| Houses |
[23 Jun 2009|11:06pm] |
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music |
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Paparazzi - Lady Gaga |
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I reeeally need to get my own house. My mum and dad are on holiday (yet again), so me and Michael are playing growed ups, and I really just want this all the time. Someone needs to give us some pennies so we can get one. Hehe. I wish!
Anyway, I'm sure plenty has happened since whenever it was I last updated. In fact, I'm certain it has. Pretty much too much for me to remember to write about.
I'll start with work. My project went live in March, and it went well-ish. We converted on time and everything, everyone seems to have taken to the new system well. It's certainly got its fair share of problems, but it's doing alright, it's all manageable these days. The first day was horrible, it was anything but manageable. It ended up with me in tears to Michael out in my car while I let other people try and deal with it because it was too much for me to do on my own. But it calmed down a lot after the first week, and it's all been getting better since then. I'm now kind of part of what used to be the Sys Admin team in work, but I'm still basically a test analyst. Which is good, I do enjoy it most of the time. But I'll be glad when we start splitting up the work a bit more evenly and I get to do other things as well. But at least until September I think me and Dave, the other tester, as gonna be the only ones doing it. Probably for a lot longer than that, but in the long run I'm assured it'll happen eventually. Right now though, I really need a break. I'm fairly constantly feeling run down, I just need a few days off to relax and catch up on sleep and stuff. Nearly every time I have a holiday booked, it's coz I've got something to do that involves early wake ups.
Oooh, me and Michael have booked a holiday. We're going to Paphos in September, all inclusive, all paid for, and I can't bloody wait! It's been seriously way too long since I went away, so it really can't come soon enough!
In other news, Ian went and bloody got married! We all headed down to Devon for his stag do (if anyone asks, my name's Dave), where I got suitable battered by paintballing. That's really not an activity that is well suited to me. It got better as the day went on, but definitely not something I'm in any hurry to do again. But despite that, it was an awesome weekeend. I drove down on my own on the Friday. I left at midday and got there at 8pm =S But it wasn't too bad really, I took plenty of breaks and things. And the traffic itself wasn't too bad, it was all the road works that caused problems. But when I got there, Ian was already there with his brother and their mate, so we settled into the beer while we waited for Julian and Matt to show up, which was around 10pm. We had a good old catch up, got good and drunk, played a game of Have You Ever with a lethal bottle of alcohol which only had the description "Finest Canadian Spirit". The next day was the paintballing, which lead to me nearly fainting from a combination of asthma, heat and smoke bombs, so I sat out the last few games. And then we headed down the Exmouth beach, which was so beautiful. Had such a good time. We eventually got back to camp at about 10.30pm, ready for Matt to get started on a fit Thai green curry, which was ready at the convenient time of midnight. And of course, he made at least twice as much as we needed, so the camp's dogs had a good feed the next day, much to the bemusement of their owner. The drive home wasn't too pleasant. After having very little sleep all weekend due to the freezing cold tents, a 9 hour trip up the M5 wasn't my idea of a good day. But we did stop at Weston-Super-Mere on the way, which made a nice distraction.
And then two weeks later, he actually got married. We headed down to Coventry for the wedding, which was really lovely. Alex and Jamie came up as well, so it was almost all of the old gang back together. It was a shame Craig didn't make it, but it was still awesome seeing Alex for the first time in years. Awesome seeing the others too, but I'd seen then in the last few months anyway. After the wedding, it was everyone back to the hotel for a good old fashioned piss up. It was good fun. There was plenty of alcohol, plenty of good music and plenty of people to have a laugh with. And Ian's kids are absolutely gorgeous.
To be honest, that's the main things that have happened recently, really. We went to see Ross Noble the other week, who was awesome. And I've been to see Russell Howard twice in the past fortnight, which was also awesome. I'm going to see Take That on Satuday, which is more awesome than both of those things combined! More awesome than most awesome things combined, really!
Oooh, and I'm gonna be on Something for the Weekend. Well my photo is. Yep.
Anywho.... bye.
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| Even longer |
[01 Feb 2009|08:04pm] |
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mood |
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music |
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Sober - Pink |
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I thought I'd left this for long enough last time at 17 weeks, but this time it's apparently been 37. Yes, like most people, I don't bother with Livejournal anymore. I stick with Facebook, and my status updates serve their purpose for letting me vent whatever I want to get off my chest, without requiring a fully thought out blog.
Anywho, that's not to say I don't want to keep using this sporadically. Since I gave up keeping a diary many moons ago, I like the idea of having somewhere to jot things down every now and then. Of course, I do it so rarely that when I do, I can't think of what's happened since my last entry and can't think of what to write. And generally, enough things have happened that to do a full entry would take way more time and effort than I could be bothered with.
Well, in my last post I believe I'd just heard about my new job. Well, eight months later, I've more than started it. In fact, it's finishing in the next few weeks. It's been really good, I've enjoyed working as a test analyst, and it's definitely something I'd like to continue. I need to speak to the project manager and see if there is likely to be further testers needed for the second phase of the project (for aspects of the project that will be introduced after the initial go live). Otherwise, I need to start looking for another job soon, because come April, I'll be out of a job! It is a secondment, so they do have to put me somewhere afterwards, but they can technically just send me back to Safe Receipt, which definitely isn't something I'm considering!
Last August, Siannie, Michael and I went to V Festival, which was, erm, an experience. No, it was good fun, but the rain and mud was just too much. It was so bad it was just miserable. We were all very happy to get home on the following Monday. But we saw some amazing bands and artists. The Chemical Brothers were awesome (though we nearly slept through them after going back to the tent to avoid Wino), as was Alanis Morrisette and Girls Aloud, and we finally got to see The Prodigy, who were bloody incredible.
Last August was also mine and Michael's first anniversary. We went to Blackpool and then the Lakes for the weekend, which was nice. We're going to Stratford-Upon-Avon for Valentine's Day. I've not had a day off work (aside from Christmas and a couple of sick days) since October, so I can't wait for the break!
Another big thing that's happened since last time was my sister splitting up with her partner of many many years. This may not seem like much of a big thing, but it caused a lot of hassle for everyone involved (everyone involved being pretty much anyone who knows either of them). But many many court cases later, and the prospect of a name change for my nephew, things are starting to look up. She got a court order to sell her house, and he's been told that even if he applied for access to Jack (which he hasn't done so far), it would be likely to be at least another year before he was allowed to see him again. I never thought I'd ever have a restraining order against someone though!
Me and Siannie went to see Flashdance yesterday, which was bloody awesome. I love musicals. We got autographs afterwards as well, from Bernie Nolan, Noel Sullivan (the one from Hear'say who doesn't look like Shrek) and Bruno Langley (the gay one in Corrie).
Anyway, aside from all that, everything's pretty much as normal. Lots of cinema trips (go see Seven Pounds, don't bother with The Spirit), spending lots of time with the kids, plenty of vodka/cider/wine. So yeah, generally pretty happy with the way things are going.
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| Yaaay! |
[12 May 2008|06:22pm] |
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Slam - Pendulum |
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I've got a new job! =D
In work for the last few months, I've been helping to test a new computer system for our department, not a major one, just something to work alongside the main system all of Argos Financial Services uses, just to make things a bit easier for our department. Off the back of that, I was told about a secondment that was posted on the intranet looking for people to test the proper new system they're bringing in next year. They're replacing the current system completely, so this is something that all of FS are going to be using (including Fraud, Card Services, Collections etc), and before they introduce it, they need to test it all. It would mean doing basically the same kinda stuff I've been doing anyway for the last five months (without any extra pay, like), so I applied for it, and had my interview two weeks ago. So today, when I still hadn't heard anything, the head of FS (who had put a recommendation in for me) went to chase it up for me, and found out I've got it!
There has been a problem, and the start date has been delayed from that start of June to mid-June, and I think that's why there's been a bit of a delay in letting me know. HR knew apparently, just hadn't bothered telling me!
It's Monday-Friday, which is good, except it means I won't get my Thursdays off with Michael =( It's been nice having the same days off, means I can stay over at his more, plus we can do stuff in the week when places are a bit less busy. But still, I definitely won't miss 8am starts on a Saturday!
Anyway, that was my bit of excitement for today. As usual, not much else happens with me, really. Me and Michael pretty much just stay in most of the time. Cinema most Wednesdays for Orange Wednesdays (everyone should go see In Bruges!). We do go on little trips out and stuff on our days off though. Were in Chester on Thursday, took the kids to Gulliver's World on Sunday, we're all going the Sandcastle in Blackpool soon! We went to the Splash World place (or whatever it was called) in Southport, took the kids to see the Gormley statues (been meaning to go for years, and we finally went), Walton Gardens for a wander another time. All very wholesome, innocent fun. Haha. And I've not even had any piercings in aaages! There was a time when every few weeks I'd be writing on here about some new bit of metal I'd picked up along the way, but now there's been nothing since I had my tongue pierced in September. And we've missed Pendulum twice since October, too. First it was by choice; we were going to go instead of going to my auntie's birthday party, but I had a big gay moment of sentimentality and changed my mind, so we went to the party instead (prompting a very quick dash into town to try and throw together some kind of costume for me and Michael), and then we got mixed up and missed them last week too, which was very annoying.
Oooh, but we are going V! Me and Sianne decided we were sick of people always being away at the festivals for our birthdays, so we're beating them to it! I've got my tent already. It's cow print and awesome! I seriously can't wait!
Anyway, that's enough blathering for now. Suppose it'll be another 6 months or whatever till I next write on here. I'll try harder, really.
xx
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| I know, I suck |
[24 Feb 2008|02:19am] |
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mood |
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They - Jem |
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I never remember to post on here. When I do think to, I always think "it's been ages, there'll be loads to post, I'll do it another time when I have more time", and then by the time I next think about it, there's even more stuff. Not that that much happens to me, like.
I go to work, I go the gym, we get drunk and I sit off with Michael doing fuck all.
Still, I'm happy =)
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| Hmm... |
[25 Sep 2007|02:51am] |
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mood |
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 strange |
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music |
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Broken - Seether feat. Amy Lee |
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I've got a strange feeling in my stomach. Not sure what it is. Something doesn't feel quite right. Not like sick, just like... I don't know. It's hard to describe. I'm happier right now than I have been in a long time, so not sure what it is. And I keep thinking of things I need to do, then forgetting what by the time I go to do them, as in, within a minute or so. Don't think that's helping. Maybe I just need a cuddle?
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| All change |
[11 Sep 2007|06:37pm] |
My mum and dad went away today, so I'm in the house on my own and pretty bored, so though "why not update".
I've finally braved the motorways now! Only took me five months. Haha. My sister took me out to Warrington a few weeks ago as a little practice, coz I didn't want to go with my dad. He's bad enough to drive with on normal roads, so didn't want him taking me on the motorway. It all went fine. I've got a couple of weeks off work, and wanted to go visit places and my mum said I could take the car if I'd been on motorways a bit more. Then a couple of weeks ago, me and my sisters were planning on going off to Blackpool for the day coz David Tennant was turning the lights on. One of my sisters drove ahead with the kids, I followed with Siannie, so I wasn't making my first big drive on my own, and my other sister went behind with her friend, in case I somehow got lost. The main reason for me going separately was coz my sisters wanted to leave early to get the kids to bed on time, but gave me a chance to drive properly. And it was cool, was a bit scary getting on to the motorway at the start, but went ok.
And Blackpool was awesome! Went Pleasure Beach first and got to go on a few rides. But the Big One was closed. Shame. And I got out of going on the Playstation coz someone had to stay with the kids. Yeah, I'm a wuss. I'm told I'm going on it when I go again next week. Both of them, apparently. My sisters got off at about 4, so me and Siannie wandered round the park for a bit, went through the best maze ever (it comes out into a pub!), then we walked up to where the lights were being turned on. And it was a lil bit busy. We didn't even get in the gates. Was still good though. Stood at the back watching on the screens and awwing at the millions of lickle kids. So much cute! And Siannie got chatted up by a random boy. Which was fun. Hehe. Had to drive home afterwards, but there were millions of people trying to leave when it finished, so we wasted a bit of time before. And then got stuck in a traffic jam on the M6, so it took twice as long to get home than it should have. But still, we got home safe, despite getting slightly lost. Sat Nav can be confusing.
Then this weekend I had my second time out, this time without following anyone. Jamie's band were doing a big gig thing in Nottingham, so me and Michael drove there for it. It was a good night, even though we had to get up first thing to get back coz I had Charlie's christening to go to. Though, we left earlier than we needed to, coz we were sleeping in a tent and it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. So even though we didn't need to leave till 8am, we were on the motorway by 7.
Other ace stuff has been happening too. Not with the boy I was with when I last posted, but I'm with someone else and he's totally ace. Hehe.
Gonna stop now, might write more later.
xx
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| 17 weeks |
[08 Jul 2007|11:20pm] |
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God Put A Smile On Your Face - Mark Ronson feat The Daptone Horns |
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That's how long it has apparently been since I last wrote in this. Oops. Been so long, I don't really know what to write about.
Well I've finished that science course now. Had my exams last month. Will find out my results sometime next month (anyone know when the GCSE results are out? I never did find out). Hopefully I'll do ok, coz apparently Halton College isn't doing it next year, and this seems to be the only place round here where you can do it. There was considerable panic when I found out the evening before my second exam that it was chemistry, not physics, but I got through it.
I went to see Rocky Horror again! And it was bloody amazing, as usual. I went as Trixie, like I said a while back when I booked the tickets. Here's a few pics...
Think my mum and her mate were a little bit shocked at me shouting at the stage. Don't think my mum's friend especially expected it to be so interactive.
So as well as that I've got tickets for a few things coming up. Me and Holly are going Creamfields in August, which is gonna be well ace. Anyone else going? Then in November we're going to see McFly, and we've got backstage passes! Haha. We've already got an arrangement sorted over Dougie. haha. And in December me and my sisters are going to see Take That again. Which is gonna be bloody awesome! But I'm in serious need of a proper gig some time. I went to see Pendulum with Jenni a month or two ago, and it was bloody awesome, but not a gig. Think the last gig I went to was Bayside, with Jenni and Mel. And that was only really because Jenni and Mel wanted to meet Kylie Kross who was working the merch stand.
I've had a few piercings since I last wrote in here. I had some surface clavicle piercings done.
That was when they were brand new and were obviously still quite red. Click the picture for one of them more healed.
However, one of them rejected, so I'm lop-sided now =(
But it's all fine, coz I love the look of the scars, and if the other one rejects as well, I think it'll be a wicked combination.
I've also stretched my ears to 2g (6mm). I've been shouted at for it, certain people don't approve =P But I like them. My goal is 00g (10mm).
 
With my pretty sparkly tunnels I got for the ball. I still need to get my barbells back in my second holes too, not sure why I've still not put them back in.
And then a couple of months ago I went and had my nostril pierced as well.
That was when it was only a couple of hours old. It doesn't look it in this pic, but that stud was really tiny and not very noticeable, so when it fell out and I lost it, I used it as an excuse to get a bigger stud. Like in this next pic.
If you ignore the gayface and the chubby cheeks in that, you may also notice my hair's changed a little bit. Finally took the plunge and had it all cut off a few weeks ago. Did it in time for the ball.
Yeah, was in Bangor the other week for the last Summer Ball. It was so good. I was a complete wreck. Hehe. And I certainly paid for it the next day! But it was good seeing everyone. Especially coz it was literally everyone. Next day Ian came up (along with pictures of Ben, his son, can't believe Ian's got a bloody son!), along with a load of Matt's mates (Stanton and Dobo, and a couple of others I'd not met before, or had only met once) for his 21st Beach Party on the Monday. His birthday was in the middle of the exams, so he had his party in June. And it was so good. Such amazing weather for it. We had a well good little set up too, right up the beach. Had a generator and everything, so we could have proper music. We all had a paddle and then sat around drinking and listening to music and watching poi and stuff, then a few of us stayed up and watched the sun rise. Such a good end to the Bangor thing, really. Me and Ian have talked about as many of us as we can get to go going back to Bangor once a year.
I'm still working at Argos. It's still shit, but it pays. Also still working at the Crown. Which doesn't pay as well, but is much better than the Argos. And it's helping my lovelife. Things definitely going better there =)
Anyway, I've blathered on plenty now, so I'll just end with a couple more pics
Oh and finally
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| Yay, we all get to pay more! |
[08 Mar 2007|06:27pm] |
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mood |
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 annoyed |
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Sex Bomb - Tom Jones |
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I'm getting sooo pissed off reading all these thing in the paper about how everyone should claim back all their bank charges for the last six years. It's gonna cost the banks millions, just because people can't look after their own fucking finances. Once it's all over, people are going to have to pay for banking again. And that's everyone, not just the greedy twats who are ruining it for everyone. When you open an account, you sign an agreement that includes all your charges and everything, explains what the reprocussions are for going overdrawn and things are. But lets face it, we live in a world of scroungers who can't face up to their own responsibilities. For fucks sake, most of the time, if you go into a bank and explain what has happened, they'll refund your charge anyway. If you don't have a history of it, then most of the time you'll get a refund. Christ, even if you have got a history but have a good reason you'll probably get it back too.
I sat in work listen to two people talk about claiming back all their charges for the last six years because they can get back so much money. If they've fucked up that often, why do they deserve their charges back?? They'd agreed to the charges, so they should bloody pay them! I told them that in the long run, doing this would cost them more money coz they eventually everyone will have to pay for their banking, but their response was "don't care, I need money now". Well learn to fucking save then!
Bleh, sorry, this just really pisses me off.
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| It's been a while... |
[05 Feb 2007|05:06pm] |
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accomplished |
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Lying Is The Most Fun... - Panic! At The Disco |
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Thought it was time I actually bothered to write in this thing. I used to be so good at keeping it up to date, but I guess I got lazy. So it's been about two months since I properly updated, and I can't be bothered trying to remember everything that's happened, so I guess I'll stick to the basics.
On Wednesday I went to Bangor for a few days, which was ace. Got there about 4ish, headed the pub (due to a mix up where Matt said he was in Menai, and I read it as The Menai. Still, any excuse for a piss up!). Me, Matt, Jamie and Alex went Trash that night, and all got fairly hammered. We drank cocktails, met a boy called Marilyn and danced to the same random shite they always play in Trash (right down to the last song, nothing's changed). It was ace! Afterwards, Matt was told he was banned for six months for trying to sneak his pint out, I demanded one of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lecari's housemates got her home safe and then was taught to waltz by a pretty boy outside Late Stop. We went to Matt's for hotdogs, and finally got home after telling Alex "I wanna go home..." while falling down a kerb. Classy girly I am.
Side point, I just got firefox (because myspace stopped working on my IE) and it's pissing me off! It keeps putting a stupid little red line underneathe all the words it says I got wrong. Fuck off!
Anyway, I woke up on Thursday with a monster hangover. Not had one of those in quite some time, and I was quite happy with that. I was supposed to be hiding in Grace's bedroom with the door locked because Dragon Lady was coming round and they didn't want her to see Grace's room, coz the zoo was being stored in there for the occasion. Of course, my stomach wasn't aware of this, and after lying in bed for about 40minutes trying my best to keep very very still until she left, I couldn't anymore and had to be sick, so became covert ops running to the toilet and then up to Alex's room and then down to Jamie's to wait it out till she finally pissed off. An hour and a bloody half she was there! Bleh! After she left I went and passed out back down in Grace's room for a while until Jamie phoned at 2ish to see if I wanted to go to lunch. So me, Alex and what we assumed was Alex's friend went down to Varsity to meet Jamie, Craig and Kerrie for something to eat. After sharing many many stories from our years together and going shopping with her, Kate, the 'friend', left to go home. At which point Alex turned round and said "you wouldn't think I only met her 20 minutes before we got to the pub, would you?". Oh Alex...
Thursday night we went to the pub and then headed to the standing stones for poi-ness. Claire missed teh pretty fiiiire! The smell of paraffin is pretty much synonymous with uni, for me. We'd started off at Main Arts doing it, and as soon as we walked up to the building we could smell it. Made me all happy. But the Bangor Uni security types came over and whinged that we didn't have permission to play there, so we walked down to the standing stones to carry on. Stop off at the offy for lots and lots of "cheap lager" later, and a pick up of a guitar, we were all set. Matt took his tripod down and got some really pretty pictures. And Sas was there too, who I've not seen in aaages. Met the new mister too! He seems nice, which he better bloody be! Think we stayed there till about 2am, when our fingers started to turn to ice, so we headed back to the house to carry on in the basement (I keep writing "our basement" and things. it's my house, not Luke's!) for sing-along stuffs and more drinking. One hammered Jamie later, there's been arguing for about an hour over a little video clip and Jay had threatened to give Luke a Glasgow Kiss. And I met Derek the Mushroom!
Friday I went shopping as most people seemed to have lectures. Bought all kinds of random crap (Pendulum CDs, Doctor Who soundtrack and magazine - geek or what?! - Moulin Rouge DVD, other stuff), and then went to KFC with Jamie for lunch, though neither of us ate much; he had a hangover to equal mine from the day before, and I had a hot chocolate from Costa that was so big, the cup came with two handles. I wanted the cup, but I don't think there's a subtle way to rob something that massive. That night, Jamie's mate from home, Skiv, was coming up, so we waited for him to get up and then the three of us went down to the Harp to meet Kerrie and Craig. Cheap as fuck shots in there! So many minging double vodka and lemonades later, we staggered home to wait for people to arrive at the house, as we had told many people to come round for old-school drinking games. What we didn't count on was two knobhead girls showing up and pissing us all off. They were Alex's mates, so we couldn't say anything to them, but they were annoying us all so much. A few of us (as in, most of us) had to go the shop in the end to escape them. I seriously wanted to punch them. They kept on nearly leaving, but then changing their mind and staying longer. Was cruel to taunt us like that! Think they got the hint when me, Jamie, Matt, Skiv and Julian sat down in the basement singing "Show Me The Way to Go Home". Subtle as a brick, us. Eventually we all headed to bed around 4am-ish.
Saturday I had to come home. Which sucked. But I was in work at The Crown at 8, so I didn't have a choice. Just wish I could stay there with them. Miss them all loads. Will hopefully get the pics off Matt soon and get them uploaded.
Anyway, what else have I been up to? Had a fun night in the Kray last week with Jenni and her mates, which was ace. Was sitting in the house at about 10pm, figured I was in for the night. An hour later I was on a train going into Liverpool. They played Pendulum. Threeee times! I danced like a twat and tired myself out, then got my energy back in time for all the emo crap. Think I'm too old for that place. All the boys seemed really young and I just couldn't be bothered standing up and dancing that long anymore. There was fun and games when some idiot barman hid Jenni's friends' coats behind the speakers on K2, but we got to laugh at the other prettier barman trying to fish them out and took pictures. We gave him £8 to say thankyou though, so he can't moan too much. Stayed till the end, which I've not done in a while. I always forget how small, crappy and purple that place is when the lights come up. Still, after two bottles of high class Fastini, I was suitably wasted, and had had a damn good night. Think we're going again a week on Saturday, which should be fuuun.
Ooooh, also, Claire's going to see Rocky Horror again! This time I'm going as Trixie (Usherette), which is gonna be a bit of a change for me. Just bought my dress off ebay. Might be a bit small, but incentive to finally get thinner! I've already got my torch, it's sitting here next to me. Oh yeah, I'm gonna be teh bestest Trixie evaaar =D
Anyway, just to finish, let's take a look at how cute Charlie is:
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| Bloody hell... |
[26 Jan 2007|04:30am] |
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mood |
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awake |
] |
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music |
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Civil War - Guns 'N' Roses |
] |
awake Christ, I've been in bed by about midnight pretty much every night for a week or so now. So why the hell am I still awake and full of energy at 4.30am?! And also, my nose seems to be bleeding. And no, nothing naughty's gone up it. All very strange.
Bleh, might actually try and remember to update this thing tomorrow. Or sometime.
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| Ever think you've left it too long? |
[11 Dec 2006|11:03pm] |
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mood |
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 full of cold |
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music |
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Patience - Take That |
] |
It's been more than a month since I updated this thing. After Pendulum I decided I'd upload all the pics and then I'd do an update, but after a mass uploading spree, I seriously couldn't be arsed writing in this thing.
But yeah, I couldn't remember all the things that I've been up to if I tried. Pendulum was proper awesome. Even if Slam ended up being a bit of a letdown. Suppose Fasten Your Seatbelt made up for it. Along with Tarantula. Got locked outside for ages though because the gits oversold. They seemed to think people would pay for tickets to a Planet Pendulum Party and then go and sit in the other room while they were on. Yeah, as if! But thanks to the ever wonderful Hollypop, I got back in and found Ben and Charlie. And had a damn good time. Was proper ace, loved it! Definately wanna go Global next year. And I'm very jealous of Holly, who went to see DJ Shadow last night. His new album's a bit shite, but still would be amazing. She talked about Faithless next year, will have to be having words about that, because I'm seriously wanting to go (NB, in case you haven't noticed, 'seriousy' seems to be replacing 'totally' these days).
What else, what else, what else. Not a whole lot, that I can think of. I'm sure I've been up to stuff, but my head's gone blank, so we'll just assume I've slept for the past five months.
Well, obviously there was Claire giving herself a mini-nervous breakdown, but I think that's sorted, and the least said about that the better.
Holly's birthday night out was on Saturday. We went to the dogs first, which was fairly surreal, but fun still! The little wiggly rabbit thing is funny as fuck! Me and Holly were a tiny bit drunk and a tiny bit stoned, and every time it went past I was in hysterics. It was bloody cold though! I didn't put any bets on. I felt sorry for the poor horses *looks at Holly* Hehe. Especially number 6 in the first race. Poor depressed little thing. They were all well classy though. Absolutely no problems with stopping to go to the toilet in front of hundreds of people. After the dogs we went on to the Warehouse. Hot Chip were absolute bollocks, but when the in-between DJ people were on it was wicked. All you could smell in there was poppers. And me and Holly had some fun with teh laughing gas. I danced till I was literally falling asleep, but I'd only had four hours sleep, so I was wrecked.
Only had that much because I've started work at The Crown again. My old boss has bought it back and it's really nice in there now. They're doing it all up. I mean, at the minute they're just trying to get its reputation back after all the crap with the idiot rugby player, but they're expanding the menu to more like proper resteraunt stuff and they're trying to make it a bit classier and stuff. People should get down there, they deserve to have it a success again. You should especially come down on Fridays, coz that's when I'm in. Still at Argos, of course, but decided some bar work would give me something to do, along with some extra money. Of course, I still don't know what I'm earning or anything. Or when I'll be paid. Suppose I'll find out eventually!
So are we all looking forward to Christmas? Me, being the big kid that I am, am well excited! Went with my mum to get my presents off them. Doctor Who marathon, here I come =D Still no idea what I'm doing for New Year though. Any suggestions?
Anyway, I'm full of cold so want an early night, so bed time for Claire Bear soon.
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| Blackpool totally rocks! |
[04 Nov 2006|12:00am] |
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Push The Button - Sugababes |
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Not been to Blackpool in waaay too long! Last time was 2002. Didn't get to spend so much time actually doing things, was mostly just walking around with Jack and Jane, but it was still well cool.
Wow, Ben Affleck's head is rather too large for his face. Anyway...
Yeah, I was out last night at Ben's, passed out on a couch and got slightly less than enough sleep. And then I had to go home, get ready, and go out. We got there and headed straight to Pleasure Beach, at which point Jack started screaming. Yeah, another thing to add to the "stuff Jack's scared of" list. But we weren't gonna leave just because Jack was kicking up a fuss again, so we went on and just ignored him and kept him distracted. We convinced him to go on one of the baby rides with me, but he started screaming and the woman made us take him off. Jane even sat there and said he was fine and he had to get used to it, and it's not like there was any other kids on it, but she wouldn't let us, so I took him off and we gave up trying to get him on any rides. So I went on them instead! Went on The Avalanche, The Revolution and the Wild Mouse. Didn't go on The Big One coz I'm a wuss. But yeah, we went, we walked around, we had fun, I danced to Rock The Party while we walked past the Playstation, I ate candyfloss, and then we went and got a maccies and some doughnuts and raided a rock shop ("Don't forget your rock cock!") and came home. And it was all so much fun. And now the day's sugar rush has just about ended, and I'm falling asleep and am generally testiment to the fact that if you don't leave Blackpool feeling sick (that much sugar mixed up with flashing lights and rides??), you just ain't doing it right!
Also, people may (though probably not) have noticed that I've not been online much lately. We're switching our internet over (finally getting rid of bloody Tiscali), but it's all totally gay and, long story short, we're without broadband for a month or so. We've got dial-up going on for now just to see us through, but it's fairly horrific, so it's not something I'm wanting to use too often, and so my internet time has decreased massively.
But as a result of this lack of internet, I've not yet passed on the news; Claire's got a new nephew! Charlie Luke McDonnell was born at about 9am on 24th October 2006. He's now joined the "Claire's sisters give their kids terrible middle names" club, along with his sister Abigail Leia McDonnell (which perhaps sheds some light on my problem with the name Luke) and Jack Stanley Schorer. He's all tiny and squishy and adorable. But obviously there's not really any way of describing something that cute, so here we have, making his 'Claire's Journal' debut, Charlie!
That was Jack's first time holding him, before then he'd been too scared of him to go near him. Which is understandable. He's spent months trying to get his head around all this "there's a baby in Carol's tummy" stuff only for that baby to go and appear living at Abbie's house. But he's ok with it all now, he's just having trouble with Charlie being Abbie's brother but not his. And Abbie is very unimpresed whenever Jack calls Charlie his brother. Gonna be amusing, methinks.
"I love Charlie, he's my best friend" - Abbie McDonnell, age 4, being incredibley cute. But somehow think she'll have changed her mind in a few years time.
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| Ace weekend |
[09 Oct 2006|11:52pm] |
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exhausted |
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The Dress Looks Nice On You - Sufjan Stevens |
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Well, not quite weekend, but not far off. The past few days have been so cool.
Thursday I did overtime, which I didn't mean to agree to. I was intending to be on a train by 2pm, not just leaving work. But still, it worked out ok. I packed on Wednesday night, and on Thursday I finished work at 2pm and was on a train to Bangor by 3pm. Matt (and his very blonde hair) met me at the station at about 5pm. All the student types waiting for their trains home gave us really weird looks coz he ran down to give me a big hug. It was so cool though, so sod 'em. Got back to the house and saw Jamie, Grace and Alex. And a load of strangers. There's strangers in my house! Ollie, Luke and Russell. And a lady called Inty, which is pretty random. It's weird there being so many other people in there now. There seems a lot more of an us/them divide now. I mean, there was a bit of one last year, but not to that extent. There was Sam who only really spoke to me and Matt, Chelle who only spoke to Grace and Alex, and Grace and Alex often did things separate, while me, Jamie and Craig used to spend a lot of time together. But with the exception of Sam and Chelle, there was never really a divide. We were all really close. I went the cinema with Alex and Grace, they'd often come and sit in with us when we were getting stoned, Matt floated around with everyone except Chelle. But this time there was a lot more of a divide.
Thursday night we did what we do best. Alex and Grace already had plans to go out, so me, Matt, Jamie and Craig stayed in with Kerrie and got stoned. I think the others were all in, but they weren't invited down. In fact, the only time they were mentioned was when I asked if we were being a bit loud considering it was late and there were other people in the house. But it was decided that it didn't matter. So we got nice and stoned. I knew I was home for sure when I woke up the next morning with the infamous shitting Jamie on my arm. Along with a pretty flower, some wrestling thing and "I AM A LITTLE BOY" writting down my forearm. Gotta love the rizla game.
Friday, me, Jamie and Matt went down to Yates' for lunch. I had the ultimate mega burger thing. Two burgers, a chicken fillet, onion rings, mayo and BBQ sauce. Except the BBQ was minging. Didn't really do a whole lot in the day, but in the night we had a damn good night. We started at the Menai, which was where I really noticed the whole divide thing. We were all sitting round the table, but crowded round one side was me, Grace, Alex, Jamie, Matt, Kerrie, Craig, and then round the other side was the other housemates and their friends, with Inty and her friend floating around somewhere in the middle. Matt went off to see someone in the Greek while we finished up in the Menai and headed down to the Yellow. It was strange, coz I didn't know who were just strangers on the street, or who were people we were out with. But I didn't stay down there very long, I had to head up to Main Bar to meet Matt so we could go Bada-Boom. I was expecting it to be like Racubah, which is like a mellow reggae-esque night, which can be cool, but not entirely my thing. I wasn't really that interested in going, but Matt really wanted to, so I did. And it was a damn good night. We started off in the cocktail room which was kinda boring. Crappy hip hop and stuff. The other room sounded a bit better, but people had said it wasn't, so we didn't bother going through till later. But it turned out to be an awesome drum n bass night in there, and it was fucking cool. Danced my arse off for the rest of the night, and dragged a very wasted Matt back home at about 2am. Then went and had a spliff with Craig and Kerrie before heading to bed.
Was supposed to get up at 8am on Saturday so I'd have plenty of time to get ready for my train at 10.20am. 9.30am I woke up when my mum phoned to make sure I was up. So I dashed around getting ready and went and said bye to Jamie and Craig before heading out. Sooo didn't want to leave. Next time I'll stay a little longer, hopefully. I miss them all loads. Three years of hating the place, now I'm counting the days till I go back. Anyway, I got home and went off to work, which was shit. Well, it was fine, but I was too tired to be arsed with it. I spent the rest of the night after work sitting up doing nothing (watching telly, internet etc), because I don't get enough chance to stay up all night.
After staying up till 4am (as well as staying up late the two nights before too), I made up for it by sleeping till 3.30pm. Mmm...I love my sleep. Not that I got much that night though. My Sundays generally involve waking up whenever I wake up, not setting an alarm, just catching up on the sleep I've been missing during the week, then I get up, have breakfast, sit around at the computer all day, have dinner at some point, spend more time sitting around and then bed. This time though, at about 5pm, Jenni came online and told me to go the Barfly. I'd never heard of the band, and they looked pretty scene shite, but she informed me that there'd be a lot of hot boys, and I figured I had nothing better to do. So at 7pm I headed into Liverpool to see Bullets and Octane. Turns out they're pretty good. And totally cool. We spent ages in the the toilets arsing around and taking pictures, and ages talking to some of one of the support band. Oh, and we got loads of free Jagermeister stuff, including a shot of Jagermeister! We were heading down to talk to some bouncers or something and saw someone on the steps that Jenni and Mel knew. Apparently the bassist from Bullets and Octane. Then the guitarist came down. They were both really nice. The bands played and were really good, got to play photographer (I need to poke Jenni for the pictures), and then waited round outside for ages while they all packed up and then we headed out to the Korova. Oh, and James Dean Bradfield was playing downstairs, and we saw his bus leaving. Jenni was saying she could see him, but I'm not so sure it was him. Might have been though! So yeah, we went on to the Korova for drinks and stuff, which was cool. We sat around till they kicked us all out at about 2am, and we got a taxi home. It was such a cool night. I got home about 3am, which wasn't good considering I was in work at 8am. But I made it in, just.
It was hell though! Constant calls all day. Literally no break in between calls. I must have gone over my personal time, because I had to come off the phone every now and then. It was killing me! And then I had a bloody driving lesson afterwards. So now, I think, it's time for me to sleep.
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[30 Sep 2006|12:29pm] |
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Epic - Faith No More |
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Ok, I've now realised the fundamental wrongness of Kerrang. Just flicking through the channels, and I saw Pure Morning by Placebo was on. It was part of what they were calling "50 GREATEST EVER ROCK TRACKS". Ok, I think, it's got a very good song, and at number 47, not ridiculously high, maybe they've done a decent chart this time. So I keep watching. Next up at 46, Everlong by the Foo Fighters. Same as before, very good song, probably in the right kind of place instead of being stupidly high, just because they're a Kerrang favourite. Next at 45, Jeremy by Pearl Jam. Now, I'm not so sure about this. Absolutely amazing song and, as far as I'm concerned, should be at least in the top 20. But maybe that's just personal opinion, so I'll let it lie. Until I see what comes next, that is.
44. In The Shadows - The Rasmums
Now, I take issue with this being considered one of the fifty greatest rock songs ever anyway, but above Placebo? Above the Foos? Above Pearl Jam?? Seriously, I knew Kerrang sucked, but I never realised quite how much until now. And now Epic by Faith No More is on. Definately deserving of being in the top 50, but only at 43? Like Jeremy, surely this deserves a higher place? Geh, I give up.
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| Of the homosexual orientation |
[24 Sep 2006|06:58pm] |
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mood |
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chipper |
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Checking It Out - Lil Chris |
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And totally need to stop with the "totally". I'm turning into a valley girl or something.
But yeah, such a good day on Friday. Got the train to Manchester for about 3.30, and spent the day day just doing totally random and fun things. No plans made, just doing whatever we decided to do as we came to it. Start with a trip to Burger King to use the toilets, then onto HMV to buy lots of music, god knows where else, then we went to the food court for maccies then headed to Afflecks. That place is so bloody hot! But I got poi! Pretty pink and blue poi. Need to get Alex to teach me how to use it better. I can do a couple of things, but nothing much. So after Affleck's Holly took me to a very pretty bar where we had cocktails. It was nice, but expensive, and not really upbeat enough for us. Would be better on a day where we hadn't got wasted by 4.30. But I had a Pale Cosmopolitan which was nice, and then we left. Went and harrassed the people in Selfridges looking at MAC makeup before heading off to the Hard Rock for more cocktails.
After all that we decided to get a bus back to Holly's house so we could pick a few things up and get ready to go out somewhere. The bus went past the Academy, so we had a look to see how was playing. We decided that it would be a good idea to head back there, so after getting ourselves a bit more presentable-looking and having some vodka, amongst other things, we headed back out for a totally awesome gig. You know you wish you were there. Because we went to see Lil Chris! Damn right we did. Clearly the oldest people in the room, and spent most of the night dancing like idiots and laughing at the little kiddies going crazy over him. It was such good fun. He only played a half hour set, bless 'im. Obviously had to get home to bed. So after that high quality entertainment, me and Holly needed to dance, so we went off to The Footage. It's a Yellow! Not as good as the Yellow of course, though. For a start, it isn't actually yellow. But my Yellow Card was still good, so we had some more vodka in there and had a damn good dance. And Holly's friend Jimmy showed up too coz he'd been to some other gig at the Academy. Totally not as cool as Lil Chris though. Haha.
After that we went back to his halls and listened to some music for a bit and messed with the head of some bloke in a brown jacket outside. Holly's right, can't believe they were there a week without thinking to do that! But we were starting to sober up too much, so we headed back to Holly's to listen to music and get more wasted. Danced around like gay daisies (to quote The Holly) and listened to Pendulum and 2 Many DJs before watching The Mint for a while and then going to bed. It was so much fun. Gotta be done again!
Loves ya Holly, ya big gay!
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| Eww, I don't care how new they are, you don't lick trainers... |
[18 Sep 2006|02:03pm] |
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Daddy Fantastic - Daddy Fantastic |
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I used to update this thing, like, every day, but I've got so bad with it lately. Well, I'm sure it saves peoples' friends pages a little bit.
Christ I'm tired! I'm usually tired by Thursdays after four days of getting up at 6.30am, but being tired already on a Monday must be some kind of record for me! But this week I was offered my contract at work! I've been there through an agency, but this week it had been three months, which meant we found out whether we'd go onto Argos or stay on Primetime, and I got my contract! Think one other girl who started with me got hers, which is pretty cool. Only problem is it'll put me onto monthly pay =S That bit's not so good.
Blah, I've had this thing open for hours, and I've not bothered writing any more. I'll carry on later, maybe.
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| Smells Like Teen Spirit |
[09 Sep 2006|03:12am] |
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coming down |
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music |
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30/30 150 - Stone Sour |
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Yeeears ago, I was flicking through the music channels on Sky, and as I passed the ClassicFM channel, I realised they were playing the end of a choir version of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Despite my opinion that it's one of those songs people should just leave the hell alone, I was interested to hear it again. But not knowing the name of the choir, I never found it.
Flicking through the channels just while I build the motivation to go to bed, I passed the ClassicFM channel and realised they were playing the beginning of a choir version of Smells Like Teen Spirit. So after all this time, I finally saw it. Quite a disappointment, actually. It was quite a nice arrangement, so maybe it would be good if it was done by a decent choir, but unfortunately, The Scala Choir don't meet that description. They looked bored. What's the point if you're not interested in it? And a choir wearing t-shirts is never gonna make much of an impression on me. Plus, either they were missing a soprano section, or they just don't use it, because those high notes were nothing special, which doesn't seem right to me, considering it's a girl choir. Besides all that, the singing, diction and discipline of the choir was pretty average anyway.
The conductor certainly looked into it though. He looked on the verge of starting a circle pit. On his own. To a mellow piano arrangement of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Kinda like "I like this song, sod it if they don't, they're singing it anyway", I think. And yeah, that happens in all choirs at times, but if the song's going to stand out as much as that would, it's not going to work. In my choir we all hated some of the songs we did, but they were just fairly typical choir songs, so as long as it sounded right it was fine. The ones that we did that stood out, we all liked, and you could tell. Plus, we were ace.
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| OMGZ teh drama |
[04 Sep 2006|12:01am] |
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My Humps - Black Eyed Peas |
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Wow, I've not written in this since I was 20! And it was so long ago...
So yep, Claire Bear is now a fully fledged growed up, apparently. And yes, one who still quotes the Rugrats (I watched it for the first time in years the other week! So damn cute!). On the Friday before I went and had my pink streaks put back in my hair. My usual hairdresser didn't do it though, and I've now learnt, don't trust the new girls! First the bleach she used reacted with the black dye I'd already put on a few days before, then she left me with my head in the sink for nearly an hour, and then when I took the cape type thingy off, she'd bleached my tshirt. I liked the way my hair turned out, but other than that, distinctly not impressed!
Saturday it was my birthday party, which was pretty shit, but wasn't terrible (fankoos Mister Dyer and Teh Holly). The Kray afterwards was pretty fun though. Well, I don't really remember it, so I'd say that means it was pretty fun. I took my balloon with me, but Nathan was mean and popped it. Holly apparently filled a disposable camera film, which I also don't remember. Slightly frightened to see those pics...
Then Sunday was my actual birthday. I woke up at about 11am, which my mum was pretty surprised about, but I half woke up, then realised it was my birthday, and then I was suddenly wide awake. So I got up and opened presents and stuff. Claire gots some bling! Haha, kinda. My mum and dad got me white gold with pink sapphire jewellery, which is very pretty. And my sisters got me a diamante watch. Oh yeah, blingin' or what?! Heh. As well as that, I got a 21st glass and key thing off my nana and grandad, Uber Orbs and a candy bra off Matt, an iDuck off Holly, a Dr Who doll off Holly and Mike, a Riff Raff doll, two belly bars and a rose quartz and soladite necklace of My auntie and uncle from America, a rose quartz bracelet off Ken and Janet, a Me To You bear off Abbie and Jack, and some money. Which I've had fun starting to spend =D Got myself some more pink sapphires, Madagascar on video, a black dress, a weird black knit jumper dress thingy, Trainspotting, Mean Girls, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and Crash on DVD, onyx and moonstone jewellery, a peridot necklace and a signed picture of Kurt Cobain. I wanna go into Liverpool or Manchester or something this week to do some more shopping. I think I've pretty much exhausted Widnes' resources. So if anyone fancies a trip out to wherever, let me know!
I spent most of the day just sitting around recoverring, and then I went for a meal with my mum and dad, which was nice, but was not quite what I needed mid-comedown. But still, the food was nice, and it was good to still do something actually on my birthday. We went to the Church View afterwards for a drink, and I had a pint, but I was so wrecked I couldn't even lift my glass anymore. Don't think I even finished it, coz my arms just couldn't handle it.
Damn MTV Awards! First they made me listen to Shite! At The Disco, and now they're making me listen to the fucking Killers. Haha, the supposedly hot singer now has a porn-star moustache. Yeah, that's sexy... Anyone know when this emo/scene/whatever shite is gonna fuck off away?!
Anyway, been going the Albion again the past few weeks, which has mostly been pretty cool. Although, some certain silly little boys need to grow the fuck up. But yeah, it's mostly been fun there the past few weeks. Ended up in some fairly random places afterwards (this week it was Runcorn). Fridays have been a little less fun, and my jaw's still killing now, but not bad enough to put me off.
Excellent, Doctor Who stuff has just come on telly. Clearly got to get my Tennant fix.
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| Have I been neglecting you? |
[16 Aug 2006|09:54pm] |
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mood |
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anxious |
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Who Am I? - Will Young |
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Wow, been a while...
Right, first of all, before I forget, it's my 21st on Sunday, so on Saturday night, I'm having a party!
(phone numbers are blurred coz I'm not making this private)
So yeah, if you can come, do so! Let me know if you're gonna come too. The plan is to go the Kray afterwards too. Slightly dreading it, but I'm sure it'll be good. I gots my Jamie coming up with Hayley! Which is cool.
Anyway, the past few weeks have been pretty much filled with work, Big Brother, and getting pissed of with Tiscali. Seriously, had nothing to do. I've been to the pub a few times, but most nights I've stayed in bored. Especially coz our bloody internet's not been working! Tiscali have been shouted at. Many MANY times. They're lying little bastards.
Wow, Nine Inch Nails were just on an advert for a Channel 4 programme. That's pretty cool.
So work's going alright. It's a bit repetitive ("Good morning, thank you for calling the Argos card safe receipt line, Claire speaking, can I have your card number please?"), but generally pretty easy, and I can read and stuff while I'm there, so I keep myself vaguely entertained. And apparently I'm not bad at it either. Plus it pays ok. But still, I'm very glad I'm off after tomorrow till Monday! Booked Saturday off for my birthday.
I'm pretty sad that Big Brother ends on Friday though. How geeky is that?! But it's gone so quickly! I really hope Pete wins. I will NOT be imressed if that 'ghetto' trash Aisleyne wins. I'd prefer Nikki not to win too, but only because she's already been evicted. Still, i wouldn't mind, just so long as Aisleyne doesn't win. Yeah, I've been getting faaaar too into it. So have my sisters; as well as spending a fucking fortune voting (especially voting for Pete this week), me and my sisters have been texting each other contantly about it. In fact, tonight's possibly the first time I've not had a text off her while it was on.
A couple of weeks ago, I met up with Holly and Mike in Liverpool, which was ace. Went to Curly's so Mike could order a double bass (?!), then off to Pizza Hut for some food and to start the drinking, then on to the Walkabout, then Baa Bar and then on to the Jacaranda. Had such an ace day! It was so good to catch up with them. I don't see them anywhere near enough. Got loads of picturs as well. Click the picture below to see the rest.
Oh, I've started learning to drive again. With a new instructer this time. The last one was a cock. This one seems alright though. Took me a couple of lessons to get back into it, but I feel pretty happy when I'm driving now. Expecting it to take about 30 lessons, I think, and he agreed. It's weird though, my instructer was also the person who taught my sister about 12 years ago. Got two lessons this week, one on Thursday at 1pm, and then on Friday at 10.30am. Don't wanna get up that early! But I've got to, because I'm going the hairdressers to have pink streaks put in at 1.30pm. And they better bloody give me pink this time! I don't want fucking red again!
Anyway, I'm off to watch some programme about Ted Bundy and porn now, so I just have one last thing to ask; Can you hear the mating call of the bassoon?
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