The Amazing Adventures of Kitty Blogstar

2011: A Digital Year in Review

2011-12-29T19:33:00.000Z

So basically it's my year on the internet. I've done nothing else.

Best TV wet yourself laughing moment: Richard Bacon's Beer and Pizza Club, 8 November 2011. Actually, that whole episode.

Best film DVD purchase: action/comedy - The A-Team. A guilty pleasure. Okay, and I've only just watched it.

Best film: action - Sherlock Holmes 2

Best cinema visit - Weekend. Also best drama, best indie.

Best TV fantasy - The Fades. Also best teen drama.

Best sci-fi and drama - Torchwood: Miracle Day. Video's a bit laggy unfortunately.

Best costume drama - The Hour.

Best song - Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford "Sun & Moon".

Best advertising campaign - It's Time by Get Up Australia. Stretching the themes a bit thin now.

Best blog entry

Guyliner blogs about The Male Nanny

Best new website using. Ha! I'm so easily pleased.

https://twitter.com/

Best purchase.
Pyjama pants

Best read.
February House

Bells they are ringing

2008-11-09T20:23:00.005Z

Today I went to church.

I haven't been to church regularly since 2002. A lot of reasons. I started to doubt my motives for attendance. Was I going because it was important to me to be there, or important to my parents? Then there were problems with my lodger. He was going through a bad period over a girl. And one morning I was late. Somebody made a sarky comment at the door. No one important, not a leader, not a friend. Just some woman appointed to shake hands with everyone. I just snapped. And walked out. Pretty soon I stopped turning up all together. Didn't matter that I had responsibilities. I couldn't care less.

Since then, I had a brief attendance in early 2004, but otherwise I haven't visited apart from at Christmas. It's not the same. A large group of friends and the head minister all left in late 2002, just after I stopped going. It lacks something with them gone. Drive, spirit, passion. It feels flat. They all set up a new church in the next town. Too far for me.

After one of many long chats with Monkey Man, I decided to bite the bullet and email someone on Facebook who I knew attended the new church. And straight away she set me up with a lift with someone.

Going back... well, not really going back as such because I've never been before, yet it feels familiar... everyone who I knew from before was very welcoming. Feels just like the old days, warm, comforting. Little touches, methods I remember were tested out at the old church that were not kept up are in use here. Almost a pioneering feel, no formal dress, everyone pitching in. Really good atmosphere of worship.

I don't feel any loyalty to the old church. I love this place and I've been only once.

A year in the making

2007-12-30T20:33:00.001Z

If 2006 was all about self discovery, then 2007 was finding out about my family. It seems i got through 29 years never really knowing them.

It all started last Christmas day when my dad sang karaoke at my sister-in-law's house. For some reason, finding out that he knew all the words to Ring of Fire and Son of a Preacher Man lead me to begin reconsidering my whole life.

I guess it never occured to me that he knew stuff like the words to songs. I always assumed my parents were happy to be very out of touch with the real world. Now it occured to me that maybe it was just my mum. Over the next year I noticed other things. Just talking to him, I realised he was understanding the pop culture references I mentioned. Finding out that he watched Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, that was a wierd one. I discovered that, by totally ignoring everything my mum was saying in the background, I could have an entire normal conversation with him.

Earlier this year at my mum's birthday, my aunt (mum's sister) and uncle visited and brought her photo albums of the family. She had many photos of my grandad growing up that I had never seen before. My mum's album is full of pictures of my grandma and her family, and herself as a child. She also brought my grandad and his father's war medals that they had framed up. It was very emotional seeing and holding them, flicking through pictures of my grandad over the years. There was a photo of him in uniform at sea. Aunt said they were probably on the boat to Hong Kong. I'd known he had been a POW of the Japanese in WWII. I think if my parents hadn't been there, I would have blubbed my eyes out. But not in front of my mum. I don't respect her enough to let her see me cry.

This Christmas, my aunt and uncle came here again. They came round to our house after visiting with my parents, and we talked a lot about them growing up, moving around and my grandma's mental illness. She's a smart person, it seems as if she was aware of her mum's problems from an early age, even if no diagnosis had been made. I wonder if maybe my mum couldn't cope with it in the way that Aunt did. Aunt has mentioned that my mum was a goody two shoes, always did as she was told no matter what. It occurs to me that I was brought up to do the same. Always obey, parents, teachers, employers, government, but blindly, without consideration, because to question would be disrespectful. I think that it is healthy for children to say "No!" and to make their own decisions. I'm glad I eventually learned to do that for myself.

Maybe the reason my mum has hardly any photos of her dad is that she was blind to all else except her beloved mum. She cried loads when her mum died unexpectedly in her sleep nearly 11 years ago (can't believe it's been so long), but not so much when her dad died of cancer later that year. To be honest, I think her dad was always a little distant, as many POW survivors were. He never spoke of his experience until shortly before he died, and then it was to Aunt's vicar, and it was Aunt who arranged the burial and Aunt who planned the funeral. I don't think my mum ever really knew what he went through.

I think my dad had a fairly normal upbringing, and underneath is a fairly normal guy. Okay he's a bit OCD, obsessed with hygiene, maybe a touch of Asperger's, and he obviously feels the need to compete when it comes to other people's belongings. I wonder if, were it not for my mum, he would be doing more with his life. I remember being young and being told, my dad's hobbies were frivolous, his collection of old records was pointless, but these were normal things for a person to have in their life. Now I wonder if he was just trying to retain his own identity while keeping mum happy.

I feel guilty that the balance has shifted, but I feel happier that I get on well with at least one parent now. And I'm honestly not sure that my mum has noticed.

Re-view

2007-08-10T20:34:00.000+01:00

Reading : The Third Reich in Power by Richard E. Evans (still) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (again)
Listening to : Delirious? - Live at Willow Creek

Well, it's two days till my wedding anniversary (yay), so I thought I would comment on the past year.

Shit.

Don't get me wrong, the marriage bit is absolutely wonderful, but it seems as though the rest of the cosmos has conspired to make me truly hate myself.

I'm considerably fatter, considerably poorer and considerably more depressed than I've ever been at any stage in my life. It seems as though all around me are finding jobs while I am just finding bank bills.

I'm still angry and bitter about the evening do (and still not sure if I want to talk about it).

At 29, I am feeling more under pressure to have kids, still don't want kids, and can't entirely envision myself having kids.

As Mr Blogstar put it, I'm bored with my life. There is nothing happening to get me excited.

By the way, I LOVED Harry Potter.

A change will do you good

2007-06-13T00:07:00.000+01:00

Reading : The Third Reich in Power by Richard E. Evans
Listening to : The Diary of a Nobody on BBC4

We might be getting a new person in the gaming group, apparently he saw my website. I can't even find my own bloody website. And of course Mr Blogstar just can't say no even when he wants a quiet life. He wants to play Shadowrun and he's fairly good at D&D. Oh and he's American. One of our group has moved down south with a new job, he insists he'll still drive up every Sunday but really he should find a nice group there. His best friend is talking about moving there too. Another guy is frequently working or stressed so we don't see a lot of him. Another is usually working or painting. Another is in a post girlfriend binge drinking haze. So it's all change at the moment.

Two words...

2007-05-23T01:51:00.000+01:00

Reading : I Shall Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer (still), Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls by Robert Rankin (still)
Listening to : Tiesto's Club Life on Radio 538 (podcast)

Hmm, deja-vu!

Well, I didn't get the job. Got a polite letter. My friend didn't get the job at Porsche. He has to spend 26 weeks in a tiny office looking for jobs, all day every day. But one of our friends has got a job without really trying and is moving down south next week. Lucky bastard.

Had another series of power cuts today, going off for just a second at a time.

On Saturday got a letter from Telewest-no-more saying that apparently I had not returned my cable set-top box (which I returned 3rd April) and they were planning to charge me £250! Turned out okay though. It seems the collection company haven't been bothering to send the boxes in, so no-one's records have been updated.

On Monday I finally bought Mr Blogstar's birthday presents, only two and a half weeks late. Got him two DVD boxsets: Rome series 1 (stunning packaging), and The New and Improved DX (WWE) which we watched a bit of in bed.

Next weekend we are going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 with Mummy Blogstar.

Blog-a-job

2007-05-15T20:05:00.000+01:00

Reading : I Shall Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer (still), Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls by Robert Rankin
Listening to : Tiesto's Club Life on Radio 538 (podcast)

Yesterday had a job interview for 20 hours-a-week receptionist at a small doctors surgery. The interview lasted 9 minutes and went reasonably well. As usual of course, this is a sign that I did shit and somehow put them off forever. Now my best friend has told me he might be getting an apprenticeship at Porsche! Apparently he told them he loves watching Top Gear. He doesn't even like work! Lucky bastard.

Have decided to improve my current affairs and take up newspaper reading again. The Telegraph is looking very good these days, used to be very dull with awfully old fashioned typeface but now it's looking rather smart and modern. Or at least the online version does. Wow, I'm shallow.

On Saturday we went to watch 28 Weeks Later. It was violent, tense and jump-out-of-your-skin scarey, yet still I came away feeling that I had watched a superb film. This was a relief to Mr Blogstar, who after finding out two minutes in that I hadn't seen the first film, was thinking that maybe he shouldn't have so enthusiastically suggested we go and watch it together.

On Sunday my cat puked up part of my Live8 charity bracelet which I discovered earlier in the week he had been chewing on. All parts probably now accounted for, so hopefully Mr Fluff will not have to be dragged off to the vets to be "emptied".

Pissed off and resolute

2007-02-11T20:28:00.000Z

Oops, the new year slipped by without my attention. So little is happening in my life that I haven't found anything to write about for a long time. I've been away so long, a new version of Blogger has come out, so at last I can update my settings and get the top banner to line up correctly.

Just after Christmas I got a lengthy letter from my former head of sixth form/A-level German teacher, who I had by chance decided to send a Christmas card to. I always find his letters deeply fascinating: the man has a great love of words and grammar, and enjoys reading and the theatre. But I always end up feeling very stupid and feeling the need to read more. So it this year that I finally renewed my library card, which I haven't used for at least seven years, and borrowed some books.

I've always struggled with reading. I don't mean that I can't read, or else I probably wouldn't be blogging. Rather, I find it hard to just pick up a book and read for hours. Reading when I was younger seemed to be at organised intervals, as I was otherwise too busy with homework or going out. With regard to genre, I never quite figured out what was my thing. I read books in the hope that they would make me more intelligent. I had a periodic obsession with Agatha Christie. But for some reason I always had a dislike of picking up a random book by a random author and just trying it out. Well thank goodness for Amazon, with it's synopsises, customer reviews and occasional "search inside" feature.

And so finally I have narrowed down my reading style discovered to comic fantasy. I started off on Tom Holt, one of whose books I borrowed from a friend years ago. He tends to write about ordinary people who encounter myths and magic and spend the rest of the book trying to figure out what happened. I also picked up some Robert Rankin. He has written a whole series of novels set in Brentford. I am currently reading the first book by Jasper Fforde. This guy's stuff is amazing.

Continuing the spirit of change, I also went to the dentist, and discovered that my teeth are exactly the same as at my last visit... seven years ago.

Oh and why am I pissed off? I am pissed off because one of the gaming group has just dropped a tape measure on one of my rare models and broken it into several pieces.

After the ball is over

2006-10-05T09:05:00.000+01:00

They say weddings are a very emotional time but I guess I didn't anticipate how much.

I spent the week after the wedding crying a lot, crying for no particular reason, crying about nothing in particular. Everything made me cry. It was hard. I was happy to be married, very very happy, and nothing fundamentally about my life had changed, but somehow I was an emotional wreck! Not the best way to spend a honeymoon.

The Friday after the wedding we went on holiday for one night to Lancaster to our favourite hotel (read: ONLY hotel), ate some nice Chinese food and bought some roleplay books. It rained. A lot. Sideways. But it was a good two days. Our friends house-sat and the cat didn't starve himself to death this time.

After that, the boredom set in. I guess the past few months had been very busy. Mr Blogstar moved in, that was exciting. Then I found work. Then work finished and I enjoyed not working again. Then I started planning the wedding. Now finally, I had nothing at all to do. No job, no planning, no hobbies, no roleplay going on. My mental state went downhill. My waistline went uphill. I decided I wanted to change everything about myself. Which is odd because surely getting married is the ultimate sign that someone likes you as you are. Being married was making me feel more grown up. Or rather, actually grown up. Which meant dressing up. Long skirts, long sleeves, skate trainers. Grown up clothes. Or maybe they just show the fat less.

The cat knows things have changed. It must be love.

Life is but a dream, sweetheart

2006-10-05T08:42:00.000+01:00

So it's been nearly 2 months since I got married.

Yes, I thought I'd better write and let you know I did get married and that nothing terrible had befallen me (except maybe getting eaten by an historical novel).

But it's taken me this long to be able to put into words the events of the day. They say that weddings are a huge event in your life but I guess I didn't realise how much of an impact it would be.

After being immensely tense/stressed/excited in the lead up, the day itself felt incredibly calm. I think though I was running entirely on adrenalin. Not having enough sleep didn't really help. It was an odd feeling. Nothing seemed entirely real. I couldn't get it into my head that today I was getting married. It seemed just like any other Saturday. Well, to be honest it was more like a Sunday: the house was filled with blokes and I was running late, chasing round, tidying up and shouting at people.

Having finally got to my parents house (the concept of staying at their house the night before to get ready was just too much to bear) and got zipped into my dress in about 30 seconds... no, still didn't seem odd; being photographed eating toast while wearing a ball gown just seemed amusing. There was a lot of standing around getting my sister-in-law laced into her dress. Then photographs in the back garden. Having to show my own father how to put on a tie! Then finally leaving and seeing the neighbours casually standing by their front doors pretending they weren't really being nosey.

The ceremony was at 11.30am. I'm fairly sure we were late, but I didn't know what time it was, as my dressing-up watch had stopped working at some point earlier in the year, and I had stupidly only checked it the week before the wedding (it was pretty much guaranteed I would forget something). As we pulled into the registry office car park, Mr Blogstar and the two best men (one with brains, one with a car, as he later put it) were being photographed under some trees, then our friends walking up the driveway, and an old colleague from my first job, who I haven't seen in three years, with his young son! Yay!

Then there was some sort of dawdling on the landing outside the ceremony room, confirming my name, waiting for them to get everyone seated.

Then suddenly there was music playing (a Mexican piece, which it turned out was from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and not just from a little film called Kill Bill Vol. 2, which I was banking no one noticing) and we were walking in. And there were the people I had invited who hadn't replied but had turned up anyway, it was so exciting. And all our friends from the roleplay group and our relatives. And oh yes, there was Mr Blogstar at the end trying to look casual. And still all I could think was, wow, is that my previous boss under that hat?

Then we were standing at the front, and my niece was running around, and the registrar was trying not to giggle, and Mr Blogstar was repeating his vows and I just wanted to laugh out loud, I mean, it was insane! Everyone was looking so serious and sombre and here was me in a huge red dress: ME, who only dressed up for interviews, standing opposite a man in a suit, who'd never owned a suit in his life, and still didn't, seeing as it was on hire. Then I was repeating my vows and hoping my voice didn't sound funny and trying not to start laughing.

Some music (from Kill Bill Vol. 2). My niece running around.

And then it was finished.

I was married.

Signing the register. Being photographed pretending to sign the register. Thinking, wow, I'm starving. Thinking, wow, I'm married. Grinning insanely. Walking down the aisle to Mariachi music (yep, Kill Bill Vol. 2 again). Lots and lots of photographs on the field behind the office. My niece running off everytime she was supposed to pose. Lots of poses with replica swords and pretend sword fighting. My aunt looking very keen on pretending to chop her husband's head off. The best man announcing he had locked his keys in his car after getting the weapons out. My feet hurting a lot because I wasn't used to wearing 3 inch heels.

Lunch. Oddly enough the restaurant at the hotel was almost empty. The table was incorrectly arranged. My calm attitude exploded and I nearly killed the waiter, who grovelled apologetically and rearranged the seats. The food was absolutely scrummy, this bit I do remember! Beautifully presented. Not too rich, not too stingey. Three courses and didn't feel stuffed. Cheesecake... mmmmmmm...

We then went on to visit Mr Blogstar's nan who was not able to attend the wedding. It was very emotional. She was so pleased. All her closest relatives standing around her. My niece eating Jelly Babies. It was lovely.

After that, there were still a few hours to kill until the evening do so Mr and Mrs went back home. Once again the house was full of blokes, they had all piled back to ours (once the best man's mum had brought him a spare set of car keys!) Changed into our skivvies. Opened our cards and presents. Went to get the room ready.

I don't want to talk about the evening do. Not for a while.

Panic Stations

2006-08-11T15:17:00.000+01:00

Days to my wedding : 1 -- Excitement level : stratospheric

Well, the panic of the last few days has subsided and has been replaced by a giddy feeling, since I saw my flowers at the florists this morning. Apart from the fact that I keep thinking it's Thursday, I'm quite excited.

It can't go too badly. At least it's sunny today. Wednesday was fairly terrible. It rained. Within the space of half an hour everything went downhill. As I was due to go out to take the lunch menu choices to the restaurant, the printer settings for the program went screwy and wouldn't print the list off. Then the phone broke down and all we could here was a loud buzz, so we couldn't phone out, just as I was about to phone out. Then the cat on exiting the litter tray had not detached all the poo from him, so there was a mad scramble to stop him reaching the carpet and painting it a lovely new colour.

My handbag has still not arrived. Not feeling hopeful.

The flowers look stunning. The buttonholes were in pyramid bags!

So what else have we done this week?

On Saturday we had a party and sleepover. We did some Paranoia, consumed a lot of Bacardi Breezers and did not get a lot of sleep.

On Sunday they all went home eventually.

On Monday I went a bit mad buying thank you presents.

On Tuesday I picked up the dresses from the wedding shop. Tried on my dress for my mum later and she got all misty eyed. It looks stunning.

On Wednesday we went to Makro to pick up large quantities of items for the buffet. Our friend's mum took us, so we had to follow her round while she looked at shoes and clothes first. The boys went running off exploring, it was very sweet. We then filled up the tiny space left in the freezer from the trip to the Chinese supermarket last week with bags of chicken legs and the like, and had to put all our own food in my parents' freezer.

On Thursday we went shopping for more thank you presents. Then later a friend came round and celebrated his birthday (it is on the Monday after the wedding).

Now it's Friday. And we have to go buy more buffet food (salad, bread etc.) Then we empty our freezer and get back our own food.

Then nothing. Till tomorrow.

Eek.

Eeeeeeek.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Angry

2006-08-01T22:17:00.000+01:00

Days to my wedding : 11 -- Stress level : grrrrr

I am angry.

I am angry because my dad has gone out and bought a 20 year old second hand book about wedding speeches, and now thinks he knows more than me after months of research into what is considered polite or trendy. He is convinced that, just because he is paying for the wedding, that he is hosting it, even though we researched, planned and booked everything and just gave him the bill. Which is all he said he would be doing, he never mentioned any catches. He wants to be thanking people for coming, and talking about how far they have travelled (Mr Blogstar's job, and lame!) and he wants to thank the caterers (my job along with thank you gifts at the end). We chose the guests and invited them, we did not ask him who we should invite. So it is up to us to welcome them and comment on them being so kind as to turn up. We've broken so many traditions so far, there's no point deliberately keeping to the ones left.

We have already agreed to some of his suggestions which turned out to be very helpful, and incorporated them into the wedding (suggested photographer, having a lunchtime reception, evening do venue) and he has done lots of design work on reply cards, menus, maps and order of services. But it was all per our final authorisation. It is our wedding and our decision.

He is just paying so we can get married quickly so that he doesn't have to tell people that his daughter is shacked up with her boyfriend.

Grand day out

2006-07-31T23:44:00.000+01:00

Days to my wedding : 12 -- Stress level : deep-fried

This weekend, I have mostly been in a car.

So on Saturday afternoon, we went to Liverpool (nearest big city, European Capital of Culture 2008, ha ha, which bit were they looking at!) with our friend (car owner) to a Chinese supermarket/wholesalers to pick up some Chinese starters for his mum to cook for the wedding evening do buffet.

So we set off at 3.00, taking the back roads instead of the most direct route, and got near to Liverpool at 3.30. We then skirted around the edge of the city centre trying to find the right road, because he was convinced it would be quicker than going through the city centre to get to the other side. So at 4.30, after driving through numerous districts of Liverpool, sometimes more than once, some with signs warning against kerb crawling, we pursuaded him to just drive through the centre. So we drove through the centre. We then drove round the centre several times trying to find the correct road which would take us to said supermarket.

Until we took a wrong turn (one of many) and suddenly found ourselves in a tunnel heading to Birkenhead on the other side of the River Mersey! It must have been the exhaust fumes as we found ourselves screaming with laughter. As we reached the other side around 5 minutes later, there was a mad scramble for change for the toll booth, followed by the realisation that we had no change for the way back (exact change only, thrown into a hopper). Suddenly, McDonalds came into view, along with an advertisement board for Rolo milkshakes. But conveniently, PC World (pc superstore, average ready made products, extortionate prices, stupid staff) was located just 100m away, so we went there first (WHY???), followed by a trip to McDonalds for said milkshakes.

As we approached the tunnel again, we suddenly noticed several signs indicating manned and unmanned toll booths. And realised we could get change after all.

D'oh.

For the next hour we drove round the city centre some more. Just as it looked like we might be reaching our destination, we drove past it. Oh no, he said, there's a much bigger one near here, I went there with my mum.

Could we find it? Have a guess.

So we eventually gave up, drove back into town, and went for a meal at a Chinese restaurant!

So on to Monday at 4.00pm, and we set off again for the supermarket, armed with a new set of instructions, and arrived in the Liverpool are at 4.30pm.

This time we found the tunnel much sooner, and soon arrived in the Wirral again.

An hour later, we persuaded him to stop at a phone box, phone his mum and ask for some street names so that the road map would actually become useful. And off we went again, only turning wrong once (my fault) and arrived at a huge supermarket at 6.00pm. Large quantities of spring rolls appeared in the trolly, along with small bags for us, sui mai, won tons, some strange dipping sauces, and for us some noodles of various kinds, a packet of prawn toast, a bamboo steamer, one of those baskets you put in a pan to allow you to deep fry, stir fry sauces and some egg biscuits (looked interesting). We nosied in the wholesale bit, and pondered over 1kg of fortune cookies and some frozen octopus and pig's vaginas. Just as we were deciding our next move, we discovered it was only 8 minutes till closing time, and a mad dash to the tills ensued.

We drove home without too much difficulty, scoffing Pocky all the way (Japanese stick shaped biscuit snack things).

Later on, I deep fried some spring rolls and prawn toast (much tastier than the oven-ready variety) and steamed some sui mai. We scoffed this along with some stir fried vermicelli noodles and beansprouts in soy sauce. Yum! The we had strawberry Angel Delight with raspberry-ripple ice cream and egg biscuits on top.

Insomnia

2006-07-21T07:46:00.000+01:00

Days to my wedding : 22 -- Stress level : sleepy

Well look at that, it's 7.45am, I forgot to go to bed and spent all night making playlists for the wedding evening do. Natural Blues (Moby) is currently playing.

Have accidentally acquired all my ceremony music from the Kill Bill Vol. 2 OST. So that's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, club chill and Mariachi singers. Adios, Blondie.

STILL no word from the wedding dress shop about the bridesmaids dress, and when I phoned them today they said they were sure it should have already arrived. A quick call to head office in France merrited the belief that it would arrive sometime this week or next week (what kind of an answer is that in a crisis?!) Still, it was comforting to know that the shop staff would get it finished, no matter the time frame.

Mr Blogstar has finished building his unnecessarily expensive PC. The keyboard is very smooth to type on, this is the fastest I've typed in months. The mouse is pretty but the buttons are hard to click, I can feel my wrist tensing up. The case is HUGE with blue glowing lights. They light up a whole room. The subwoofer is bigger than a small PC, it's shockingly loud. The sound card came with a tuning deck and a remote control! And now apparently requires the PC to have a bigger power supply. It never ends! The monitor is flat and very pretty.

Still have no job.

Poetry please!

2006-07-13T21:35:00.000+01:00

A woman named Amanda has just left a comment on my blog. She recently started her own blog and has written some beautiful poems. You can check them out here: http://firstfruitministries.blogspot.com/.

Super Furry Animals

2006-07-13T19:55:00.000+01:00

Days to my wedding : 30 -- Stress level : furry

Yesterday, while shopping at next on the retail park for some trousers to fit my unecessarily large bottom, I visited the pet supermarket Pets at Home. I will now be temporarily replaced by a small child.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!! It's so huge! They've got a huge enclosure with rabbits and you can lean over and watch them run around! And they've got a humungous cage with chipmunks and they run up and down the bars and jump and swing on the ropes and lick your fingers! And they've got rows of glass tanks with all different breeds of hamsters and mice and rats and gerbils, and they've got chinchillas and guinea pigs, and upstairs they've got birds and fish! And they've got food and bedding and toys and homes for every kind of animal ever!!!!!!!

And later I got on the same bus as Mr Blogstar's ex-girlfriend and she didn't kill me.

Tomorrow I have a job interview at the chemist down the road. I am excited and pessamistic because every job interview I go for where I really want the job, I do badly and remain jobless.

Power-less

2006-07-04T22:58:00.000+01:00

Days to my wedding : 39 -- Stress level : twitchy

Well, yesterday was so exciting that it merits an entry! As with all good yesterdays, it all started the day before, with a slight power fluctuation at about 10.30pm: just enough to reset the PC but not enough to reset any other electrical item. Apparently there was another one in the middle of the night, but being very talented when it comes to sleep, I missed it completely.

The next thing I knew, it was 9.45am and the cat was jumping up and down wondering why I hadn't got up to feed him. This turned out to be because there had been a total power cut sometime before 8.30am and my alarm had hence failed to go off. (Really, she should have a backup, I might have starved! -Ed.)

The power handily came back on just a few minutes later, but once again faded away at 2.30pm as I was about to go into town. On leaving the house, I discovered at the end of the street two Transco vans (they service the gas supply), an electricity company van, and seven workmen standing round digging a hole in the driveway of a sheltered accomodation bungalow in the next street. About an hour or so later when I cam back, there were 5 vans, the hole now stretched across three driveways, and the residents were sat out on the pavement in deckchairs with a sunshade drinking tea!

Still no power. And of course I'd just bought more items to go into the freezer, fully expecting the power to be back on. Mr Blogstar popped out to see what was happening and came back to report that during the night a cable attached to the electricity mains had managed to burn a hole in a gas pipe! No, they didn't know when it would be fixed. No they didn't know when the power would come back on. Then about 5.30pm a guy came round and asked us to switch the gas off!

So no electricity, no gas... no PC, no PS2, no TV, no kettle, and now no oven! Mr Blogstar was getting twitchy, he was running out of models to paint. So at about 8.00pm we decided we might as well go round to my parents and use their oven (and TV). Wouldn't you know it, just as we were about to leave the guy turned up again to switch the gas back on and test our appliances!

Still, we went to the parents anyway (you can't eat pizza without a TV!). On the way we had a look to see how the work was getting on: the tally was about 7 vans and two small diggers. So to the parents. Which was fun. No really, it was stimulating. Escaped an hour later to find the power back, huzzah! But still the digging went on. And on. And on. At about 2am they were still digging, only now there was a huge digger to be seen from the bedroom window, all lit up with flashing lights. Just the wrong sort of day to need ALL the windows open!

Still, today the digging has finished, but the holes remain. They'll probably be filled in eventually. I mean, they're hardly life threatening, they can wait a few months.

Discovered about half an hour ago I had forgotten to re-ignite the boiler. Damn you Honeywell for making impossible products. Half an hour later had finally made it stay lit.

A trip to feline bizarro land

2006-06-24T22:51:00.000+01:00

Someone sent me a bizarre blog link today of the dangers of taking cat blogging just a little too far. If you're curious check it out here, but be warned, some may find it to be a bit politically insensitive. That said, if you liked Monty Python, you should be safe.

Days gone by

2006-06-15T23:21:00.000+01:00

Another month, another shameful lack of posts.

This week, I have been mostly watching The Darling Buds of May. For those of you awake around the early 90's, this should ring bells. It is a fantastic British comedy drama, based on the various novels of H. E. Bates. Set in the 1950's, it followed the lives of the Larkins, a large, eccentric family from Kent. Farmer Sidney Larkin is a hard working, well liked, rather cheeky chap, who has somehow managed to get through life without ever paying income tax. So when a young, nervous tax inspector named Cedric Charlton arrives, the family go to great lengths to distract him from filling out his forms. Not only that, but Mr Charlton falls hopelessly in love with the eldest daughter, Mariette, and decides to forego his career in the civil service and become a part of this flamboyant family.

The series stars David Jason in, I think, one of his best roles, as the head of this rather eccentric family. Pam Ferris is fantastic as his 'wife' and mother of their seven vivacious children. Catherine Zeta Jones, before she was a Hollywood luvie, played Mariette, a role which made the men of Britain sigh with admiration, and the women sigh with jealousy.

I only read the one novel, and I was only about 15. Good job my mum had no idea what I was reading, it was a bit racey! Well, just amorous really. For example, in the book I read, one daughter, Primrose, flirts madly with the local vicar and gets herself pregnant by him; long observations of her dropping caraway seeds down her cleavage. In the series, her pursuit of the vicar only gets as far as a quick kiss on the lips, when his sister arrives, pretends to be his wife and Primrose storms off in a huff. Yes, the ITV version was certainly toned down a bit: it hinted rather than lingered over the sexier storylines, and I think this is what made it so popular. It was a gentle, nostalgic look at family life, of a time very far from where we are today.

I think given enough viewings, this could be the only thing that would make me want to one day have children. Daft as it may sound, and so far away from the modern world as it is, it is the one thing that makes me hopeful for the future, that I might possibly do a good job of raising Mr Blogstar's offspring. I say 'his' rather than 'my' because from what I have seen of his family, the Blogstar personality is extremely strong and will pervade the gene pool like... something that pervades! Crumbs, where is this sentence going! It's a series that really draws you into the family life, the no nonesense upbringing and loving support the parents give their children, the clear affection Ma and Pop show for each other (VERY clear, judging by their growing numbers!).

I realise many people might say a show like this is unrealistic: an idilic country life in a perfect village where nothing untoward ever happens, and naughty people on motor bikes can be driven out by a passing group of CND protestors? Was Britain ever really this 'perfick'? I think we'd all like to believe it was: I think we'd all like to wish it still could be.

Anyway, I've been watching said programme on Teleport TV, which is a groovy feature I've discovered on Telewest. It has an archive of past popular shows submitted by a few channels. You can watch them at any time, totally for free, and they are usually available for a period of a few months. Got about three more episodes to go, then I might take a look at Prime Suspect.

Dungeons and dufflecoats

2006-05-17T20:44:00.000+01:00

The Eberron campaign is still ongoing. Sort of shuffling along. Certain people, mentioning no names... have been whinging that it wasn't working, and seemed to think the best way to fix it was to start all over again. Not that the GM cares that his weeks of work mean nothing in the face of a shiny killsheet, oh no!

So Mr Blogstar decided to be a bit mean. He's kind of scarey when he's being mean. He had us all wake up in a jail cell with no memory of how we got there, dressed only in rags with every single bit of our equipment gone. We had to escape and fight our way through a dungeon, all for the entertainment of some nobles who were watching us on some sort of hidden camera thing. It went suprisingly well. Those people who had complained really made an effort, and a lot of thought was put in.

Hopefully we're going to do some Shadowrun soon, now that we've got the new edition.

Panic at the disco... and the restaurant... and the registry office

2006-05-17T20:34:00.000+01:00

Been away a while. Not felt inspired to write much. Then a guy who used to be in our RPG group sent me the link to his blog, so I thought I would start writing again.

Well it's less than 3 months till my wedding...

Oh sorry, I just passed out there.

Yes, it seems to be coming together for the most part, though in the back of my mind is a mild sense of panic that something will go horribly wrong and we'll all be standing around aimlessly.

So, big red dress. Check. Bridesmaids in gold. Check. Flowers co-ordinate. Check. Seeing bakery at end of month. Check. Ceremony venue. Check. Lunch in a fancy hotel restaurant. Check. Party in a not too tatty social club. Check. Nice photographer. Check. Caterer. Check. Mum wearing increadibly tasteful outfit. Check.

So just accessories, shopping for buffet ingredients, last minute lunch arrangements, videographer, list of photographs, spiralling guest list and vetting other people's speeches to worry about. Oh, if only AI had been perfected.

Rings and things

2006-03-18T20:15:00.000Z

Roll on Spring. Brrrr, it's grim up north!

Started planning my wedding last month. Nothing much had happened since before I started work, we had no money and there seemed no point thinking about it. Then one day I suddenly realised that I really wanted to get married this August. My dad hinted that he might be interested in paying for it. All of it. So I started planning at speed and had it booked within a week. That doesn't happen in the real world.

The ceremony is at the register office in the next town (they had a vacancy). Then we are having lunch with just our close family, venue to be decided. Then later an evening do at a nearby social club.

At least it was looking planned, then it all went tits up. The dress was supposed to be a Chinese cheongsam. I had planned the theme of the wedding in a Chinese style. Bought it from a website in the US. Then on Wednesday it arrived. It looked shit. Gutted. I didn't have another plan. I was hoping to have a dress costing £20 and now I had to try and find a regular wedding dress which would cost me hundreds of pounds.

But of course it all worked out. The first website I looked at was Pronuptia, a chain of stores originating in France. Instantly found several dresses I liked and a branch in Liverpool. Which didn't have in any of the dresses I liked. Bar one. It was big. Red. Flouncy. It's called 'Darcy'. It was gorgeous. Went back and ordered it the next day.

So on the 12th August I will become "Mrs" Blogstar. I can't wait. Well, don't really want to lose my surname, but really want to be married.

Winter Wonderland

2006-01-03T10:13:00.000Z

It's been over two months since I've written. It's 10.15 in the morning and by all accounts I should be asleep. It snowed last week but not at Christmas. I've been on Neopets for three months. I've eaten too much chocolate.

And I've had a job!

What, a job? Surely this nullifies the entire existance of this blog! And why haven't you been here since October, shame on you! (Quiet, someone's looking...)

Well, since my last post saying I'd got a temporary job, I have worked said three month contract and finally have time to sit down and write. My brain has recovered from the tedium of putting shampoo on shelves, I've caught up on the sleep I missed, the cat is sat on my knee trying to eat tinsel and all is well.

Actually the job was quite good. It started off two nights a week, increasing gradually to five. I worked mostly on beauty products and always with someone else (there was always a lot of stuff). The people were nice, I was treated like one of them and not just like a temp. I had some tasty hot food and we also got a free Christmas dinner.

By the last two weeks in the run up to Christmas, shifts became nine in a row. That didn't go so well. Everyday I felt more and more exausted. Towards the end I nearly fell asleep on a pallet. Lucky for the regular staff they didn't have to do this. Ah, the joys of being a seasonal slave.

Then Christmas Eve and at last freedom. Went out that evening with work mates on a bar crawl. Well, more a dawdle. Perhaps I'll write a review later. Got a bit drunk, first time ever! Felt okay by Christmas day though, hadn't mixed drinks. Both Mr Blogstar and I were a bit rough, not enough sleep, got up too early on Christmas morning to open our presents. Nearly fell asleep at his Nan's house later. Very tasty Christmas dinner. Small niece has grown a lot and is VERY smart. Gets about at a fair rate of knots.

Among the biscuits and chocolate, also got X-Files season 3 and 4, The Bourne Identity, a naughty book and the first Harry Potter book. The cat got a moving mouse. Mr Blogstar got some Family Guy shot glasses, more chocolate, a singing snowman, Wallace and Gromit, a tin of chocolate cappuccino and a Deathjack for Warmachine.

Cooked our Christmas dinner on boxing day night. Was a bit late going in the oven as we fell asleep. Also forgot to put the bacon and sausage on so we had them at a later date.

Spent the next few days almost constantly sleeping. Cat very pleased to have me back, spent lots of time cuddled in bed with us. Mr Blogstar went back to work on Wednesday night. Found out virtually all the temps had been given more hours. Except me. Very annoyed. And disappointed. Finally had work I enjoyed, huge amounts of job satisfaction.

So now it's new year, I'm back doing not a lot. Got to go and start signing on again this morning, a pointless exercise. Back to reality.

Fluffy the Carrot Slayer and the Hamsters of Doom present Supermarket Sweat

2005-10-28T06:55:00.000+01:00

My gosh, I've been slack with posting. I went for some interviews which came to nothing. Then Mr Blogstar picked up an application form to work at his supermarket over Christmas. So far so good, they liked the form. So last week I went to a group interview with about a dozen other people. One of our friends was there too. He did much better than me, and they called him the very next day to invite him in for an interview for night shift shelf stacking. Myself, nothing happened, and Mr Blogstar checked the boards at work and said that they seemed to have taken on lots of former employees. I guess it saves them time on training and they can get on with the business of Christmas shopping insanity.

So I was all given up and stuffing myself with biscuits when I received a call this Tuesday asking me to come for an interview on Wednesday afternoon. All seemed well, though the manager was a little scary. And short. After commenting that I'd said on the form that I didn't want to work tea time till midnight, to which I said, well, I'd prefer not to, she brusquely told me that they had no vacancies and that she would contact the night shift manager to see if they were interested in me. So once again I went home, ate biscuits and moped into the pillows, until 10pm when I received a call from the night shift manager, asking me to come for an interview the following evening!

So last night, I trundled on down again, actually nervous for the first time ever (not good when you're trying to apply mascara). Arrived early, sat in the cafeteria and waited. And waited. And waited. After about half an hour, during which time people had gone in for interviews, Mr Blogstar's overall manager, called me in, with a not-quite-a-smile-but-not-quite-being-serious expression and using my full name. And took me into a small common room to inform me that they had made a mistake in calling me in for an interview because I'd already had an interview and they didn't need to interview me again! So would I like to come to an induction evening next Wednesday - Yes! - and we'll see you next Wednesday, here's the door.

Needless to say Mr Blogstar was very amused when met me outside work about 15 minutes later. Very amused and very pleased. He's excited about being able to tell people he had it off with a new temp on her first day, cheeky boy! Sent me a text later encouraging me to buy a DVD and blow the cost. I might, but I've just ordered a second hamster cage.

Actually, I guess quite a lot has happened!

Ah yes, the hamsters. Still don't know what gender they are. Still not sure whether they like the food I give them. Still can't persuade Muffy (the fat one) to sit still and be stroked. Midget (the small one) is being more responsive and is much more confident now that he/she/it is housed alone. It's a shame really, because it was so amusing watching them chase each other and snuggle up. But not so amusing watching them take chunks out of each other.

So what else have we done? Went to visit our friends who live just outside Liverpool. Tried to eat more granary bread and vegetables. Tried to eat less biscuits. Tried to save money. Watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons 2 and 3 (still don't own season 1). Formatted the PC after it had some virus upsets and then some virus scanner upsets.

The Werecritters campaign has ended for now and Mr Blogstar has finally started his Eberron campaign. We first started this campaign in the spring. It didn't go too well. We were all playing evil characters but instead of being malevolent we ended up being incompetent. So on Sunday we started again with a vaguely good aligned campaign, with new characters if we so wished. I have kept me psion but swapped some of her stats around. Suddenly I have my highest attack bonuses ever (for a starter level character), killed more monsters than our resident big grock player and was generally very impressive.

Will curse loudly if I have to work Sundays and miss the campaign. It doesn't seem fair to change the day we meet just so that I can turn up, but Mr Blogstar is insisting we would.

F has also started his Exalted campaign and so far it's going well, much better than his last one from about a year ago. People actually enjoyed it, which is progress. He is doing an Autocthonian campaign, which is inspired by the film Metropolis. Still think he has to work on expressing himself better. Still have to finish my flippin' character...

Blow ill wind, blow away

2005-09-29T21:45:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I've written, I've been a bit down of late. Mr Blogstar has gone back to work so I've had a lot of time alone in front of the TV. I've been thinking about our forthcoming wedding, and so far plans haven't been very forthcoming. We have no money to speak of and no date set. Every time I try to think about it I feel despondent. We would both love to get married next summer, but what if I don't get a job? My parents want me to get married in church, but which church? My beliefs are still important to me, even though I am very lax in following them through, and just picking a pretty church at random seems hypocritical. Of course, I know everyone does it, and then pretends they don't live with their other half so that the priest or vicar doesn't give disapproving looks, but it just doesn't feel right. Then there's the do afterwards. It's expected to be big and exciting but so far none of the venues have what I'm looking for. We could travel further, like to the next town, but not everyone can afford the travel costs. And all the venues and catering are so expensive, and if we only invited a few guests, others would feel left out.

World of Glass

2005-09-22T22:42:00.000+01:00

Today we went to visit The World of Glass. St Helens doesn't have many museums these days so it's a bit of a rarity. It is a history of glassmaking throughout the world and of the industrial history of St Helens. It was quite good really, though probably more aimed at school groups.

Hamsterdance

2005-09-20T22:53:00.000+01:00

Took the hamsters to the vets. You wouldn't think something so small would cause so many problems, would you? When we got them, we were told they were both girls. One was a bit chubbier than the other so we called the small one Midget and the bigger one Muffy. Then Muffy started getting very fat so we wondered if she had got pregnant at the breeders. So we checked out some info on the net and it said hamsters get big only in the late stages of pregnancy. So we thought, great, baby hamsters soon, oh heck! Several weeks later and no baby hamsters. So we wondered if it might be a phantom pregnancy, which would eventually sort itself out. Then Muffy started fighting with Midget and bit her on the bum, so we separated them. And we thought, maybe Midget is male and Muffy is banning her from the home. Maybe she is pregnant after all. A few days later there was a sore looking bare patch on Midget's bum. So we had a closer look, and a look at the genitals, and they looked distinctively male. Another day and the bare patch was bigger. So we took them to the vets. Midget got an antibiotic injection. The vet looked at Muffy and said she didn't feel pregnant. Then she looked at a textbook and said that Muffy looked male too! And now Muffy is starting to look smaller and Midget is looking bigger!

Party Political Broadcast

2005-09-20T00:27:00.000+01:00

Been a busy few days since I last wrote. Mr Blogstar started his holiday on Thursday, which so far has consisted of much World of Warcraft and Half Life 2.

On Friday we went shopping in Liverpool, where we bought a few books and jars of paint and had some very nice KFC.

On Saturday was our late summer party and sleepover. Our friend from the city arrived at 4.00pm and announced that, though we weren't cracking open the beers until 10.00pm, he had been drinking since 1.00pm as he had met some friends on the way. Then Mr Blogstar's sister arrived with her partner and baby. Another friend arrived with pleadings from his girlfriend not to get too drunk. Someone brought some sticky spare ribs that his mum had made, along with his PC, laptop, XBOX and a large TV, while Mini-D brought generous donations of alcohol. Mr Blogstar took him and his car to the shops to get the food for the evening. Then later on another friend turned up with, not only beer, but some sausage rolls.

After some Magic we did a bit of the Werecritters RPG. After several more beers people were not in the best state for gaming and getting their characters killed in 2 minutes. So we started again, but it was cut short when Mr Blogstar misread the clock and ended the session an hour early.

After a lot of deliberating, most people went to the chippy to get tea and to the shop to pick up more supplies. After much scoffing, there was a hectic 8-player game of Halo 2. It was made a bit crazy by the fact that all the people who had lots of practice on the game were all on the same team, while the other team were mostly drunk and confused.

Later people settled down doing their own thing. There was some 2-player Dawn of War over the LAN. Someone else was glued to the XBOX playing Heroes. We had some chocolate mini rolls and at 2.00am we had toast and mini apple pies. By 3.00am a few people had gone home and the others were starting to look a bit drowsy. Went to bed with Mr Blogstar and left them gaming downstairs.

Sunday morning they were all lying around unconcious when I got up to feed the cat. A few hours later when I got up again they were looking more perky and doing some gaming. Most people had gotten a bit of sleep in the spare room with the hamsters for company. No one felt the need to go home so they all stayed for the rest of the day and played some Warhammer 40K. Finally managed to get rid of everyone at 11.00pm!

Oral pleasures

2005-09-13T22:22:00.000+01:00

Slept badly last night, then got up to feed the cat and found that Mr Blogstar had lost a tooth in the night and had a big tooth-free hole and lots of blood everywhere. So a trip off to the emergency dentist to find that there is no longer an emergency dentist, just a regular dentist. Anyway, it turned out to be okay. The man said it shouldn't be a problem and should heal itself, and if it didn't, he'd know about it when it turned septic! Great!

Is there any tea on this space ship?

2005-09-05T22:26:00.001+01:00

After signing on, went to visit the boyfriend's grandma today for the first time since June. It was really good to see his grandma, she is such a lovely person and hasn't been well for several months.

The other nice thing was that his niece was there who I also haven't seen for several months. She is now 4 months old and is much more active since I last saw her. It felt so much easier to hold and talk to her. I was so uncomfortable when she was very small. I find it so hard to talk to babies; my mind goes blank and I feel so embarassed.

I'm trying to think of something to call the boyfriend other than 'the boyfriend'. I'm thinking of 'Mr Blogstar'. Or 'Tippy Blogstar'.

Later we went shopping and bought The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on DVD. I watched it when it was on the cinema and it is fantastic. I also have the 80's TV series on DVD which I really enjoy watching. It is a fantastic story, truly inspired and very bizarre. I am glad that the Hollywood version has retained the essential Englishness of the story.

Narnia Nostalgia

2005-09-02T22:48:00.000+01:00

Today we started watching Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The acting had taken a radical step forward by this point, and there seems to have been a bigger budget available with some excellent fight scenes and beautiful outdoor sets. I do think it was a shame they condensed two books into one six-part series, but it does create a much more fast-paced story.

I've just found a great website at the British Film Institute called Screenonline. It is "The definitive guide to Britain's film and TV history."

Phoenix Flights

2005-09-01T22:56:00.001+01:00

Finally finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It really is a great book. Only four more to go!

We've finished watching our two series of Press Gang and started on The Chronicles of Narnia. Those of you of the right age may remember the BBC made four of the books into mini-series in the late 1980's. Today we started on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I have to say, the acting is a lot more ropey than Press Gang, some of it as wooden as the props. The White Witch's maniacal laughter wouldn't seem out of place in an episode of Blackadder II. And I do wonder how Susan managed to deliver all her lines without once losing her smile. Yet somehow I remained charmed by the simplicity of this series. I blub everytime I hear the theme tune, I get emotional everytime Aslan appears on screen. It is an essential part of my childhood. I hope the new series of films can make me feel just as exhilarated.

Charity Cheese

2005-08-26T21:20:00.000+01:00

Have you ever read the back of a Primula tub? It's quite fascinating:

Kavli [the company that makes Primula] was established in 1893 and is owned by the Kavli Foundation, a charitable organisation supporting humanitarian, cultural and research projects worldwide. Find out more at http://www.kavli.co.uk/.

They also make products for Weight Watchers. It's so nice to know you can have a tasty snack and save the planet at the same time.

At the moment I am watching Press Gang on DVD. Those of you born in the late seventies should remember this ITV show about a local newspaper written by school kids. It truly was an excellent piece of drama. True, in hindsight the acting seems a bit ropey in places, the outfits have dated horrendously and you can no longer be forgiven for thinking that Dexter Fletcher really sounds American, but the episodes still have the ability to grip me 15 years later with their intelligent stories and clever editing techniques. This is one of those shows from a period in TV history when kids shows didn't have to be only for kids.

I suppose in a way you could (probably contraversially) say that the Harry Potter series follows a similar vein. Although written primarily for children, the books demand a certain level of maturity from its readers, and have also been released in "grown-up" editions. Perhaps this is the reason they have become so popular: not only is the story engrossing and compelling but young people reading them recognise that they are in no way being patronised, that much is asked of them as they take on board the themes in Harry's world. I am 27 years old and only just beginning to read these books but I am as impressed and excited as I would be with any "adult" book. Surely this is the sign of a talented writer.

As the story has developed, the books have not only grown in length but also depth: depth of plot and characterisation. The gifts the young wizards possess are potentially dangerous and Harry discovers to what lengths they have been abused in the past. The increasing intrusion of the Ministry of Magic, the political overseers of the wizarding world, reads almost like something out of a conspiracy theory. I am currently reading The Order of the Phoenix, and it is disturbing to hear the adamant denials that they make, despite all the available evidence, about the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The pupil's freedoms are increasingly taken away in a desperate attempt to prevent any uprising against the Ministry. As the book unfolds we see families and friendships being torn apart, between those who believe in the truth and those who are in complete denial. Unfortunately I've yet to read books 1-4 and I've only seen film 3, but it is interesting to wonder whether their actions are in attempt to prevent panic or whether there is a more sinister reason. Pehaps the rest of book 5 will reveal more.

On Press Gang again, you may not be aware but the show's writer Stephen Moffat later went on to make the hugely popular BBC comedy series Coupling. Even in his early work you can clearly see his unique style that he later employs to great effect: clever camera angles, cutting between shots to mislead the viewer and witty character dialogue.

It's Wonkerlicious!

2005-08-26T00:27:00.001+01:00

Another Thursday. Thursdays aren't so interesting. Actually most days of the week are quite dull at the moment. Here's an exciting run down:

8.30am Get up, feed cat.
9.00am Go back to bed with boyfriend who has just come in from night shift (Tuesday through Friday).
11.30am Woken up by cat attacking our feet, insisting that it's nearly lunch time. It isn't.
12.00pm Get up, have breakfast, read.
1.30pm Feed cat.
3.00pm Boyfriend gets up. Have a shower.
7.30pm Boyfriend goes back to bed. Fall asleep on bed next to him.
9.00pm Get up, curse for having slept so long. Have tea, watch TV.
10.30pm Boyfriend goes to work. Do some washing. Watch LivingTV, surf net, write in Blog until TV runs out of programs.
3.00-4.00am Go to bed.

Wow. It's just scintilating.

Today the boyfriend brought back a Wonka bar. Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight. I'm not often in favour of shameless product marketing for the benifit of children, but it's chocolate, who am I to complain? OH... MY... CHOCOLATE DROPS!!! It was AMAZING! Nestlé have really outdone themselves this time. I assume it was the condensed milk in it, and oh my goodness, it was gorgeous! Probably not the best thing to be eating at 8.30 in the morning, but what the hell.

Today the cat was extra excitable. Although probably playing chase the foot under the duvet wasn't such a good idea. Turned out his paw was also under the duvet, so now I have a big scratch down my foot.

Darling, you should have blogged sooner!

2005-08-25T00:39:00.003+01:00

This is my first ever Blog entry. At age 27, that's a bit lame.

Do you ever look back and think, "I wish I'd started this blog sooner, I could have written loads more interesting stuff!"

I should have started at least on Monday. Mondays are much more interesting. I sign on at 11.30, or just go into town on the inbetween weeks. Then I go to midday mass at the church near the Jobcentre. After that I wander round the shops a bit, looking at things I can't afford and picking up the odd essentials: shampoo, copy of Neo magazine, cat biscuits. This week I splashed out and bought some new pants (I say splashed out, but they were only from Next). They are denim-look cord.

Even Saturday was interesting, I picked up the hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for only £2.97! Later the boyfriend brought home chicken still hot from the butchers and I cooked stir-fried vegetables in hoi-sin and garlic sauce with rice noodles. Blue Dragon products really are the best.

I should have started at least two weeks ago when my Syrian hamster Oz died. I inadvertently left the cage door open and found him the next morning dead on the carpet. I suspect the cat scared him to death in the night. The guilt I felt is indescribable. Later that week I bought two new hamsters. These are Roborovski dwarfs. They grow to an average of 5 centimetres. Thay are tiny! I have named them Midget and Muffy, and they are both girls. They move so fast! Hence why they haven't been photographed yet!

I should have started in June when my fiancé moved in. At that moment I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt we were meant to be together. Before that point, try as I might, I had a lingering doubt in the back of my mind: what if I'm making a stupid mistake? What if he really gets to know me and changes his mind? What if I piss him off so much he never wants to see me again?

I should have started in May when my boyfriend proposed to me with a bunch of red roses and a little note. The excitement was dampened when shortly afterwards my housemate announced without warning that he was moving out. I cried rather a lot the next week. After 3½ years of living with him, it was hard, even given that our friendship was really not as good as it had been in the beginning. I begged and pleaded but he was adamant. At the time I felt like it was my fault: spending too much time with my boyfriend when my housemate had no job or friends, letting my boyfriend stay over all weekend and invading his personal space. But it was my boyfriend. That's what you do. And my housemate could have gone out and got a job and friends if he'd really wanted to.

I should have started in February when I went on my first ever romantic holiday. We went to Lancaster to celebrate my birthday/Valentines Day. I spent a lot of time in Lancaster about 8 years ago and it was great to be back, it really is a beautiful town. There is a fantastic RPG and book shop there called Interstellar Master Traders. It is a goldmine for fantasy novels and out of print RPG books from dozens of systems.

I should have started last December when for the first time in 8 years I spent Christmas in a relationship. I wore a foxy dress to dinner at my Nanny-in-laws and rendered my boyfriend speechless.

I should have started last November when my rabbit Florence had to be put down after a long illness. My boyfriend came with me to the vets and comforted me as I tried to make the difficult decision. My housemate and I had already been talking about our next pet and we adopted a gorgeous grey cat from the Cats Protection centre. He is called Smoulder and he is about 7 years old.

I should have started last August when the guy I was involved with became my boyfriend. We were on our way to visit some friends of his in Wavertree that he hadn't been to see for a long time, and we were standing on Wavertree station when he asked me out. It wasn't quite Brief Encounter, but it was pretty close. The friends were the first people we told that we were involved.

I should have started last May when I first started hanging around with the guy who was to later become my boyfriend. We first met last March (2004) at a gaming shop, where he introduced himself and invited me to join his RPG group. I was a bit sceptical at first about a complete stranger trying to invite me round to his house, but then a girl I had been friends with at high school arrived and said that she was also a group member. I thought, what the heck, the guy can't be that dangerous, even with his long hair, dodgy dress sense and black leather trenchcoat. In May he held a party over the bank holiday weekend, and during the course of the evening we spent a lot of time talking. The next day he called me and said he's really enjoyed our conversation and would like to talk some more. The rest, as they say, is history.

And of course I should have started in May 2003 when I was made redundant from my job and found myself with nothing to do for the next two years.

So... welcome to my world, won't you come on in. Miracles I guess still happen now and then (Jim Reeves).

Just so we're clear, I won't be quoting anymore country music.