HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!




I know I'm a poncy Brit, but I feel it's always good to count the things I'm thankful for.

My relative good health
My parents, who never cease to surprise me
My beautiful wonderful house which I love to bits
The fact that even though it is a stinking job, it is a job that I have
My friends - each and every one of them
Muse
Matthew Bellamy
Matthew Bellamy's speech impediment
Shit money-grabbing TV like The X Factor
Really good pens
Hole punches
The NHS
Christmas trees
Jellybeans
The BNP - life is meaningless without some ignorant idiots to pity
Bonus.

I hope everyone celebrating has a great day :-)

How do I feel WORSE today than I did yesterday?!?!?!



Ugh.


RIP Patrick Swayze. Very sad.

=




Just sayin'.

So I finally saw Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince. ( Cut for spoilers, I guess. )

Time will tell, I guess. Still love PoA the most. Obviously.

1. I'M SO BORED.
   
2. I have lost my phone - hopefully it is at work.
   
3. I HATE not having my phone.
   
4. BORED BORED OH GOD SO BORED.
   
5. Obviously didn't go to Jas's birthday thing, was asleep for far too long and then confused half-asleep for even longer afterwards.
   
6. I'm going INSANE without my phone, this is ridiculous.
   
7. Did I mention I'm really bored?
   
8. Not having my phone is not aiding the boredom.

ETA: 4th part of United States of Eurasia *dies*

ETA 2: ABSOLUTE FLAIL. OH.

I was not a Michael Jackson fan. I've always enjoyed his music. Never been a fan. Never really hugely come down either way on whether he "did it" or not - although I've always been more on the "he didn't" side of the fence. Always felt a little sorry for him. But he has been there, all throughout my life, as pretty much the most famous person in the world. My mum used to own his albums on vinyl and play them constantly when I was tiny. One of the strongest memories of time spent with my real father is of watching the Black Or White video and being amazed at the changing faces. Moonwalking was a staple at school discos. The "What did Michael Jackson say to Pamela Anderson?" joke is pretty much the only one that I remember from childhood. Earth Song was this incredible video that I used to watch with an open mouth at the elephant getting back up and being alive. His life was just something that was always there. In the news. On the television. In the magazines. A One-Man Circus. And even in the present, the things he did and started were a part of my every day life. Not a day has gone by until he died when Suckhi and I didn't do Michael Jackson-isms at each other. We haven't since. She was a big fan. It upsets her.

So, no. I was not a fan. But hell, he was a part of my life. After I heard that he had died, I kept wondering why people were saying that it was such a sad loss for the music world, since I figured that it was pretty much a given he would never do anything again that would impact it much. But it's not so much a loss for the music world, is it? It's the death of a few generations' worth of childhoods, that he helped to shape the world culture of. I can't remember where it was (I imagine it was The Times Online), but somewhere I read an excellent article about that very point. Actually, wait, I'm pretty sure it was India Knight. Yes, here we are. She says it so well, better than I ever could.

Jackson’s passing means we are now officially old. Of course he was a musical genius and an extraordinary person at all sorts of levels, and so on and so forth. But for many of us he also functioned as a sort of figurehead — the pop star you grew up with and always assumed you would grow old with, you with increasing amounts of Botox, he with increasing amounts of looniness.

It isn’t simply that his death brought on a strong dose of intimations of mortality, but rather that — combined with the death of Fawcett, the last old-school pin-up — it marked the passing of an entire era.

And that's it, really. I don't particularly want to talk about him much anymore. I've had several rows with Jodie and Rory as to his significance and guilt/innocence. I'm all Michael Jackson-d out. And the world is different. There are not many people who could die and have that said about them. RIP.


ETA: And I knew this would happen, given the state of the UK charts, but check out the Last.fm charts.

I feel in an epic mood today. Today is a day for things of epic proportion. Let me soundtrack this:


Watch. Learn. Feel the Epic. Let it soundtrack your day.

</mental>

This is one of the best stories I have ever read:

Via The Times Online

Every week about 600,000 pieces of mail are unable to be delivered because they are so badly addressed or packaged, while 25,000 letters posted have only the recipient's name printed on them.

Anything that cannot find its way to the recipient goes to the Royal Mail's National Return Centre in Belfast, where 'address detectives' investigate the origins of the mail and try to track down who the package is for. Unclaimed items of any value are eventually auctioned off.

This is the only place in the country where it is legal to open someone else's mail. And some pretty strange things end up there...

1. Milk

A woman posts two two litre bottles of milk to her grandson each week, but unfortunately the address is incomplete so they are never delivered - arriving in Belfast without fail, and always slightly curdled. Despite numerous attempts to track down the granny's identity she remains elusive.

Can't you just picture it?

Grandson: Hello?
Grandma: Hello dear, it's your granny.
Grandson: Oh, hi gran, how are you?
Grandma: Well, my hip's playing up a touch but I'm right as rain otherwise. Your grandpa says hello.
Grandson: Give him my love.
Grandma: I will do, my dear. Did you get my milk last week?
Grandson: ...Yes...yes...got it as always...thanks...
Grandma: I know how you like your milk!
Grandson: ...Yeah...it's great...
Grandma: Well I'm sending this week's tomorrow, make sure you drink it all up!
Grandson: ...Yeah, will do gran. ...Thanks. Speak to you later.
Grandma: Goodbye! Love you!
Grandson: ...Yeah, me too... *hangs up phone*
Grandson: *to friend* That woman is obsessed with her make-believe milk. Maybe it's time we put her in a home.

You can read the rest of the weird posted items here.

Extreme friends cut. Of the most extreme kind. Same rules apply.

I'll be honest, this time round, most people fall into category D, and it makes me really sad, but I do just feel it has to be done. I'd like to thank everyone for having been my friend...it's not your fault I was such a crap one!

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

01. In movie trailers, when the deep-voiced man says: "THIS SUMMER", does he say "THIS WINTER" in Australia?

02. Do more people pronounce "hour" as "ow-er" or "ahr"? (i.e. two syllables or one syllable?)

03. How can someone think Dylan Moran is amazing and yet not have watched all of Black Books?

04. Would buttered toast strapped to a cat's back cause a hovering machine?

05. Why does KAAM have such a high-pitched girly laugh?

06. How the hell am I supposed to fit five days worth of clothes etc into a carry-on bag??????


The last one is the most important. I'm going to Florence! I'm going to Florence! XD I'm going to be out by about a month from the time-scale I gave myself to go in this entry, but still, I'M GOING TO FLORENCE!!!! Going from 10th-14th March with a stop-off in Pisa on the way. SO. EXCITED. Almost as much as I am for the impending visit of rastaban43. It's like Epiphany. Rusty-any. Heh.


I hate not having Sky One and having to miss new 24.


ETA: I also hate accidentally pressing 'enter' and posting before I've finished the post off properly.

Can't sleep. Too much stuff in head. The cat is sleeping. Why can't I be a cat?

The cat makes the strangest noises in his sleep of any living thing that I have ever shared a bed with.

So, naturally, bored, must do meme.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. Okay.

At the end, choose 16 people to be tagged. No.

1. I have a strange obsession with putting things on my head. Anything that can go on my head. I will put on it.
   
2. It's possible that I sing my sentences more than actually speak them.
   
3. And yet, I never sing in the shower.
   
4. I like to dip my lollipops in fizzy pop. Mmm. Sugar overload.
   
5. I can use my toes as fingers. Ooka ooka.
   
6. I have strange ambitions. My most recently fulfilled one was to meet an American lady called Rhonda.
   
7. The end of my nose is really squishy, and people (and myself) get quite addicted to pressing it. It comforts me. Me pressing it, not other people.
   
8. I can't eat anything that lives underwater that has claws, limbs or tentacles. *shudder*
   
9. Corn on the cob freaks me out.
   
10. Sometimes when I'm driving, I'll pretend I'm The Stig.
    
11. My favourite jokes at the moment are of the "How many X does it take to change a lightbulb?", with 'X' being a person I know and the answer being a satire of their shortcomings. Possibly mean, but so freakin' funny.
    
12. I work in and with finance, but I have no idea what any of the following: stocks, shares, bonds, hedge funds, futures, indexes (indices?), derivatives, commodities...are or do.
    
13. I was struck by a massive urge on Christmas Eve to get a fish. I've never seen the point of fish. Go figure.
    
14. One of the most amazing experiences of my life was laying in my bed, half-asleep, half-awake, conscious but not, looking out the window at the moon and stars with Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah playing through my headphones. It was such a relaxing, atmospheric, melancholic-mindblowing moment that I've never forgotten it.
    
15. There's not a lot that can make me happier than a cloudless starry night sky, a blanket, and excellent company.
    
16. I kinda have a weird crush on this guy.

I may read some more of Frenchman's Creek now. I can tell I'm going to fancy either a) the aforementioned Frenchman or b) William the servant. This is how it goes in a Daphne du Maurier book. Now why can't I stumble across a swashbuckling charismatic sarcastic and charming French pirate?

Right. Because I live in the middle of England and any man of the above description is, oh, more likely to be a complete and utter tosser.

Another walk in woods - I could get used to this! Today I went to Calke Park, where I encountered a frozen lake, wild cows, the most evil-looking tree you ever did see...and a girlfriend for Ben (the dog). Except he wasn't interested. Men.

And as requested by la_guinevere, I took my camera and got photos! ( Cut for images. )

Lovely, very lovely thing to do with a Saturday. I was walking for two hours altogether. Now I'm home with not much else planned, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. It's back to work on Monday - need to get something exciting in before then :-(

So, from yesterday:

1. Venture into town to try to take advantage of the fact that Zavvi is broke. - DONE. There was absolutely zilch to take advantage of in Zavvi and it was hideously crowded. Instead, I found half-price perfumes in Boots and bought two - Insolence (which I first bought two years back and absolutely adore, but it is pricey) and Inspire. I normally stay well away from celebrity perfumes, but this one is actually quite lovely. Citrus, rose and orange blossom, some of my favourite scents :-)


2. Back up my music in case of another computer freak-out deletion. - NOT DONE. I'm going to save this for Tuesday. It's likely to take all day.


3. Finish The Qur'an and The Other Boleyn Girl, which I decided to start re-reading last night. - NEARLY DONE. I'm over halfway through TOBG, nearly finished the shorter chapters towards the back of The Qur'an after starting at "Iron". I have quite a lot to say about it all, actually, but I'm saving it up until I've read some more.


4. Make a pie for my parents. If I could remember where the recipe for the best pie ever is. - NOT DONE. Not sure when I'll do this, as apparently they are making one of their own today for dinner. Maybe I'll make it on New Year's Eve as a stomach-liner for the evening ahead. It really is good pie.


5. So, find the recipe for the Best Pie Ever. - DONE. Found it!! :D


6. Clean out the big box in my room of which the contents are a complete mystery to me. - NOT DONE. I may do this later today.


7. Take Ben (the dog, the dog) for a long walk somewhere - possibly up to Tissington or Carsington. - NOT DONE. Am earmarking this for tomorrow.


8. Tidy my bookshelf so that it actually looks like a book/DVD shelf and not an explosion in a library. - NOT DONE. Like I said, it would be very possibly suicide to attempt this. If I get really, really bored I might do it.


9. Drive somewhere completely random. As in, I might just pick a place from the road atlas and go there. - NOT DONE. I was discussing the possibility last night with Greggy, but I'm not sure if I can justify the petrol costs, really. I probably won't actually do this. Unless I'm about to murder my parents and really have to leave the house.


10. Get hideously drunk at least once. - DONE (ISH). I got pretty drunk last night, I think that counts? Champagne, red wine and random rum. And I'm sure I'll tick the "hideously" box come New Year's Eve.


11. Purchase a 2009 diary from somewhere and putting it to good use. - DONE. Bought it yesterday! Not too big, a day per page, hopefully now I'll be able to actually keep track of what I'm doing.


12. Stalk Matthew Bellamy. - NEARLY THERE. Got the night-vision goggles, camouflage gear and the telephoto lens, now I just need the newspaper with eyeholes cut in it and the hat with a bird on it.

And now I bring funny and random (extremely random) photos from the past few days: ( Only a few. )

Y'know, I really think Starlight gets a bad rap. True, it's not extremely adventurous, but it's a lovely song. Along these lines, I have a Muse 2009 calendar BUT NOWHERE TO PUT IT. I need a nail. And a hammer. Hammer. Hammer-hammer-hammah sandwich.

Maybe I'll watch some Fawlty Towers.

I fear I may have become someone who has no idea what to do with their time when they are not at work.

To combat this, I am planning on, over the next week, doing the following:

1. Venturing into town to try to take advantage of the fact that Zavvi is broke.
   
2. Backing up my music in case of another computer freak-out deletion.
   
3. Finishing The Qur'an and The Other Boleyn Girl, which I decided to start re-reading last night.
   
4. Making a pie for my parents. If I could remember where the recipe for the best pie ever is.
   
5. So, finding the recipe for the Best Pie Ever.
   
6. Cleaning out the big box in my room of which the contents are a complete mystery to me.
   
7. Taking Ben (the dog, the dog) for a long walk somewhere - possibly up to Tissington or Carsington.
   
8. Tidying my bookshelf so that it actually looks like a book/DVD shelf and not an explosion in a library.
   
9. Driving somewhere completely random. As in, I might just pick a place from the road atlas and go there.
   
10. Getting hideously drunk at least once.
    
11. Purchasing a 2009 diary from somewhere and putting it to good use.
    
12. Stalking Matthew Bellamy.

Okay, I joke, I joke.

I have next to no intentions of tidying my bookshelf. It would be suicide by books.

I accidentally accessed www.thetimesonline.com today at work instead of www.thetimesonline.co.uk.

The difference (of what I read, anyway) was palpable, and, actually, sickening. Fair enough, I'd had one hell of a lot to eat and drink by the time I clicked on this link thinking that, oh, the good old Times had a strange looking story here. Obama doesn't bode well for abortion? Huh?

( What I found. )

A few thoughts, because it's Saturday and nobody wants to be thinking about this (well, Idon't anyway):

1. The first one - yes, and the average McCain supporter is a delusional idiot who carves letters into their face and makes up tall tales *rolls eyes*
   
2. The second one - fair enough, not too bad, it's just the phrase "Shame on you" that made my blood boil.
   
3. The third - those last couple of sentences. I just have no words.
   
4. The fourth - yes, women are so free to have s*x in the eyes of society that we have to spell it s*x. UNCLEAN. UNCLEAN. And the rest of it...just...oh my goodness. I THOUGHT PEOPLE LIKE THIS WERE MADE UP.
   
5. The fifth - evil abortion supporters. Mmm. Dead Babies *rubs hands*
   
6. And finally the sixth - if you get an abortion YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED CHILDREN AGAIN. EVER.

I'm certainly not all "woohoo, abortion is the bestest thing in all the world and is a valid method of not getting tied down with sprog" and as I've said before I really don't think if push came to shove I could ever have one myself...but crap. I almost feel like pretending to be that way in reaction to the people above.


ETA: I do like The List Verse, but this is kind of ridiculous. The top tip for preparing for a Depression? Buy a gun.

Am running slightly late for work due to waking up at 10am. It was blissful, but now this is stressful. Especially since I decided to waste even more time doing this:

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Extroverted, Progressive, and Intelligent

0 Cubist, -3 Islamic, -14 Ukiyo-e, -18 Impressionist, -3 Abstract and -3 Renaissance!

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Which I feel is pretty accurate. If I'm going to look at a painting I like it to be worth looking at. I really don't like Impressionism (apart from a couple of pieces). I adore pieces from the Renaissance or abstract/cubist works. Lots to look at and think about. I feel this post of mine is always worth linking to. It's about my favourite pieces of art, for those who haven't seen it. I enjoy looking at it from time to time. Pretty.

Okay, really need to dry my hair now.

Today I was very poorly. I managed to get an appointment at the doctors in the afternoon though, so I was allowed to leave work early in order to cure myself. Because I think everyone's pretty fed up with me dying at my desk now. Anyway, I saw a different doctor who told me that it's not my chest, but instead my sinuses which are infected. Which...well, yes, I have had extreme sinus pain and that...but what about the cough? The main source of all my woes? I know not. I now have new antibiotics, anyway. Which is good, because I decided I'd rather digest my food than take the other ones. Which did zilch anyway.

Katy, bless her, treated me to lunch at the Harvester, which was so, so lovely of her because I am so poor right now I don't even have two beans to rub together. I have a bean and a half. Well, actually, after having to pay for my new antibiotics I now have one bean to rub on itself. Boo.

So, to cheer myself up, I've decided to revise the old Pet Peeves list. Ah, talking about things that annoy me. A great way to cheer me up :D A lot of the list has changed. Some things no longer annoy me as they used to. Some new things annoy me far more than they used to. ( And all are under the cut. )

Fun! Much fun! XD


PS. Am considering blowing my whole bean on this. Gosh. I can't stop staring at it. Imagine. The purple. The bow. Oh.

Post.
Post Post.
Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post Post.
Post Post Post.
Post Post.
Post.

Why will it not center properly.

Yes, I can't think of anything to say, how did you guess?


ETA: All hail rastaban43.

01. What a stupid day. The systems were down until 2pm. 2pm. And yet we still had to sit there. In the end Ben and I just played noughts and crosses for about half an hour then went for a pub lunch. Ridiculous day.

02. I just spent fifteen minutes figuring out how to spell "onomatopoeia" *facepalm* You know how even when you spell a word wrong when Googling it, Google will generally throw up the suggestion for what you actually mean? Well let's just say it refuses to do this with onomatopaiea, onomotopeia, onomotopaiea and onamatopeia. Bad Google. Very bad. Also, bad myself. I never have troubles with spelling words. Never. Apart from diarrhea, which is for some reason a very tricky word for me.

03. I'm fighting a melancholy mood and I'm not 100% sure why. It is probably because it's getting so much darker each day. Showering in the dark is not fun. And before you smart people point out that yes, I could turn on the light: my bathroom window is huge and not frosted and I have an irrational fear of people walking in the fields at stupid o'clock in the morning and being able to see me showering. So, light off.

04. I wish this cough would hurry up and die. I seem to have given it to everyone at work. And yet it does not want to seem to leave me. I almost threw up on the way to work today because I was coughing so hard. Blah.

05. I need to decide what I'm doing for my birthday. Pleh.

06. How about a nice controversial DO OR DIE poll?

Poll #1270563
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 43

Cats or dogs?

Obama or McCain?

Iron Man or Batman?

ScOne or scon?

Harry Potter or Twilight?