Ooh and another - saw the first episode of Caprica - loved it! not a big BSG fan, but this does what DS9 did for the Star Trek spin-offs - it's Neighbours meets The OC/Skins in Space! Whoop!

The speeches are overly long and melodramatic and it won't be long before I'm calling it Craprica, but for now - I'm really looking forward to episode 2.

Current Mood: cheerful

I finally set up my bookmooch.com account properly and added some books. It's fracking awesome!

I'm so excited that my little books are travelling from grey old Birmingham to Finland, Australia and Georgia, USA! how very exciting for them! you don't need to send internationally if you don't want to, but you get three free domestic books for each international trade you do - so it's worthwhile to me - even if it won't help with the space/de-clutter issue. I feel about as excited as if I was going to all of these places myself - a cheap way to kill the travel bug.

Also, a technical question.

My "t" button on my keyboard works. My left shift button on my keyboard works - it capitalises every letter on the keyboard, except the "t" button. My right shift button turns the "t" to a capital letter perfectly well, so presumably shift+t has not been assigned to another function - unless the left shift and right shift button count as different for the purposes of assigning keyboard functions? What on earth is that about? Anyone?

*waves at you all*

Current Mood: busy

And i'm about 200 words off my writing quota for the day, so this is *absolutely* the best time to become distracted by LJ, right? natch!

Had a good week, have abstained from alcohol, smoking and drugs for nearly 72 hours - that's got to be a personal best (since I was about 15, probably).  I mainly feel annoyed by tiny things ALL the effing time, but I'm sure it's having some healthy benefits.

The house is full of ladybirds at the moment which is very cool, if a little freaky. They like me very much and I've had several ladybirds explorin' around my neck and face today, with one cheeky little bugger crawling back and forth across the frame of my glasses. I'm not sure if they like me like a boy ladybird likes a girl ladybird, or if they like me like a warm place to snuggle, or for some other unknown ladybirdy reasons. But they're very cute, so they get to stay.

I've been doing a proper amount of writing every day for at least a week, and I'm cranking a couple of longer prose pieces out - but we're not calling them novels, oh no, because that way lies The Scary.  I'm definitely developing a voice that sounds more like me and less like whatever book I last read, which is good news, spesh considering my rather dubious book choices of late. 

I'm very excited because in April, I'm going to see Evelyn Evelyn with emma_emily  and urshulgi , in that London! I'm pleased I booked the tickets, I very nearly didn't bother because London is Far and Smelly, but then I realised I was being dead stupid, because Evelyn Evelyn are the bollocks and they may never do a big UK tour (although given Amanda and Jason's tour-whore tendencies, they probably will). I like to imagine Neil Gaiman will be there and I'll buy him a drink and then we'll be the best of friends and he'll put in a good word for me with the folks at Bloomsbury *dreams*. But he had better shut up during the actual songs because they are funny and I would hate to miss them.

We do actually have a spare ticket for the gig, so if someone wants to either come with us or buy the ticket off me and go with someone else, that would be totally doable - lmk.

On Saturday, I'm going to walk over the Wrekin and see the Iron Age fort and the needle and whatnot. I'm not much of a hillwalker (but you knew that), but I'm assured the ascent is easy and the views worthwhile. And then I can come back and say... "ooooh, we've been all around the Wrekin" like a proper midlands person. I say this all the time as a phrase (but it's never been true before!), along with "it's looking black over bill's mothers" (meaning it's going to rain). I am a total nana!

What do you say that makes you sound like someone's nana? (That's nana as in grandmother, not 'nana as in banana). Tell me! 

Current Mood: like a nana

Walking around my old haunts today made me feel very wistful. I love the way every Birmingham street holds memories for me. Needless Alley? THOSE platforms and trying to have a sneaky wee, interrupted by pointing revellers. Audrey and Vix (my faithful, but ineffective, wee-guardians) laughing very, very hard. Colmore Row? Nearly being arrested for stealing a road sign and *wearing eyeliner* (?!) by cops in an unmarked car. The Oasis? Many many cigarettes in Oscars cafe and sitting in Ammunition for hours because Ammo let us and would occasionally buy us Coke (the drink, not the drug). Also, all my piercings and some dead friends.

Reading someone else's journal today made me realise that I have spent too much time not doing what I am best at. Next year, I have the opportunity to do some well-paid work, but I know that if I take it, my writing will suffer even more. In 2010, I am going to follow my path properly, not use it as a useful fall-back plan. I'm nearly 30, I'm already self-employed and I am in good shape to really make a go of things, rather than spending life stagnating in boring, boring servitude.

I'm taking control of my health again - I've spent far too long ignoring things and not thinking about the unpleasant effects of my lifestyle choices. I'm in relatively decent financial shape - no debts, no mortgage, no kids. If I don't do it now, I feel like I'll suddenly be 70 and looking back on a mediocre old life. Commitment is no guarantee of success, but if I don't start now - failure *is* guaranteed.

So here's to 2010 - having the courage to make the right choices, focussing on the long-term goal and not the short-term gain and generally being awesome.

Current Mood: chipper

Hello all you folks!

Today i had a Good Day. Stitches from sub-dermal implant removal were taken out, and everything's healing up nicely.

I also found the tiny retro games stall hidden right in the bottom of the Oasis and it is wonderful. I had a bit of a sad moment when I heard a fifteen year old describe the Sega consoles (Dreamcast, Megadrive, Master System) as "vintage" though. Vintage! I played on them when they were the hawt new things, and as I am NOT old, they are merely retro, not vintage!

I also picked up a beeeyootiful FFX-2 pocket knife... it's a bit like this -

http://www.anime-toybox.com/servlet/the-50/Final-Fantasy-X-Merchandise-cln-/Detail

- only it's the ffx-2 logo and it has "squaresoft" engraved on the opposite side.

Yay for games!

Also grabbed Dragon Age: Origins from CEX. Hurrah for Xmyth gaming! :)

A charity worker in the street thought I was too young to set up a Cancer Research DD - she thought I was *17*. Hah! Hah! The drinking loads of water/taking vitamins is clearly working and has knocked a whole decade off me. YESSSSSS!

Current Mood: cheerful

let me know your preferred e-mail addy if you want one!

xxxx

Current Mood: cheerful

Hello kittens

anyone here on the wave? lemme know yer e-mail and i'll add ya.

xxx

Current Mood: cold

Just back from two holidays in two weeks and i am now Vairy Tired Indeed.

Lanzarote was absolutely awesome. It was great weather, although everyone kept apologising for the wind, which was windy, but without which temperatures would have been in the high 20s... too much for me and likely to make me faint and swoon all over the place like a victorian lady.

We toured the interior of the island, which is basically a bunch of volcanoes and solidified lava, and i have some photos of me that look like they were taken on mars. We weren't particularly surprised to find out that Every Sci-Fi Film / TV Ever was filmed in or around Lanzarote, as bits of it look totally like the moon - a totally alien landscape.

We were nearly a bit sad because we felt that it wouldn't be very nice to go on a camel ride (felt a bit like taking a photo with a monkey on your hols - eeeeeevil!), but actually found out that the camel population is subject to massive government regulation (well the camel-riding tourist industry, obviously not the camels themselves as they would be unlikely to conform to our hooman laws) and the camels involved are treated very well indeed. According to our tour guide, they were originally imported to the island to help with agricultural stuff. The operators have to conform to strict animal welfare regulations, and the camels have a maximum number of trips they can make per day, and can only work for a half day - we saw one lot of camels trekking home at around lunchtime, which caused a major traffic jam and was most hilarious - they just get on with stuff in their own sweet time, and it's more like a camelly sniffing, licking and snuggling time than an orderly queue of them trekking along. I reserved judgement until I got to the place (which was a stop on our tour), and I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the animals looked extremely healthy and happy, there was evidence of vet involvement and care (shaved patches on one where he'd had an injection, and disinfectanty/antibiotic stuff on another's big camelly balls) and the camel people only had to ask the camels to stand up/sit down etc and they did it - there was absolutely no coercion on their part, and there was clearly a lot of love and respect on both sides, there was nuzzling from the camels and laughing and petting from the keepers - which gave me a big happy.

Figuring it was pretty much akin to horse riding, we decided not to be sad and instead clambered upon a camel who took us up a volcano! wooo! wooo! he was very cool, and when the saharan wind came in, bringing a sandblast with it, he just flapped his mahoosive eyelashes and was completely protected. camels are ace, and now i want one for my very own (big house now has to have a handy desert bit down the garden for the camels).

Other holiday highlights included Jimmy Krankie (the entertainer lady with the unfortunate voice), reading books and drinking many cocktails, the Lanzrote Red Cross (hot surfers ahoy!) and being knocked over by lots of massive waves in the sea. whoop!

Sad times upon our return, because Lasermouse was finally defeated by her lump, although we are assured she lived a full and active life right to the last, with lots of nice treats. :(

We also came home to presents from Sasha Rat's parents, which were the most awesome things in the world, and led to a text that read "Zombie dog is now chasing Glittery Jesus across the top of the telly". I have interesting interior decoration taste, it would seem.

Current Mood: chipper

i have a big happy face! fallout 3: Game of The Year Edition has all of the expansion packs plus the base game - for £30, which is cheaper than buying the DLC separately - w00t!

i'll sell my old base game and buy the new one I think - does anyone know if that would mess up my saves (i've not finished the main fallout 3 story yet)? I'm assuming not, because the base game is still part of the GOTY edition. hmmm... *ponders*

anyway, i would have played through again (this time being evil, or at least neutral, rather than my usual paragon of virtue self) at some point, so i suppose it doesn't reeeeally matter.

i find myself really restricted by my morals when gaming. Fable II and Fallout 3 both give you the opportunity to follow the path of evil, but I can never seem to bring myself to do it. Boy has no issues with shooting innocent merchants in the head for their goods - me, not so much. I did manage to eat the chicks in Fable II, which gave me the coolest outfit ever, but lead innocents to their death? NEVER! i hope it's not a case of lady + gamer = lamer ;0) 

Current Mood: chipper

* do not watch frightening films, even if they seem funny and cool with your friends in the light, you will be plagued by visions every time the light goes off for at least a week. your neighbours will not help the situation, by providing knocking and rumbling noises in the night, and your phone will begin doing something slightly spooky, that is obviously just a little technical bug, but is absolutely too damn frightening when you see it happen and wonder who touched it to make it do the thing it did.

* think about shorter sentences.

* it's a shame center parcs isn't under a massive weather-proof dome, but it is still good.

* you can ride a bike! you can ride a bike really well, although you are not keen on hills/slight inclines. you enjoy whizzing about faster than 16 year old boys and actually feel quite hardcore. you also get to wear really emo stripy fingerless gloves when you are on a bike! woo! you should book a cycling holiday to holland or norfolk, but remember that it will definitely hurt your bum - padded shorts please!

* swimming is pants, but bobbing about in an aimless fashion and going down the slides is awesome. you definitely need a floating glasses holder so that luke doesn't have to be your guide dog.

* getting drunk and talking drugs, prostitution and politics with your boyfriend's dad is great fun, although his mum will now be forever suspicious of you and your liberal vision for england.

* paris hilton is actually brilliant. don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

* you have to wash all of your clothes and immediately pack again for lanzarote on thursday. *floop*

* writing rambles to yourself while full of codeine is also brilliant - you should make it your proper job!

Current Mood: ill