Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Chilled

So, I'm about to leave Jersey for a quick visit to London (and work) and then off again to Cornwall - weather permitting that is!!

I've blogged before about being in Jersey, leaving it, and my confusion about having two homes, and all that applies again. Apart from last time, it was warm and sunny, and now, it's wet and cold.

Still, I'm very much looking forward to New Year in Cornwall. Where I'll cook up some fantastic new year's resolutions and then post them on here to amuse you all!

Monday, December 26, 2005

Oh I do love to be beside the sea side...

Happy Boxing Day. I hope all (few) of my readers have had a good Christmas and that you are looking forward to an excellent new year.

December has been a slightly philosophical blogging month for me, perhaps not conveying the joys and highlights of the festive month as much as I should have done, and concentrating on the stresses and traumas too much!

Ah well. A post on my new year's resolutions for 2006 will follow. In the meantime, I've had a great and relaxing Christmas, although it has taken me a long time to wind down!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Instinct

Mad, bad, busy week...

Happy that I've been out three times drinking and not had a single hangover, but my week has been very dominated by work, and there's a whole lot more of that to come!

I can't think of a useful and entertaining blog entry, so I'm going to stop now. I am going to leave you with a few pictures though. I've seen a few cats this weekend, and they were all in a photogenic mood...









and finally, as I'm starting to feel just a tiny bit Christmassy...



More on Flickr, as usual

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

White Tie And Cognac

Sometimes I wonder how I ended up here. I have a great job that I truly enjoy, despite the traumas, and sometimes I end up in the most fantastic situations at the most fantastic events and thank my lucky stars that I am where I am. If the 18 year old me could have had an insight in to where I would be now, she would be truly shocked.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Geekery

Thanks to Ginger Rich I've added a bit of geekery here, including a site meter (hidden right at the bottom of the page) and the very cool Flickr flash badge, which shows off a nice selection of my fab (and usually drunken) photos.

Nice

Cheers Rich. I'll buy you an ice cream sometime ;-)

Seven

Seven lists of seven things...

I found this here. Jo would probably be puzzled about how I came to find her site, and I’m not sure either, but I’ve been reading it for a while and find it very interesting…

So:

Seven things to do before I die


1. Buy a house
2. Get a Masters
3. Visit Madagascar and/or Mauritius
4. Spend at least 6 weeks travelling in America
5. Have children
6. Complete the ITEX walk
7. Learn to scuba dive

Seven things I cannot do


1. Dance
2. Play a musical instrument (although I am still vowing to learn to play the sax)
3. Sing
4. Play any sport which involves balls
5. Touch my toes
6. Jump and tap my heels together a la Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz
7. Drink whiskey, tequila or Aftershock without being very sick

Seven things that would attract me to my spouse if I had one

1. Nice legs (the bandy thing)
2. Nice hands
3. Nice eyes
4. A nice smile
5. A good sense of humour
6. Being a ‘foodie’
7. Being loving and caring and thoughtful, especially in times of need

Seven things I say most often

1. Exactly
2. Well, quite
3. Cool
4. Rubbish
5. Thank you
6. Hang on…
7. (I’m a bit stuck now… this is the kind of thing that I don’t notice, but others will – any suggestions?)

Seven books (or series or authors) I love


1. Goodnight Mr Tom
2. John Grisham
3. Harry Potter
4. Tony Parsons
5. Catherine Alliot
6. Auto biographies and biographies, generally
7. Bridget Jones (I love the films, but the books are better)

Seven movies I watch over and over again
(or would watch over and over if I had the time - I’m expanding this to include TV series)

1. Four Weddings and a Funeral
2. Love Actually
3. The Lion King
4. Shawshank Redemption
5. This Life
6. Friends
7. Jonathon Creek

Seven people I want to join in, too

1. Tania
2. Rich
3. Naomi
4. The Midlander
5. Steve
6. Marty
7. Kev

Thursday, December 08, 2005

When life goes on

I’ve been working on this post for some time, which is unusual for me, because usually I start up Blogger, write what I’m thinking down, spell check it, and that’s it (apart from when I’m drunk, when I usually miss the spellcheck out, but the magic ‘you can spell and be coherent when you’re drunk’ fairy seems to sort it out anyway!)

I often ponder how different people cope with the challenges that life throws at them. Some just get on with it, some crumble, some get very bitter, some become hysterical or come to rely on drink or drugs. I can’t work out what distinguishes which way each person will go. I also can’t work out how some people are consistently ‘copers’ and some are not.

I’ve faced a reasonable amount of times where I’ve needed to ‘just cope’ in my life, particularly recently but also in various phases, especially in my teens. I think there is something about your natural outlook and make up which makes you resilient (or not) to the little, and rather more than little, challenges.

I’m a coper… but I do wobble. And how do I cope with the wobbles? How do I cope with coping? Maybe I’m too inclined to rely on a drop of the hard stuff at the moment – but this wasn’t always the way. And I seek comfort in the fact that the hard stuff is always accompanied by good company. I’m naturally a fairly closed person. It takes a lot to get out of me how I really feel about something. I’m bubbly, bouncy and generally not fazed by much. I’m more or less unflappable in a crisis. You really have to push me to get me angry, upset or emotional. But doesn’t that mean that all those feelings, which naturally exist, are therefore suppressed inside me?

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

I've pickled my liver

This is in tribute to Kelly, Sarah and Verity, who I’ve spent a wonderful evening with, but they’ve been moaning that they can’t spend enough time with me in the future because I’m booked every Saturday night in January so far (and most of the rest of December is written off with various Christmas parties).

This is bad. But it’s also good. I’ve spent a reasonable amount of time recently thinking about me, who I am, the challenges I face and the things I enjoy, and what I want for the future (partly fuelled by “20 Something, 20 Everything – a Quarter-Life Woman’s Guide to Balance and Direction” – and yes, I know it sounds like clap-trap, but it’s actually really good). My Dad says I always face challenges head on, and he’s right. I love being challenged. But I also love the support, companionship and understanding of my friends. I mean friends in the widest sense. I have some wonderful people in my life, and I frequently ponder that I am so very lucky to have them. Part of the reason that I’m “booked up” until February is because I have lots of different groups of friends, and I really love that. You all give me a different perspective on my life - those who read my blog and those who don’t; those who I work with and those I don’t; those who knew me at school and those who didn’t; those who knew me at uni and those who didn’t; those who have only ever seen me existing on the precipice of drunkenness that I currently occupy, and those who knew me in my more sober, less hedonistic days…. Those who are now reading this and thinking “Hang on, it’s Tuesday. She’s drunk again. Oh dear”

Friday, December 02, 2005

Three gloopy sauces, two hot dogs and a partridge in a pear tree

Sing it and it'll make sense.

How did it get to be the 1st of December already, that's what I want to know!

Anyway, fab Moeker gig tonight... Marty - thank you for the song dedication to me, Tania and Rich (and Pete and Helen in their absence). It really was appreciated. I've had a rubbish day and a Moeker gig is always a great chance to have a laugh and feel a bit normal again. AND I didn't fall down the stairs this time, although the cheering and cajoling was nearly as embarrassing as the falling was last time!

Although, I have an odd feeling of contrast from the last time I walked home from a Moeker gig and then blogged (check out my "Gig... It's all good" post from Friday 2 September in the September archive as I can't get a link to it to work right). Mainly because it was summer then and I was more carefree.

And now it's winter and I'm stressed... and I have to be up in 5 hours. Wicked.

Tania, Rich, Steve and Sally - you're stars. Thank you.

Some pics from tonight here.