The wonderful world of babble

Bride diary part 2

2009-05-05T18:32:00.002Z

Ok so what have I done lately...

Had my first dress fitting - I did not want to take it off. It is so beautiful and I cannot wait to wear it on the day. Now for the dilemna of whether to have a small veil at the back or not...

Chose my flower girl dress - well she chose it really. She is very excited to wear it so I know she will smile therefore she can have whatever dress she wants! Lol! However I must show my distress at the fact that shops seem to believe that if you are under 12 then you want a pink fluffy thing for a dress. I think at the age of 7 you know the difference between cute and fluffy, and proper bridesmaid!!

Gift list went live! Eeeek! This is undoubtedly the hardest part of the wedding planning process. It is so difficult to know what to put on the list and I hate expecting people to buy presents - I'd rather everyone just came to the wedding. However I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the people who have bought so far. I feel very very special and loved!

I have begun to make the favours - let's face it, they are more for my benefit than for the guests, I just love being creative and silly! This is what my whole wedding is going to be like. We also went through songs we could potentially have played in the evening. I apologise to our poor neighbours because yes we did sing every song that we read the name of or that popped into our heads, and we are not the best choristers in the world!

We have finally decided on our bible reading. There are just far too many good readings. We have decided upon the Song of Solomon to compliment the non-bible reading of Les Miserables. Woohoo!

This week brings the joys of Menswear measurements and Mother of the Bride fittings.

Diary of a bride-to-be

2009-04-19T20:06:00.005Z

Ok so to get me properly back into blogging I'm going to try to keep a weekly update of wedding planning as I'm getting married in 7 weeks and 6 days!!! I'm so excited and it's finally coming round after a year and several months of planning. I'm also extremely pleased as it isn't stressing me out at all - I've had so much fun planning it. Maybe it's because we aren't fussed about being "perfect" and because I don't care about being "traditional", maybe it's because my parents are easy-going about it and are just plain excited to be involved, or maybe it's because I know the real point is that it's a party with my family and friends to celebrate the fact that we are committing to one another to a life-long relationship that, whatever the wedding is like, is the most hard work but most rewarding thing of all. So bring on the multi-colours and the random activities (we have written a pub quiz and made kids treasure hunts) and let's see everyone smile, but most importantly bring on the rest of my life with the person that I love!

PS I couldn't post a picture of me in the real dress so here's one I tried on!

Hmmm

2009-04-19T20:04:00.000Z

So I finally finished the piece of work that's been doing my head in for months now. It probably isn't any better but I was so sick of it that I've given it back in again to get rid of it. So I say to my friend that I need a drink. She advises me to go for it. Then I walk into a wall and trip over the hoover. So I decide not to drink the alcohol I just poured!

That Christmas feeling

2009-01-10T15:15:00.000Z

So Christmas and New Year are over. Boooo! That means a long time until another holiday! Plus I've got to shrink my appetite back down which is never fun because all my Christmas chocolate is calling out to me. Still I need to manage those dress fittings! Oh what a challenging year I have ahead?! *Wink*

X Factor final

2008-12-15T21:06:00.000Z

No I am not pleased Alex won - she embarrassed herself crying and looked ridiculous standing there with Beyonce, who clearly just thought that Alex needed to grow up and sing properly! Yes she does have a good voice but she sounds like every other good female singer we have out there. My colleague has a conspiracy theory that JLS really won it but that the vote was rigged. I'm starting to believe there's something in it...

The X Factor

2008-12-06T22:17:00.001Z

Yes I am addicted to the X Factor

*does the X with her arms*

and I am absolutely gutted from tonight as I love Diana. And yes I cried when she didn't finish her song because the other ran onto the stage as did everyone else I know (the 2 others who watch the programme!)

And yes I have booked my tickets for the live show! Bring on 13th March 2009!!

Fratellis

2008-12-06T14:52:00.003Z

So apparently the Fratellis are now the band to mosh to, particularly during Whistle for the Choir... Oh and they are apparently the band to go and jump around maniacally to if you're a pre-pubescent teenager! Now don't get me wrong I do love the band but not the people who went to the gig. And to the sweaty blonde girl - no it is not ok to jump up and down on me and to slide your bum up and down my hip just because that's how you dance, because I am not a 13 year old boy who might enjoy that kind of thing.

What happens when you have an internationally themed birthday party?

2008-08-12T13:41:00.002Z

You get out the Polish national costume you have from 7-8 years ago.

Inevitably it didn't fit but being me I didn't try it on in advance. Hence in all photos of the event I am either sat down (with the skirt undone and the poppers popped open all down the back) or am wearing jeans and a shirt in an attempt to be a cowgirl - the best I could do at short notice.

That said I think the award for the most ingenious costume goes to my ex-housemate, who, having forgotten it was fancy dress, came in the only strange clothes she could amalgam - a dressing gown and PJs. When I asked where she was supposed to be she said

"a fictional place..."

"Narnia?"

"No, I'd be wearing a fur coat! I'm the Land of Nod". Brilliant!

Oh and the best costume there... the Irish leprechaun who made a papier mache top hat and bought himeself some green material and a sewing machine and made himself a lime green suit - full dinner jacket and 3/4 length trousers. He wore white tights and black shoes. He looked awesome! Took him 2 days to make.

This is what fancy dress is about! Oh and banging chopsticks on the car door!

Scatch

2008-07-28T14:11:00.002Z

I think it was called Scatch. Anyone else remember? Where you had a velcro bat strapped to your hand and you threw a ball to one another and caught it by the ball sticking to the bat? Anyway we got one out on Sunday. Apparently small children find it very difficult to unstick the ball from the bat. Even adults (well... me) struggled to get it off. But I think th eaward winning moment went to Charlie, who pulled the ball off after a great struggle... and promptly fell backwards onto the grass!

Don't forget the coriander...

2008-07-28T14:06:00.002Z

So we are sitting having a lovely curry...

Waiter: Ok Pilau rices...

Chorus of voices: Me

Waiter: Mushroom Pilau

Silence...............

L: Oh I think that was me, well I've got Pilau rice now, Have I take somebody else's?

Waiter: Well you may as well have both

L: Oh, but it's got coriander in it, I can't have that, I had asked for it without

So the mushroom Pilau remains on the table for the remainder of the meal, along with 2 other Pilau's

P: Where's my boiled rice? Oh well I'll just have Pilau

Waiter: Boiled rice?

J: Yes w ordered 2. Oh well hold one now, I think we have too much anyway.

At the end of the meal we asked for a doggy bag into which goes 2 curries and 4 rice.
Waiter: We have some extra Pilau's out the back would you like them?

J: Oooh yes please

We're having a rice party next year!

Articulate Fun

2008-07-23T21:05:00.002Z

The category is World:

T: Ok, Bridge over ...

L: Troubled Water (that oh so famous place!)

T: No... Bridge over the...

L: River Coy

T: Yes a river full of expensive fish, there is a great film about it!

Later with the same category...

L: Ok it sounds like a mixed breed dog

T: Mongrel... erm...

L: In the middle is On your marks, get set...

T: Go, oh Mongolia

L: Yes. The next one sounds the same but starts with a machine that takes a photo

T: Camgolia, Cameroon, Canberra

TIME

The answer was Cambodia

More spiders...

2008-07-18T18:00:00.002Z

So Tim has had to leave for work at 5 am every morning for the last 2 weeks:

"You can't go to work tomorrow, have a lie-in with me" I say, because tomorrow is a Saturday and the stupid course shouldn't run on a Saturday.

"I have to go"

"You can't, I need you in the mornings, you weren't here to get rid of a spider this morning"

"Where was it?"

"In the bathroom, on the floor"

"What did you do?"

"Sat on the toilet with my feet in the air"

"How big was it?"

"Massive"

"Was it smaller than a drawing pin?"

"erm.... maybe!"

Waiting for a phone call about placement is the worst feeling in the world

2008-07-17T13:37:00.003Z

Actually no, waiting for a phone call about your placement when your friend has already has hers which is an amazing placement is the worst feeling in the world because no matter how hard you try you just can't quite be 100% pleased for her.

A.K.A Jealousy.

Does that make me the worst friend ever?

Amendment 1

2008-07-16T17:47:00.001Z

I have already blogged a lie. It has not been over 2 years, it has not even been one! Lol! I feel better now!

Oh and my spider issues still exist - this time I got it with the milk bottle and then covered it with a piece of kitchen roll as a gesture of peace and goodwill!

I am still alive...

2008-07-16T17:41:00.002Z

Hello! Anyone still checking this?

I have realised how lame I have become and that I have not posted in over 2 years! Shocking behaviour. Well I am back and intend to post at least once a week - if I do not then you have permission to send me a tomato through the post.

My most exciting news at the moment has to be that I have 2 gorgeous ratkins now called Belle and Nala. Belle is adventurous and Nala is cuddly and I love them both!

Oooh exciting event last night - at the weekly pub quiz (yes I have become a proper old woman) there were police arrests - never thought a grandad pub could get so lively! And don't you just hate when you recognise someone and they are glancing at you like they know you but you just can't place them. Then 3 months later you eventually get up the courage to ask if they're who you think they are. Then after that I feel the need to wave stupidly to acknowledge that now we KNOW each other and obviously I wave stupidly at everyone I know.

I will get better at writing, I promise!

And the worst airport in the world goes to...

2007-09-23T10:36:00.000Z

Amsterdam Schiphol. The guide book states that "The spacious yet compact, one-terminal design ensures that everything is within easy reach and the signposting couldn't be clearer". Well it was certainly clear that we had to walk for miles and miles to get to where we needed to be. On arrival we had to walk to opposite ends of the airport 3 times to reach passport control, customs and baggage reclaim. I'm sure I'd done the marathon before we'd even got to the hotel! For departures the guide book then goes on to add "Schiphol is world renowned for its tax-free shopping: the scale and variety of goods are second to none and prices are only beaten by airports such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi." Of course you don't get to see any of that because you're too busy "queueing" at passport control for an hour. I say queueing, what I really mean is you're standing in a sea of people waiting to go through the one open passport office because there are no barriers and no queueing system and then you get through to the other side and realise that yet again you have to walk for miles to get to the departure gates which are somehow miles and miles away from the rest of the terminal. So glad that I could have a drink of water when I finally got to the gate... oh wait you're not allowed to take liquids on planes anymore so I have the choice of impoverishing myself by paying the ridiculous air fares for a drink or dehydrate slowly until reaching home. I chose the latter. No wonder I'm full of illness now!

2007-09-03T19:31:00.000Z

Gah it has been far too long since I last posted. How does time go so quickly. Owen tried to explain to me once how time is relative or something along those lines - I got lost in paying attention to the hair bobbles and paper clips!

So I have 2 weeks left at work, well less now and then holiday until my MA. I dont have any amusing stories to tell but I thought I would let anyone who is still checking for posts know that I am still alive! Oooh and exciting discovery today - they have classes in Birmingham to learn Regency dances - dances from the period of Jane Austen!!

On a similarly spiderish theme

2007-07-14T20:49:00.000Z

So I get home from work and open the front door to notice a huge spider looking up at me. I jump over it and slam the door and run away quickly. As I take my shoes off and put them on the pile (moving house chaos) another big spider runs out from under a shoe and hides under some others. I leap back and then another appears. This time I am prepared and smack it. 3 down, 2 left.

The doorbell rings and it's the plumber come to give us a quote for an electric shower. I open the door on tip toe trying not to be anywhere near the first big spider. The 2 plumbers stare at me in amazement. I quickly explain I cant go anywhere nearer as there's a spider. One of the plumbers bends down and says "Well it's dead now" - I assume from where I slammed the door - and he took it outside.

Tim and Mark get home and I make them search every shoe for the remaining spider which they take outside.

Please note: I am not a spider hater - I do not wish them dead merely wish them out of my presence, however, should one catch me unawares when I have no way of getting them outside or they are extremely large and no-one else is likely to be near me anytime soon then I have to end things. If you are a spider reading this please don't plague me for revenge...

They're back to get me

2007-06-13T20:19:00.001Z

Any of you who have regularly read my blog will remember I had a problem with spiders in teh bath a year ago! Well they're back with a vengeance!

23:00 hours - Getting ready for bed and a large spider glares up at me from the bath. I know he is thinking "Mmmm tasty flesh" so I run to get Tim to get rid of it.
23:10 - Tim comes in happily saying he has flushed it down the plughole (evil man - I do not like them but I do not wish them dead, much like big dogs). "You should've taken it outside, they climb back up the plughole", "No they dont", "Havent you ever heard of Incy Wincy Spider?", "That's just to scare children". WIth that and knowing I was right, I turned and fell asleep.

04:00 hours - I awake and decide to venture to the toilet. To my great pleasure and horror (it is impressive to feel both at once) I was proven right as the evil spider was back and grinning at me. I immediately woke Tim up to put it outside which he did and then we fell back asleep.

06:54 - The alarm beeped (I am quite anal that my alarm clock has to show odd minutes) and I got up for my shower. The second I got into the bathroom I noticed the new spider come to test it's evil scheme out on me, and yes Tim did have to come get rid of it!

Where do they go?

2007-06-06T20:44:00.000Z

I have just put down a lid... and it has disappeared. Where has it gone? It is not on the bed or on my desk, and it's not in the vicinity of where I have been sitting.It has not been knocked on the floor and I have not put anything else down which could have been placed on top of it. Hmmmm. Is there a world of missing objects that things just magically fly to sometimes? I hope it is a happy place full of strange and wonderful things. Or maybe objects are now rapidly evolving and growing legs and they decide to go awandering into the small cubbyholes of my room. Or maybe some small person, like a borrower, takes it quickly into their home under the carpet or in the skirting board - that would be exciting. Or maybe, just maybe I'm going a little bit bonkers...

PS I learnt how seedless grapes make new grapes today!

Kiddie time

2007-06-01T17:04:00.001Z

So for Nic's birthday we decided to retreat into our inner child and be ridiculously silly. There were sugar highs a plenty and by mid-evening we all had to resort to dinner to get rid of the stupidly ill feelings from all the sweeties (How do children eat so much rubbish at parties and feel fine?!). We played the cartoon theme tune game (to my horror no-one got Paddington and apparently only I in the whole world watched Trumpton!) and pass the parcel (Or rather chuck the parcel so I couldn't stop the music on any one person in particular). But possibly the best part (without sounding big headed) is my pirate cake.. look and admire!

Kids menu's

2007-05-24T19:37:00.000Z

I really miss being a child. You get fun and exciting things. So when I went for dinner with Mum, Tim and John the other day I took the kids menu and did the wordsearch and read out the jokes...

What whizzes along a riverbed on three wheels? A motor-pike and side-carp! I love this joke!

The jokes were all fish related apart from the last... What can fly under the water? A bluebottle in a submarine Surely anything that flies in a submarine?!

I'm frightened of going to work...

2007-05-16T19:10:00.000Z

... apparently the guy who sits opposite me keeps Nazi propaganda in his attic. Oh and quote of the day...

"Stalin isn't my favourite Communist".

Hmm maybe I should stop mixing with extremists!

Revision

2007-05-14T19:10:00.000Z

Yes it's exam time of year again and even though I'm on a working gap year, I've still been roped in. Still it is quite fun...

"Ok it's a London Borough Council" I say as I try to help Gill remember a case name "I live in the sea and I might electrocute you if you swim with me" thinking I was being quite clever in helping Gill to come up with the answer of Eeel..ing (aka Ealing)

"HIPPO!" she cried, then a look of realisation began to dawn "Oh no, hippos don't live in the sea"

"I was thinking more of what London Borough starts with hippo!"

Ballet frustrations

2007-05-09T19:34:00.000Z

Nic and I were happily watching Will and Grace, well Nic was watching, I was reading (The Three Musketeers - exciting!). Anyway Nic turns to me and says "What are they?"
"What are what?"
"You weren't listening were u, they said ballet terms"
"Oooh which ones"
"Hang on will, rewind... one of them was rande de jambe*"
"Well that means circle of the leg and can be done on the floor or in the air" - I start demonstrating. The clip then begins to replay and I hear the words 'I went to do a Grande Jete and ended up doing a rande de jambe'
Now I get really cross
"That makes no sense!! Nic a Grande Jete means a leap (I demonstrate cautiously in the living room)"
Nic begins to laugh "So basically they've got 2 words and shoved them together?"
"Yes"

I hate TV shows

* Please excuse my spelling

Other daily anecdotes

2007-05-05T11:27:00.000Z

Now the guy who sits next to me at work decided to tell us a little story...

Every month he buys his wife a rose from the florist across the road. A few months ago he was knocked off his bike in a road accident and broke his elbow (or something like that!). In the florist last month the lady said he should buy a stress ball to strengthen his fingers and muscles again. This month on entering the shop the lady enquired as to how the stress ball exercises were going...

"Oh I completely forgot about buying one" he said "but it's ok, I can go home and play with one of the dogs balls instead"

Big, black and hairy

2007-05-05T11:23:00.000Z

I was attempting to choose a picture for my desktop background at work the other day and a friend of mine came to have a peek. As we came across this one she exclaimed "What are you doing in that one?" to which my obvious response was a despairing "Thats a gorilla!".

So come on who else has mistaken me for King Kong?

The one with the chick and the duck

2007-04-30T20:27:00.000Z

Nic and I are great Friends fans, as any of u should know...

Now we have got our very own chick and duck! Only Tim wanted to destroy it right off and tortured the animals

Please note no animals were harmed in the making of this blog and chick and duck are all safe and well

Any lovers of His Dark Materials?

2007-04-28T13:02:00.000Z

This is the site for the new film, due out in Dec, with its rubbish new name The Golden Compass.

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

Anyway I am loving this - you get to find out what you're daemon will be. I am highly disappointed - mine is a whippet!

Still Tim's was a moth called Meida!

Excuses Excuses

2007-04-28T12:56:00.000Z

There are many things I have wanted to blog this week. Unfortunately I have leant my laptop to a friend since hers decided to die whilst she was finishing her dissertation. Now that I am faced with a blank page all anecdotes have slipped my mind. Never mind, in the space below please imagine witty comments (or my rather poor attempts) and giggle.

Thank you

Things that I've done in the past week that you should never do in front of people

2007-04-28T12:48:00.000Z

1) Walking to the pub for a quiz I pointed out to Nic a tree - you see I bought Tim a remote controlled aeroplane for Christmas and now that it's sunny it's time to test it out. Only then people* get it stuck in a tree and kind strangers who are really tree climbing monkeys get it down for you - Anyway so Nic and I were discussing the finer points of the lovely tree when *SMACK* the lamppost walked into my path. Suffice to say I was limping with a very red (embarassed not painful) face all the way to the pub and back.

2) I'm doing pretty well at hiding my craziness at work, or at least I was until this week, here's a few things to remember not to do:
- Spill your cup of water all over your desk
- Spill your cup of water all over your desk a second time, the day after the first
- Talk and argue an argument all by yourself with other people watching
- Curl up on your chair with your legs all over the place whilst typing at your computer
- Go on a training course where you are then made to push each other over: being the newest it's never fun to push people who've been there longer around!
- Go on a training course where you are then made to moo at each other

*One person named Mark get it stuck several times. No-one else accomplishes such a feat

Easter Adventure 2

2007-04-14T20:45:00.000Z

Tash's birthday (Saturday): We all look so pretty!

Stowe Landscape Gardens (Easter Monday): Jo and I spent most of the day chasing ducklings!

My Easter Adventures

2007-04-14T20:26:00.000Z

Shugborough (Good Friday):

We learned the blacksmiths had a new blacksmithette. We recreated the "This is Sparta" moment. Fortunately Nic hadn't seen the film so she didn't know she was abou tto plunge to her death. Then we made friends with the baby animals!
Oh and we saw the widest tree ever - it didn't fit in the picture!

Warning sign

2007-04-11T19:30:00.000Z

Have u seen this! We are all going to be running under a blogging bureaucracy. Gah! Lol!

Results

2007-04-01T18:40:00.000Z

I've been going through my stat counter and have been looking at the things people google to find my blog...

- The Animal Fair lyrics
- alex garland +the coma +what's in the suitcase (?????)
- Weird questionnaires (for which I'm top)
- Tim curry
- Fuerteventura love making (what on earth????!!!)
- Revision and Illusion in Under the Volcano
- trickster in "green grass running water"
- Naked Mario sexing with naked Princess Peach

I'm so confused!

What do u do on a long Sunday afternoon?

2007-04-01T18:35:00.000Z

... You lay a treasure hunt!

Nic and I set a lovely trail of clues for 2 of our housemates who needed a break from work. The clues were particularly great. Here's a few examples...

"Only a true princess could have such delicate skin as to feel a pea through her bedsheets so we named her Lordess"

"To find the next clue just sing your heart song, tap your feet and you cant go wrong"

"Go outside there's a horrible sky, come inside and there I will dry"

Bonus points for working any of them out!

Google frog quotes and this is what you get...

2007-04-01T18:32:00.000Z

“It is a truly wise man who does not play leap frog with a unicorn”

“I'm not a diva. I'm a tadpole trying to be a frog.”

“When an elephant is in trouble, even a frog will kick him”

What kind of tree am I?

2007-03-28T19:50:00.000Z

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) -- strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give but doesn't necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Kirst's fact of the week (1)

2007-03-25T15:01:00.000Z

Now a lot of people don't like abbreviating Christmas to Xmas as it seems like you are cutting Christ out which is the underlying reason for the celebration. However I have recently discovered that the abbreviation has a long history. In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter X (hebrew for chi), is the first letter of Christ (Χριστός). Since the mid-sixteenth century Χ, or the similar Roman letter X, was used as an abbreviation for Christ. Also the X symbolises the cross on which he died.

All For One...

2007-03-24T19:10:00.000Z

Eeeeeekk! The Northern Ballet are awesome! Hannah and I have seen some of their great ballets: Dracula, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Hunchback of Notre Dame but this time was arguably the most exciting. Ok so it didnt involve me jumping out of my seat and screaming but it did involve me leaving the theatre jabbing my pretend sword at anything in site! Though I must admit I didn't manage to save the poor guy who when half stepping on to the bus was flung into the gutter by the bus driver's keenness to be away! Hmmm anyway here is a picture!

The one with the Fame Academy rant

2007-03-15T20:56:00.000Z

WHO IS VOTING FOR TARA? ARE YOU COMPLETELY MAD? SHE CANNOT SING, SHE IS OUT OF TUNE AND IS EXTREMELY ANNOYING.

Sorry out of capitals now. Seriously she may have feeling in her songs but you can barely call it singing. She makes noise. How can you possibly compare her to Tricia and Shaun. Colin should have beaten her, he was robbed by you idiots. Please please please get some sense and vote Tricia to win

2007-03-14T21:09:00.000Z

Look here at where my blog ended up!

2007-03-10T11:43:00.000Z

Hello all, I realise its been a long time! I've just been sooooo busy!

I've just been to Edinburgh and celebrating birthdays and oh so much. Here are some highlights!

We had Talie's birthday where we hung out with The Eagles of Death Metal!

We had Gilly's birthday where we all looked beautiful at The Jam House!

And then came the Edinburgh adventures - a beautiful Indian hotel, chilling like paparazzi snapping Princess Anne, having Radish-esque fun with silly photos (though Tim was getting a little fed up with me by the end and seeing all the fabulous sights!

The one with the pencil

2007-02-23T15:32:00.000Z

So I go away for a night, only to Warwick, not even very far*. As we pull away from the drive to head back to Birmingham I casually say to Tim "It doesn't matter if we've left anything behind as we'll be back next weekend, I think we've got everything anyway, we didn't bring much".

On arriving back in Birmingham Tim decides he wants a drink so as he was about to suggest I had some Malibu he remembered hiding behind the sofa in Warwick. Hmmm, we hadn't brought that back. A little later Ali asked if I had a sleeping bag that she could borrow for the weekend. Course I have... if it was still in the car as neither Tim or I had carried it in. Hmmm, we'd left that too. A couple of hours later and Tim's phone beeps... "Has Kirsty left her make-up behind"... the answer would be yes. Not doing too well at all really!

Last night as we were lying in bed, it suddenly dawns on me that we are supposed to be going to Panic! tomorrow night (A club in Birmingham). I exclaim to Tim that I will not be going as I simply cannot go out without make-up on...

Tim: "Why not?"
Me: "No girl goes out to a club without any make-up on, it's just not done"
"But it'll be dark, no-one will notice what your face looks like"
"Oh thanks a lot!"
"No, oh ok, well how much make-up do u need, I'll buy you some more"
"Do you even know how much make-up costs?"
"No but well you wont need much, just mascara?"
"I'd need eyeliner at least"
"Well u can just use a pencil cant you?" (This was in a serious tone)
"Course not!" Giggles begin.

Other news on my front is that I've got onto my MA course at Birmingham Uni. In 2 years I will be a qualified Social Worker! Eeeek! Oh and I've had my hair cut off!

*If you ever go out for a meal in Warwick, do not go to the Indian Restaurant King Babas as they really messed us around and were incredibly rude.

The one with the best song ever

2007-02-16T12:13:00.000Z

I've always said I don't want to see Queen without Freddie Mercury but thinking about it I probably would if they played Glastonbury or something, purely for this song, clearly the greatest song ever: No-one but you (Only the Good Die Young)

Here are some of the lyrics:

A hand above the water
An angel reaching for the sky
Is it raining in heaven
Do you want us to cry?

And everywhere the broken-hearted
On every lonely avenue
No-one could reach them
No-one but you

One by one
Only the Good die young
They're only flying too close to the sun
And life goes on
-Without you...

And now the party must be over
I guess we'll never understand
The sense of your leaving
Was it the way it was planned?

And so we grace another table
And raise our glasses one more time
There's a face at the window
And I ain't never, never sayin' goodbye...

One by one
Only the Good die young
They're only flyin' too close to the sun
Cryin' for nothing
Cryin' for no-one
No-one but you

The one with the Valentine

2007-02-15T15:43:00.000Z

Now as you all know I am not a fan of Valentines. I like the idea of there being a day dedicated to telling others that you love them but I don't believe you should have to spend like £3 on a card and up to £100 on dinner, especially when you should be doing things to show people you love them all year round. In fact, I'm going to make that a late New Years Resolution - to tell my friends/family how much they mean to me more often. Anyway so for Valentines, Tim and I kept things simple. We made each other cards (actually I gave him 2, one that was homemade with frog stickers and pictures of love heart sweets and things and one that was free off the internet that u custom built yourself so it had a picture of us on it and looked all professional, plus it was completely free! Here is the one he made me...

The written bits are lyrics from songs that we've been storing up over the past 6 months! I've been teaching him the names/tunes of all the best bands at the moments, particularly the many I went to see between July and Christmas last year!

My response was "You could've used more colour" but there's clearly a lot of thought there!We bought each other a DVD player ready for our house next year. But when John mentioned that you could buy a dozen red roses for £6 in Tesco (clearly the place to shop) Tim also bought me this beautiful Orchid (orchids and lilies being my favourite flowers but no-one ever buys me lilies seeing as they're funeral flowes!).

For dinner Tim was responsible for a take-away main course which ended up being Chicken in Cheese and Pancetta sauce with mashed potato and veg (again from Tesco finest!) and I did dessert - chocolate brownies and here they are in all their glory! They are rather gooey so I have had to leave them in the fridge a while. If you come to visit soon then I will give you one (bribery to keep friends!) but they are extremely bad for you - they include 6 eggs, 500g of caster sugar and goodness knows how much chocolate, but I don't care because they're delicious! It turned out that take-away and me cooking dessert early worked in our favour because from 4pm Warwards Lane was without water!

We whiled away the rest of the evening by playing LOTR trivial pursuit, clearly we are so romantic!

Ok so as for the snow, I didn't build a snowman. But I did see a really cool snow Buddha! It was very impressive, unfortunately the only picture I have is on my phone and I can't get it off onto my laptop as yet!

The one with all the snow

2007-02-08T09:22:00.000Z

So the snow has at last arrived and how do us British react... Well we'll curl into a ball and sleep, all the schools are closed and trains are really struggling! Ah well!

Zebedee is no longer lilac, I feel he may need a new, more snowy type name. I only hope he is huddling with the nearest little car for warmth. Maybe he's met a new girlfriend.

Anyhoo I thought about maybe going to make a snowman but after last years attempt (Picture below) I think I'm going to wait for more snow!

It doesn't really show quite how much snow there was but just remember whilst making the snowman we were often knee deep in snow, well I was... don't know how we found the children again!

The one with muffins

2007-02-06T17:04:00.000Z

I've been baking again!

This does not do them justice though! I love the smell of freshly baked muffins!

The one with all the mistakes

2007-02-05T14:24:00.000Z

Now I cant blog about this weekend without blogging some of the comical errors made (mainly by me!)

Apparently I don't know the difference between tablespoons and teaspoons! Yes a good thing when cooking for 6 people! Tim and I were measuring out herbs and spices ready for the curry cooking to begin. Or maybe I should say I was measuring and Tim supervising. It was only when I announced that I was putting 5 tablespoons of Cayenne Pepper in when Tim leapt in and stopped me thinking that was a lot of pepper. Turns out that tsp and tbsp aren't the same thing. I think it was the 10 onions I was cutting meant I couldn't see the recipes properly!

Then began the game of trivial pursuit!
What was the number of the overture by Beethoven (then a bit more giving more details)?
Tim shouts out "The 1871 overture" overriding my whisper of "The 1812 overture", the obvious answer. Everyone just stared at Tim in disbelief. Anyone else ever heard of the 1871 overture?
Which fictional dog wore a detectives hat (or some form of hat I can't remember)?
Mum - "Top Cat". Lots of giggling ensued.
John who had kind of missed what we had been saying - "Sorry can you repeat the question", the question was duly repeated and then in all sincerity John gave an answer he believed was right - "Top Cat". The answer for anyone who's interested was Huckleberry Hound.

Last night Tim decided it was about time I met his work mates, well there ended up only being one there but lots of his mates too. We all went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and drinks before the Superbowl. Halfway through somone says "What's that piece of paper you get at a funeral?"
"The last rites?" I venture forward thinking I'm being quite clever.
Lots of giggling begins, apparently the Last Rites is what you say before you die, it would be quite hard to have them at a funeral. Tim will never take me anywhere again!

The one with the spending money

2007-02-05T14:15:00.000Z

So at about 9pm on Friday evening I decided I was going home and set off in Zebedee for the weekend. Somehow by being at home I managed to spend more money than if I'd just stayed in Birmingham! But it was definitely worth it!

1) The Bra Shop! I never knew there was such a great underwear place in my local area. Any of you want to buy some decent underwear (particularly bras) at a great discount then take a hike down to the factory shop in Desborough. I won't tell you what I bought on my blog but if you want to know more then just ask me sometime! Mum, Tim, John and I went together. I looked around the shop, turned to Tim and said "If you want to sit in the car thats fine" - I've never seen 2 men run out so fast. If you stuck your head out the shop you saw about 20 other men sitting in cars waiting for their loved ones too!

2) The cool big warehouse thing in Corby! Now Corby isn't exactly the best place to waste away a few hours but I'd go back here. They sell everything at discounts, and I mean everything. From The Magic Roundabout cuddly toys to sofas and dining room tables, and what was most exciting was electrical goods and games! Hurrah! I bought the LOTR Trivial Pursuit and yes on playing the game I realised quite how much of a LOTR geek I am and proud of it!

3) I decided that since I am now a Masterchef I would cook a curry for my Mum, John, Auntie and Uncle. I served Dopiaza, Rogan Josh and Pilau Rice from scratch, Tim made some Bombay Potato (with a mix I would like to add) and we bought some Naans. My family were all pleased apart from the burning sensation in everyone's mouths!

The one with the birthday

2007-02-02T17:34:00.000Z

I have just realised that we have just passed my blogs first birthday! So hurrah!

The one with the curry and cheesecake

2007-02-02T12:30:00.000Z

I decided to learn how to cook...

So last night I made my first ever homemade curry. Properly, from scratch and everything! Fair enough it was only Chicken Tikka Massala but I thought I did very well. Above is the picture from the recipe book but mine looked pretty much exactly the same, only with rice and mini naans. Oh and I didn't put the bowl of yoghurt next to it! Or the leaves on top. It took me a grand total of an hour. Woohoo!

Oh and this is my cheesecake attempt after Tim has broken it by trying to transfer it from the foil to the plate, and obviously after we'd tried some! It was delicious!

And after we'd finished eating my oh-so-great meal what did Tim say?

"Oooh I'm going out for a nice meal tomorrow for lunch. It's an all expensive Chinese at Dragon BBQ (a really nice restaurant we went to last week)".

Great way to put a girl down after she's spent 2 hours making a delicious 2 course meal! Lol!

EEEEK Edinburgh!

2007-01-27T10:48:00.000Z

Eeeeek I'm going to Edinburgh and stayin in what looks like the coolest hotel ever!!! I'm going to be an Indian princess!!

2007-01-25T09:54:00.000Z

Well the brain work is over. Was not difficult in the slightest. Apart from when you watch your fingers twitch slightly you don't know anything is happening and my brain has emerged from it fine. I have lost none of my limited brain cells! Hurrah!

2007-01-23T18:14:00.000Z

Ok so I'm back from aforementioned scientific experiment though I've only had part one so far! In fact it wasn't quite the brain surgery I was expecting. It involved moving my arm slightly to aim for a target you can't see because the goggles hide ur eyes on the 3rd beep! It's all beeps and clicks! And what did we establish... that I have a low threshhold - 33%, the lowest they'd ever seen, which basically means I have a thin skull! Thin but strong! Part 2 comes tomorrow.

PS If anyone is willing to help Owen with this then he really needs everyone he can get especially males. So if your're free for a couple of hours during the next few weeks please let me know so I can pass it on. Ta xxx

2007-01-23T14:39:00.000Z

I receive this from my friend...

I am currently running a fascinating project at the School of Psychology using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to study the role of the cerebellum and superior parietal cortex in sensory-motor coordination. The data collected will form the basis of my thesis.

I am looking for volunteers who would be happy to spend a couple of (paid, £5 per hour) hours helping me out. If you would like to find out more please reply to this Email and I will send you more information.

... Naturally I offer to help. I am just off to meet him now but am a little worried what I've let myself in for! I'll keep you posted!

Explosive!

2007-01-23T13:16:00.000Z

So Tim and I were watching Hollyoaks and merrily waiting for our Stew to cook. Gill and Mike had just come down to start their dinner and Ali waves a cheery goodbye as she goes out to dinner. 30 seconds later and she was back hammering on the front door. We all go running to see what the matter is to discover smoke and horrible smells were coming down from the fuse box - now I know I have a distinct lack of electrical knowledge but this is surely not a good thing. *Click* and Mike has quickly turned the power off. I called the landlady whose response was to swear, call out to her husband and say she'd call us back on the landline.. I quickly added that it would be slightly difficult seeing as we now had no landline! A few minutes later and an electrician called my mobile repeatedly asking me what the problem was, I repeatedly answered that there was smoke coming from somewhere but we couldnt tell which bit - I may be stupid but there was no way anyone on earth but an engineer could work that out! So after a lot of faffing he came out to see for himself, only on arrival to determine that we needed to contact Npower to sort it out. Obviously with it now being 8.30pm we had no means of getting hold of them as every line we tried told us "We are open between 9am and 5pm, please call back within those hours". We eventually got hold of National Grid who apparently don't deal with electricity and wouldn't help us. WHen we finally got through to an electiricity supplier the friendly chap on the phone kept mumbling "bear with me".. I can only guess he was new, then I got the great line "Are you Mrs Marshall?", "Erm no we are six students living here". Finally he decided to send an engineer out saying "I would just advise you to turn off your power which you have done which is a very clever idea and to stay away from the box as it may blow up and hurt you" because obviously we'd all been sitting underneath it staring at it just in case! Ten o'clock came and the engineer finally appeared amidst our games of Articulate and woohoo we had power. I'm still slightly scared and keep rushing past the fusebox as quickly as possible. I just wonder that if it blew up when I'm in bed, will it go through the wall and still hurt me?

Articulate

2007-01-21T10:05:00.000Z

Paul's turn -

Picks up a card...
"Ooooh dunno - pass"
Picks up the next card...
"Ok it's somewhere near Spain I think, an island"
"Tenerife, Ibiza, Gibraltar, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote..." etc etc
"Time's up"
"It was Ayres Rock wherever that is..."
Amongst fits of giggles we ask what the first card was that he passed on...
"Madrid"

It's a small world

2007-01-18T16:13:00.000Z

So I was sitting in on a voiceover on 'Shootout!' and was introduced through the window to Tony, the guy doing the voiceover who I could just about see through the reflective glass and gave a little wave. About an hour later when he emerged from the little VO cubby hole we started to chat and I realised the bloke standing in front of me is the dad in Hollyoaks, you know the one who works in the Launderette. And yes I admit I do enjoy watching Hollyoaks and try to watch it everyday, so yes I am excited to be chatting to him. He then starts chatting about his current storyline and I quote the annoyingness (there's a proper word for that isnt there?) of how "they always make me look like a dickhead!" Teehee!

Teeheehee!

2007-01-16T15:49:00.001Z

Look what I did!

2007-01-07T15:35:00.000Z

It's been a whole christmassy month since I last blogged and I don't actually have anything much to say really except Happy New Year!

Although there are a couple of quotes I need to add...

At the Radish christmas dinner, as tradition goes we ended up playing games. Quote of the evening goes to Samwise for the question 'Things a doctor would normally say...' , as Jenn and Hannah were doing the traditional "Say aaahhhh" and things, at the top of his voice Sam shouted "Right I'm going to stick this in my mouth now". Priceless!

Also one final thing...
You're scaring my ovaries!

Ow!

2006-12-07T16:03:00.000Z

When I sit at my desk I for some reason feel the need to sit on one of my legs with my other leg pulled up against my body, foot on the edge of the chair next to where my bum is perched on the first leg. It's comfy and cosy as I'm all in a little huddle. This unfortunately means that when I stand up I wobble a little due to the lack of blood in my foot that I've been sitting on. As I just stumbled out of my room I fell towards the wall of the hall opposite my door which I always bang into. This time though there was a spider crawling across it, so in a desperate attempt to miss both the spider and the wall for once, I somehow leapt back and smacked into the wall by my door. i just can't win!

Rich!

2006-12-04T14:19:00.000Z

According to this website...

I am the 690,173,539 richest person in the world!
I'm in the TOP 11.5%richest people in the world!

And according to this...

I am in the 37.17% richest people in the UK.
There are 21,484,615 people richer than me.
There are 36,315,385 people poorer than me.

Give it a go and see where you are!

2006-12-04T10:19:00.000Z

I was on Points of View yesterday! Hoorah! Hands up who saw it!

Admittedly I did nearly miss it. I was on the phone to mum when in the background I heard John say "Anything good on tv tonight?" to which my first thought was Points of View. Oh no I'd forgotten! Mum then said "well my taps has just started recording so it must be starting". I ran up to Lucy to announce to her that my starring moment was soon to arrive and ran back downstairs to my tv. Just as I got there Terry Wogan (yes Tariq the guy who is not a singer or an actor but is on Eurovision) was talking about Eastenders and then it went straight to the comment I was reading out! It was most strange. I immediately ran back up to Lucy's room and she was just reaching for the remote to turn her tv on! She wasn't the only one who missed it by seconds!

Posh dresses and christmas tunes!

2006-12-03T15:49:00.000Z

Yep, last night was the night of the Charity ball. I had my hair cut and wore a dress and I didn't drink or eat too much, the photos still aren't too impressive though!

After our free transport to The Pavilion in Perry Barr we were faced with a tough choice... Mulled Wine or Orange Juice. With a big Christmas tree and lots of Christmas music everyone was in a very cheery mood, especially then when dinner was served... a yummy pasta salad, bread rolls. boiled potatoes and turkey. Yum!! And the pudding - there was cheesecake, or chocolate gateaux or apple pie and cream. I opted for the chocolate, good choice as the apple pie was cold! Then came the band who were awesome and the DJ who annoyingly kept pressing repeat on certain parts of the Cha Cha slide so that it went on for ages and everyone was jumping one way or the other for absolutely ages!! Still I'm definitely not a student anymore as the yawning began well before midnight and I didn't get home until 2 - way past my bedtime!

Why do I look such a mess and so distant?! This was taken at 7.30PM!

Jenn and I finally managed to catch up after approximately 4 months despite living 10 mins apart!

Does no-one else know this dance? Is it really just a Northamptonshire thing!

Advent

2006-12-01T09:31:00.000Z

Woohoo! I've officially declared it Christmas now. I've started my advent calendar therefore it is allowed! I had a little white chocolate reminding me that "Santa is on his way". This reminds me of when I was little - I was convinced I'd seen a shadow of Santa's sleigh on my ceiling, little did it occur to me that there was an attic in between my ceiling and the roof and also that a shadow would not go through the roof for me to see it. Still my presents were in the sack at the end of my bed and Santa's boots (dad's wellies) were in the fireplace so my mum kept up the pretence that I had indeed been lucky enough to have woken up with Santa still on the roof!

Anyway back to the present... I've also done the majority of my Christmas shopping and started writing my cards. Plus I've been to the German Market, thats always christmassy. I think Tim was slightly embarassed by the girl hanging at his arm and skipping all over the place. He also wouldn't let me buy anything fun, so I had to make do with aniseed sweets. But I was allowed my dinner of a huge hot dog and a nutella crepe. Yummmmmm! Not quite the mess of Greenbelt where I scorched my arm as the milky way chocolate ran out of the crepe and up my sleeve!

The Zutons... again

2006-12-01T09:20:00.000Z

This time in Wolverhampton with Dave and a rather hyper/no-real-way-to-describe-it Andy! On arrival we were given small questionnaires to do in return for a free drink which after a small debate over whether we should give the pens back we went to reclaim...

Dave, Kirst and Andy all hand over their envelopes with questionnaires and pens in...

Barman: "WKD, Red Stripe or a pint of pop" (Who ever says pop anymore?!).
Dave: "WKD red please" (He promptly received a blue one)
Kirst: "A pint of diet coke please" (Partly due to driving and partly due to the desire to not put weird blue subtances in my mouth)
Andy: "Make that 2 please" *bursts into hysterics so Dave and Kirst edge slowly up the bar away from him*

We move back into the main room and I plonk myself down on the floor. Dave and Andy warily join me. I proudly produce my pen that I managed to not give back and promptly lost it to the 'students in need of pens'! Then the support band came on. They were ok but I remained on the floor just to ensure I had energy for the Zutons.

Then they came on and were great as ever. Opening with 'Why Wont You Give Me Your Love' and ending with Valerie. Their amazing instrumental in the middle of the set and a break where they all moved to play in a small square of the stage together and their worship of "the smiley guy on the front row of the balcony" made it a brilliant gig once more.

Shame about queueing in the car park for so long before a man came and pointed out to us that we were queueing the wrong way and so we turned round and were out within a minute!

WCHP

2006-11-21T21:12:00.000Z

So I've just had a fab weekend in London and made some awesome new friends! Here are some photo highlights...

Ok so this is where we were in London, and incase it needs clarifying it was Marble Arch!

This is Talie's wedding dress on a road called New Quebec Street (she plans on buying it in a few years when she books Edinburgh Castle for the wedding, then all she need do is find the man!)

And these are the photos of all my new friends (though I don't have one of Sir Jeremy Isaacs!)! I miss them already!

There's Gerard, Diana and Claire, Lisa and Team History Geek (with a random girl on the right who I don't know so if anyone could enlighten me please do). Emily, Talie and I are currently putting forth our idea for a new history show in which we are three blonde presenters providing a look at the Political, Military and Social (my area) history of various countries round the world. Jack has declared himself Producer! Now all we need is a Commissioning Editor... wait thats what we should've been doing at the Cabinet War Rooms cocktail reception, not eating the canapes and drinking the free wine! Oh well, maybe next time!

Sometimes putting your foot in it does help!

2006-11-21T16:41:00.000Z

So at work today we ran out of milk and cups. Yes I know pretty silly when there is a Tesco next door but even Tesco had ran out of milk. Anyway we couldn't get any more milk or cups from the canteen and it ended with the high up boss going into the canteen to force the Canteen Manager to give us milk. Then I was ordered to the front cafe to get a hot chocolate...

"Hi can we have a hot chocolate for post-production please?"
"Certainly"
"We have no cups left round the back now"
"Yer we don't have many, we don't have any milk left"
"Yer we don't have much milk, our boss had to go and force the canteen to give us some"
"Yes I know, I'm the Canteen Manager"

Ooops! Still he then proceeded to give me 50 cups to tide us over until our order comes in tomorrow morning which Karl couldn't get when he asked for them earlier. Clearly my stupidity is endearing!

GBH

2006-11-20T14:50:00.000Z

So I found out what GBH is the other day. Apparently it means Grievous Bodily Harm and not General Bad Harassment as I previously thought...

MUSE

2006-11-20T08:47:00.000Z

Nothing much to say but Wow!

I have to blog this...

2006-11-10T18:54:00.000Z

Just one question... Why?!

Proof that I do still have a life!

2006-11-08T15:27:00.000Z

Ok so what have I done lately that isn't a gig or work? Well yesterday I went to London, I even made a new friend if only because fate meant that I sat next to the same man on the 9.30 am train from Birmingham New Street to London Euston as the 3.10 pm train from London Euston to Coventry! This did result in the fact that we actually chatted for a long part of the journey home and even abused each other over a friendly game of Sudoku rather than just the annoyingness of giant newspapers. I mean what is the point in having a giant newspaper that to read you have to hold miles away from you in someone else's face?

Hmmm. So yes what else have I done? Aaagh I went to a thrilling evening of egde-of-your-seat fireworks at Claire's Gran's house last night. It was so exciting no fireworks will ever compare - I mean who else would have a Catherine Wheel nailed to a tree with a saucepan that when lit doesn't spin it merely explodes never to be seen again? There was a flash of light and a huge bang and then nothing but smoke and silence. Eventually the stunned silence was broken by "Jim are you ok?", we all had cartoon visions of a slightly charred Jim walking out of the smoke towards us or standing up, his face covered in mud from being blown onto the floor whilst making his escape. But somehow in the dark and smoke he had managed to get behind us with no-one noticing. Oh and of course there was the lovely smell - the bonfire consisted of burning a eucalyptus tree, why does no-one else but me like the smell?!

Warning! Gig blog!

2006-11-03T13:49:00.000Z

So Dave, Nic and I went to see The Feeling on Wednesday and yet again they were awesome. With an opening of a male Queen-esque barbershop quartet singing version of Fill my Little World but no that wasn't their opening song. The set was awesome and I was filled with pride when Dan asked "Who was here last time we played here all squidged up in that tiny room" and Nic and I (along with about 5 other people in the room) shot our hands into the air and bounced up and down.

Then came their cover song - Video killed the radio star by The Buggles (why does no-one except Dave and I know the name of the band?!) which suited them perfectly. Don't know how many bands could pull it off but they did it.

And the Encore we could only think of one remaining song - Blue Piccadilly. But how would that fit the norm of 3 songs in an Encore? Well they broke tradition and just played the one. But looking back we've realised they didn't play Kettle's On or Same Old Stuff. Still we've seen them before and no doubt will see them again so we'll see them performed. Of course they'll be forced to play those songs at Nic and Dan's wedding!...

Wooo it's not always me who gets it wrong!

2006-11-03T13:45:00.000Z

Tim: "I need to get a poppy but I haven't seen one being sold anywhere"
Me: "Yer me too but everyone seems to be wearing one"
"Yer and it's remembrance day on Sunday, the 5th"
"What?"
"Remembrance day is... Oh no it's not. I got confused"
"Hahahahahahahaha". Yes Tim the boy who did a Medieval and Modern degree purely on the two world wars (with a little bit of imperialism) doesn't know the date of remembrance day.

Ps Can anyone tell me where I can get a poppy?

2006-11-02T09:48:00.000Z

Yesterday I discovered that a pay cheque is in fact a pay cheque and not a pay check! When told I should know that having worked in a bank, i simply asked why? I was never paid by cheque. My salary went straight into my account. Therefore I feel it was perfectly logical to assume that a pay check was when you received your pay slip and salary and so could check that your pay was correct. Hmmm maybe I've always just lived in a bubble

Sense of humour

2006-10-31T06:34:00.000Z

Clearing out my grandmas house on Saturday, mum and I realised we share a sense of humour no-one else quite seems to.

Going though the things in the kitchen we came across a little box with a thermometer in which we both stared at for a minute and then looked at each other... both thinking that we dare not touch it since we didn't know where it had been - after all it was my grandmas and she had been rather ill. John didn't seem to have any qualms about picking it up though and took it straight out the box. Clearly he wasn't on the same wavelength which gave us a slight giggle. However, nothing quite as funny as finding the instruction manual

"1. Place in fridge or freezer and do not touch for 12 minutes"

Yep it was not a body thermometer but a fridge one. Personally I was hoping to use the quote from Madagascar, you know right at the start of the film, where the giraffe gives the zebra his first ever thermometer. Well if you haven't seen it you can guess where the thermometer had been!

Ageism

2006-10-22T17:25:00.000Z

In a conversation last night I realised that Tim is rather misguided when it comes to ages...
Me - "Do you think that one day when we're old we'll still be together with you wearing like brown trousers and breeches and me in a flowery dress?"
Tim - "No fashions change so I think we'll be wearing the kind of thing that is in fashion when we're 40"
"40?"
"Yer I think people stop changing their clothes at 40"

So to everyone out there who is 40 or over, thats it, you're not allowed to buy anymore clothes and you have to live in the one's you have for the rest of your lives!

Last blog gig for at least 2 weeks!

2006-10-21T10:54:00.000Z

...and the weirdest gig it was!

We thought it a bit odd that the gig was in a theatre and everyone was properly seated. Then the compere (or so we thought) came on and read what sounded like a joke, but was quite long winded and certainly not funny. He then continued and we realised the first support act was actually a poetry reading and quite a few confused looks were being exchanged!

Then came support act 2 - The Last Town Chorus. Definitely worth a listen, especially if you're a fan of Cara Dillon and the likes. Being an American band I was waiting for the familiar 'H' in Birmingham but clearly she was well trained and I was most impressed that the 'H' was missing! However, she did leave us with a puzzle - she went round about 10 Tesco's looking for something (the something she didn't tell us) saying that it was something she couldn't get in the US or is at least local to us. So an idea as to what the mystery thing could be?

When the Last Town Chorus had finished, the fire curtain came down - yep a thatre performance with a real theatre interval! So what did we do... had tubs of ice cream! Yum! I don't think Tim was too impressed that my half of the Sticky Toffee tub had all the syrup! Teehee!

The lights went out, the curtain rose and the noise of the crowd was hushed with anticipation! Until we realised there was a big screen at the back of the stage which we couldn't see due to the huge speaker in the way. Dave very kindly leaned over away frmo us so that he could see the screen and had to keep doing so at my request throughout the whole act. I think the guy next to him thought Dave was trying something with him! But anyway on the screen was what looked like a walking penguin (does anyone know if Guillemots look like penguins?), apparently later it changed to a child with a speech bubble and foreign words coming out. And then the weirdness really began...

I don't really know how to describe their act so I'm just going to list some of the things that went on and you can imagine them in any way you wish!

Now I was pleased when I saw fairy lights twinkling everywhere, because as we all know I do love fairy lights (thanks to my wonderful housemates who bought me some for my birthday - they are lighting my room up right now!
There was also a minute or so of bubbles which, though rather odd for a gig, were quite beautiful
The Guillemots decided to display the use of as many instruments as possible ranging from a mandolin to a tapsteele (sp.) and at the start some sort of laser instrument where it makes a note when you put your hand through a laser. But I think they took it a little too far when they started using what looked remarkably like a hairdryer. He even got out a loudspeaker at some point
And do the Guillemots really sound like a band you should headbang to? Try telling that to the guy who stood on the right with the weird instruments!
At one point the female in the band decided to start shouting "You don't turn me on" approximately 15 times before the song then resumed, I personally couldn't see the relevance
And the point at which I burst into giggles was when two women walked onto stage, dawdled around for 30 seconds and wandered off again. I thought they looked like they were wearing muslim dress and Tim thought they looked like monks. So goodness knows what they were doing. But I think that's the point when I decided that everyone else in the building must be part of some sort of cult that I didn't belong to...

But all-in-all I do think the Guillemots are worth a listen!

Pure Idiocy

2006-10-21T10:51:00.000Z

I got locked out of the house this morning. Purely my own fault of course. I just didn't think about picking up the bag I'd just packed and put down on my bed whilst I put no a jacket. Why would I want my purse and keys and everything at work?! Have to say a big apology and thanks to Gill for getting out of bed and coming downstairs to let me back in!

Gonzo on tour

2006-10-16T11:14:00.000Z

Yes I know what you're thinking... What on earth is Gonzo on tour? Well it's the name of the tour of Jet, 747s and The View and we saw the opening night at the Barfly on Friday.

First there was The View and I was most shocked when 4 lads looking about the age of 13 walked onstage. Above is a picture of one of them - do they really look old enough to be there?! Also being from Dundee (as Nic pointed out) I didn't understand a word they said, but I think they were enjoying themselves! I really liked them anyway and am definitely going to listen to them more - so give them a listen.

Then came 747s who surprised me - I thought they'd be just an average support band but actually they were really good!
And who could not love the funny hat?! Though does it compare with Orson... I don't know! But they did have a multi-talented bassist who played piano and sang too! How exciting!

Pictures of drumkits has also become our latest trend so here's one. I also have a picture of Jet's sparkly drum set but blogger is being rubbish and isn't putting the picture on so will post that shortly! Still Jet were amazing and i only got one bruise from Are You Gonna Be My Girl so am mightily impressed. Nic too got banged once but that was on the head - everyone now picture a cartoon red bump shooting out of her head. It was exactly like that!

Do you wanna go to the seaside? I'm not trying to say that everybody wants to go...

2006-10-12T16:36:00.000Z

And here's another gig blog. So ok my blog is turning into a music review site! But oh well! Wednesday night Nic, Ali and I saw The Kooks.

Apart from the initial horror of them taking my banana off me at the door when searching my bag (I mean what was I likely to do with a banana? Oh and they missed my little chocolate biscuit frmo ASDA - it's like they want me to get fat and not be healthy) there were no problems.

Forst came the support bands. Cat the Dog (why would you ever name your band that?!) who were actually quite good despite the bad name though I don't particularly fancy telling people that I listen to cat the dog - I get enough strange looks as it is! But i was particularly loving the drummer having his little wind machine to make his hair flow out behind him like a model! Then there was Larrikin Love who I really like but I don't know why I know them - I have quite a few of my songs on their laptop but where they came from I've no idea! Still I really like them so all is well.

Then came the Kooks opening their act with the above lines (Yes our psychic capabilities have gone to pot but we figure thats allowed seeing as the Kooks did a random set order of almost the album order), and yep they finished their act with a song I hardly know! How random! But it was good nonetheless and their big three songs didn't fail to impress. I think the most impressive moment was when Luke hit his head on his microphone! Awww how cute!

How 'bout a five-star happy meal?

2006-10-10T10:34:00.000Z

Yup another gig. Orson this time. And they were fantastic!

So as we stood waiting for the support act to come on (again they did not announce themselves and we were left guessing but as they were particularly bad I have no desire to find out!) Nic and I predicted the timings of the support act and when Orson was to come on. Going to so many gigs we figured we were now experts in this field. Alas we were wrong... who comes on stage at a quarter to anything though? Surely you could wait the extra 15 mins and come onstage on the hour?! And since we paid little attention to the rubbish music we were most bewildered when the bassist changed from being female to male and back again at random intervals. Ah yes the band were rotating we discovered, and were rather relieved.

Then came the time for Orson. The crowd waited with baited breath as the Intro to Bright Idea began and crept on and on. The anticipation grew... "They can't draw it out too long", yup we gto to having a conversation as the intro went on and on, dont get me wrong, it was brilliant but I do have a short attention span. But my excitement did bubble over when yes he was wearing the hat! He even took it off half way through and left it off!! And just to prove our theory from All-American Rejects wrong he pronounced Birmingham correctly. Only once mind before the 'h' started creeping back in but we were mightily impressed!

Then came the big test - could Orson pull off a cover song? Well what did they choose... No not a normal modern song you'd expect Orson to sing but Dionne Warwick's 'Walk On By' and it was brilliant. They didn't attempt the motown style (was she motown?!) but kept it to their own style and it suited them really well.

When it came to the Encore Nic and I were trying to guess whether they had 2 or 3 songs left. There was happiness (obviously the opening of the Encore) and No Tomorrow (clearly last to be played) and yes there was the mystery song in the middle which I cant quite remember what it was! The memory of No Tomorrow endures with the whole crowd being rallied together with the do do dodooos. If you don't know which bit of the song I'm talking about then shame on you!

The evening was completed by a quick exit as we discovered a new stairway and door!! Don't ask me to describe where it was though!

Notes on my life

2006-10-07T07:55:00.000Z

Ok so the time is 08:49 and I've been at work for 49 minutes. Yes I made it at 8 despite the party last night in which someone (dont worry Talie, I wont tell anyone who you are) passed out on her bed being sick whilst others were making stupid errors (yes me, I can never hide it) and mistaking E45 for a drink - no I didnt drink it, I was just worried Tash was going to knock it over and kept jumping to save it! Oh well!

I need to add that the comment on my birthday blog was made by Mr Dave himself (the guy dressed as Edward Scissorhands), though he little remembers it, being drunk when he made the comment hence not using his name!

Ok how many people know what MPG is? I didn't know and this provoked another "You're completely stupid for not knowing" look from a certain boy who wont be named here. Well I suppose on thinking about it I'd have worked it out but really...

I don't really have anything exciting to blog about. I go to work, I come home and sleep. Though I did have a day off yesterday in which I went to GTV and supposedly trained new editors - really I just had a chat and then went shopping! Eeeek! 4 dvds for £13. Was most pleased! And yep 2 of them were Tim Burton! Be prepared for some blog gigs this week - I am going to 4 in the next 9 days! Teehee!

It's 5:22am

2006-10-03T04:31:00.000Z

...and i've been at work for an hour now. Still there's some benefits to being up early... I just can't think of them yet. Well I suppose you could count that it stopped the nightmare of a giant dead snake in my sock whilst I'm in a car which is sinking. And well I do have my pass now. Also it meant I got to park in the Mailbox car park which I thought was rather exciting! But is it better than being curled up sleepily in my nice warm bed? I'm not so sure. Still at least I can havbe the TV on and on whatever channel I so wish. So what am I watching...? Sky news

21st

2006-09-30T20:45:00.000Z

Something I have neglected to talk much about is my 21st. Well what can I say? There were breakdancing gorillas, children getting being rescued from toilets and lots and lots of make-up! This can only come from a Tim Burton themed party and a Watts family barbeque

Presenting Edward Scissorhands and Shock

The Corpse Bride

The spider and glow-worm from James and the Giant Peach (and yes the glow-worm is a female character!)

The headless horseman from sleepy hollow, complete with homemade giant sword

A gorilla from Planet of the Apes

The radishes... can you guess who they are?

The girl from Edward Scissorhands, a random dead body, Edward Scissorhands and the Joker!

My stupidity is not restricted to work

2006-09-30T20:34:00.000Z

Tim and I sat chatting as we do and the conversation turned to kissing.
"Who first decided that it would be fun to push your lips up to someone else's?"
"I don't know, I suppose it is a bit odd"
"Well do you think that people think it's nice because we've grown up seeing other people do it or because it actually is nice"
"Well I suppose it is partly sociological but then it's a common thing isn't it. Like you see chimps doing it"
Unfortunately Kirst's temporary deafness has kicked in...
"I don't know, I've never particularly watched shrimps"
"Shrimps?! I said chimps"
The hysterics kick in and through muffled laughs we continue
"I did think it was a bit odd that you knew about that"
"Well chimps are quite like humans since we came from them"
"I'm sorry, I've got the image of two little pink shrimp sweets attempting to kiss each other"
I think Tim then gave up and just watched me chuckling with tears coming down my face

I love my job!

2006-09-30T20:22:00.000Z

As I wandered along the corridor at work to my lonely little edit suite I noticed the runners (yes we have people to bring us free hot or cold drinks and go out to get us food if we so wish) gathered in a huddle with a strange assortment of objects including a large t-shirt and a dvd. Through quizzing them on said objects I discovered to my great job that there was a celebrity doing voiceovers in the building and that was it, the hours of waiting between logging each tape were no longer one's of boredom and reading, they were one's of excitement and anticipation. Yes I got to meet Sir David Jason! Eeeeek! However, the most communication we managed was smiling at each other across the corridor. I decided I could not bear to be the annoying fan who bugs you for an autograph or the person who when trying to be cool (in the words of Honey) "is going to fail just 100%" so I made do with my smile and the enduring image of him yawning and being all chirpy that I skipped off home!

The lushness of my day, however, was not enough to prevent me from making my usual errors:- The phone at my workstation began to ring bearing the name S.Reilly ...
"Hello?"
"Hi this is Stephen, who's this?"
"I'm Kirsty"
"Hi Kirsty, is Peter there?"
Peter who the hell is Peter? I uncasually ask the nearest person to me in the room and find to my horror that it is in fact my boss - the head of post-production and I've failed to make the link between Peter and me knowing him as Pete!
"He was here a minute ago but he's not now, sorry"
"That's ok, I'll catch him on his mobile. Thanks"
A couple of minutes later Pete walks back in and says
"Hi Kirst, did the phone just ring for me"
"Yes he said he's phone you on your mobile"
"Ok great, who was it"
"Stephen Reilly or someone"
"Kirsty thats the boss. You met him the other day. Clearly he made a great impression..."
Oops. I hadn't got a clue!

Welcome to my world

2006-09-26T17:02:00.000Z

So all of my housemates are finally here and we are a complete house! To celebrate we decided on a trip to Frankie and Benny's - as a group we should never be allowed out!

This is us (with the exception of me and including Ali's Mike) ready to leave. You can see the weirdness oozing out.

Now this may look strange.. and infact it is rather strange that Gill and I are unable to put our fists to our temples and put our arms in a straight horizontal line (fists facing forwards, I know you're all trying it now). We have decided it must be a ballet thing and that we have mutated our bodies strangely so that only we cannot do it! Other things Gill and I struggle with that Gilly's Mike clearly doesn't include holding a 6pint full milk bottle at arms length (pushing it out from the body... yes we tried) and holding turn out in an arabesque (grrrr whats the point in 16 years of training?! and yes we did have a ballet class after the meal where Ali, Mike and Tim slowly learned how to develope and do an arabesque)

Also this weekend Tim and I played hairdressers (yes we are mature). He had me clipping his hair (or whatever men call it) in a rather nervous fashion and yes I did get upset when I got it wrong. Still he insists it's good and you can barely notice where I did it wrong. I blame the mean clippers. Anyway, so then came Tim's attempts at doing hair and I must say this is a rather impressive first attempt at plaiting! Don't you agree?!

But (just for u Hannah...)alas, the weekend is now over and I am back at work. I do actually quite enjoy it so I don't know why the dejected tone is coming through. I suppose it's the long hours - next week I have 2 12hour shifts to look forward to. Also be prepared for some moaning tomorrow - Gill and I are attempting Advanced ballet... Eeeeeek

"Your hands are shaking cold, your hands aren't mine to hold"

2006-09-23T09:55:00.000Z

Yes Nic and I went to see the All-American Rejects last night at the Academy. Now when doors opened at six, we didn't arrive until just after 7 so we began to ponder whether or not we'd missed a support act if not the support act. And when Nic pointed out that she didn't happen to know what the All-American Rejects actually looked like and we realised I didn't either, we knew we were in for a bit of trouble. When a band came on at 7.30 amidst big cheers we began to wonder whether this could possibly be them or not... Thankfully due to the darkness of the Academy (and everyone focusing on not letting the disgustingly sweaty people rushing around touch them) no-one noticed our red faces of embarassment. I'd just like to say that support bands who don't clearly announce their names are rather irritating because it doesn't matter how great you play, without a name there isn't much chance of listening to you again - so if anyone happens to know the names of who supported last night then please tell me!
*(big cheer to whoever it was that posted the name of the band who supported Panic! on Nic's blog)*
Anyway we soon worked out that it wasn't them as no-one was singing along particularly loudly and we didn't recognise the song! When the Rejects came on we definitely knew about it! Though I have to say that Tyson Ritter is a rather random person, possibly even more so than me! He had the men grunting like cavemen and sang a well rehearsed jingle about the "waterman". Goodness knows what he gets up to in his spare time! And no matter what accent he tried to speak with, the H in BirmingHam gave his americanness all away! But never mind - we had a great time on what we didn't realise was the opening of the new tour! Awesome!

Momentary Lapse

2006-09-22T12:55:00.000Z

So it's a lovely sunny day, Tim and I go for a walk along the canal to sit sipping water at Brindley Place. It's all going well and I haven't said anything stupid for a while... perhaps I can last the whole lunch hour without being laughed at. It just wasn't to be...

Walking back towards the Mailbox (yes I know, almost back at work) we realise we are walking on the wrong side of the canal and need to cross over the bridge, there is however a small part of canal, which I challenge Tim to jump over (last time I challenged him to something he did jumped into a really cold plunge pool to prove he was "manly" and I told him it didn't impress me!). This time though, he was on the ball and refused point blank to do it, he did however try to show me that he could jump far enough by doing a running jump on the path... didn't have quite the same effect. So then I challenged him to jump over the entire canal and got a glare at me for suggesting it. The conversation continued...

"I did jump over the Thames once"
"So a tiny bit of water in the ground then"
"Shhhhhh"
"Well I jumped over the Pacific once... it was on a plane"
"Kirst you flew over the Atlantic on the way to Brazil, not the Pacific"
"Oh yer because the Pacific is above the Atlantic isn't it"
Tim began to make some sort of noise which I can only assume was the despair of whether to laugh or cry. Eventually laughter took over..
"Oh no the Pacific is the other side of America isn't it, I cried in desperation"
The laughter continued so I did a sad face and refused to hold his hand. That soon stopped the laughter.
"I'm sorry, you did know really, obviously you just got confused. At least you did really know"

Hmmm well at least I've managed to convince him that I'm not a completely dumb blonde, I suppose that realisation will still come though

"... full plie tut tut..."

2006-09-21T09:35:00.000Z

And the tutting is back! Unfortunately a horrible mass of... well I don't know what to call it really, I suppose beard gone wrong is the best way to describe it... anyway that has come with it. Still the focus on that didn't last long as the familiar feelings of stretching my body and casually placing it in the most strange of positions became a constant again. I mean who decided that bending your leg, putting it at 90 degrees behind you and spinning on the other toe looked attractive... I'm certain I looked paricularly un-classical and elegant like those oh so beautiful bolshoi ballerina's I saw for my birthday. I sometimes let my mind wander as if I were one of those dancers onstage, that is until I catch my eye in the mirrors (which are everywhere grrr) and realise I made the right choice with uni!

Anyway I do need to amend a comment I made earlier. Ali was in fact correct - it was not the amusing comedy of reality tv ballet, it was much better. And you should all watch it. For once the difficulty and technicality of ballet has been recognised and it is being put to the great use of helping kids to deal with abuse and other problems they have faced in their lives. Tune in - the link is in one of my earlier posts. Ta ta xxx

FRATELLIS

2006-09-18T18:44:00.000Z

5.50pm - Nic and Kirst clamber into Tim's car for a lift to the station

6.01 - Nic and Kirst walk into Selly Oak station only to discover there are no trains, only bus replacement services

6.06 - Cranky old bus pulls out of Selly Oak station. Kirst amuses herself by working out that the boy dressed as an Indie Rocker is listening to the dreadful Lily Allen

6.25 - Nic and Kirst are reunited at New Street and excitedly begin the walk (down the wrong road) to Digbeth Barfly

6.37 - Nic and Kirst join the queue before being told to queue the other way down the street

6.42 - Nic and Kirst are found squeezed into a small gap between the wall and a van

6.58 - Barfly man announces doors will be delayed half and hour due to *technical difficulties* - that oh so dubious of excuses which could really mean *having a pint so cant be bothered to open the doors to you lot yet

7.14 - Barfly girl comes round announcing "All over 18s please have your ID ready so we can give you a wristband". Hmmm slightly odd. "Wristbands are so that you can get one drink at a time from the bar" posing the question of 'Does that mean under 18s aren't even allowed water?'

7.22 - Kirst is viciously attacked by a Daddy Longlegs seeking to implant itself on her top

7.25 - Daddy Longlegs disappears into the sunset after several shrieks and odd glances

7.30 - Doors open and Nic and Kirst enter right to the front against the barrier

The Rumble Strips were really good thought the most unlikely looking group of lads. I would urge you to listen if you get the chance. Unfortunately we were unable to get their plate list of songs. Then came the Fratellis who were awesome! I never thought I'd really get into them but now I have! Big thanks to Nic for taking me with her special text ticket!

9.57 - Nic and Kirst exit the Barfly, Nic proudly grinning and holding fast to her Fratellis song order

10.17 - Nic and Kirst slouch on the pavement waiting for the Bus replacement, unable to board because the driver "doesnt start work til half past ten"

10.45 - All passengers bound for Selly Oak are forced to walk from Frankie and Benny's despite the ridiculous bus driver then driving on to Selly Oak station. Still all worth it

** See Nic's blog for pictures and details of the Fratellis**

Confusion

2006-09-14T19:56:00.000Z

Phone rings, Kirst answers
"Hello?"
"Hello can I speak to a Mike please"
"Sorry Mike's gone out for dinner"
"Doesn't matter, any Mike will do"
"Erm, we only have one Mike living here..."
"Don't be silly you have loads of Mike's, Ali's Mike is always there isn't he?"
Realisation begins to dawn in Kirsty's brain
"This must be Kirsty"
Finally clicks
"Ah this must be Gill's dad"
"No it's Tony, you must learn my name"
And so it continued!...

I wreak havoc wherever I go!

2006-09-14T17:58:00.000Z

So we all know that I'm accident prone and things just sort of "happen" around me! Well today was no exception. Having been bored and house-bound for 3 days I decided it would be ok to venture into town. On visiting La Senza (selling some good bra's for £10 all you ladies reading this) after queueing I reached the till only for the receipt printer to start beeping - a printer which I hasten to add is supposed to be unable to jam! So anyway the lady whilst hitting it hard with her hand (a procedure that we all carry out with printers when they wont work, even though it's guaranteed not to help!) offered to handwrite me a receipt. Personally I don't think my name is hard to spell but yes she got it wrong so I had to correct her, then she ticked the box saying I'd paid by credit card instead of switch, so again I was the annoying customer who pointed out the mistake. All the time this was going on there was another lady almost throwing the printer across the room - I've never made such a hasty exit.

Still nothing could compare to the trains. With masses of people in front of you cramming onto a train and another train due 5 minutes later what would you do? I decided to wait for the second. It again was delayed but only by a few mins so we all got on and sat down. Ten minutes later and we still weren't moving when everyone stood up and got off. Having been listening to my Ipod I had no idea what was going on so had to stop the nearest bloke to ask, "the train is now only going to stop at Longbridge", so off I got and went along with everyone else and the 5 o clock rush to platform 10 where we were told the next train would come from. Then bing bong went the friendly announcer "the train approaching platform 11 is the 17.15 train to Longbridge, calling at Fiveways, University, Selly Oak..." so off we all trooped back to our platform to get back on the train home. I ended up leaving New Street half an hour after I should've done, if I'd got on the first train! Tut! Still not quite as bad as Ali, Nic and I on the way to Wolverhampton where we delayed due to the absence of a driver! Goodness knows where he'd gone!

Anyway I made it home in one piece just in time to be held captive in the kitchen by the conversation of our landlord. But hurrah! our fridge freezer is now fixed and as of 10pm tonight will be usable again. For those of you who don't know it broke last week and I having moved here on Sunday have had to live without food, or with the basic rations I had in the cupboard which involved meals of pasta, pesto and bolognese sauce. Yum! So anyway back to my day...

This morning I found myself watching a programme on Girls Aloud with Gill and Mike. Well we have discovered that Gill and I have the same taste in women - clearly Cheryl is the prettiest, then Nadine, then Kimberley, the blonde one and finally the ginger one. Neither of whose names I can remember (which I'm actually pleased about seeing as I know a shocking amount of Girls Aloud lyrics). Still Mike disagrees. The thing that was left in my mind was 'does the ginger one know everyone thinks she's the ugliest?'

The other burning question that came out of Mike and I watching the music channels was where does the fashion of wearing an oversized basketball shirt come from? Mike kindly put forward the suggestion that Gill and I start wearing our leotards around and see if that catches on...

Gotta dash off now - there is the Ballet hoo programme on...
5 minutes later and I'm back, now well educated in the world of the wigmaker backstage at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. I am very much looking forward to ridiculing those on the reality tv programme on in a few weeks where people will be learning Romeo and Juliet to perform! See here for more details
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/ballet_hoo/index.html

The other exciting news is that on Sunday night I am off to see the Fratellis live, courtesy of Nic! Woohoo! Now to listen and learn their album...

I am back!

2006-09-11T15:07:00.000Z

Hello my faithful babble readers.

My blog is recommencing its existence having been dormant for the summer. There have been many activities and events happening in my life over the past couple of months which to tell you would require a huge blog so here is a quick summary:-

I have a freelance job in post-production at the BBC
I am living in Birmingham
I have a great boyfriend
I've been on holiday and had a brilliant time (check facebook for photos)
Greenbelt festival
My 21st (also see my facebook photos)

So anyway now I look to the future - expect regular blog updates!

Ta da for now xxxxx

Sleep deprivation

2006-06-16T15:53:00.000Z

I have been starved of sleep for too long. If seen please return me to 223 Tiverton!

A quick summary of events:

Filming carnage queueing
Fit4Fun day
Drama village tour
Carnage
Football
Games in the sun

And a distinct lack of sleep!!

Quick poll here please.. How tall do you have to be to be officially a giant? Also Rachel is a fat peach apparently (her words not mine!)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

2006-06-12T09:39:00.000Z

So I appear to have lost my need to constantly blog, or maybe its just that now the exams are over my time is so much in demand that I haven't had time to write! I think the absence of my room aided this quite well (stupid boilermen). Still I am back in my room now! Hurrah! With holes and horrible things in my bathroom (boo)!

I will give a quick summary of my antics since the zoo - several houseparties to which I had been invited to them all (though I forgot so thought I was crashing one of them), a few bbq's, a lot of pizza, vale festival - so much fun, I love live music and I've got a plastic duck swimming in my bath because of it (what more could a girl want), learning HTML, GTV filming (woohoo car washing in little clothing - Zebedee is shiny and happy once again and yay we got to see our Warwick friends!), and I suppose I should mention Grad Ball - I loved wandering round and bumping into everyone I knew! Yay! For further details on any of these events please see Facebook!

Also I am under attack from bugs, they have been in my shower, my bed and my pyjamas. Someone please come rescue me from my plight!

"We went to the animal fair...

2006-06-04T10:57:00.000Z

... the birds and the bees were there, the big baboon by the light of the moon was coming his auburn hair, the monkey fell out of his bunk (woooh) and slid down the elephants trunk (weeeee), the elephant sneezed and fell on his knees and what became of the monkey monkey monkey..."

The lyrics rang out through Dudley zoo as we wandered gazing at the animals. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we cannot be simply normal tourists! This is the story...

One fine day a group of lovely young (i'd like to say children) adolescents went for a birthday visit to the zoo. Calls for all sorts of animals were heard all the way there - Tariq begging for squiggles, nic aching for the penguins and so on and so forth. The anticipation was added to all the more by the AA's thoughtfully scenic route plan through a housing estate but soon the 7 beautiful adventurers reached the wonderful world of animals and began to make some incredible friends...

There were Mr and Mrs Otter, very similar to Mr and Mrs Beaver from Narnia - friendly, loveable, caring and willing to take risks for their friends

Then there was the wise old Orang-utan who pondered the vast expanse of water preventing him from lumbering over to his new chums and giving a huge hug to them

Then came the Lemurs in Lemur wood... perhaps the most amiable of all the animals we encountered and they really chose to get up close and personal (*sob* Lucy has given up her love for me with Mr Lemur who couldn't wait to make his smooth moves and pounce on her.

Mrs Lemur protected her young whilst looking straight towards my ugly mug but all the Lemurs were lovely and were willing to pose for some photos. They did offer tea and scones but we chose to move on before they asked us to fork out their £120,000 adoption fee

And celebrity of the day...

Timon of Timon and Pumba fame!

Ever the ballerina's Gill and I progressed to making ballet poses of several animals. We also thought we could be creative and have a beautiful picture of us doing split leaps with a scenic castle backdrop... The result re-emphasised why we never went professional...

By the end of the day we had all gone slightly insane... Tariq had begun to grow a large nose

Ali had ventured to starting ballet having begun to de-evolve into a chimpanzee

Lucy had been imprisoned with a madman

Gill began to see strange words such as gfochrom, which doesn't have a meaning and if you google it nothing turns up!

We hastily made an exit before any other strange occurences took place. I think they were glad to see us leave!

Stay tuned for Gill and Kirst's Animal-Ballet adventures!

Ache

2006-05-31T20:34:00.000Z

"And fondu devant, plie and bring it in..."
*Kirst is hoping he doesn't notice the trembling leg in the air*
"and to the side 'tut tut tut'"
*Gill and Kirst grin to one another over the tutting Gill had humorously told Kirst after last week's class*
"thighs back, not turned in"
*Kirst battles with her inability to hold turn out*

Still the torture and weekly battles to get my body in the beautiful positions of those professional dancers we share the class with makes me feel energised, takes all my emotions and worries away and makes the world right again. And who can resist Marks and Sparks treats on the way home. And then it hits that the exams aren't over yet and I can't relax and all my other life troubles start to wander into my brain. So ballet has combated the physical energy, now just need something to create mental exhaustion.. well tomorrow morning should do that