Sarah Rooftops

Eating Something I Hadn't Tried Before

2012-03-12T08:48:00.000Z

Some things I ate for the first time this week:

Hoi-sin pizza (homemade). With fake duck, spring onions and plum sauce on one side, hoi-sin sauce on the other. It was very salty. I'd eat it again.
Crispy seaweed. Which tasted of crispiness. Nothing but crispiness. It was okay.
Sweet potato wedges. Steve and I had lunch at Musa on Wednesday. Everything was delicious.

This week, let's set our cameras to black and white and find a reason to use them.

Why Don't You...? offers you a weekly prompt of something fun and/or fulfilling to do. The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here and previous posts here.

The Week I've Had (11th March 2012)

2012-03-11T19:46:00.000Z

Steve and I have been on holiday all week; it's been lovely and relaxing featuring lunches out, trips to the cinema and eyeing up ginger rabbits in the pet store (bet the cats would love us to bring one home...). Here's my week in pictures:

Lunch at Kilau

Polly not letting my raised knees stop her from leeching my body heat / Elle doodling at the pub quiz

Cutting my own hair

Visit to Steve's parents

Surprise parcel from my mum / I fell in the bath; I must be old after all

Morning hair

Here are some people being awesome around the internet:

By Women, For Women, For Men? Thanks to Nova for the link to this piece about who actually cares whether a woman has clumpy mascara.
Another from Nova - this article asks if the real problem with misogynist song lyrics is not that they are sung but that they are willingly listened to.
I love this post about not finding out the gender of a baby until it's born. It echoes my (entirely theoretical) sentiments exactly.
Hila talks about historical images being used out of context. A Holocaust memorial as interior decor inspiration? Hmm.
And on a lighter, vintage clothing related note, this awesome clothes swap has had me eyeing pictures of Brit bloggers, wondering if we've got the same measurements.
I am loving all of Suzy's photos from her trip to Scotland, but obviously the Aberdeen ones are my favourites. See me babbling in the comments section!

And, finally, Steve and I are prancing around Edinburgh this weekend. Possibly literally. I expect there'll be pictures on our return.

Peterhead

2012-03-09T12:09:00.002Z

Yesterday, Steve and I went to visit his parents in Peterhead. We'll have been together three years later this month and I've met his parents loads of times... but only ever in Aberdeen. Going to an unfamiliar town was an adventure.

Alas, we were later than planned, so there was no time to explore; these are the few pictures I snapped whilst scurrying along, clutching my camera in one frozen hand and crying, "I am walking fast! I am walking fast!"

I was particularly taken by some of the old signage:

How to Create Mouseovers

2012-03-07T17:14:00.000Z

Since creating my new navigation buttons (see up there? Top right?), I've had a few people ask me how to do mouseovers (or "rollovers"). It's a super-easy bit of HTML, so I thought I'd show you how.

The first thing you need to do is create your image files - you need: the main image; the image you want to show when the mouse is hovering over it; and you can even create a third image for when the mouse is removed, if you like. Make sure they're the same size as each other, then upload them to Flickr or Photobox or wherever you normally host your pictures.

Then use this HTML to create the mouseover:

<img src="URL for the main image" onmouseover="this.src='URL for image you want to show when the mouse is hovering over it'" onmouseout="this.src='URL for image you want to show when the mouse moves off '" />

Steve's desk buddies helped me to make this example:

If you want to use your mouseover image as a link, you simply add in the link code before and after as follows:

<a href="URL you are linking to"><img src="URL for the main image" onmouseover="this.src='URL for image you want to show when the mouse is hovering over it'" onmouseout="this.src='URL for image you want to show when the mouse moves off '" /></a>

Blogger - and, as far as I know, all the other major blog hosts - let you post HTML into a sidebar widget.

You can also use it within posts. In Blogger, if you enter HTML into the Compose editor it will just show the text, but if you enter it into the HTML editor it works perfectly:

If you're not used to looking at code, the HTML editor might initially looked garbled and intimidating. Take a deep breath and ignore anything in pointy brackets; the text of your post is all still there in the same order in which you typed it. Just find the appropriate place and enter your mouseover code.

**The mouseover will not work in Preview; it only works on the live site so don't freak out when you wiggle your mouse about and nothing happens!**

How to be a Better Person

2012-03-06T17:17:00.000Z

I just finished reading How to be a Better Person by Seb Hunter. It follows Seb's adventures in volunteering and - as someone who promotes volunteering for a living - I was really quite excited to read it.

But I found the first couple of chapters disappointing.

In fact, the first couple of chapters could put a person off volunteering altogether - Seb is bullied by a colleague in a charity shop; is left to teach older people about computers without any training; develops zero rapport with the old ladies he's bussing about every Thursday; and discovers that one of the older people who pick up litter in his area is *gasp* a Tory candidate. He really wasn't selling the whole working for the good of it thing.

But things pick up once he stops trying to get along with the over 50s.

In fact, things pick up once Seb stops doing the roles people see as easy and starts choosing roles which suit him. His posts working with the homeless and with immigrants are difficult and completely devoid of glamour, but he shows enormous empathy for the clients and gets a lot of satisfaction from the work. And he really does come across as a "better person" as the book goes on, making less jokes at the expense of others and more - many more - about his own failings; he seems less desperate to impress and more proud of his own achievements.

I think it's difficult to write about volunteering without sounding preachy but Seb manages it.

And I'm not going to preach to you now. I don't volunteer every week. I don't even volunteer every month. In fact, I only volunteer a handful of times a year. So I'm not going to tell you you're obliged to give something back.

But I am curious to hear your own opinions and experiences. Do you volunteer? Why/why not? And, if you do, how does it make you feel?

Putting the Cheap Chocolate Down

2012-03-05T08:19:00.000Z

...and Choosing the Good Stuff Instead

Full disclosure: I've never been a big chocolate fan. I mean, it's nice enough. If it's there, I'll eat it. But I never buy the stuff. And when I do, it's usually the fancy dark kind from the health food shop, anyway. So not buying a cheap bar from the corner shop wasn't going to be much of a challenge for me.

And there wasn't much point going out and buying any new dark chocolate when there were already a couple of big bars of it sitting in the cupboard. They've been there since December.

But then Steve struck gold. Steve found this in Oddbins:

And let me tell you: chocolate wine is gooooood!

This week, let's eat something we haven't tried before.

For the Brits amongst you, I am a big fan of Graze boxes - boxes of healthy snacks delivered right to your door. When I first signed up, I only vetoed boxes with olives in them; everything else was worth at least one try and there are quite a few things I've been surprised to find that I like. If you click on this link you'll get your first box free (and I'll get £1 to donate to charity) and, if you decide it's not for you, it just takes a couple of clicks to cancel. I don't want to give you the hard sell - I just genuinely love getting a little box of snacks on a Monday morning!

We're back to free, non-stomach-related ideas from next week.

Why Don't You...? offers you a weekly prompt of something fun and/or fulfilling to do. The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here and previous posts here.

The Week I've Had (4th March 2012)

2012-03-04T19:30:00.000Z

Loving that Lola and I were the only people under retirement age watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but also the only people who had to stretch and uncrick ourselves at the end. Working for a living is not good for our health!
Moving all the blogs I was following with Friend Connect over to Reader instead; if I've vanished from your list of followers, that is why - my blog crush on you remains strong!
Incidentally, my own Friend Connect gadget was mistakenly removed this week when GFC was axed for non-Blogger blogs. *sigh* If you've found your way here, anyway, please do re-follow in one way or another.
Being convinced that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all Friday. Convinced.
Being given a slice of the world's most lurid Battenberg cake and a callous sponge by a colleague. They were in no way related, but were both from the same person and within the space of ten minutes.
Being surprised by how much I liked Source Code. It was cleverer than I had thought it would be.
Reading a very interesting article about Pinterest, the law and you. Scary stuff. For the record, you can pin my work as much as you like, provided it's credited back to me. But please do let me know - I like to be told that I'm special.
On that note, I enjoyed Stop Writing on the Internet to Make People Love You.
I also loved Rebecca's answer to the question, "What's Your Proudest Achievement?"
And Steve and I have just got home from a weekend of gallivanting around Falkirk, celebrating a friend's 30th birthday. There was Chinese, bowling, drinks, Kinect and a bit of a nap on the train back home.
I hope your week's been awesome.

Being Such a Girl

2012-03-02T12:36:00.000Z

“I’ve got work in the morning,” one woman said to another. “I’m going home to bed.”

“Oh, come out for a few!” her friend replied. “Don’t be such a girl!”

* * *

I hadn’t heard anybody use the phrase “Don’t be such a girl” since I was a teenager, but now it seems to be cropping up all around me. And the worst of it is: girls are the ones who are saying it.

Girls are using the word “girl” as interchangeable with “killjoy” and “coward”.

Which doesn't match up with my own experiences at all. My own experiences are that courage and timidity, rowdiness and common sense all know no gender boundaries.

But even supposing they did, since when were heavy drinking and extreme sports the only acceptable way to have a good time? What's wrong with a candlelit bubble bath, tea and cake with friends, or curling up in front of a Ryan Reynolds movie for no better reason than you think he's kind of hot? One of the joys of being a girl is that we're supposed to be able to revel in pampering ourselves without anybody treating us like a great big disappointment.

“Lighten up,” is the invariable response when I bristle. But “lighten up” is not a reasoned argument; “lighten up”, like “don’t be such a girl”, is an attempt to make somebody feel like a spoilsport for not sharing your idea of a good time. It doesn't justify the statement and it’s going to take a much better explanation than that before I join in with the joke.

There are times when I like going out for drinks, dancing the night away, trying a scary new activity just for kicks. There are times I really don't. There are times when the thought of a crowded, sticky bar, superloud music or optional physical exertion are my idea of hell. Honestly, these days, the times when I don't fancy that stuff outweigh the times when I do. And when I don't feel like going out to play, I don't expect to have my natural born gender used an insult against me.

A clever choice of words is not the same as a smart selection of subject matter. Jokes which single out any one group of people and imply that they are somehow not as good as the rest of the world are simply not witty, no matter how jovial the tone of delivery.

And using them against a group which you yourself belong to seems to defy all logic. Surely you can fit in with the cool kids without abandoning your gender identity?

And, frankly, if hanging out with the cool kids does mean turning your back on your gender, I’d rather be one of the disappointing, spoilsport, well rested “girls”.

The Final Three Things February of 2012

2012-02-29T21:28:00.000Z

Lots and lots of friendly strangers (sales assistants, cinema ushers, people reaching doors at the same time as me...).
Going to the cinema with Lola.
Honeycomb bunnies from Steve.

Words and Pictures, February 2012

2012-02-29T20:55:00.000Z

Minxy Vintage - Kelly Doust
A big new hardback book about finding and refashioning vintage clothes. There are some good ideas in here, though I think it suffers from too many words and not enough pictures. Nice to flick through, though.

101 Fabric by Fabric Ways to Sew a Metre - Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins
A lovely big book of what seem like fairly simple things to sew with very little fabric. A lot of the projects are kids' toys or clothes which I expect I'll be whipping up as gifts, but there are some nice bags and cushions and things as well.

A Little History of the World - E.H. Gombrich
This went on my Amazon wishlist after I read Rebecca's review of it. Her review is much better written and more informative than mine. My review is: "Huh, interesting. Hasn't there been a lot of fighting throughout history?! Originally written for kids so not as hard going as it looks."

The Crimson Rooms - Katharine McMahon
It took a couple of chapters before I got into this - the writing is quite formal for the first person, but it makes sense in context; I'm glad I persevered because the story was great. The Crimson Rooms is about one of the UK's first female lawyers who is handling her first case (which is not easy when nobody takes women seriously), grieving for a brother who was killed in World War I, and dealing with the unexpected arrival of a woman he got pregnant and her child. It's a celebration of women shaping their own lives, a heartbreaking look at the effect the war had on many of the men who fought in it, and it spills the beans about how the UK dealt with its orphaned children. Fascinating.

Hope Dies Last: Lessons in Love - Eleni Zoe
Eleni's blog is a new favourite and her book is like a condensed version of it. It's a short read - it took me about two hours from start to finish - but her tales of dating and singledom made me laugh.

Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov
Set in post-war Ukraine, this odd little book follows Viktor as he takes on a job writing obituaries for people who are not yet dead. Viktor has a pet penguin called Misha (apparently, when the zoo could no longer afford to care for its smaller animals, they really were rehomed with ordinary people) and the pair of them have a series of bizarre and often sinister experiences. I'm not sure if this was purposely written in a Kafka-esque style or if it was just the translation which turned the tone so deadpan, but it has a really disconnected, unsettling feel to it. Curious and worth a read.

The Artist
Again. Because my mum wanted to see it. But I still loved it second time around. The surface level jokes had a bit less impact but I got so many more of the film references and clever links.

War Horse
There was a lot I didn't like about this film (overly long; dodgy accents; sound effects which didn't synch up with the action...) but it was also an unflinching portrayal of the horrors of World War I, it didn't try to claim that either side was more or less human than the other, and I'll admit there were tears rolling down my cheeks at two different points. I wouldn't actively recommend it, but if there's nothing else showing it does what you'd expect of a Spielberg movie (i.e. it makes you cry).

Young Adult
I wrote about Young Adult here; I'm still undecided what I made of it.

Chronicle
This was not what I was expecting at all. From the trailer, I was expecting another Jumper-esque disappointment, but a friend was adamant I would like it so I decided to give it a try. She was right. It turns out to be about three high school boys who find some weird underground glowy thing which gives them telekinetic powers; one of them is a geek with an alcoholic father and terminally ill mother and the other two are popular kids. You know who you're supposed to like and not like here, right? But this isn't a straightforward good guys versus bad guys film - it's an interesting look at friendship, power, powerlessness and poverty. A pleasant surprise.

The Woman in Black
Daniel Radcliffe plays a widower who is sent to a creepy old mansion in the middle of a marsh to sort out a dead woman's paperwork. It isn't long before he starts to wonder if the place might be haunted. The guy sitting next to me through this film cracked his knuckles every time he got nervous; he cracked his knuckles a lot. Steve (not the knuckle cracker) and I both found this film genuinely tense and unsettling.

The Muppets
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed The Muppets. But I did go to see it at the cinema more than once...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
A handful of older Brits retire to an Indian hotel. They each have their own reasons and their own dilemmas to deal with. This wasn't as funny as I was expecting (though it did have some laugh out loud moments), but it was a lovely, unpredictable film and really drew me into caring about the characters. Even the seemingly unpleasant ones.

Three Things Twenty-Eighth of February

2012-02-28T23:44:00.002Z

Unseasonable warmth. It almost feels like spring.
Speed typing. Does anyone else get pleasure from their 85wpm typing speed? I love the clickety clack clack of my fingers transcribing interviews.
And compliments on my interview technique. Conducting, not attending. I'm rubbish at being on the receiving end, but I'm good at encouraging people to talk.

Elevenses

2012-02-28T18:18:00.001Z

Elise and Caitlin have both tagged me into this game. A chance to talk about myself? And it's not a job interview? Count me in!

The Rules

1) You must post 11 random things about yourself;
2) Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post;
3) Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer;
4) Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them;
5) No stuff about 'you're tagged if you're reading this' - legitimately tag people.

Hmm, I think I might ignore those last two bits; I don't want anyone to feel obliged to do this just because I've tagged them. That said, I'm particularly curious to hear what Lola, Alistair, Elinor, Suzy, Emma, Emma, Rebecca and YOU have to say.

Honestly YOU. More and more people keep popping into my head; there's a good chance you're one of them. Or, at least, that you should be.

Now, here goes:

11 Random Things About Me

1. I start to panic if I have less than ten books queued/stacked up to read.
2. I get cravings for coconut.
3. I left home at sixteen because my mum got a dog and it chewed up my camera.
4. I was Aberdeen's first female cinema projectionist since World War II.
5. I'm secretly a brunette.
6. In my head, kitchens are still called "kitch rooms" because my sister and I thought that made more sense.
7. I was a mathlete. Though that's not what they're referred to as in Scotland (I forget what it was... "Maths Challenge Participant" or something equally dramatic).
8. I would like to be a stand up comedian; I am constantly in awe of people who can tell a joke with perfect timing and without tripping over their words.
9. I'm allergic to chemical perfumes and once developed pneumonia from sharing an office with a plug in air freshener.
10. I doodle cats, giraffes and flowers.
11. I can neither drive nor ride a bike but I can walk super fast.

Elise's Questions
1 - What is the best job you've ever had?
I left this question till last because it's the hardest. I loved the slackness of video shops, the know how of projection, the riotous laughter of the "fashion and passion" shop, and the creativity of my current job. Oh, and the salary of my time in the oil industry! I really don't know which one to choose. I wish I could bung all of those elements together into one perfect career.

2 - Your favourite item of clothing?
My emerald green vintage ballgown. I got it for £5 on eBay and it still has a 1930s handwritten dry cleaning label attached - "Very important customer - special care" - and I've never had a reason to wear it. One day... one day!

3 - If you could be anywhere, where would you be? (in life or location)
I'm in no rush to reach goals in life, so I'll go for location... and say... somewhere warm? Maybe a villa in the South of France. I'm missing having the sun on my shoulders.

4 - Something you've always wanted but never got?
A three book deal with a publisher! And turquoise shoes.

5 - The first movie you saw at the cinema?
Apparently it was E.T., but I was just a baby and don't remember. I remember watching the Care Bears and My Little Pony films, though...

6 - Your top played song on iTunes?
I don't have iTunes. In fact, I'm shamefully out of the habit of listening to music. But my office mate and I do sing "Doll on a Music Box" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang so often that it's become a learned response - I turn to my computer at work and my brain automatically goes, "What do you see... You people gazing at me...?" and I start jerking my arms about music box style and twirling on my chair.

7 - The most practical/useful thing you own?
Heaters.

8 - Would you rather be taller or shorter (if you HAD to choose!)?
I would be half an inch taller because then I'd be tall enough to be a model. Not that I would WANT to be a model. It would just be nice to have a back up if this whole looking-normal-and-working-in-an-office thing doesn't pay off, y'know?

9 - Your longest standing hobby?
Reading and writing. My parents had to stop having newspapers delivered when I was a toddler because I was copying out lurid headlines.

10 - If you had an hour to kill what would you do?
I'd like to say I'd go for a walk or actually make something with all that fabric I've got piled up... but I'd probably sprawl on the sofa with a cup of tea, a cat and a book.

11 - The best thing that's happened to you so far this year?
Um... I finally found a pair of brown kneehigh boots which would zip up over my not-so-enormous calves. Seriously. I've been looking for YEARS.

Caitlin's Questions

1. If you had a choice between a year in Europe, all expenses paid plus a $2000/month stipend, or ten minutes on the moon, which would you choose and why?
The year in Europe because I like to savour things; ten minutes is just too short, no matter how spectacular the view.

2. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
I'm not sure... probably doing things right, because I'm not too scared of taking the wrong turn in life but I am scared of messing up things which might impact on other people.

3. If you were someone else, would you be friends with you? Why or why not?
Well, I guess that depends who I was, but I do think I'm a good friend to have - I can listen without judging; I can keep a secret; I'm usually up for a trip to the cinema.

4. Have you ever read a book that totally changed your perspective or beliefs? What book was it if so?
Not one book by itself, but my dad had a lot of books like The Tao of Pooh and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and the Tao Te Ching and I read them all when I was about ten, eleven years old. My parents were already bringing me up to see both sides and not to get too hung up on possessions and so on, but I think those books did clarify a lot of things for me and helped to shape some of my better attitudes.

5. What would you do differently if you knew no one was judging you?
I'd eat nothing but a stick of garlic bread for dinner about four times a week.

6. At long last, someone invents "the dream VCR." This machine allows you to tape an entire evening's worth of your own dreams and watch them. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device of you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don't agree to this, you can't use the dream VCR. Would you still do this?
I have no particular objection to my friends and family seeing my dreams but, honestly, they're not that interesting. I'm not sure I'd want to re-run them, never mind inflicting them on anybody else.

7. If you could only watch one television show for the rest of your life (all seasons, all episodes) what would it be?
If E4 [UK TV channel] have their way, it will be How I Met Your Mother. That'll do, I guess.

8. If you could acquire any talent in the world instantly, without actually working at it, what would it be?
I saw the trailer for the latest Street Dance movie last week and I want to be able to do that. I don't want to watch the film. I want to be able to do super fast, cool dancing where guys chuck me in the air and I land in impressive, interesting ways. Though, obviously, Steve would also have to magically acquire street dancing talent, too.

9. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
If I could take all of my friends with me, Edinburgh. Or I like the sound of New York - no idea whether I'd like it in real life or not. If I can't take my friends, I'll just stay here, walking distance from the majority of them.

10. What celebrity would you most like to have dinner with?
I'm quite scared of meeting celebrities - what if they turn out to be complete knobs and it shatters my illusions? I even hate watching the extras on DVDs because so many of the stars turn out to be a lot less funny and clever when they're not scripted. I realise that didn't answer the question.

11. What are your top five favorite songs?
I'd Rather Dance With You - Kings of Convenience
Pictures of You - The Cure
Being Around - The Lemonheads
Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly
Split Screen - Saint Etienne
Though I might give you a completely different list tomorrow.

My Questions for YOU

1. Can you recommend me a good book?
2. What is one thing you have never done that you would like to try?
3. Do you have any collections?
4. What do you value most in a friend?
5. What was the last film you saw at the cinema and was it any good?
6. Would you rather donate your time or your money?
7. What was the first gig you ever went to?
8. What is your proudest achievement?
9. Do you have any superstitions?
10. What is the point of celery?
11. What do you like best about yourself?

Three Things Twenty-Seventh of February

2012-02-27T21:24:00.000Z

Spying snowdrops and crocuses all over the city.
The way the low sun was lighting up the flat when I got home from work.
Dozing on the sofa with Polly.

With just a few days to go, I've found Three Things February a lot easier than previous attempts - perhaps it really has changed my way of thinking?!

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to getting back into my usual blogging routine in March. I'm also looking forward to a week off work, trips to Falkirk and Edinburgh, a 30th birthday party, meeting a new baby, a comedy show and Steve's and my third anniversary.

What are you looking forward to next month?

Trying a New Cafe or Shop

2012-02-27T08:36:00.000Z

This is Cafe 52 on The Green. It isn't completely new to me; I ate there once before - about ten years ago - and it was nice but very expensive. I guess the prices haven't kept up with inflation because these days it's cheaper than the pub... and the food's a lot more interesting!

A bunch of us met up for Sunday brunch there this week and were super-impressed by our meals. My (£5!) frittata was probably the least interesting but my (£2.50!) dessert of butterscotch meringue with "boozy" bananas was something special.

You'd need a reservation, mind. We saw an awful lot of people turned away.

Cafe 52 was Lola's idea, as is this week's suggestion:

This week, let's put the cheap chocolate down and buy the good stuff instead.

Although if you've given up chocolate for lent, feel free to substitute with tea or coffee or crisps or something...!

Why Don't You...? offers you a weekly prompt of something fun and/or fulfilling to do. The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here and previous posts here.

Three Things Twenty-Sixth of February

2012-02-26T20:57:00.000Z

Super-vibrant freshly dyed gingerness.
A lovely lunch with friends.
Curling up with two cats and a magazine.

Three Things 24th and 25th of February

2012-02-25T16:47:00.000Z

Introducing our friend Martin to the joys of New Girl.
Drunkenly critiquing music videos.
Watching the boys play "Monster Mix Up" (Guess Who? with monsters instead of people).

and today:

Martin ended up staying over last night, so we all went for a pub brunch this morning.
Going for a big walk in the sunshine.
A quiet afternoon of catching up on my [blog] reading.

The plan for this evening is to watch a bunch of films and to eat something which requires almost no cooking. It feels like Sunday night so tomorrow is going to come as a nice surprise.

How's your weekend shaping up?

I can't fit a Sarah into a Pigeon Hole

2012-02-24T17:24:00.000Z

For a while now I've been meaning to write about why I'm a non-niche blogger. I don't focus on clothes, crafts or feminist theory - but I don't rule any of those topics out. My content ambles all over the place and I thought I'd talk about why that's the case.

But it was February which finally brought it into focus for me.

Here's a secret about February for me: for the first few weeks of February I lose my will to write. I'm just not into it. I can't string sentences together in witty ways, article ideas no longer pop into my head, and I don't even mind because in February I don't want to do much of anything.

February is a really busy month at my work, and I prefer to keep my free time free.

As a result, my usual blog ramblings dry up. And some of you won't even miss them. Some of you come here to see pictures of cats and cakes and places I've visited, and you skim read my lengthier posts.

My usual blog ramblings are replaced by short, daily Three Things February posts and super-quick crafts. Some of you seem to quite like that. Some of you really, really don't.

And that's fine. If you've been reading my blog for a while, I hope you're prepared to weather a few unfocused weeks. Because you know things will be back to normal soon.

The thing with having a non-niche blog is that it changes with my moods. If I'm feeling talkative, you'll get long, wordy posts. If I'm feeling crafty, you'll get a run of pretty things I've made. If I'm doing a feel good project, it's going to be right there in front of you, every time you come to visit.

I admire the dedication of people who produce niche blogs. I admire anyone who can be bothered to style and photograph outfits three times a week or to come up with new crafts every other day or to hunt out home decor ideas seven days a week. But it doesn't sound much fun to me to stick to such rigid schedules; what starts out as a passion or a bit of a laugh can quickly become a chore when it's wedged into a strictly worked timetable.

I only blog what feels enjoyable to me at the time.

Does that mean less people read my blog? Possibly. Does it limit my chances of being quoted in the national press? Most likely. Does it mean I get offered less freebies? Definitely. And those I do get offered are baffling (which bit of my blog suggests that I'll advertise diet pills?).

We all have a range of hobbies and interests. Presumably, if you're a regular visitor here, you share one or two of mine, but the chances are you don't share them all. That's fine. I probably don't share all of yours. I don't share all of the interests of all of the bloggers I follow. I don't even share all of the interests of all of my friends. Sometimes it's interesting to hear about something I'm unfamiliar with; sometimes I simply skip past those posts. I assume that you'll do the same.

I'm not here for the freebies (though some new winter boots would be welcomed. And maybe a house). I'm not here to find my fortune or fame (though if anyone wants to give me a lucrative writing job, I'm open to offers). I'm here because I like to string words together (most of the time!) and I like having a place to put my non-drunken photos and I like to compulsively catalogue my sewing/movie watching/reading. And it's always a pleasant surprise to me how many people choose to follow along.

...that said, if there's anything you think this blog is missing, please do let me know! I'm open to all (PG) suggestions!

Three Things Twenty-Third of February

2012-02-23T23:12:00.003Z

Walking through a part of town which I don't often visit. And gazing at all the interesting/pretty buildings.
Curry and a catch up with an old friend.
And her lovely, friendly, chocolate coloured cats.

Three Things Twenty-Second of February

2012-02-22T22:24:00.002Z

Making plans with Lola.
Singing on the way up the road with Steve. Life's a happy song when there's someone by my side to sing along (Steve's frustration at having something so *non-metal* stuck in his head also made me laugh).
Two Jason Segel movies in a row.

Three Things Twenty-First of February

2012-02-21T23:27:00.001Z

Smiley faces on the way to work.
Looking at old photos with a colleague. Hurrah for Flickr! Without it, how would my workmates know what I looked like with jet black hair?!
Doodling through the pub quiz. Does Not Know Answers Cat. Does Not Know Answers Giraffe. Does Not Know Answers Butterfly...

Bedroom Positions (and it's not what you're thinking)

2012-02-21T17:10:00.000Z

Recently, I was reading one of those articles about what the positions you and your partner sleep in say about your relationship. I couldn't help myself - it was there on my screen; don't judge.

Anyway, the article had bad news for me.

Steve and I usually fall asleep facing each other. Because apparently we are both needy and paranoid. If we weren't pointing our closed eyes at one another, we think, who knows what the other might get up to? Sneaking off for no-good shenanigans with strangers? Consuming illicit substances? Secretly watching Don't Tell the Bride? Anything could happen.

And it gets worse.

As the night goes on, we roll over until our backs are pressed together. Sleeping back to back is the death knell for any relationship, you know. We're bickering in our sleep. We're probably failing to forgive one another for the misbehaviours we were imagining earlier. We're never going to let these grudges go.

But don't you go getting all smug on me, because I can assure you that the positions you and your partner sleep in are no better.

Do you spoon your partner? Apparently you're possessive and controlling.

Does your partner spoon you? Childish and dependant.

Do you sleep on your backs? Cocky.

On your fronts? Can't be trusted.

Do you sleep in that way only movie characters do - you know, with the guy's arm slung around the girl's shoulders and her head snuggled up on his chest? You're going to get a sore neck. And a cold shoulder. And bore all your workmates silly complaining about them both the next day.

According to this article, there is no good way to share a bed. But I was surprised to learn that there are so many bad ways. Does body language really speak volumes about your relationship in your sleep? Really?

My dreams disagree. Not to disappoint the poor man, but Steve doesn't pop up in my dreams too often. And I think that's because there's nothing about our relationship which unsettles me. He will occasionally feature alongside me on some ridiculous dragon-filled adventure, but my sleeping mind doesn't ever focus on whether or not he really likes me. Of course he does! He wouldn't put up with all my demands for tea and biscuits if he didn't.

My dreams usually have more to do with the last film I saw than real life, but when they are based in the real world they're to do with stressful days at work, long journeys, texts from my sister and my desire for a new pair of winter boots.

And so is my sleepy body language.

Am I sleeping on my left? That's me twisting my body back into shape after a day at my desk.

Am I sleeping on my right? That's because there's a cat hogging the middle of the bed.

Am I on my back? I'm feeling relaxed.

Am I on my front? No! How do people do that? How do they breathe? Doesn't their neck get sore?

Am I curled up a little tighter than usual? Yeah, I've got cramps or my feet are cold or I've had such a bad day I've regressed into the foetal position.

And if I'm facing Steve, it's not because I'm scared he's going to run off in the middle of the night, it's because I've drifted off in the middle of some secret, whispered, giggling conversation we've been having after dark. Possibly about how ridiculous the suggestion is that the position that we're lying in proves that our relationship's doomed.

Three Things Twentieth of February

2012-02-20T21:34:00.003Z

Caterpillar cake.
Sunset sunlight highlighting all the tall buildings.
Gizmo running yelping to see me when I got home from work.

You know, for a little while now I've been self-conscious about how many of my three things centre around the cats.

The first time I did Three Things I was travelling a long way to and from work and I was getting to smile at huge chunks of ice floating in rivers and tiny little flowers peeking up in fields and amazing sunsets blazing over the city.

The second time I did Three Things I had a really busy month planned and could list jokes with friends and trips out of town and exploring new places.

But this time my life's pretty samey. It's samey in a nice way. But it's samey all the same.

And so my three things are a little bit repetitive.

But I've decided to stop feeling embarrassed about that. I've decided just to feel lucky. My friends and Steve and my workmates and my cats come up time and time again. But having people - and animals - I care about and who make me smile rates above magnificent sights and exciting new places any day.

Playing a Board Game

2012-02-20T08:45:00.000Z

I picked the same four letters out of the Scrabble bag twice:

This week, let's try a new cafe or shop.

Why Don't You...? offers you a weekly prompt of something fun and/or fulfilling to do. The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here and previous posts here.

Three Things Nineteenth of February

2012-02-19T22:51:00.001Z

Waking up to a world of shiny white snow.
An Amazon spending spree. I panic if I have less than ten books in my To Read pile. I don't need to worry for a while...!
Dinner with friends. In particular, their cat attaching himself to Steve's feet and forcibly washing them. Cute!

Gratuitous Cat Pictures

2012-02-19T17:16:00.000Z

And the outtakes:

Three Things Eighteenth of February

2012-02-18T23:39:00.001Z

Lying on the bed in the sunshine.
Steve's mum watching him play with Polly.
Avoiding the snow. It stopped long enough for us to go out for dinner and to get home afterwards.

Three Things Seventeenth of February

2012-02-17T23:24:00.001Z

Gazing out the window of a bus. And into the windows of strangers' homes.
Steve bringing home ginger tea for me.
Watching Freaks and Geeks.

21 Films for a Rainy Afternoon

2012-02-17T13:06:00.000Z

These are my go to movies for dreich, drizzly afternoons when I want nothing more than to curl up with a hot drink and immerse myself in fantasy lands. A mixture of feelgood movies and "What do you mean you've never seen-?" classics.

(click on the titles to read more about them)

I'm starting with the much overlooked Last Night because it's my all time favourite film. I saw it three times in the cinema and am always a bit scared to show it to people in case they don't love it like I do.

The world is going to end at midnight tonight - it's not explained why - and this beautiful film follows a few interconnected people as they live out their final hours in their very different ways. It sounds incredibly bleak and depressing, I know, but it's actually a lovely, touching movie.

Teenager Tracy Turnblad is determined to become a TV dance star despite her plus size figure. Along the way, she and her friends tackle the prejudices of the people around them. An incredibly enjoyable movie which I guarantee will leave you wanting to get up and shimmy your stuff.

I have a lot of time for Jennifer Aniston; with the exception of Derailed (and maybe The Break Up) you can watch any of her films and feel a little bit happier by the end. But I'm going for Along Came Polly because the chances are you won't even have to pay for a copy - it is always on the TV. Also, my cat's called Polly. What?!

Muriel is a gawky girl who spends most of her time listening to Abba and fantasising about weddings. After her so-called friends ditch her, she decides to sort her life out with by turns hilarious and tear-jerking results. I just recently rediscovered Muriel's Wedding; I'd forgotten how much fun it really is.

One of the earlier Coen Brothers films, with a straightforward plot but plenty of quirk. Tim Robbins plays the naive but extremely likeable inventor of the hula hoop who is exploited by business executives and journalists alike.

A troubled family pile into a VW van to get their young daughter to a beauty pageant on time. The film never shies away from uncomfortable moments, but is extremely touching nonetheless.

My favourite Audrey Hepburn film. Fred Astaire plays a fashion photographer who convinces the intellectual Audrey to model for him in return for a trip to Paris. Both of the lead characters have their flaws but you'll still find yourself rooting for them to fall for one another.

This is a really bizarre film which I'm always nervous to watch in case it turns out to be naffer than I remember. It never does.

Jim Carrey lives a perfect life but longs for adventure; when the world seems to conspire against him ever leaving his hometown, he starts to wonder if all is not as it seems.

Hello, Jason Segel wrote and stars in this. I won't hear a word of argument against it. It even brought me round to Russell Brand.

One of my top feelgood movies. Joyously quirky, helplessly romantic and beautifully shot, it's wonderful.

Audrey Tautou plays Amelie, a waitress who decides to start bringing happiness into the lives of others... but might need a bit of help letting happiness into her own.

Not just a boring old black and white. Honestly. Casablanca truly is a film that everyone should watch at least once.

Set in unoccupied Casablanca during World War II, Humphrey Bogart is asked to help his former lover and her husband to escape from the Nazis - but can he put his old feelings aside?

Neither a short nor a simple film, Magnolia is one for when it's really bucketing down outside, you've got the curtains drawn and you want to be totally absorbed. I don't even know where to begin explaining it, other than to say it follows a number of interconnected characters, each with their own secrets and fears, and it features an absolutely amazing cast.

Hmm, I hadn't realised what a Toni Collette fan I am until I started putting this list together. Here's another of her films, this one starring her and Cameron Diaz as two sisters who each start to question their own lives after having a fall out over a man.

I am not kidding. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie is hilarious. I never watched the show; I didn't know the characters; I can't even remember why I watched this in the first place. I'm so glad I did. It's ridiculous.

Reese Witherspoon seems to be the ultimate in bubbly blonde airheads, but when she puts her mind to getting a law degree she proves everybody wrong. This manages to be silly, funny and Raaaaaaaar! all at the same time. I love it.

Though if you're in a bit of a funk after Valentine's Day, maybe hold off on watching this one for a few weeks... just saying... it's a bit heavy on the old romance.

I was really skeptical about this. I was so worried it was just going to be mocking the weirdos and I didn't want to watch an hour and a half of filmic bullying. But then Seth Rogen was wearing that same Nirvana T-shirt I had when I was, like, fourteen in the trailer so I agreed to give it a go. And it's lovely - funny and sweet with a genuine fondness for geekery.

So. Funny. Even if I do invariably cry through the "I'm lost!" scene. Watch it. Trust me. You will love that fluffy blue psychotic alien, too.

An old, old favourite. Talkies are on their way in and not all the screen legends have the voice for it...

Gene Kelly stars at the leading man who is falling for a chorus girl, whilst getting her tangled up in a cunning scheme to keep another woman's career alive. Clever, romantic and even those folk I know who "don't like musicals" will admitting to loving this one.

The first time Harry and Sally meet, they can't stand each other... but over the years they become friends... and you can't help but think that maybe they should be more...

A witty romance from Nora Ephron; I watch this every autumn when the leaves are starting to turn.

Another one Steve and I were quite skeptical about seeing, but with Steve Carrell and Tina Fey in the lead roles we decided it was worth a shot. I've lost count of how many times we've watched it since.

Fey and Carrell play a married couple who try to lift themselves out of their rut by going for a fancy dinner; before the dessert has been served they are mistaken for a pair of blackmailers and find themselves racing against time to prove their innocence. And it's funny. It's really, really funny.

What films would you add to a wet weather weekend list?

Three Things Sixteenth of February

2012-02-16T23:24:00.001Z

Sunshine after a cloudburst. Lovely fresh air and bright blue skies.
Dolly mixture cake.
The ten seconds between Gizmo lying down right next to Polly and Polly stalking off in disgust.

Three Things Fifteenth of February

2012-02-15T21:48:00.004Z

Heading home in daylight. Hooray for the lengthening days!
The Muppets. I laughed so hard.
Trainers. It's finally warm enough to wear something other than kneehigh boots. I bounced up the stairs this evening and wasn't even out of breath.

February

2012-02-15T17:29:00.000Z

A few weeks ago I started to write a post about my inability to do nothing. I was coming to the end of a flu and the panic was starting to set in: "I've just had two weeks off work and I've done nothing with my time!" It was crazy, of course - I hadn't been in a fit state to do anything - but I felt like I had completely wasted a fortnight.

It was rotten timing, getting ill so soon after the Christmas break. After eleven days of freedom, I was finding it hard to get back into the swing of Monday to Friday, nine to five. My evenings and weekends suddenly felt so short and there was so much I wanted to do with them.

I was feeling the post-Christmas-panic.

It happens every year.

Which is why I love February so much because in February it all gets back to normal.

I used to hate February. February was cold and bleak and host to Valentine's Day which I was vehemently against (nowadays I'm just indifferent); it's also the month when about half my friends and family have birthdays so it involves a whole lot of stressing about perfect gifts and money and getting to the post office in my lunch hour. I thought it was a black hole of a month.

But over the last few years I've changed my mind.

February is the month when the new year need for perfection wanes. The resolutions have not only been broken but more or less forgotten. I'm back into the way of working for a living and fitting all the fun stuff into my free time. The anxiety about not achieving enough or succeeding enough or enjoying enough has all but passed.

February is a month of bleak weather and most of my friends are holed up in their homes, hiding from the cold. The manic socialising of December is in the past; we're all cosied up under blankets with books or films or knitting needles; there's no obligation to leave the house of an evening unless we really want to. And when we do want to, it's lovely to see the familiar faces we were previously taking for granted.

February is a month when we know we still needs hats and gloves, we know bare legs are a bad idea. Getting dressed is problem free.

On the other hand, summer doesn't seem so far away; we start to think about day trips and weeks away. February brings anticipation.

February is a month of acceptance. We're know now that we're not going to bring in the new year with a new job or a new home; we may as well make the best of the ones we've got. The bitching around our workplaces wanes.

But best of all, February is the month when I spot my first few snowdrops every year. They're a promise of the pretty times yet to come.

Three Things Fourteenth of February

2012-02-14T23:41:00.003Z

A publication I had designed arriving from the printers. We get hard copies of so few of the things we design (at work) it's such a thrill to hold the ones we do.
People who actually wanted to be photographed. It's a rare thing. These folk are just so proud of their jobs they are quite happy for me to show the world/our mailing list.
Fancy homemade garlic mushroom and feta pizza. Go Steve!

Loving...

2012-02-14T17:23:00.000Z

...my new Paul Thurlby print. It wasn't due to arrive for a couple more weeks but it turned up on Saturday, much to my delight.

A gorgeous extravagance.

And the closest you're going to get to a Valentine's post from me. I prefer my flowers tulip-shaped and unexpected and I'll be spending this evening losing the pub quiz!

Meanwhile, one of my favourite bloggers will be watching 30 Rock. I had a moment of dread when I saw that Rebecca had written about Valentine's Day - no, she's far too elegant for a big angry "it's so crass and commercial rant!" - but I needn't have worried. Her post (to me) is perfect. Go and have a read.

Three Things Thirteenth of February

2012-02-13T19:28:00.003Z

Today was one of those days when nothing cheerful really leapt out at me. Work was uneventful. People close to me were feeling blue. Steve's out this evening and I wasn't in the mood for time alone. But, with a little thought, here are three thing which did put a smile on my face:

Making lunchtime plans for later in the week.
Satisfied design clients. I may never tire of the word "superb".
Curling up with a cat on my lap and a brand new book.

We're almost halfway through the month now - how's everybody finding it?

Making Something

2012-02-13T08:08:00.000Z

There are so many pretty projects on my "Things to Make" Pinterest board.

This week, I didn't make any of them.

Between countless (well, four) trips to the cinema, several attempts to get back on top of the housework and, you know, a bit of slobbing, my week didn't allow for an awful lot of creativity.

But I did grab ten minutes to sew a drawstring bag for our Scrabble tiles. It's something I've been meaning to do for ages and it took so little effort I don't know why I hadn't got around to it before.

Basic drawstring bag how to:

Cut out a long rectangle of fabric. Fold it right sides together and sew down the side and across the bottom.
Fold the top down by a bit less than an inch and sew it place.
Cut a little hole in the folded bit.
Feed ribbon through the folded tube. The easiest way to do this is to attach a safety pin to one end as it gives you something bulky to push along.
Knot the ends of the ribbon and turn the bag right side out.

This week, let's play a board game.

Why Don't You...? offers you a weekly prompt of something fun and/or fulfilling to do. The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here and previous posts here.

Three Things Twelfth of February

2012-02-12T22:45:00.002Z

Crazy cat time. Both the cats have had mad bouts of bouncing around the flat, pouncing on inanimate objects today.
Scary movies.
Not having much else to include. It's been a lovely lazy nothing sort of a day.

Young Adult

2012-02-11T20:54:00.000Z

When I was a teenager I lived in a very small town a two hour bus journey from anywhere I thought was worth spending any time. I couldn’t think of anything worse than living out my years there, popping out babies and working a dead end job.

I left when I was sixteen and moved to Aberdeen where the plan was for me to become a writer.

As I got a bit older, I came to realise that living somewhere large and writing for a living was not a fully rounded life in itself. Without friendship and affection I was destined to be lonely and depressed, propping myself up with alcohol and short-lived flings.

I made a conscious decision to avoid that. I’ve spent ten years – possibly longer – not becoming that person.

So watching Young Adult – the story of that person – was interesting for me.

But I’m still not sure if I enjoyed it.

But I'd like to see it again.

It’s hard to watch a film when you’re not rooting for the protagonist. Self-obsessed and with a bad dose of nineties nostalgia (I was there; I have her record collection; I owned that Pixies T-shirt; but it’s my past), Mavis is out to wreak havoc on her ex-boyfriend’s marriage and I really didn’t want her to succeed.

There's more to it than that. She's been through a divorce. The series of books she ghost writes is coming to an end. Her life is pretty much a mess and I wanted to feel a bit more sympathy for her. But this is someone who, by the end of the movie, has realised that she's in a terrible state but still believes she's better than the people who stayed in her home town, got married and started producing babies. She feels validated by the thought that their lives are so pointless they "may as well die." It's such an arrogant, immature opinion for a woman in her thirties and I really couldn't relate.

The other characters, meanwhile, I could relate to. They were all flawed in their own ways but they were likeable people, all quietly trying to help Mavis out without having to strip her of her dignity.

So... the characters were all believable to me... and I laughed quite a lot... and I think that makes it a well written film... but watching somebody I didn't much like fall apart in front of me wasn't at all cathartic.

And so I'm undecided.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Three Things Eleventh of February

2012-02-11T18:32:00.003Z

Waking up to find two cats sitting peacefully by my head. They're so well behaved when they're waiting for food; the rest of the time they can't be anywhere near each other without a lot of slapping and hissing!
My inability to jab grapes with a fork. It's a long and not very interesting story but it made Steve and me laugh.
Helping Lola to impulse buy furniture. We were in the secondhand furniture shop looking for a TV stand for Steve and me when she noticed an amazing old cabinet for storing a sewing machine and accessories in.

Three Things Tenth of February

2012-02-10T21:47:00.000Z

A colleague getting a made up song stuck in my head. It goes, "I love my boyfriend! My lovely boyfriend!" And it makes me smile because I do.
Said lovely boyfriend's hunter gatherer instinct. He appeared home with a huge assortment of finger foods this evening.
Lazy TV night. Though I did sob through the first episode of season four of Being Human.

Things I've Made

2012-02-10T18:15:00.000Z

Every so often I do a blog post about something I've made. Sometimes I include instructions. Usually I worry that people think I'm trying to pass myself off as a craft blogger. Which I'm not. I just like to show off about what I create.

And so I've made a page to do just that. You can view it here or click on the "Make Things" button in my sidebar.

Three Things Ninth of February

2012-02-09T18:30:00.001Z

Tears of laughter streaming down my face. You maybe had to be there... it was an imaginary jingle intended to teach our clients about copyright law...
Browsing vintage wallpapers online. Even though I don't need any.
Date night. We're heading off out for dinner and a movie now. Yippee!

Three Things Eighth of February

2012-02-08T21:44:00.002Z

Texts from an old friend.
A fun project at work. The best bit of my job is writing our quarterly magazine and I started the spring issue today.
Assorted things the cats did. Riotous shoelace chasing; running to meet me when I got home; standing up on their back legs the better to have their heads stroked. Gizmo even purred when I picked him up earlier (their usual response is to wriggle and yowl).

DIY: Heart Garland

2012-02-08T17:10:00.000Z

Okay, this is an old, old idea and I've seen it done on a few different blogs recently - I can claim absolutely no credit for it - but it's quick and easy and even Steve thought it was "nice" until I joked that it was for Valentine's Day.

Which it can be. Just not in our house.

Anyway, back to the garland. Super simple. I spent maybe twenty minutes on this in total and I made two garlands in that time.

You need:

Felt in colours of your choosing. You only need a tiny amount - I used five of those A4 paper-sized rectangles and it was enough for two garlands.
Fabric scissors (because felt is tough to cut with anything else)
Some means of sewing.
Some means of drawing on felt.
Something heart shaped you can use as a template/the confidence to draw them freehand.
And a little scrap of ribbon is optional.

To make:

Draw your hearts onto one piece of felt. I used one of those pens with the ink which vanishes off fabric overnight - it took a few go-overs until it was visible on the felt, but it did work.
(Incidentally, isn't this coaster the cutest? My cousin handmade these and gave them out as favours at her wedding!)
Pile all your bits of felt up neatly. You might want to put a pin through each of the hearts to hold all the felt together, but it does stick pretty well so that's entirely optional. Cut out a great big wad of hearts.
Sew them together. If you're using a machine, you don't even need to tack the hearts together - as one heart is just about to move out from under the needle, slide the next one in beside it. It should start feeding through automatically.
Alternatively, if you're doing this by hand, it just takes a couple of stitches to sew the hearts together.
You may want to sew a little loop of ribbon at each end with which to hang your garland. I think it looks prettier this way.
And you're done!

Three Things Seventh of February

2012-02-07T23:55:00.000Z

Buying a vintage brooch (and some birthday presents!). A workmate had never been to Candle Close Gallery before so we went on a lunchtime excursion.
Free white chocolate. Upperkrust were giving it out with purchases.
And finally, one which isn't about my lunch hour or local businesses:
Our in depth knowledge of bars in films. Which dragged us to a slightly more respectable than usual defeat in the pub quiz.

Oh, I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside...

2012-02-07T17:01:00.000Z

Over the weekend, my mum and I went for a very long walk down to the beach and all around the harbour. It was a bitterly cold weekend - I don't think I had ever seen patches of frost on the sand before - but it was so warm in the sunshine that we stopped for ice cream cones.

The photos...

Three Things Sixth of February

2012-02-06T19:37:00.002Z

A quick day at work. I was in a long, loooooooong meeting today which meant not getting a lunch break... but it was a nice surprise when it got to five o'clock and I found my brain still thought it was the morning.
Changing into my pyjamas as soon as I got home. For all it still felt early, I just wanted to slob out and relax after work.
Doing just that. Steve's out at the cinema so I've even got the sofa to myself.

Getting Eight Hours Sleep a Night

2012-02-06T08:35:00.000Z

I got considerably more than eight hours of sleep on both Monday and Tuesday nights - that whole being-back-at-work thing really took it out of me! As for the rest of the week, eight hour sleeps all the way!

No, that's not true: eight hours of lying in bed each night all the way. Going to bed while I could still keep both eyes open meant tossing and turning for a while before I finally dropped off. I'm used to being out cold in seconds and I wasn't too enamoured of being curled up but conscious for half an hour.

I do feel better for sleeping more, though, so perhaps I need to find the balance and go to bed when I feel tired rather than at eleven o'clock on the dot/after an hour of lying on the sofa trying to work up the energy to go and brush my teeth.

The lying in bed was made so much more bearable by our new mattress, though. Even at half price it was one of the most expensive things either Steve or I had ever bought (if you don't count our home)... but it's worth every penny.

Also, Gizmo had a great time exploring the bed frame while we waited for the delivery.

This week, let's make one of those projects we've pinned or drooled over in craft books.

You can find me on Pinterest here if you'd like a peek at my own inspiration.

Why Don't You...? offers you a weekly prompt of something fun and/or fulfilling to do. The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here.

Three Things Fifth of February

2012-02-05T23:06:00.005Z

Eating ice cream on a frosty cold beach.
Freebie cinema tickets. With which to treat my mum to a showing of The Artist.
Mum commenting on how happy Steve and I seem. I know that we are, but it's always nice to have somebody else remark upon it!

Starred

2012-02-05T19:45:00.000Z

I thought I would let my usual The Week I've Had posts slide in February - with me already bulletpointing every day in my Three Things lists it could all have become a bit repetitive. So instead - this week at least - I'm sharing some of the things I've either starred in my Google Reader or found via other people's blogs (mostly this one or this one).

Here goes:

First up, Amy is spending all month encouraging women to love their bodies more. As a recovering anorexic, Amy speaks from experience and is hugely passionate about this subject. Follow her month of posts here.
On that note, Chelsey is encouraging people to face their fears and submit a self portrait.
Princess Lasertron talks about discovering feminism and what effect her gender has in the modern business world.
25 Things I Learned from Opening a Bookstore.
Grilled Cheese and Soul Destroying Rejection. So painfully familiar I had to laugh.
Courtney talks about chasing her dreams.
Ashley trades in her "shoulds" for wants.
Those of you who spend any time in this part of blogland will no doubt have already heard about the ill-worded tattoo-bashing article (if you haven't, this post links through to it). I've seen a lot of responses to it online, but Danielle's was the first I read and covers everything I would have done without resorting to name calling.
And finally, for something feel good: British supermarket renames bread product at a little girl's suggestion.

Three Things Fourth of February

2012-02-04T23:22:00.002Z

Happy cat. Steve and Polly playing beside me while I was washing the dishes this morning.
Decor. Hanging a few pictures which have been propped against the walls for a little bit too long.
A visitor. My mum appearing through the crowds at the train station.

Dream Wedding

2012-02-04T17:21:00.000Z

Lately, I've been having the strangest, most vivid dreams. Most of them are too surreal to get into here ("...and then we all turned into tiny little cats and escaped through a chainlink fence!") but a few nights ago I dreamt that Steve and I were getting married.

This was odd in itself; weddings seem like a bit too much effort and expense to me. But I have workmates who are getting married and I guess all their talk of thistle strewn cakes has lodged itself in my subconscious.

Anyway, Steve and I were getting married. And it was awful.

The venue was cramped and filthy.

The supposedly humanist registrar kept injecting heavyhanded bits of religion.

I didn't recognise a single one of the guests and I couldn't see my friend Kirsten anywhere.

The list went on.

But, as soon as the ring swapping and the paper signing was done, Steve and I plonked ourselves down in a corner and cracked up laughing. It seemed to go on for hours, the two of us sitting there, cackling into each other's necks and whispering in jokes in one another's ears.

I must have been laughing in my sleep; I woke up with aching sides.

So that's one thing the dream got right, at least. Because he can always make me smile.

Three Things Third of February

2012-02-03T21:18:00.000Z

Sunshine at lunchtime. Today was gorgeous - cold but bright and crisp and refreshing. A colleague and I had a lovely sunlit stroll to the deli.
A big new ever so pretty hardback book. My copy of Minxy Vintage arrived. Which confirmed my plans for this evening.
Beloved childhood sweets. Who knew they still made Tabs? Poundstretcher did, apparently.

When I am a Young Woman I Shall Wear Purple

2012-02-03T12:27:00.000Z

I was waiting to cross the road the other day when an extremely old lady came up and started chatting to me. I’d put her in her eighties or maybe even nineties; she was frail and wrinkled and huddled over her stick.

“That’s a very nice jacket,” she told me.

“Oh, thank you!” I replied.

“An unusual colour,” she continued.

“Yes, it’s vivid, isn’t it?”

And then she hit me with it: “You’re keeping up with the young people.”

THUD.

Keeping up with the young people?

“Ha ha...” I replied, summoning up all my manners. “Why should they have all the fun?”

Keeping up with the young people?! I am thirty-three years old and little old ladies no longer think that I’m young. What a blow.

“If somebody had said that to me this week,” said a friend who was turning thirty-four the following day, “I would have burst into tears.”

But it got me wondering: when do we stop being young?

I know I’m not young to a two year old. I know I’m not young to a teenager. I’m not even young to many people in their early twenties but to friends my own age (I broke my Facebook ban to do a quick bit of research on this) I am still a young person.

I have always kind of assumed that the older I got, the older "old" would get. Middle age would always be a little bit beyond my reach, like a half empty paint can with the lid not properly on - threatening, but harmless if ignored.

I had figured I could drag out the being young thing indefinitely. I pictured myself in my seventies, celebrating because I finally had pale enough hair for turquoise dye.

I hadn’t really considered that there might be some sort of cut off point.

I definitely hadn’t considered that I might have reached it. I still believe all technology can be mastered with practice. I still think children's choirs sound sinister. None of my cosmetics have anti-wrinkle properties. How can I be anything other than young?

And then I thought about two technically old men I interviewed last year. They had a combined age of 170 and big bald patches and they were urging me to think about my pension arrangements, yet I still came away thinking of the pair of them as young. Because they were. Not literally. Not in the strictest sense of the word. But in attitude. I don't remember ever meeting a bigger pair of comedians.

It's a cliche to say you're as young as you feel or as young as you act, but it's true. All around me, I have friends doing apparently grown up things - buying their homes, slipping wedding rings on fingers, popping out offspring - and not one of them has morphed into middle age.

Not one of us is a "youth", of course. We've grown out of the worst of our angsty attention seeking. We suppose our parents can understand us a bit. We no longer treat this place like a hotel.

We're adults.

But we're ever so far from old.

Three Things Second of February

2012-02-02T22:32:00.001Z

Spontaneous socialising. A text from a friend asking if I wanted to meet up on my lunch hour. I really, really did.
Big smiles from baby Freya. I'm told she's a smiley baby anyway but I choose to believe that her delight was special and all for me.
Bickering with Steve about who gets the giggliest after a glass of red wine. Plus, whatever we were giggling about in the first place.

Three Things First of February

2012-02-01T20:56:00.003Z

Emma kicking the project off with some questionable music. She made me laugh before I'd even left the house this morning.
Fresh air. My office is very hot and stuffy at the moment so an hour of charging around outdoors at dusk was very, very welcome.
Citrus. The smell of an orange slice in Steve's drink at dinnertime.

I've been blown away by the response to Three Things February already this year - if you're taking part, leave me a link so we can all can see what's making you smile!

DIY Flannel Hot Water Bottle Cover

2012-02-01T12:55:00.000Z

It's cold outside and I've finally got around to recovering my hot water bottle. I thought I'd show you how it's done.

You will need:
An old flannel sheet (or you can buy new flannel specially, but where's the make do and mend fun in that?)
A second, thinner fabric (I used more vintage bedding)
Batting (that stuff that's like a sheet of candy floss; they sell rolls of it in haberdasheries)
Ribbon in a matching colour
One fairly large button
One of those pens with ink which vanishes off your fabric overnight (if you don't have one you can make a paper template instead, but I'm doing this the Sarah's-super-easiest way)
Oh yeah, and thread

Step by step (ooh, baby):

1. Lay your flannel and your fabric right sides together. Lay your batting on top. Fold the pile of fabrics in half.

2. Lay your hot water bottle on top of the fabric and draw around it. Don't draw right up to the sides of the hot water bottle; add a couple of centimetres either side for your seam allowance and for the hot water bottle to expand when full. Add an additional two to three centimetres at the bottom.

3. Cut, then divide your fabric into two piles of flannel, fabric and batting. Cut one pile in half across the middle; trim the other by those extra two to three centimetres.

4. Sew along all the edges which are marked in red in the above image. But first, cut a short length of ribbon and curl it around to form a loop. Insert it loop-side-first between the flannel and fabric (on the edge marked above) and pin it in place.

5. Once you've sewn these four edges, turn each piece so the batting is in the middle and the flannel and fabric are right sides out.
6. If you want to add any applique or other decorative touches, do so now. I added a strip of ribbon across mine.

7. Pin the front and back pieces to each other, right sides together. On the side with two pieces, make sure the bottom half overlaps the top half slightly.

8. Sew around the edge making sure to leave the top open so you can fill the hot water bottle without removing the cover. If, like me, you're using a standard needle and foot on your sewing machine your machine will struggle with the thickest parts of this. I suggest, when sewing these parts, turning the balance wheel (the wheel you use to raise and lower the needle) by hand; it's slower than using the foot pedal but you (probably) won't end up with tangled thread or a broken needle this way.
9. Turn your cover right side out and insert your hot water bottle. Squeal a bit. Then pull the loop of ribbon down and take note of where you need to attach the button.

10. Sew the button in place. And you're done. Sit back and admire your work. Or, you know, fill your hot water bottle and snuggle up with it. Good job.

Words and Pictures, January 2012

2012-01-31T19:35:00.000Z

Don't Get Too Comfortable - David Rakoff
One for people who are familiar with New York, I think, but I liked his style of writing.

Book of Fairytales - Angela Carter
Unusually for me, I gave up about three quarters of the way through this one; I'll probably go back and finish it off sometime, but I wasn't in the mood for all that celebrated violence or the focus on beauty. It's a really interesting collection of stories, though - I do think it's worth a read.

The Wilderness - Samantha Harvey
Out of the Ordinary - Jon Ronson
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
I liked all three of these books and talk about them in this post.

The End of the Wasp Season - Denise Mina
A cop thriller set in Glasgow, this is not my usual type of book at all but I got properly drawn into it and read it all in two sittings.

The Red Leather Diary - Lily Koppel
I read this one on Elise's recommendation and it was compelling. A true story, the author finds the diary of a 1930s teenager in an old trunk and sets out to find her; she eventually tracks down ninety year old Florence and listens to her reminisce. Honestly, the teenaged Florence was a bit too close to the teenaged Sarah for my liking - I cringed at a bit at points - but it was fascinating getting a glimpse into the life of an arty adolescent in 1930s New York.

The Artist
Loved it; absolutely perfect (as mentioned in this post)!

The Descendants
George Clooney's wife is in a coma and he's struggling looking after their two wayward daughters by himself. Then he finds out his wife hasn't been entirely honest with him of late... This one is all about emotions and being the bigger person. There's not a single explosion. You might need tissues. It may cause you to call a parent or two. Steve and I both give it the thumbs up.

Three Things February Starts Tomorrow

2012-01-31T13:13:00.000Z

It's that time again: Three Things February starts tomorrow!

Three Things February means, every evening throughout February, writing down three things which made you smile that day. The idea is to get you focused on looking for and remembering the bright sides of life... and, certainly for me, it really works; it's the best way I know to get myself out of a funk.

Is everybody ready to start looking for the good stuff?

Leaving Books in Public Places

2012-01-30T08:40:00.000Z

Me: "It's time to go, Steve! And on the way we have to find places to leave these so people can find them!"

Steve: *looks at books* *blinks* *does not ask* "Right."

Emma also got into the swing of leaving books in public places - check out her post about it here. I think the last one's amazing - partly for leaving a book there but mostly for stopping and actually taking a picture!

This week, let's get eight hours sleep a night.

The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here.

How to Have the Flu

2012-01-29T18:19:00.000Z

Things you will need:

Pyjamas.
Kneehigh socks (because pyjamas are just not warm enough).
A tatty old cardigan (because pyjamas and kneehigh socks are still not warm enough).
A great big fluffy blanket or two (because... oh, you get the picture).
A cupboard full of teabags.
Bread and Weetabix. It's all you can eat.
An e-reader. Because books are just too heavy.
People who care enough about you to bring you the above. Although you might need to swallow your pride and actually ask them to. Failing that, get a supermarket home delivery - don't just lie around starving.

After two weeks of being properly down with the flu (*does gangsta style hand gesture*) I finally started to feel myself again on Friday (*does...* No!).

Thanks to the beauty of scheduled posts, I've been able to keep the blog-whining to a minimum, but it's been a grotty fortnight and I'm glad to see the back of it. I'm also glad to have friends who thought to send emails and entertainment and made the whole thing more bearable. And I'm particularly glad to have Steve who just about kept on top of all the housework (I would have fretted otherwise) and who insisted that I go to the doctor on Monday when I was wobbling around claiming to be fit for work. He's rather awesome.

There will be no "The Week I've Had" post this week because, well, really, this is it.

Recipe: Very Imperfect Cranachan

2012-01-28T00:21:00.000Z

We celebrated Burns Night in Scotland this week. Traditionally, Burns Night involves a lot of poetry reading, bagpipe playing and ceilidh dancing but, in practise, most folk I know just bung a (vegetarian) haggis in the oven and get drunk.

Ideally, the haggis is followed by the traditional Scottish dessert: cranachan. It's very, very simple to make.

Unless you are Steve and our friend Martin and me. Then you end up with raspberry soup.

But before I share the recipe, here's a quick lesson in Scottish pronunciation:

See that ch in the middle of cranachan? It's not a hard ch like in "cheese" or "chives"; it's a soft Scottish ch.

Say the lower case letter "s" (not "ess", but "s" as in "say"). Say "sh". Notice the difference in your tongue positioning? Try again. "S" with your tongue raised at the front; "sh" with your tongue hollowed downwards. "S" a sound; "sh" an exhalation of air.

Same with "c" and "ch". "C" with your tongue raised at the back; "ch" with your tongue hollowed downwards. "C" a sound; "ch" little more than a breath.

Got it? Good. Now put a little more emphasis on the "cran-" than the "-achan" and you're sorted.

Now the recipe (we were trying to follow this one):

You need approximately:

570ml/1 pint double cream
85g/3 oz porridge oats
450g/1 lb raspberries
7 tbsp whisky
3 tbsp honey

To make:

Toast the oats in a frying pan. Try not to burn them.
Whip the cream until it starts to form peaks.
Fold in all the other ingredients.
Serve, preferably with a few raspberries plonked on top so it looks pretty.

But, er... no matter how much we whipped, we could not get our cream to form peaks. We all tried. We looked up how to videos on the internet; we witnessed people whipping cream in under a minute; we still couldn't get it right. So we ended up just having bowls of raspberries and oats in very alcoholic cream.

Seven tablespoons of whisky? There was an awful lot of giggling...

Not what cranachan should look like.

The View from Where I'm Sitting

2012-01-27T16:56:00.001Z

Come on Over to My Blog!

2012-01-26T15:07:00.001Z

I must be on the mend: I'm itching to do stuff! Thinking I should perhaps avoid sharp implements and sewing machines for a little while longer, I decided to give my blog a bit of a facelift today.

It's by no means as pretty and impressive as some of the blogs I read, but lacy edges and pastel backgrounds just aren't me; for two hours' work, I'm pleased with the results.

If you're not actually on my blog, click through and have a look. In particular, wiggle your cursor over the category buttons. YEAH! I'm still fixated on mouseovers!

My Favourite Craft Books

2012-01-25T12:39:00.000Z

I don't know about you, but I am always on the look out for new craft books. Always.

The trouble is, while most of my Amazon recommendations are very pretty to look at, they often just rehash the same old frilly apron/appliqued dishcloth/ceramic painting projects. There needs to be at least one "WOW!" project for me to love a book... and I'm usually disappointed.

So, thinking perhaps you're having the same problem, I'm going to share my favourite craft books with you.

101 Great Ways to Sew a Metre (or, if you're not into metric, you can get the same book under the title "One Yard Wonders"). Okay, you won't want to make everything in this book - I think there was a bit of padding done to reach the desired 101 projects - but it's a great book for beginners; the projects are simple, clearly explained and don't take much fabric or skill. I particularly love the toy dinosaurs which I have made for several of my friends' small children.

Chic on a Shoestring. There are some really cute ideas in this book for cheap and easy accessories with a vaguely vintage look. And it's really pretty.

The Bag Making Bible. I haven't actually tried any of the projects in this book! I know, I know! But every so often I will take it down off the shelf, browse through it and think about giving a properly structured bag a try. The book itself is well laid out, logical and explains everything in simple terms. Absolutely recommended.

The Liberty Book of Home Sewing. For those with a bit more stitiching confidence, this is an absolute beauty of a book. A lot of the projects will be familiar to you, but they're done to a much higher standard than usual and the fabrics and photography are beautiful. And the "WOW!" project? The peacock pincushion. Stunning.

The Crafty Minx. The only book on this list which isn't 100% about sewing! Honestly, I can't say that the projects in this book are all that well explained - you might need to google for reassurance - but the images are beautiful, Kelly Doust writes with such enthusiasm, and it's just a lovely book to flick through when you're feeling uninspired.

Can anybody recommend any more great crafting books to me?

Sending Postcards

2012-01-23T08:58:00.000Z

I decided, rather than sending postcards to the same set of cronies I rope into all my schemes, I'd send them to the people who would least expect them.

This included my two year old nephew. Here he is with his fuzzy balloon:

Who did you send postcards to?

This week, let's leave old books in public places.

The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here.

The Week I've Had (22nd January 2012)

2012-01-22T18:21:00.000Z

Waking up to lovely wintery sunrises.
Oh... er... and that's about it (see previous moans about my health).
No, actually, that's not true. I also read The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey which Amazon had been recommending to me for about a year and which I had ignored because it sounded worthy and depressing. I was so wrong. It's wonderful.
Also Out of the Ordinary by Jon Ronson which I very much enjoyed.
And I'm a big chunk of the way through The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern which it took me a while to get into but which I'm really quite caught up in now.
Steve and I also watched Catfish. Has anybody else seen it? It's a documentary about a guy who befriends a woman and her two daughters via Facebook, but starts to wonder if maybe all is not as it seems. I found it quite uncomfortable to watch at times but fascinating all the same.

Three Things February Coming Soon!

2012-01-21T13:10:00.000Z

Guys! It's almost time for Three Things February!

For those of you who weren't around for 3TF last year, the premise is simple: every evening throughout February you write down three things - no more and no less - which made you smile that day.

They might be great big pieces of exciting news or simply a pretty sunset. They could be an exciting purchase or something as intangible as an in-joke with a friend. It doesn't matter. The point is to start looking for - and therefore focusing on - the good moments in your life.

You can blog your three things, add them to the comments section of my posts, tweet them with the hashtag #3thingsfebruary or simply write them down in your own private notebook. It's up to you.

Who's in?

Star Quality

2012-01-20T17:05:00.000Z

"I hate Sarah Jessica Parker," stated the girl at the table next to me. "She looks like a horse."

Oh, I've lost count of how many times I've heard people say this and it never fails to irk me. It irks me because it's missing that vital word in the middle: because. "I hate Sarah Jessica Parker because she looks like a horse."

And that irks me even more, because I can't think of a worse reason to hate someone.

In fact, it's one of the reasons I like her. I might prefer the phrase "not conventionally beautiful" but Sarah Jessica Parker's non-model looks are part of why I admire her; she has managed to establish herself as a style icon, regardless.

At this point, I'm starting to sound like a fan girl. This isn't a plea for you to fall in love with the woman; I quite like her but you don't have to. If you question her talent or you don't like her films or you met her that one time and she wasn't very nice to you, go ahead and raise your eyebrow. But don't let your dislike be all about her looks.

She might have fluffy hair and a mole on her chin, but she's also got an incredible career, a husband and kids that she doesn't seem to use as a publicity stunt, and a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes named after her. If ever there was proof that you don't need to be traditionally sexy to be a success story, Sarah Jessica Parker is it.

But perhaps the real problem is this: to every girl who has ever preened in front of the mirror then mysteriously failed to get anywhere in life, Sarah Jessica Parker's success suggests that they're going about things the wrong way. Maybe sleek locks and enhanced breasts are not the key to fame and fortune; maybe it's down to hard work.

Perhaps when people say Sarah Jessica Parker looks like a horse what they actually mean is, "I'm jealous of her."

Or perhaps they really do judge a woman on her appearance.

Either way, let's not join in hating on another lady because of the shape of her face; if ever there was proof that it really doesn't matter, SJP is it.

Feel Better Flowers

2012-01-19T11:51:00.000Z

Folks, I am still not well. It's been days. It's been a week. I'm so bored of it.

Yesterday I managed to talk myself into going to work. I haven't skived a day since I was at school but I convinced myself I was just dragging my sick leave out because I'm missing the Christmas holidays. I was back in my bed by lunchtime (but content in the knowledge that all my looming deadlines had been met).

Today I'm wailing that I can't imagine ever being well enough to go to work again. Not ever.

I expect I'll be fine tomorrow.

But in the mean time these flowers from Steve are really cheering me up.

On (or Off) Facebook

2012-01-18T12:08:00.000Z

Recently, I’ve read a lot of articles about how jealous Facebook makes us of our friends’ seemingly perfect lives. But they don’t ring any bells with me.

Blogs, yes, absolutely. Blogs are often carefully edited to show only the prettiest, most presentable aspects of a person’s life. They centre around smiling children and perfectly iced cupcakes and adventures in winter wonderlands. It’s easy (for me) to see how readers might take blogs at face value and feel jealous of the writer’s apparently perfect life.

Conversely, I can also see how the more or less unlimited word count gives bloggers an opportunity to write honestly and in depth about the sadder side of life; a more open blog can be a reassuring voice to somebody who feels that they are going through difficulties all alone.

But Facebook?

My Facebook isn’t like that.

If Facebook is to be believed, many of my friends spend their lives in a perpetual state of hungover rage. My news feed is a litany of idiot customers, incompetent bus drivers, unreliable delivery people, screaming children, unreasonable managers, drunken YouTube binges, intolerance towards knitters, disappointing pay rises, and abuse aimed at X Factor entrants. Other than the occasional set of holiday snaps, there’s nothing in my news feed I ever feel envious of.

Which is odd given that some of my friends have great jobs and happy relationships and cute pets and fun hobbies and, contrary to what their status updates might suggest, are generally rather fond of their children.

Rather than an opportunity to glamourise their lives and brag about their hair cuts, Facebook has become a place to let off steam.

And I do get it because I use it the same way. Recently, my wall has turned into a running commentary on my work’s central heating situation (“We have heat!”; “I’m wearing gloves whilst typing!”) peppered with the occasional random question (“What toy did Santa never bring you?”). I pop onto Facebook to alleviate my boredom, and if I’m bored, the chances are my status updates will be boring, too.

But I remember a time when I didn’t get bored. If I had a quiet moment, I would pick up a book or play with my cats or mentally prepare another first chapter of a novel I'd never write.

Lately, when I’ve had quiet moments, I’ve logged into Facebook and felt irritated by the lack of interesting comments in front of me. Rather than seeking out ways of entertaining myself, I’ve sat and hit refresh a bunch of times in the hopes that somebody else would present some entertainment to me. Generally all they had to offer was a Blondie video.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I’d had enough. I had a load of books sitting waiting on my Kindle and a ton of projects I was failing to get around to, and here I was wasting all this time on Facebook.

And, besides, I wanted some peace and quiet, a break from the constant stream of status updates.

So I stopped logging in.

And I didn’t miss it.

In fact, I felt happier without it.

Friends still sent me emails and text messages, and there was something a lot nicer about receiving a message meant just for me than hitting the “like” button on another generic update.

When the phrase, “I’m bored!” popped into my head, rather than trying to turn it into a status update and prompt a conversation, I would notice the thought... and forget about it. Likewise, when petty irritations crossed my path, rather than working myself up into a rage by dissecting them on Facebook, I'd shrug and let them go.

Over the last few weeks, when I've met up with people - whether socially or accidentally - we've been able to have conversations full of small talk rather than cutting each other off with a, "Yeah, you said that on Facebook."

And I’ve been getting on with so many of the things I wouldn’t usually “have time for”.

I’m not sure I’m ready to actually ditch Facebook. I have a couple of cousins I really only keep up with via Facebook. The majority of my social arrangements are made via Facebook. It’s an easy place to share pictures from nights out, to get recommendations for plumbers, and to offer round your mountain of unwanted books. But I’m definitely ready to have it take a back seat in my life. I’m ready to stop automatically signing in every time I switch on a machine. I'm ready to keep a few more of my thoughts to myself.

What about you? Do you use Facebook? Would you consider doing without it or is it an integral part of your life?

Doing Something on My Own

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000Z

It's been surprisingly difficult to find something to do on my own this week! My original ideas were this:

Go to the cinema. But all that was on (that I hadn't seen) was The Iron Lady and, for all I usually like to question my own opinions and see the good sides to everyone, I don't ever want to have to think of Margaret Thatcher as a real live human being with feelings and redeeming features. So.
Go to the National Portrait Awards. But then a friend I haven't seen in ages got in touch and we decided to go together. Which is definitely the better option than going on my own just to fulfill a blog challenge. But then I was too sick, anyway. Pity me!
Claim that going to pilates on my own counts just because it's the first week of the term. But then I had to stay in that day and wait for a delivery so the exercising didn't even happen.

But on Friday I finally did it. I went for lunch on my own.

I've eaten lunch on my own plenty of times - buying a sandwich and sitting outside on a bench - but I've never actually sat in a cafe by myself. I couldn't say why not exactly. I've never been too concerned about being conspicuous; maybe I was worried people would assume I'd been stood up and shower me with pity?

Admittedly, I sat around the back of the cafe to eat my lunch, but nobody gave me a second glance. And I wasn't even the only person eating there alone that lunchtime.

So, that's one slightly brave thing I've done this week.

This week, let's all send postcards.

If you'd like to send and receive postcards internationally, Postcrossing is worth a look.

The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here.

The Week I've Had (15th January 2012)

2012-01-15T19:08:00.000Z

Reading fairy tales.
Polly is also enjoying the book:
Ticking off lots of home improvements, household chores and the cups of tea necessary to get us through them.

Going for a big wander round the shops and being totally underwhelmed by what I saw. I guess this is good news for my bank balance...
Starting to feel a bit headachey on Thursday; being properly sick by the weekend. You know when people talk about getting double vision? I always thought it was an exaggeration...
It meant we didn't get everything scored off our DIY list...
But, on the bright side, it gave me an excuse to lie around watching 10 Things I Hate About You (as inspired by Rebecca).

Reasons Why You're Awesome

2012-01-13T12:40:00.000Z

You have a lovely smile. You really do.
You have great taste in blogs. You’re here, aren’t you?
You’re making the world a friendlier place. You read theblogs of strangers and then find yourself connected.
You’re curious about other people's lives. You care.
Those little quirks of yours. They make you interesting,they make you different, they make you you.
You think things that I don’t. I find that fascinating.
Every day you’re getting stronger. It’s inspiring.
You constantly surprise me.
You’re totally unique.

One/Twelve

2012-01-12T18:53:00.000Z

Welcome to my latest "great idea": Twelve/Twelve.

With Twelve/Twelve I will be taking just a head and shoulders shot on the twelfth day of every month, the idea being that at the end of the year I can see how much I have or have not changed.

On the one hand, a friend and I were looking at very old photos earlier and realised that I don't seem to have changed at all... ever. I was once recognised in a nightclub toilet queue by a girl I had last seen was I was four years old. On the other hand, my hair goes long and short and black and brown and red and I swear I'm getting a smile dimple in my right cheek.

Of course, this being me, I'm foreseeing decades of doing this project and being able to track the changes as I age.

So.

Here's month one (taken in the one spot in my flat which gets natural light at this time of the year!):

Obviously, you're welcome to join in!

Dreams Don't Just Come True

2012-01-11T10:57:00.000Z

When I was nineteen, I shared a flat with a freelance music journalist.

She was in the early days of her career and happy to point out all the hardships - irregular pay cheques; looming deadlines; editors who didn't think she was snarky enough - but she stuck with it and these days writes opinion pieces for one of the national daily newspapers.

There's no question that she has a cool career.

But I remember talking to her once about how she had come to have it. People were always asking her how she became a music journalist and she found it frustrating. They asked her the question as though she had some simple trick for getting a cool job without putting any actual effort in.

That wasn't how it worked.

She wasn't born with special connections; she had to work for it.

"Every week, our college tutor would ask us what we had submitted to editors," she told me, "and if we hadn't sent anything off, he failed us." It was only through trying and trying and trying that she had had anything published at all and only through working and working and working that she had become somebody editors would call up and ask to do jobs for them.

As much as I dreamed of being a writer and as envious as I was of her, I never once resented her her amazing career because she had gone out and earned it; I knew fine well I had neither the courage nor the willpower to do the same. I couldn't have borne the rejection letters.

I'm a bit sturdier nowadays, though, and I look back on that conversation and I know: if I'm ever going to take my writing seriously, I'm going to have to study, I'm going to have to submit my work, I'm going to have to try.

Box of Delight

2012-01-10T19:22:00.001Z

A few days ago, a friend of mine gave me this little beauty:

Amazing, right?! It used to hold glass plate negatives.

I've not yet decided what to store in it or even how and where to display it. It wouldn't cope with the damp of the bathroom and it smells a bit too fusty for the kitchen...

So... Jewellery? Cosmetics? Notepads? Wall mount it? What do you think?

All I know is I absolutely love it.

Smiling at My Own Reflection

2012-01-09T08:40:00.000Z

It's hard to bring yourself to look at your own reflection when it looks like this:

My body had evidently made a New Year's Resolution of its own not to get any sleep in 2012. I eventually overcame it on Thursday night, but the earlier part of the week was a sandpaper-eyed struggle.

Nevertheless, I've smiled at my reflection every time I've seen it this week. Well, almost every time - I can't say I remembered absolutely 100% of the time. But mostly. I even caught myself starting a grimace at my messy hair this morning and changed it into a smile.

And isn't it amazing how much better you can feel about your day when somebody's smiling back at you? Even if it's just yourself! Isn't it amazing how much better we all look with a grin on our faces, too? This week's suggestion has been a hit with me.

This coming week let's all do something by ourselves.

The full list of 2012 suggestions can be viewed here and Meg has very kindly set up a public calendar detailing all of the ideas over here.

The Week I've Had (8th January 2012)

2012-01-08T18:12:00.000Z

Monday was Steve's last holiday day, so we went out for a pub lunch and a natter.
Losing the pub quiz, as usual, but with a fairly respectable score. Then the team which usually wins either took pity on us or was brimming with festive generosity and gave us their prize; we were so surprised I'm not sure we even said thanks...
Back to work, though most of our clients (and, in fact, most of my colleagues) weren't so it was a pretty quiet week.
Watching lots of Being Human.
Pizza to celebrate Friday night.
Seeing The Artist. I had been a little worried the silent movie thing was just a gimmick and couldn't be sustained for 100 minutes, but I loved it, every wordless minute.

Ingrate

2012-01-06T13:25:00.000Z

Last week, Caitlin linked through to this article. "Article"? "Post"? Whatever. It's a collection of tweets from people who are enraged that their parents failed to buy them an iPhone/correctly coloured iPhone/car for Christmas and, while I hope a lot of them are joking, the level of spoilt selfishness is staggering.

But...

But... it did make me think about my most shameful memory.

We all have them. We all have moments from our past which still make us cringe to think of them. That time we used the wrong word by accident and sounded like a bigot? That time we talked really loudly about condoms in front of adults so they would [totally not] think that we were grown ups? That time we were merrily slagging somebody off only to realise they were standing right behind us? Those.

But mine wasn't an accident; mine was intentional.

You see, my parents never made a big deal out of birthdays or Christmases. They had decent jobs but their money wasn't limitless and their financial priority was bringing their children up in a comfortable home rather than giving us foreign holidays and extravagant gifts. As a child, I didn't think much about it; as an adult, I totally agree. But the point is that my presents from them were small and inexpensive and my stocking contained an apple, an orange and a small bag of chocolate money.

But when I was fifteen I decided that I wanted a fancy typewriter. One of those ones with a little screen which showed you the last line you had typed so you could check the spelling before anything was committed to paper.

In these days of tablets and Macs that probably doesn't sound like much, but in the nineties, to a teenager who wanted to be a novelist when she grew up, they were the ultimate in gadgetry.

At the time, I was using my mum's old typewriter from the early seventies. It weighed roughly the same as a car and, as I could no longer find any new ribbons for it, I had to overtype everything about five times in order for my words to be legible. I was heading to university the moment I was old enough; I definitely needed an upgrade.

So my parents made a deal with me: if I could save up half the cost of the typewriter, they would pay for the other half and give it to me for my combined birthday-Christmas. Perfect. I saved for months. I saved every penny of my pocket money. I stopped buying sweets; I borrowed books from the rather rubbish school library; I talked my dad into paying for my magazines and camera films. I saved so hard until I had my share of the typewriter costs.

And my parents stuck to their word. On the morning of my sixteenth birthday, they presented me with a shiny new typewriter.

But I was a teenage girl in the nineties and it wasn't done to show excitement or gratitude or pleasure. And so I tried my hardest not to.

I sucked on my cheeks so I wouldn't smile. I barely looked at the typewriter or at my parents as they gave it to me. I did my best to feign indifference (not, of course, realising that the loud, frantic clattering of typewriter keys the moment my parents left my bedroom would give the game away). And while, in hindsight, my parents probably understood enough about sulky teenagers to see straight through me, at that point in time the potential for them to be hurt by my behaviour was far less important to me than my need to seem ~~horrid~~ cool.

So while I was never at the "FML they got me a BLACK iPhone!" stage, I can't judge these brats too harshly.

Who else has a guilty memory they would like to get off their chest? Somebody? Anybody? Please! It can't just be me...?!

Split Seconds, Split Ends

2012-01-04T12:38:00.000Z

A few weeks ago, I posted a really terrible picture of myself. If all you had seen of this photograph was my face, you would have thought I was three sizes bigger than I am. I look like I have the hugest of double chins and a bright red alcoholic flush. It’s awful. But I posted it anyway because the point of the picture was not how lithe and lovely I am; the point of the picture was that I was in Edinburgh and I hugged a great big plastic penguin.

I’ve never been particularly concerned about how I look in photographs. I mean, sure, I’d rather they were always snapped from flattering angles and my hair looked groomed and my skin looked clear and smooth. But I understand that capturing a fleeting moment is more often than not going to mean catching somebody with their eyes half shut and their fringe going 80s in the wind.

And I’m fine with that.

Admittedly, I’ve had to be. With thin, curly hair, if the light’s in the wrong position I look like I’m going bald; if I tie it back, my forehead appears enormous. I’m so pale I often look completely washed out next to less Celtic-skinned friends. And there’s this wrinkly, bubble wrap textured thing my chin does in pictures sometimes which I’ve tried and failed to replicate in front of the mirror – I’ve no idea how it even happens.

But at least there’s a photographic record that I was there and was having a good, if mutated, time.

I have, on a few occasions, been enjoying looking at a group photograph, thinking what a lovely, smiley picture it is of my friends all having a great time, only for one of the group to cry that it has to be destroyed. They’ve noticed that their chin looks flabby or their eyes look squint or there’s a stray hair in their face and they can’t see anything in the frame but their imperfection.

Nobody else will have even noticed.

A lot of them will be too busy scouring the picture for imperfections of their own.

And I think this is such a shame. I’d much rather see the picture as a whole; I don’t care if I look a little bit wonky if the image itself captures a truly happy moment.

I don’t even care about pictures like this:

This is, without a doubt, the worst picture ever taken of Steve and me and the culprit did offer to remove it from Facebook if we really hated it. But it’s also the only evidence that he and I were present for Kirsty’s birthday cocktails last year, and when people look back on the photo album in years to come they’re not going to suddenly think of Steve and me as monstrous; they’re just going to remember that we were there.

Back to Reality

2012-01-03T17:03:00.000Z

Today is the last day of my holidays. Steve went back to work this morning. I don't really believe it; I've all but forgotten what it's like to have a job.

I'm going to miss blogging quite so often. I'm going to miss reading a lot and watching ever so many films.

It has been a lovely, lazy break. We've ignored all the usual looming DIY tasks and all but the necessary household chores. The Wii Fit will be having snarky words next time we switch it on.

I've spent today in the same vein as the rest of the holiday: writing a bit; reading a bit; dozing in front of Casablanca (it's okay - I've seen it before). Polly has been attached to my lap, occasionally meowing with pleasure.

The rotten weather helped. I couldn't face running around the shops, trying to make the most of the January sales in gale force winds and slicing sleet.

I've been feeling sleepy after a night of listening to our roof slates rattling across the building; I lacked the energy for last minute projects.

I have my cosiest socks on; the heating is up a little too high for comfort.

Tonight, I will be braving the outdoors for our weekly defeat at the pub quiz.

Tomorrow, it's back to reality.

Cheers, everyone. Here's to a wonderful 2012. It's time to book me some holidays.

Out of the Ordinary Moments

2012-01-02T13:10:00.000Z

It's a new year (I'm sure you've heard), and most of us are the proud owners of pristine new diaries, journals and calendars. We need something to put in them!

Rather than continue with Why Don't You...? in its old format - which sometimes meant bombarding you with suggestions you couldn't make time for - I thought I would publish this year's full list of ideas today. Scribble them in your diary; add them to your calendar; jiggle them around to fit your schedule but plan for an out of the ordinary moment every week of the year.

2nd Jan	Smile at your own reflection every time you see it
9th Jan	Do something on your own
16th Jan	Send postcards; consider Postcrossing
23rd Jan	Leave an old book in a public place
30th Jan	Get eight hours sleep a night
6th Feb	Do one of those craft projects you've pinned or drooled over in a book
13th Feb	Play a board game
20th Feb	Try a new cafe or shop
27th Feb	Put the cheap chocolate down and buy the good stuff
5th Mar	Eat something you've never tried before
12th Mar	Set your camera to black and white and find a reason to use it
19th Mar	Cull your contacts lists; weed through your RSS feed
26th Mar	That item of clothing you bought but are too scared to wear? Wear it this week
2nd Apr	Do something you weren't allowed to do as a child
9th Apr	Do something scary for Friday 13th
16th Apr	Eat at a table
23rd Apr	Send flowers to a friend
30th Apr	Re-read your favourite childhood book
7th May	Bite back the negativity
14th May	Clear out your pockets or your handbag
21st May	Have a night out which isn't dinner, drinks or a movie
28th May	Bake something you're already good at; if there isn't anything, ask for a friend's favourite recipe instead
4th June	Clean the thing you usually ignore
11th June	Make plans with someone you haven't seen in a while
18th June	Paint something - it doesn't have to be a picture
25th June	Reproduce a childhood photo (think Dear Photograph or Young Me Now Me)
2nd July	Recommend three books to friends
9th July	Have a picnic
16th July	Make a feelgood mixtape
23rd July	Play at tourists in your own town
30th July	Watch that silly film you think you're too grown up for
6th Aug	Send real mail
13th Aug	Clear out your toiletries and cosmetics stash; where necessary, replace
20th Aug	Overdress
27th Aug	Make that appointment you've been procrastinating about
3rd Sept	Go on a trip with friends
10th Sept	Eat dessert
17th Sept	Get some fresh air
24th Sept	Write down one guilty secret and let it go
1st Oct	Do something you've never done before
8th Oct	Buy flowers for your home
15th Oct	Repair your clothes; clean out your wardrobe
22nd Oct	Have cocktails
29th Oct	Book a day off work and do almost nothing with it
5th Nov	Drink more water
12th Nov	Have a DVD day. Watch one old favourite, one comedy and one film you know nothing about
19th Nov	Pose for the camera
26th Nov	Do something you loved as a child
3rd Dec	Wear or use that thing you save for best
10th Dec	Bake or cook something you've never tried before
17th Dec	Buy yourself a Christmas present
24th Dec	Wander aimlessly; take photographs as you go
31st Dec	Fill your new diary with another 52 out of the ordinary moments

The Week I've Had (1st January 2012)

2012-01-01T18:15:00.000Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's quite standard in Scotland to finish up work on Christmas Eve and not go back until 3rd January (4th this year), so Steve and I have both been at home with the cats all week. We gave ourselves permission to forget about the various DIY projects needing done around our home and just relax and, aaaaaaaaaah, I've been needing the break!

Here's what I've done with it so far:

Catching up with Kirsten. One of these days she'll decide Aberdeen's cooller than Edinburgh and move back up here. One day.
Loving Lola's Ten Things post.
Watching an awful lot of films (Steve and I bought a DVR from Amazon whilst drunk last month*; it was a worthwhile investment).
Reading roughly a book a day.
Attending what has become our annual Wii 'n' Tea day; a couple of days after Christmas, a bunch of us meet up at Alistair and Elinor's place to play computer games and relax with friends.
Cackling through Arthur Christmas with Lola.
Having the hugest, longest lie in on Thursday followed by a day in my pyjamas.
Chopping my own hair.
Eating revolting amounts of gingerbread house.

*I'd like to stress that we have never before made a large purchase whilst intoxicated. It's not a habit we're in or anything. Most of my impulse buys are made during migraines and I forget all about them until they turn up in the post. Which is like a gift to myself. Hurrah!

The new year was brought in with friends, eating fondue, playing Jenga and watching the fireworks out the stairwell window. It was lovely.

Steve's "The Damned" T-shirt was apparently not meant as a comment on the coming year...

And look! Two cats in one picture!

Taken by Steve

A Year in Books: Everything I Read in 2011

2011-12-31T10:10:00.000Z

At least, I think this is everything I read! My favourites are highlighted; if you want a taste of my literary year, these are the books to consume.

I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
Nerdy Thirty - Wendy Townley
This Tragic Universe - Scarlett Thomas
Even the Dogs - Jon McGregor
William Walker's First Year of Marriage - Matt Rudd

The Hand that First Held Mine - Maggie O'Farrell

Started Early, Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson
Remix - Lexi Revellian
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
Easily Amused - Karen McQuestion

Room - Emma Donoghue

Bossypants - Tina Fey
Love, Sex and Tesco's Finest Cava - S. Carter
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

The Girl with Glass Feet - Ali Shaw

I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak

The Beautiful and the Damned - F Scott Fitzgerald
How to be a Woman - Caitlin Moran
Quiet, Please - Scott Douglas
A Vintage Affair - Isabel Wolff
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

The News Where You Are - Catherine O'Flynn

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Yasutaka Tsutsui
Hurry Up and Wait - Isabel Ashdown
The Architecture of Happiness - Alain de Botton
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin

30-Something and Over It - Kasey Edwards

Tell Me Everything - Sarah Salway
The Secret Life of Words - Henry Hitchings

Paper Towns - John Green

Obstacles to Young Love - David Nobbs

My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me - Hilary Winston

The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar

It's Not Me, It's You - Jon Richardson

The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe

It Chooses You - Miranda July

The Hills are Stuffed with Swedish Girls - Richard Happer

The Waterproof Bible - Andrew Kaufman

Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea - Chelsea Handler
I Remember Nothing - Nora Ephron

Confessions of a Conjuror - Derren Brown

2011: The Year I've Had

2011-12-30T12:55:00.000Z

11 Trips Out of the Ordinary

Some Adventures I Had


With Steve in February (day one and day two)	With Steve in February
With Lola in January	With Kirsten in March
With Lola in May (see here and here)	With friends in August
With friends in September	With Steve in December

And Some More Things I Did

Learning to sew - properly. Learning a lot about the history of my city. Volunteering several times. Watching lots of parades and taking part in one. Making a font of my handwriting. Reading my grandmother's diaries. Running Three Things February (it will be back this year!).Celebrating a year of cohabitation (and making the mortgage a joint one). Getting through No Jeans June. Getting cold and wet at Sonisphere. One wedding and many, many babies (other people's, that is). And watching masses and masses of films.

2012, Here I Come

2011-12-29T18:55:00.000Z

Unlike last year, I'm going into 2012 with almost no plans. Steve and I will probably visit his best mate in March; my dad will probably visit us in the spring; we have tickets to a couple of comedy shows. And that's it.

Which leaves me with no preconceptions of how the year will go.

But I do have a couple of things I would like to do.

Falling in Love with Chick Flicks

2011-12-28T18:31:00.000Z

Once upon a time I was visiting my friend Kirsten in Edinburgh. We had gone on an adventure to the nearest video shop and, finding the shelves all but bare, rented a copy of P.S. I Love You. We were a little embarrassed, handing the box to the boy behind the counter; he was going to think we were those girls. Girls who like sickly sweet, fluffy pink, happily ever after stuff. But we wanted a bit of background noise to our conversation; we figured we could get drunk and talk over the top of it and cast occasional appreciative glances at Gerard Butler.

We did not expect to get totally drawn into it nor to be sitting in tears by the end.

And so began my love affair with chick flicks.

Except that, really, that’s not where it began. It probably began with Pillow Talk and Send Me No Flowers but they were both witty and prettily retro and pre-dated proper gender equality and therefore didn’t really count.

Like many of my friends, I had grown up to have a very dismissive view of modern chick flicks. I was of the belief that chick flicks presented a very narrow, very insulting view of womanhood: pathetic girl moons around a bit until she eventually finds someone to marry.

It turns out, there’s more to a good chick flick than engagement rings.

In a good chick flick – and there are still a few stinkers getting made, but not many of them hit British cinema screens – the female protagonist is smart and witty and kind to her friends. She often has a good job and a small but comfortable apartment because she’s able to take care of herself. She is sometimes disinterested in relationships because she knows that boyfriends are optional. Her flaws are never cattiness or selfishness; they’re the kind of flaws which, really, highlight her good points – being too helpful or taking on too many commitments or being excessively independent or letting her enthusiasm for life max out her credit card. Sometimes she’s sticking with a boyfriend who clearly doesn’t deserve her, but who doesn’t have an ex we cringe to look back on?

In a good chick flick, the female protagonist is somebody we can associate with. She’s a lot of who we are and a lot of what we aspire to be, with just enough quirks mixed in that we never have to resent her.

We have our likeable heroine, and she’s going to go through some sort of tough time. Sometimes it’s as simple as girl meeting guy and things not going smoothly. Sometimes she makes an unwise decision or she finds herself pregnant or she loses somebody she loves. But it all works out well in the end.

And what’s not to like in a film where somebody you like defeats the odds to find a further degree of happiness?

It’s the same thing which pulls menfolk to films about heroism. An honourable man defeats the dragons/terrorists/evil robots and life turns out better in the end.

It’s part of the appeal of straight-up comedies. A likeable guy faces some sort of odds – being ditched by his fiancée; being mistaken for a spy; having to do community service – but he learns some kind of life lesson and ends up smiling after ninety hilarious minutes.

I grew up thinking there was something anti-feminist about rooting for a girl to find romance, but what’s wrong with finding love? We can believe in equal opportunities without vetoing intimacy.

In my teens, I believed films should be harrowing, political or thought-provoking. Or subtitled. Or full of grunge culture in-jokes. These days I don’t need my films to make me feel intelligent; these days I often just want them to make me feel a little bit happier.

And I no longer think that watching a film about a woman finding happiness - be that through love or any other element of her life - is something that a feminist should have to feel ashamed of.

Making No Promises

2011-12-27T11:42:00.001Z

I'm not usually a fan of New Year's Resolutions. Firstly, I believe if you truly want to do something or to change something about yourself you should just get on and do it, not wait for some cute little date in your calendar. Secondly, I think they're a recipe for self-recrimination; it's dark outside, people are bored and broke after the holidays, it is not the time of year for anything requiring willpower or motivation - why set yourself up for failure before the year has even begun?

This year, I think I might make an exception to that rule.

But that's not what this post is about. This post is about all the things which I considered resolving to do (or not to do), but realised I would never keep up.

A Photo a Day
Every so often I consider doing a photo a day project. I've even started them before and made it up to 180-something shots before getting bored of photographing my teacup/feet/cats.

The thing is, my day to day life is pretty samey. My home and my work are only a few metres apart. I go to the pub quiz once a week and the cinema fairly regularly. My friends and I tend to meet in one of the same few places. There's not much new to photograph.

And I realise that part of the point of photo a day projects is to get you looking for the unusual within the ordinary, but ultimately they just get me stressed out about failing to meet my self-imposed obligation.
Seek Out New Music
I used to actively seek out new music; I was bang up to date with the underground indie scene and went to masses of gigs. I sometimes feel a little disappointed in myself for no longer knowing the names of even the biggest chart toppers, never mind any obscure new talents.

But these days I find the music scene overwhelming. Thanks to the internet, there is so much new music available to me and I find it to be a bit of a kissing-lots-of-frogs scenario. And who has the time for frog lovin'? I have books to read and films to watch and friends to see; I had to let something go and keeping up with musical trends was it.
Buy Only Vintage/Homemade
This is a very nice idea, but if you've ever tried to find comfortable vintage shoes in a UK size six and a half (US 9), you'll know why it's impractical. I've only ever found two pairs of vintage shoes I liked and one left my tights covered in what looked like red plastic dandruff which no amount of washing would remove.

Sometimes things fall apart and I need to replace them now, not whenever that delivery from Canada arrives.

And then there's cosmetics. With ultra-sensitive skin and an allergy to chemical perfumes, the barely regulated handmade market can be a great big risk.
Do Half the Cooking
Over the last three years, Steve and I have slipped from cooking together to splitting the cooking 50/50 to him doing 99.99% of the cooking by himself. And sometimes I feel really guilty about it; he enjoys cooking a lot more than I do and he's a lot better at it than me and I do do all the dishes, but I think sometimes he would like a break.

But... I do really hate cooking. And he does really hate the dishes. And, frankly, I'm just not that interested in learning to cook well. I would be adding it to my New Year's Resolution list because it's something I feel I should want to do, but I'd be lying to myself and to you.
Send More Real Mail
I'm not going to publically promise to do this; it would only lead to disappointment for my friends when I failed to keep to my word.

All of these are areas I feel like I should be improving on. And I do intend to. But, deep down, I know that none of them are important enough or exciting enough for me to put a lot of effort into them. And if I don't put a lot of effort into them, I'm not going to meet my goals.

So, this year, rather than setting myself up for disappointment, I'm going to focus my energy on one or two things which really matter to me with a vague intention to "be generally better" on the side.

What about you? Are there any resolutions you feel like you should be making but you know in your heart wouldn't work for you this year?

Christmas in the Rooftops Household

2011-12-26T16:01:00.002Z

Somewhere along the way, Steve and I have worked out a Christmas balance which works for the two of us, allowing for my indifference to the whole thing and his enthusiasm for food and brandy and piles of gifts.

So there was no tree but there were presents to and from each other, and also from the various sets of parents. I received quite a mountain of books which I spent most of yesterday working through:

The Design Sponge one was a bad idea as my head is now full of home decor ideas!

Also, my mum gave me a cowl she had knitted herself, which is not only lovely but totally worked with the top I had on:

This was a no make up, no effort kind of day. Steve's wearing a fluffy dressing gown in all the pictures I took of him.

The cats ignored their Christmas mouse and the huge pile of wrapping paper; Gizmo spent a large chunk of the day sitting on assorted windowsills looking unimpressed by the lack of activity outside.

Steve cooked us lots of stodgy food which we ate whilst watching the Dr Who Christmas special and Gremlins, and we drank quite a bit of cherry brandy and some very nice wine I'd been given for my birthday.

As lazy days away from the world go, I couldn't have asked for more.

How was Christmas for you?

Why Don't You... Go to the Cinema and Watch a Film You Normally Wouldn't?

2011-12-26T09:00:00.000Z

Go to the Cinema and Watch a Film You Normally Wouldn't

Leave your skepticism at home.

So it has big explosions? That doesn't necessarily mean it's mindless.

So it's romantic? That's no guarantee that the jokes are bad.

So it's for children? So was E.T.

Give something outside of your normal genres a try.

Last week's suggestion was to show us your most treasured possession.

Which I did here. Also, I loved my friend Elinor's post about her favourite possession here.

For more Why Don't You posts, click here.

The Week I've Had (25th December 2011)

2011-12-25T11:42:00.000Z

It's a Wonderful Life on the big screen for Lola's birthday.
Dinner with menfolk.
Lunch with an old friend who's in town for the holidays.
New Year's Eve which wasn't bad.
Our shower dying at the most inconvenient time of the year - it took Steve a full day of phoning around to find a plumber who works between 20th December and 9th January!
Finishing work at one o'clock on Friday... though it still hasn't really hit me that I'm on holiday!
Also, after talking about memories and treasured items this week, I'd like to recommend The Waterproof Bible by Andrew Kaufman. It's a quirky book with all sorts of interesting questions to consider, one of which is what becomes of a person if they rid their life of mementoes.

And finally, a merry Christmas to any and all who are celebrating, and a lovely day of rest to those who are not! Steve, the cats and I are having a relaxing day of food, brandy, gifts and films, and are looking forward to another week-and-a-bit of meeting up with friends and hanging out on our sofa.

Overheard on the Train Last Weekend

2011-12-24T08:46:00.000Z

If you can say the same - and have somebody who thinks to ask - the rest is just icing and irritations.

Dinner at Lola's

2011-12-23T17:29:00.000Z

Yesterday evening, Lola invited a few of us round for a yummy dinner. She lives in this incredible old house which is centuries old and full of character; it belongs to a pair of globetrotting artists/academics who have crammed it full of curios over the years.

Here are just a few pictures from the room in which we ate:

The house is also home to two charming cats, Charlie and Bob.

The dinner was great fun, complete with lovely food, a pinata full of toys and sweets, indoor sparklers and copious amounts of alcohol.

Picture of me by Lola

The Field Mouse

2011-12-22T19:08:00.000Z

If your home was on fire, what would you save?

A few months ago, links to The Burning House started popping up all over my RSS feed. For those of you who haven’t seen it before, it’s a site to which people submit photographs of what they would save in a fire.

I thought this was a fascinating idea – I thought the pictures would be full of family photographs, pet gerbils and handmade teddy bears. Sentimental items. And some of them are. But an awful lot of them are of iPods, designer sunglasses and “the latest issue of Rolling Stone”. And a lot of them seem to have been taken by people who think, in the event of a fire, that they have a good fifteen minutes to spend moseying around their home, collecting things.

A fireman once told me it would take seven seconds for a fire engine to get from the station to my flat. Seven seconds doesn’t give me much time to gather stuff, and I don’t see the fire brigade being too understanding if I ask them to, “hold on a sec while I unplug my laptop.”

In the event of a fire, I bet you my priorities would be saving my own life, Steve’s life and the lives of our cats. Which would be tricky given that we’ve only got one carry case and they’re both very good at hiding from it. But, supposing I had the time to grab something else, what would I take?

I would take my phone; if I’ve just escaped from a burning building I’m going to want to call my mum and tell her I’m okay. But any other electrical goods can be replaced with my insurance money.

I wouldn’t save any photographs; they’re heavy and I’ve backed them up online.

I wouldn’t save my favourite dress – it doesn’t matter how pretty I look if I’m chargrilled.

But, if I had the time, I would save my grandmother’s brooch.

My grandmother – well, strictly speaking, my “non-biological grandmother”, to quote the woman herself – died a few days before my seventeenth birthday. I remember not knowing what to say when my dad called to tell me. I remember sitting on the floor of my halls of residence bedroom, drawing a self-portrait which I still have and which still fills me with sadness every time I look at it. I remember going along to my cinema club meeting that evening, with everybody whispering behind my back as we ate pizza and listened to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and wrote up blurbs for our forthcoming magazine. I didn’t know what to do with this news; the next day I caught the train down to her funeral and, when I got back to Aberdeen, on my birthday, I found my friends had covered my door in well wishing letters.

Which seemed fitting, because it was the kind of thing she would have done herself.

My grandmother filled my sister and me with creativity, encouraged us to love history, sang to us in German (although she wasn’t German herself) and baked us big cakes with bright pink icing sugar on the top. She spoke to us of her solo travels as a young woman and showed us photographs of her trips abroad with our grandfather. She took pictures of lichen and volunteered at The Hill House and let us eat lumps of sugar straight out of the bowl. I credit her with a lot of who I’ve grown up to be.

And the only thing I have of hers now is this brooch. I don’t know if it’s worth anything; that doesn’t matter. I don’t need it to remember her by. But if I was going to save one thing in a fire, I would save this link back to her.

24 Hours in Edinburgh

2011-12-20T18:59:00.001Z

This weekend, Steve and I headed to Edinburgh for a surprise birthday celebration and one night only.

We started with a wander through the festive markets which were both pretty and unbearably busy. There was mulled alcohol and some really rather good cheese toasties.

We took a wander over the hill and through the Grassmarket on our way to the hotel.

Then it was out to Fountain Park for bowling.

The following morning we had brunch at the wonderful Eteaket where I had rose and black pepper hot chocolate and Steve spent a small fortune on fancy teas.

And then we stroked some reindeer!!!!!!!

Why Don't You... Show Us Your Most Treasured Possession?

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000Z

Show Us Your Most Treasured Possession

Okay, I understand that most of you will be a bit short of time this week what with the last minute shopping, wrapping and travelling stuff, so this week's suggestion is a quickie.

Take a picture of your most treasured possession. A gift from a loved one? Something you saved up for a year to buy? Your feel good shoes? A pot plant you kept alive for more than a month? Whatever means the most to you (but I'm vetoing pets and loved ones as they are not "possessions"!).

Your picture can be artistic and beautifully lit if you like; it can be something plonked on your sofa and snapped with a flash if you don't. Whatever works for you. Upload it to your blog or Flickr or whatever your site of choice is and include a couple of lines explaining why you love it so.

That's all.

Last week's suggestion was to make a donation.

Which I did. Financially to both Cats Protection and Macmillan Cancer. And goods to a near by charity shop.*

*That's not entirely true; the goods are still sitting in piles in two separate corners of my home. But they're going. Soon. Certainly** this year.

**Almost certainly.

For more Why Don't You posts, click here.

The Week I've Had (18th December 2011)

2011-12-18T19:45:00.000Z

Taking several days away from Facebook and not missing it at all (except for that one moment when a van went past blaring The Muppet Show theme tune and I had nobody to tell). I was considering quitting altogether but... where would I put my drunken photos, then?!
Finding places to put my awesome birthday presents.
Failing to make much of a dent in the Laundry Mountain.
Eagerly awaiting visits from old friends over the holiday period.
Sneaking off to Edinburgh for my brother-in-law's surprise birthday celebrations.

Now here's a bonus picture of Gizmo looking a bit weird:

It's tempting to draw a comedy body onto him...

Yours and Theirs

2011-12-16T10:16:00.000Z

I heard about Yours and Theirs via Bianca and I love this idea!

Each week on their Facebook page, a prompt will be given of something to photograph; you submit your photograph to yoursandtheirs@gmail.com and, at the end of the week, all the submissions are posted on their Facebook and blog. I missed the first two weeks - The View from a Window in Your House and A Recent Gift You've Been Given - but this week I'm taking part.

This week's prompt is Something You Collect. Well, this was difficult for me because I don't really collect anything; I'm much more of a purger. Whereas Steve feels the need to have everything in a series for the sake of completeness, I feel like season five of Supernatural conned us out of the price of a boxset.

However, after a bit of thought, I realised that I do have quite a lot of brooches and a huge fondness for them. I also have a tin full of the badges I collected as a child and teenager, none of which I've ever been able to part with (I'm still mourning the loss of my Edinburgh Butterfly Farm badge which fell off my left foot Converse in a now-defunct nightclub one night in the late 1990s). So here's my submission for the week:

Is anybody else joining in?

Ten Things Which Make Me Happy

2011-12-14T12:06:00.000Z

Last year, on the fourteenth of December, Lola challenged me to post a list of ten things which make me happy.

I thought I would make it a bit of an annual tradition, so here are the first ten things which popped into my head this year round:

Putting words into the cats' mouths (and assuming that they understand everything I say to them). Our cats have a great sense of humour not dissimilar to my own.
Finished sewing projects.
Here is the top I was making at the weekend - isn't this vintage deer fabric the cutest?
Um... the facial expression makes sense in the bigger, original picture...
Friends who are never too old or too intellectual for a silly scheme (and who come up with plenty of their own).
Watching a film I know next to nothing about and discovering that it's wonderful.
Having tons of books queued up to be read. Especially when they were Amazon impulse buys and I've forgotten what they're about.

Warm, fruity desserts.
Real mail. Especially when it's a surprise.
Reindeer. Actually, all deer. When I spot one out the window of a train the whole carriage can hear me squeal.
Retro mirrors of funny shapes and sizes.
Having the option of a lie in... but getting up early and getting tons done before lunchtime.

What ten things can most put a smile on your face right now?

Still on the Subject of Birthdays

2011-12-13T18:29:00.000Z

Steve and I had a lovely six day weekend celebrating both of our birthdays.

On Sunday, Steve was surprised with a day of laser tag, bowling, a big meal and cocktails. There was sixteen of us there in total, some of whom Steve and/or I see most weeks, some of whom we hadn't seen for months - it was such a good day and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

My birthday was yesterday but, as we were still recovering from the night before, Steve and I stayed home and took it easy. I was properly spoiled with birthday presents, though! This sheep planter is one of my favourites; I also got a Kit-Cat Clock from the cats! Amazing!

Yes, we totally get gifts from the cats. They choose them themselves but they need a little help with the wrapping paper. They got Steve a tyrannosaurus rex toy which makes noises they find most unpleasant.

And tonight is my actual birthday celebration, when a bunch of us are heading to the theatre for what has become our annual trip to the panto. This year is Jack and the Beanstalk and I'm so looking forward to it!