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Journal Archive
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| December 31, 2004: Books! Books! Books! Again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I may or may not have been buying more books. |
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| December 3, 2004: Books! Books! Books! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Okay. Since last Tuesday I have acquired 20 books. I may have a problem. I admit it. I have bought: Join Me, the Danny Wallace book about how he started his acts-of-kindness website. The Clan of The Cave Bear, which is the first part of the Earth's Children series. The Man's mum was trying to make me read about a year ago. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Boy George's autobiography. The Colour of Magic, which is the first Discworld novel. I thought it was about time I tried reading some Terry Pratchett. The Silence of the Lambs, which a bloke from work recommended. A stack of Roald Dahl books -> both Charlie books, Matilda, The Witches and Fantastic Mr Fox, although I noticed this morning I forgot to pick up The BFG! No Logo. Jurassic Park. Also found a copy of Man & Wife (Tony Parsons) for 99p in Sainsbury's. And I had a good rummage through the millions of proof copies and advance reading copies we have at work and grabbed: How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World. How I Paid for College. And another four glorious pieces of randomness that aren't even out yet so I won't bore you with the titles. I have issues. |
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| November 17, 2004: Totems | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Having no spiritual belief of my own, I have been looking into many different belief systems for the past few years. I think the most interesting life philosophy I have read up on so far is Native American belief in totems. It seems to be the only faith that provides guidance to one individual's life and gives them responsibility for what they do with it, without coming with a whole judgmental approach to others' lives. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I do find it intriguing and it appeals to me. However, it isn't my heritage. |
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| November 17, 2004: Hotel Chocolat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| So this new place has opened here in the shopping centre. Right above Thornton's, whose chocolate, let's face it, just isn't that nice. They sell chocolate in slab form. I may have to revise my no-storecards policy, just for this one. |
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| November 16, 2004: More Pet Tales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| On a rather more upsetting note, my cat has died. She was 18 years old, she was missing an eye and an ear, was deaf and looked like a right old wreck. She was a bitch (ironically) who spent most of her life weeing and pooping in random places as a form of retaliation for whatever had upset her that day, terrorising other pets and guests, and biting us in various places. I loved her dearly. I don't seem to have any pictures on my laptop. Damn. |
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| November 15, 2004: Baby MONKEYS!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ha! They're not women this time. Have just spotted a baby sea monkey swimming about in my tank. They're breeding!!! How totally exciting. Miracle of life and all that. I don't understand how people can say they have sea monkeys because they are zero-maintenance, zero-worry pets, I still worry about them, they're live creatures after all, just because they don't have big eyes and don't look cuddly doesn't mean you should neglect them surely? Especially as there is so little to do to keep them happy. They're only like three weeks old though. Bit precocious,no? Check out www.seamonkey.com. Go on. |
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| November 8, 2004: Baby Tales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Why is it that every time I'm home alone I end up watching women giving birth on the Discovery Channel? Is it hormones or something? Tick-tock maybe. It makes me teary, too. How embarassing. |
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| October 5, 2004: Not On The Label Pt II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's not that hard really. You can get most things from that market and it costs about twopence. And it's fun. A farmer's market would be better, but there isn't one around here. Either way, just goes to show that it only takes a little extra effort to do the right thing. |
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| September 20, 2004: Not On The Label | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is a vow: I will from now on phase supermarkets out of my life. I'm not quite sure how yet, but I will figure something out. At the moment I am reading Felicity Lawrence's Not On The Label. A lot of what she exposes is familiar to me already, I think I have just reached the point where it's just NO MORE. The implications of using supermarkets are too great for me to keep ignoring them. They encourage everything I don't want to stand for. I can't say I have much of a plan at the moment though. There is a market here so that's my fruit and veg buying sorted. Now I'll have produce that's actually in season, ripe, locally grown and not sprayed with more chemicals than needed. Some chemicals, but less. And it's a darn sight cheaper, too. There are butchers and fish stalls there too, so I'll investigate that. Not sure what to do about groceries yet. Going organic is another option for things like biscuits and stuff. Although I bake a fair deal anyway. Either way, I now think that the little bit of extra time I'll have to spend on our weekly shop is more than justified if it means my chicken didn't spend a couple of hours in a Dutch cement mixer. Music: Morrissey - You are the Quarry. |
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| July 10, 2004: Monster? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Why is Aileen Wuornos a monster? She had a shitty life with no one loving her and, worse, no one respecting her. She spent years being a piece of meat. People have killed for less than that and not been called monsters. No, not everybody who's had a shitty life ends up killing truckers. Yes, she knew what she was doing and therefore it was right that she should be punished, and, in a system that allows for capital punishment, be executed., I don't believe in death penalty but over there they do. But a monster? If that poor creature is a monster then what do you call Charlie Starkweather? |
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| June 5, 2004: I'm Scary I Guess | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I have just realised that whenever I am home alone and have control of the remote all I seem to watch is a mixture of stuff about serial killers, stuff about babies and SpongeBob Squarepants. Mmmmmm. |
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| May 5, 2004: So Yes, How Clean Then? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Just watched How Clean Is Your House? for the first time. I still think it's a poor excuse of a TV show, but I do understand why it's so popular now. It can't be the cleaning tips, they're about as revolutionary as - well, something not very revolutionary. ("Watch me now, this is really filthy so I'm putting some bleach in this water." Duuuuuuuuh.) But you do sit there absolutely riveted by the state of the places they show. It's like a horror movie: you don't want to look but you just have to look. Revolting. |
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| April 3, 2004: Things That Make Woman Happy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Having to buy a C-cup instead of the B-cup you thought you were when out bra-shopping. Feelgood factor: through the roof. It doesn't work with everything though. The feelgod factor of having to buy a size 12 because a 10 won't fit anymore is virtually nil. In fact it probably is negative. On a scale from 1 to 10 we're talking a good -3 here, even if your self-image only is a teensy bit neurotic - healthy is just not permitted these days. Our tolerance for bigness seems to be highly localized. Music: Per Gessle - Mazarin. |
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| February 14, 2004: Harrow-On-The-Bloody-Steep-Hill. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Went to Harrow today to see the posh part of town. Very pretty and charming. It does say something about our society though that in order to appreciate why and how Lord Byron started to write poetry on top of the hill, in St Mary's Church cemetary, looking out at the view, you need to see past the noise of traffic, the sound from planes from and to Heathrow, the busy roads scarring the landscape down in the valley, the cloud of pollution hanging over everything, the hideous modern mesh fence blocking the view and the rubbish that people have been throwing over it. Just like the town and Harrow School would be gorgeous... without the widened, noisy streets. All of which are modern "improvements" to the town. We really do wreck everything we touch, us civilised folks. Music: Tracy Bonham - The Burdens Of Being Upright. |
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| February 6, 2004: Random CD Purchases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Been buying a lot of random stuff lately. Well, three CDs. That's a lot in five days. In Stockholm I bought Stereo by Sator, and in the one-pound sale at work I got Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning and Grant Lee Buffalo - Jubilee. All three are great. Well, I think. Random buying of CDs rules. |
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| February 5, 2004: Now That's New. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Have decided I'd quite like to go back to Lille. Not permanently (not even with a gun to my head would I do that) but not on a holiday either. Like for a year or something. I don't know why. |
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| January 31, 2004: Holiday, Other Side Of. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Been and back again. Let's sum it up shall we. Keeping in mind I rule here. Monday: leaving tomorrow. V. worried about the snow they've been rabbiting on about on the news for the past week. Have yet to see the first flake of it, but if it does happen we'll be stuck here as the whole country comes to a proverbial grinding halt. Never mind how much notice they'll have got by now. Tuesday: time to leave. Got to the airport stupidly early and hung about being generally very bored. Amazing how quickly you exhaust the entertainment resources of an airport. Got to Stockholm at planned time. V. snowy. Doesn't bother them. Watch and learn, Brits. Hostel has great view. Makes up for the v. noisy French kids who were to keep us awake every bloody night of our stay. Just. Wednesday: great big breakfast. Just had a walkabout until it was time to meet up with Mum. The three of us had coffee and then we went food shopping. Very exciting. Not. Did have a walk around Skeppsholmen, the island where the hostel was. Very nice, lots of boats and snow and other delights. Heard there has been a "blizzard" in the UK. Probably English for three and a half snowflakes. Still, grinding halt. Obviously. Lol. Thursday: saw The Return Of The King (again), then more general walking around, plus went shopping for CDs and stuff. Bought random CD that turned out to be really good. Plus a Kalle Ankas Pocket. Gutted I didn't have enough spending money to get more than one. Oh well. Bumped into old dorm mate from Uppsala on the street. WHAT WERE THE ODDS OF THAT? Honestly. Very spooky. Strange feeling of never having left and all that. Then off to Mum's for dinner. Ooh home-cooked French food. Yummy. Got my guitar back from her place. Friday: went to the Toy Museum, which was okay. Saw a Playmobil boat I used to have. Oh and a Smurf house too. It snowed heavily for most of the day. Saw Mark Levengood on the street as he was walking into a newsagent's. Probably needed fags, poor thing. Still, quite cool. Then went to the vantage point place on S�dermalm, then back to hostel to pack and prepare ourselves mentally for the half-six wake-up call next morning. Saturday: going home. Exhausted from early morning plus lack of sleep due to loud Froggies. Quite looking forward to being back home. Sunday: popped into work to double-check rota for next week and pick up payslip. Got given a hefty tax refund. There are worse things to come home to. Music: Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning |
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| January 24, 2004: Bridget Jones Syndrome. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Have treated myself to an aromatic oil burner. How v. urban of me. Have got Exotic Home Fragrance from The Body Shop to go with it. It smells absolutely gorgeous. Honest. |
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| January 23, 2004: More Ranting. This Is My Website, So I get To. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I don't think I like this town. It's a bit like Lille in the end, grim, dirty and charmless apart from a few landmarks. Like the park. The park is nice enough, really. It doesn't have the appeal of being home though. I like Lille a lot, because it's where I was born, and it's the town that gave me my freedom. Where I first lived on my own, started making my own choices, understood that the world wouldn't come to an end if I had my hair cut and my mum didn't like it and that she probably didn't care half as much as I thought she did anyway. Children don't have a personality. Lille is where I grew one. And I would still be profoundly neurotic without its influence. It sheltered me from a lot of the shit once it had hit the fan, too. Hail the capital of Flanders. And Uppsala. Nothing is like Uppsala. Uppsala is where I'd always wanted to be and I worked so hard for it. And it's where I started sorting my life out and acting like a grown-up. Like trying to make a living. I'll always want to go back and I'll always have tears in my eyes every time I think about the place. It was my dream and I gave it up. I probably shouldn't think of myself as a wuss really, having achieved that and then given it up. But here. I'm just here because the Man is. Which is good enough most of the time, but I don't even have the added incentive of, Oh I love it here because the Man does and I love the Man. Because let's face it, he doesn't sell the place well. Music: T-Rex - Electric Warrior |
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| January 13, 2004: AOL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AOL has not been working since before Christmas. Have tried to solve the problem myself. Didn't work. Have called the helpline. Not helpful. Still not working. Still getting charged for a service I haven't been able to use since Dec 20 (ish). Not impressed. |
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