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I have been to Crewe. No wait! Come back! I tend lots of nice things and it was good to see my family again. I do miss having such a busy house, although after a bit I do get fed up with the constant laptop/TV/computer games/I-Phone usage. My flat seems quiet in comparison! The main reason I went was because my old workplace, Alsager library is closing down and they were having a party for all the old staff. It's sad that it's going (it's being combined with Crewe campus) as the building is much nicer than Crewe's. There were a surprising amount of people there and I got to speak to lots of people, people I knew and people I didn't, while I sampled the home made food. I was even sent home with some. It was strange being back really but in a good way. I got to speak to staff I worked with who I hadn't seen since I left three and a half years ago and even if it was a little depressing telling people how I'm still not working in a library, it was fun. There were lots of photos up including one of me and a little one of Stella which made me sad. A whole section was dedicated to Brandy the library cat who, fittingly, died last week. He was 19. So a good turnout and fun was had by all.

On Thursday me, my brother, sister and Mum went to The Palms at Stapely Water Garden. It's closing soon though which is sad as they have a great selection of animals. Lots of tropical stuff like fish, frogs, spiders but also meerkats, tortoises and loads of flowers, a really nice day out. We made Jonathan drive us to Snugbury's afterwards obviously. I had two scoops of ice cream - one cherry blizzard and the other damson and sloe gin. You don't need me to tell you how tasty it was. They had the cutest spotty piglets too! And the giant hay sculpture is a meerkat this year which was very impressive.

On Friday morning I sat out in the garden. My Dad's been working on it, including building a new, bigger pond which is really impressive. He's so good with his hands. I don't think I could ever build a pond, let alone a little waterfall to go with it. That talent's skipped a generation I think. In the afternoon me went to see my Grandma. She's not great really. Her memory is terrible and she can't hear anything you say which is sad really (though it does make for amusing incidents at our house when my Mum is shouting down the phone - "IT'S JANE! IS DAVID THERE?") but she is 96. She did mention Gladys a few times (who's been dead for four years) which is also worrying. Apparently my Mum and sister went to visit a few weeks back and when Nanna said about Gladys visiting my sister said to my Mum afterwards, really seriously, "well maybe she has"! Haha. Someone at Mum's work heard about this and said that Bethany was very astute but I refuse to believe that the ghost of my Great Aunt is hovering around.

On Saturday me, my Mum and sister went to see Fiona's art display at The Cubbyhole. I have never heard of this place and it's in the weirdest location! It's also surprisingly big inside and there were lots of people making things inside. I bought a fridge magnet and some cards. It goes without saying that the art was good! Happily we bumped into Fiona on the way who I've not seen for about two years. Madness.

On Saturday night we had a board game night. Cluedo, which Jonathan won, and Monopoly, which Jonathan also won. He was most upset that after two hours of Monopoly everyone declared him the winner without his getting to bankrupt everyone apart from Bethany! 

And then on Sunday I came back to Leeds. It felt like a proper holiday and it was good to see James again. We went to Tampopo in the evening to catch up and as we had our £50 voucher and had the full works, so good! Mixed platter to start, home made lemonade, chicken salad with peanut dressing for main, sticky black rice pudding for dessert and Vietnamese coffee for after that. the coffee is with condensed milk. So good! So yeah, I've had a great time. And now I'm only in until Wednesday and then I'm off for another week! Amazing.
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In all the excitement of writing about what I'd be watching recently I totally forgot to mention that I didn indeed leave the house last week. We went to Las Iguanas which I'd never been to before. I'd definitely go back though as it was very very tasty. Cocktails were buy one get one free so it was cherry fizz a-go-go and we had such wonders as lamb meatballs, chips that weren't chips, cheese salad, duck wraps. My God it was good. And there was passionfruit cheesecake for desert. Yum. Neither of us have been that great recently. I've been stuck in January-pus-being-in-job-for-three-makes-me-want-to-kill-myself-mode and James hasn't been much better. So going out for food felt like a turning point as we got to talk stuff out. It was nice to be back on an even keel. We talked holidays too which I've researched. Can't decide where to go. We want a cheap sun holiday as we've never had one, but it's hard to find somewhere that has stuff to do without being on a self-contained resort. We'll see though.

I rang my family last night to keep uop-to-date with all the Crewe news. Top of the pops was the news that the water has had an influx of chemicals put into it! Wonderful stuff. My Mum went to work on Saturday and two colleagues said that boiling the kettle made the entire kitchen sink. Nobody knew anything else until Wednesday when the local paper reported that because of all the extra salt running into the water supply they'd had to up the amount of chlorine that they added to the sytem. Young children had been ill and all sorts. Nice of them to let the public no right? Crazy stuff.

The other news was that there had been an acid attack at my sister's (and my old) school. Three girls were attacked although they're ok. They had burns to their legs though. This happened on Friday afternoon so Bethany couldn't find much info out. She saw two ambulances and a police car race past though. And she's on work experience this week so won't be able to find anything else out! Madness. Naturally James made some sarky comment about how it was 'just another day in Crewe' but things have never been quite this bad before! To counteract the horridness it was nice to see that the Mornflake Oats factory was having a bumper January. Sales are up 108% due to the bad weather. Hurrah for porridge!

In better news, I made a bread and butter pudding last night which ruled a lot. I used hot cross buns instead and added blueberries too it. So damn tasty! It'd been a while since I'd done some proper baking. Oh how I love it.

Better add in what I've been watching. Lots of Farscape, 30 years of Newsnight (Jarvis! All very interesting), 30 years of Brits performances, is that it? I think it might be. Seems like not a lot for me. No matter, as Nurse Jackie and Hustle are on tonight. I'm trying to cut down my TV watching, honest. Actually, saying that, I wanted to do that so I could read more but it seems like I'm doing that anyway which is great. I haven't mentioned my 40 years of Sesame Street book which was amazing and really gave me such an insight in education and television and how it's changed over times, puppetry, writing for children, oh all kinds. To celebrate its awesomeness here is a picture of The Count follwed by my favourite Sesame Street sketch ever! 




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A quick update and then I need to do 2009 stuff. It's never too late and I want to do quizzes and general post and all sorts. We've been in Crewe over the New Year. Always a pleasure. Actually, it was good as I spent most of the time at my family's house playing board games and generally not doing very much. We had lots of fun playing Cluedo and Rapidough, it has to be said. Looking over at the other team after hearing James say, 'I don't want to say what that is!' and seeing my Mum shaping what can only be described as a giant cock may stay with me for a good while yet. Jonathan's 'ladybird' had me in stitches though, like only he can. We played on the Wii a lot as well. Super Mario always rules. So yeah, we had a nice time. As we'd already had two Xmas dinners my parents made us a buffet for New Year's instead and we ended up watching TV programmes we'd never usually watch like Eastenders (it had a gay interest story, I'm allowed!), and Waterloo Road (I got far too into this). To be honest, the New Year itself was an anti-climax even for me who stays in every year. The BBC had really scaled down the celebrations by sticking Myleen Klass in the cold for a few minutes before the fireworks went off. Disappointing!

It felt like we were there for a good while really. I didn't get to see Jonathan all that much on account of his rubbish hours but bethany was around a lot with it being the school holidays so there was always someone about. It never occurred to me that going to Crewe and just being in a full house wold do wonders for my anxiety shiteness. It hasn't bothered me a jot and (touch wood) it's sorted. A good start to 2010. Another good start was filling in a job application for the Department of Health library. It took me bloody ages so if I don't get an interview I'll be so pissed off. Oh, we went to Lac Thai on New Year's Day too. I had a very taste sweet and sour chicken and of course we had the mixed starter with the vegetable bird. I took a photo this time so I'll upload it soon. Dessert was so disappointing! Tinned fruit salad with a few lychees! Not impressed!

One of the things that I didn't do while at home was see my Grandma. She'd had a fall and so wasn't very well. She's getting worse sadly. My Mum said that she visited last week and she was asking about why my Auntie hadn't rung. Her being dead for five years might be the issue here. If I didn't laugh I'd cry as it breaks my heart to see her deteriorate.

We did do some shopping though. We did really well in the sales as it happens. We got some dirt cheap photo albums in the right size. A miracle! I got Sarah Water's latest book as it was book of the week in Smiths. Very pleased as I've wanted it for ages. I got the Cake Wrecks book too. Amazing. james got some CDs and we had a nice time really. It is ncie to do some shopping elsewhere in Leeds, even if it is in Crewe.

I haven't mentioned what other presents we got. It was mostly smelly stuff but Bethany got us some Morph book ends (y'know, I was accidentally wrote 'bell ends' then! Now that would be inappropriate.) and Jonathan got us a Lego game. We also got a Trivia Persuit 'wedge' of Food and Drink which is really hard! Just finished off my Malteasers too. Yum.

I'm off until Wednesday. I'm no fool. Hurrah! We've watched TV stuff a lot lately. Doctor Who was good. Not the best but very good. The second half was better than the first I think but like the first it was very up and down. Wilfred was great though, really brilliant. David Tennant's death was very strange, it being so long. It was nice to see all of the old characters though so in that repesect it really worked. I can't think what else we've watched of late. Bits and bobs really.
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I haven't updated in a good while because the last week at work nothing happen. At all. Which makes it all the better that last Wednesday I finished work and started my summer hols. On Wednesday night I travelled back to Crewe. It's never a pleasure in itself but seeing my family really is. I don't really consider having moved over this way a sacrifice in the sense that I don't see my family as much as I used to but when I visit I do miss them. I miss the laughter and the full house I think, although I'd obviously go insane if I still lived with them now. 2005/6 was a miserable time! Haha.

Anyway, most of the time wasn't spent doing all that much really. Lots of Wii playing obviously, which is always fun. I always ache the day after though. My arms aren't used to the work out. I also finished Uncharted:Drake's Fortune on the PS3 which is a brilliant game. Much like what the Tomb Raider games should have become. And it looks ridiculously good. I can't imagine what computer games will look like ten years time that what we're at now. Virtual Reality anyone (on a side note, isn't it funny how VR, which is such a 90s concept, was replaced with stuff like the Wii and Project Natal, the latter of which is very like VR)?

I did lots of reading while I was there. Finally finished Frank Herbert's 'Dune'. God it goes on a bit but it was really good when something actually happened. Unfortunately, like Lord of the Rings, not a lot happens a hell of a lot so I was really glad to finish it. I'm not really into these mass world, lengthy description type of books. I think that computer games manage to do that tonnes better funnily enough. This might just be because I don't have the best imagination though.

Anyway, on Thursday we headed off to the Blue Planet aquarium. Jonathan drove and it must be the first time in ages that all five of us had had a day out somewhere. It was fun, even if the aquarium could have done with a few more weird and wonderful creatures. No octopus and only one type of crab. Boo. My family have recently bought the most amazing new tank and have some beautiful fish in it. Fish are in my genes I think. I want a tank! On the way back we stopped in at Snugbury's as it was an unusually warm day. Ice cream ahoy! I had coconut and elderflower and blackcurrent. Nom nom. So we ate that while looking at the cute piglets they have there. They also have a Big Ben scuplted out of hay, with a working clock too! Brilliant.

I visited Nanna Connie on the Sunday and had a tidy out of some old stuff. I've saved some but I've got rid of a load of old Uni work and posters and three bags of books went to the charity shop. Be gone old life! I did save my old diries though. I'll have to give them a read at some point although I know that they'll be ultra depressing. Especially the ones from when I was 16. On Sunday night we ate tea outside, even though it was raining, and we toasted marshmallows and sat chatting until it was dark, a lovely evening. Shame about the weather though.

Not much else to update really. Today I nipped into town and playtested my new MP3 player. It actually works and everything! I seem to be able to view film and all sorts of crazy stuff, but really, I just want to play music on it! Technology is such a headache sometimes.

I've got a lot of music to listen to at the minute. No change there then. Finally bought The Human League's 'Dare' as I really should own it. Must listen to it tomorrow. Finally bought Charliotte Hatherley's 'The Deep Blue' too and although I was wrong to dismiss it so quickly, I don't think it's as good a 'Grey Will Fade' which I have on now. Also bought Dan Black's 'Un' which is good in a wonky pop sort of way. I'm claiming credit for discovering him as I loved his old indie band 'The Servant' who no-one's heard of.      

Exploring

Apr. 17th, 2009 01:03 pm
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So the last few days in Crewe were fairly relaxed really. We went to see my Grandma on the Thursday who was good. She'd not been so well the other day but she seemed ok. And then on Friday I didn't really do much. I'd been doing daily Wii Fit workouts which I have to say that I miss quite a bit now! I'm very concious of the fact that I can now walk to work and that I live on a one floor flat so I'm scared of not getting enough exercise. It doesn't help that I now a shiny new Xbox 360 to play on. So I got that all hooked up when I got back to Leeds. Yay! I'm currently playing Viva Pinata and Half Life 2. Uni work be damned.

On Saturday there was a chocolate festival on at Brewery Wharf which you can see from our balcony so we headed to that. James wasn't impressed but I was, mostly because I bought a teapot and tea cosy and some knitted peas in a knitted pod. I'm really pleased with them, even if me and James can't resist the temptation of hiding knitted peas in places that the other will find them. Small minds and all that.

On Sunday we went for a walk along the river. My main bugbear about Leeds is the total lack of green spaces in the centre of town, even though on the whole I think that it's not a bad city. So we went to try and find a nice area. It turns out that by the river, up near the train station, is very nice and very quiet, so it was nice to go for a Sunday stroll. Conversely, on Monday we went to register with the doctors and that happens to be in a scummy area so we got to see both sides of the place really. I'm still not used to see the general down and outs/loons that you get in the city though. Good job that where we live is generally alright. What with it being an office-y area, the people around use tend to have jobs!

I've just finished book three in the Number 1 Detective Agency series which I'm loving. I'm giving them a bit of a break at the moment though and I've just started 'A Case Of Need' by Michael Crichton, I've missed him.

In other news, I was speaking to Debbie-she's-bi-polar-you-know at work the other day. It's funny what people assume about you for one reason or another and she does have a tendancy to do that quite often. Anyway, she was bemoaning being the only single person in the office (true and quite unusual as offices go. Mind you, you could hardly call my workplace anything but odd) so she was asking if anyone had any friends we could set her up. She did say that there wouldn't be much point in asking me, to which I asked why. She said she'd assume that most of my friends are gay. Hmmm. It's not unfair to assume that I have gay friends, but 'most'? Nah. Not that I have that many friends anyway, but I could never be friends with a pre-dominantly gay group really. I've always liked a mixed of sexualities and gender when it comes to friends. But yeah, it's funny what conclusions most people jump to.

God work is empty! there's no-one here with it being out of term. I do quite like it like this though I have to say. Just because I can go at my own pace, and go on the internet a lot!
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LJ's very quiet at the moment. How dare you all get lives!

So on Saturday we went to Leeds Grand Theatre to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform The Tempest. I had high expectations of it really but it was a little disappointing truth be told. They gave it an African theme which worked really well but they raced through it all and speeding through the beautiful language combined with the heavy accents made it quite difficult to follow. If you didn't know the story beforehand you'd have been screwed. It wasn't all bad though I have to say. The music was good and the stage was great. I did feel a bit bad saying to Liz that it wasn't that great as she'd given us the free tickets! Speaking of Liz, she finished work this week so now Eleanor is now my line manager. She's my fourth manager in two years but it'll be fine being managed by her, we get on really well. Her team is a bunch of loons though so that'll be fun. I gave Liz some Racing Royals as a leaving present as we will miss her. I might get some work done now though as we've pretty much spent the last week talking!

On Saturday after the threatre we didn't do much apart from raid Zavvi/Head for cheap CDs. I got quite a pile from there and after eyeing up the Xbox prices decided to order one when I got home. Hurrah! I've wanted one for ages.

On Sunday we had lunch at Tom Popo which is a bit like Wagamamma but tonnes better. I got 20% student discount which meant it was really cheap and damn tasty. I dare say that we'll be back there quite soon.

Monday included another theatre visit, again for free due to the Night Less Ordinary Scheme (wonderful!). This time we went to see When We Are Married at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and it was brilliant. Clever set, funny play and great acting. Bizarrely it had Les Dennis in it! It was great fun though.

And then on Tuesday afternoon I travelled to Crewe (leaving my Xbox behind which arrived an hour before I left!) which is where I am now. Yesterday I went to see all of my old colleagues at the library.  I spent a lot of the time talking to Sarah and Jackie really. It sounds like the move to Crewe is going to be horrendous though and they're mucking around with hours, so it's nice to know that there are other incompetant managers around. Sarah's going to be doing a library qualification next year so I said she can have all of my old essays! Brandy the library cat no longer comes to the library anymore which is sad. He's getting on a bit and he got into a fight with another cat on campus as hasn't really been back since. No more library cat! But also no more students asking if he's real or stuffed I suppose.

This morning we went to see my Grandma who seems fairly well. She wasn't all that great last week. Other wise I'm just hanging around at home playing on the Wii and reading a lot so it's not all bad. It's funny, I read an short article not long back about how lots of pubs are shutting and I wasn't convinced it was true as Skipton's many pubs seemed to be as busy as ever. But coming back to Crewe it's apparent that this really is the case as quite a few have closed or are closing.
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Lucy's first -

1. Crewe
Well it's no secret that I think that Crewe is a shit hole and for many years I thought that all towns were as bad. Then when I moved away I thought that maybe I'd been a little harsh on the place. No. It's full of narrow-minded people because all of the proper Cheshire types have the common sense to live away from the place, so it's weirdly surrounded by very nice countryside and lovely towns. Nantwich springs to mind. I once told my wonderful colleague Stella once that Crewe was full of people who walked around with faces like smacked arses. She thought this was funny but thought about it for a while before saying, 'You know, you're right actually'. I rest my case. The people there are not pretty. It's weird then that my immediate family, who are lovely, live there. I know that my Mum hates Crewe but my Dad seems to have an attachment to the place and can't abide me slagging it off. I don't know why, possibly a pride thing. The one thing the place does have going for it (or rather was) is that it's left leaning so it does have a working class, northern mentality which is a blessing and a curse. In some ways it's good that people have a Labour affinity but at the same time the problem with the place is that it's never left that behind. Mind you, that might change now that they've gone fucking Tory.

In short, it's just not a place for me really. 

2. Being Gay
I'll try to keep this short but I bloody love being gay. I'm not bound by social constraints of masculinity but I'm not a flaming gay stereotype either. It's quite freeing being gay from a sociological point of view, even if it made my life an absolute misery at school. Although it's still ridiculous that the whole 'coming out' business is still such a issue in today's society. I've never been one for being an 'activist', I've always thought that there was more to be said for living a normal life. I have a happy relationship, I go to work, I don't fuck everything that moves, I find it quite empowering. But the more time moves on I'm starting to think that there's quite an arguement to be made for making an issue of it, especially when others are suffering because of it. I doubt I'll do anything about it, I'm much too introverted but maybe one day soon I'll join a gay group or something. I'll see.

On another note, I'm lucky to live my life fairly abuse free but if I do get any, nowadays its so so weak which is good. A few weeks ago me and James were holding hands near the canal (and I'm not really one for public displays of affection to be honest) but some chav asked us if we couldn't get a girlfriend. Lame, but I just wished I had the wit and intelligence to say, 'I don't need to, there are clearly enough twats in my life as it is' but I don't.

3. Your opinions on Nottingham
I've not seen tonnes of Nottingham but I really like what I've seen. It seems like a nice city and I really like the big square outside the council house (ho ho). I feel quite comfortable there. Which is why I find it really strange that it's the gun capital of the UK. That just doesn't fit somehow!

4. Your best charity shop find
I was thinking about this recently actually. I do remember getting loads of James' Xmas presents from charity shops one year actually! Haha. The one that springs to mind though is the Neighbours board game which is amazing. It's from the 80s and requires you to make up your own scripts. It was £1.87 (!) in a charity shop sale (!!) on Eccleshall Road in Sheffield.

5. Your favourite film.
I often have trouble picking stuff like this but I know what the answer is. It's Amelie without a doubt. I've seen it loads and it never gets boring. It's just everything good about cinema. It's stunningly beautiful, it's clever, it's funny, it's intricate and it's so heartwarming. I'm not a romance film fan but I'll let Amelie off for it because it's done so well. I just wish that I could speak French as everything loses a little in subtitles. I adore it.

and Leeree's

1. What's the best film you've seen recently?

Bolt was good as was Slumdog Millionaire. I haven't seen many other films lately to be honest. Millions was also very good.

2. What made you want to go to Uni in Sheffield. are the hills as bad as I hear they are.
D'y'know, I just fell into Sheffield really! As with everything I did my Uni application at the last minute and picked the six places that I wanted to go based on who did English Lang and Lit closest to home. I didn't even visit anywhere which is quite bad. After I'd applied I did research it a bit more to pick a top option but I was very lucky to get into a good university on a good course. And it worked out ok in the end. And yes, the hills are as bad as you here. I'm sure Stu can tell you all about them anyway!

3. Where's the best place you've been on holiday.
Iceland probably but then I've not really been to many places. I've had a few good holidays.

4. If you could reserect one band, whom would you chose to restore?
My immediate reaction to this is Bis but I got a good amount of material from them. I'd have liked to have heard what Ultrasound would have come up with on their second album and Kenickie could have done at least another one.

5. Can you recomened a good cake or baked item for me to bake?

Oh my God I totally can!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons of choc chips
a splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (the larger the better)

Put dry ingredients in the mug and mix. Add egg and mix again. Pour in milk and oil and mix. Add choc chips and vanilla extract. Mix.

Put the mug in the microwave and cook for three minutes on high. The cake will rise over the top but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, tip on to a plate and devour that bad boy! It does serve two if you like.

Honestly, it's wonderful!

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Well we got back from Crewe yesterday and it feels like we've been away for ages. It was as much as a holiday as a few days in Crewe can be I guess. Still, we got out and about so we weren't stuck in the house. We got there at about 4 o'clock on Monday and we opened our presents which turned out to be a good haul really. Bethany gets the award for the best though I think. She got hers from Poland when she went in November and bought us a cuddly gingerbread man (now named Bobski), a gingerbread man mug and some yummy Polish fudge. Tasty. She was telling us about the apple juice there that's flavoured with mint. As it's Crewe, my Dad could go to the Polish supermarket and so he got some for us to try. It smells like toothpaste but tastes ok surprisingly. Jonathan got me a mini Henry hoover too which is pretty good. James has taken a liking to the scarf my parents gave him too as well as the book they got so I think he was quite pleased.

James always moans that I never take him anywhere in Crewe when we visit (because it's crap obviously) so this time round I vowed to make an effort. So in the evening we went to Lac Thai which I've wanted to go to for ages. It turned out to be a good choice, especially as the shared starter came in a fancy bowl that had a bird made out of vegetables in it.  Now that's service. They do a good curry as it turns out. James seemed to think it was really funny that his pudding was called Choc Ole due to the missing accent. Small things...etc. It was very tasty. James was facing Nantwich Road too which, as you can imagine is a treat, so our meal was occassionally filled with either, 'Christ, look at that fatty', or 'What the hell is she wearing?!' which made for a good time.

On Tuesday we headed ot Chester Zoo. I wanted to take James ever since I went in August as it's the best zoo I've been too. Zoos are still good in the winter although it was so incredibly cold that it was difficult to take many photos as A) you didn't want to take your gloves off and B) whenever you went into a warm area the lens fogged up! There were also a few animals that were indoors that we couldn't see such as the cheetah but this was counteracted by the fact that we saw all of the red pandas and both spectecled bears. In all our years of going to zoos whenever there's a bear or red panda we never get to see it so it was worthwhile. I've mentioned before that my pet hate at zoos is parents telling their kids wrong information. Well I mentioned to James during the day that I was impressed that the parents I'd heard so far had been very accurate with the information. Straight after this I heard one father say that the capybara was 'a giant hamster'. Yeah, just like the okapi is 'like a horse' I suppose'.

However, a good day was had by all. Chester Zoo is notable as you nearly always get to see the reptiles there which can often be hidden at other zoos, so that was great. And the orangutans were in a sociable mood. One had a baby and kept coming up to the windows. Beautiful. I did feel a little sorry for the flamingoes. Apparently they're rarely kept inside except when it's bitterly cold. Well due to the 0C temperature their lake was frozen so they were packed inside. Loads of them! The elephants fare better in the cold. I was talking to the keeper about them. Apparently the little ones still go swimming in winter. Nuts. Oh, and I must mention the two month old baby rhino they have. I hesitate to call him cute as after 20 million years of evolution and survival I think that exotic animals command a little more respect but still, he was adorable, and very energetic. A joy to watch. Oh, and they had a winter fare with ice skating which made the enterance look pretty good.

We got back in good time and Jonathan's girlfriend was round a little later so we ended up playing on the Wii. I got to play on the Wii Fit one day too. I don't make New Year's resolutions but this year I would like to get a little fit but I don't really want to leave the house to do it (!) so a Wii Fit would be good for me! Especially as I learned my weight because of it. Hmm. I'm not sure whether it's good or not to be honest. 

Wednesday featured a trip into the town centre. Glad to see that the Christmas tree with lights thrown at is still there, although I do have to say that the extra four trees they've added with it do look quite good. On the other hand I'm gutted that the awful lights above Martyn Dawes are no more. I have to say that I didn't do well in the sales although I might have been put off by the really loud Big Issue woman. I did get my parent's birthday presents though so all was not lost.  New Year's Eve Evening was spent playing the Here and Now Edition of Monopoly and watching the fireworks on the TV. The London celebrations do look better now the wheels theres. Without it we got the dire on at the Millennium.

New Years Day we did nothing really. My Dad cooked us all a nice meal though and we played two games of Cluedo and one of Pictionary Mania in the afternoon. Good stuff. We also watched Jonathan Creek in the afternoon. I love that show and pretty much everything David Renwick does so two hours of Alan Davies was good news! 

Then yesterday we packed and then visited Nanna Connie and Nanna Oakes. I do worry about Nanna Connie. She getting more and omre confused. I know she's 94 but I think sometimes with elderly relatives it gets to the point where they're not who they know you are so I find visiting them quite hard really. My other Grandma's fine though, even with the brick being thrown through her window. Again. My Dad's side of my family is still as mad as ever. And the drug-addled cousin fiasco continues, which is not something that my Grandma should be putting up with. When he got out of Strangeways earlier in the year he stayed with her and has got a flat since, which has been burnt out now. I mean, for God's sake. And there are kids involved too so it's very messy. Although as my Grandma says, nothing shocks her now.

It's nice to be back I have to say as it seems like we've been away for ages but I did have a good time. Sometimes I miss being in a busy house although I do love where I live. We have'nt done much since. We watched Bugsy Malone today which I enjoyed. It could have be a horrendous Mini-Pops type affair if the kids weren't so good. I liked it. The songs aren't always that memorable but it was funny and quite convincing as a 30s type affair. 
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Right, welln I haven't updated for several reasons. The first being that I went ot visit my family at the weekend so on Friday I headed off to jolly Crewe. It was good to see the family again. Nearly everyone in my family has a DS so we end up having crazy tournaments on Mario Kart, and most amusingly, Brain Training. I don't think I've met anyone who can make me laugh like my family, especially Jonathan. It was a shame that the whole weekend felt a bit rushed really but I suppose it's not long until Xmas so I'll see them a lot then. I don't know why it felt like such a rush. I suppose because I was doing a lot. 

I went to see both my Grandmas. Nanna Oakes was ok considering. She still has a lot of Nanna Curzon's stuff to sort out and she said herself that she was 'up and down'. She seemed ok though. I thought that she'd only looked after Nanna Curzon for about 7 years but it's actually 10 so no wonder she's finding it difficult to re-adjust. It was good to talk to her though. We ended up talking about gay rights which was slightly bizarre. She even told me she knew I was gay before I came out - I do hate it when people say that, it's utterly embarassing. Nobody tells you how embarassing it is being a gay man sometimes.

I also went to see Nanna Connie. She's a bit fed up really but still herself. It's funny how old she looks now though, it's sad, especially because I know how much she hates being old. It doesn't help that you have to shout everything at her because she's going deaf, which causes much amusement when I'm with my Mum around her. I see a lot of myself in her though, especially the ability to laugh at most things. I'm so thankfully that an ability to laugh at life runs through my whole family, I'm so lucky that way.

Anyway, the trip wasn't as depressing as I make out really, it's just circumstances that made it a bit melancholy. On Saturday night me and my Mum went to the theatre. I hadn't been to the Crewe Lyceum for many many years so it was good to finally go. It was a weird experience. Crewe theatre goers are as you expect really, but hey, we were second row so I can't complain too much. We went to see 'The Business of Murder' which only had three characters in and one of them was played by Todd Carthy. But don't let you put you off. I enjoyed it actually. It was a dark clever plot and the other two characters were good in it. Todd Carthy played himself. I'm not sure my Mum was as keen on this one as some of the others she'd seen.

Hmm, what else. Oh yes, my Mum had been to convention thing for Boots types and she came back with a suitcase full of freebies. It's great. I haven't paid for smelly stuff for years! She said that the convention was amazing and she showed me a picture of her, Doreen and a gay man behind bars with some policemen/stripper types. Honestly, you can't take her anywhere. My Dad and sister went footballing on Saturday and my sister actually won a game. Wonders will never cease.

On Sunday I left at 4 and planned to back by half 7 but because the trains were so shit I actually got home at 9.30pm. That's five and a half hours folks. Now I don't maon about the trains as much as I did because I don't do the Crewe-Skipton route so often now but I think it's awful how we all take the shitness of our trains lying down. It's fucking disgraceful.

In other news, I am ill. I fell a bit silly because it basically boils down to it being a cold but it's not your average one. I had a crappy night's sleep on Sunday night because the cold hadn't fully come out yet so I felt rough and had ear ache too. Now my sinuses hurt and I'm all snotty. Lovely. The idea of getting on a train this morning made me want ot die. Liz says that lots of people are off with it though, including Eleanor, so I'm not being a wuss!    

I have spent the day productively finishing the fourth Broken Sword game and listening the the new Roisin Murphy album, very good it is too. I heard Kylie's new song '2 Hearts' last night too for the first time. It's so odd, especially witht the video. It's all a blatant Goldfrapp rip-off though. Speaking of which, they've finished their new album and apparently it's very different to Supernature. I wonder how.

James was making obscene gestures at Deborah Meaden during Dragons' Den last night. That's the last thing I need when I'm ill isn't it? Where is he anyway? He's meant to be coming home from work for dinner. Oh! I forgot to say! The man has got a new job and I'm really pleased for him. He's working for a legal place in Leeds so we'll both be communters now. I'm especially pleased for him because I know how sick he is of his current workplace and this new job sounds like an excellent opportunity.   

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So I’m back at work after a lovely few days off. This wouldn’t be such a big deal had my few days off not been spent in Crewe and therefore the fact that they were lovely is quite a big thing. That’s not to say I got up to that much. I went there straight from work on Wednesday night and then just caught up with my family and played DS all night! I’d not had chance to try out multiplayer modes but since my Mum and sister both have a DS we had a lot of fun. I was in hysterics at the bowling, sad but true.

 

Thursday was my Grandma Oakes’ birthday. She was 71, so me, my Dad and my sister went to visit her. She’d got lots of nice flowers and other little things so I think she was having a day. She thought Skipton was by the sea for some odd reason. Other than that I didn’t get up to much. I managed to get a fair bit of reading done though. I’m reading Kevin Sampson’s ‘Freshers’ which Lucy leant me because she said that the lead character reminded her of me. I see what she means in a bizarre way minus the sex and drugs of course :p He talks about stuff in a very similar way to me, especially when it comes to uni stuff, which is described in a very accurate way. I’m enjoying it although I don’t think it’d be as good if it wasn’t in Sheffield in 2003, the year that I was a fresher myself. They even mention Riverdale Flats (RIP)!

 

On Friday I went to see my other Grandma with my Mum and sister and she seems fairly well. After that I went to visit my old library workmates. Of course it’s the Easter holidays so not many staff were about, which I knew. In fact, there was only Jackie and Stella along with Mazza and Margaret, who was the big library boss of Crewe and Alsager. So I caught up with Jackie and Stella first who both seem good. In a weird twist, it was Wednesday, when I came home, that my old job had gone into the local papers to be advertised. They’ve changed it to be a split site thing and Stella’s applying for it so I hope that she gets it. I chatted to them both while they were on their break so once they left I got to talk to Margaret. I ended up talking to her for ages which I didn’t expect With me thinking lately about how I miss the library, going back made me miss it more so I chatted about this and possibly going back into education and she was really supportive and told me a lot of information. It got me quite geared up about doing it actually and she said that she thought that I’d enjoy the course and that I’d be really good at it. So yeah, the more I learn and think about it, the more I want to do it.

 

Friday night we all went out for a family meal which was a laugh. The carvery was yummy, my Mum had too much wine, y’know, the usual. My brother’s girlfriend was even allowed to come (despite them getting back together recently and my Mum not being that pleased, understandably) but even that was ok. So yeah, it was really nice as we don’t do that kind of thing very often.

 

I came back for Saturday evening, just in time for the new series Doctor Who! Which was excellent, and I do like the new assistant. I’d miss James a lot funnily enough and I felt like I’d been away for a lot longer than I had so I was glad to get back.

 

Yesterday I had half a day off which I was grateful for because I really couldn’t hack doing a full day’s work. I really can’t wait until Easter really, and I get the Tuesday off too so that’s an added bonus. Things have been OfSTEDtastic of late so that’s made things busy and therefore a little interesting but it’s getting to the point where I really don’t like coming in the morning and any time off I get is not enough for me.

 

So this, and the library thing have come to a head in a way. I’d got a prospectus from Leeds Met Uni where there do an MSc/PG Dip in Information Studies (ie, libraries!) MSc would be good as I’d have letters after my name but thesis, arg, hate essays anyway. Anyway, I digress. The course seems interesting and I phoned up yesterday for some more information. You don’t have to be working in a library to do the course which is great and there’s no set deadline for applications, just get it to them ASAP (Margaret was right, they’re quite liberal with things as they’re desperate for people to do it!). They had five people start in January and they have two start dates, September, or January. Part-time you can make it last as long as you want with the norm being two to three years. I did think about doing it full-time but money wise that’s a problem. Damn rent. I think that’s all I found out really. I got emailed some other things which I haven’t read yet. The thing, I came off phone and I couldn’t stop smiling. The thought of properly working in libraries, which is so diverse jobs wise, really excites me. And yes, I can be excited by libraries. As I said to Margaret, I think you have to try a few things before you really know what you want and I know I’ve been a bit anti-further study but you get to a point where you have to bite the bullet and do what you have to do. If I didn’t do it I’d commit a homicide in my current work.

 

The thing is, this has all kind of happened really quickly. It was only the other week that I thought about doing this and now I could actually start it in September if I wanted. As it’d be part time I’d have to work too and I couldn’t (ie, wouldn’t) stay where I am now. So what would I do? It’s stupid doing something else crap for two years. I’d be better off trying to get a library job and these can be a little sparse. Maybe it’d be worth looking over summer for something? I just need someone to tell the best course of action because I actually have no clue as to what to do.

 

September though – I’ll get my student stalkers back if it kills me.

 

As for other news, well there’s not been a lot. I haven’t mentioned music for a bit and I’ve bought quite a lot. The new Laura Veirs album is absolutely wonderful. She gets better with every album. This one has more ideas and more instruments than the other one and she sounds tonnes better with a proper band behind her. I also like that the artwork is similar in style and uses the same font as the last one. Consistency, I like that. Suede, used to do it too. It means your CD’s look good on your shelf :D It’s also good that I can still be wowed by something that isn’t an electro beep. Speaking of – there’s a Bis Best Of out next week. Now for me that shouldn’t be a big thing but there’s a DVD with all their videos on it too. Hoorah! So I’ve ordered that and the new Robyn album. What else have I been listening to? Hmmm, Sarah Nixey still, Stefy, Goldfrapp remixes, Human League, can’t think of much else really.

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