Ahhhhh, smells like Friday

Overheard in work today:

Q: Are you going to So-and-so's party?

A: I can't, I've got to go to Baghdad.

I spent some time with Weezer today, who felt exactly the same way as me about the Staff Room and she's been there three years, so hoorah, it's not just me. While we were on the counter two blokes came to return books and one hurriedly declared: "My friend said you are both very pretty." And he didn't even have fines to bribe his way out of! I liked the way he hedged his bets there too.

So, this weekend, this fabulous, marvellous, miraculous couple of days when I am not a wage slave, I am free to shop. Granted, I am mostly buying work clothes but I'm sure I will still find some pleasure in the task :) I'm also after shoes and a watch. I'm supposed to be squeezing some work on my dissertation in too. I so can't be arsed with it but I really have to now, it's getting very close to the wire. I have a few days off to book so hopefully I can spend them on it; then it can finally be out of the way and I can be liberated from pondering symbolic cannibalism and panopticism forever!

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash...

Another beautiful summers day - I came to work in my pink coat carrying an umbrella! What happened to July up North? Anyway. I've just had a rubbish lunch cos I couldn't be bothered making anything yummy last night. I think I'm gonna start treating myself to lunch out once a week, when I get used to having money! It's very strange. I ordered some tops off Warehouse this week and when they arrived I went and looked at some more, but it just felt wrong to buy more, even though I could afford it, I was like, no, surely not!

There's this bloke at work today (and yesterday, come to think) that I haven't met yet and he's such a funky looking geezer. I think I'll call him Gizmo, in honour of his hairdo. He works in a different area to me so I haven't had much occasion to talk to him yet. But I'm quite impressed so far (she said, tentatively) with the calibre of people I get to work with. Most of them seem really friendly, despite the odd weirdo (eg Toes.) Some of the office gossip is also starting to creep out. It's really interesting hearing it while you're still an outsider. I always form my own opinions and take people as I find them, but sometimes it's surprising to find out about certain vendettas and grudges you wouldn't have guessed at.

Had to wait around a bit this morning because the day started late for one reason and another, so I went blog surfing and found some very entertaining reads. I'd link to them but I don't know the etiquette, is it rude to link to peoples blogs without asking? Anyway they kept me sane this morning. Now I know the true value of a good blog.

Went for tea last night at the pub. The staff at the bar there aren't allowed to take tips anymore, how odd! I hope they got a pay rise or something to compensate, as I remember relying on tips to beef out my paypacket when I was waitressing. Also watched Big Brother - Craig needs to get a grip (and not of Anthony for a change!) He was quite violent with him I thought? A restraining order may be necessary there. It was all a bit reminiscent of Misery.
My break is almost over so I just want to shout out to Guillermo, who is applying for a really cool job. Good luck!

Feeding Time at the Zoo

I feel weird posting in a public place, it's almost indecent! Okay so I've had some more bits of training today. Yesterday, I managed to single handedly break - and repair - the binding machine! Snaps for me. Foot Man AKA 'Toes' is off today, thankfully. He means well but he always wants to know what I'm doing even when I am clearly skiving off :P I have just been brushing my hair in the loos, which have very flattering and therefore dangerously deceptive mirrors, and some strange woman came in chatting away and singing whimsical tunes to herself. It takes all sorts I suppose.

I'm not really digging the Staff Room at the mo. It's a bit drab and depressing in there. I hung out in the student area instead the other day (I work for a university) but the young guy I mentioned in a previous post, who shall henceforth be known as 70s (because he looks like a 70s janitor in the uniform he voluntarily wears) decided to come and make small talk. Well, I should say dirty talk. I think he likes to say shocking things to gauge peoples reactions. I know lots of builders; his efforts were lost on me, except I'd rather not eat around him again for fear of losing my lunch. He was joined by a couple of other students, and maybe it's just me, but I probably wouldn't describe someone as being 'as useful as a used condom' and then break into jokes about 'shagging two birds with one johnny' around someone I'd just met? Maybe I'm old fashioned.

Must get back to work now, but just thought I'd leave you with this comment from one of my co-workers: "Isn't it funny that erm... [my real name] came back." Encouraging!

Foot in Mouth Disease*

On my way home from work today I bumped into a girl I was friends with once upon a time but haven't spoken to for ages. She recently had a baby and had lots of complications and problems afterwards because the people who dealt with her at the hospital were morons. Anyway, we're really only on 'Hello' terms now because it's been so long since we had a conversation. But I asked her how she was and she showed me her baby - I'm rubbish with babies, I was just like "Aw...... isn't he lovely." (Think Hugh Grant in About A Boy - love that film!) Then I made a bit of a faux pas. She was like, "What about you, are you going to have any of these soon?" And I went, "Nah, don't wish that on me!"

Tactless, moi?

*The heading of this post would probably turn 'Foot Man' on quite a lot. One of the young guys who is helping with the stock move at work heard about my encounter with Foot Man, so today he was just like "Ooh, your feet are looking good!" Really I think I should've been told about Foot Man and someone I shall refer to only as Trump before I applied for the job.

Had an interesting conversation with Jojo and Weezer about what cosmetic surgery we'd have if new painless procedures were invented overnight and money wasn't an issue. It's funny because some people have complexes about things that nobody else would notice, like Jojo wanted to have her ears pinned back but she has totally normal sized ears. I was let loose on the phones today and at lunch I snuck out of the Staff Room to indulge my sickening new habit. Yes, now that I am working full time I can afford to fund my recently developed addiction - chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.

Yesterday I went for tea at JR's with the boyfriend after work but today it was the horrible ride home on the bus and now I'm exhausted. My only plans for later involve washing my hair, making my sandwiches, and watching Big Brother. My favourite line last week came from Craig who was having a hissy fit after Anthony had asked him to remove his hand from his upper thigh: "I put my hand there AS A FRIEND!" Classic.

Perv Alert

It's my lunch hour. I just wanted to report a most unseemly discovery. My place of work has a foot fetish pervert. It's no longer safe to wear sandals of any kind. I made the mistake of wearing lovely ones yesterday made from a black mesh material with silver sequins, you know, because I didn't want to attract his attention! Doh. Anyway you could kind of see my feet through the mesh. One of the girls later described this as a nice little tease for him *barf* Normally when people are talking to you while looking at the floor it points to self-esteem issues, but not in this case. I've since heard some horror tales from the rest of the office. Even the men don't dare to bare. It's such a weird thing to like? It's like being attracted to elbows.

Travel Log, Episode Two: Postcards from France

Thursday 23rd June

I am sitting by the river Aveyron in St. Antonin Noble Val. The Men are fishing. I've just wandered across the bridge into the town. The grass IS greener on the other side! However, the view is better from here.

Tuesday, we went to Rabastens and to Gaillac, both pretty medieval towns, churches etc. We had lunch in Gaillac, then got preparations for our barbecue/summer solstice party. We're such druids! So, the bbq took forever, we're a bit out of practise and were using this weird woodchip stuff. It was worth the wait though - we had a feast of burgers, steak, chicken, pork chops, trout, prawns, salad, potatoes, and corn on the cob. And we're not even on the Atkins diet! The owners, Betty and When You Call Me You Can Call Me Al (she's his bodyguard, he's her long lost pal... if you don't know the song you'll think I've lost it here) were also having a summer solstice shindig. We reckon they had togas on round the pool. We could definitely hear Jive Bunny and much hooray-ing. They hired waiters for their do as well; they turned up carrying their tuxedos! How posh are these people!

NB: My travelling companion has just nestled an ice pack in her cleavage. It's bloody hot!

Wednesday, we went to St. Sulpice and wandered around the market. Some bloke on a jewellery store started chatting away to us in French, so we gave our standard response - blank stares accompanied by a chorus of "Ummmm, Anglais?" We suck. So then he pointed to an array of wooden pendants and then to my bare throat and said: "You have nothing for the summer - but I have!" I have to say he was spot on that I could have done with a bit more accessorising that day, but I was thinking of tan lines. I decided not to buy anything - 20 euros for a shell on a bit of string, I don't think so! But he was a cheerful soul. We found a little park with an old ruin or a new folly in, we weren't sure, and took some photos of the Tarn, then ended up in yet another church before it was unanimously decided that it was too hot. We hit a patisserie and headed back for a long cool dip in the pool. We followed a jolly looking pheasant down the path towards it. As well as several reconnaissance missions from the wasps, the swallows started swooping in to take sips from the pool.

It's so hot I recall some advice a tutor gave me for travelling in hot weather. He said that in India he was told to 'walk like an elephant', with slow, graceful, deliberate movements. I related this advice to my travelling companions today. They seemed unimpressed. I think they were wondering about the old trunk/spraying action elephants cool themselves down with. Not very practical for us.

As tea time approached, we decided to eat out. We checked out the restaurant reviews in the welcome pack and narrowed it down to about three. Decisions, we also suck at. We discovered we had no hot water left so I had to wash my hair in cold water, then sit under a hairdryer in like 100 degrees. I put on one of my favourite skirts and a coral coloured top. When we reached Giroussens we were really impressed with the fab views of the Tarn.

The restaurant was air conditioned and the manageress was really friendly. I had a gorgeous Greek salad. Oh, and afterwards a friend joined us for drinks.

Today, we've been on a bit of a Magical Mystery Tour. We wanted to find a place by the river to chill, so we asked Ding Dong (the owner - separated at birth from James Hewitt) if he knew of anywhere. He sent us fucking miles away! We stopped at the hilltop village of Cordes on the way here, and walked all the way to the top in the midday sun. What was that about Mad Dogs and Englishmen? It was beautiful though. On our way back down we saw a troupe of elderly people getting the bus to the top. Older and wiser. We were looking out for a brocante on our journey but they all seemed to be shut, even after two. I don't know what the plan is for tonight, but I'm getting hungry! The owners are interviewing potential new managers for their property today - the old ones got the sack before we turned up! Oo-er. Boyf asked them if anyone could apply :) I can't believe we've been here nearly a week! Anyway, must dash, I can hear the pool calling me and I've the route back to plan!

Friday 24th June

On the way back, we stopped at E.Leclerc and bought electric fans for the bedrooms! We also caved in from hunger and had a McDonald's - I know! But it was right there! I had a Royal Deluxe [insert Tarantino segue here] and a strawberry milkshake. We headed straight to the pool to dangle our legs in when we got back, and very hot legs they were too! A hare sprang out from the bushes along the path to the pool and once there, we made friends with Henry the Hedgehog. I'm starting to feel like Bill Oddie or someone. [While Googling Bill Oddie I found this! I like this Pavarotti one.] Have I mentioned that mornings toad? :P The water was warm, and I couldn't resist stripping to my undies and getting in for a quick dip. Held onto boyf so I wouldn't get my hair wet as I'd blown it dry for our trip to Toulouse the next day. My bra went immediately transparent but apart from that small oversight I was wearing boy pants so was probably more covered than I am in a bikini. Owners returned late in the night with some other presumably married couples. We speculated as to whether they were putting car keys into ashtrays as we sipped at our keg of Heineken.

Today was another hot one, but not as brutal. We drove into Toulouse for an automobile-related headfuck. The underground car park was horrible! Claustrophobia inducing, dust-filled, dark, and came complete with complimentary freaks harassing people for change at the pay and display. *Shudder* The streets were pretty so we wandered around until we eventually found Pont Neuf. Handy tip: be smarter than us, take a street map. The best view is from the Brasserie de Beaux Arts

....to be continued...

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Greetings one and all. The good news is, I survived the week. The bad news is, I survived the week :P I'm sure it will get better, but right now I am feeling rather like a zombie. I am unbelievably delighted that the weekend is here, and will probably buy a dark veil to wear over my head on Sunday night and sob quietly and respectfully into a white handkerchief. As you can tell, my job has already started to transform me in a number of worrying ways. It has also had a serious effect on my Life Priorities (sounds like a line from Dr. Phil? - side note: when I was in my early teens I was well into Oprah and used to watch her show on Sky One after school! I was a very well adjusted teen, perhaps as a consequence? :P) These days, my number one priority and interest is BED. Ladies and gentlemen, I never knew how much I loved my bed until I was forced to leave it at such an ungodly hour as half past six every single day of the week (I got up for uni at this time three days a week in my final semester, but I knew I'd be home after lunch, so it didn't seem as heart wrenching to part with it), I do believe absence makes the heart grow fonder. My bed is soooo gorgeous. My body feels about 92 at the moment, and bed is the only thing that soothes my poor aching limbs! I need to shop for comfortable chic shoes. And get used to lifting heavy things a lot. I think I've been holding myself tense all week because of the newness of everything and the nerves. The Staff Room has to be the least relaxing room I have ever known.

Okay, enough complaining like a pensioner. It's not all doom and gloom. Had a date with the boyfriend after he picked me up from work yesterday (yay to being picked up, a long and heartfelt booooooo to getting the bus from town at 5 o'clock... I just can't help myself can I?) I took a pair of high heels and a sexy black top into work with me yesterday, and changed in the loos at the end of the day. I wore fishnets to work yesterday, but mostly to disguise the plasters on my heels! Boyfriend was very impressed with the results, and paid me lovely compliments, so I felt nice even though I forgot to take any make up with me except for a bit of lippy. He also had me in fits of laughter with a joke he made that won't translate very well on here and requires prior knowledge and appreciation of the cartoon Bananaman. ("When Chica eats a banana...")

So, Boyf and I went for a quick Friday drink and then for a scrumptious Italian meal and some wine. Then we hit the tapas bar for a couple of sangrias. Me + 2 sangrias = tipsy. Sad but true. It was fab, if a little chilly, sitting in Queen Square watching the world go by, and even fabber knowing that I had today off. I kept waking up this morning (I wake up every day at five for some reason) and relishing the fact that I could turn over and go back to sleep. When I got up I sat with a cuppa for aaaages and loved the fact I didn't need to look at the clock. I had a gossip with my big sister about Casanova (formerly known as the hunky guy), who we are both fans of 'cos he's a sweetheart (as long as you don't get romantically involved with him). And, remember this coincidence? Well, another bloke I went to uni with works at my place but has been off sick since February. But he has his own website and he writes about all the gigs he goes to and stuff and he's off with a bad back :P A couple of the girls in the office introduced me to it and were eager to hear any gossip from me. Unfortunately I didn't know him that well and all I knew about him was that my good friend Dedalus used to talk to him about football. Because of this I assumed he was an Evertonian but apparently he supports Man Utd. It's funny though because Dedalus wants me to get him a job there as does the lovely Australian woman I've mentioned on here a couple of times. I'll slowly infiltrate the place :P Also, had a chat with one of the girls who informed me that one of her mates went for my job but was turned down 'because the competition (- me! -) was so strong.' Which is even funnier since I'm clueless!

Some of the people I work with are really really nice, which is a godsend. One of them in particular is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and they've all been sound with me while I'm learning. They've warned me that there are a couple of weirdo's I need to watch out for, but that I'll find that out for myself. Very encouraging that! Also, I brought some wine back from France for Australian woman and Casanova, and finally got around to sending it to them with some thank you cards this week via my sis. Cass was overjoyed with the wine, which I wasn't even sure if he'd like, and went on and on to my sis about how I didn't have to do that, and Australian woman nearly started crying and promised to bring me something back from her trip home! That's appreciation for you.

Now, for the rest of the day I am mostly going to wear pyjamas. Wish me luck for next week!

Will Work For Shoes

Yesterday I had a lovely lovely lovely day. Made all the more sweet by a comparison with today. Today wasn't bad, but it was my first day at work and even though it went reasonably well I am all too aware that every day this week I have to go there until five, even when I wake up tomorrow wanting to turn my alarm off and snuggle with my bunny, even when I feel like death warmed up and even when I am too tired to put an outfit together and make my mouth chew toast. And I have to be there at eight thirty. Thems not my usual hours. I begrudge it already. But apart from that, I met some new people who were all really nice to me. I haven't learned much yet as they seem to be breaking me in gently, but I do wish they'd shown me everything just once so I know what I'm doing. I hate not knowing what I'm doing. It really went okay but I feel a bit ugh. I think it's because I'm tired, I have PMS, and I smiled all day today.

But yesterday. I went to town, I bought shoes in a sale, boyf also bought me a present (more shoes in a sale - sexy high heels that will hurt!), and we had a nice meal. I'm loving the new shoes. Have you noticed the way shops give their shoes names? So every new line has like a pretty girls name? Yesterday I was like, Bridget, meet Sophia, Sophia, meet Bridget :) (Bridget = 4 inch heel courts, Sophia = tan coloured kitten heels with cute little buckles.)

I feel blue. It'll get better.

Holy straightening irons, Batman!

Okay, I thought I'd dash a post off even though I should be getting ready to go into town and I still have to straighten my hair, which takes me forever.

Thursday, I went to see Batman Begins. Everyone kept raving about how it's the best film they've seen for ages and way better than the other Batman movies, so I thought I'd give it a try, and was quite entertained by it apart from the really dull beginning part where it was verging on the Matrix with the whole training to be a super human warrior schtick *snore* Apart from that it was quite good and the psychiatrist was a more interesting character than villains generally are, except he reminded me of Billy from Neighbours and I kept wondering where I knew him from. Solved that with the help of IMDb - he was in Girl with a Pearl Earring. Christian Bale makes a good Batman and Michael Caine got a few laughs. Hold on, was the psychiatrist called Dr. Crane, as in Frasier?! Imagining him as Niles Crane is kind of taking the edge off the darkness. Um, Billy from Neighbours was a notoriously dark character of course :P

What a shit movie reviewer I'd make!

Also, went to town yesterday to work out the route I have to take to work tomorrow since I have to go to personnel on the other side of town to fill forms in and stuff first. Stopped at a couple of shops and picked up a new shirt and two black skirts, some underwear, and a months bus pass which cost me £44! All this spending, imagine how I'll be when I've actually got money to spare. On the bus to town yesterday I eavesdropped on a really funny old couple who had just been to a wedding and spent the entire journey slagging the whole affair off. Sample Quote: "I didn't like those bridesmaids... actually, I didn't care for the bride either." Turns out they were bitter as they weren't invited back for gin and tonics in the garden and nobody even offered them a lift there or back! I wouldn't bother going if there's a second marriage if I were them.

So, I'm starting work tomorrow and it's fair to say I am cacking it. I've got all kinds to sort out still so it's probably not helping that I'm sitting here with kinky hair and a cup of tea. I'm going to get ready now and go back into town with boyfriend, who thinks I should pick out another shirt. He wants to buy Echoes and the Kaiser Chiefs album, and that's his way of getting me to go with him, like I need an excuse to shop. I think a Nandos is called for, in celebration of the last thing I'll be able to eat before I'm too nervous and have iron butterflies occupying my stomach.

London Today

Silent Tribute

Travel Log, Episode One: The Flying Menace

Monday 20th June

I'm just watching my boyfriend search for his remote control plane (I know, what is he, 6?) across the field. It's crashlanded in a small wooded area that borders the estate where we're staying. Boys and their toys. I'm sat in an old pashmina sipping red wine in the middle of the French countryside. The place is fabulous; I can't believe how beautiful the house we've rented for the next two weeks is. It's stunning. Our bedroom has stable doors (appropriate :P) At night, I fall asleep listening to the hum of crickets (Sometimes, they break into the room though. They're fricking huge!)

NB: My boyfriend has managed to lose his plane in nettles as tall as he is. He's run in the house to put some trainers on so he can retrieve it. His plan is to wade in up to his neck.

So, while boyf's occupied, I just thought I'd update you quickly on the past few days. After a monster car journey or two and a ride on the ferry that dragged like no other, we reached the vicinity of Toulouse. Saturday was so hot, the inside of the cars were nightmarish. But I, in my role of Chief Navigator, got us here without a hitch. It was really easy because Orleans and then Toulouse are signposted for miles. It was a bit of a bittersweet moment to see the first Toulouse sign, 500 odd km away though!

For anybody who may be wondering, the exact distance from Liverpool to Toulouse is a fucking long way.NB: My boyfriend has trotted across the field in tracksuit bottoms, carrying what appears to be the broom for the kitchen floor. In a minute, I'm going to have a chocolate eclair! :)

So, the owners (who unwittingly provided us with much entertainment during our stay) showed us around when we arrived and went over the safety rules and stuff for the pool. Mr. Owner is rather strict and has lots of rules to impress upon us. I don't think he was expecting 20-something scousers to turn up. The pool by the way, is lush. There are views of the surrounding hills and valleys, and some village with a church spire in the distance. It's a heated salt water pool (so nice!) framed by a wooden deck and olive trees. The only drawback is a deceptively sweet looking pool house and shaded seating area with citrus fruit growing all around it. This area just happens to be infested with wasps. I have never seen so many wasps IN MY LIFE! And yes Mr. Owner, I have been to the country before. Wasps are one thing, wasp nests are another. Anyway, the owners seem nice but are unbelievably posh. Mr. Owner is so like James Hewitt it's unnerving. A chorus of 'ding dong' is all you can get out of one of my travelling companions after an encounter with him. They have a girlfriend over to stay at the moment, and their 'chums' in a nearby village can offer us wine tasting :P But Ding Dong did bring a set of French boules over tonight for us to play. Bizarrely, we already have some. And Mrs. Owner, Felicity (actual name!!) greeted us in her dressing gown, which somehow made her immediately likeable?

So, Sunday. We're calling it Day One, since it's our first full day here. Day One, I go around to the pool with boyfy and am almost immediately stung by an angry wasp. I've never been stung before. It fucking hurts. How powerful are those little suckers? Why, I never knew! As I said to Guillermo upon my return to England, wasp sting is such a bad way to describe it. It's more like having a needle thumped into your arm with a baseball bat. Not that I'm dramatic or anything. Anyway, boyf goes and fetches some venom extracting contraption from Ding Dong and Flick, which they'd told us about upon our arrival. It sucks your skin up inside a tube and then this horrible yellow venom stuff comes out after you've pumped it for a bit. The boys experimented on me a bit with it as they weren't really sure how to use it and insisted the instructions were in French, which I could see was a blatant lie as I could read them from where I was sitting. Afterwards, I had a quick read myself. It advised that it wasn't for use on eyelids or genitals, so my plans for the rest of the day were straight out of the window. As if anyone would! For the rest of the day, and ever since to be honest, I am terrified of all buzzy things with wings, and can't relax for a moment by the pool. I spend most of the day in the middle of the pool flailing my arms wildly about when I think anything either creepy or crawly could be near me. Sorry boyf. But it still managed to be gorgeous, apart from the fact that I have a red stripe of sunburn across my hairline where I missed it with the sunscreen. Dang.

NB: Boyfriend is heading back, plane in hand, mission accomplished. I wonder if it's broken?

Today, Monday. We are up and out later and slower than expected because of boyf's screaming Stella Artois hangover. We also sat dangling our legs in the pool last night drinking champagne with strawberries, after a little stroll to the local church and beyond. Bliss! Off to Bessieres to the French market today, where we wandered around like tourists and bought some fruit and veg, including some Bugs Bunny-esque carrots and two enormous lettuces. Then we had to go and get our shopping in, so we hit E.Leclerc (only place we can find our fave champagne) and had a quick look at Villemur sur Tarn. We bought some more champagne, shedloads of grub and afore-mentioned eclairs. Then we hit the pool again and I faffed about a bit with my newly purchased Finding Nemo float! No, really! I can't swim :P Ah, flashbacks to childhood! Since then we've stuffed our faces, been for a stroll and spotted a hare, a deer and a lone sunflower, and I made our beds. They're gorgeous!

NB: My boyfriend is just topping up my glass. Au revoir for now!

My Night with George Clooney...

There are so many things I should be doing instead of this right now. But I just have to update you on the little trip to Edinburgh I took with Guillermo this week. I was very kindly invited by him to go to the Murrayfield Live 8 concert, which he won tickets to, and after a frantic search for rooms and trains and the like (we only organised it all the day before) we were on our way. It was well bizarre since I'd just got back from France, hadn't even unpacked everything and it all happened very quickly.

So, the gig itself was amazing, it was a great atmosphere and just spectacular to stand there listening to Bob Geldof and Bono. George Clooney and Susan Sarandon made an appearance, and Eddie Izzard played piano for Midge Ure's rendition of Vienna! Lenny Henry was actually funny. And James Brown provided the finale.

There was so much I can't blog it all, but a few highlights for me were:

- Davina McCall and Chris Evans leading the crowd in a round of 3-second click, like the campaign ads.
- 70-odd year old James Brown dancing with Will Young.
- Annie Lennox.
- Eddie Izzard, I love him.
- Phoning my boyfriend during Wet Wet Wet. Total 'fromage'.
- Did I mention George Clooney was there?
- One Giant Leap with Maxi Jazz, Will Young and Neneh Cherry.
- The Proclaimers kicking it all off. Very popular in Edinburgh as you can imagine.
- Geoffrey Oryema blowing kisses to the crowd.
- Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour performing 7 seconds.

So, the next day we heard about the awful goings on in London and saw some stuff on the news. Some of the reports were a bit sketchy at that point. Very scary. I don't like talking about serious things on here too much, but obviously thoughts and prayers are going out to those who have suffered. My family were all really worried in case anything happened in Edinburgh too.

When we got to Liverpool, we had a quick drink in Queens Square while Guillermo waited for his next train. After seeing him off, I went and met the boyfriend in Wetherspoons, still carrying a big fuckoff rucksack that had been weighing me down and giving me achey shoulders. He gave me a massive hug and said he'd been really worried. He and his best mate had got talking to these two blokes in the pub. One of them seemed all right and left pretty early, and as soon as he did the other bloke started going on about religion and tried to convert us, talking about Catholics as antichrists and lots of stupid things about Muslims. I shouted at him for a bit until my boyfriend called time on the conversation and led us to safety. He'd been going on about how he'd been a preacher and brought thousands to Jesus. He'd also impregnated many women as a milkman and had kids littered about the place, and claimed he was the true founder of The Blob Shop but couldn't prove it. Hello? Psycho much?

Anyway, we went to Modo's after that and then Jacaranda. The boys were now sozzled and I was swiftly joining them. I remember using the phrase 'honest to God' in a heart to heart with boyf's mate a lot, and repeating myself all the time. At this point there was a woman bouncing off the walls down the street getting kicked out of every pub, screaming, and collapsing on the floor. I prudently decided to switch to lemonade. When we eventually got the boyfriend into a taxi he kept trying to get the driver to stop at our local. He has no memory of anything from this point on, including phonecalls he made, getting home, and warmly greeting our current arch enemy Judas in the street. Doh.

Friday we nursed hangovers and watched the Big Brother eviction. I can't believe Maxwell went as I was loving watching the whole group dynamic with Craig and Anthony. Craig is just hilarious. And I also thought Davina was a bit too harsh and concentrated on a lot of negative stuff? He had good points too and was really good with people when they were upset I thought. And I hate that the silly girls got their way cos they're doing my head in. Not that I'm taking it seriously or anything :P

I'd better get some stuff done.

Na, Na, Na, Na-Na-Na-Na!

So much to talk about, and if there's one thing I've learned from my essays, it's that I suck at structuring. This is gonna be a garbled mess! I HAVE to start with the Live 8 business we listened to in the car for over four hours on the way home from Portsmouth. We had Radio One on, and even though we couldn't see the spectacle, the DJs were really excited, the sets were amazing, and it was all tres infectious. We just got off the ferry too late to hear Paul McCartney and U2. I love the Beatles and have been to see Macca in Liverpool, and am rather partial to a bit of Bono, ho hum! So I was sorry to have missed it. When we got home I was warmly greeted by Puppy, who I missed terribly, and we opened some red wine for my aunt who had been babysitting him for us. She filled us in on all the goss of the past two weeks, so we missed Scissor Sisters and Madonna. I have since learned from Guillermo that I also missed Will Smith bringing Jazzy Jeff on in Philadelphia and doing Summertime and The Fresh Prince theme. Gutted! Eventually, we got to see a bit of the concert on TV and the boyf was rather emotional about Pink Floyd playing together and Macca wrapped things up in style with a Beatles medley. Did anyone check out his drummer? I love that guy, he's brilliant! Then they showed some of the Philly concert but we gave up just before two since we'd been travelling from six that morning and were pretty well zonked. Boyf had also had one glarse of red wine too many.

Today, I have to call my place of work to arrange taking my passport in to prove I'm a British Citizen and don't need any special forms to work there. Yes, people, I got the job! Preliminarily (I don't think that's really a word, but nevermind) at least, if my references check out. I'm slightly worried about one reference as my old boss is quite unreliable when it comes to such things. If he's in a bad mood, I'm fucked. The interview could have gone better but I was reasonably pleased since I don't have a lot of interview experience and I managed to make them laugh a couple of times and saw one of them write 'Good' in their notes. The people there seemed quite friendly and I got chatted up while I waited to interview in a non-pervy way, which can be a good confidence boost. They called me that same night and said that I had it, which I was astounded at as I thought they'd make me wait ages. Since then though, I've been in France so I need to get things moving again. I hope it all goes smoothly as I really want those boots I mentioned and have already started concocting work outfits!

Anyway, the last two weeks for me has gone by in a heartbeat it seems, but I'm way behind with everyone's news! (Not to mention the fact that I missed three Big Brother evictions and am now left clueless as to why people don't like Saskia anymore. What happened??) I caught up with Guillermo a bit last night by talking into the wee small hours and had a couple of chats with my big sister. At some point, I'll update the blog with holiday tales, but I feel like I have everything to do at once at the mo. I arrived home to a letter from my tutor containing some marked work. I haven't even bothered to read it properly yet. Someone slap my wrists! I've forgotten how to end these things. A chorus of Hey Jude usually seems to do the trick.

Homecoming

Just a quick note to say I'm back! Had a great holiday in France, the place was AMAZING! Retrospectives and maybe some pics to follow! Now back to catching up with everyone...

PS, Live 8 was yesterday, WOW!