Tuesday, July 20, 2004

How nackered am I.  Started work yesterday.  Ten hours a day, 5 days a week.  Phew! Spent so long bemoaning in my umemployed state that I needed a job, and now I have one I keep finding myself looking at the clock and checking to see if normally I'd be awake, never mind up and dressed, at that point in time.  Needless to say, the answer is usually no.  I'm telling you, its true what they say about students.  Bloody lazy. All of us.  As a history student I'm only scheduled 5 or 6 taught hours a week and the rest is independent reading.  Yes, I do spend a hell of a lot of time in the library (have to say, its my favourite part of the uni - should be, its the place I see the most of.  Besides pubs and clubs but they're not strictly part of the university.).  However, I can also say that I go back to sleep if I wake up and GMTV's still on.  And I don't start any work until after This Morning's finished, unless its really urgent.  In the last semester when my timetable changed and I had hardly any early mornings, I was seeing so much of Fearne and Phil that I was dreaming that I was seeing them in my local cinema.  And I'm not alone in this either.  Two of my flatmates share a similar affection for them, to the point that they looked up Philip Schofield on the net so that they could print his face onto a t-shirt.  I kid you not. 
 
My job is bloody fantastic though.  I work in a school holidays play scheme.  Its nackering because I'm always on my feet and can never sit still for longer than 3 seconds.  However, I also get PAID for watching videos, painting, playing with play dough and making all manner of crafts and things.  Lost count of how many times I watched Shrek last summer.  And who else can I discuss the finer points of Spiderman 2 with than fifteen 7 and 8 year olds.  I saw it on Sunday night, and its really, really, really good, in case you were wondering.    

Monday, July 19, 2004

Just blog off

Right then.  Really wish I hadn't deleted Coppertone's comment as she basically said that blogs are for the writer not the reader and whatever it does for the writer is the point.  So screw the idea of trying to be more entertaining.  I am gonna be me. Again. I have absolutely no intention of turning this blog into a slanging ring, so I will not mention this again.  But I will say, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.  This blog is my own personal creation and I can therefore write whatever I bleeping well like.  If it doesn't interest you, then don't read it.  Simple as.  From now on, no negative comments will be dignified with a response, so don't even bother.  Only nice people need comment.  ( And if you don't have a clue what I'm ranting on about, see last post + comments.)

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

How sad am I?

Well. Where do I start? Actually, I think the question should be more how BORING am I? Hmm. I shall explain. My boyfriend read my blog yesterday, and asked me if I didn't think it was a bit sad writing a diary, as my blog has effectively become, for the whole of the Internet to read. Well, as I pointed out, it isn't exactly the whole of the Internet who reads my blog. A tiny, tiny fraction, in fact. The point is, me writing this as a diary, isn't sad (maybe just a bit) but rather boring, in that what I write is boring. Example: in my last post I wrote about me building a fence. Woohoo. The excitement. Even more so, my one and only comment in God knows how long was to ask me if I got a splinter. I did, but thats not the point. So as of now, I will attempt to be more entertaining.

Right. Got that off my chest.

Ooh. I have been told by my boss that as of next Monday, she'll be needing me to work every day for the rest of the school holidays. So yay! Money will be coming in. Just need to get another ickle job to cover my rent that I have to continue to pay for my Leeds house even though I'm not gonna be living there until September. Hmm. Fair.

Umm. This attempting to be more entertaining is hard work. Can't think of anything bloody else to write.

Monday, July 12, 2004

I have a cold and am still looking for a job, in between being scratched by Tim's kitten, so nothing to report today. Hopefully this will have changed by tomorrow, i.e. I will be gainfully employed. Having said that, I did help my dad build a fence yesterday. In the literal, as in in-a-garden sense, not the metaphorical between-warring-parties sense. That was quite productive. Or counter-so, as I have a feeling it contributed to my cold.

Saturday, July 10, 2004

Also, I'm very much enjoying the return of Neighbours. Its true what they say. You don't know what you've got until its gone.
What a lot has happened since my last blog. Just haven't had any time whatsoever to blog. 9 o clock on Thursday morning I got called into work to cover someone who was sick. So that was fun. The kids must have known I was coming. From the second I walked in until almost the second I left the screaming from tantrum-esque toddlers ceased to end. But it was so nice to see how much the babies had grown since I saw them all in the Easter holidays. One little girl is even walking and starting to talk and everything - she says "stinky" and "sit down!". So cute! However, it seems I won't be needed again until the start of the summer holidays but I need money! So I walked into the pub down the road on my way back home and asked them for a job. Hopefully they'll call me soon! OOh. Also had my roots done today. Its only been 4 weeks since they were done last, but they were getting drastic. Had them done a bit blonder than usual this time. Mind you, it was touch and go. I said I wanted to go a bit lighter this time. So she put some more ash blond in - and left it in half an hour longer than normal JUST TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. I mean, bloody hell, it could have gone green. So much for the professionals. Thank God and all his angels its all ok, because call me vain if you want, but my hair is very important to me. Its a girl thing. Babysat my two little nieces yesterday and took them to the park. Tim makes me laugh. He's a qualifies squash, football and God know what else coach, and boy does it show. Beth showed a bit of talent for the monkey bars, so Tim wouldn't let her go for half an hour until she had mastered it perfectly. She's 3 years old. Mind you, she did do it perfectly in the end and she wasn't exactly fighting against it. She was pretty damn proud of herself, actually. I had to watch her do them over and over and over again. Bless. And Tim's got a new kitten. It was originally his sister's but it kept beating up the dog (the dog's a wimp) so now its passed to Tim and his mum. However, Tim's dog hates cats and I suspect will try to eat it. Should be interesting.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

All My Bold and Beautiful General Hospital Lives

Just followed a link from Tottyworld to soap hunks, for research purposes obviously, expecting to find maybe some Kip Gamblin pictures and was quite suprised to discover it was an American soap hunks site. My suprise quickly gave way to a feeling of nostalgia for the days when Channel 5 used to show my alltime favourite soaps. Yes, I liked them even better than Neighbours and Home and Away. Channel 5 originally showed Bold and the Beautiful, I think, and quick to realise what a gem they had on their hands they signed up the most amazing, thrilling, most unrealistic American soap EVER... Sunset Beach. I was addicted to it to say the least. All those wonderful, heartwarming stories of babies kidnapped at birth from their mother and then given to their birth mother's daughter to raise as her own with her unknowing husband who is, after sleeping with his wife's mother, actually the baby's father, not to mention the Catholic priest who saves his community from cursed jewels and sleeps with his brother's girlfriend all in the same week. My favourite storyline, though, was the storyline of the 'main' characters, Ben and Meg. Once upon a time, Ben used to be married to the aforementioned Catholic priest's sister, Maria. However, Ben's evil twin brother, Derek, tricked Maria into thinking he was Ben and she slept with him, only to have Ben walk in on them. Ben and MAria have a fight on the pier(obvious place to go), Maria falls in the sea and is swept away forever. Cut to seven years later, and smalltown girl Meg is speaking to Ben on the net. Discovering that her fiance is sleeping with her maid of honour, she junps on a plane to California to find her internet bud who is obviuosly also her soulmate as he 'understands' her. So two years go by. Ben and Meg are in love and are getting married with only a few minor mishaps along the way. Then one day a girl is found who has amnesia and is transferred to Sunset Beach General Hospital. Meg is doing some work at the hospital and the two become fast friends. Strangely enough, Meg completely fails to introduce her fiance to her new best friend. She invites Maria to the wedding, but she nearly misses it. She eventually arrives late, soaked from that oh so common Californian rain, just in time to catch the bouquet, much to the suprise of the groom who now actually has two wives. Lucky fella. I could tell you what happened after that, but you wouldn't believe it. Anyways, for some inexplicable reason, no one in America actually watched it so it got cancelled, much to the sorrow of Channel 5's loyal viewers. Fortunately Five saw fit to replace it with that soap opera legend, Days of Our Lives. But, like sands through the hourglass, so were the viewing figures of Days and that too was cancelled. But only here;it still rains supreme in the US of A. And now that I've written all this I have forgotten my point of actually writing it.

Swimming against the (financial) current

Well I've taken the bull by the horns, so to speak, and called my boss to tell her I'm available for work whenever she needs me, basically meaning "I need money so let me work for you!". Starting to get in a serious financial situation and am in desperate need of funds. Considering said-situation, I shouldn't really have gone to Alton Towers on Monday. Ah well. No more takeaways from now on, going to drink coke, or even water(free), when out on the town, and walk everywhere to save petrol money. At least I'll lose weight then. Got my exam results in the post this morning. Very pleased to announce that I achieved a 2/1. And everyone knows that as you only have to pass your first year and therefore don't try too hard, I should, therefore, do even better next year when it actually counts towards my degree. Going back to the work thing, though, my boss said she'll be in touch for when she needs me, hopefully in the next day or so. While this means I won't be earning any money for a couple of days, it also means that I should be able to go and watch my 4 year old niece and nephew at their very first sports day tomorrow morning. It should be so cute!

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

The Incredible Journey

Fear not. I'm not dead, have just had a very busy, non-Internet access weekend. As of last Thursday, 1st July, I have access to my new house in Leeds, so on Saturday I drove down to move in/clean up the crap left by the four pot-head boys who lived there last. I say I drove, I had been out the night before and not wanting to still be over the limit, my boyfriend and soon-to-be flatmate drove. Safety first, and all that. The house wasn't actually as filthy as I thought it would be. Probably because my other two future flat mates had already got there the day before and had pretty much done it all. Talk about googd timing. Having said that, I did do some pretty heavy duty hoovering on the sofas. I'm talking crusted bogeys! Bleugh! Boys are disgusting. Really looking forward to having my own home now. We were all pretty excited, until one of my lovely house-chums said the dreaded, hitherto not having crossed our minds but now indellibly branded on them, thought that maybe its haunted, being a century old and all that. Needless to say, I found it pretty hard to get to sleep that night. At least I'm not alone in my silliness; the other three also don't like being on the top floor (where MY room is!) on their own. Sure we'll all be fine in September when we get used to it. Was there all day Sunday too. Really enjoyed waking up in MY house, making breakfast in MY kitchen, albeit still clogged with boxes and bags, eating it on MY sofa in front of MY tv in MY living room. Similar feeling to when i woke up that first morning in halls in Leeds all those years ago last September. Sunday afternoon we went to Ikea. What a trip. What should have taken us ten minutes down the M62, took us over an hour, all because I missed one exit. Roads are set out crap. Allowances should be made when designing motorways for people like me so that if you miss your junction or exit it isn't necassarily last-chance saloon. As my flat mate Alice was saying to her brother, who she was on the phone to at the time, "Laura's a great driver, but, bless her, she's got a crap sense of direction!", which was quickly followed with the exclamation, "Ooh here we go, Ikea mark two," as i gathered my bearings, stopped crying, and swapped the driving seat for the passenger side and let Tim takeover. Eventually we got to Ikea at 5 to 5 - it closes on Sundays at 5. Talk about mad dash! And yesterday Tim and I went to Alton Towers. And got sunburnt in the endless queues. Had fun though!

What did I say? Who did I say would be in the Wimbledon final and who did I say would win? I should have betted on it.

Marco's gone in Big Brother. I am glad. Like I said, I really like Michelle and Nadia. I want to get rid of Jason now. Hope he was nominated this week. If he is, everyone vote for him! He's such a nob.

Also, my sea monkeys have hatched! Loads of tiny little dots swimming around. A busy weekend all round.

Friday, July 02, 2004

New Arrivals

Semi-finals day at Wimbledon - and its raining. How annoying?! Federer v. Grosjean then Roddick v. Ancic. I very much hope its Federer and Roddick in the final. But then again, who would I gun for? I like them both. I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it. The new arrivals of the title are my new sea monkeys. Yes. You read right. Let me explain. I came across the tiny wonders in a Toyworld in Leeds when looking for Christmas presents for my nieces and nephew and asked my boyfriend, Tim, to get me some. I was missing my cats from home, you see, and thought having tiny little ridiculously low-maintenance pets might compensate. And boy did they. Strangely fascinating to watch, they only need feeding once every 4 days or so and ... THATS IT! Maximum output, minimum input, or the other way round if I got that wrong. I can never rememeber which way it goes. However, after 3 months they all died off, to the joy of one of my flatmates who hates them (they freak her out - might be because they're just swimming bugs). But fear not! I sent off for some more for one pound fifty ( I don't have a pound sign on my computer) and hey presto! More teeny pets! But that batch died off 3 days ago. So my new ickle swimming bugs arrived in the post this morning. Can't wait for them to hatch!! And yes, I am that sad.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

A King is Born

Very much excited about the forthcoming King Arthur. As a history student, with a particular interest in the dark ages-middle ages period, I am awaiting this film with considerable anticipation. Think its out here the last weekend of July. Seeing as I have an irritating habit of watching 'historical' films with a critical eye and voicing aloud any observations of historical inaccuracies (for example Braveheart - the French princess was 5 years old at the time the film was set!) I am interested to see how accurate this 'historically accurate' latest addition to the back catalogue of King Arthur films actually is. Also, Ioan Gruffydd is in it (Welsh) as well as the highly underrated, in my opinion, Clive Owen. Sexy and a good actor, with an until-now preference for independent films - an anomale to say the least. Also, there's that bloke who was in The Secret Life Of Us, that Australian programme thats only on, inexplicably, around midnight, sometimes as late as 1.30am. Don't really understand that one, as its really, really good. His name's Joel summat-or-other. Anyway, check out the trailer. Looks good.

Centenery

One more hit and it'll be a hundred already!! And with only, ooh, 40 odd of them being mine!! Quite an accomplishment for my third day.
This is where I live. Pretty isn't it? On a sunny day, anyway.

Idea

Maybe I should just bite the bullet and call my boss and ask her when she wants me in. At least I wouldn't be sitting on my arse and watching it get bigger out of lack of activity. As well as earning some much needed money. Oh, but I like being lazy. What to do, what to do.

Boooooooored

Bored bored bored bored bored. Boyfriend's at work, friends are either at work or with their own boyfriends, only stupid women's tennis on today, Neighbours not on, and its raining. Bored bored bored. Bored. Hmmm. Can see that this blogging business is going to get addictive though. First thought to entertain myself was to see if my counter had gone up yet. It has, but not by much. So much for cyberspace. Hellooo??! Anyone out there?? I've mentioned loads of famous people, tv programme's, etc so that people who search them might stumble across me. Hang on, though. Is that even how it works? Remembering something I saw once about the web-wonder that is Google. Do Google have to buy my site before it comes up on their search engine? Or am I just so far past cyber-confusion? I really don't have a clue about all this really. Is it obvious?

The Master Has Spoken!

Oh my God can not describe the joy I felt when I logged on to my blog and discovered that not only has someone actually left me a comment already, but it was left by the very same Marie of struggling author fame - the very same who inspired me to write my very own dear blog. And, not only that, but on her page she's added me to her list of links! And its only my third day as a blogger! Woohoo!! Does this mean I'm famous now? As I'm only just getting the hang of all this adding-things-onto-my-page thing (it took me about 6 attempts and over an hour just to figure out how to add the counter onto the page) I don't actually know how to make my own list of link-type things, yet, so instead I'll just plug her blog now and then out of gratitude as she is encouraging her readers (all, um I don't know, 50,000 of them) to increase my current readership of, ahem, 48 (at time of posting). Good God wasn't that a long sentence. But I'll shut up about her now in case she revisits my blog at some point and decides that not just an entire blog, but one of some considerable length, actually constitutes stalking. Then she might remove me from her links. And having only just been added I really don't want that to happen. No.