Serious and Seriouser

"We need to talk"

Four words men never want to hear from their Schatz.

I turned the television off. As I knew I would drift off and start watching it no matter how serious the conversation got.

"If we're going to get married next year we need to start saving money."

This I knew. We'd just spent a lot of money on going to Japan. And since coming back I spent a lot on an engagement ring (which still hasn't arrived). Then I spent two hundred and fifty quid on a Wii (which is great) and seventy quid on some trainers to get fit (one ten minute run, one loss at squash and two aching legs). So my bank account was rather low.

And Freya was aware of this.

"I know you managed to put some money away that was left over at the end of the month, but I think you should start up a direct debit and save some money for the wedding. And also save some for yourself as I know you spent all of your savings on Japan."

This made sense. I needed to save money and I'm the kind of person who if they have some money in the bank will usually spend it. I spoke of my agreement to this plan.

Unfortunately Freya didn't see to cotton on to that fact that I thought she was right & got into a bit of a panic about me not saving money. Luckily I think she finally believes me. And I have now set up the direct debits.

"I love you Ben"

Anyway, what about this for the top of the wedding cake?

Fridays Feast no. 9

Appetizer
Name something you think is “the best.”
I’d say Pulp’s This Is Hardcore is “the best” album ever. For some reason, if I hear any song from it at random on my mp3 player I have to flip back and listen to all of it. It is an unskippable album, even the dodgy track near the end where Jarvis comes on all Fat Harry White. No other album holds my attention like it.

Having said that I haven’t listened to it for a while…

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 highest), how stressed are you today?
Started off at 4. Then it went up to 10 when a big Director rang me up asking for some figures within an hour. Then it went back to 4 when I realised the figures wouldn’t have been the best things to use in a meeting with the Chief Exec.

Salad
What kind of cleanser do you use to wash your face?
Nothing. Which might explain why my face is always very dry. I might give Clarins for Men a go soon as my Mum bought me a pack for Christmas.

Main Course
Tonight is a blue moon! What is something that you believe only happens “once in a blue moon.”
I wake up without immediately wanting to go straight back to sleep.

Dessert
When was the last time it rained where you live?
Yesterday. While I was walking home. My suit trousers were drenched before I reached the first corner & it takes twenty minutes to walk home. I had to have a bath when I got home I was so cold and wet. The suit’s going straight to the dry cleaners today!

Fridays feast is a meme that comes out every Friday at this website. I use it to give me something to write about.

Friends

Ah now I realise why I don't go on myspace that much:



I'm guessing they might be trying to add me as a friend because I took pictures of one of their marches. But that was only because I thought it was a pretty daft way of trying to see your kids.

The really annoying thing is I've already denied them once, but they've sent me a second invite. I'll decline this one as well and if they try one more time then I'll write them a strongly worded e-mail. Whilst dressed as The Thing.

Fridays Feast no. 8

I'm starting this up again as I'm having a severe bloggers block and just need anything to write about.

Appetizer
Name a sound you like to hear.
I used to like the drip of a tap, but since the one in our kitchen in on the blink & runs constantly I'm going against that. I like rain against the window. As long as I'm safe indoors and don't need to go out.

Soup
What is your favorite kind of cheese?
None. I hate cheese. It's the stringiness I don't like. And the smell. And probably the taste (although I've never eaten any).

Salad
Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?
I try to sleep in as long as possible. Usually because I'm very lazy. Also I never have anything important to do on a weekend, so why not stay in bed?

Main Course
When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it?
Not to go for the obvious joke, but I honestly can't remember. I never forget birthdays, so it can't be that. Freya forgot to lock the back door when we went on holiday to Japan, but luckily she noticed after five minutes.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I notice ____________ when _____________.
I notice my feet point inwards when I trip up over them.

Relax girls, he's engaged

As hinted previously, I am now engaged to Freya. This feels very good. But expect all of you are desperate to know how I proposed to her.

Being a very unimaginative person I was planning on just getting down on one knee and asking her. After chatting to Cathy online and putting a few comments on Momo's club wed/dread I realised that this wouldn't be that romantic or memorable. And the answer would definitely be no if I did this.

So I brainstormed* with Cathy some ideas for proposing. One good idea was to get a kitty and put the ring in it's collar, but seeing how I didn't want to get a ring without Freya choosing it this option wasn't wise. Plus I hadn't spoken to the landlord to check if we could get any animals. So that was out.

Cathy said check out some other engagement stories on the web. Most seemed to involve a little too much planning. I wasn't going to arrange to meet in a park and then have a billboard say 'Will you marry me?'. For a start, I'm not the most confident and also I'd like the act of proposing to be rather private**. Me and Freya are rather shy people, and whilst I like the idea of shouting out 'I LOVE THIS WOMAN!' I also know I'd be looking very sheepish afterwards, and when proposing it's best you don't look ashamed by it.

So it needed to be somewhere quiet, romantic, memorable and done in an imaginative way. Luckily I was going to Tokyo in May, so that could be pretty memorable. We might also be going to Mount Fuji so that could be quiet. Hopefully the act of proposing would be romantic in itself. Then I had a great lightbulb moment for making it imaginative.

I would get someone else to ask me. Funshine Bear, the care bear who I bought for Freya at the beginning of our relationship (after she complained about her Mum getting rid of her older one when she was young) could ask her via the use of Bob Dylan style sound cards. Cathy said this sounded good.

Then just as we were getting ready for Japan, Freya said something that made me worried. She'd been looking at Club wed/dread and thought it was good. Had she read my comments saying I was going to propose? I panicked and told Freya I had a surprise for her in Japan. This got her all excited. I knew this was bad when she mentioned it every hour on the train to the airport.

Checking my e-mail at the hotel before we flew out to Japan I had an e-mail from Momo (regarding the proposal). Freya saw this, but I told her it was private. And panicking I then told Freya that Momo said the surprise was stupid so I shouldn't go through with it. Sorry Momo, but I had to calm her down somehow.

Then we got to Japan, and I couldn't propose. How was I going to find somewhere quiet to propose in the busiest city on Earth? Luckily Freya helped by deciding that on Saturday we would go to Fuji Five Lakes in the shadow of Mount Fuji. Hmm, this could be the chance I was after...

So Saturday came & we got to Lake Kawaguchi, only to find that when sitting by the lake you couldn't see Fuji. Darn. There was a cable car, so perhaps if we went up there we could see it?

One cable car ride & we could.

Fuji looked beautiful. However, everyone on the cable car was milling around this area where a model of a raccoon was being tortured by a rabbit. Not terribly romantic. I could see a path leading further up. If I could persuade Freya to walk up there, maybe we would find a private clearing and I could say (or show) those words.


Yeah I guess that looks quite romantic.

We sat on the bench for a while taking in the view. Then I rummaged in my bag for the photos of Funshine (whilst sneakily getting on one knee).

"Freya, I've decided and I think you should have your surprise."

Freya looks at the first picture ("WHOOP! WHOOP!") and laughs.

The second picture ("Bear loves Schatz very much") got an "awww I love you too".

Third picture said "Will you marry me?". Freya was shocked, "Is this a joke?"

"I love you very much, will you marry me?"

"Of course!" She started to cry, lots. I welled up a bit too (strong men also cry). And I gave her a big hug and kissed her, lots.

The fourth picture ("Pleasey?") made her smile. But I think the third one was the best.

We sat on the bench for about five minutes just hugging each other and smiling.

Then some Japanese girls walked past and I press-ganged one of them into taking a picture of us:

See I'm even wearing a shirt so I look smart.

Then we decided to carve our initials into a tree. I think Freya was a bit annoyed I used our pet name initials rather than our proper ones, but it still looks good.


Now all we have to do is arrange the wedding. *Gulp*

* Great Ben, make it sound like a business meeting

** Which is why I'm blogging about it

I've got the runs

I'll write more about my amazing trip to Japan over the coming weeks, but for now I want to go on about before I got engaged and decided to play some football in a UK versus Sri Lanka match.

As regular readers might know, I'm not very fit. About every two months I mention that I should perhaps join a gym. I never do, but merely thinking about doing so is the closest I get the physical activity in those two months*. So when the chance to play in a football match came up I was reluctant to put my name forward. I should have remained reluctant.

One problem I had was that it was raining, not heavy rain but enough to make the grass slippy. The grass had also been recently cut causing further slippage. Finally I was playing in Converse one star trainers, which never have the best grip.

The result? 8-1 to us. Oh, and I fell over before even reaching a ball. I didn't feel too bad afterwards, but in the morning? It was hell. The next morning? Just as bad. This lasted for about 5 days after the match.

And walking all around Tokyo didn't help my legs too much either. At Enoshima my legs really started to hurt again.

So now I'm thinking of getting fit again. But I know I won't join a gym, so perhaps I should just start jogging. One thing I saw in Japan was Nike Plus. This is where Nike & Apple have joined forces so your ipod connects to your trainers and can tell you how far you've run through your headphones. I'm sure an expensive gadget like this will get me fit.

Problems? I'd have to buy an ipod nano, when I really want a video mp3 player. Also I've usually shyed away from ipods, due to them breaking after one year and one day (see also why I haven't bought an Xbox 360). And I've got a wedding to pay for, can't waste it on trying to get fit. But then shouldn't I look my best for the wedding? Argh, I don't know, I'm still jetlagged.

* Well not the closest, but I doubt you want to hear about the closest I get...

Back in the office

She said yes. More on how & where tomorrow. I'm exceptionally happy about it.

I will be out of office

from 03/05 to 17/05. As I will be in Japan.

This doesn't explain why I've hardly written anything for the past month, but expect a huge blog when I return.

Byeeeeeee!

Yes I am Stupid

So my head isn't getting bigger. The reason why my headphones weren't fitting over my ears was because the speakers can move up and down.

Yes I am Stupid.

California

So farewell The OC. You've been with me & Freya from the start of our relationship, but now we've outgrown you and we have to go our separate ways. I will remember you for the good things you brought us, Jim Robinson having another hilarious heart attack, Rachel Bilson dressed as Wonder Woman, the phrase "Fists of Fury", Wonder Woman, Peter Gallacher's amazing eyebrows, a Bagel Slicer and Rachel. Bilson. Dressed. As. Wonder. Woman.
But it did get very boring very quickly. This is mostly because as soon as a good character came into the show, they left almost as quickly without even a goodbye. As a memory test to myself I will try to remember their names and what they did.

THE OC MEMORY TEST

• Girl who fancied Seth & was love rival with Summer for the first series. Was called Anna.
• The Guy who was originally Marissa's boyfriend, then had affair with Marissa Mum, then found out his Dad was gay. Think he was called Luke.
• Girl who was Ryan's girlfriend then showed up in OC. Eventually had his baby, but nothing came of this. Melissa?
• Kiki's sister who fancied Tate Donovan. Claire?
• Kimberlee Clarke from Son Of The Beach. Kim?
• The guy who designed the comic with Seth, then fancied Summer. Logan?
• The girl who owned the Bronze style club, then turned Marissa lesbian. For about one episode. Alex.
• Jim from Neighbours long lost daughter who left him after three episodes of knowing him. Lauren?
• The guy who worked at the Newport Group that Kiki fancied. Dave.
• Sanford's first love. Who killed someone in the past. Marie.
• The pool boy. Sanchez.
• Johnny. The surfer who fancied Marissa.
• Even though he was getting off with Heather (a different one), who was the really cute girl in Freaks and Geeks.
• They were friends with S-Wick or some stupid nickname.
• Summers Dad was in it for about 2 episodes & about to marry Juju.

So seeing how it was only around for four series and it was only one hour a week, the OC got through more characters than Home and Away does in ten years.

Anyway, how did I do?

Anna - Correct!
Luke - Correct!
Melissa - False! Theresa
Claire - False! Hayley
Kim - False! Taryn
Logan - False! Zach
Alex - Correct!
Lauren - False! Lindsay
Dave - can't even find him
Marie - can't even find her
Sanchez - False! DJ
Johnny - Correct!
Heather - False! Casey
S-Wick - False! Chili
Summer's Dad - False! Dr Roberts

So you weren't that memorable after all The OC. And I forgot about the lawyer, seven of nine trying to con Kiki, the guy who ran over Marissa, the rich kid who was mental, Ryan's brother. So not memorable at all...


Oh yeah, apart from that.

Spelling confusion

Is it chocolatier or chocolateer? Either way I've been comissioned to make a special ringtone of someone saying this. I have no idea why someone would want "I'm a chocolate(e/i)r" to come out of their phone, but Goose wants it so that explains it a bit.

Actually I wish I had a proper nickname.

At school I was called 'little Ben' because there were two other Bens in my class and both were (no! but yes!) bigger than me. Then at Uni some guy decided to call me Bob. That just pissed me off. Why give me a nickname that was pretty much the same as my current name? Plus I don't really suit a Bob.

Recently people have called me Highbrow at work. I quite like this. Mostly because it's the name of an old Transformer. But also because it makes me sound clever. And giving the impression of being clever is much more important than actually knowing stuff. This is especially true for any exam you are taking.

Land of the free

I'm not like most British people. You see I like America. I realise it's bombing Iraq, has the most murders than anywhere else and is the main cause of global warming. But those people involved in that (George Bush I & II, er psychopaths and Corporate Scum) are idiots. Most of the Americans I've met online and offline are really charming, smart and actually get sarcasm.

American telly is great too. Whilst we have the political satire of Have I Got News For You which is on around 20 Fridays of the year, they have the equally biting Daily Show with Jon Stewart which is on almost every weekday.

Same with Coupling, a great BBC comedy which has had 3/4 series of 6 episodes each. The just as humorous, but more emotionally touching How I Met Your Mother has only been on for two series but has series of around 20 episodes.

I think it's because in England we only allow one person to write the whole series, but in America anyone can write something even if it's just one line.

And the dramas are far better than anything over here. The only thing I try to watch every week UK wise is Doctor Who. In American TV I have to watch Veronica Mars, The American Office*, Sopranos and Heroes.

Oh Heroes how I love you. I've been watching it since it started on Sci-Fi and it's much better than I thought it would be. Unlike Lost it's tying up loose ends as it goes along, but starting new ones to keep you interested. And Hiro Nakamura is the best character ever!

But one day our Sky Plus failed to record Heroes so I downloaded an episode off the net. There was one big difference to the one shown on UK telly. The catch up bit at the beginning was very over the top. On the UK version you get clips of what happened before, in America you get terribly over the top voice-over man. He says cheesy things like "One man, comes to terms with the fact that destiny lays in his hands, but is he aware of his powers?"

It made me cringe. Along with catching a bit of Bill O'Reilly on Fox News it's made me realise that most people in charge of American Networks don't appreciate how clever their viewers actually are and feel they have to spoonfeed them information. Although if they watch Bill O'Reilly they need shooting.

* Much funnier than the British one for many reasons, but the most important one is lack of Gervais. A man who I've never found that funny & appears to only have one character.

Toilet talk

I don't like using the toilets at work. Especially when you sit down and the seat is still warm. Eurgh.

Although sitting down and finding it freezing is pretty bad too.

Perhaps I'm the Goldilocks of toilet seats.

Time for a change...

...no more lyrics as titles

Not much to report, which is why I haven't reported.

Got annoyed with a supermarket chain which will be familar to readers of this blog as they didn't deliver the frozen food I ordered. I know, you're thinking "that's a bit lazy of you Ben and, urgh, this spot on my elbow's getting bigger should I squeeze it or not?".

Well you're wrong on both counts, you should never squeeze a spot (as the big scab on my forehead testifies) and because it costs five pounds for Freya & I to get a bus up to the Tesco's but only four quid for it to be delivered.

However we still needed the frozen stuff so I walked all the way there (thirty minutes). I'm such a hero.

its shiny its grimy...

...its so cold its so low

Four words that you have to add onto a sentence. Lloyd Andrew Lord Webber on his search for a new Joseph:

"I want a cross between Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson in the old days"

Phew nearly put your foot in it Lloyd.

Walk out to winter...

...swear I'll be there

New work complicated.
Old work hard to handover.
Tiredness coming back.

That wasn't a haiku, but still it accurately summed up my past few days. I did have some interesting things to blog about, but forgot about them in the shower. And to stop boring you about videogames I've signed up to 1up.com.

My blog about videogames will now be seen at http://uppi17.1up.com. Hope to bore you there.

Do what you want...

...make the ("funsters" - ed) pay

I'm in a dilemma. I want to play an MMO, in particular World Of Warcraft, but the last time I tried it out (a free demo on PC Gamer) it went a bit like this:

Partario is created. Red hair is a must.

Partario waits to enter Darkspear

Partario waits some more. Alternate between the two pictures for about twelve minutes.

Partario enters the world. Has to kill wolves for some reason. Gets challenged to a duel. Runs away. Speaks to no-one.

So I didn't really enjoy my excursion into World of Warcraft. But I think it might have slightly been my fault. I definitely didn't go around chatting to the various people there. That's why I'm giving it one more chance. I'm having another 10 day trial and will go in with Uri Geller Noel Edmonds style positive thinking this time around. Who knows, I might like it?

Although it's mega annoying that I can only log on to European servers. World of Warcraft? Continent of Warcraft more like*.

* I used the 'joke' before on a message board, but stole it back. I'm not witty enough to lend jokes to just anyone.

Some people say that bowling alley's...

...got big lanes

One good reason as to why I should perhaps start attempting to get fit (yes it's this old argument again) - I wouldn't still be aching two days after bowling.

It's probably my own fault for choosing the heaviest ball, but surely my buttocks shouldn't hurt after that? Possibly too much information for you readers there.

Hey baby, how're ya doing...

...this beat is non stop

I feel foolish. I sent an e-mail to someone on a forum asking her a question because no-one had replied to my post (it was a question that should've been easily answered by people on there). Then I realised people had replied I just neglected to put the 'please e-mail me when people reply' function on.

Truly I am an idiot*.

It's the big company wide bowling tourney tomorrow. I feel confident that I will once again finish in the top 10 scorers. However I doubt my team is as good. Ah well. Booze will solve those worries.

* Also I've noticed that my tag for blogs about my idiocy actually say 'idocy'. This just goes to show something although I'm not sure what.

Hey (hey) You (you)...

...I don't like your girlfriend*

Coincidences are weird aren't they? Especially when you try to work them back and figure out how the coincidences started.

My most recent one involved me going into my local Borders and buying a copy of EGM that I found there. When I got home I read it and was really confused as it appeared to be talking about really old games like Dead Rising. Then I noticed it was dated August 2006, which meant it first came out around February 2006**. For some reason Borders must have been unable to offload them back to Ziff-Davis so kept them on the shelves for non-date checkers like myself.

But the coinkidink happened when I was listening to the latest EGMlive podcast and they spoke about the same issue. Wooooooo...

Although thinking about it, EGM talking about one of their old issues isn't that weird. Still it gave me the willies.

* Hey (hey) You (you) I don't like your new song, more like.

** Magazine scheduling joke.

Konnichiwa bitches...

...from Beijing to Saigon

"You know Ben, you talk to much"

It's true. For someone who considers himself to be shy I don't half rabbit on. It's a problem because I think sometimes I say things that I shouldn't just because I think I have to fill some blank airtime in.

Tomorrow I will try to speak only when spoken to. I bet I'll only say two words.

Still the fire of a love is true...

...and I would be breathless without you

Now I like puzzles*, but I don't like having to pay two pound fifty for six cards with brainteasers only to have the same ones keep coming up. That's why I got annoyed with perplexcity. The idea behind it was ok, but I felt a little annoyed that I couldn't spend a set amount for all the cards and then get confused by them. Plus there's the fact that after all that effort of making finding the cube really exciting with helicopters flying over people & phones ringing you up in a cinema it ended up being buried in a field. Bit boring that, I'd have thought they would've had it in some security place where you would need the password to get through. Ah well.

The perplex city board game looks like decent, but the whole point of board games is replayability. Knowing me, I'll probably look at all the questions and then annoy everyone by having the answers memorised.

Anyway, my point is that a cheaper brain teaser is in need for me. And I've found it. Say hello to Abstractica 2 ("Hello Abstractica 2!" - the readers). You have to work out the phrase for each level and type it in. If you're right you move onto the next level. If you're not you get annoyed and use the tip, or search on the forum for clues.

The puzzle below is one I was stuck on for ages, but have now completed.



If you can get it and found it fun then download the full game here. If you can't get it the answer is in the file name.

By the way I'm not taking responsibility if you get totally addicted to this and spend ages trying to solve 'one more level'. Like Freya and I just did.

Cheerio!

* But not spelling as I had written puzzels first.

Oh reckless...

...the boy wonder

Having lived in Germany for about seven years you'd expect me to have picked up a bit of German. You'd be wrong. Even going into a MacDonalds in Osnabruck I freeze when they ask me the German for "is this a takeaway".

It's more annoying though when I'm explaining something to someone and instead of the English word, "umleitung" enters my head and never leaves. The one German word that I can never forget. And it means diversion. Luckily I never have to create a diversion so I should be ok.

Bis bald!

The more money we come across...

...the more problems we see

I have a promotion. Well a trial promotion for six months and then it'll be permanent after that. Luckily no-one else went for the job so I didn't have any interviews to muck up.

If I didn't have man flu I would be drinking to celebrate. Maybe tomorrow.

I wish I had a bottle...

...right here in my dirty face

I am now on skype. Click here to give me a call. I have no idea if I'm being really stupid putting my details on here or not, but it's worth a risk.

Currently on my monitor at work I have a picture of Brian Clough giving the V sign to some people. Previously I've had Scarlett Johannson on there (in some pics with Woody Allen, Spongebob Squarepants or The Hoff) and also Frank Sidebottom, Boris Johnson, the Pipettes and Dick ("and" - ed) Dom.

I don't know why I told you that, just thought it will fill some space. Oh - now I remember. Should I replace my slightly offensive picture of a man swearing with a picture of Ash from Evil Dead II being strangled by his severed hand? That's a question everybody votes on the Wii won't give you.

I've got to get out of here...

...I've got to clear my head

Ergh. Along with my still feeling tired from staying up on Saturday night, I now have the sniffles. I'm such a trooper.

We listened to it twice...

...because the dj was asleep

OK, I'm still awake at half three. This time I had an excuse. I saw Jaws at half eleven and it finished at half one. It was good, but part way through I remembered - I'd already seen the ending. I'm not sure where or how, but I definitely saw the last five or so minutes.

The other problem was that the film must have been one used when Jaws first came out. It was skipping frames, the sound was really muffly and lines kept appearing on the screen.

The final problem was that it was shown at half eleven so my friend fell alseep right at the end and I was having to go back to my old uni tactics of staying awake.

Ah well. I enjoyed myself in spite of all these problems.

Can we fix it?

...yes we can!

After a day of worrying I fixed my PC's problem with finding the CD drive. Truly I am great. Or XP's driver rollback function is, I forget which.

Despite not having a working CD drive I still went to the shops and bought Farenheit and also Outrun 2006 : Coast ("to" - ed) Coast. I will be playing them over the weekend and give you my thoughts (or maybe Mick and Dave will).

Other than that I will be going to see Jaws for the first time ever. People may find this weird, but there's loads of other 'classic' films that I've never watched. They include: The Terminator, Scarface, Godfather and Goodfellas. But why watch them when there's Masters Of The Universe?

Oh and for those of you wanting to see my Friday Feast answers you'll be waiting a long time. I've given up on it, I'd much rather blather on about what I want rather than tell you funny words I said as a kid.

I'm free...

...to do whatever I

Damn, it didn't so now I even more tired, but won't get to sleep as I'll be worrying about this rubbish PC. Bum.

How sweet...

...to be an idiot

Right, I'm tired and I should have been in bed about an hour ago. But due to a dodgy tummy I stayed up. If I hadn't done that I would have wasted about fifty quid buying stuff on ebay and itunes that I don't want, and the main reason I bought them was because I was tired & couldn't think straight. Man, I really am stupid and should just do what Freya says for the rest of my life.

And now for some reason my pc doesn't recognise it's CD drive. What the? Hopefully a quick reboot will get it working again.

Rolling like thunder...

...under the covers

According to a study* you're a much better surgeon if you play video games. I can sort of understand that, particularly for the surgery where you're doing it by joystick (except they should now use a stylus or wireless nunchuck, natch).

I only wish that playing games could somehow make me a better accountant. Except the only games I can think of that would help me understand accounting & numbers better would be Football Manager and World of Warcraft. And they're boring enough without doing them for work.

Oh, and what's that at the end of the article? "...the Royal College of Surgeons said research, [done by someone else], showed no correlation between video games and performance in surgery." So that article I spent five minutes blogging about was rubbish? Ah well, such is life.

I watched the first episode of Heroes today. It was good.

* To be seen in full here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2016992,00.html)

Up up down down left right left right B A start...

...Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart

Number one in a very small list of reasons why I'd drag up



Full story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6367631.stm

Does she walk...

...Does she talk?

Friday Feast no. 7

Appetizer
What sound, other than the normal ringing, would you like your telephone to make?

It already does it, Curb Your Enthusiasm theme for 'normal' calls and the How I Met Your Mother theme when Freya rings.

Soup
Describe your usual disposition in meteorological terms (partly cloudy, sunny, stormy, etc.).
Cold front, warm heart.

Salad
What specific subject do you feel you know better than any other subjects?
Erm. I don't know. I consider myself more of a jack of all trades than a master of one. The one that I'm best at is Mathematics, but I'm sure loads of people are better at it than me.

Main Course
Imagine you were given the ability to remember everything you read for one entire day. Which books/magazines/newspapers would you choose to read?
All of Amiga Power but I think I can remember all of them already without that special ability. Other than that some quotation book so I could annoy people with some extraordinarily pithy comment that relates to what they're doing.

Dessert
If a popular candy maker contacted you to create their next confection, what would it be like and what would you name it?
I actually had an idea for one when I was about seven/eight. It involved taking all the sweets I liked and merging them together. The main base was Opal Fruits (now called Starburst) and I think it had bits of Refreshers on there. It might also have had some chocolate on there so it would've actually been disgusting. Luckily I never made it myself.

Darlin' don't you go and cut your hair...

...Do you think it's going to make him change?

As the lyric above* hints at I had my hair cut. As usual it was cut by the lovely Gemma and as usual I realised I have a little crush on her. I've realised that Gemma's the girl I'd go out with if I enjoyed going out more than staying in.

She's more of a stay out girl than Freya, who prefers staying in and snuggling. That's the way I prefer it. I'm much happier staying in & watching the telly than going out to a bar until ten, then clubbing until two, then waking up at eight to go to work. But sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Freya & I went out every night.

The answer is we'd be poor, not going to Japan, not living in a nice house** and I wouldn't be with the Schatz I love.

I feel bad for the poor guy who sent Gemma roses & asked her out last week. She told me she would've preferred Jelly Babies.

* Which I think I've used before

** Aside from the loud neighbours

She is one in a million...

...with lips of vermillion

So poker eh? I realised why I'm no good at it - I have no patience. On Thursday I went to a poker night with some people from work. To be honest I didn't really want to be there - I was tired and it was icy so I was nearly falling over with every step I took. I didn't want to pull out and let everyone down. So I showed up to find two people had pulled out. Grrrr.

I quite enjoyed the poker, and did some good hands but it got boring for me really quickly. I wasn't drinking (self-enforced to try & stop my migraines and unfortunately it appears to be working) and me doing the same thing for 3 hours really bores me. So when someone went all in with all the cards on the table and I had absolutely nothing I went in too. I wanted to go home and it was a small price to pay.

Work colleagues are now teasing me about how rubbish I am, but I knew that anyway. The moral of this story? Gambling is wrong. Unless I win the lottery tonight.

It's so nice, I had to name it twice...

...I called it Reggae Reggae Sauce

Remind me to write about how rubbish I am at poker. But first...

Friday Feast No. 6

Appetizer
Have you been sick yet this winter? If so, what did you come down with?
Just general sniffles. Nothing so bad that I've had to stay off work unfortunately. I've got four days holiday next week so I'm expecting a major cold to hit then!


Soup
What colours dominate your closet?
In work terms it's black suits and white shirts. In leisure terms it's mostly beige, and greens. Although I wear more greens than beiges at the moment. (Beige was so last century for me, just haven't got rid of them).

Salad
How would you describe your personal "comfort zone"?
Staying at home, doodling about. Anything that involves me getting out and talking to strangers is way out of my comfort zone. Interview tip: Mentioning about how you've been trying to push yourself and get out of your comfort zone really impresses interviewers.

Main Course
On which reality show would you really like to be a contestant?
I couldn't see myself being on any reality tv show. Perhaps when I was a teenager I would've liked the one I've read about when some kids are going to lose their virginities to porn stars. But when I was a teenage I would've lost my virginity to anyone.

Dessert
Which holiday would you consider to be your favorite?
I'm expecting this holiday I'm having in May to be my best ever. My first one to a country in the Far East. It'll blow my mind being somewhere with a totally different culture, language and style. Yep, Japan should be good. Previously though, it was Florida where I flew by myself but met up with my family there. Disneyland and Universal Studios is always fun.

ABC, 123, XYZ...

...but he don't know about XTC

Regular readers may have noticed I've changed my last.fm chart about four times in the past week. This is because my top ten bands consisted of one band on two plays and then nine on one play. So I changed it to latest tracks. But because my old style said top ten at the top I had to change it.

The first one was too big for the sidebar.

The next didn't look that good.

The third one appeared just right, and it was based on Metric. But then I noticed it only had enough space for about eleven characters per play so it said "Bran Van 3000- Ever" instead of "Bran Van 3000 - Everywhere".

So I've settled for one with Scarlett Johannson in. It'll get me in trouble with Freya as she detests her with a passion. I don't know why as I think Scarlett's gorgeous... Oh wait, I think I get it now.

Start me up...

...if you start me up you never stop

Oh yea-uh! Mick Jagger here! I'm a-uh fa-uh-ous rock star, I've sold concerts all over the world, been some (mumbles) films. But I'm here to tell you something. A-uh rock star has been telling you-uh some myths.

Not Bono! Not this time-uh, but David Bowie.

He's been telling you-uh that Elite Beat Agents was rubbish. That if it was a Rolling Stones album it would be our-uh latest album (whatever that was called). But it's not. It's the equivalent of Sticky Fingers.

It's really that good. Oh yea-uh! It's just really addictive, and every time you get stuck on a song you seem to get slightly further each time. That makes it really addictive.

David's slightly correct in that some charm is lost by the move to English songs & lyrics in that the song doesn't necessarily-uh relate to what the cartoon is about but who knows if that wasn't the case with the Japanese one? The song where you help the kid pass his exam could have had lyrics where 'love conquers all'.

But all the songs-uh do have a good beat to them and then never outstay their welcome. So I'd recommend that you ignore what Mr. Jones said and instead go out and buy Elite Beat Agents for the Nintendo DS. As soon as it comes out in the UK.

Plus Jumping Jack Flash saves the world so I could never insult a game that does that..

Oh yea-uh!!!

And so...

...he forgot, he forgot, maybe not

I was going to let a guest speaker talk to you today (I'm trying to write an entry every day this month*) but he's still preparing for his entry into blogging. You may have heard of him though and it's slightly related to the previous guest speaker I had here if that makes up your mind that you should definitely stay away tomorrow.

In job news I didn't get the job at Gamestation. Apparently they promoted internally instead. This makes me think that they were going to do this all along so I went to two interviews for absolutely no reason. My conclusion is that Gamestation are rubbish. Perhaps being overly pessimistic about video games retailers chances of survival in the download age didn't help either. Ah well.

Other job news is that I'm staying in my current role, rather than joining another team internally. Mostly this is due to the fact that people high up said they'd like me to stay so I felt wanted, but also because there's more people in my current team and therefore more chances of promotion. I'm such a merc.

In good news for blogging I think I'll not be having any more interviews for a while so I can self-indulgently ramble about slightly more interesting stuff.

Cheerio!

* Except for the First, where I forgot to do it.

There's an old man sitting next to me...

...making love to his tonic and gin

My life is constantly like a film. Usually it's Office Space, but over the weekend it's been Army Of Darkness.

Specifically it's the scene after Ash swallows a mini version of himself. Yes, I have an eyelid on the side of my neck. Well, not really, it's just a really large spot but it sure feels as though an extra head is trying to push its way through.

I'm trying not to squeeze it, but I'm sure in the morning I'll change my mind.

Look I can't watch you...

...sleepwalking through this

It's five to midnight and I should be asleep. Instead I have been browsing the internet for around two hours and done absolutely nothing useful with that time. I am sorry Freya I should have just stayed in bed. Especially considering I was knackered from about 8 onwards.

Clarity...

...just confuses me*

In York, as in most cities in the UK, there are people that stop you in the street to tell you about charities. Like most British people I avoid these people. I'm not really sure why I don't stop and talk to them, I just know it'll depress me somehow.

And yesterday I did talk to one and I was right with my original assumptions.

It was my own fault, I was distracted after buying some headache tablets that I really needed to take soon so didn't notice the girl coming up in front of me. Then when she said "Hello" I thought she was trying to chat me up as she looked rather cute. By the time I got close to her and noticed she wasn't that cute (too spotty around the chin) or actually just talking to me because I looked nice I couldn't get away.

She told me about the charity she was working for in her lovely Nor'n Irish accent**. (Instead of volunteering to pester people she was actually being paid to do this.) And the charity did sound useful, although her speech sounded a bit rehearsed and too prepared. Then she started asking me how much money I could give. After a really lame joke ("Surely you can give fifty quid a week?") she decided on the price of a beer a week.

Now I would have been happy to give two quid a week to that charity, but after I'd done some research into them, and I told Nor'n Irish Girl that. She didn't really accept that as an answer and asked me again for my name, address and bank details. I didn't want to give my details out to anyone in the street whether they worked for a charity or not.

Nor'n Irish Girl tried a different tack "But you don't mind giving your bank details to shops? Or on the internet?" That argument didn't really fly with me, as at least when I give my bank card to a shop I have to put my pin in and when I buy stuff online I check the company out thoroughly.

She tried again, "You'll get a welcome pack discussing what we do, and you'll get a phone call where you can cancel the direct debit". Considering she told me they were meant to be cutting down on admin costs I found a welcome pack a bit of a silly thing to have, but I kept that quiet.

In addition to that if I was to give to a charity I wouldn't want to have the money to go out of my bank account. I'd use Give As You Earn. With this the money come out of your gross salary so if you donate ten pounds a month it only results in you losing seven pounds out of your net salary, due to tax relief.

Eventually I managed, by having to get really, really mardy, into allowing her to let me go. But I could tell she wasn't happy about letting me go without getting my details. Perhaps she was interested in me for my looks? I reckon she would've got a cut of my donation though, chicks eh? Only interested in your money.

* The closest lyric that mentions Charity that I could find.

** I'm not joking about this. The Northern Irish accent is really wonderful to me. Probably only second to the proper Irish accent. Any country where you can't just say "Thanks" but have to say "Thanks a million" has to be great.

If love is a drug...

...I guess we're all sober

Friday Feast No. 5 (written before I leave for work)

Appetizer
What was one of the fashion fads when you were a teenager?
Shellsuits. I lived in Germany growing up so it was unusual if you weren't wearing anything that didn't look absolutely awful.

Soup
Name one thing you think people assume about you when they first meet you.
That I'm quiet. Which I am, but only when I first know someone. Then I'm loud, but still don't talk so much.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how hard do you work?
Currently 8. Was about 5 at the end of last year.

Main Course
If you were given a free 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl to sell anything you currently own, what would you advertise?

Cricket. It's a hard sell to the Americans I know, but I'm sure a 30-second advert would turn things around!

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I love to ________ when it is _________.
I love to fill in blanks when it is Friday Feast time. Sorry, brain freeze on the last one again, this always happens to me.

Someone took...

...In these pants

I think I've finally decided what job I want to be doing. And it's the same one I'm doing now.

My second interview at the Videogames stores Head Office went well, but I was a bit disillusioned by the benefits they had on offer. Which was no pension, no shares and a bonus (but they couldn't give me an idea as to how much that would be). I did get a 25% discount on games, but I realised that in order to get the same benefits as I do at my current employers I would have to buy about four thousand games a year.

So that leaves me with either staying where I am, or the job where I work for six months & then perhaps get a promotion at the end of that. And looking at it sensibly the new team has only four people in and therefore little promotion opportunities whereas my current team is around 20/30 people strong.

Looking at my opportunities it's best that I stick where I am. Bit of a surprise to come to that conclusion considering I really hated my job a couple of months ago, but I think that was just boredom. I'm doing more important work now and I think it's getting appreciated by everyone. I also liked it when big important managers came up and said they'd like me to stay. Which was nice.

In other news my old college where I studied for my accounting qualifications are using pictures of me to show how successful they are. Scary. But I expect lots of girls will now study there just on the off chance that they might see me. Sorry girls, I've got a girlfriend!

Come on Jessica, Come on Tori...

...Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry

Things I meant to blog about over the past few days but forgot:

• Planning on starting a new regular slot, have no real idea what it will contain but expect to do it monthly. So hopefully will have it in place by Thursday.
• Got the internal job, but because I was rubbish in the interview I'm on my old salary for six months & it'll go up if I do well (which I will, natch).
• But! I'm still in the reckoning for the Video Game Retailer job and I have a second interview for that on Tuesday. I think if they offer me it I'll accept. This is why I still haven't accepted the internal role.
• However! My current team might also offer me a higher role, due to the fact that there will be no-one left who knows anything about the unique features in Distribution (three people have/are moving internally, one left and two are pregnant - which would leave me)
• I had major problems getting a Belkin wi-fi adapter working on my network, so I got a Netgear one instead. Everything works fine now.
• Forest are rubbish. But hopefully we'll get promotion.
• The people next door are really into their music & play their instruments (which sound great). But why play them at eleven at night! Come on guys...
• I've been spending too much time playing New Star Soccer. But scoring goals for my club is too addictive.
• PC Format is rubbish. I knew this yet still bought it. Therefore I am rubbish too.

Cheerio!

One is the loneliest number...

...that you'll ever know

And also how well I'd rate my performance in my interview today. I was rubbish. I got across that I can do reports easily enough, but not that I can talk to people as well. The interviewers spoke to my manager afterwards though (it was an internal role) and it seemed as though what they wanted me to do was work similar to someone currently two levels above me. I wish people would point this stuff out before I interview for things. Grrr.

The interview yesterday was different as well. I felt it went ok, but I'm not too sure as the interviewers didn't really give me much clues as to whether my answers were good or not. The company was a lot different to my current employers.

I think the first thing that showed they were a different kind of company was the Xbox 360 in the reception. And then the signed autograph of Charles Martinet on the wall. Yes, very different to the leaflets advertising pensions in our reception.

The company I went for is one of the main videogames retailers in the UK. This is pretty much an ideal job for me. A way of making accounting (slightly) interesting. I love games and I think the company is much better than it's rivals. So why in the interview did I say I like games but haven't bought a new console because of the HDTV issue? I did at least say I had a DS lite. You fool Ben.

Hopefully I'll get a second interview and then I'll go in a Sensible Soccer t-shirt.

Eggs I really love you...

...Like the sky above

Re-reading my last post & it doesn't make much sense. I can't even use being drunk as an excuse for it as I wasn't. And I won't be again for a while. I've decided to give up the demon booze. It's been on the cards for a while. At Christmas I drank for the first day we were in Germany and then never again for the rest of the trip.

And I've never really enjoyed getting drunk. Sure I've had fun, but I think it's the kind of fun I'd have enjoyed without drink anyway. And the hangovers! On my Dad's side of the family we've never really got on well with hangovers. Even on three beers I've woken up feeling rather rubbish.

The tipping point was on Friday. I went out for a few beers and it was good, but I came home feeling a bit dodgy. Then when we went to sleep I just couldn't. I had to get up and play on the pc until about 1am. Which is not good, even on a weekend.

So now I won't be drinking for a while. I doubt I'll miss it. Even on nights out I should be able to have fun without drink. Let's see how long it'll last.

In other news 1up has a good website about free games on the pc. Have only played one - the phone. It's good but rather short. I'm quite intrigued by the Hitchikers remake which rather appeals to the geek in me*.

* And I need to go on about the geek in me in another post.

You say I've nothing left...

...to offer you now

One good thing that came from my interview on Friday (other than the fact the interview went well) was that I remembered how much I loved theaudience. I listened to their songs all the way home on the bus.

I can't really remember why I got into theaudience. I expect it was because I read that a cute girl was their lead singer. That usually got me into liking bands. And it still does (see The Pipettes, CSS, Metric, Long Blondes). But, as with the other bands, I found that I liked theaudience's music as well. More than I found their singer cute.

I recommend you go find their music, it's jangly britpop era but with smarts*. If they're available anywhere. Or ask me to send you some of their tunes.

I even made a website about them, but it got lost in the internet. Perhaps I should bring it back, even if no-one would look at it. I'd know it was there & that's the important thing.

Oh and here's a picture of the lead singer, scanned by my own fair hand.



* Now you know why I don't review music on here

Hey...

...I don't want to go to work today

But I did anyway. The desk move wasn't so bad. I feel a little exposed as loads of people walk behind me to get to the lifts now, but other than that it's ok.

I didn't get the job in Tadcaster I was applying for. Which is not good. But the only reason I didn't get it was because I didn't have the right experience. Apparently I gave a really great interview and the person who interviewed me was really upset to not be able to offer me the job.

Ah well.

It's annoying though that I've given two good interviews only to fail on experience. Surely they should be able to get that information from my CV? And haven't I done this rant before?

Without despair...

...we will share

Someone thinks I'm funny. Well my Dad is anyway.

Nineteen...

...You're only nineteen for God's sake

My blogging has slowed a bit since January has started. But my job situation looks slightly more promising. I had an interview today and for the first time I felt as though I got all my points across. It helps when the person interviewing shows up on time.

Which wasn't the case when I met up with a recruitment agency in the afternoon. After showing up at 3.30 the bloke I was meeting showed up at 3.50. Remember back in December I didn't show up for a meeting? Well now I know how that guy felt. And I will never be late for a meeting again. Unless I forget.

However as I had absolutely nothing to do I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and heard what he had to say. Not a lot as it turns out, recruitment people are very boring and only interested in getting you a job without really caring what job you're after. They might say they only want what's best for you, but they're after the commission aren't they?

What do I hear, what do I hear...?

...Chit-chat, and clinking glass

We booked out trip to Japan yesterday. I'm getting very excited about it.

It'll be our first 'proper' holiday together. We went to Malta in 2004, but that was a short break away and everyone spoke English so you didn't feel as though you were in a foreign country. Apart from the heat.

Looking at the calendar we're going over on a Japanese bank holiday which is called "the holiday between two holidays". So hopefully the trains will be working and my brain will remember enough words to get us to the hotel in one piece.

I think the day after we get there (5th May) is the day that inspires all of Animal Crossing to get paper carp and have them as flag outside their houses. So that should be fun. Children's day I think it is called.

Freya's been getting me ready for Japanese food by cooking a miso soup sort of meal. It was really scrummy. But seeing how I hate sushi, I think eating noodles in soup everyday may get boring. Any people got any ideas on other japanese foods I might like?

More than words...

...is all you have to do to make it real

I'm trying to smarten my blog up a bit. Mostly by adding an RSS feed (subscribe now readers!) and also by adding a twitter thingy that allows me to do small updates on what I'm doing.

Already I have a twitter 'follower' and I'm freaked out by that. Mostly because she's a cute girl and I always worry about them. Her name is sara18sexxx and that freaks me out even more. Freaky in a bad way, natch.

And now I have a friend apparently on twitter. Who's also in Italy. Why am I suddenly attractive to Italians of both sexes. Must be the jelly I have in front of me on my twitter avatar.

Found something crying...

...it was my soul

Friday Feast No. 4

Appetizer
Which celebrity (or celebrities) do you think will make headlines this year?
Michael Jackson. It's a given really, isn't it?

Soup
They say that good things come in small packages? What is something little that you think is great?
Nintendo DS.

Salad
Name a song that makes you want to dance.

Pull shapes by The Pipettes.

I love doing the washing up and dancing to this.

Main Course
What is your favorite font?
Courier, as it's typewriter style.

Dessert
If you were to write a do-it-yourself article, what would it be about?
How not to get a promotion.

Alala, Alala...

...Give me three wishes

Remember how I was saying I kept feeling really tired at work?

I've solved this problem (fingers crossed) by returning to my unhealthy lifestyle. So now I have a Coke at lunch rather than more water and instead of porridge for breakfast I have two slices of toast.

Could it be that my body has got so used to my unhealthy lifestyle that it rejects any attempts to be healthy?

Perhaps joining a gym will cause me to collapse to fall and have a seizure on the floor. Before I get on the treadmill.

Ooh my little pretty one...

...my pretty one. When're ya gonna give me some time Sharona?

In a weird desk-calendar-imitating-life situation I will be moving desks at work. As is happening on the Dilbert calendar I got from Secret Santa. Although I won't be working in an ice cube, having my PC nicked or having to cover myself in butter so I'll fit into my cubicle*, it's still pretty bad.

See I'll be working on Rejects Row in two weeks time.

The desk move is apparently the first step to seat our two new teams together. Currently we're in three different places. So team A will be sat together and team B will be sat together. Unfortunately there's not enough space for all of team B (my team) to be sat together, so some of B will have to be sat with A. I am one of the people.

Now this wouldn't be too bad (we've only got seconds between us) except the only people who've been separated from team B are those who have been given temporary (or interim as management like to call it) jobs. Making us feel even less a part of team B than we did originally.

Nice work pointy-haired boss.

Oh and remember how I said they called us interim workers rather than temporary staff for PC reasons? Well on this desk plan I and my other interim workers had (T) by our names and the permanent people had (P).

Amazing work pointy haired boss.

* As we don't have cubicles. I'll still be covering myself in butter though.

Let's all meet up in the year 2000...

...won't it be strange when we're all fully grown

It's my review of the Year 2006!

Album of the year:
Stefy - The Orange Album
Bit of a hit to my indie styling here, but Stefy have produced a great pop album that cheered me up no end whenever I listened to it. The ballads are bearable, which for a pop album is a thumb up from me. Having sexy groaning on Hey Schoolboy also helps too.


Also rans: J Lewis, Pipettes
As with Stefy the Pipettes have produced an adult pop album, I enjoyed dancing to Pull Shapes whilst doing the washing up. I was really grooving to it. J Lewis & The Watson twins made a country album that was great. No surprises that all my favourite albums had female singers.

Film of the year:
Little Miss Sunshine
Funny, funny film. The ending is a dance scene which is hilarious but also sweet. Made me feel good. Watching this got me into the American Office (due to Steve Carell starring in both) so that's another plus point.

Also ran: The Squid & the Whale
This is the only other film I can even remember seeing at the cinema in 2006. Pretty good, but I still preferred Steve Zizzou (sic?).

Game of the year:
UEFA Champions League (GC)
A game that was released way before 2006, but the most fun I've had at a TV screen with a joypad in my hands. Pretty basic football game, but made better by the presentation. Made me actually feel as though I was the manager. Plus points for having referees that made wrong decisions & including handballs.

Also rans: Psychonauts (Xbox), Phoenix Wright (DS)
Psychonauts should really have been an adventure game rather than a platformer. But the plot and attention to detail in this shone through in the end. Still haven't completed it though. Phoenix Wright was an adventure game and was much better for it. The only problem is that the last episode shows what all of the episodes should have been like. As a reimagining of the graphic adventure though - it succeeds.

Magazine of the year:
Hotdog
Although to be honest all magazines I've bought in 2006 have disappointed me in the end. Hotdog has disappointed me least. Apart from the rubbish subscription distributors - the current issue has been in the shops for two weeks and I still haven't seen it.

Also rans:
NGamer had a great first few issues, but is now going downhill. PC Gamer is alright but I'm never going to get that into PC gaming. Retrogamer is purely good from a nostaglia perspective - if you're looking for anything interesting to read look elsewhere. 2006 was the year I woke up to the fact that men's magazines are useless - the one remaining class act (Arena) was shown to be very superficial and had absolutely nothing of interest in. SFX is doing ok, but doesn't really make me feel included in it. This may be due to the fact I only have a passing interest in Science Fiction.


TV show of the year:
Veronica Mars
Buffy but as a detective show. That's pretty much the best recommendation I can give it.

Also ran: How I met Your Mother
Freaks and Geeks but if it were more of a sitcom. I'm a bit worried that getting Ted & Robin together might Moonlight the show, but hopefully they should be splitting up soon.


Gig of the Year:
Bic Runga @ Fibbers
Bic's backing band was away so we pretty much had an unplugged session. Great voice & great music. Shame I forgot to go and book the tickets for when she returned.

Also rans: J Lewis @ Manchester, Tilly and The Wall @ Fibbers
J Lewis & The Watson Twins sounded sublime. Tilly rocked as much as you can with a tap dancer instead of a drummer. I saw a few of them hanging around before hand and as usual didn't speak to them.

Plans for 2007:
Go to Japan have a great time
This one should be easy (once Halifax let me take money out of my ISA)

Lighten up a bit
I need to be a bit cheerier and not let work affect me so much.

Perhaps join a gym
I think I'd not feel so crap if I did a few exercises every now and then.

Gadget of the year:
G6 U link
Allows me to try before I buy on DS and Gameboy games. Next on my to buy list: Starfox DS - nothing like the original, but still great fun.

That's no way to tell a lie...

...sha la la, sha la la

I've had one beer and already I'm falling asleep.

Perhaps it's time to give up the booze.

Separated by motorways...

...the A14 and the A1 (so long!)

I suppose my Feast was slightly negative, as people have pointed out in comments. There's been lots of good things that have happened to me in 2006. Moving in with the Schatz is probably the best decision I've ever made. I know finally feel that I'm finally in a home for the first time since I left my parents house.

The problem is that I'm going into 2007 unsure that I'll have a job by August. It doesn't help when I come back from Germany to a letter saying I won't even be interviewed for one of the internal jobs I went for. Boo. Positive thinking will get me through this. And winning the lottery*.

***FREYA SPOILER - DON'T READ THIS PLEASE SCHATZ!***

My friend Cathy has told me a few things which are making me very nervous about Japan. Not the country itself, but what I'm planning on saying to Freya there. Ladies, do diamonds matter? Is there a way of making an proposal ethical? Any advice is always welcome.

* Although by mentioning the lottery I'm sure that weird geordie lottery syndicate guy will comment again. Boo.

I wish I was in Dixie...

...away, away

Friday Feast No. 3

Appetizer
How do you usually celebrate on New Year's Eve?
I hate celebrating New Years Eve. When I was growing up I tried to be babysitting on New Years Eve. Nowadays I hate New Years Eve as if you go out in town everywhere charges a fortune to get in, is totally packed and has a rubbish atmosphere. I think this year we're staying in and having some Champagne. Much better.

Soup
Name one thing unexpected that happened to you in 2006.
Getting the sack(ish). I reckon it should be sorted out soon though. In A Good Way too.

Salad
Where was your favorite place that you visited in 2006?
Didn't really go anywhere this year. I'd say going to Hamburg to see the football world cup was the best fun I've had away from home.

Main Course
What resolution is your top priority for 2007?
Get fit (again).

Dessert
Using just three words, describe 2006.
Tense, nervous headaches.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah...

...and His truth goes marching on

Damn. Was going to write my first ever Thurday Thirteen about my Christmas Presents but including my flickr pics was really hard to do. So I'll leave it until next week.

I'm so tired. And for once it's not due to being overworked or staying up too late. For some reason I just couldn't get a good nights sleep when we stayed at my parents. Freya was totally the opposite - usually she's up by eight on days off - this week she was up after ten every day. Do I have any explanations for this change of events?

Yes.

Freya's explanation is quite simple. In Germany you get big shutters that roll down before you go to sleep. Freya is used to being woken up by the Sun. If you remove the Sun from the equation she will lie in for longer.

My explanation is also quite easy (apart from the bizarre stinker of a headache I had on Christmas morning) the bed was too hard for me to drift off to sleep.

So how come in my first night back in York in my nice comfy bed I couldn't get to sleep and was chatting to people online? Lord knows.

Oh and I had a comment posted today on my very first post which I wrote two and a half years ago. Ben C, if you get this far, I didn't get that girl but I got an even better girl. Just like in Gregory's Girl.

And I've seen, some younger people happier as can be...

...but not especially happier than me

So we've got to Germany in one piece but I still feel particularly ill. However a few early nights and some playing of Zelda on the GBA should sort me out.

Coming back to Germany you see how some things in England are done so badly. Take Motorway Service Stations. In England they're seen as a chance to rip off the people who go there for a quick meal by charging five quid for something that you wouldn't pay ten pence for if you weren't starving. And they seem to make it into a shopping mall by offering three fast food restaurants, one cafe and a newsagent/supermarket.

In Germany you get this: One restaurant which although not amazing is cheap and the food isn't totally covered in grease and a mini supermarket where you can buy basic fodstuffs. And to be honest that's all you need. Germany 1 - 0 England.

I missed the Friday Freast yesterday (was flying over when the reminder e-mail got sent out), but I'll answer it now if that's ok:

Appetizer
What is one of your Christmas traditions?
It was to wake up really early like a six-ish. Even when Mum told me we wouldn't be going downstairs until Nine O'Clock. I just got so excited. This was when I was twenty years old by the way. I guess it stopped when I realised that if I drank myself to sleep I could also have the lie in. Not really got too many traditions now, other than having to have willy sausages (everyone else calls them pigs in blankets, but willy sausages is our family name for them) for our Christmas meal.

Soup
Who is the easiest person on your list to buy presents for?
Dad. Get him a sports related autobiography and you should be ok.

Salad
What is your favorite Christmas scent?
Pine trees. Although the smells of Christmas decorations comes close. That almost plasticy scent you get from them just smells of Christmas.

Main Course
If you could give a fellow blogger a Christmas gift, who would it be and what would you give them?
Probably momopeche could do with a madarin dictionary so that she could think of more way to insult queue jumpers.

Dessert
What's something on your Christmas wish list that you need (not just want)?
Absolutely nothing. I am a material girl. Or boy.

Oh and Jack Templeton who wanted the Gamesmaster vids, could you send me the list again of the episodes you need? I left my list in England. Whoops.

Why don't you fool me, feed me...

...say you need me?

One thing you don't want to do in the morning with a hangover. Accidentally turn on the cold water rather than the hot water for your shower and then step under it without testing it first.

Brrrrrrrrrrr.

Everything we do...

DSC09026
Originally uploaded by uppi17.

...is driven by you

I really shouldn't drink. Not because it ends up in pictures like this one, but because I got so tired that I was in bed by 11pm. And I'd have preferred to have stayed out much longer.

There's also the fact that I've never been good the morning after the night before. Eurgh. My head is terrible. And my tummy too. I could have just drunk water and still done a stupid picture like this because I don't really have that much holding me back from doing stupid stuff like this.

But if I stop drinking I should (in theory) be able to stay out longer, have better quality sleep and not wake up feeling like someone has shat in my cereal.

In good news I have finished work for the year. Hurrah!

C S S...

...sucks

My first ever Friday Feast:

Appetizer
What was your very first job with a paycheck?

Working behind the counter of the local Naafi/corner shop. Have absolutely nothing of interest to say about it. Except once I put frozen fridge in the fridge section. Felt a bit stupid about that, but both sections looked the same!

Soup
Did you ever lose something really important to you?

I've lost things I'd still like to have around. But thinking about it, if I wanted them so much I'd have made more of an effort to keep them.

I'm annoyed that I got rid of my Transformers comics though. Particularly as now I'm buying them for even more money as graphic novels. Bah.

Salad
What is the best Christmas present you ever received?

My favourite ever EVER present was probably my Spectrum computer. Just opening it I think I was dead excited. It was the future in my living room! Now it's stuck in my loft without a TV to plug into. How sad.

Main Course
Tell about a favorite "hang out" place for you and your friends when you were in high school.

It was the Chip Shop about ten minutes away. The best bit was that it had a little arcade section with Point Blank and some others. It also had some pinball machines and somehow I became excellent at playing The Shadow. It had a little section at the top called the Battlefield. I could get the ball up there well easily and score loads of points. I was always on the high score and always got a free game. I'm such a cheapskate.

Dessert
Name something that always brings a smile to your face.

Vic and Bob's Masterchef sketch.

I killed the zeitgeist...

...ground it into dust

I hate, Hate, HATE having to complete application forms. Particularly when it's for people who I know and who know me. What's the point?

And while I'm writing this blog I should be finishing my application form and revising for my Japanese exam tomorrow. Darn it.

All we want...

...is to be happy

Oh dear:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/
0,,1968962,00.html

Someone bought a random lucky-dip ticket instead of the usual numbers for their lottery syndicate. Then the usual numbers came up. Whoops. I don't like how they're trying to get a bit of the jackpot though. Definitely bad losership there.

I did something just as bad today*. As I've moaned about far too often on this blog I'm trying to sort out another job before I leave at some random time next year. Luckily there's an internal job that looks quite good. So I rang on Monday to talk to the person who would be interviewing for the role. He was busy, but said he could meet me at 4pm on Tuesday.

At 4.20pm I got a call. It was the interviewer. I'd forgotten about the meeting and he didn't sound too happy. What's worse is that he came to our building to meet me. Whoops.

He has agreed to meet me tomorrow though, but I have to go over to meet him. I think a great amount of humble pie will need to be eaten there.

* OK, so not as bad in terms of money, but perhaps in terms of embarrassment.

One dark day...

...the trees began a trumpet sound

I really should learn to listen to people properly. Too many times I find myself drifting off during conversations and having to drag myself back to what the person was talking about. I reckon it's worst when Freya is telling me to do something and I totally ignore what she said, then she gets angry at me. And for good reason too.

It's terrible that I can't just sit down and talk to her. I have to have something in the background to distract me. The TV, radio, mp3 player, the internet anything in the background is needed - it's what I grew up with. Freya on the other hand is used to a quiet house. Now that unnerves me.

Even now as I'm writing this blog I have mp3's on in the background. I was one of those people that did homework on with music in the background and even though it distracted me I preferred it that way.

The thing is though when I'm listening to podcasts I have to purely listen to it, as soon as I do anything else my mind wanders and by the time I realise five minutes have gone and 1up yours is chatting about a totally different game. So I give it my full attention.

I need to treat Freya as a podcast. If you see what I mean.

I was a teenage Jesus...

...I bought into the dream

It's been so nice not having to have to blog every day. I mean I enjoyed doing it, but some days I was really having to stretch to think of something to say. And in the end it wasn't really that interesting anyway. Amazon are sending me a book about blogging and how to do it better* so hopefully January should be a lot more interesting for everyone.

Today was the day that I was going to go to Tescos and buy a Wii at midnight. So how is it? I wouldn't know as I decided not to buy one. The day before they went on sale.

I think it was when Freya found out how much I'd saved towards our trip to Japan (£300) when we needed at least £1,200 each. And as we're planning to go in May that's a lot to save in not a lot of time.

My lovefilm.com subscription has now been cancelled. No more magazines bought that I won't read (got enough subscriptions already & two Neal Stephenson books to read). No paying subscriptions of World Of Warcrafty (also I wouldn't as it's rubbish - which I'll explain in a later blog) No buying of things I don't need need. Generally it's save, save always save for me at the moment (I agree - Uncle Alvin Hall).

Because I want this holiday to be amazing.

Not just a nice two weeks away from work. I want to have a great time. Possibly because I'm planning on doing something there that I can't describe as if Freya reads this it would spoil it. Momopeche has something on her page that relates to it though.

Plus we haven't been away this year other than two nights in Manchester so a holiday without any worries, spending all my time with my girlf, enjoying another culture and pronouncing my Japanese words all wrong.

That sounds better than having a Wii now doesn't it?

Well I think so.

* After I paid for it, natch. They're not that nice.

Abra-abracadabra...

...I wanna reach out and grab ya

Although I've said for the past week that I really want a Wii (out this Friday in the UK), I'm now having second thoughts. See, Freya & I are saving to go to Japan in May. Well I'm saving as Freya already has the money she needs. I need to have about £1,500 saved before we book the flights & hotels. Current total: £300. I need to save £250 per month. Does a Wii fit into that total?

I guess I'll be getting some money for Christmas and my Birthday (17th Feb) so that will help. I think I can afford the Wii but for the next few months I'm going to have to stop buying magazines that I don't need, perhaps put a freeze on Lovefilm for a few months (I've had the same DVDs on rent for about three months) and don't go out at all (actually I'm quite good at this one).

And I'll just buy the Wii. Don't need the new Zelda as I still haven't finished Wind Waker yet. Or Champs League. Or around seven Xbox games. And the GameCube will go to be part exchanged even if I only get two quid for it.

We're on the road to nowhere...

...come on inside

I realise it was a bit cheap of me to do a best of for the end of NaBloPoMo, but I thought it was best to see what I'd learned over the past month.

Which as expected was not a lot.

It's coming up to our second anniversary (on the fourth). We're going to Leeds on Sunday to go Christmas shopping and I think I'm going to try and find something special for Freya. Haven't a clue what it is though. I'm such a great boyfriend.