives you an opportunity to discover whether any UK airlines are breaking the law on flights before 5am. They weren't today.

2. You can pay proper attention to the bird in my garden who has learned to imitate mobile phone ringtones. It's a very odd sound and I wish I knew more about the phenomenon.

3. It gives you the chance to drink two glasses of water, thus lessening the severity of the following morning's hangover.

4. It may have been caused by eating a large pizza covered in jalapeno chillies at 10pm.

5. It makes you oh so sleepy & tired the next day. I want to go hooooome!

PS - Today Popjustice have published an email from me. Hurrah!

Spoiled

2005-04-26T10:18:00.000Z

5 Things I Did Last Night

1. Saw Alex singing in his debut recital as a counter tenor, at the Swiss Church on Endell Street. It was actually really rather good, even though the interval went on far too long. Most people in the audience knew each other and spent a good 25 minutes having a good old gossip. It confused the people who didn't know anyone, who were wondering why this little choral performance had the longest interval in the world.

2. Met John Suchet off the telly. He came to the concert too! I didn't realise who he was, but felt sure I knew him from somewhere. I'm glad I stopped myself from going up to him and saying, "You know, I'm sure we've met somewhere before", as that would have been v embarrassing. I didn't realise that he was David Suchet's brother.

3. Ate crisps in the Cross Keys with lots of Alex's friends and his parents.

4. Saw Izzy & Jon again, as well as my friend Andrew "culture vulture" Greenwood and Farouk, who came from work.

5. Drank champagne after we got back to my flat to toast all the clever things that Alex has been doing lately, like concerts and getting a new job. It was a very good way to round off the evening.

Schwester

2005-04-25T10:15:00.000Z

5 Things About My Weekend

1. My sister came to visit me! This made me happy.

2. We went to see The Magic Numbers and Athlete at Brixton Academy. So far, the general consensus seems to be that The Magic Numbers are better than the band they are supporting.

3. We met Charl, Shona & Cat on Northcote Road, and then did some wandering. I bought a new purse to replace the one that the 15 year old muggers nicked. It's much nicer.

4. We watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I LOVED. It was so good. Jim Carey is brilliant when he's actually acting, as opposed to leaping around like a complete fool. We also watched the musical episode of Buffy - hurrah!

5. We saw my cousin Izzy & her husband John for lunch in The Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden yesterday. The Crusting Pipe is great, and we drank lots of manzanilla sherry. The only downside was that my artichoke salad had great lumps of mud in it. I didn't realise it was mud until half way through - just thought it was a bit crunchy and gritty. Ah well, I'm sure the minerals will be good for me.

Back to work today and a big week ahead of me!

The Life of Food

2005-04-20T14:13:00.000Z

5 Things I Like To Eat

1. Ice cream with big chunks of yummy things in it, like cookie dough, chocolate chips, ginger or marshmallow. Preferably when it’s a bit melty and dribbly.

2. Cheese - on pizza, toast, chips and potatoes; in salad, dips, fondue, cheesecake; with pickled onions, tomatoes, mustard, artichoke, crackers, crisps and apples, or just by itself in lovely big chunks.

3. Tomatoes. I put them in virtually everything I cook, particularly my special pasta sauces made from fresh cherry tomatoes, which no one else seems to love quite as much as I do, but then I eat them the most so who cares?

4. Potatoes - in every possible size, shape and variation. I simply adore them.

5. Fruit. I don’t love fruit indiscriminately; I am selective. Some, like kiwis and bananas, I would happily not encounter for the rest of my life, but others, such as strawberries, cherries, mangos, apples, melon and pineapple I would quiet happily scoff until the cows come home. And after they’d gone as well.

Moodswings

2005-04-18T10:53:00.000Z

5 Things Which Are a Bit Pathetic

1. I had the whole of Saturday free to do productive, inspiring things which would really move my life forward in a new and exciting direction. How did I spend my time? Watching Buffy and eating toast!

2. I am actually aching today after about 45 minutes playing frisbee on Clapham Common yesterday. Rubbish.

3. After being woken up by two men in my back garden on Saturday night (they were just drunk trying to find their way home), I've not really been able to sleep as every little noise has been magnified in my head.

4. I spent so long lying in bed this morning trying to think of ways I could have a day off work that, when I couldn't think of any, I was late.

5. On Friday evening, after watching Alex sing in a rather lovely concert, I got into a big strop for no apparent reason (possibly low blood sugar).

Bread & Honey

2005-04-15T10:45:00.000Z

5 Things On Which To Waste £20

1. A manicure which you smudge as soon as you leave the salon. Particularly bad when you have a bright colour, as this is far more noticeable.

2. A bottle of champagne which you take to a party but which doesn't get drunk while you're there. You can't take it home with you.

3. A sonic mouse deterrent. They really really really don't work. The little blighters defy them with mouse-sized earplugs.

4. A new top which you don't try on as you're in a hurry. It doesn't fit, but you never get round to taking it back to the shop.

5. Penny sweets. But then again, that's not really a waste.

The Philosphy of Plato

2005-04-13T10:38:00.000Z

5 Things About Plato Road

1. It's the home of Simon Cooper at Number 14: 14 Plato Road. He is clearly a party animal.

2. It features in 'Brixton', a poem by Gary Lowe
A bored middle class white-girl (with an indeterminate accent)
is disappointed with her art degree
at number 11 Plato Road
she has turned her one room into a shrine
suitable for the comemplation of the ZERO
at night (or so she said) "I make love to the Buddha"
as yet, no-one, has believed her.

3. It's a thriving business community, being the home of Clifton Motor Repairs, Plain Text marketing agency, Lion Music Recording Studios & Pickupaproperty.com (among others).

4. How it comes about, I know not; but the fact is demonstrable, that two little streets branching from Acre Lane - the suburban thoroughfare which connects Brixton with Clapham - have been named, respectively, after the great lawgiver and the great philosopher of Athens. But for this startling originality of nomenclature, Solon Road and Plato Road would have little or nothing to mark them out among the countless similar byways of South London. They are short and narrow; the houses are very small, yet in their feeble way pretentious, for the bay-windows of the ground-floor display miniature stucco columns, scraped with spiral moulding; they have a plaintive little air of resolute respectability, of domestic virtue established on the very narrowest basis of cash. Great, however, is the force of a name. That of Plato Road sufficed to attract Mr. Philip Dolamore, who sought a lodging within the philosophic precincts, and here abode for the space of two years.
From The Pessimist of Plato Road by George Gissing

5. It's definitely in Brixton, not Clapham.

Tell Me Why...

2005-04-11T10:11:00.000Z

5 Things That Made Me Smile This Weekend

1. Going to visit my cousin Katherine and seeing how she & her husband are totally in love with their little baby Alexander. It's not hard, as he's the cutest thing in the world and just keeps getting cuter, no matter how impossible I think that is.

2. Spending time with my parents and seeing them really laughing and enjoying each other's company. Even if occasionally I wish they would just stop dancing round the living room together and sit down, I secretly like it.

3. Appreciating just what a thoughtful and caring person my sister is. She is a generous spirit and I'm looking forward to her coming to visit me in a few weeks for some quality sister time!

4. Being driven round the countryside in my dad's Rolls Royce (which he has for his chauffeur business). It's even better when people stare.

5. Watching the fish at DT & Kim's house on Friday night. One had huge staring eyes and spent all its time looking at the people in the room. The other had something wrong with its fins and could only swim with its head down and its tail sticking straight up. Thinking about creating a new fictional blog based around what the two of them see each day, but clearly won't get round to it.

Caught In A Moment

2005-04-07T17:19:00.000Z

5 Things I'm Doing Right Now

1. Trying to resist going to the shop for chocolate

2. Ooohing and aahing at the thunder & lightning.

3. Keeping a close eye on my brolly so that no one decides to 'borrow' it on their way out the door.

4. Trying to get 'Sweetie the Chick' out of my head.

5. Some work. Except I'm not, as I'm blogging.

R.E.M.

2005-04-07T14:00:00.000Z

5 Things About My Dream Last Night

1. It started with me arriving at a haunted mansion called 'Concrete', which had been converted into holiday apartments. I decided to write a review of the holiday hotspot for, er, the Financial Times. I wrote what I considered to be a wonderfully funny and original piece and sent it off for publishing.

2. One of my friends was reading what I'd just sent off, and pointed out that paragraph 6 was in fact, extremely offensive to Centaurs, and Centaur lovers. I was horrified! That wasn't how I'd meant it all, and I couldn't bear the thought of having offended Centaurs.

3. There was no question about it, I had to travel to all the local newsagents to collect all their Financial Times before they went on sale. I borrowed a friends car, which was so tiny I had to crouch right over in the driving seat and bring my knees up near my ears to fit into it.

4. In the first newsagent I went into I asked the man behind the counter if they had any copies of the Financial Times for that day. He said, "yes, of course!" and proceeded to present me with a voucher for money off Bloom lipgloss. I was extremely confused and left hurriedly to clamber back into my tiny-mobile. I did a cracking three-point turn though.

5. I finally found a copy of the Financial Times in a tip outside a house that was being renovated. It turns out that they'd published the article, but under someone else's name. I felt an odd mixture of relief that the Centuars wouldn't know it was me who had been so rude, and guilt that they would be offended anyway and I'd got away with it!

Gggrrr!

2005-04-06T12:23:00.000Z

5 Things About Being in a Big Grump Today For No Reason At All

1. It makes me very impatient with everyone, even when they are just in a good mood or asking me to do something perfectly reasonable.

2. It makes me do stupid things like scratch my face too enthusiastically and actually rather hurt myself.

3. It makes me stuff down my lunch in 30 seconds and then get really annoyed that it's all gone.

4. It makes things like listening to the new album by The Departure annoying.

5. It makes me WANT TO GO HOME and eat ice cream.

Crime & Punishment

2005-04-05T19:51:00.000Z

5 Things About Court

1. I went, today. I got mugged in February by two teenage boys, one of whom was recognised by a witness and is now being prosecuted. Little gits. I turned up at 8.45 for a 9.30 start (so like me), and had to wait for half an hour before anyone was there.

2. It was very odd, sitting by myself in the little waiting room reading old editions of Now Magazine (when Darren Day and Suzanne Shaw were still telling the world about their love!).

3. I actually think the services for victims (feels so odd calling myself that) are really good. There are people all along the way you can talk to if you're feeling bad or if you not sure what to do. The Witness Service volunteer was really sweet, despite clearly being stressed, and stayed talking to me for ages.

4. I waited for three hours and the other witness didn't turn up, so it was friggin' postponed, until god knows when! Gggrrr.

5. It was surprisingly nerve-wracking.

Gather Round Children

2005-04-04T11:02:00.000Z

5 Things I've Learnt This Weekend

1. When gardening for four hours, it's important to kneel in the correct way, otherwise you will give yourself a lot of lower back pain for the next few days.

2. Just because you've been to the supermarket three times over the weekend, it doesn't mean that you've spent less that you would if you got everything at once.

3. When you are very drunk, the things that seem like a really brilliant idea, usually really aren't.

4. A pint of water before going to bed really does help.

5. If you don't read the paper or watch anything other than old episodes of Friends then you won't find out about the Pope dying.

Never Again

2005-04-01T10:43:00.000Z

5 Things About Hangovers

1. Hangovers are caused by drinking liquid containing 'alcohol', a poisonous depressant which affects the body by causing capillaries to open, thereby temporarily duping the body into thinking it is too warm so that it uses fluid to cool down. This in turn causes dehydration, which results in the brain shrinking away from the sides of the skull, leading to headaches, depression, lack of judgement and shame.

2. I have one.
3. See above.
4. See above.
5. I made that first paragraph up. I have no idea how scientifically accurate it is.

Hoots Mon!

2005-03-31T10:31:00.000Z

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

2005-03-30T08:50:00.000Z

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

2005-03-28T20:58:00.000Z

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

2005-03-21T21:32:00.000Z

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.

2005-03-20T17:04:00.000Z

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!