Notes From The Journey
Thursday, 31 October, 2002
As I was walking to work this morning, I heard someone saying 'I'll name that tune in one'. Which led me to wondering if Name That Tune was still being broadcast somewhere. It always seemed to me one of those shows that no-one ever watched, but everyone knew about, like Call My Bluff and Give Us A Clue and, to a lesser extent, Countdown. Although that one keeps going, I'm sure, purely because people are fascinated with Richard Whitely in the same way that people are fascinated with hideous road accidents.
These programmes are all bizarrely British things that I don't think would work outside this country, although I am probably wrong. I can imagine Texans watching Frank Muir and Arthur Marshall bantering over the meanings of strange words and Muscovites watching a dubbed Una Stubbs and Lionel Blair (with a deep masculine Russian accent, of course).
Just reading the webpages that I've linked to here reminded me that there was a version (the most recent, on Channel 5) of Name That Tune with Jools Holland. Which is a truly bizarre concept. I mean, who in there right mind would think that NTT could be turned into something even vaguely hip? The 10 minutes or so I caught of it once did indeed look as if Jools would rather be anywhere else. Probably introducing some Tibetan nose-flute players who are jamming with Oasis and Booker T and the Mg's on Later...Posted by stephen @ 09:23 AM GMT [Link]
Wednesday, 30 October, 2002
I had my hair cut last night. Isn't that exciting. It's really rather short, kind of stylish, I suppose. But very masculine. Which isn't ideal. But at least I don't look like I have the hair of a televangelist. The woman who cut it was a rather pretty French woman. She had gorgeous coppery hair and was a lvoely style. One day I'll grow it back.
The other exciting thing I did last night was online grocery shopping. God, I lead a life on the edge, don't I? It was all fine and dandy, apart from the site refusing to take my payment details the first couple of times and taking ages to tell me that and having to wait until Saturday before I get them. I mean, the frozen food will be completely defrosted by then!
Posted by stephen @ 09:08 AM GMT [Link]
Tuesday, 29 October, 2002
Last night, I slept on a very comfortable mattress for the time since, basically, I went to Paris (not counting the times I've slept at various other peoples places). This is because one of the main things we brought back from Newcastle was the mattress from our bed which was in the flat. And it's lovely. Twice as thick as the one which was down here already, better sprung and just... comfy. Mind you, it seems like the whole thing was too much for my body, as it woke me up at 5am with my nose and throat leaking and tickling respectively. I think I hate my body sometimes and not just in a 'I wish I could have a flatter stomach/smaller nose/bigger breasts' type way but in a 'get me the fuck out of here' kind of way.
The journey back from Newcastle on Sunday was remarkably fine. Especially considering all the stuff I've seen about how the rest of the country was treated to storms. We must have been in the eye of the hurricane, or something because all we had were a few blustery winds and some showers. Walking to work this morning down Petherton Road was like walking through a sea of leaves. They were literally 2 or 3 inches thick and covered everything so you could see neither the ground nor your feet. Then, going through the New River Walk, I saw a huge tree branch that had come down. (I didn't see all this yesterday because I had to take the van back and then walked back from work via Upper Street.)
The weekend was very, very busy. We saw Jean and Roger on Friday during the day - which was very nice, even if they did force us to watch Countdown (they did - they forced us. Tied us down and said 'worship at the altar of Richard Whitely, heathen!') The evening was spent with Kathryn, which was equally enjoyable. So, that was a nice day. Saturday and Sunday, however... we spent basically the entire two days tidying and packing. I thought we'd done a pretty good job when we first went to Paris. However, this appeared not to be the case. Admittedly, there were a lot of things we needed to do that couldn't be done when we went to France, because we had to leave stuff for our tenants to use, so we were dismantling wardrobes and bookshelves and things, but it still seemed to take forever. The good thing about it is that we did some 'life laundry' and got rid of quite a lot of crap. Which we probably should have done first time around, but we just aren't that organised. I managed to get rid of five boxes of books. Well, I haven't managed to get rid of them yet... they are now in London and I need to go through them to see what is saleable. I have a lot of proofs and hardbacks and things, so I should be able to get some money for them. Or at least, I hope so, anyway. We'll see. Candy was actually rather surprised that I got rid of so many of them. I suppose I was being fairly ruthless. Mind you, there are still something like ten boxes of books that have gone into storage, as well as the two or three boxes that I brought down with me - although most of them were graphic novels. I got rid of my Larry Niven collection and all my Star Wars novels - apart from the original adaptations and the first spin-offs (Splinter of the Mind's Eye and the Han Solo trilogy. The latter especially are sort of favourites of mine. Not especially well written, but fun.)
Last night, and one of the reasons I walked via Upper Street rather than my usual route, I had a manicure. (The other reason was that I was planning on buying the new Nirvana album from Borders, but discovered it was just a best of. I still want it, but it is a lot less necessary than before.) I went to the place I usually go to, but had a definitely below par service last night. I decided to go with a subtle colour rather than the red or purple I go for. I was sort of planning for a nude pink, although it has turned out to be somewhat more pink and somewhat less nude than I thought it was at the time. Especially under the lights here at work. Oh well, we'll see if anyone notices. I was also thinking this morning walking in, why didn't I just say 'bugger it' and go for the red? I sort of wish I had now. I'm going to eventually anyway, so I just should have done. Although, with the quality of painting that I got (Candy does a much better job when she does them for me) I think I'm kind of glad I didn't.
When I went to Borders last night, I discovered that several people had left and that others were on the verge of leaving. These people were meant to be my friends, but they hadn't bothered letting me know they were leaving or inviting me for a farewell drink. Although, considering they haven't bothered contacting me since I left, just saying 'oh, we must go for a drink soon - I'll give you a ring' when I went in to see them, I don't suppose I should be surprised. Although I am a little annoyed. Oh well. That's people for you.
Posted by stephen @ 09:04 AM GMT [Link]
Wednesday, 23 October, 2002
I actually had a days worth of work to do today!
Well, almost...
I also had my first month appraisal today. And, apparently, I'm doing marvellously. Which is nice.
I sent off an extract and synopsis of The Long Sleep to Big Engine yesterday. So, fingers crossed for that. As I've said before, I'm not particularly bothered if it ever gets published, it being my first novel and everything. In fact, if it does get published (at least in this state...) I'll be very surprised. I am more hopeful about Ylahyem, though. I've just got finish the damn thing!
Anyway, I'm going home (or rather Candy's folks for dinner) now and then, tomorrow, up to Newcastle for the weekend. Lots of sorting out of things, amongst other things. So, that'll be nice.Posted by stephen @ 04:25 PM GMT [Link]
Thursday, 17 October, 2002
For one reason and another - via Jean and Chaz - I did a Google search on the words "Pauline Plummer Timbuktu". Try it and see what you come up with. It seriously freaked me out.
The really bizarre thing is, each level back up towards the top domain name produces another page of the same kind of stuff, some of them with links to other pages like this. Is this some bizarre Austrian past-time? (At least, Jean says that the .at is the Austrian country code.) It must have something to do with all the email addresses that are in there, but I don't see how, but at the bottom of the page for the top level domain name (http://hostedwebs.nbs.at/) there is a link at the bottom for 'email collectors'. Strange.
I personally, think it has to do with the Secret Rulers of the World. It's the only answer which makes sense. Don't you think?
Posted by stephen @ 08:52 AM GMT [Link]
Tuesday, 15 October, 2002
This is a poem written by my good friend, Gail-Nina Anderson. She emailed it to me and, subsequently, gave me permission to put it up here. I like it lots. When I first read it, I decided that Edward Gorey would be perfect to illustrate it. So, without further ado...
The Vampire’s Own Alphabet
By Gail-Nina AndersonBeing a Primer of Tempting Themes for all LITTLE VAMPIRES, that they might be brought to meditate on the eternal weirdness of their imaginations.
A is Anatomised, cut up and pickled
B is for bruises, which shouldn’t be tickled
C is Cadaver, greyish and greenery
D is the Devil’s Gorge, Satan’s own scenery
E will Eliminate, terminate, End
F is the Fiend oft disguised as a friend
G is the Ghost, wraith-like and liminal
H is the Hangman who waits for the criminal
I is the Incubus, riding your nights
J is the Jugular, throbbing for bites
K is the Kite flown to harness the lightning
L is the Lamia, lovely but frightening
M is the Mistletoe, sacred for Druids
N’s Nosferatu, who’ll sup on your fluids
O is for Orgasm (refer back to I)
P is the Poltergeist, making things fly
Q is the dusky-robed Queen of the Night
R stands for Runes which you never pass, quite
S is the Succubus, sin in your dreaming
T is the Terror that wakes you up screaming
U’s the Uncanny you hardly dare mention
V is the Vampire, of sanguine intention
W’s Werewolf, all bristling and lupine
X stands for Xena, who’ll lay you out supine
Y is the YETI, who’s not just illusion
Z signals Zero, and draws our conclusion.Posted by stephen @ 08:47 AM GMT [Link]
Friday, 11 October, 2002
I've just come across item of news on the Grauniad website. I'm not certain if it's a good thing.
Posted by stephen @ 04:00 PM GMT [Link]
I've just had a packet of Munchies. And very nice they were as well. However, as I was eating them, I had a thought. Just a single one, mind you... And that thought was this:
I remember when I was young (so much younger than today..) that Munchies (despite their name) had this sort of grown-up chicness about them, that was, at least partly - if not mostly - to do with their price. They were similar in a way to Ritter chocolate or those big bars of fruit and nut or rum'n'raisin chocolate that Cadbury's make. However, other chocolate bars seem to have got more expensive faster than Munchies has, thus making them only 5p or so more costly than a Mars bar or what have you. So, and here we finally get to my thought - the rest was just prelude to thinking - are they still as chic as once they were or are they now 'just another chocolate' and, what is the alternative in chocolate chic nowadays?
Y'see, that's what I like about blogs. If you have a silly whimsical thought like this, you can, immediately commit it to virtual paper and have your whimsy and silliness there for the rest of the world to see until your ISP goes arse-up or global thermonuclear war ensues...
Posted by stephen @ 01:29 PM GMT [Link]
I had a very nice walk to work this morning. I took Roger's advice and followed the New River Walk. And it was rather lovely. It's a very thin patch of greenery that wends its way down between Upper Street and Essex Road and, as it's name suggests has some water. 'River' is, perhaps, stretching it a bit much. It is, instead, a rather sluggish, slightly dirty and pondweed covered stream. But it's surrounded by trees and has a nice windy path through it. Think of a much shorter, much thinner Jesmond Dene and you're pretty much there, really. Although the stream wasn't anything spectacular - it is actually nicer than I described it - it did have some water creatures in it. I saw several ducks and a heron - with a dead frog in its mouth. Oh, and lots of grey squirrels. Which, although they are rodents, are still kind of cute. And, even batter, it doesn't seem to take me any longer to get to work walking this way than just going straight down Essex Road.
Had a silly link sent to me this morning. Punk Kittens. Someone has far too much time on there hands. Unfortunately, I think it may be me...
Posted by stephen @ 09:14 AM GMT [Link]
Thursday, 10 October, 2002
I haven't written much this week.Partly because I haven't got a lot to say and partly because I've been doing other things. I've actually had some work to do. And, for some bizarre reason, I feel that work comes first. I've also been doing bits of my novel this week - I've written about 1300 words or so and it's trundling along nicely. I still haven't finished the funeral bit, but the ceremony has just started and I know exactly what comes next. I even worked out a reason for one of the things that I just threw in as a nice image and it fits in quite nicely with all the rest of the story. I like it when things come together like that.
I've also been adding more stuff to my database. I've finished recording all the books that are stored by title and started on those stored by creator (I'm already up to Warren Ellis). Exciting stuff, eh?
So, I've actually been fairly busy really. Which is quite nice.
I had another nasty bout of rhinitis-induced snot drippage earlier in the week. I am getting so sick of this. It's now been every weekend for the last three or four weeks and it's just not good. Although it isn't really stopping me doing stuff, it is stopping me feeling all happy and relaxed while doing it. So, I don't think I'm getting all the rest I should be. Or am I just whinging? Anyway, I went to the doc's on Tuesday and got yet more medicine. Just what I wanted. So, not I'm on beconase spray - which is a steroid I shove up my nose and I just don't want to think what long term usage of that will be - and some sort of anti-histamine - this one in the form of a pill, so I'll just get to screw up my stomach lining with this one. I've also got am decongestant spray to take, but that's only when I need it. And, as an aside, try saying 'decongestant' when you're congested. It's not easy and is one of those words that really makes it obvious how obvious you are.
Sean is coming down for the weekend tomorrow. He wants to go to some fencing shop or other in Camden. Apparently they do made-to-measure fencing clothes. So, I'm not the only one who has a hobby that involves special clothing...
Being on the office email system, I get more than my fair share of crap sent to me. Occasionally, there is something kind of fun and I got something like that today. It's a silly game. Have fun with it!Posted by stephen @ 02:55 PM GMT [Link]
Friday, 4 October, 2002
I've just been reading Neil Gaiman's journal (and I'm not going to bother posting a link to it again...) and I've found out that the trial between him and Todd MacFarlane (you may remember the appalling film Spawn based on his comic book from a few years ago) has gone in his favour. This is not particularly important or interesting in the long run - especially to 99% of the population of the world, but I think it's a good thing. Todd MacFarlane seems to have been trying to get away with some fairly underhand behaviour for quite some time now and it's a good thing that he eventually got caught doing it. It just goes to show that you shouldn't annoy people who are in a better position than you are. Although, admittedly, when this whole thing started (back in 1992, I think it was - that's when Gaiman wrote the comic book for Todd that started the whole ball roling), Todd was in a much stronger position than Neil was. Monetarily if not critically. But, ten years later, the positions have reversed themselves somewhat.
Other stuff, not quite as tengential to my life as that. I got the mark back for my first proof reading assignment yesterday. I got 4 out 5 (it's still sort of a percentage, because they seem to mark in decimal points, so it was actually 4.00 out of 5.00) and the tutor's comments said that it was a 'very strong first piece of work'. So, I'm very happy about that. Obviously. Things are looking good.
I also had a physio appointment yesterday for my bad shoulder. It seems to be a muscular thing, so she gave me some stretches and also corrected my posture, which was not the best. But, I pretty much knew this, but now that she's shown me the correct posture I'm trying to sit in it. Which is easier said than done, actually.
On with work. Or at least pretending to work.
Posted by stephen @ 08:51 AM GMT [Link]
Wednesday, 2 October, 2002
I've just had a bit of a mini revelation.
Today there is another tube strike. Which means the entirety of London takes to the streets, either in cars or on the bus. Last week, there didn't seem to be much problem getting in, although getting out was hell. (I think I wrote about it somewhere.) Today, I decided not to chance it - and, seeing Essex Road (one of the roads down which a man must go... Just another 41 to go, then.), I think I made the right decision - and walked to work.
It was a very nice walk, seeing some very nice architecture and some posh shops, and it took me roughly five minutes more than it would have taken on the bus. Admittedly, this time includes the length of time it takes to wait for the bus, but, I normally leave the house between 7.45-7.50 and get to work between 8.20 and 8.30. Today, I left at 7.40 and got here at 8.25. The only drawback being, no reading time. But, it'll be back to getting fitter again and it may even help me lose a bit more weight and mean that I don't have to go to a gym. I certainly worked up a bit of a sweat. Which will be nice for my co-workers... It's a bit of a pity that I've just spent £30 on a bus pass, really. Oh well, I'm sure I'll still use it.
Getting here this morning, it seemed like I was the second person here, after Maggie, my line manager (who is very nice, with an extremely dry sense of humour, although I don't know her very well, yet.) It was nice, very quiet and calm.
I actually have had some work to do in the last couple of days. Not a huge amount, admittedly, but it'll keep me going for a little while. So, I suppose I'd better think about going to do it. Although, I also need to go and check out Neil Gaiman's journal and the comics news first.
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