Expand-a-slink

So Lauren asks: "Where are you hiding slink?"

Well, I've been hiding in various places throughout the Midlands and eating mass quantities of food at every available oppurtunity.

Friday: Went to work. On returning back home we tidy up of the flat to prepare for Niall's mom, two youngest sisters and brother coming to stay for the weekend. His mom and sisters arrived at about 8 and we ate Pizza.

Saturday: We trundle off to the Sealife centre in Brum; I LOVE that place. We have an ace time and then have a wander round the shops fora bit before eating in Wetherspoons. Then we head off to the airport to collect Niall's brother who flew over after a footie match or something. That evening we drive to Chiquitos for tea. I had my usual spicey chicken burrito with mexican rice, guacamole and sour cream, but I was soo full I couldn't fit in any pudding. I did managed to squeeze in a cocktail though. DEEElish.

Sunday: Niall's mom goes to mass in the morning and turns up about an hour late to have breakfast with us, before we head out to Cadbury World. We got there for 12, but only got entry tickets for 3 so we had a bit of waiting to do, but fortunately there's a few things you can do in the meantime... like eat dinner and see a few other exhibits. I left there having consumed a large pot of melted chocolate with biscuit pieces, with one caramel, chocolate buttons and dairy milk bar, and one cadburys T'shirt too. In the evening we went to the Harvester restaurant where I had a chicken and bacon stack with buttered potatoes and peas- too full for dessert. Nice.

Monday: I left for work in the morning. Niall's family left a bit later for the journey back home to Ireland. After work, Mum takes Niall and I to the local carvery where I eat a HUGE plate of turkey, gammon, yorkshire pudding, loads of veg and as much gravey as I can manage ot fit on the plate without it spilling over. Couldn't manage a pudding again unfortunately. By this point, I'm starting to reflect on just how much I've eaten over the last few days...

Tuesday: Mum, Dad, Vix and her friend were heading to the National Space centre in Leicester for a day out so I tagged along. It was all pretty cool though I was forced to go up to the top of this gigantic bubble thing in a glass lift!!! er... no... the slink does NOT do plummetting-to-death-type heights... well I did, but I was massively unimpressed about it... particularly since it was just to get my free admission ticket signed and stamped! (*Click me for pictures*) They didn't have many nice sarnies there, so I ended up eating a donut, crips and a chocolate bar for lunch.. well you know me, healthy as ever.

Wednesday: Usual day at work, though I had a really bad morning and wasn't at all well OR happy. To cheer me up, Niall suprised me by taking me straight from work to a posh restaurant a few streets away. After two Baileys, I chose, chicken liver parfait ( or pâté to the plebs) with ciabatta toast for starters; for my main course I had Fillet of pork wrapped in sage and pancetta ham with pomme anna ( sliced potatoes); and for dessert even though I was full, I had chocolate chip ice cream, mango sorbet and apple sorbet on a nice crunchy biscuit base... man it was all fantastic. I loved it... and it really cheered me up too.

So there we go... that's WAY too much food for one small person to take... but it's been pretty nice if not expensive!

Creative Juice... or is it an infection?

Last friday, my Great Grandma's funeral, went as well as these things can... it was all a bit surreal but kinda comforting too in an odd sort of way. Being in Nottingham made me sad that we weren't still living there, especially since we drove past our old flat and from the look of the semi-drawn curtains and messy kitchen blind... there's either students in there, or just a damn scruffy person. It should have been our flat. :-(

Anyways, I seem to be ill again. I suspect it's because I've been a tad run down for a few weeks now and I seem to have picked up something or another that's making me feel totally awful. Headaches, migraine, shakes, nausea, feeling faint, and swelling of the lymph glands (apparantly). I don't really care what it is, but I want it to go away now.

I'm getting the odd bit of interest in my artwork though, which is pretty cool news... I won't say what exactly because I don't want to jinx it, but it's nice that things are getting noticed at least. I'm keen to make things at the moment... wether it's models/illustrations/bears/cards or cookies... my creative juices are obviously flowing... I just don't have the energy to act on them.

My plan for this week includes:

• Resting and recovering from whatever illness I have
• Making chocolate chip stuffed cookies
• Starting a new bear
• Saying goodbye to my brother who leaves to return to Japan on Thursday
• Tidying the flat for the onslaught of half of Niall's family who are coming over this weekend.

Bye for now. x

Blog Block.

I'm still here. Just experiencing a bit of mental blog block. That is a mental block relating to a blog, not the blockage of a mental blog.

Anyway. I have had alot of things on my mind this week... once my mind is hoplessly empty again... the randomness shall continue.

Passing.

I was due to go and visit my great grandma today. She hadn't been well. My Mum and Dad took my brother to see her on Sunday since he'd been away for two years; my sister and I were going to go today. But she died last night. Peacefully, we believe.

At least my mum got to see her on Sunday.

It's very odd. I guess you could say I'm lucky enough to have not had to deal with any deaths of my immediate family; Only pets, and it sure feels different with people. Consequently I've never been to a funeral before and I'm really nervous about it. I hate seeing my mum cry and I just dont' know what to expect from it all.

I feel bad that I didn't see her. Though my last memory of her was on her birthday last year, by the river, smiling in her wheelchair.

Roundup.

My brother has been back from Japan for a week now. He's no different AT all. Having not seen him for two years it was strange having him around for about ten minutes, and then it was like he'd never been away.

Saturday night, we finally had a night out at The Gallows and Eddies... it's been SO long, but it was nice to be there, surrounded by the music, the freaks, the whole atmosphere again- even if it is a bit different to uni rock night. I wore my cropped trousers and new belt, coupled with my pirate shoes and my motorhead top. I looked pretty damn cool even if I do say so myself. :-)

I haven't managed to find a pair of slippers that rock enough for me to purchase yet, but the search continues.

Sod's Law owes me a new pair of slippers.

I don't believe it. And I mean that with all the angst of Victor Meldrew I can muster.

It's been cloudy today, a bit of drizzle this morning but nothing really to moan about. Other than that it's been dry with a breeze. Breezy enough, for example to hang out the two duvet covers I've finally washed when doing the laundry today. I hung them out. And two sodding seconds later, it started to rain. Okay, I though, nevermind, it'll be a shower... and even if it isn't, the damn things can get wet and then dry off after... twenty minutes later and it's started to chuck it down. I hang on five more minutes, but no end to it in sight I go to get the washing back in. I make it to the top of the freaking staircase and to my front door when the buggering downpour stops raining. I'm soaked, my poor gromit slippers (which were already in a bit of a state) are pretty much down to a few soggy bare threads... and my washing is probably wetter than it was when it went out!!!

The slink is NOT happy.

How Long Does The Juice last...?

06 mins 7.4 seconds

And by that point it the fruitella was just tiny I had to swallow it. It lasted right til the end.

That really is quite incredible.

Juicy!

Man, has it REALLY been that long?! A whole week?!

I've been working alot, doing lots and lots of overtime because people keep leaving or getting sacked at work. It's been way too hot at night so I've not been sleeping all that well and coupled with all the overtime- it's been a bit knackering to be honest. I did have a dream about Johnny Depp last night though... that was fun.

I've managed to make another bear... they're slowly getting a bit better in quality. I'm going to do a few more with patterns then I might have a go at making my own. Unfortunately I keep getting distracted and making bears rather than photographing my Wizard or finishing off/starting illustration projects which is a bit naughty.

Right now, I'm sitting here in my dinky shorts and bikini top because it's flippin hot. I have a day off tomorrow FINALLY so I'm feeling quite relaxed. So relaxed in fact that I'm trying to suck a fruitella for as long as it takes the actual flavouring to disappear... for the highly scientific reason: I'm intrigued as to how long it will last. It's a lot harder than you think! I'll let you know the results.

Safari!

On Friday, we went to the safari park, just like we planned to. It was rather hot, and since Niall's car has no air conditioning we pretty much cooked inside since you have to keep all your windows, doors and sunroofs locked. I got some cool pictures though... shame that the best close up I got was from a stinking, ugly, big llama. I don't like llama's. It was a really good day though; I enjoyed it, and needed it too.



Quick Roundup:

* My wizard has been finished now, but I've yet to take any proper photographs. I like him though, he looks cool. Here's a quick phone shot of him:

* I started a wish list the other week to remind myself of things I need/want. It's so I actually have things to say come christmas when my grandparents ask me what I would like... and also so I don't keep forgetting to buy things that I need. I started it with the best of intentions... but now it's grown pretty big and I'm scared it will never end!

* New bears may be on the way... N kindly ordered a few more bits and bobs for me so I can keep practising. I think it's turning out to be quite an expensive hobby though... eek.

* I need to update my website pretty soon but I have no idea how... I really ought to get my bum in gear and do something about it though, particularly now I'm getting more self promotion material done.

* And to Ramzi and his friends/family in Lebanon- Stay safe.

Minimum Wage

Work sucks right now. I just sodding hate it. We have a new manager in temporarily, and although she knows her stuff and has sorted the place out- even offering to actually train us all!!!... it means I'm running around constantly and feeling under pressure.... in a god damn shop. This is my stop-gap, my rent payer while I sort out my illustration, and the hours really allow for that... but man, busting my gut, putting up with some really frigging nasty customers and slaving away carrying boxes and stuff- for peanuts?!?! I swear... the last few days I've worked have been horrid. I've made silly mistakes because I've been so tired and it's just getting to me. I'd rather not care about it at all... but I hate letting people down or being made to feel stupid. *sighs*

Anyway, to wind down the other day I stuck my hair up in a funky hair do and took new potential avatar pictures. What an exciting life I lead.



We may be going to the safari park tomorrow though... yey!

Don't tread on the frogs!

Let me paint you a picture; one of which you are all familiar with I'm sure.

It's a sunday morning. I'm sitting ready for work eating a bowl of cereal with some rather boring news show on- you know, the sort you sit and watch on a sunday morning because there's nothing else on. Niall is in the kitchen, washing up a few dishes and boiling the kettle for a quick cuppa before giving me a lift to work. I'd like to add here- the next happenings/thought processes occur in about a millisecond I'm about to take another mouthful of cereal... when I hear *BANG!* And when I say Bang, I mean a LOUD one. First thought: Niall's dropped something large and heavy onto the kitchen counter... but in the next quarter of a second I hear him yell... crap, injury??, something thrown through the wondow??? But there was no smashing of glass?? confusion. So I run into the kitchen scared to death of what I might see... and I'm faced with the following scene: Niall is standing there wearing one rubber (not just that I might add), hot water is dripping over most of the kitchen surfaces... I look at Niall, and he breathlessly says... "The kettle just exploded".

True enough, there was the kettle lying on it's side having shot right out of it's stand. Man, if I hadn't been so bloody scared I'd have laughed my head off. After checking if Niall was okay, I carefully turned off the plug. I guess we were kinda in shock for a little bit... but proceeded to mop up the water everywhere. It seems that a hole had blown in the kettle's element despite it being in perfect condition elsewhere. I'm going to be informing trading standards about it because it's meant to have a safety cut out to avoid any explosions. It's just a bloody good job that the water hadn't been any hotter because Niall could have been badly burnt.

Since there wasn't any injuries or fires or anything, it's kinda funny when I think about it now, but Argos will be experiencing The Wrath Of The Slink for selling shitty, dangerous appliances, even if we have had it for about a year and it's worked fine.

Anyhoo, after work, we had a quick bite to eat in the form of a pre-packed shepards pie (yum) and headed off to collect my little sister and watch an outdoor performance of The Tempest at Shugborough Hall. Now, I'm all for the use of pathetic fallacy in films etc, but witnessing the weather change from perfect sunshine and hot hot heat, to torrential rain, thunder and lightening was just crazy, and more so after the explosive start to the day. Nevertheless, we got there early, and sat in the car for about 45 minutes, listening to Tool and watching the downpour, rainbows and lightening. Fortunatly it seemed to clear a little for the start of the performance so we gathered our folding chairs and ventured to find a good spot. On the way out of the car park, I spotted this tiny tiny baby frog (about the size of my little finger nail) which was directly in the line of an on coming car so I picked it up and moved it to the side of the road. I felt good. Like a saviour of vulnerable baby frogs. However, my efforts were only to be proven completely futile. On turning the corner, we were faced with a swarm of baby frogs. There must have been thousands, and that is NO exageration. We tried our best to dodge, tip toe and even jump over them but they were so small and there were soooo many. All you could see were people walking funny, jumping, hopping, skipping and tiptoeing through the masses of little frogs. It was surreal. There were less frogs, fortunatly, were we pitched up our chairs for the play. We had a little bit of rain, but it was just a shower, and the performance started. It was all rather good, and despite not knowing the story and not being all too academic with funny ancient english, I was quite impressed that I managed to follow it. The second half and ending was a bit of a let down, but it was made more amusing by watching a regular sized adult frog hop and crawl it's way towards an unsuspecting womans leg sitting on a blanket. I waited for the scream or the disgusted flinch when it touched her or hopped on her... and I wasn't disapointed either... hysterical.

So all in all, a rather bizarre sort of a day for a sunday.

Saturday, was a bit of a let down too... whilst I didn't care all that much about England going out the world cup, I was annoyed to see Roddick get beaten by that spotty little prick Andy Murray. Roddick just was NOT on top form. Better luck next year Andy. I can only hope Murry hits puberty before his next match and can't play.

More good news however, I have started work on my Wizard and on another bear so I have plenty to do. We also managed to get tickets to the World Series Renault day at Donnington Park in September and tickets were free so that will be something to look forward too... as long as I can get that weekend off work of course. We have the tickets now, so I'll be mightily angry if I'm not allowed the two days off particularly since I have four weeks of holiday which isn't booked yet. Heikki's going to be there and everything... I better get my stalking shoes out ready.

Oh, and I'm feeling better too- my tummy seems to be recovering and the infection which my doctor told me I had even though I had NO symptoms (?!) should be gone too. Just waiting for those test results, but otherwise I seem to be on the mend. Yey!

Laters.

Sick Slink.

I'm ill. And since I haven't been properly ill for a while my body seems to have totally given up the ghost and just caught everything going at once. I went to the doctors today after trying for two days to get a damn appointment- and apparently I have a possible tummy bug ( I haven't been able to eat anything for about four/five days without feeling immensely sick afterwards), I have an infection for which I have to have antibiotics for three days, and I'm also awaiting some test results for another potentially lethal disease... or so it feels.

It's been ages since I was last ill, and that even includes a cold. Even though, I managed to start my next project today; A Wizard.

Yesterday I made my first teddy bear, which again turned out better than I expected. I really should give my kick ass skills more credit. :-D His name is Barney.

As well as all this, it's that time of year again... Andy Roddick fest... also known as Wimbledon. Nice to see good ol Tim Henman has stamped his fiesty foot on the tournament as per usual. Give it up Tim, for gawds sake...

Go Andy!

Sea Life Work

Thought I'd post these because I'm pretty pleased with the results. :-)

Song of the week..

... is Pantomime by Incubus. And not JUST because of this...

... It's a bloody good song too.

Studio: Inhabited

As I'm sure you will remember, I posted a picture of my spanking new studio not so long ago.

May I now present My Studio: Inhabited. And rather a mess it has to be said.

As you can see, I've been working. Working on my sea life models to be exact. The beady eyed ones amongst you will spot a sea turtle, an octopus, starfish and seahorse and some coral amongst the wreckage. The eagle eyed amongst you will also notice new desktop wallpaper and the addition of my "I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several attack me at once" sign above my pooter. The mole eyed amongst you, won't see anything at all.

No Name.

Highlights of this week include:

• Seeing ktp, rfa, jonjon and dave in uni-ville for ktp's degree show.
• Getting overtime for the next two weeks- not good in itself, but the money will be much needed.
• Seeing the worlds ugliest baby in a pram at work. I can still see it's face at night... the hair, the bulging eyes...
• Vacuuming the house, cleaning the fish tank, tidying/cleaning the kitchen- including disinfecting the basin and bin AND cleaning the inside of the microwave (holy.crap.horrible) washing and drying a weeks worth of pots ... all in the space of one and a half hours.
• Getting a message saying there had been some interest in one of my illustrations that I submited to an arts festival.
• Niall buying me a book on how to make bears. :-)
• The weather cooling down a tad so that it's just right.

Lowlights of this week:

• Money being VEEEERY tight and not getting paid for another two weeks.
• Our local chippy not selling gravy. Lame.
• Seeing football everywhere, or worse still- ugly, fat, drunk, semi-naked, sunburnt football fans acting like twats.

In other news, I have finally put up my photo's from our mini-break on my photoblog. Check sets Stratford, Warwick and Cotswolds. I've been getting a few comments about them too which is cool.

I'm also half way through my sea life project/self promo work. I've so far made an octopus, seahorse and starfish, and am in the process of painting the sea turtle model. I still need to buy a few more bits and bobs for backgrounds and scenery, and also plan how the hell I'm going to make a jellyfish, but I'm up for the challenge.

The Mini Break.

Well, now that blogger has decided to repair itself and let people use it again... I can get round to blabbering about our weekend away.

The drive there was relatively simple and easy. Sunglasses on, listening to the Chilli's we were in a funky and happy mood. After arriving in the teeny village of Snitterfield where our little holiday cottage was, we strolled off to find the local village store. We bought essentials like bread, milk, cheese, butter and of course doritos. We then, headed off to see Mary Arden's house (Shakespeare's mum) which was only a few miles away. We even watched a falconry display where we watched a big falcon rip the guts out of a little dead chick. Cool. That evening, we drove back to the cottage and walked into the village again to have a meal at the local pub called The Foxhunter. We tried our best not to look like 'townies' or that we both hated foxhunting. I avoided looking at the foxes heads on the wall. It was wierd, it was all a bit "league of gentlemen", a bit local, everyone knew each other. Still, it was pleasant enough and the meal was prett ydamn nice as far as I can recall, though it cost over £50 for the two of us. I had bread and butter pudding number one, which wasn't as good as my mums.

The next day we went into Stratford. We visited Shakespeares birthplace (see pic) where I think we were the only British people there.

We walked around town and had a little picnic in the park near the canal, where we were entertained by Magic Steve, the street performer. He got us all to play a joke on the surrounding people by having us all stand there clapping and cheering and absolutely nothing. Ah, the confusion, the poor puzzled little expressions of those passers by... it was funny. We stopped by the Teddy Bear shop, where I wanted to buy myself an expensive hand made bear, but I couldn't find any that I liked that were under £50. Next stop, was the butterfly farm. I even made it around the arachnid part albeit slightly rushed.

We returned to Stratford that night as we'd booked tickets to see Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. We got food at the cafe and I made the mistake of ordering steak. Since I'm not a lion, I prefer it when meat is actually cooked- like properly cooked so that it's changed colour and not looking like an open wound. I couldn't eat it and only had a few chips. Niall bought me a Baileys bread and butter pudding (number two) which didn't really taste like it had enough Baileys in it and still wasn't as good as my mums. We winded up booking the cheapest tickets as they got pretty pricey so we weren't expecting to see all that much. However... we were pleasantly surpsied. Well, Niall was at least. Holy. Crap. Balcony seats= death drop. I couldn't believe how high up we were. I could barely move. And what to make it better but to have to keep standing up to let great big fat american's tourists passed...?! Again, I think we were the only British people there. I got over the height thing once the lights went down and I couldn't see the hundred foot drop to the ground below. We both really enjoyed the production... they even cut down on the stabbings by removing all weapons and using big poles. Wierd, but effective in a non-violent sort of a way.

Day three took in Warwick castle. Thankfully we saved ten squids just by being Uni alumni. Hurrah. We watched a rather lame knight fighting thing, more falconry including a mahooosive vulture, and wandered around alot trying not to get too sunburnt. I managed to find a few pressies for the family. There was a mysterious cash point too, in Warwick town centre, which on approach seemed to be tempting me with a huge wad of cash that some complete idiot hadn't taken out of the slot. It flashed "please remove your cash" on the screen but I was in shock, then quick as a flash it snapped it back up again. Man, it was odd... I mean who would go to take out £100 or so, and then walk away?!!? Nevertheless, I got money from my OWN account dammit, and left.

That evening, we were unsure of what to do, so we decided on going for a drive round the cotswold hills. We drove all the way to Broadway to see the Broadway Tower, and soaked up the amazing views before heading into Broadway village for a bite to eat.

Monday morning- we packed up ready to hand our keys back at ten, then drove off to Stratford again for a last walk around. We popped back into the Bear shop for another look, and Niall bought me Elfie the bear, who was rather expensive but totally worth it. He even got his own travel box. Our next stop was a National Trust place called Charlecote Park which although nice to look at, was slightly disapointing. We drove off to Kenilworth Castle next which was on the route home, stopping off in between at a little craft centre place where I bought two pairs of earrings. I thought I'd treat myself. Kenilworth castle is a cool place, all big but in ruins. I love ruins, they just inspire me somehow. I took lots of photgraphs while Niall read every plaquard of information available- not that I'm not interested in it's history though, I just don't want to stand about and read while there are things to look at. We had to set off back home at about four, neither of us wanted to go back home though. Still, it had been a nice few days away and the weather had been fantastic the whole time- which is pretty rare.

For some reason blogger isn't letting me add any more photo's and pictures, which is frigging annoying considering it's let me put ONE in! Piece of crap... I'll try add some when's it's not having a lame day.

Long Weekend

So last friday Niall and I drove down to Stratford Upon Avon for a long weekend away. It's the first time we've been away together on a mini-holiday so it was exciting. I took lots of pictures which I hope to paw through at some point and upload onto the old photoblog. No doubt there will be a longer post about my weekend away once I have the energy to remember it all and also pictures to accompany it. :-)

It's been a nice few days. I'm kinda out of other ways to describe it... it was just really nice to be out in the country, in the sun, absorbing it all. I needed it. Big time. I'm kinda tired, and the prospect of working the next three days is pretty dire, however, "Things" are on the horizon or in process:

• I'm in the middle of working on some sea life artwork which I hope to use for self promotion once I get enough money for more business cards and postcards.
• We're hoping to go back to Uni-ville this weekend to see ktp's degree show and have a mini reunion with people which will be nice.
• There's about three or four potential parties that I need to work out if I can go too and I also need to book time off work for my bro coming back from Japan for a few weeks in August.

Lots to look forward to, warm sunny days ahead... yey.

Yoinked.

You are 64% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care.Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

Yoinked from Ramzi's blog.

Bad Day

Bad days aren't meant to happen on Saturdays; they're for Mondays or Thursdays or something... not at the weekend. If today had been a smell it would have been ammonia mixed with rotting flesh and off milk. I won't go into details though key moments were- two and a half shopping trips, the absence of money,invisible pants, crowds and queues, another broken umbrella, tears, crowds, anger, puddles, and fatigue. It was just plain wrong all over.

I did spot Ruth-the-big-loud-mouthy-brummy-one-who-lost-to-that-robot-blonde-on-The Apprentice though. I think that was the highlight.

We were planning on going to Edwards in brum tonight, but after the day we've had and some girly stuff preventing the wearing of proper rock gear, we've chosen to stay in. Probably for the best I think.

Day Off

Today I have:

• Washed the grease covered pots and pans that Niall left from cooking Sunday dinner yesterday.
• Cleaned the kitchen thoroughly, again after Niall's cooking, and also out of fear of deadly diseases. Including the oven which had unidentifiable purple stuff on it.
• Cleaned and swept the kitchen floor.
• Made an anniversary card for my parents, and a birthday card for my brother.
• Repotted two baby houseplants and one cactus.

And it's only lunchtime.

This afternoon, I aim to start planning/painting the canvases to decorate the flat with. And/or start to paint the octopus that I modelled last week. I also need to think of what to cook for tea.

Ah, I love days off.

My Studio

You are invited to have a good nose around my spanking new studio, and privaliged indeed to be the seeing it before I actually start working in it and mess it all up. I've even labelled the good bits.


1. My computer, or the moniter anyway. Complete with Brandon Boyd Pirate wallpaper.

2. Wobbly Jack Skellington bobble head pen in stand.

3. My baby. Epson printer. I love it.

4. Jack Daniels drinks coaster. No idea how I aquired this, but I do believe it's from New York.

5. Comfy padded chair.

6. Camera/photography equipment and tripod nearby.

7. Picture of the gecko I made.

8. Jaffa cake character thingy toy.

9. Monkey. Always hangs around my computer somewhere but now sits atop my lockable storage box.

10. The recently renamed Jubjub, which my sister bought me for christmas.

11. Moose. From New York.

12. Scary Lady. Another New York purchase from one of the museums. Hand made in some far off country apparantly.

13. Dangly squirrel. Protector of my illustration postcards and cd roms.

14. Guiseppe. A regular around my computer; my friend bought me him from Italy, hence the name.

15. PVC horns.

16. Lamp with legs. of course. Though the bulb is broken at the moment and it's a funny little one that I can't get hold of.

17. Jack Skellington/Nightmare before Christmas toys from Japan.

18. Silly Storage heater but with the rather amusing name of Dimplex.
19. My cd's... much needed when I'm working away.

20a and b. Art materials storage. There is also loads of material stored under the desk and my fold away work table is hidden about somewhere too.

21. My business cards.

22. Disney toys. Nemo, Crush and a Toy Story alien should be on view.

23. The secret box.

24. That white thing is a clothes airer. (nowhere else to put it!)

25. Decision dice. VERY important. I have a yellow one with yes, no, maybe on... and a purple one with the options- eat lots of something, phone a friend, watch a video, surf the net, argue, and play loud music on it. Also here... you would find a scarab charm from Ru-Isu, a special funky stone I found years ago, a blue glass pig and a frog- guardian of my boom box wotsit.

:-)

Eurovision

I don't know about you, but this is my idea of a good laugh...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4906784.stm#finland

Finland are entering a "death metal" band for their eurovision song contest entry. It's nice to see a country with a sense of humour. The song sucks, of course, but I hope they win.

I'm totally going to watch it just for that.

Man, I love Finland.

On the Buses

I don't mind getting the bus to work. I like people watching; not in any sort of a wierd way, just like watching the passers by or commuters go about their lives. I find it interesting how all these different lives overlap for a few minutes, united in the need or desire to get from A to B.

There's a few regulars on my bus route:

The Happy Lady. She gets on the bus a few stops after me and she's always smiling and happy, even if it's chucking it down with rain. She talks quite loudly but it's in a more confident than brash way.

The Chewing Girl. Probably what you would call a chav though a slightly diluted version, and can always here her chewing on some gum even if she's at the back of the bus.

The Strange Trampy Man. I don't care if this isn't PC. He is strange and he does look like a tramp. He always wears the same coat, and smells funny and he stares at people on the bus. He doesn't look all there and I feel pretty uncomfortable when he sits near by.

The Art Student. Always with a different hair do every day, and those rather gay leggings underneath a denim skirt which is meant to look retro but just looks crap. She always reads the newspaper on her way in.

Those are the regulars. Just last week though, at any one time, there was the campest man I have ever ever seen, someone with some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder AND a woman in labour on one bus journey.

Fascinating.

One potato to rule them all...

There I was, on my lunch break at work, happily munching through my packet of salt and vinegar walkers crisps... and what should I happen to find...??

Only ...

THE EYE OF SAURON

I snapped it on my camera phone.



Remember. He sees all.