last time i went to a show in the shunt vaults (the one and only other time) it was soon after they'd opened as a performance space, the show was tropicana, and i loved it so much i went twice. (my (4 year old!!!) review can be found here.)

and now the vaults are closing down, to make way for trains (i suppose this is fair!) and the art / performance has been going on for years and i had failed to see any! until last night, that is.

and the space is still amazing. the company was most excellent. but it wasn't as otherworldly as before. perhaps due to overwhelmingly large numbers of people. (there was still a huge queue as i left at about 11pm.) perhaps due to the size of many of the installations (too small rooms!) leading to queueing for fun....

i did have that fun though! charley and i attempted to hijack a boat in a tunnel of balloons! i failed to walk across a wooden swing bridge! we played skittles!

i stubbornly queued longer than necessary to hear about neutrinos. PHYSICS! it was actually very interesting. i think i have learned something. and didn't smirk at the experiment being based at super k. it also explained the boat - it's a small mock up of the inside of the machine. cor. (one of the scientists introduced herself as melissa george. she was not in home and away. though she was blonde. another was yoshi. but not a green dragon. shut up now.)

and later on i stubbornly queued to get into a show set up as a family reunion - a folk opera about the history of 'our' family. and was again jolly glad i did, beautiful voices and harmonies, glowing ghostly mermaids, silliness, funniness... it went on longer than expected, when i got out and headed back to TABLE O'WINE most folk had gone... as i left i got distracted by a man hanging from the ceiling, doing exciting trapeze dance.

***

anyway, anyway. there are apparently still tickets for money floating about. i may invest.

***

drinks drunk - approximately 4 glasses red wine = 8.4 units.

***

today i am punishing myself for leaving all my tupperware at work by having a cuppasoup for lunch instead of delicious quiche. idiot.

london was perfect last night. crisp and cold, with the smell of explosives hanging on every corner.

things that are excellent:

♥ hanging with friends
♥ sushi. especially if mined with wasabi.
♥ pickled ginger. i think i may buy some for snacking.
♥ throwing fireworks around in a fashion that would have public safety films crying.

d got into a ruckus at the bus stop last night, apparently, and has coke all down his jacket. i don't remember this. ( 1x bottle rose, half a 35cl bottle of whisky = 17.13 units)

whoops

well, the month may not quite be over yet, but oh dear, plummet in days of sobriety.

10 days this month. not including today, as i shall be drinking free work booze later.

oh yeah, and the final booze total for august = 16 days not drinking! well done me. i do feel a *little* antisocial at the moment though...

today i shall be attempting to catch up with myself. so so lazy right now. ack.

***

friday
♥ v movie at canal 125!
♥ cloakroom duties.
♥ ALL THE BEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD EVER. honest.
♥ awesome decs and lights really giving the place some atmosphere.
♥ much dancing. either in the cloakroom or on the floor.
♥ much nattering.
♥ a very chatty random local young man, insistent on sharing very good shopping.
♥ 'you should be a glamour model'. oh dear oh dear. meant well. but really.
♥ attempt at early night ruined by temporary prescence at stuart's. whoops.

***

saturday
♥ up early. well, early for a saturday.
♥ to meet pink emma and head to sonisphere!!!! at knebworth.
♥ tedious shuttle bus queue and tent sorting mean we hit the festival proper about 1.45.
♥ what a bloody organised fest it is! two main stages are opposite each other and run alternate bands - THE METAL NEVER STOPS AND YOU CAN SEE IT ALL. AMAZING. the loos are somehow kept almost delightful at ALL TIMES. the ground, despite downpour, remains minimally muddy. it is GREAT.
♥ though we are somewhat disturbed by the lack of a)ACTUAL tattooists and b)crazy drinking.
♥ taking back sunday are a bit rub.
♥ there is a guitarhero-karaoke stage full of losers.
♥ we catch the last song of bjorn again and i am gutted.
♥ in the tent there are a band called glamour of the kill who i must remember to investigate further.
♥ anthrax are great....
♥ but not as great as the STUNT MOTOCROSS which has me squealing like a girl.
♥ coheed and cambria are not there, so apparently we listened to fact instead. meh.
♥ the used have me screaming obscenities towards the stage whilst waiting for tasty cider. rub-bish.
♥ heaven and hell don't take our fancy either (sorry mr iommi!) for which we are roundly chastised by strangers later.
♥ the heavens open! but it's still warm. and it's only rain. sexy cagoule times!
♥ airbourne are totally awesome (in the rain!) but clearly want to be ac/dc.
♥ young guns are tiny children from wycombe on the tiny wee stage but they are jolly good and we watch 'em (in the rain!) til they finish.
♥ oceansize are another one to investigate.
♥ we 'listen' to linkin park from back at the tents.
♥ on the way back in there is a woman rolling around in the mud about to have sex with a man. we point and laugh. security point and stop. somehow she regains some sort of 'dignity' and refuses to get up with her vag on show to the world. security surround her so she can get up. we cherish the thought that we are never as badly behaved as that.
♥ attempt to see thunder in the small tent. they won't let anyone in. despite me counting people 100+ coming out. emma gives up. a man starts to try and start a riot. security stamp on my toes.
♥ but i get in for the wildhearts, hurrah!
♥ but i am OLD, father william, and can barely keep my eyes open. seriously. even drunk i can usually wake myself up for a band i like. find myself nodding off on my feet. so decide to do so safely on the floor at the back. oh dear.
♥ back to tent and am unconscious in seconds.

***

sunday
♥ sunny all day, hurrah!
♥ invest in a red cowboy hat.
♥ arrive in arena, meet some of emma's friends and catch the (awesome) end of buckcherry.
♥ get filmed for bbc4.
♥ mostly sit at the back and natter through paradise lost - the sound was pretty poor for them unfortunately.
♥ killing joke are f'cking excellent. only distraction being a very pretty boy close in front of us. ahem.
♥ i don't remember much of saxon, but do remember we start talking in a screetchy ROCK way for kicks.
♥ lamb of god are jolly good too, for some reason they sound heavier when sitting on the ground, hrrrm.
♥ i think we may have been wandering for mastodon, or talking to randoms.
♥ machine head!!! rob flynn cries like a girl. but MACHINE HEAD.
♥ meet up with ben and his chums. avoid feeder.
♥ drink. herbal highs. taste like joss-sticks. hrrrm.
♥ sit down and listen to limp bizkit going down like a lead balloon, interspersed with the occasional good song.
♥ alice in chains are pretty good, but i have wandering feet.
♥ nine inch nails!!! i really wanted to see nin, and indeed, i remember being down the front. and trent's rather large neck. and not much else. WHAT HAPPENED? this is the beginning of the vague.
♥ similarly, metallica. indeed, my memories are mixed up with hearing "one" by various bands of small children on the karaoke stage.
♥ seriously, the two bands i REALLY REALLY wanted to see. IDIOT.
♥ and that's it for memory of sunday, really. i tried to go and see some comedy. there wasn't any. just a Very Insistent Man who wouldn't take no for an answer. 'came to' in my tent, emma similarly, to find a party going on outside. did we bring them there? WHO KNOWS.

***

monday
♥ the party was still going on as we packed up the tents. eventually just one hippy-wheelbarrow-man-dressed-as-captain-america-with-a-chicken-head was left. he gave us some random shopping he'd been donated by a stranger. we took it, merrily.
♥ shuttle bus queue was farcical. taxis were £2.50 each. seriously, queueing fools, WHY?
♥ managed to go home and leave emma to her own devices (locked out, see. i just lost my cagoule and a singular welly.) whilst i hopped in the shower and went to work. it was an interesting afternoon, i'll tell you that.

***

anyway, yes, i can highly recommend sonisphere! top organisation. top music. on a train from MY HOUSE. the only thing i regret is my unlikely amnesia, and not seeing enough of cob_web and all the bristol people i'd wanted to see in the first place.

most embarrasing things i did?
♥ wore my cagoule.
♥ took herbal highs.
♥ indie cardigan - this does not count.
♥ collected cups for a few quid. hehehe.

***

( set lists for the sake of completion. i think i am getting vague memories of some of this! )

weds
to the alwyne for bluekieran's birthday drinks. head over straight from work, intending on a couple then home for dinner. am still there after teh birthday boy has left. whoops.

thurs
( spoilers! spoilers! krypton factor! spoilers! )

today
i am already looking forward to some tasty sushi later. can it be the weekend now, please?

some of you will be glad to hear there will be no porridge today.

today, demands a Big Bap stuffed with cheese and probably some crisps.

because yesterday there was some excellent karaoke with some excellent people and some excellent wine. (i did: half of 'i drove all night', 'the one and only', 'time after time', and 'swinging on a star'. i liked 'swinging on a star' best, i forgot how good that song is!) there was also excellent literal dancing, and excellent fun. excellent.

(i think they have done something to bloomsbury bowl. it seemed more hygienic. perhaps cleaned the windows. i couldn't work out what. hrm.)

the yo! sushi eat 10 plates get the 5 cheapest free deal runs out today, so if you fancy sushi, are a bit broke, and have a yo! handy, make the most of it. (i did this with charleston last night.)

***

today i am mostly waiting for lunch and browsing dawanda, which seems like quite a funky site. a bit like etsy i suppose - people making and selling. but in amongst the tat there are some quite nice pieces.

keeping me occupied at any rate...

(i am also looking at tiffany but we won't talk about that)

you know it's summer proper when you're watching comedy previews in diamond_geyser and drasticsturgeon's front room.

last week saw mark allen and terry saunders on wednesday tuesday. mark's show is called "....pet project" and features an awful lot of furries. despite this, and my (totally irrational) loathing of the aforementioned creatures, i do not vomit, and it is jolly good indeed. terry's show, in contrast, is called "figure 8", and i love elliot smith. it is a gloriously inventive love story.

***

thursday wednesday saw another front room preview. james dowdeswell and carey marx. the two shows complement each other wonderfully. james is a lovely chap trying to be a bit harder and nastier, and carey is trying to be cleaner and less wrong and filthy.

all four shows were shaping up quite wonderfully, and i have no hesitation in recommending all of 'em if you happen to be wandering around edinburgh this august. none at all.

***

also on wednesday some final ticket sorting was managed so that thursday d and i could head merrily off to latitude festival, wheeee! which was all jolly outdoors wholesome (as wholesome as i get) fun. tl;dr entry to follow at some point, hopefully before friday.

some top things though:
bands:
black kids
eli "paperboy" reed
seasick steve
elbow
sigur ros
the go! team

other:
managing to meet up with all the ace people that were in various places
the radio 4 tent
ross noble / robin ince - THE PEEL OFF
magic performer wristbands
MFMO
book club
stefan coward's ace play
SCREAMING book at bed time
the secret piano in the woods
&c &c &c....

of course, there were some less good incidents, fractionated camping, a bit of rain, a spot of illness, and man, the fun of illegally sneaking backstage was somewhat lessened by being actually *allowed*, but we'll leave all that for now.....

i suppose the other side of the going-out-too much dilemma, is that you get to do lots of excellent things and see lots of excellent people.

there has been an awful lot of eating and drinking in the world of shewho over the past few days.

thursday was where it all began, with a quadruple booking. oh noes! decisions to be made! in the end i popped along to the hideaway for the lovely my_name_is_anna's birthday celebrations. drank some wine. chatted with some folk. agreed to attempt to play rubbish trumpet on a record, and swap trumpet tuition for drum tuition. felt very productive! marvellous.

journeyed on to the faltering fullback up in ewok village, to say hello to a temporarily southern billywhizz and people. excellent to see you nick, and wheee, surprise al and davina too, bonus!

very impressively stuck to my plan of only 4 glasses of wine all evening. 10 / 10.

***

friday was the usual quiet day at work. i had a lunch date with a colleague at the capital kebab shop. don't judge me, there's more. whilst waiting (AGES damn you m!) for him to meet me outside i befriended a middle aged parisian, who's friend was also delayed, and who repeatedly tried to take me out for posher lunch and / or drinks. bless.

but OH MY GOD. the capital kebab shop (on the cut, se1) does the most amazing mixed grill EVER. at least 6 types of meat, i think. chips (or rice). salad. pitta. you never need eat again! very tasty. very unhealthy. a treat for rare occasions. i failed to finish mine. i'm actually hungry just thinking about it. mmmmm.

it may have been a foolish day to eat out for lunch, because that evening found me back at the fullback for a tasty gin, before heading to petek to celebrate atommickbrane's birthday. more delicious food! i couldn't actually face any more meat, so plumped for a king prawn, fish and melon dish. also DELICIOUS. petek is bargainous and tasty, and they give you free booze and sweets if it's someone's birthday. lovely little place. i see what the fuss is about!

OBVIOUSLY we returned to the fullback for more drinking, finding extra people still saving the table. OBVIOUSLY the coolest thing to do is draw top rock stars on each other's bodies in marker pen. you all need to see the picture of the kiss ARM-y. you really do. they OBVIOUSLY kept singing songs throughout the evening, leading to curious looks from another table. which OBVIOUSLY led to me going over to explain / demonstrate.

"you're quite eccentric, aren't you?" said the curious chap. no dear, drunk.

"give us a kiss greg? what does that mean?" asked blinking TIM KEY pointing at my other arm. ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... oh dear.

(sod it, let's get into edinburgh practice....)
excellent drawings on arm = many.
comedians drunkenly annoyed = 2. (aforementioned key and basden. oh dear. at least i didn't say anything to superhans, right?)

tried to get home. honestly, i did.

woke up somewhere in edmonton. AGAIN.

started talking to random handsome young wasted chap at bus stop. continued talking all the way to stamford hill. bus saved possible scary incidents. i shouldn't be allowed drink.

snuck into d's expecting him to be out all night so i wouldn't look like a nightbus LOSER who couldn't get home if she tried. FAIL, he was there. whoops.

***

saturday dawned too early for my poor hungover head. whinged a bit. ordered pizza. got home, in time to set off to coventry for the big NOAH wrestling event at the skydome.

got there early enough to meet up with firemasque and darkship in the old windmill, and sample their rather peculiar lamb / mint and MAYONNAISE baguettes. ace to see j&k, obv.

the event itself was a little bit disappointing for me. none of the one-on-one matches grabbed my attention. tag-teams where better. much better. in fact, the highlight was the bumblebee team (ok, i can't remember their names but they were dressed in black and yellow) who where amazingly good. high flying stuff that makes me grin. plus extra hitting hard for bonus marks. then there was yone, who can do whatever he wants with that fantastic afro, hell yeah! and the main event, featuring misawa and kobashi (look, some names i know!) featured the most supreme chopping action i've seen in a long while.

my favourite bits of the day, mind, were seeing everyone's faces as dave morales (not that one) came into the ring, justifying my earlier comment that he was "the ugliest person in the WORLD". and trying to scam beer of the noisy gay chap behind me, and what i assume to be his boyfriend, only to be introduced to alex shane who was sitting behind them. i appear to have confessed to have followed the fwa and ipw, and he was genuinely touched, aw, bless.

it was also excellent to see kathbad, secret wrestling fan! though too brief. boo. better organising net time? (also, check out my 'wrestling' tag for more lycra shennanigans.)

***

sunday i cracked out my trumpet for a bit and attempted the marseilles. i'm not as rusty as i thought! my poor baby trumpet is though. and i realised i have NEVER named it. i think it needs a name.

WHAT SHALL I CALL MY TRUMPET, people?

anyway, sunday was lovely. absolutely lovely. you all know that. sunny with a gorgeous breeze. we went exploring the local area. finally.

met up with megan down by the anchor and hope on the river side. what an excellent, tiny, old man's pub. anywhere that has one plate of pickled onions, and one plate of cheese and crackers out as bar snacks wins with me!

we all then wandered along the side of the river to markfield park and victorian mayhem, to hang out in the sun with a bunch of chums, drink cider and sangria, and soak up the atmosphere and dub. so relaxing, so good to have local festival things going on!

the museum there is actually really interesting too. declan and i got collared by a chap who obviously runs his life around the museum and pump engine. i love old guys in tiny museums like that. he told us it's history, how it works, all sorts. actually interesting! and they've got funding to get it up and working again. i'd love to see that.

as hunger took hold, we hit the river path again, and megan took us, along with chris and ally to the ferry boat inn. i've lived in e17 for YEARS and failed to go there. not so any more! lovely beer garden, pretty pub, tasty, tasty filling food and more condiments than even i need. somehow, after drinks and pudding and losing repeatedly at uno it was closing time. whoops!

home, then OMG doctor who before falling into a hugely contented sleep.

***

i'd like more days like yesterday, please.

***

monday: booking tickets for restaurants is the new booking tickets for popular gigs. criminy!

things i watched this weekend
♥ zodiac - mediocre serial killer film based on a real life serial killer from the end of the sixties. forgettable.
♥ the hammer - midlife crisis boxing comedy. occasionally mildly amusing, mostly a bit irritating. i had a weep at the end.
♥ some of shallow hal - a million times better than i expected, but jeez my expectations were terribly low to start with.
♥ doctor who - excellent episode proving you don't need special effects and other such japery to hold the attention.

***

things i did this weekend
♥ slept a lot.
♥ loafed a lot.
♥ celebrated wardytron's birthday by picnicing in his and fille_a_paris's garden and the lovely marble hill park close by.
♥ visited tasty cheese shop of joy.
♥ got ID'd in oddbins. sweet!
♥ rode a bike for the first time since i was 11! it's true what they say. you don't forget how to ride a bike. you *do* forget how to do corners, and it's a little petrifying, especially with a moleintheground chasing after you. dare i investigate getting my own?
♥ got a little over-inebriated and weepy. sorry folks!
♥ forgot to call it a night and accidentally stayed up too late nattering with dawnage and orangerick.
♥ slept a lot more.
♥ whinged.
♥ dragged self to the open air theatre in regents part for the yearly daniel kitson and gavin osborne show. a second half of 1hr 45m???? ARGH. failed to get in until half 12 or so.
♥ it was totally worth it.

***

how i feel today
♥ headache-y.
♥ throat shredded. (i was singing again, right?)
♥ in need of LOTS more sleep.

***

(and just so i don't forget, on thursday i played some poker. not very well, if i'm honest, but then there was wine. managed 4 / 6 on the first game, and was knocked out first in the second on a very unlucky all in. wah. still, i blame the new person and scarily repeatedly demonstrated beginners luck.....)

i didn't think i'd ever voluntarily squeeze a lemon into my eye.

it's funny what 1 drink bottle of wine will do to you.

what sick b@st@rd invented the tequila suicide anyway??!

right then, the kids. it's the manics at the brixton academy tuesday and wednesday next week. i know i have company on the tuesday, but who else is going to be around? it seems a lot of youse are changing your minds about it and not coming any more, boo.

***

in other gig news, where the flip are my springsteen tickets? more to the point, my msp wednesday ticket is still awol and all. hmmm.

***

in other, other news, an apple STILL isn't a proper dinner, and barmen who persuade you to have tequila as a coffee substitute are EVIL and i am weak.

which is to say clockwork comedy was ace last night (luke roberts, tony law, paul trap / alan bennett, tomi walla-something, richard herring) but my meal of tequila was a slippery slope to The Drunk, and my sleepy imbibing of pro-plus was possibly foolish, leading to me not only talking stupid nonsense, but doing so fast and repeatedly. you'd think somehow the tired and the drunk and the caffeine would cancel each other out, but oh no, overexcitable drivel. i shouldn't be allowed to talk to people. EVER. except early on when being sensible on the door, because cheeky banter managed to get 4 chaps attempting to SING me the magic password in harmony. sweet! this was my favourite thing. well, almost. probably my favourite thing was watching people enjoy themselves whilst they were watching something they don't usually enjoy. hah, work your way through THAT sentence if you can!

***

in FINANCIAL RUIN news, i appear to have a couple of hundred quid to last until the end of the month, and haven't bought a single chrimbo present yet. i did, however, probably drink the equivalent of several presents last night. idiot.

the teaandcrumpets review: it was rubbish, he did stars and for your babies, forgot the words to a new flame and stormed off in a huff. stop. reading. now.

***

sometimes, the internet has its uses. sometimes, the internet pays off BIG style. and if it hadn't been for toriar entering a competition on myspace of all places, i wouldn't have found myself at cafe royal last night, watching lovely patrick wolf playing a gig for no more than 100 people, in a tiny room, with a free bar. you heard me.

we both turned up ridiculously early, and sat in the candlelit hotel bar. after looking at the cocktail menu i was jonesing for an old fashioned. and so i had one. a properly made one. nom nom. delicious. bad spending, good booze.

and then we meandered in, restrained selves from shrieking at the tiny size of the place, and drank tasty free champagne whilst being photographed by someone or other. very bizarre.

and THEN i discovered the free bar, which had run out of anything that wasn't vodka or beer. mmm, vodka.

more importantly, patrick wolf. just him and a piano / moog / violin, plus lady violinist where required, and bishi. he opened with teignmouth. joy!!! i can't remember the last time i heard that live. it's one of my favourite-songs-on-repeat. in fact, when in my workroom the only things i've been listening to of late are wind in the wires and, er, crime of the century. they seem to be perfect music to keep me serene and happy and concentrating. except when teignmouth comes on, at that moment i usually stop whatever i'm doing and just listen, and grin.

old stuff. low key stuff. beautiful stuff. i find myself mesmerised by the mirrors by the stage, in one arch is the reflection of his shadow, in another his reflection proper, and the last frames the actual violinist. we find ourselves right at the front of the stage. i'm almost embarrassed to find myself catching his eye whilst singing quietly to myself. ahem.

anyway, despite the best efforts of some media tw@ts (probably the same ones leaving mountains of white powder in the toilets) braying loudly at the back whilst swigging the booze (to mr wolf's vocalised annoyance) it was pretty darned excellent. and it was ace to have a good old gossip and natter with toriar too. london's brilliant, isn't it? (unless you have the flu, argh, guilts.)

***

on the way there i walked through leicester square, stumbling across the preview for fred claus en route. er, warning. tried to watch that film the other day, and it's pretty poor. don't see it. save your pennies! it certainly isn't worth getting chemical snow in your eyes for, peons.

***

the scrabulous roll-over advertising is really winding me up. chuck and larry can sod right off, thanks.

i am a drunken idiot.

what i remember of book club was quite lovely, and funny, and yay. dinner of stinky cheese and half a bottle of wine doesn't help me stay sober. a further bottle of wine (BAD perfectlyvague) certainly helped matters take their usual, inevitable course. i hope i wasn't *too* embarrassing.

i have NO recollection of getting home, but apparently fell over in the bathroom, which would explain my bruised back.

overslept like an idiot. taking teaandcrumpets to the pub (ORANGE JUICE, watkins, ORANGE juice) for lunch. leaving early for more comedy. dedication to work is astounding. and mooners later!

i predict actual, proper, death.

cripes.

there is nothing better than singing.

there is nothing better than being in a room full of people who like singing.

there is nothing better than being in a room full of people who like singing, and are doing so.

karaoke last night was simply MARVELLOUS, and it isn't just the vin rouge talking. though that was pretty tasty too.

i think i could happily sing, and listen to other people singing while watching them enjoy themselves, forever and ever and ever and ever. we tried, but the karaokebox man eventually turfed us out.

i sang probably too much, but mostly with other people, so that's ok. um, there was:

♥ mr big - to be with you (with perfectlyvague
♥ girls aloud - biology
♥ macca - no more lonely nights (with mrs rhodri)
♥ nikki french - total eclipse of the heart (with charleston and too much jumping around and shouting BOSH!>
♥ carly simon - you're so vain (with jenny again)
♥ meatloaf - dead ringer for love (more jenny! i forgot ALL the harmony and gave up on it, rubbish.)
♥ eurythmics - sweet dreams (with super harmonising from exliontamer who is Very Good At Singing.)

and i think that was probably it, from me at least. i demand more karaoke! NOW! ahem. my neck is crippling me today, i should learn to actually OBEY myself and not attempt to windmill headbang to bon jovi. honestly.

more tasty wine in various locations afterwards, though man, 24 hour drinking is hard to find in london, how ridiculous! managed to stumble home via liverpool street, hurrah for homing instincts.

***

it was BEAUTIFUL walking to the station this morning. sharp and crisp, yet blurred with fog. that sort of fog that you think if you manage to walk through it to the other side you'll find yourself leaving some battle ground in an alternative universe. or perhaps that's just me. anyway, this is my favourite sort of weather. i can't think of anything better.

except maybe KARAOKE. heh.

Woman, 29, discovers she HAS BEEN PAID after all and should have waited until later in the day to check her online banking.

/ LJ plagiarism

PHEW

Still a bit brassic though. Hopefully to be sorted by Tuesday. Will have to practice moderation this weekend, must learn how to cope with finances.

***

In other news:
♥ angelv and moleintheground are well wick.
♥ white wine and nurofen may help my back, but it doesn't half make me babble.
♥ i am still chargerless for my shiny mobile, hoshuteki, do you perhaps have one?
♥ it was lovely last night to see mrs_leroy_brown and sbp lazily round the corner from my work in the Lord Nelson, which has indeed become rather ace. I think I shall be visiting there again.

Ah, there have been some days. I appear to not have a terrible amount to say for myself. Well, to you lot anyway. I've been brain dumping a bit privately. Cor, imagine if I got HACKED? End. Of. World.

Aaaaanyway.

Tuesday I met up with Ed and Angel for some incredibly tasty sushi goodness. (Word to the wise - Yo! Sushi are currently doing a 'Rainbow' offer, plate of each colour for a tenner. Very filling! Tempura soft-shell crab! Oh lord, hungry again now.....) Found Gemma and Dan (eventually!) in the Big Chill House, and then popped around the corner to see Feist at the Scala. I really like Feist, I do. But on Tuesday I wasn't feeling it. Downstairs was too crowded for me. Balconies were too vertiginous. I was in a Very Strange Mood (keep that dog away from me!) and we ended up sitting in a booth, chatting away, with the music as background. If ten-years-ago me could have seen me then, I think I'd have stabbed myself. But it was lovely! I'm getting rubbish at gig-going.

Wine inspired me to haggle with t-shirt touts, and I now own a neon green and pink monstrosity that will no doubt evaporate in the first wash. WHY??

***

Yesterday, that is Wednesday, was obviously Book Club at the Albany. I ate a proper dinner. Yet somehow it didn't count as a proper dinner either, as stupid hammeredness ensued. Shocked yet? Thought not. Anyway, Book Club was all lovely and random and endearingly disorganised, just like being in a field again. Functioning 3D glasses! Getting to shout out "your mum's house!" and it be appropriate!

Getting home was a nightmare. Obviously the Viccy line is under curfew because it was caught smoking with Sharon behind the bike sheds. BUT!!! Both Tuesday AND Wednesday the stupid overland train was non-functional. WHY?? Tubes / Leyton / buses make home possible, but I shouldn't be left to forage for functioning ftransport in such a way when inebriated. Poor chap (Welsh comedian, refresh my booze addled memory?) had the bad luck to bump into me on the tube. I talked IN HIS FACE all the way to Liverpool Street. Oh dear.

***

I am OBSESSED with Scrabulous on facebook. Seriously obsessed. I'm not tremendously good though. Well, good enough to beat some people, nowhere near good enough to play with the big boys. And it is mostly fellas that are kicking my ar5e. Having said that, I did just score my first 400 (nice and round, happy figure!) - sorry Cay!

'Tessellating' the tiles into blocks of words is my new favourite thing. Oh dear.

***

Fancy coming out to play tonight? As I am NOT at Secret Garden Party I am determined to have as much festival type fun as possible. This means, in the space of this evening I intend to:

♥ go out for a chat and a meal. You can't come!
♥ head over to Beautiful & Damned. I even have a Big Skirt in my bag, organisation! You can come!
♥ leave early to get back into town for Full Mooners at the Comedy Store. You can come!
♥ sleep on the roll out mattress cunningly stashed somewhere in my office. You can't come!
♥ die. You can do with that what you will!

i think they must have been putting extras in the drinks at Soul Mole last night, it would appear everybody became ridiculously drunk and are now all in the grips of deathly hangovers....

i certainly flipped from 'tiddly' to 'oh good lord NO' very suddenly. note to self: pint of hoegarden and half a melty cheese also does not comprise a sensible dinner.

i feel fine today though. been out and about since half 10. about to rouse p_dan_tic and hit croydon. this could be tricky. he's completely broken, ah.


(*heh, now entertaining myself by seeing what post titles i've used in the past with autofill...)

I'm BACK!

- slightly sunburned.
- having been bitten by some horrible beasties which appear to have given me an allergic reaction.
- stupidly over tired.
- 2.5hrs sleep on the train last night / this morning - does that count as straight through?
- haha, i just tried to order a g&t in the sarnie shop, instead of Emergency Bacon Sandwich.
- there will be a lot more much later.
- it's going to take me a Long Time to read the internets, if there's anything important, lemme know here.
- oh yes, mobile battery died at 1.30 this morning, whilst trying to persuade a magician to come dancing to Europe. i'll see who's won later.
- no voice posting! be proud of me :)
- for the moment, suffice it to say, LATITUDE IS THE BEST FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD, EVER.