Great Auntie Chica

Weezer's weird guy asked me out this morning. He seemed embarrassed when I told him I had a boyfriend so I kind of felt bad for him. I wonder how many libraries he visits in a day, asking all the staff out. I'd been trying to avoid him but he foxed me by getting a haircut and wearing a different coat! We reckon Potter may be next since the weird dude seems to like blondes.

By the by, Potter continues to impress. We had a conversation with Lady P. about Big Fish (the movie, in case you thought I'd turned into a crazy angler.)

Me: "I cried my eyes out at the end!"
Potter: "Me too!"

I love boys who cry, they're so cute. I have an opening for a movie buddy too...

But the biggest news is that I am now a great aunt! Yes, my gorgeous little niece has a gorgeous little boy of her own. How nuts that my sister is a grandma. He was born on Sunday 28th, a little after 9 am and weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces. He's teeny tiny and looks like his dad from what I can tell on the photographs. I haven't been to see him yet. What makes a good present for a new mum?

The weekend brought the Mathew Street Festival and lots of fun was had by all. A little too much fun in some cases. On Sunday we headed into town and hit a few bars, listened to some live music. They had a fair in the street and we marveled at how the people on this scary looking ride were barely missing the buildings on either side of the road as they swung from side to side. We should've took photos. We had a few drinks in Mathew Street and listened to some Beatles tunes in Lennon's Bar, then chilled out in Concert Square, sipping Baileys and cowering in the shade. Food was necessary at this point so we had burgers and fries and Eddie's. We thought we'd go back through to Mathew Street then and have a dance, but the atmosphere had changed, everyone was way too drunk, causing argy bargy and throwing up, so we walked along by the Three Graces to the Albert Dock and had a last drink at The Pump House before catching a taxi home. Monday we lazed around for most of the afternoon (and watched The Great Escape) and then went back into town to check out some of the free concerts. We lingered at the Tapas bar longer than we should have (and missed most of all the concerts as a consequence!) but it was really nice eating tapas and drinking sangria on a Monday when we should have been in work!

I got the clothes I ordered in last week's Sale today. They arrived in a big box and I opened it when I got home from work. It was like a mini-Christmas!

In the words of the Fresh Prince: Smell ya later!

Somebody stop me!

I've gone a little crazy with the old shopping over the past few days. Further to my frenzied Sale shopping the other day, I hit town yesterday and bought my travel pass for work, a whopping £93. The woman behind the desk was dismissing me with the warning that I couldn't use it until the first of September as if it would be a waste of time buying it then, I was like 'Yeah, that's next week right?' Also picked up a brown jacket for work from H&M and a pair of gorgeously soft jeans from Gap that were on sale for £30. Boyf paid £16.50 for a canvas belt there. Foolish boy! He looks good in the cargo pants he got though. Especially after I made him get the correct length instead of the too-short ones he was buying. My jeans are way too long but I'm going to take them up. Had a lovely Italian meal for our tea. I really like flumping down in a restaurant with shopping bags, although I did feel a bit weather beaten for the one we chose. I insisted on going Dutch this time; I can see this is the beginning of a very nasty habit. Was a bit bored while everyone was watching the football (I know it was a Big Deal, but I have to be in the mood), so I browsed online for a bit, intending merely to window shop. But then I got tempted and spent £40 or so on a navy blue top with sequin detailing at the shoulders, a long smart black top and a pink shrug. Seriously now, that's it. I cannot spend any more. Unless I see those gold or silver ballet flats I'm after...

Watched bits of America's Sweethearts (Catherine Zeta 'A million dollars isn't much money to us' Jones is actually not bad in that, a little too convincing perhaps - by the by, Dawn French does a hilarious skit of her, I love it!) and Interview with a Vampire last night before going to bed at about two thirty. Woke up at around eight o'clock this morning and couldn't get back to sleep at all. Despite my early rising I've got absolutely naff all done so I'm off to be productive and get some shit done on my dissertation. I had an idea while I was surfacing this morning, so hopefully I can claw it back.

Dawn as CZJ: "Drop drawers gorgeous!"

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead

Today at work I actually put these words into Google: 'define: tedium' (ooh, but I did get a new chair!) So I've made a new game up to keep me entertained. It's called: Flirting with Potter. Seriously, I can't help myself today. My God-awful lines have included: "Does your trolley want to ride with me?" and, "Hello, I'm here to relieve you." Sexual harassment much? Okay so the thing to note here (for anyone thinking 'don't you have a boyfriend?') is that I don't actually fancy Potter (he has long fingernails), but he has a really attractive personality and even laughs at my lame ass attempts at double entendre. Just for the record, I didn't intend any of my double entendres today, they just sort of fell from my mouth. I think its an act of rebellion against being polite from 8:30 to 5:00. Maybe one day I'll start yelling at people on the bus. Until then I'll have to worry Potter for my own amusement *sigh*

Last night I half-watched Lost, half-shopped online. I got an email about a Sale. It called to me like a mythical sea siren luring weary sailors to their doom, or something. I ordered a whole heap of stuff and then couldn't remember exactly what this morning. It was one of those shopping hazes, induced by the 'all sale items a fiver' banner slithering across the screen in neon pink. Then, I got an email in work saying that two of the nicest things I ordered were out of stock. Waaaaa, I say. I was already envisioning wearing one of them with my jeans and a funky headband. Damn you! But please deliver the rest of my clothes safely, thanks :)

Oh, did I mention I'm off tomorrow?

P.S. Happy Birthday to Hoggle, who reached the grand old age of *ahem - pardon, didn't quite catch that* yesterday.

Food Glorious Food

Do you ever feel like you're living for the weekends? My round ups are getting to be a ritual. Here goes:

I had the coolest dreams Saturday night. In one, I travelled back in time and was working as a slavery abolitionist in the US, but I knew everything that was going to happen in the future. In another, I was furtively snogging Dermot O'Leary in like the corner of a marquee or something (we had white fabric draped over us)! There was a less cool one where it was a couple of days before Christmas and I hadn't done any shopping, I was running out to try and catch a shop to buy my littlest niece a present. Do these weird and wacky dreams have anything to do with the fact that I watched Labyrinth before sleeping I wonder?

Friday night I enjoyed the most splendiforously decadent meal with Boyf. We normally never bother with starters or dessert because a main is usually enough for me, but we thought what the hey, lets treat ourselves. For starters, I had this really yummy asparagus dish with crushed new potatoes and sour cream. Boyf had mushroom and leek soup. Then for the main course I had honeyed duck breast with noodles and stir fried vegetables. My verdict? OTT on the honey. Boyf had fillet steak, it was very well cooked. For pudding, I opted for the Banoffee Pie with cream, which was like heaven on a plate and I was gutted that I couldn't finish it all. Boyf had ice cream, the bore. We washed it down with a half bottle of red, which was really nice too but I can't remember what it was beyond a Cabernet Sauvignon. I think it may have been Chilean? Yeah, I've really just took the shine off the turkey sandwich and chocolate brownie I just had for lunch. The feast was pricier than we normally allow, so thank God my offer of going Dutch was ignored! Brownie points for Boyf: *****

Saturday I did some work on my dissertation and checked out X Factor. It was the first show so it's still in the national humiliation stage. You gots to have guts to go on them there shows. On Sunday we went back over to the park to check out the Godfest they were having. Got there just in time to hear a big sermon about how we don't deserve to be saved but we can be if we accept Jesus into our lives. You all know where Jesus was on Sunday right? Yep, a park in Liverpool. Hope he comes back next weekend or he'll miss the Beatles festival; it's much better. Voices with Soul, who were on X Factor last year, came on just before we left and were talking about how they'd changed the words of songs so they didn't have to say the Devil's words (oh okay they didn't put it quite like that), so they murdered Lady Marmalade: "I'm not going to sleep with anyone unless Jesus is in my bed!" Huh? I liked them when they were on the show too. Shame. Anyway the annoying preacher bloke on before them was waffling about Manchester United and mentioned an unmentionable rag of a newspaper. Lesson no.1 - know your audience. He also came out with a ludicrous analogy in which Wayne Rooney was God. No. Really. Anyway I wasn't converted, more alarmed.

Over and out.

You're never fully dressed without a smile

As I rambled in a recent post, I had the greatest long weekend. Monday night the Boyf and I opened a bottle of Claret. We glugged away happily, watched TV (we bought it to sip in the garden but the weather was poo), and went to bed early so we'd be all refreshed and recuperated for work the next day. Some time in the wee small hours, we were disturbed by what sounded like an unruly mob outside our window, shouting to each other very loudly. Then we heard much screeching of tyres. To this I responded: "Ugh, it's so noisy," and rolled over. Boyf climbed out of bed and went to see what was going on. The unruly mob were in fact police officers, milling about in the street and standing around a neighbours densely planted garden like gnomes who'd been let at the kinky dress up box. Or something. Boyf came back to bed and we resigned ourselves to blocking out the episode of NYPD Blue playing out at the foot of our driveway. Then: the dreaded helicopter, which hovered directly over our house for about an hour, presumably deciding whether to use our garden as a helipad. I knew we should never have mown that big 'H' into the lawn. Much sleep was not had.

Tuesday at work I was greeted by the weird bloke who asked Weezer out, then bumped into him about seven times. Had fun talking to Potter about The Princess Bride and Labyrinth. He was amused and disbelieving when I said I'd never seen Labyrinth: "What age are you?!" I was three when it was released, but apparently that's no excuse for such ignorance. I wouldn't have known what The Princess Bride was if Guillermo hadn't got me it for my birthday. I think you need to see these films as a kid to hold quite so much affection for them though. Anyway he brought the DVD in for me yesterday so I'm gonna watch it over the weekend. I think offering Donnie Darko up as one of my favourite films bought me some respect from him too. It's probably a good thing he doesn't know Mean Girls is another. Me and MJ love Lindsay Lohan movies!

My poor baby puppy hasn't been too well recently and we've made a couple of trips to the vets. He has to take two lots of tablets, and one type are in capsule form so we've been inventing ways to trick him into eating them. The vet has a bit of a soft spot for Pup. The first time she saw him she exclaimed: "My, he's rather rotund isn't he!" We took him for a stroll in the park today and now he's snoozing happily. We had ice creams and lounged on the grass, it was pretty. Puppy had many admirers and a couple of people stopped to stroke him on our walk. "Everyone wants my doggie," I said to Boyf, who replied: "He's my doggie, I'm holding his lead!" I rest my case.

Wednesday morning I was accosted on my way to work by somebody thrusting a pile of books at me. I told them they'd have to come into the library when it opened. He was like, "You can't just take them now?" Um, yes sir, I'll just whip a Self Return out of my handbag, no of course I don't mind carting your books around in my own time. Sheesh. Luckily there were plenty of nice people turning up on Thursday to make up for it. One guy was kicking up a fuss about getting fined on books because he said he hadn't received any emails from us about them. Potter had been dealing with him but then the bloke went off to check his email and when he came back it was my turn on the counter. I thought he might be awkward but he was sheepish since he'd found the emails and was soooooooo nice about paying, even when the till broke. The till crashed twice on me yesterday. Bitch hates me. Thankfully I had another lovely student the second time it happened. Cheerful people really brighten up your day. Some funny guy came in too who was also unhappy about paying for a book he'd lost. He thought he might have knocked it into a bin next to his desk by accident, and was trying to argue that that was the same thing as losing it in a house fire. We just laughed at him, but he was good natured enough.

Tonight we're off out to a French restaurant and I'm trying to decide what to wear. I'm fed up of my haircut and am thinking about what styles might suit me. I'm also returning to the question of whether to pierce my ears. I don't have one single piercing, and I love earrings. I'm hoping to squeeze in some shopping this weekend as I have spotted a fab pair of gold heels that require further investigation. I'm off to scrub up nice. Ciao for now.

A Smattering of Smut

I forgot to tell you about sexy lift man. He caused quite a stir among us female residents last week. I was sat opposite the lift when he came in to do some maintenance work, and thought hmmm, he's not bad to look at! Tall dark and handsome, cheeky grin, good body, a little bit shy. Lila excitedly came over and professed her fervent admiration for him, complaining that he only came in once in a blue moon. My situation then was very fortunate indeed - but I don't know why she just doesn't unscrew the bulb in the lift more often? (I hope it's not a sign of something bad that this solution immediately sprung into my mind.) Anyhow sexy lift man industriously went about his work, and I was afforded but a few fleeting glances since he could clearly see me perving on him in the mirror, so I had to resist. Lila then found another excuse to come to my desk and bemoaned that I had the best view - a bit too loudly. I didn't notice and wholeheartedly agreed with her, then when she was walking away she started mouthing 'He heard me!' and generally cringing with embarrassment. All right for her, I had to keep sitting there until he left. He approached the desk with a rather large pole when he was finished and asked me if he could leave it to my disposal. "Lila," says I, "Can we do anything with this?" Lila clutched the pole enthusiastically and agreed to sort it out for him, even though she didn't have a clue what to do with it and it knocked about the office for the rest of the day. Potter found it all very amusing, being immune from sexy lift man's enamour. For some strange reason our manager took the pole home. We've never asked.

In related news, this morning on my way into work I received a long, slow whistle from one of the builders outside. At the time I pretended not to hear but I would just like to record my utmost indignation here: It's about bloody time, I've walked past you every day for the past five weeks!

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

A Happy Birthday to Dedalus. And a very Happy Monday to me since I booked the day off work, ostensibly to get some study done, which is what I actually plan to do right after this. See my halo?

So I've had such a great weekend people! Friday we watched the whole Big Brother finale hoopla. I kind of felt sorry for Makosi for a nanosecond, then I saw her interviewed by the yummy Dermot O'Leary on Sunday and realised that she was still walking around with that big old ego. Referring to yourself in the third person is always a telltale sign that you have somehow become lodged up your own arse. But we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate something I can't talk about yet in case I jinx it. More later.

Saturday we got our gladrags on and headed out for some tapas. I didn't really enjoy what I ordered but it was still a great atmosphere in there and we had such a good night. I felt the happiest I have felt in a long long time. And it was nothing to do with the sangria! I wore my new red silk top and it fits me really nicely, with jeans and killer heels. They killed, but not as much as the first time I wore them, when they caused me pain while I was sitting down watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! They're very high. I'm nearly as tall as the Boyf in them. The world looks different up there.

Just as an aside, what do we think of Skinny Jeans? I'm contemplating buying a pair since my favourite jeans don't really go with my Western boots. I've seen some bad ones though that put me off, I don't like the spray on look, or the type that look stretched over the crotch area. I think I'll need to track down the perfect pair - I was thinking of going shopping today but I don't think I have the energy for such a mission, writing my dissertation, and getting ready for work tomorrow. Stoopid responsibilities.

So on Sunday, which I've been told by a reliable source is gay day at IKEA, we went bed shopping. We bought bed accessories including a duvet set and bolsters first, then realised the bed we wanted (pictured) wouldn't fit in the car. Then we realised it may not even fit into the space we're buying it for, so drove home, had a conflab (read: discussion), decided to risk it and went straight back to IKEA in the Tranny. That's a Transit van by the way, not a Transvestite. We got our little list printed out at the info desk and then wandered around trying to find all the different bits and bobs that make up the bed. It was very busy, IKEA is obviously the place to be on a Sunday. I think it's the hot dogs. Anyway, glory be, we paid for the bed, brought it home and set it up to make sure it had all the right screws and bolts and things. I'm in love with it. I told ya'll I'm all about Bed these days. While preparing for our day of Home shopping, I also came across this gorgeous fridge that I could never ever afford.

Last night, after many recommendations, I watched Lost, and I have to admit I did get into it by the end. It did cause me to have rather strange dreams last night about giant polar bears infesting our back garden and chasing us out of the house though.

Last week at work was a bit rubbish as they had us doing all kinds of odd jobs like moving furniture, sorting through files, and cleaning. Midweek kind of dragged; one day I thought I'd reached lunch and it was only my ten thirty break. I have to learn to stop counting the hours. Worryingly, the weird bloke who asked Weezer out asked me my name. That's his modus operandi. The cheek of it if he does ask me out, sloppy seconds, I don't think so! Lila told me about some sleazy stalker type that bugged her for ages, when he asked her out and she pretended to have a boyfriend, he replied "So, I have a girlfriend, this does not matter! We don't have to tell them." Some people just can't take no for an answer I guess! On the plus side, if the way I felt on Saturday is in part a by product of the work I'm doing, it's totally worth it.

Proclaimed on the front of a church on my way to work: 'The Bible - the world's best seller, come and meet the author each Sunday!!'

Another Place

I hadn't heard from Dedalus for a few weeks until this morning. The renewal of contact was disappointing in three important ways: 1) his text was a blatant 'hello don't forget its my birthday soon' message, 2) he bemoaned the fact that he is "so old" next week (he will be the same age as me), and 3) he is having a little competition with himself to see how many times he can mention his girlfriend's name in one message. I also heard from Mrs De Winter, whose e-mail was much more rewarding. She has met a bit of a dream boat by the sounds and thinks me and the boyf are a perfect match ;)

So over the weekend I felt pretty rubbish, but I managed to get out and about with Boyf for a bit on Sunday. We went to see this (own photos to follow... edit: um... Boyf accidentally deleted them), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Potter also went to see the statues at the weekend and we compared sightings: I saw one with a rope around its neck and one with a hat on; he saw one with a mane of hair fashioned from seaweed and one wearing a cardigan. But I'm afraid I win as I saw a lad wandering around wearing nothing but a jumper wrapped around his waist to cover his naughty bits. I'm assuming he was either performing a demure tribute to the statues, or his mates legged it with his clothes in some schoolboy prank, the scamps! As for the film, I found it very enjoyable, despite Boyf's protests that it was "a childish kids film" and even though I couldn't understand the Oompa Loompa's when they were singing. I love the songs from the original movie. On the plus side, it was really well cast and the ending was better I think? We both agreed that hitting the Hut afterwards was a jolly good idea in any case, and shared a Stuffed Crust Supreme :)

And today? This morning I couldn't get the song I Don't Like Mondays out of my head. 'Nuff said. Curiously, the day picked up considerably at around 6 o'clock when I got home from work. Coincidence?

"No thank you, I don't like food."

I'm sitting here in a New York t-shirt my dad brought back from his trip. I feel like crap today and have just been hanging out at home. I watched Hulk. It was verrrry slooooow. Yesterday I had a half day at work. You would not believe how excited I was about that fact. Unfortunately I was there just long enough to catch the lurgi from Weezer so now I'm sick. Weezer has been sniffling into a hanky for most of this week. The other day she had chills and borrowed a long black cardigan four sizes too big for her from a more mature lady colleague of ours. In this state, she was asked out by one of the international students, who had earlier asked her about parking his car in an airport in Amsterdam. For some reason, a lot of students think we possess all the information in the world, or perhaps that we're part-Google. She turned him down, pretending that she had a boyfriend when he asked why. Then she told us a funny story about her friend who, when asked to go for a meal by an unwanted admirer could think of nothing else to reply with but "No thank you, I don't like food."

Anyhoo. I went shopping straight from work and attributed my aching limbs to tiredness and sore throat to not having much to drink. I tried on perhaps a million pairs of black trousers, and finally found some in the last shop we had agreed to visit. I don't know what it is about me but I find it so hard to find trousers that fit me properly. Firstly, they're nearly always too long unless I buy petite sizes, and secondly, they never fit my waist and rest precariously upon my hips instead, whether they were intended as hipsters or not. Ergo, I couldn't get the gorgeous pinstripe ones I wanted. But nevermind, they're only for work. I picked some simple tops up in Topshop for work too. Boyf met me for a late lunch at Charlie Rockets. I had a milkshake and we both had Classic burgers. We were meant to go and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but Boyf didn't feel too well so we came home and resolved to go another night. I can't wait to see it, it looks so good and I have heard much raving from pretty much everybody who has been to see it. Potter was particularly enthusiastic, and is going to see it again when he can.

Things are going okayish at work (touch wood). Friday was okay but Thursday I had a couple of angry phonecalls. Why do people shout at you as if them losing their password or not being able to remember the name of a firm that rents computers is your fault? And by the by, I don't even work at the computer desk. Thank goodness for the nice ones is all I can say. When you help someone and they actually appreciate it it is such a nice feeling; it costs nothing to be polite and friendly.

So that's my rant for now. I'm off to have a lovely cup of tea, and I'm going to go crazy and have sugar in it. I'm so rock 'n' roll me!

Pink: it's like red but not quite

'Sup. Just a quickie. I've booked some days off work over the next month to get some work done on my dissertation, which is suffering even more terribly from neglect since I started working full time. Gizmo is looking even funkier today, dude has pink hair :) My shopping trip at the weekend wasn't as successful as I'd hoped, but I did get a new watch, a shirt and some nail polish that matches said shirt. Also met boyf in town and ate out at Nando's - yum to both. I'm going to buy my niece part two of her birthday present tonight as well; part one is a Barbie rucksack, beach ball and pink towel set for her holidays. She will be seven, going on 30. Took Puppy for a stroll in the woods yesterday where he narrowly avoided being eaten by a Bullmastiff. How narrowly I hear you ask? About four foot off the ground, dangling from his harness in the vicinity of boyf's waist.

EDIT: I take it back, I've seen it up close (and introduced myself), it IS red.