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[Oct. 13th, 2008|02:54 am] |
It's 3am and I just got in. The debris of trying to get dressed up and out of the house in a hurry are all about me. Three or four costume choices are cast across the bed, together with the make-up I didn't wear and last week's clean washing. I load the whole lot into a plastic box and throw it on the floor, sweeping space clear for sleep and creating a whole new problem for tomorrow.
My laptop and I move through a peculiar world where nothing is ever quite in the right place, but nothing is ever lost. Objects gravitate to places and make homes there, and my job is more zookeeper than librarian. However hard I try to organise things, there will always be one DVD, seven books and a hairclip on the bedside table, and a radio microphone by my keyboard. I don't put them there - they move there of their own accord.
One day I will be a monk and live on top of a mountain with my comfort blanket and a pointy stick, and the mountain will be tall enough that things cannot stalk me. |
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| Posted using sms_to_lj... |
[Oct. 13th, 2008|12:38 am] |
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Argh! Satnav Janet has lost us, gone mad & is taking us on a scenic tour of Acton! :-S |
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| A PS to my last post |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|09:02 pm] |
Simon Schama is by far my favourite of what the British media refer to as "media dons" - academics who do accessible television programmes.
So I was sad to see that time isn't being very kind to him in this new series.
I don't mean that he's got fat or bald or ugly, because I wouldn't care. He's looking - well, old and unwell.
And I find that very sad indeed. |
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| Latest idea for a book |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|08:39 pm] |
By odd coincidence, the media I've consumed in the last 24 hours has had an unintended theme, which has given me an idea.
One of the things Bill Bryson writes about in his autobiography is the decline of the small family farm in Iowa, and thus many of the towns which made up the essence of Iowa in the 50s have disappeared.
I just finished watching the first part of Simon Schama's new series ("The American Future: A History"). It's about the use of water and thus agriculture & of course the Dust Bowl came into it.
Add to that the fact that one of my favourite non-fiction books is Jonathan Raban's Bad Land, the story of how the railroad companies conned thousands of homesteaders to try "Dry Land Farming" (a faux-scientific scam of epic proportions) in eastern Montana in the early 20th century.
What that all adds up to is that I've been reminded that the American midwest is as full of ghost towns as the Old West. Ghost towns of the old west have a whole literature & mythos surrounding them, and some are tourist attractions. I am guilty of having plans to add to that literature.
Abandoned towns and farms of the midwest (here I include Montana and the Dakotas which might not be strictly speaking correct) are less well known. They don't have the exciting gold rush and Wild West history, and for the most part they declined much more recently. In many places that decline is an ongoing process.
I think there's a niche market for me to get out there and document. So now I need enough savings and/or publisher's advance to fund a year travelling and researching rather than the six months I thought I could get a start on the Old West with, and the result would be two very different books[1].
I really am such a nerd I can get a kick out of Iowa and Nebraska, as long as there's decaying settlements. Deal with it.
Now y'all can see why I hate my chronic illness situation so much. I have the training and skills to actually do this, but for the intermittent brain fog and permanent lack of physical stamina.
[1] I understand that contemporary way to be doing it would be to start out with a blog and then hope to get a publication deal on the back of that. |
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| [books 2008] More Philip Reeve; Bill Bryson |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|04:57 pm] |
51. A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve
The last and, in my opinion, the best of the Mortal Engines quartet. This book is twice as long as the rest in the series, and is really not noticeably a "young adult" book in any way. Still steampunk as all hell, with non-stop adventure. There's a genuinely sad moment when Fishcake the Lost Boy is treated like a child for just one day.
Just go read it, if you haven't already.
52. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Bryson, best known as a travel writer and his introduction to science, A History of Nearly Everything, writes here about his childhood in the 50s in Des Moines, Iowa. He gives a remarkably balanced view of the things that were great about the 50s and the things that weren't so good, even though he was too young to be aware of most of the bad things. He acknowledges that he had a lot of advantages over most other children of his time because his parents were, even in their community, relatively affluent. He certainly makes 1950s Iowa sound like a great place and time to have been a kid.
Having said that, I'm glad I got it out of the library. For a start, it took me less than 24 hours to read.
A lot of the things that were supposed to be funny (especially his mother's absent-mindedness) I found plain annoying.
Probably worth what little effort I put into it. |
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| WarMachine |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|04:04 pm] |
This afternoon has been spent making modifications to the WarMachine. I think only a couple of people will be able to spot the mod's. Prize to the person who does perhaps ;). |
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| Back to the recording studio! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|10:16 pm] |
On Friday night, we had the drinkies to welcome in the new singer of Darkness Visible, as well as the new guitarist and new backing vocalist. It was a great night! We had around 25 - 30 people over the whole time. Most were roped into getting their pics taken with some of our props, so there will be some silly pics appearing on the myspace page soon!
We're also returning to the recording studio in late November to record "I Nehemia." This will be the same version that people have heard at our last few gigs - which is quite different to the one we put out on "Dark Eyed and Starry" in 1995. I'm now all excited about recording again as well as returning to gigging in Feb next year! |
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| I should start more weekends on a Thursday... |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|11:31 am] |
Thursday saw the book sales equal a dozen. Superb. Not great figures but as I've only advertised it's existence to a few hundred and I'm selling, currently, on average, more than 1 a week, that's not bad. Go tell more people http:stores.lulu.com/magehome and so will I.
Thursday was rushed. Post a working day that had included a 216 mile round trip to Aylesbury for my company, followed by chasing buses around Bristol for 25 minutes; and a quickly eaten supper - it was out to Dockside Studios to go through the set for Sunday nights last minute gig. Then back home. The ride to Aylesbury took two and a quarter hours due to the fog - though it did give some beautiful effects as the sun rose. On the way back I hit some rush hour traffic which made for the same on the ride back. Was a good ride though.
Friday was my Birthday - which involved loads of pressies, thanks to all for the pressies and the cards (everything in 21st century pop culture from Dr Who to Judge Dredd via D&D was represented in almost equal measure. It was great. A very pop culture Birthday.
Then it was out for the Birthday treat, besides being a day off work, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) oryctolagus and I took a trip around the SS Great Britain (a 100 yards (if that) away from the office I work in) and then a journey around the harbor on a river taxi which took me within a stones throw of the office (which, if I'd been carrying any stones, would have been a tempting thing to do. Back home for Lamb dinner and relaxing with a bottle of JD and Mad Max DVD's (I told you the pop culture had been very much in place).
Saturday (after a brief visit to B&Q) was a trip to Glastonbury - Met up with Ben and Mildred, shopped very little and sold band CD's to one of the shop's (Witchcraft) run by some old friends. If ever you're in Glastonbury go find them out. They run Witchcraft, The Magic Box and the Cat and Cauldron. Which has something for just about everyone.
Then to today. See some of you at the gig later - don't forget to buy me a birthday drink. |
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| :: life :: Time to Let Go |
[Oct. 11th, 2008|07:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | life | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Megadeth - Skin O' My Teeth | ] |
Over 100,000 miles loyal service to my family, the Skoda Felecia, which had been passed to my stewardship, has now retired. An MOT failure of rust (and incorrect colour indicators, oddly) which makes it un-economical to repair, despite what I put out not six weeks ago on the brakes. ime to let go. Take the stero out, drain the petrol out of the tank and let some scrap merchant take her away to profit from what she has left.
Left me a little shellshocked at first, as I honestly thought the work I had done would have been all that was needed (I don't think I will go back to that garage). Knocks my financial planning back a few months, but I'll swallow it up and move on. Already spent the afternoon on Autotrader and identified a couple of new kona-mobiles.
Fell to the grot on Thursday. Just took the one day off when I was feeling the hwole ache and shiver, now just a bit of snottiness and coughing reamins. Vitamins FTW! Sarah has pretty much recovered now, too.
Now, I just wait on my baked potato... |
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| Weston motorbike beach race. |
[Oct. 11th, 2008|05:15 pm] |
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The whole seafront looks like this. If you ever water to rid the
country of mullets, Weston is the place to be.
Side thought.I've never met a biker who liked caravans... |
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[Oct. 11th, 2008|04:11 pm] |
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| GIG:Bristol/Southwest: Vlad in Tears + Cauda Pavonis 12/10/08 |
[Oct. 11th, 2008|11:27 am] |
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( The Fleece in Bristol ) |
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[Oct. 11th, 2008|02:33 am] |
I had a conversation tonight in which I was shown some of the beauty which I wish I could show to others.
Words are a rude club by which to beat an idea through the skull of a reader, and sometimes I feel that is what I want to do. I wish I could beat the images into my own skull. A first impression can only happen once. I can never again go to the desert for the first time, or rediscover the bright colours of the Ethiopians. I think I remember watching a smart businessman in a suit take drugs and collapse, but memory assimilates all, and makes it seem normal.
Thank you for talking to me, and letting me see a flash of that picture. I wish I could remember it. |
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[Oct. 10th, 2008|08:58 pm] |
Marie is going OUT!!
(After much bleaching...) |
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| Thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes... |
[Oct. 10th, 2008|08:37 pm] |
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...And a similarly happy Birthday to fellow drummer and Goth Legend in the making noondaydemon. |
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[Nov. 1st, 2008|06:18 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
A really big Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, silverskull.
You know I love you!!! |
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[Oct. 10th, 2008|05:54 pm] |
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I'm told I have several crateloads of relatively powerful (complete, working) 1U and 4U servers to get rid of. I haven't looked at them yet. However: All those who want some, please make a noise, and I'll get rid of as many as I can on Sunday. Money (or molestation, or REALLY convincing argument) is recommended, but it doesn't have to be "real money". This is a clearance, covering transport and hassle costs, not a business. |
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[Oct. 10th, 2008|01:36 pm] |
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My room has turned into one of those infuriating puzzles where I can only move something (including myself) if I slide something else out of the way first. |
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| Sadly Broke |
[Oct. 10th, 2008|08:44 am] |
About six months ago my local "building society" (now Lloyds trading under a different brand) reduced its interest rate and I spent a while online looking for a better place to deposit some of my savings.
Top of the list at moneysupermarket.com were banks I'd never heard of. One was Nigerian. Lots were Icelandic. At the time I felt uneasy about putting my money in a Nigerian bank. Every day I receive an email from Obama Mflesi who claims to have £21,000,000 in blood diamonds/siphoned taxes/private oil and can he have my bank account details? Moving my money to a Nigerian bank seemed like I was giving Obama Mflesi a head start. In retrospect it would have been a good move. Nigerian banking seems infinitely superior to the local variety.
I also checked out the Icelandic savings offers, especially Kaupthing Edge. 7.8%???? Definitely in the "too good to be true" category. I couldn't figure it out. The only way you can give deposits that kind of interest is if you are lending the money to people at > 10% interest. What kind of people are prepared to borrow money at very high interest? Store cards? Hire purchase? Two-years no-interest offers?
The revelation that vast sums of UK public money were deposited with Kaupthing Edge makes me shake my head in disbelief. The population of Iceland is on the same scale as the population of Bradley Stoke.
And indeed, they are Sadly Broke. And collectively, so are we. |
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| For my Birthday I would like... |
[Oct. 9th, 2008|08:58 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  apathetic | ] |
...some will power, please.
Failing that, a nice Dominatrix to make me do the things I should be doing.
One of the problems with living alone is I have no one's opinion to live up to except my own, and my opinion of me is hardly great, so wheedling out of things that I should be doing is far too easy. Yoga for example. Its great, I enjoy it and its good for me. But not doing yoga requires a lot less effort. Coupled with the recent stress of insane work loads at work and the cold dark nights, coming home slouching infront of the telly and drinking too much seems to be the favourite option lately.
I have tried to keep up with the Yoga, but I dont seem to have the energy to make all the way through the DVD sessions of late. I even dusted off an old VHS taped session for a bit of a change. But although the work out is ok, I keep laughing at the instructors choices of phrase.
"Really feel the stretch here, it should feel wild horses pulling you in different directions, and we all know what that feels like!"
Do we? Do we really? Maybe I was off school that day, but I can say in good conscience that I personally have no idea what it feels like to be pulled in different directions by wild horses or even domesticated horses for that mater, you strange man! |
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