Alice's Grown Up Blog

Winky Face!

2011-08-03T11:41:00.000+01:00

I'm just going to come right out and say it. I am not a huge fan of emoticons. I do not use a happy face to indicate happiness, or a sad face to indicate sadness. I don't even use LOL when texting or IMing, as I prefer a simple "ha!" to get the idea of laughter accross.

However, I will acknowledge that I am in the minority. If there was a battle, I lost. Emoticons have won, and I accept their place in the world. I will even admit that they can make the tone of an email or text or whatever clear if the words themselves don't convey the proper meaning. I don't use them myself, but if someone sends me a frowny face or a confused face, I understand their meaning and move on with my life.

Except!

The winky face. If there is one emoticon I cannot stand, it is the winky face. You know the one I mean:

;)

The intended meaning, as far as I'm aware, is to convey cheekiness or sassiness. And it drives me up the freaking wall. Because here is the thing. In real life, people smile at each other, or frown, or have big smiles, or stick out their tongues (which, ugh), or look surprised. All of which have a corresponding emoticon to convey these expressions.

Do you know what people don't do? Wink at each other. Constantly wink at each other. And if they do, they should stop, because I'm sure they'll just develop a twitch of some kind.

There only two contexts I can think of where winking is appropriate in real life.

One: If you are playing a joke on someone and want to let someone they are with in on the joke subtly. A wink at that person while continuing the joking will get that message across, and then hopefully they'll get in on the joke and you'll all have some fun times.

Two: A pickup wink, done in jest. Possibly accompanied by finger guns. This works in almost any circumstance in life, and is generally delightful.

That's it! Those are the only two situations in which you should be winking! Or maybe if you're trying to get a contact back in place. But blinking would also accomplish this, so let's forget that one.

Two!

So, when I see people (and god help me, so many people do this) use the winky face after a comment they mean to be funny, all I can think is STOP STOP STOP! If you need to use an emoticon (and I really must stress that no one needs to use an emoticon) in that case, will the smiley face not do? What is wrong with the good old smiley face? Are you too good for the smiley face??

Your cheekiness comes across as far less cheeky if you have to tell me you're being cheeky! (Also, the work cheeky looks funny when you write it too many times. Cheeky.) Would you really wink in real life after you said whatever you just said? I thought not. It's just dumb. Stop it.

However, if someone develops an emoticon for the double finger guns, I will have to bow to their genius and gladly allow all winky face/double finger gun emoticon combos, as they will be hilarious.

Mug of the Day - 3 August

2011-08-03T11:17:00.000+01:00

Cuba!

Mug of the Day - 2 August

2011-08-02T11:10:00.000+01:00

Bruges! It's my most multi-lingual mug, as it also says "Bruges" and "Brujas".

Mug of the Day - 29 July

2011-07-29T10:59:00.000+01:00

The kings and queens of Scotland. Educational!

Mug of the Day - 28 July

2011-07-28T09:43:00.000+01:00

Barcelona is one of my favourite mugs. I think it's so pretty.

Pop Music Wars

2011-07-26T15:16:00.000+01:00

I'm a fan of The Critical Condition, which has insightful and often very funny pop culture commentary. And I'm a fan of pop music. So, imagine my delight when those two things merged together in what I say, without hesitation, is THE GREATEST MUSICAL CHALLENGE OF OUR TIME!

I mean, really. How can you not love this:

You will decide the winner in an epic match-up among the 64 best pop songs released since 1981.

I've very much enjoyed the first round of voting, although some of the choices have been tougher than I anticipated. So, go and vote, and then come back and I'll tell you who I voted for and why.

Seriously, go and vote.

Right. So, the first votes have been in the Joy Bomb category. And the choices have been excellent. Almost every song has made me want to get up and dance.

Game 1: Madonna's Like A Prayer vs Steve Winwood's Higher Love

Now, I won't lie to you. Higher Love is a very good song. It's happy. It's very very catchy. But, come on. Like A Prayer is one of my all time favourite songs, ever. And, I would say, one of the best pop songs ever. It's also a great karaoke song. This one was a total no brainer. Like A Prayer all the way.

Game 2: Chumbawumba's Tubthumping vs Human League's Don't You Want Me

This is the first round in which a pattern started to emerge with my voting. (I'll let you see if you can figure it out.) I like Don't You Want Me a lot. I love story songs, especially duets. I love 80s music, especially at its most synthesiser-tastic. But there's just something about Tubthumping that makes me want to jump up out of my chair, start dancing and shouting along with the chorus. I have such specific memories attached to this song, and it makes me smile every time I hear it. Plus, both the band and the song are silly words, which is always pleasing. Tubthumping for the win.

Game 3: Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These) vs George Michael's Freedom 90

This one actually surprised me. I'd have thought for sure it would be the Eurythmics all the way. That song is a classic! But then I listened to them both, and remembered just how much I like Freedom 90. It's so catchy! And that video! (Which, I am aware, shouldn't factor into the decision, but it's iconic!) And, comparing them back to back, I realised that, of the two songs, I think I prefer Freedom. And so it won. (And so the pattern continues.)

Game 4: The Backstreet Boys' I Want It That Way vs Belinda Carlisle's Heaven Is A Place On Earth

Okay, this is where it gets a bit embarrassing. I may as well just come right out and admit it. I love boy bands. I do, I can't help it. The harmonies, the ballads, the dramatic key changes. It all just hits me right in the cheesy music enjoyment target zone. And I Want It That Way does all of those things so well! It's like they took a "perfect boy band ballad" template and crafted this song. And so, while I do like Belinda C, there was just no way that I could let her win. Sorry Belinda. Backstreet Boys it is. (And, again with the pattern.)

Game 5: Lady Gaga's Bad Romance vs Dolly Parton's 9 to 5

Well, this one wasn't even a contest. I have no real strong feelings one way or the other for Lady Gaga, but I fucking love Dolly Parton. Love. Her. To. Bits. Even though she would probably be mad at me right now for cursing. Remember how I said I love story songs? 9 to 5 is the story song of every single person in the world who has ever had a job. The lyrics are amazing, the music is amazing, it all just works. I love love love it. Not even a question. Dolly all the way. (This one is pattern free, for the record.)

Game 6: Irene Cara's Flashdance (What A Feeling) vs Deee-Lite's Groove Is In The Heart

I think this was my toughest call. I instinctively was thinking Flashdance. I love that song. It's on my iPod, and I smile every time it comes on. But then I listened to Groove Is In The Heart again. And, as a pop song? It's amazing. And ridiculous! Which makes it even more amazing, because it shouldn't work. It uses a slide whistle! That is not an instrument that you generally find in your average pop song. Yes, Flashdance is ridiculous in its own way, what with it's silly, silly lyrics. But Groove Is In The Heart is just so fucking catchy. Playing them back to back, I still had Deee-Lite in my head hours later. And if that's not the sign of a great pop song, I don't know what is. Deee-Lite it is. (And there's that pattern again!)

Game 7: Culture Club's Karma Chameleon vs Paula Abdul's Straight Up

Okay, I lied. This was my toughest call. Because I love both these songs. Karma Chameleon is such a perfect encapsulation of its time and place. It's just a wonderful song. So catchy, and memorable. But Straight Up? Holy crap, 12 year old me loved that song so much that even considering voting against it is like a slap in the face to my early teen years. I actually thought this song came out later than it did (1988, in case you were wondering, although it was on the Billboard charts in early 1989). I associate it much more with the 90s than the 80s, for some reason. Maybe because it feels more like the cheesy pop I was listening to in the early 90s? I'm not sure. But anyway, I love it, so it had to be Paula.

(Bonus Abdul fun: listen to Opposites Attract again sometime. The lyrics are so delightfully dated! Plus: animated cat duet!)

Game 8: Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone vs Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It

This was was the only match-up where I liked, but did not love, both of the songs. I went with Tina Turner, because you know, she's Tina Turner. She's a classic. But I like these songs pretty equally, so it was a bit of a coin toss.

What I realised in my voting is that, although I love 80s music, it's not the music I listened to when I started listening to music. It's the music I listened to ironically (but really did love) in the late 90s when I was at university. But the music that I first listened to? I'm the oldest in my family, so I didn't grow up with an older sibling's music in the background. The music I first listened to on my own was the music of the early 90s. And a pattern definitely started to emerge as I pretty much picked 90s songs over 80s songs every time.

And, I have to say, that surprised me a little.

Next: the Deep Feelings division. I can't talk about that just yet. Time After Time against Total Eclipse of the Heart? I think that Sophie's Choice was actually about this decision. So difficult!

Mug of the Day - 26 July

2011-07-26T08:39:00.000+01:00

In honour of my upcoming Skype chat this evening with my California based friend, I give you San Francisco.

Mug of the Day - 25 July

2011-07-25T09:28:00.000+01:00

It was surprisingly hard to find an attractive mug in Istanbul.

Okay, Not Such A Great Start

2011-07-24T10:07:00.000+01:00

Well, that didn't go so well, did it?

Only one day in to my big plan, and I forgot to post anything yesterday. Well, that's not entirely true. I remembered, but at such a time that I couldn't really do anything about it. And then when I got home from my friend's leaving do, I was a bit drunk and tired, and completely forgot.

So, take two!

I'm currently debating whether or not to be productive today. There are lots of things I could be doing. Or, I could finish re-reading the fifth Harry Potter book. I'm re-reading them all after seeing the final movie, to remind myself how much better the books are compared to the movies. But that's always the case, isn't it? I can't think of any film version I've seen that's actually been better than the movie version.

I actually try to avoid seeing films if I've read the book. I saw that Will Smith movie, I Am Legend, and I spent the entire last third on pins and needles wondering when the big reveal was going to come that the woman and kid staying with him were actually zombies, in disguise and infiltrating his home to lure him out to be captured. Because that's what happens in the book! (Oh, sorry. Spoiler alert for a 57 year old book!)

Only it never happened. And the movie has a happy(ish) ending! The book ending is way better. Much, much, much darker. Probably too dark for audiences of a Will Smith movie. But way better.

I probably won't be productive today. I have the whole week for that kind of nonsense. And it's sunny. So, today's version of productiveness will be to lie out in my sunny garden, and read the most whiny and annoying of all the Harry Potter books.

Seriously, could he be more of a whiny baby? Or a more accurate representation of a fifteen year old? Or could practically any given teenager be more of a whiny baby?

Man, I do not miss being fifteen.

Mid-Year Resolution

2011-07-22T10:52:00.000+01:00

I've set myself a mid-year resolution.

I know a lot of people go in for those new-fangled "New Years Resolutions", but I say those are for suckers. It's right after Christmas, you're all exhausted from spending time with your family, fat from eating chocoalate for weeks on end, and hungover from weeks of binge holiday drinking. Are you really in the right frame of mind to make any decisions about your life? I think not.

But mid-July! Now, that's a different story. It's sunny (theoretically), it's warm (theoretically), you're full of the joys of summertime (theoretically). Never mind that it's been raining for the last six weeks basically non-stop, and you're thinking about building an ark in your garden. It's summer! And that is the time when you should be making resolutions.

So, my resolution is this: I am going to remember that I have a blog, and that I like writing on it. And, every day for the next 30 days, I am going to write something and post it.

That's it. Nothing fancy or earth shattering. But I think it will be really good for me. And good for you! Because you'll get to read it! Don't you feel lucky??

So, feel free to check back in. I plan to be here.

Mug of the Day - 22 July

2011-07-22T10:41:00.000+01:00

I heart New York.

Thor, and Where Ebert Went Wrong: A Response to Roger Ebert

2011-05-15T17:09:00.001+01:00

Roger Ebert just wrote two blog posts on his site (not official reviews, although I don't know if that makes any kind of difference), thoroughly trashing Thor, which was released in the States last week. He really, really hated this film:

The story might perhaps be adequate for an animated film for children, with Thor, Odin and the others played by piglets. In the arena of movies about comic book superheroes, it is a desolate vastation. Nothing exciting happens, little of interest is said, and the special effects evoke not a place or a time but simply...special effects.

For some odd reason, Thor was released in the UK earlier than it was in the US, and I saw it a few weeks ago. I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing it. I'd wanted to see Source Code, which wasn't playing. It was a choice between Thor and Arthur, and my friend and I essentially flipped a coin and picked Thor.

Now, I have to confess that I do have a (not-so) secret soft spot for huge blockbuster films. But I'm not a comic film fan-girl, and I don't automatically drool over every Marvel movie. In fact, I slept through the middle bits of both Iron Man films (saw them on planes), despite wanting to like them. That being said, I really enjoyed Thor.

It's a big, fun, ridiculous film. It walks the line very well between being cheesy and taking itself seriously. And why can't a film be both of those things? Now, Ebert had some very spefic complaints, most of which seem to be based on the fact that he wasn't giving the film his full attention. That's a pretty damning comment about a film critic - surely critics should give every film they review their full and utmost attention?

Well, I'm not sure if Ebert saw this film intending to review it - that's not clear in his posts. And, more relevantly, he's human. He has genres of films he loves and respects, and those he does not. I suspect that the category of "comic book films" falls somewhere close to "films based on video games" in his film preferences list. He doesn't like this type of movie, and when he does (The Dark Knight or Spiderman), he seems to like these films despite the fact they're based on comic books.

In fact, from his review of The Dark Knight, he says this:

“Batman” isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy.

That may be true. But it implies that being a comic book is a BAD thing. And I'd argue that it isn't. There is a place for serious, dark, tragic films based on comics. And there is a place for bright, shiny, fun, camp films based on comics. Why does one have to negate the other?

The biggest problems that Ebert seemed to have with Thor seemed to stem from a lack of comprehension of the film. I'd argue that the reason he did not pick up on these details is because he had already dismissed the film as not worth his time. In his defence of his initial post, he says this:

It is impossible for most critics to be familiar with the source material of most movies, and that doesn't bother me. A movie must contain whatever the audience requires in order to enjoy it. It's not required to be "faithful" to its source, as if adaptation were adultery.

I agree with this. A film should stand on its own. A viewer should not have to do research on Wikipedia (as one commenter suggests) to understand the plot points of a film.

However.

The plot points that Ebert claims not to have understood? They're in the film. They don't require knowledge of the comics. I can guarantee this, because I understood them, and I have never read the comics. Very briefly, and in no particular order, here are some of the problems he had with the film:

It was unclear if Asgard was another planet or where it was. Almost the first lines of the film describe how the Norse people saw the alien visitors from Asgard, thought they were gods and worshipped them. Thor and his buddies fly through space to get to earth. Thor points out where his planet is to Jane. It is mentioned many, many times that there are portals to other worlds, including Earth. I really believe that to not have grasped this point means that you just weren't paying attention.
"I wondered, for example, why a giant metal robot chose to attack a small New Mexico town when it could have been attacking the Golden Gate Bridge." Because he was sent to kill Thor. He went to where Thor was. There's perhaps an argument for wondering why the portal leads to New Mexico at all, but that's beside the point.
Not knowing if Darcy was a scientist. Now, this is a minor point, and not essential to understanding or enjoying the film. But there is a bit of the film where Darcy asks a very basic scientific question, and upon being asked "I thought you were a science major?", she responds that she majors in political science. She's an intern working for course credit. They cover that.
Thor's hammer is "stuck". Odin has a whole speech when he takes away Thor's hammer, about only a person worthy of its use will be able to wield it. Maybe that was too subtle? Thor has to earn the right to use it, by becoming a better person/god/whatever

I'm not saying that disliking Thor is wrong, although Ebert certainly thinks that liking it is. I'm saying that he didn't want to like it. And so he didn't pay attention. I have watched many a film in my time, expecting to hate it and finding millions of little points to snark about. I don't think that everyone has to like what I like.

But, surely, if you're getting an outpouring of comments on your initial post saying they enjoyed it from regular film viewers (not just crazy comic fans), and if it does indeed have a 79% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes, surely then you must at least consider the possibility that you are, if not wrong, then at least in the minority.

Writing a second post, to defend your first trashing of the film and to hurl a bit of abuse those who disagreed with you, feels a little bit childish. In his second post, Ebert says this:

One of my weaknesses is to play with the logic of preposterous movies like this. I consider that an amusing exercise, to be read as entertainment and not taken so damned seriously.

I agree, I do the same thing. However, Thor has an internal logic. Ebert just chose not to see it.

I remembered I have a blog!

2010-12-27T10:49:00.002Z

So, it took 3 years, but I finally updated the Steve Guttenberg blog.

Next on the list: this one.

Change Time!

2009-11-14T20:46:00.003Z

So, last week I turned 32. And that really makes me think I should be at least somewhat of a grown up. I also got to thinking about my blog, and what I want from it. I like it, and don't want to let it die out entirely, but I also realized that I wasn't updating in its current form (which you probably realized as well, if you're still actually checking this. Thanks for that, if you are, by the way). I decided it was time for a change.

The name of this blog has been "Alice's Dark Place" since I started writing it in 2004. The name was based on an inside joke between a friend and I, and was probably never funny to anyone else, at any point ever. Since I am now a grown up, and firmly in my early thirties, I decided I needed to update not only the look but the name. And so we come to "Alice's Grown Up Blog".

And yes, that is the best name I could come up with. And yes, I actually did give it quite a bit of thought.

My life hasn't changed that much since I've last written, but it's definitely gotten busier. I'm doing much more at work, which is great and I love it. My flat is on the market, and I'm thinking of moving to a nice converted Victorian flat and getting out of the purpose built 1970s flat market. The cats are adorable, although Lucy is twice the size of Beez, and I have no idea how that happened.

On the personal side, things have probably changed more. I've been really busy with work, which means I'm not seeing as much of my friends as I would like to. I've done a lot of evaluating of my friendships, and realized that I have some really amazing friends, but that you can't stay friends with everyone forever. Such is life. I'm going to do more to keep in touch with my friends, who I love, and not let work take over my entire life.

I'm also going to buy a flatscreen TV. Life is exciting, people. Exciting!

I want to devote more time to my blog, to Londonist, to Steve Guttenberg and to writing in general. Turns out I like it. And I miss having people read my writing. I've missed y'all!

Anyway, I'm back. It's all very fabulous.

Found in an old notebook while tidying my flat...

2008-12-21T13:00:00.004Z

Books I Read: Summer '96

(started beginning of June, 1996)

Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Famous Last Words - Timothy Findley
Another Roadside Attraction - Tom Robbins
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Prizes - Erich Segal
The Little Drummer Girl - John Le Carre
A Green Desire - Anton Myer
Tess - Katherine Burton
Heiress - Janet Dailey
Watership Down - Richard Adams
Sisters and Strangers - Helen Van Slyke
Moon Shadow - Dawn Stewardson
Butterfly - Kathleen Norris
All The Right Moves - Brenna Tod
Privileged Lives - Edward Stewart
A Ruling Passion - Judith Michael
The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Return of The King - J.R.R. Tolkien
Destination Unknown - Agatha Christie
Sand In The Wind - Kathleen O'Neal Gear

(also listed: Books to Read - "John Irving - Prayer for some guy")

Films I Plan To Never Ever See

2008-09-10T13:43:00.004+01:00

Can I just say that the premise of The Strangers scares the crap out of me? It's terrifying. The scariest thing I can think of.

People come to your house and torture you and then kill you just because you were home? So. Freaking. Scary.

It stars Liv Tyler, who I like, and Scott Speedman, who is dreamy. Normally, the two of them cast as the leads in a movie would get me interested. A rom com with the two of them? Please, as if you could keep me away on opening day.

But, the two of them in a film with a terrifying premise that is giving me anxiety attacks even though I haven't even seen it? Not for me.

I pass the poster every day on my way to work - it's on a phone booth on Balham High Road, just before the tube station. And every single day, I think "God, that's so scary." The poster I pass has the three masked figures on it, and that freaks me out too. They're wearing creepy masks! And two of them are girls!

What is up with these people?

I get easily freaked out when I'm home alone - not in my own house, but in other people's houses. Even my parents' house. I always have to do a full check of the house. You know, to make sure there aren't killers lurking, waiting to kill me. The room that scares me most is bathrooms, but only if the shower curtain is closed. I always have to check behind it, y'know, to make sure the killer isn't standing behind the curtain in the bathtub, and it's always a highly tense moment.

I don't really know where this worry comes from - I didn't watch my first horror movie until I was at university (and I still haven't seen most of the classic 80s ones), and I think that's when I started getting freaked out.

So, what with my worry about killers lurking in wait when I'm home alone, you can see why it's very unlikely that I'll see The Strangers. It's not my specific fear covered in the film, but it's one that's just as scary.

I may, however, watch the copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street that I have on DVD at home.

Maybe.

Someday.

"The internet doesn't even know who you are anymore."

2008-08-23T12:18:00.000+01:00

So, apparently I haven't posted since April 26. And by "apparently", I mean "in cold hard fact".

In all fairness, since April 26, all I've done is work. That's it. I've come reasonably close to a nervous breakdown. I've gone out, like, twice. Maybe three times. I can barely remember what my friends look like. I've hardly written for Londonist. It's been very exhausting.

But, I've just had a week of holiday and I'm feeling much better now. I'm even making plans to see people! It's crazy, I know.

I've had a super veg-out holiday, which has been fab. I've basically read, watched episodes of Felicity and slept. I've also seen a few people, but it's mainly been about the chillaxing.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Felicity? Because, I really, really do. I've watched the whole first season over the last week, and it's been delighftul. I'd forgotten how much I liked that show. And I had this super clear memory of sitting with Mandy in a movie theatre in Mississauga after the season one finale, telling her all about it and telling her that she should watch it. And, I was totally right. Because it's such a good show.

It's also made me very nostalgic for my first year of university, which was TWELVE YEARS AGO. Holy crap, I'm old. In September 1996, I went to York and met all these amazing (and not so amazing) people. Some of them I'm still friends with, some of them I'm not. A few of them, I look back at photos and I can't even remember their names. Good times, I tell you!

Holy crap. Twelve years. Shouldn't I feel like more of a grown up by now?

Sometimes, I am dumb

2008-04-26T19:57:00.003+01:00

So, yesterday morning, I was doing a bit of tidying before my friend Alexcia came to stay, and had two bags of rubbish to get rid of. I carried one in each hand, and held my keys in my left hand, and took them to the communal bins.

I left my front door a bit open, but as I was walking away, I heard the wind slam it shut. "Whew", I thought, "good thing I have my keys."

I got to the garbage area, opened the big metal door and swung the bag in my left hand into the bin. As it was going in, however, the handle of the bag looped around my front door key and pulled it into the bin.

That's right. My keys. In the garbage. My front door. Locked.

Now, just to give you the right mental image of my stupidity, the bins made of metal, about five feet high, around four feet in diameter and on wheels. They're really big.

My keys were sitting on a black bin bag, and were about half way down. Obviously, I couldn't get them.

Someone had left a washing machine sitting in the garbage area, which is where we all leave big stuff to be picked up by the garbage men. (Actually, it was sitting pretty much right where the tree on the left is in this entry.) And I had a genius idea.

I would wheel the giant bin to beside the washing machine, climb up on it, and reach into the bin, and grab the keys. And then, ta da! I'd be all set.

I opened both the huge doors and wheeled the bin out. Due to the kind of wheels on it, I had to kind of turn at as I pulled it, creating a nice spinning out motion. I finally got it to the washing machine, climbed on, and reached in. And was still about ten inches away from the stupid keys.

So, I spun the stupid bin back into it's storage room.

I decided to knock on the door of the one neighbour I kind of know. She's nice, in a "lecture me about life in general" kind of way. But, of course, she wasn't home.

I was really stumped. Julia wasn't going to be home for ages, Alexcia was arriving in a few hours and I was totally stuck.

Then, like a beacon of hopeful light, a door on the building opposite opened. An young-ish woman walked out and I immediately ran up to her, all "excusemeI'msostupidbutIdroppedmykeysinthebinandneedhelpdoyouhaveacoathangeroranything". After she figured out my crazed speech, she told me that she didn't live there, but was just the carer. A teensy tiny little old woman walked out behind her, and I went into the whole speech again. The teensy tiny little old woman (or TTLOW) went and got me a Marks & Spencer hanger.

I raced over to the bin, and reached in. I was still about 8 inches away from those damn freaking keys. Dammit!

TTLOW called out to see if I was having any luck, and when she heard I wasn't, mentioned she had a stepladder. She walked back into her house, and I followed her in, because she was teensy and tiny and shouldn't be carrying ladders for me.

I grabbed the ladder, hauled it over to the bin, climbed up, reached in with the hanger, and ..... SUCCESS!!

I snagged the key ring on the end of the hanger, and was back in business. I carried the hanger and stepladder back to TTLOW and thanked her profusely. She really was very nice.

So, half an hour of idiocy later, I was back in my flat.

Needless to say, I will be carrying my keys in my pocket every time I go to the bins now. The lesson, she is learned.

Meme-a-rama

2008-03-28T16:37:00.002Z

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:

Camp counsellor, bowling alley attendant, background talent agent and TV production manager

B) Four films I would watch over and over:

Can't Hardly Wait, Some Kind of Wonderful, Zoolander and Overboard.

C) Four places I have lived:

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (1977-1987), Goderich, Ontario (1987-1996), Toronto, Ontario (1996-2001), London, England (2001-now)

D) Four TV shows that I watch:

Currently, I am Sky Plussing Dirty Sexy Money, Brothers & Sisters, Reaper and Skins.

F) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):

I am a bad e-mailer and thus do not get many in return. I probably get the most from Heather, Leanne, Lindsay and Robin.

G) Four of my favourite foods:

Kraft dinner, pasta of almost any kind, Thai food, Indian food. Mmmmmm.

H) Four places I would rather be right now:

Rather than here in my office, procrastinating? On holiday somewhere sunny, at home sleeping, in the pub getting drunk and in my garden.

J) Four favourite authors:

Let's call this four of my favourite authors. Jane Austen, Nora Roberts, Kazuo Ishiguro and Marian Keyes. That's just off the top of my head.

Oh, and also?

2008-02-13T14:40:00.001Z

If you're in the UK, please watch Football Hurts tomorrow, Thursday 14th Feb on Nuts TV at 9pm.

Thanks!

"You realize you haven't blogged since December, right?"

2008-02-13T14:31:00.000Z

Uh, yeah. I do know that. I'm sorry. But seriously? It's February? February 2008? How did that even happen?

Doesn't it seem like it was just the beginning of 2007 mere minutes ago? 2007, which was terrifyingly known as the year in which I will turn 30 and which will now be remembered as the year in which I turned 30, was pretty good, on the whole. It was a mix of the really good and the horribly awful, which is pretty much par for the course for any year. I did let the blog lag a bit on 2007, and for those of you still reading this, I'm sorry for that. I'll try and do better this year.

I haven't been doing much Londonist-ing either, which I hope to remedy. I'm in LA this weekend for a shoot, then I'm on holiday for a week, and then it'll be March.

March!! Seriously, this year is just disappearing on my at a frightening rate.

Here's an anecdote to keep you amused while I scurry to a corner, curl up in the fetal position and rock back and forth, bemoaning the year slipping away on me.

So, every morning, I get to work about the same time. I usually get off the Tube at 9:30 or so, and as I walk from the station to the office, I generally see the same guy. He's very tall, with glasses and blonde hair. He's walking to the station as I walk away. We don't say hi or anything, because that would be insane, but he's one of the people that I see every day, and if I saw somewhere out of context would spend about an hour thinking "how do I know that guy?".

There are a lot of people I see fairly regularly, but this is the only guy I see virtually every day, no matter whether I'm a bit early or a bit late. And today, I realized why.

I got off the tube at 9:30, and who was walking towards me? TWO of this guy! He's actually identical twins!

I've seen him (or, possibly, one of them) every day for like two years. And I never noticed. I just thought it was weird that this guy had the same schedule I had. But now I don't know if I've actually been seeing one of them, or they've been alternating.

This has really shaken my whole world view.

Twins. That's just so sneaky.

Huh. How 'bout that.

2007-12-12T17:08:00.000Z

I just realized that I've been writing this blog since August 2004, and this November was the first month that I haven't posted anything.

That was a pretty good streak I had going there, and I didn't even realize. For shame, Alice. For shame.

What?!?!?!?

2007-12-12T16:38:00.000Z

The Internet: "What? You haven't posted anything in MONTHS, and you're posting a freaking meme?"

Alice: "Suck it, Internet. You're not the boss of me!"

From Your Dirty Answer:

1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click Random Article (on the side menu). That is your band's name.
2. Click random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

BAND NAME: Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury (That is actually an awesome band name)

ALBUM NAME: Meadow Well Metro Station (And an AWESOME album name! My band rocks)

TRACK LISTING:

Wolf Spider (it's so dark where we are right now)
In These Veins (this is our tribute to the 4th album by Swedish extreme metal band Hearse)
Lady Of The Night (and this is our tribute to the Donna Summer album. We are a band of contrasts.)
Jiří Malec (this is a lyrical song that tells the story of the famed Czechoslovak ski jumper who won a bronze medal in the 1980 Olympics)
Kōge, Fukuoka (this is a peppy number about getting lost in the Japanese town of Kōge)
Sander Westerveld (this is the song our bass player wrote about her crush on the Dutch footballer.)
York Regional Road 25 (also known as Major Mackenzie Drive, this is a loving tribute to the much maligned York Region, north of Toronto)
History of Malmö (this is an instrumental number, featuring a 7 minute keyboard solo)
Silver Star (this is a song about travelling from New York to Miami on train, with guest vocals by Gloria Estefan)
Jay Ovittore (this is a scathing look at American politics)
Virtual High Throughput Screening (we're pretty sure we were drunk when we wrote this. We barely can understand it ourselves)
Earth and Water (this one's pretty sanctimonious - it's about saving the environment and we can get pretty preachy when we set our minds to it)
Korea Aerospace Industries KFX (the radio stations won't play this - it's too shocking)
Nitrobike (this was our first single. It was huge in Germany)
Alive in an Ultra World (this is an extended cover of all the songs on Steve Vai's album in one, uninterrupted stream. It's 70 minutes long.)

We're doing a world tour in 2008. Tickets go on sale in January. Hope to see you then!

Ooooh!

2007-10-09T10:46:00.000+01:00

Guttenberg news! Guttenberg news!

Stalked By Celebrities

2007-10-03T17:01:00.000+01:00

Fact. David Thewlis is stalking me.

I know what you're thinking:

"Alice, he's a celebrity. He's in the Harry Potter movies, for God's sake. You're just a television production manager who writes a blog. Why would he possibly be stalking you??"

Well, I don't know the answer to WHY, do I? I'm not the one doing the stalking. But I can tell you that it's happening.

SHOCKING AND TRUE FACT #1:

On Tuesday 4th September 2007, I flew from Dublin to London on an Aer Lingus flight. Who did I notice walking onto the plane in front of me? One David Thewlis. I thought little of it, except that I recognized him but couldn't remember his name at the time and it was driving me crazy. I remembered it a few days later.

SHOCKING AND TRUE FACT #2:

On Sunday 30th September 2007, I flew from Los Angeles to London on a British Airways flight. Who did I notice at gate 120, waiting for the flight? Oh, that's right.

David Thewlis.

And, to make matters even more disturbing, he arrived at the gate before me.

He's clearly not following me - he knows where I'll be before I'm even there.

Spooky, no?

I'm flying to LA again at the end of the month - if he's on my return flight again, I'm calling the cops.

It is kind of flattering though. Hmmm, do you think he reads the blog?

Wow, remember when I had a blog?

2007-09-10T14:57:00.000+01:00

Yeah, so sorry for not actually updating this in ages. Whoops!

I've been doing a fair bit of writing for Londonist, and working like crazy. And yes, that's it. It seems that I went on holiday, but I can hardly remember that now, it seems so long ago.

But wait! How better to remember it than with pictures?

Oh, you'd be laughing too if you were having super good times with Alice.

I got to hang out at a gorgeous cottage, with a gorgeous baby...

and his equally gorgeous mommy. And you're crazy if you think we didn't have fabulous meals, delicious frosty cool beverages and many, many laughs.

Because we did.

And then I spent a week in Toronto...

and got to visit with these fun people, who I don't get to see often, but who I have known for a very, very long time. (Holy crap, I just realized I've known Wendy for 20 years. Madness!)

And I also saw these fun (and classy!) people, amongst many others.

It was a great trip, and I had a fantastic time. And although I've only been back for three weeks, I totally feel ready for another holdiay. I'm ill and stressed and tired. Sigh.

But at least I still have holiday time! Thank god for the UK, and their 20 holiday days per year. I don't know what I'd do with only 10.

Some other stuff I've written

2007-08-01T15:25:00.000+01:00

So, you know this Londonist thing? Well it's working out very nicely.

I'm all official and on the staff page now (woooo!) and trying to write something every day. I'm also doing a weekly tv/online/radio recommendation post which is much harder than I thought it would be, but is still fun.

I quite like this post, which I wrote today. "Handbag Reveals Actual Treasure"

Here's where you can find other stuff I've written for Londonist.

It's fun, no?

It's Ex-Pat Meme Time!

2007-07-24T15:44:00.000+01:00

I love a good meme, and found this on Noble Savage. As I am an Ex-pat, I shall participate with delight!

5) Name five things you love in your new country

The ready availability of pubs, and the socialising that occurs within them
The lack of winter
The fabulous friends I've met here
My flat
London, which is my favourite city in the world

4) Name four things you miss from your native country

My fabulous friends and family back home
Leaves changing in the fall
Kraft products (primarily Kraft Dinner & Creamy Cucumber Salad Dressing)
Having a car

3) Name three things that annoy you in your new country

Charley on Big Brother (I know, why am I watching this show??)
How hard it can be to meet people
The lack of summer

2) Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you when you arrived) in your new country

The fact that everyone I know lives in debt
Going to the movies is so expensive! Why must it be so pricey?

1) Name one thing you would miss in your new country if you had to leave

The social aspect of life in London

It's supposed to be summer...

2007-07-20T11:55:00.000+01:00

This is what it looks like outside my window right now. It's noon.

I just heard thunder. And this is the forecast from the BBC's weather site.

That grey streaky square under Friday? Yeah, that's "heavy rain". All day long.

I thought this was summer? I find this unacceptable.

The TV Of My Childhood

2007-06-26T11:39:00.000+01:00

I found a link to The Top 10 Unintentionally Funny TV Intros on the always entertaining Pop Culture Junkmail, and found it to be deliciously awesome.

I was inspired by it to look up some of my favourite shows from when I was a kid, and because they are all so eighties fabulous, knew they had to be posted here.

Growing Pains

We moved to Goderich when I was 9. Before then, I really didn't watch much TV. I know, you don't believe it. But it's true. We moved in January, and I remember during one of the first days in Mr. Mason's grade 4 class we were doing a unit on graphs, and the class was taking surveys to display in graph form. Fully half the class covered the riveting topic "What's your favourite TV show", and I didn't have one. That's right. I did not have a favourite television show. I picked Growing Pains because like half of the class had picked it and it's important to conform in the 4th grade.

After that I grew to love it though, and developed the requisite 1987 crush on Kirk Cameron. Ahh, Kirk Cameron. So dreamy before he went insane.

Family Ties

We used to watch Family Ties as a family. Good quality wholesome family fun, that was. Good times. I just bought season 1 on DVD and it's held up pretty well. And it's got a kick ass theme song.

Night Court

I wasn't just a fan of the family sitcom. I also enjoyed a nice office comedy - especially if set in a New York small claims court. Oh, the wackiness! I recall being very invested in the storyline between Markie Post's character and her cop boyfriend. That's right. I cared about Markie Post.

Perfect Strangers

Speaking of awesome theme songs, I love this one. It's so inspirational. And who can't relate to the story of mis-matched cousins from different countries who end up living and working together .... and becoming best friends. I think I'm going to cry.

Facts Of Life

I am female and grew up in the eighties. Of course I love Facts Of Life. It would be crazy if I didn't. Jo was my favourite. I thought she was so cool. Remember, I was very young.

Who's The Boss

I was watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother recently and a character asked who the boss was. Clearly the responses were "Tony", then "Angela", then after a pause "Mona". And I laughed. Oh, how I laughed. I have a very vivid memory of the guys in my sixth grade class all getting their hair cut like the kid who played Jonathan. Like I can laugh though - that was the year of hair sprayed bangs and multi-coloured slouch socks.

Head Of The Class

I loved this show. Less so in the post Howard Hessman days, but I still watched it. Who can dislike a show with many, many musical episodes? Sure, the kids were performing in musicals, but still they did it first. I also had a crush on the tough guy, who also appeared in one of my favourite eighties teen movies Camp Cucamonga.

The Hogan Family

Ah, Jason Bateman before he was cool. Good times, I tell you. I remember shockingly little about this show, but I know I liked it.

Gimme A Break

I used to watch this after school. It was on after Facts of Life, as I recall. You know, I'd bet that in the future, archeaologists are going to find all these sitcoms from the eighties and decide that every household had a sassy black houskeeper and/or a sassy British butler. The main thing is the sass. That's the most importnat part.

Ah, eighties sitcoms. So delightful. Just think - kids growing up today are going to be sitting at their computers reminiscing about that stupid sitcom with James Belushi. These are sad, sad times we live in.

Spelling with Flickr

2007-06-25T15:43:00.000+01:00

What's that you say? A way to waste time at work? Fantastic, I say!

I got this from Ragdoll, and found it a fabulous idea. Here's my Flickr blog title:

To make your own, go here. Or, you can look up the letters yourself like a sucker. Not that anyone I know did that. Ahem.

I've seen this like five times now...

2007-06-21T12:32:00.000+01:00

but it freaking kills me every time.

Ah, those lolcats. So funny.

Party Paranoia

2007-06-20T14:52:00.000+01:00

I am a nervous party planner.

Every single time I have ever planned a party, or really any large-ish gathering of any kind, I have sent myself into a frenzy of nerves. I worry that I've invited the wrong people, or not enough people, or too many people, or that the people I've invited won't like each other, or that I've forgotten to invite someone and they'll be mad, or I accidentally sent an invite to someone who hates me and they'll be even madder, or that the party will just suck.

And, of course, because I am me, I worry if I don't get responses fast enough. Even though I myself am notoriously bad for getting an email invite and thinking "yay, that sounds fun!" and then completely failing to repsond to it, I still panic when people do the same thing to me.

Even when I know for sure that lots of people are still coming, I will still be ready way too early, and panic because I'm certain that no one will show up and I'll be the loser who sits alone in her tidy flat with a beer in her hand and a sad, sad look on her face. Of course, that never happens, and I don't think I've ever had a bad party. But still, I am a worrier.

Clearly, this is all leading up to the fact that I'm having a barbeque to celebrate Canada Day, which is a very exciting day for us Canadians. It should be fun, and really even if only a few people come, it'll still be a good time. But I still stress. Because that's who I am. I am a stresser.

I bought some decorations already, so I'm committed now. No turning back.

And hey - if you got an email inviting you to the bbq? Can you email me back please? It'll help reduce my levels of stress.

Gosh, it's been a while, hasn't it?

2007-06-17T21:58:00.000+01:00

So, sorry about the lack of blogging. I'm not very proud of myself, and you've got every right to be peeved with me.

But we can still be friends, can't we?

Oh, good. I'm glad we got that sorted out.

So, what's been new with me? Well, I've been doing a bit of writing for a fab blog called Londonist. You may have heard of it - and if you don't live in London, there are many other "ist" websites. There's probably one for the city you live in!

Anyway, I've been writing for them for a few weeks now, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Here are a bunch of the posts I've written recently:

So, that's what I've been up to. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think. But only if you think nice things. If you've got mean things to say, you can keep those to yourself.

What's new with you?

Sometimes, photos speak for themselves....

2007-05-23T17:18:00.001+01:00

Impulsive Decisions

2007-04-30T14:27:00.000+01:00

I've needed to get my hair cut for quite a while now - the last time I had it done was before Christmas, and it was looking pretty shabby. So, I booked myself an appointment at my hairdresser of choice for Saturday, and was all set.

"So, what are you going to get done?", I was asked on Friday.

Like a flash of inspiration, the answer came to me.

"I think I'll go a bit blonder. You know, for summer. And ..... I think I'll get a fringe!"

For the sake of clarification, at this point I should explain that what we in the UK call "a fringe", in Canada we would call "bangs". Just so you don't get confused.

And so, I tell her what I want. But I just say "a fringe". I do not say "a fringe, but longer and kind of side-swepty and not too short, and did I mention not too short?"

Clearly, I should have said that, if that's what I wanted. Because that is not what I have.

I have a fringe. And it's not a sweepy, long, non-fringe, fringe. It's a proper fringe. It's bangs, baby.

Bangs. It's madness, I tell you.

I'm getting used to it though. I think. Oh, impulsive decisions. You're so much fun.

Funnier in my head...

2007-04-19T14:22:00.000+01:00

See, I live in the UK, and we do not get the US version of Dancing With The Stars. We have the old school Strictly Come Dancing. And since I don't even watch that, it seems unlikely that I will watch Dancing With The Stars, should it make it's way to our shores.

So, as with all American shows I haven't seen, when I read things about them, I'm forced to create a mental version of the show that often bears no resemblance to the real thing.

Yesterday, I was reading this, and this line made me laugh out loud:

Do you think Tom Bergeron hates himself? I think he hates himself. He took this shitty hosting job, probably thinking that he'd make a quick buck and no one would ever actually watch the show. I mean, really. Dancing? With the stars? How long could that last? And yet, four seasons and some huge ratings later, here we are.

Because, see, I read it wrong, and had in my head this man as the host of the show:

I was so sad to learn the truth. Beacuse, really, is my version not infinitely better than some former news reporter and Hollywood Squares host?

The star of one of my favourite movies of all time - and don't you pretend that you don't think Major League is an under-appreciated classic, because you know you do - commenting on the dance moves of Heather Mills-(ex)McCartney?

That, my friends, is comedy gold.

It's like Ticketmaster can see into my soul....

2007-04-12T17:46:00.001+01:00

An email I recieved only moments ago:

Because if there are two things I love, then those two things are McFly and Tom Jones.

The last tickets I bought from Ticketmaster were for Bon Jovi. Clearly, this means I am either a thirteen year old girl, or Carlton Banks.

Further tales of stupidity...

2007-03-26T15:11:00.000+01:00

Chances are that, in a lifetime, most people will never have a coat stolen. This is because people, for the most part, are sensible. They take care of their belongings. They are vigilant and careful.

And, let's say that they do have a coat stolen once, from a bar or restaurant coat check. Do you think they'll let it happen a second time? Unlikely.

Unless, of course, they are me.

Then they will have had coats stolen on three occasions. That's right. Three.

Small Town Bar, December 2000 - Goderich, Ontario

Imagine, if you will. A formerly small town girl, now living in the big city, returns home for Christmas.

She's out with her friends at the local bar, which used to have a sensible name and is now called Paddy O'Irish or something silly like that, and she hangs her coat, a long dark grey number, on the clothes rack just outside the bar entrance, by the toilets. There are other coats on this coat rack, so it's not like she's being all that careless. She proceeds to get very drunk, as you do when you go home for Christmas. At the end of the night, before making the twenty minute walk home in the blistering cold, she goes to get her coat.

Only, it's not there. She looks everywhere. She asks at the bar. She checks the now virtually empty coat rack again, just to make sure that it's really not there. It's really not there.

She walks home with her friends, in the blistering cold, wearing borrowed gloves and a hat to prevent freezing to death. She keeps saying "I can't believe someone stole my coat!" all the way home, to the annoyance of her friends.

She buys a replacement coat when she gets back to Toronto, but has to wear an old blue ski jacket of her mom's the whole rest of the Christmas holidays.

Work Christmas Party, December 2004 - London, England

Right, so this same girl? She lives in England now. And she has a winter coat of such beauty. She bought it in Toronto with her friend Teresa, and it's real pretty. It's got a faux-fur collar. She loves her coat.

At her work Christmas party, there is much drinking and merriment at the meal, and she and her co-workers decide to wander into Soho for a few more drinks and a bit of dancing. They end up in a basement bar on Old Compton Street, and snag a group of tables. The boys stand and chat, all manly like, while the girls take to the dance floor. The girls return to the tables, where everyone is milling around, chatting, drinking and flirting. Good times are had by all.

When the bar closes, and the group is finally kicked out, the girl looks for her coat in the pile on one of the chairs at their group of tables. It's not there.

She checks the other chairs, checks the floor, asks at the bar, looks everywhere she can think of. It's gone.

Her second coat has been stolen.

She bursts into tears. Keep in mind that she is very drunk, and she loved that coat. The loss of it makes her very emotional.

She gets in a cab with two co-workers to make the trek home, and makes them promise not to tell her how stupid she was to leave it sitting unattended. One of her co-workers, who shall remain nameless, immediately says "Yes, but you really should have ...". He isn't able to finish his sentence, because the girl bites his head off and they argue for the entire cab ride. The other co-worker sits quietly in the back seat and giggles to herself the entire way.

For the rest of the winter, the girl wears a leather coat the isn't nearly as pretty as her faux-fur one. But she makes due.

A Friend's Birthday Party, last Saturday night, March 2007 - London, England

You'd think that by now this girl would have learned her lesson, and kept her eye on her belongings when out, wouldn't you?

Oh, you know that she's not that bright.

Anyway, she's out at London's only Bavarian Beerhouse on a Saturday afternoon for a friend's birthday, and has hung her coat up on the hooks provided. There is much chatting, much laughter, and much drinking of German beer.

At about seven o'clock, after a good five hours of drinking, the group is asked to move to a different section of the restaurant. The group, girl included, pick up their belongings, settle their tabs, and move over to the back bit of the restaurant.

There is much more drinking.

At around one A.M., the girl realizes she is drunker than she's ever been, possibly drunker than anyone has ever been. She decides to go home. She grabs her bag, and goes to get her coat.

It's not there.

It's not where she'd originally hung it up either. And it's not on the table with the random left-behind coats. It's gone.

That's right. She's had her coat stolen. Again.

She's lent a jacket from a very nice young man, and heads home.

She has yet to replace the coat.

Seriously. Three times. What do you think the odds of that are?

Oh, and also?

2007-03-19T17:40:00.000Z

The Steve Guttenberg Project has a new look too, and a few new posts.

Fashion Avenger

2007-03-16T15:23:00.000Z

Dear Woman I Saw On The Stairs Transferring Between The DLR And Northern Line at Bank Station On Sunday,

I'd like to share something with you, if I may. In 1990, I was in the seventh grade. As I'm sure you're aware the pre-teen years are often not kind to girls, fashion wise. Not only did we all love New Kids On The Block, perms and super hairsprayed bangs, but we all either pinned or rolled our trousers.

See, the fashion at the time was to either fold in and roll the cuff of your jeans or trousers tight against your ankle, or pin your trousers, either just at the ankle or from the ankle to mid-calf.

You've got to keep in mind that this was 1990. The fashion was not for tight jeans. It was for baggy jeans. Baggy, pleated, often highly patterned jeans. So, this rolling or pinning created an upsetting effect that flattered no one.

We also wore them with slouch socks, often more than one pair, that we'd colour coordinate to our outfits.

It wasn't a good look. But, in my defense, it was 1990, and I was twelve. I've learned a lot since then.

Do you see what I'm trying to tell you?

Because I'm trying to understand why you were rocking this look last Sunday. In 2007. When you were older than twelve.

I actually did a triple take when I saw your trousers. "Nice colour", I thought. "What the? No, I must have seen that wrong, " I thought. "Nope, didn't see that wrong. What the HELL?", I thought again.

Perfectly fine khaki trousers, ruined by being skin tight from the ankle to the knee, creating a very unfortunate jodhpur effect. I couldn't tell whether you'd modified them, or if they were designed that way. But, you know what? It doesn't matter.

Why, why, why? Why???

I already lived through this look once. I've dealt with a lot of unfortunate looks from my childhood becoming fashionable again, but I'm damned if I'm going to deal with this again.

Get it together lady. I'm not going to re-live the early nineties again. Buy some new trousers.

For all of us.

All the best,
Alice

New look!

2007-03-16T10:56:00.000Z

I did a bit of updating, since Blogger has forced me to switch to their version 2 and lose all the fancy whatnots that were on the pretty version 1 blog.

What do y'all think?

Curse that Facebook!

2007-03-12T15:27:00.000Z

Because I am easily coerced into doing almost anything, I signed up for Facebook today. And while I was procrastinating on that, I found this on a friend's page thingy.

And it's so true.

You Are 40% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well.
In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

I often feel my potential for evil is underestimated.

Marketing Travesty

2007-03-07T15:51:00.000Z

There's a Woolworth's just near my house, and as well as having cheap kitchen-y stuff, they also have a smallish DVD section, which often has super-fantastic deals.

Every once in a while, I go to persue their selection and have come away with many a bargain. The other week, I was taking a peek, and what did I stumble across?

Let's just take a moment to laugh at the fact that it was only £1.

Anyway, huh, I thought to myself. Did Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt make a movie together recently? Because that's a recent photo on the cover, yes?

And then I noticed the title.

Oh, that's right. It's Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

The NINETEEN EIGHTY FIVE film Girls Just Want To Have Fun. The film that was made 22 years ago, when Sarah Jessica Parker was 20 and Helen Hunt was 22. The film in which they play teenagers.

And don't even get me started on the layout - if you're going to have the tagline "Life will be serious soon enough, but for now...", then it really should be ABOVE the title so it makes sense!

But back to the blatantly misleading photo.

Perhaps they've just used this on the front, and the back will clear everything up.

Well, in the sense that they've used actual photos from the movie, yes. In the sense that by far the largest photo is of Sarah Jessica Parker circa the Sex & The City years, no.

For the record, this is what the cover should look like:

That's right. They're YOUNG! And it also stars Shannen Doherty. The 2007 cheater cover shows no Shannen Doherty love. (Also, please gloss over the fact that I now own two copies of this movie.) (Please gloss over the fact that I'd actually already replaced the VHS copy in that photo with a DVD, and I actually now own three copies of this movie.)

I can only imagine the disgust that someone would feel if they bought this movie based solely on the (obviously photoshopped, once you really look at it) image on the cover.

They'd expect a rom-com about thirty-something gals in the city. And what would they get?

A teen dance movie that features an awkward teenaged Sarah Jessica Parker competing in a dance competition on a show called "Dance TV" with her dreamy partner Jeff. Her wacky friend Helen Hunt, Jeff's best friend Jonathan Silverman and his sister Shannen Doherty help the crazy kids win the dance competion - and each other's hearts. And it contains the line "Eat flame, Bozo!"

For shame, DVD marketing people. For shame, I say!

Being back from holiday is always a letdown

2007-03-06T10:27:00.000Z

I highly recommend a skiing holiday in which you don't do any skiing. I'm telling you, that's some good fun. Try not to get a cold though - that can be a bit of a downer.

Meribel is just beautiful. It's about a 3 hour drive from the Geneva airport, in the French alps. A fair bit of that drive was going up the mountain. Turns out? Mountains are tall.

There were 11 of us in the chalet, which really does sound like a lot, but it wasn't too crowded. We did need to have a kids table at dinner though, since you couldn't fit all of us around the dining table. But the kids table isn't too bad when you have copious amounts of wine and get to be in charge of various iPods of awesome.

It snowed the day we arrived, so it was all snowy and gorgeous, and really looked just like a French ski resort should.

Seriously. How pretty is this?

You can try and tell me it's not gorgeous, and I will ignore you, because you will be lying.

It really was such a relaxing trip. Lots of beer, card games - well one card game, Asshole, which really is the best game ever - good food, more beer, wine, more wine, skiing and snowboarding (only not for me), still more wine and much hilarity.

We also formed the world's best pub quiz team, comprising me, Jo, Sam, Leanne, Ivan and Mel (also known as the Girl Team. Sorry guys.) We seriously kicked so much ass. 38 out of 50 questions right, and the next best team only got 25. We are geniuses!! And also good looking. This is a team of victory, I tell you.

We had our winning jug of beer stolen by a team that couldn't handle our superiority, but which shall remain nameless.

Nameless, but I will post a photo. That beer they're drinking? Stolen. Poor losers, I say. Intimidated by our awesomeness.

It was such a fun trip. And it's really so beautiful there.

Being back at work is a bit sad now. Especially since I still have a cold.

I'd rather be back here.

Feelin' crafty

2007-02-23T16:51:00.000Z

Every once in a while, I feel a little bit crafty. Please see: the scarf I've been knitting since 2003, the pillowcase I've been embroidering for a year, and all the various books I own on paper mache, knitting, quilting, and a zillion other things.

I painted my kitchen a few weeks ago, from a nasty light blue to a delicious dark red, and it looks awesome. But it really highlighted the fact that the chairs that were left behind by the previous owners? Yeah, they were ugly.

Chair one, on the left, is a perfectly nice wooden chair with a nasty yellow seat. Chair two, on the right, was a puffy disgusting mushroom coloured monstrosity that was gross, gross, gross.

So, what's a crafty girl to do?

Well, re-cover them, obviously.

I bought some awesome fabric on eBay, along with a staple gun, some upholstery foam for the seats and some black paint. Sorted!

I started with the ugly yellow chair.

And what happens when you're trying to take a photograph of a chair?

That's right. A cat jumps on it.

Turns out that these chairs are really cleverly designed and it's super easy to remove the seat. Once you get the cat off, of course.

Let the painting commence!

I decided to move into the living room, where the floors are newer and more expensive and harder to clean. And there's a TV to watch while I paint. Really, what would you choose?

I did put newspaper down. I'm not an idiot. Thank god Julia reads four hundred papers a day, so we had lots to use.

The chair already looked much less ugly when I finished the painting, which was pleasing.

Sadly, the staple gun I spent all of £3 on eBay wasn't up to the task of actually, you know, stapling stuff, so I had to get a replacement for £4 at Woolworths. God, what am I? Made of money?

The staple gunning was the fun bit. The realizing that I almost didn't have enough fabric wasn't fun. Stupid bigger-than-they-look seats.

Fortunately, I did have just enough to get both seat covers finished. Yay! And they look so much better now. It's almost like I went and bought attractive chairs. Clearly, that would be crazy talk, but it's almost as if I actually did that.

Again, taking a photo of a chair? A guarantee that a cat will jump on it.

"This chair is so comfortable and pretty! I wish I could stand on it all day!", is clearly what Lucy is thinking.

Go on. Try and tell me these aren't some fabulous looking chairs that look great in my new red kitchen.

Because I won't believe you.

Holiday Reading

2007-02-15T14:57:00.000Z

In a mere 10 days, I will be on a plane to France. I know! Isn't that exciting? I'm going to Meribel on a skiing trip with a big group of friends.

Well, actually, it's more of a "skiing" trip for me, as I will not be skiing. I may do one day of it, but it's not really my thing.

"But Alice," I hear you say, "what ever will you do with your time then?"

Oh, there's a plan.

Imagine if you will: a chalet in Meribel. Outside, the snow, she is blowing. Inside, the fire, she is roaring. The hot chocolate, she is delicious and chocolatey. Alice, she is lounging on a couch reading a book.

After a day of delicious reading, Alice's friends return from the slopes, they have dinner and then go out and have lots of drinking and dancing fun.

Seriously, it's like the best holiday ever.

I'm currently putting together my reading list for the holiday. I figure it's seven days, so ten books feels about right to me.

Any suggestions? What do you think I need to read?

Not so clever after all, am I?

2007-02-02T11:16:00.000Z

So, you know how I was all "I'm the best baker in the entire world, I'm so fabulous, look at me, I'm so great!"?

Oh, I've learned my lesson. Come on, carrot cake. Why do you have to be so difficult?

I get organic vegetables delivered every week, and I do my best to use them up by making soups for my lunches and dinners of various kinds. I often fail, because there are too many vegetables. And sometimes they're weird and scary, and I get afraid.

For the last kazillion weeks, there's been a bag of carrots in the vegetable box. Now, of course, carrots keep forever, so they've just been piling up. The entire crisper drawer in my fridge? Filled with carrots.

Tons and tons of carrots.

I've been bringing carrots for lunch every day, but that only uses up like two of them a day! And each bag is a POUND of carrots! I'm putting carrots in EVERYTHING that can possibly have carrots. Soup? Carrots. Lasagna? Carrots. Pasta sauce? Carrots. Salad? Carrots.

But, last week, like a flash of inspiration, the answer came to me.

I will make carrot cake.

Because one recipe will use like a WHOLE BAG of carrots! Sweet!

I'd meant to bake on Sunday, but due to Sainsbury's online grocery delivery operators being deeply stupid, they screwed up my order so it had to wait till Monday.

But Monday evening was all about carrot cake. I grated four cups of carrots. I measured, mixed, chopped as directed in the recipe. I only made two teensy changes.

I used yogurt instead of oil, which I've done before in recipes and usually works fine. And instead of two round cake pans, I used two loaf pans. Harmless, right?

The recipe said it should take 32 minutes to bake, but I knew it would take longer because of my different pans, so I set the timer for 45 minutes.

I checked at 45 minutes, and no - not done.

At 55 minutes - still not done.

At 65 minutes - still not done.

Now, this is when I got a bit worried. Over an hour is a long time.

At 75 minutes, I thought the toothpick came out clean, and they were done. I took the loaves out of the oven, put them on the cooling racks, admired their lovely loafness and let them cool.

After they'd been cooling for about 20 minutes, I went to cut myself a slice. Mmmm, carrot cake, I thought. Delicious!

But wait - what's this uncooked goo in the middle?

That's right. One hour and fifteen minutes in the oven, and it still wasn't cooked.

I tried to salvage it by pitching it back in the oven for another 20 minutes, but the damage was done. Two loaves, and a solid two and a half hours of prep time, and neither was even close to edible.

Well, I may not have had any delicious carrot cake, but at least I used up the carrots, right? That's got to count for something.

iTunes Meme-Tastic!

2007-01-22T15:44:00.000Z

I got this from Low Resolution.

QUESTION: If your life is a movie, what songs are on the soundtrack?

Here's how it works:
1. Open iTunes
2. Put it on shuffle and press play
3. For every question, type the song that's playing
4. Make up a Title and choose your Cast

Title: Oh, Jilly!

Cast:

Jillian - Kate Winslet
Henry - Michael Vartan
Betty - Shannen Doherty
Muriel - Raven-Symoné (I defy traditional casting rules)

Opening Credits: "Heaven Is a Halfpipe" by OPM
Clearly this is going to be a kicky high school movie. Does this mean my character is a skater girl? That seems unlikely. It seems more likely that the boy my character has a crush on is a skater boy, circa 1995. My character will be called Jillian, or Jilly for short.

Waking Up: "Manic Monday" by The Bangles
Well, duh. Of COURSE this is the waking up song. Oh, Jilly. Yes, Mondays will always be this depressing.

First Day At School: "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany
I think that Jilly is having embarrassing fantasies about her skater boy to the sound of eighties classics, where she's totally zoning out and humming to herself. Oh, Jilly.

Falling In Love: "Lady In Red" by Chris deBurgh
Ha! Man, Jilly's a dork. Lady In Red. That's awesome. I feel that this scene is happening in a music class, and the band is playing an instrumental version of this song. Jilly plays clarinet, and she and skater boy make longing eye contact during his saxophone solo in Lady In Red and before you know it, they're in luuuuuuuv.

Fight Song: "The Perfect Drug" by Nine Inch Nails
Oh no. Perhaps does skater boy, who I feel will be called Henry, dabble in the drugs. Does Jilly not approve? This movie's getting all serious, and movie-of-the-week like. Jilly cries, Henry gets mad, they fight about the drugs. The perfect, perfect drugs.

Breaking Up: "LDN" by Lily Allen
Man, this is a cheerful song to break up to. Maybe it's shot all artistic like, with the two of them crying and hugging and fighting but with no sound as the happy happy song plays. It's all ironic, see? I don't think that things look good for Jilly and Henry.

Prom: "China In Your Hand" by T'Pau
Sure, I guess. They're broken up and at the prom with other people as T'Pau speaks to their pain. It's a very retro prom though.

Life: "Music Sounds Better With You" by Stardust
Life? That's kind of vague. Does this mean high school life? I thought this was going to be a high school movie! This is all peppy and great, but given the next category, I don't think things are looking good for Jilly, so let's decide that she's living in denial of Henry's drug problem and their break up and is going on as if nothing happened. She's just not doing well.

Mental Breakdown: "Venus" by Bananarama
HA! Awesome. I'm your Venus, I'm your fire, I'm having a mental breakdown. Awesome.

Driving: "Tell It To My Heart" by Taylor Dane
No, I'm not really sure why I have Taylor Dane on my iPod, but there you go. Anyway, this is a pretty good song for the sad driving and reflecting on her sad crazy life that Jilly is going to need to do. She'll go on a road trip with her best friend, Betty. Betty will help her stop being crazy.

Flashback: "Have A Nice Day" by Stereophonics
Oh, the good times that Jilly and Henry had. The nice days, the not so nice days. Clearly this flashback helps Jilly out - OR DOES IT? Because ...

Wedding: "Sugar High" by Coyote Shivers
Jilly crashes Henry's wedding! The breakdown must have taken a long time, because they've clearly graduated from high school here and grown up a bit. Henry got over his drug problem, got engaged, planned a wedding. Jilly went crazy, got better, crashed the wedding to declare her love (in an non-crazy way, of course). Jilly and Henry run away together to elope to Vegas. Henry leaves a touching but tender message on his ex-fiance's voicemail saying that he just can't resist the combination of Jilly and songs from the hit film Empire Records.

Birth of Child: "Blinded By The Light" by Manfred Mann
Jilly's clearly on some pretty strong drugs during childbirth, and dreams an awesome choreographed dance sequence to this song. Excellent.

Final Battle: "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher
Huh. Not really the best "battle" song I can think of. But perhaps it's a relationship battle of some sort that ends with Jilly & Henry realizing how much the need each other. Aw.

Death Scene: "Everything I Own" by Bread
Oh, this would be sad. Jilly dies, clearly. A sad disease that just makes her more beautiful as she dies. And Henry cries and cries by her bedside as the song sings "and I would give everything I own, just to have you back again". So sad.

Funeral Song: "That'll Be The Day" by Buddy Holly
Inappropriate! Jilly's wacky sense of humour comes to light, as this is the song that she requests for her funeral. Henry and the kid from the childbirth scene, who we will call Muriel, and Betty all laugh through tears as the other mourners exchange disapproving looks. Oh, Jilly!

End Credit: "I've Seen All Good People" by Yes
Well, Jilly was good people. That's for sure. Good people indeed.

Well, I would totally watch this movie. I only wish I could have found a part for Steve Guttenberg.

I very strongly suggest that all of y'all with blogs should do this.

It's Meme-tastic!

2007-01-16T16:29:00.000Z

via Hot Links & Gumbo:

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. List any holidays
6. Post it.

5 November - Three Events

1872 - Women's suffrage: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100.
1935 - Parker Brothers releases the board game Monopoly.
1951 - I Love Lucy airs for the first time.

5 November - Two Birthdays & One Death

Births

1911 - Roy Rogers, American actor (d. 1998)
1941 - Art Garfunkel, American musician
1971 - Corin Nemec, American actor

Death

1977 - Guy Lombardo, Canadian conductor (b. 1902)

5 November - Any Holidays

New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and the province of Newfoundland & Labrador (Canada) - Guy Fawkes night (also called Bonfire night; or Fireworks night): Failure of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.
R.C. Saints - November 5 is the feast day of the following Roman Catholic Saints:
St. Bertilia
St. Domninus
St. Elizabeth
St. Felix and Eusebius
St. Fibitius
St. Galation
St. Laetus
St. Magnus
St. Sylvia
Pope Zachary
Ancient Latvia - the festival Katrina

Mmmmm, pie.

2007-01-11T22:29:00.000Z

So, do you ever find, that as you're sitting at your desk at work, you're overcome by the urge to make a pie?

It doesn't happen often, but when it does, who am I to argue?

A conversation with Aaron about pie the other day got me in a pie frame of mind. So, today, I did a Google search for "apple pie", because it's a very delicious type of pie. Unlike cherry pie, which is deeply gross.

Anyhoo, my search took me here, and I was compelled to make it.

Mmmmm. Pie.

Seriously, doesn't it look amazing? I am a baking wizard.

Mmmmmmm. Pie.

B'bye, Christmas.

2007-01-08T17:52:00.001Z

Christmas Trees, originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

You really know Christmas is over when you see the pile of discarded trees waiting for the garbage men to take them away.

Or the tree removal men. Or whoever actually deals with Christmas trees. I don't actually know.

What I do know is that there were four of them waiting as I left for work today. Ours is the one on the far right.

B'bye Christmas tree.

We had some good times, didn't we? Sorry about Lucy repeatedly hurling herself at you from assorted couches, chairs and sideboards. And sorry that you had to be naked on your bottom third because of over excited kittens and their ornament removal. We still think you looked nice.

You were a good tree. Well done. Best of luck in all your future endeavours.

Merry New Year!

2006-12-29T15:10:00.000Z

I've been shocking lax with the posting in December, but there is enough time in my holiday travelling madness (current location: Toronto) to wish all y'all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Hope your holidays were delightful!

Dude. I'm like wicked smart.

2006-12-07T16:14:00.000Z

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!You must be quite an erudite person.

How's" Your Vocabulary?

Fashion Avenger

2006-11-28T17:32:00.000Z

Dear Woman Who Was Sitting Across From Me On The Victoria Line Last Night,

I kind of don't know where to start here.

I think that you're trying to be kooky. That your carefully cultivated persona is that of "kooky girl". But not just any kooky girl. Kooky girl who likes Tigger.

Now, I understand this. Who doesn't like Tigger? I'm more of an Eeyore girl, myself, but to each his own. But ... how to put this?

It's one thing to be five years old and insist that Tigger is on every item of your clothing. It's charming in a five year old. My cousin used to insist that ketchup was on every single thing she ate. It was cute. If she was still doing that now, seventeen years later? Not charming.

What's cute in a five year old is rarely cute in an adult.

And you, dear lady on the Victoria Line, you are an adult. You are too old to be wearing, in a single outfit, the following: Tigger socks, a Tigger t-shirt and a denim handbag with a pink sparkly drawing of Tigger on it. It's not kooky. It's weird.

The socks on their own with a pair of jeans and a normal shirt? Sure, why not. Wacky socks are kind of 1995, but they're essentially inoffensive.

The t-shirt with jeans and unnoticeable socks and a normal bag? Less acceptable, but I'd give it a pass. For all I know, it could be laundry day and this was the last clean shirt you had. I probably wouldn't even notice.

The bag on its own? Could easily be ironic and would therefore perfectly acceptable.

The whole deal together? Oh sweetie, no.

You don't look kooky. You look crazy. You look like a grown woman who is obsessed with a children's cartoon character. You look like you might easily have twenty eight ginger cats at home, and you might call them your babies and they might all be named Tigger.

Do you want to be that lady?

Remember - kooky in moderation is a good thing. And, hey. It could have been worse. You could have been wearing Tigger earrings and a Tigger jacket as well.

Good luck. If you need it, I'm sure there's some kind of 12 step Tigger addiction program you can join.

All the best,

Alice

Things that drive me up the wall: Part 3,384

2006-11-21T13:47:00.000Z

I work in a pretty small office. I don't like to talk about work too much here, because "talking about" would most likely mean "bitching about", and since a simple Google search for my name will get you here, I'd rather not get fired if it all comes down to it.

But currently, the following people are in the office for the entire day, every day: me. Other people pop in and out as their meetings/edits/shoots/etc. allow. But for a very large portion of the time, it's just me alone with the radio.

I don't mind this - I really don't. It lets me be just get on with things and not have to worry about anyone else. And all the popping in and out doesn't bother me at all.

EXCEPT.

There's one temperature control in this room. And it's generally set at the temperature that I, as the person who is always here, prefer. This is what's generally known as "room temperature".

But apparently, my room temperature doesn't work for some of the people I work with. And that's fine. I don't mind a temperature change, from time to time.

EXCEPT.

When they come into the room, sit down, then immediately get up to either turn off the heater completely or change the temperature drastically.

And do they say, "Hey Alice, I'm just going to turn off the heat - is that okay with you?"

No. No, they do not. They just adjust without any regard for the other people sharing the room.

And it drives me freaking crazy. It happens all the time. And it wouldn't be so bad, because it would just be temporary.

EXCEPT.

Without fail, they will then leave the room without turning the heat back on. So, I have to constantly be getting up to make sure the office is HEATED when it is COLD outside.

So annoying!

A little thing, I know. But seriously, people. Common courtesy! It's not so hard!

Books

2006-11-17T20:53:00.000Z

I'm a book addict. I always have been, and I'm fairly sure I always will be. I buy books. Borrowing doesn't work for me. I need to own them.

My delicious friend Miss Sarah K sent me a birthday present, which I received today. A book - The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee. I just started reading it, and there on page 9 was the exact reason I buy books.

For the last several days I've had the sudden and general urge to buy a new book. I've stopped off at a few bookstores around the city, and while I've looked at hundreds and hundreds of books in that time, I have not found the one book that will satisfy my urge. It's not as if I don't have anything to read; there's a tower of perfectly good unread books beside my bed, not to mention the shelves of books in the living room I've been meaning to reread. I find myself, maddeningly, hungry for the next one, as yet unknown. I no longer try to analyze this hunger; I capitulated long ago to the book lust that's afflicted me most of my life. I know enough about the course of the disease to know I'll discover something soon.

It's like Lewis Buzbee can see inside my head! That's just how I feel about books.

I just remembered something I hadn't thought of in ages. When I was about 8 or 9, my friend Heather was having a garage sale. She'd asked all of us if we had anything we'd like to donate, and I volunteered a bunch of books I'd already read. When I got home, I remember being overcome with anxiety and stress and just generally freaking out - I needed the books back and I needed them immediately. Fortunately I was of an age where my mom could solve my problems, and she went over to Heather's house and got them back. She might have even bought them back, now that I think about it.

I may be a good 20 years older now, but I still feel the same way about my books.

Long story short, books are awesome. And I need to go book shopping.

So. Very. Tired.

2006-11-08T11:31:00.000Z

I'm absolutely exhausted today.

I had this whole thing I was going to write, full of deep and insightful thoughts on turning 29 and entering the last year of my twenties, and all sorts of stuff on how 28 was a year of change what with buying a flat and moving and having friends leave my life and gaining new ones and getting kittens and whatnot.

But you know what?

I'm too tired for that foolishness.

It's probably jetlag, although I got back from LA on Saturday, so you'd think my body would be back on UK time by now.

You'd be wrong, but I could see how you'd think that.

Waking up and getting out of bed and getting into work today was one of the hardest things I've ever done. There is nothing I wanted more than to turn my alarm off, kick the kittens out of my room (because they insist on lying on top of me in the mornings, and it makes it hard to sleep) and go back to sleep. But because I have some vague sense of work ethics, I decided that I should probably come in.

I am taking Friday off though. Which means I just have to get through today and tomorrow and then I'll be free to sleep as long as I want.

That's going to be hard though.

I'm too tired to do music cue sheets, which is what I should be doing. I'm exhausted and it's just not happening. I'm too tired to concentrate.

I'm also too tired to read things on the internet, apparently, because I've had this post open for like an hour and a half, and haven't managed to get past the first few sentences. I'm just too tired for that level of focusing.

However, I am not too tired for internet shopping. You see, I need a few things before delightful flatmate-to-be Julia moves in. I'm also thinking about seeing how much it will cost to replace the windows in my flat with double glazing, because that's more energy efficient and I lose a lot of heat through the windows now. And I could use a few ideas on what to do with the bathroom when I get it all fixed up.

Today seems like the perfect day to do all those things.

But if anyone asks, I'm doing music cue sheets.

Happy Birthday to me!

2006-11-05T13:51:00.000Z

It's my birthday!

Yay!

I celebrated by sleeping for 15 hours last night. Sweet.

It's been a hectic week in LA, and I had a bit of a drunken mini-breakdown at the end of the night after filming was all finished, but I think that was more parts tiredness and stress than actual work unhappiness. And the drunk certainly didn't help.

But happy birthday to me!

29, eh? You'd almost think I'm a grown up.

Clearly, you would be wrong, I can see how you would think that.

I plan on celebrating with dinner with the girls tonight and then a festive evening of karaoke filled festivities next Saturday. You'll note that gives me a full birthday week! Clever, no?

And, did I mention?

Happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Things that have recently happened, but that have not been blogged about

2006-10-27T13:34:00.000+01:00

How's that for an unwieldy title?

Things have been a-happenin' in Alice's world lately. It's all been most exciting. In mainly a good way. And have I been blogging about these things? No. No, I have not.

For shame.

But never fear! Here's the quickie update version:

I finally got my insurance sorted, and got my stuff replaced by the insurance company, post-upsetting-burglary. My new computer is a dream, as is my new camera. My new other stuff is the same as my old other stuff, so while it's good, it's nothing to write home about.
I went to the Isle of Wight with Heather and Alexcia. We took lots of photos. It was delightfully fun.
I'm flying to LA for work tomorrow, and I'll be out there for a week. Unlike other jobs I've been abroad for (ahem*Bullrun*ahem), this should be pretty relaxing and fun. The shoot day will be stressful, but in a good way. And I am very much looking forward to staying in this hotel, and going shopping, and buying these shoes. And watching American network TV. Oh, network TV. How I've missed you.
It's my birthday soon! Yay! I will be 29. God, it's like I'm almost a grown up. Weird, eh? I am planning a gathering in which there will be much fun, much merriment and possibly much karaoke. We'll see about that last one.
Delightful flatmate Buffy is moving out on Saturday. She's going to be living in sin with her boyfriend. (Shocking!!) It is very sad that she's leaving, and the kittens will miss her. But!
Delightful flatmate-to-be Julia is moving in on the 18th of November! The kittens have already taken to her and will be extra happy because she works from home two days a week, and they will have someone to play with during the day.

I think that's it for exciting news from the land of Alice. Let's do this again soon, shall we?

Results: unsurprising

2006-10-13T16:47:00.000+01:00

I got this via Cheryl B:

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.
A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.
A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.
No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

I am unsurprised.

So very busy...

2006-10-13T13:54:00.000+01:00

Alice says: In 1967, Sidney Poitier made "To Sir, With Love", "In The Heat Of The Night" AND "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". In ONE YEAR!

Heather says: Wow

Alice says: Now that's impressive.

Alice says: I'm sure I've had equally impressive years.

Alice says: I was pretty busy in 2001.

Heather says: 1979 was pretty busy for me too

Alice says: God. Do NOT get me started about the years between 3 and 5. I barely had time to nap!

Obsessed

2006-09-22T13:03:00.000+01:00

I am not normally the kind of girl who hears that something is the bag/skirt/accessory/makeup of the moment and then has to rush out and buy it. Sure, I like to look all up-to-date and super-cute, but that doesn't mean that I'm shopping every day.

But, when I heard that there was a limited edition Chanel nail polish that was selling out worldwide, and was going for around $100 USD on eBay, I thought to myself "Alice, you must have this nail polish."

The colour? Black satin. Ooh, doesn't it just sound pretty?

I thought that I should give myself a bit of a treat, what with the breaking in and the nightmare of dealing with insurance, so I thought, what the hey, I'll buy it.

I found it on eBay for an amount that I considered reasonable, although far more than I would normally ever spend on nail polish. I bought it, and due to the super speediness of the seller, it was at my house when I got home from work the next day.

I didn't get a chance to put it on until last night, and my nails do look cute. But it's black nail polish though. It's nice nail polish, obviously, as it's Chanel, but it's still just plain black nail polish.

I thought that this was just what all the fuss was about, until today when I did a bit of a Google for "Chanel Black Satin". The third result? This page, which informs me that

the Black Satin Nail Colour released for the U.S. is a limited edition of Black Satin Exclusively in the USA. It was sold at Saks, Bloomingdales, NM, Nordstrom, etc. It is different than the euro version. The European version is plain black. The U.S. limited edition has a small amount of platinum shimmer, just enough to give it the look of satin, as oppose to a vinyl finish of the straight black. They are similar, but the LE version has a different depth to it, and a slightly softer finish.

D'oh! I have the European version!

And of course, now am I happy with my cute black nails? No. No, I am not.

I want nails that have a small amount of platinum shimmer, just enough to give the look of satin. Do my nails have that? No, they do not. My nails look cute, but they do not look like satin.

What's that you say? A slave to fashion? Why yes, it seems that I am.

Now, off to track down the good kind of Black Satin nail polish.

Painting, finally!

2006-09-21T11:28:00.000+01:00

It finally happened, people. I finally got around to getting my place painted. Woo hoo!

Sure, it may be a full eight or so months after I picked the colours, but it's done, and it looks fabulous!

Using a clever lure of pizza, red wine, beer and snacks, I enticed five friends to help me. So last Saturday, Leanne, Alexcia, Sarah, Buni and Heather came over and we painted.

Look how pretty!

Such hard workers! That pretty colour is Sea Urchin 6, in case you were wondering.

Look at them paint their little hearts out.

The kittens were not happy with whole thing, and spent the whole day either hiding in my bedroom or trying to escape the kitchen in order to hide in the bedroom. Buni managed to make friends with them, but other than that brief moment of friendliness they spent the whole day being VERY unhappy. And Beez hissed at poor Alexcia, which didn't help her terror of cats much, I have to say.

I didn't get any photos of the bedroom painting, which was less fun than the living room because it was smaller, hotter and more crowded.

But isn't the purple pretty? That's the Homebase own brand equivalent of the planned Spanish Serenade. Stupid Homebase's paint mixing machine was out of order, but luckily I found a pre-mixed colour that was practically exactly the same. Sweet! It was crappier paint though, and necessitated a second coat.

My plan to reward the girls with pizza didn't go exactly as planned though, because they delivered Heather's supposedly no-cheese vegan pizza was delivered with no mozzarella cheese, but with parmesan. Because that's clearly not "cheese". It took over an hour and about six phone calls to get a replacement. Poor starving Heather. But she kicked some ass and got the money back for it.

But look! Success!

This is the living room before (as it was just after I moved in):

And after (well, before everything was put away, but after painting):

And my bedroom before ( just after the move, again):

And after:

Yay!

So Awesome!

2006-09-14T10:00:00.000+01:00

Oh, there's good stuff going on over at the Steve Guttenberg Project!

Lists, lists and more lists!

2006-09-06T12:23:00.000+01:00

Inspired by both Heather and the exicited Video-DVD exchange, I've taken a look at imdb.com's 100 greatest films.

A random list based soley on totally subjective user votes? I love it!

How many have I seen? Let's find out. I've bolded the ones I've seen.

The Godfather (1972)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Casablanca (1942)
Shichinin no samurai (1954) [aka. The Seven Samurai]
Schindler's List (1993)
Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) [aka. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly]
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars (1977)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Rear Window (1954)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
12 Angry Men (1957)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Cidade de Deus (2002) [aka. City of God]
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Psycho (1960)
Goodfellas (1990)
C'era una volta il West (1968) [aka. Once Upon A Time In The West]
Memento (2000)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) [aka. Amelie]
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Fight Club (1999)
American Beauty (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Vertigo (1958)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Paths of Glory (1957)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Se7en (1995)
Untergang, Der (2004) [aka. Downfall]
Léon (1994) [aka. The Professional]
Chinatown (1974)
The Third Man (1949)
American History X (1998)
The Pianist (2002)
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) [aka. Spirited Away]
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Boot, Das (1981)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
M (1931)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Alien (1979)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Metropolis (1927)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Rashômon (1950)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Sin City (2005)
The Shining (1980)
Modern Times (1936)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
All About Eve (1950)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Aliens (1986)
Rebecca (1940)
The Great Escape (1963)
Vita è bella, La (1997) [aka. Life Is Beautiful]
Touch of Evil (1958)
Amadeus (1984)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Sting (1973)
Batman Begins (2005)
Jaws (1975)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Incredibles (2004)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
City Lights (1931)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Apartment (1960)
Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) [aka. The Seventh Seal]
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Braveheart (1995)
Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1989) [aka. Cinema Paradiso]
Crash (2004/I)
Ran (1985)
Blade Runner (1982)
Donnie Darko (2001)

By my count, I've seen 72 of them. That's not too shabby. I'm surprised by how many recent ones I haven't seen.

Well, not really surprised, since I'm well aware of how few recent movies I've seen. Let's call it disappointed.

This just in: I am a dork

2006-09-05T16:51:00.000+01:00

Long ago, I accepted my dorkiness. I understand that I get unreasonably excited about things that so-called "normal" people have virtually no interest in. These things include, but are not limited to, the following:

Spreadsheets and databases
Organization of most kinds ...
... Especially alphabetizing
Trivia of all kinds ...
... Especially film and TV
Several TV shows that safely fall into the "geek" category
Pub quizzes
Steve Guttenberg films
The collection of the above films
Board games
Bullet pointed lists

I mean, come on. I have more than one blog. That should sum it all up right there.

So it should be of absolutely no surprise to anyone that I am very excited about my newest project: replacing all my videos with DVD's.

Seriously I am excited about this beyond all reason. This is largely space motivated. The shelves that I bought for my living room are full. Each of the little shelves can fit either six videos or eleven DVD's.

People, it's just about the math.

So, naturally, I went a bit crazy on the ebay and the play.com and bought a bunch of super cheap replacements. Luckily, it turns out that most of what I have on video is not worth very much money, so easily replaced.

The next step will clearly be to sell all the videos to some other suckers who have no problem living in the past. Videos. Can you even believe we still have those? They may as well be records run by a prehistoric bird on the Flintstones.

Of course, this will mean that I will have to hold on to my VCR for the sole use of the Steve Guttenberg Collection (which, by the way, has a special shelf all to itself.), because many of those bad boys are on video. But doesn't that just make the project more special?

Why, yes. Yes, I think it does.

World's Best Singer

2006-09-01T17:20:00.000+01:00

So, before the upsettingness of the burglary on Wednesday night, I discovered something magical.

People, I have a spectacular singing voice.

Now, I have always made fun of my singing voice. "Oh, I have the voice of an angel!", I will laughingly say. And I will be joking. Because in my head, I always had the following equation all mapped out: Alice + singing = a sound so bad it makes people cry.

This is not to say that I don't belt out the occasional (and by "occasional", I mean "frequent") number in the privacy of my own home, or my own car. Clearly, I do this. But not ever when anyone can hear me.

See, I had a friend who was an excellent singer and she would always wince whenever I tried to sing something that was stuck in my head. That, added to my own singing insecurities, meant that I didn't ever sing in public. Ever.

But last Wednesday, I ended up at a bar that had a karaoke night on. We'd just sat down with our first bottle of wine, when the 15,000 long song list was thrown down at our table.

"Karaoke! As if!", we scoffed.

Then we cracked open the second bottle of wine. And we peeked inside the song list. The two guys at the table beside us noticed us looking and asked if we were going to sing.

"Us? As if!", we scoffed again.

Then we cracked open the third bottle of wine. No one was singing, so the karaoke organizer type guy was going around to all the tables trying to coerce people to sing.

Karaoke organizer type guy (KOTG): You guys should sing. I bet you're great. Come on, it'll be fun!

Us: Thank you, no.

KOTG: What if I give you a song that's really easy to sing?

Us: Hmmm. Like what?

KOTG: Sounds of the Underground by Girls Aloud?

Us: Um, no.

KOTG: Like a Prayer by Madonna?

Us: Oooooh .... what the hell. Okay.

So, he announces us. And the three of us make our way to the microphones and sing Like A Prayer. And rather than the sneery "nice job ... not" type applause that a shoddy karaoke performance can elicit, we got real applause.

When we got back to the table, the guys at the next table were cheering for us. Apparently, we were awesome. And were the world's fastest karaoke converts.

Our next song (because you knew there was going to be a next song, didn't you?) was Your Song by Elton John. Now, rather than the regular version, we ended up singing the version from Moulin Rouge. This was a mistake. A big mistake. One that I confess was my fault. We were shamed, and needed to make a dramatic comeback.

Clearly, the way to do that was Papa Don't Preach by Madonna, which was once again awesome. We were back on top, baby!

By then, we were good friends with the guys at the next table. Our grand finale? A five person strong version of Sweet Child Of Mine by Guns N' Roses, which was quite the dance floor filler.

I now love karaoke. Love it!

And I no longer have to be shamed by my singing voice, which is also nice.

Burgled.

2006-08-25T11:51:00.000+01:00

You know what the absolute last thing you want to find when you come home from a spontaneous and kick-ass night of drinking, dancing and karaoke singing is?

That your home has been broken into and your things have been stolen.

I got home at about 11:30 on Wednesday night after a night of much merriment, to find that my key wasn't working. It wouldn't turn in the lock for some reason. Now, I was a bit tipsy and perhaps not thinking so clearly, so I just thought "hmm, lock isn't working. Weird. I'd better call Buffy."

So, I call her, she confirms that the back door is unlocked (STUPID!), so I climb over the fence into the back garden and go in the back door.

I walk through the living room, and head straight for the door to find out what's wrong with it, and I realized that the little switch that stops the door from being able to open has been flipped. The switch that can only be flipped from the inside.

And it occurs to me - someone has been inside my house.

I walk back to the living room to see my laptop gone, the couch and chest of drawers pushed out of the way, the doors to the sideboard open, my old handbag emptied on the couch and an empty fishbowl which used to hold foreign money.

I didn't even see this when I walked through before. It just didn't register, you know?

I immediately think of the cats, and find them both in my bedroom, hiding. It's then that I notice my room - my desk has been pulled out from the wall, the TV is tipped over, the DVD player is gone, the bowl of change is empty, the fan is on the floor, the desk drawers are open.

It is amazing how fast you can flip from a little bit drunk to stone cold sober when you need to. I called 999 and got the police, and told them what had happened. They said they'd send a car over.

My first instinct is to call Jess, who I'd just been out with. She was appalled for me, and offered me a place to stay that night if I didn't want to stay alone. I then called Heather, who I'd been drunkenly talking to and sharing the joys of karaoke only moments earlier. And then I called Buffy to let her know we'd been burgled. In those three phone calls, I probably used the word fuck more than I have in my entire life.

And then I called my mom. Because when something horrible happens, I want to call my mom. It's probably the first time I've ever been glad they're an 8 hour time difference away, because it was only 4pm their time, so I didn't terrify them by waking them up in the middle of the night.

I was pretty much over the shock and crying part of the night when the police arrived, about an hour later. I took them through the place and showed them what had happened, they made their notes and told me a crime scene investigator would be by the next day to look for fingerprints, so I should try not to touch anything.

It was probably 1 by the time they left, and I was both really tired and unwilling to sleep. So, I made some pasta and watched a TV movie about John Ritter as an abusive husband who learns that it is bad to hit women. Very inspiring, really. It was about 3 when it was over, so I turned all the lights in the flat on, and tried to sleep in my room. I didn't get much sleep.

The next morning, I called a locksmith first thing, then called my insurance company. I went through everything with the insurance people, then they called back to say that they'd get someone to call me today to go over it again.

The locksmith came and started changing the locks. I have updated and very awesome locks now.

Then the crime scene guy arrived and started dusting for fingerprints and the whatnot. It was very little like CSI, disappointingly. He said there was very little of use, fingerprint wise, which was disappointing but not really unexpected. Have you ever heard of a break-in where they actually caught the bad guy? Other than on TV?

I spent the rest of yesterday being all depressed and lazy until I finally mustered the energy to put the living room and my bedroom back to rights. Then I locked all the windows, dead bolted the doors (even the front door, which I normally never do when I am home.) and went to bed.

I spoke to the insurance people again this morning, went through everything twice and gave them the list of things that were taken.

I am now missing:

My laptop. With every photo I've taken in the past three years, other than the ones that made it to flickr, and every song I've downloaded in the past three years. And everything I've written.
My digital camera with it's 1gb memory card.
My new mobile phone
the DVD player from my bedroom
about £200 in foreign money
My wireless broadband modem
The Sims 2, which was in the laptop.

They then had to refer me to another company, who have to call me to arrange to come out to get all the info. And the earliest time they can come to see me? Next Thursday. And then it'll take however long for the company they put me in contact with to replace the stuff.

I spent all day yesterday thinking things like "aw, the kittens are so cute, let me just grab my camera ... shit." and "how much did the DVD player cost? I bet I can find it online if I just ... shit."

Oh, and the cash? Not covered by my insurance because it wasn't a violent entry. Stupid burglars couldn't even do that right.

This Just In: I Am A Doofus

2006-08-21T16:04:00.000+01:00

Right, so I wrote this post, right? And then at the end? Where the thing that was the thing for the Bloggiversary was supposed to go?

There was nothing.

What I meant to say was: There's a quiz! Enjoy!

If you do SHOCKINGLY well, there just might be a prize in it for you!

Happy Bloggiversary to me!

2006-08-17T15:02:00.000+01:00

It's that time of year again.

It's the blog's birthday! Well, it was yesterday and I forgot to write anything.

But the blog is two years old, and I'm very proud of it. And, by extension, me for writing it.

In honour of the fabulous bloggiversary, I have created a

Lunchtime antics

2006-08-15T12:59:00.000+01:00

Every day after I buy my sandwich for lunch, I go to the corner shop to buy a Diet Coke and a bag of crisps.

And every day, after I place my wrapped sandwich on the counter to find the 90p to pay for my Diet Coke and Doritos, I ask for a bag.

And every single day, I place the Diet Coke and Tangy Cheese Doritos in the bag, pick up the sandwich, walk out of the shop, and then, and only then, place the sandwich in the bag.

It occurred to me today that this is very odd behaviour. It should be obvious to the guys behind the counter that my three items (sandwich, Diet Coke and crisps) are too many things to carry in my two hands. So, naturally I require a bag. And, of course, it seems silly to put two of the three things I am carrying in the bag and carry the third thing in my other hand. Why not keep them together?

And then I realized why I do this. I worry that if they see me putting things not purchased at their shop in the bag, they will take it away from me.

That's right. I live in fear that the two very nice men who work in the shop will walk from behind the counter, confiscate the bag, walk back behind the counter and shame me. "No!", they will say. "Only food from our shop goes in the bags! You're banned! Banned, I say! Now get out, you shameful bag-misusing hussy!"

Sometimes, my mind is a frightening place to be.

Kitten Update

2006-08-13T21:00:00.001+01:00

As requested, I've got an update for y'all on the kittens.

They are too cute for words.

What? You want more than that?

Okay. They're getting pretty big now. They're more catty than kitteny these days. And luckily for me they're both super affectionate and cuddly and purr-y. They really are adorable.

They're also climbers. Currently, this is Beez's favourite napping place.

That's right. Inside the suitcase on the top shelf of my closet. And Lucy is not one to walk away from the climbing challenge.

Less impressive, perhaps, but the route to the top of the closet is highly entertaining. It's a very jump and scramble and occasionally fall type thing. Comedy gold, I tell you.

And I demand that you look at this adorable little Lucy kitten face, napping in my leopard print hat, and defy you not to fall in love.

This little kitten face might seem slightly evil, but Beez is equally loveable when she's not taken by surprise.

Aw! So that's the current kitten update. They're cute. And getting big! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some kitten cuddling to do.

What is my life like?

2006-08-13T21:00:00.000+01:00

An episode of Ghost Whisperer just made me cry. Is this a sign I should seek help?

Alice, Springfield resident.

2006-08-09T18:04:00.000+01:00

If I were a character on the Simpsons, I just might look like this.

Of course, I'd be way cuter. But this isn't too bad.

There are some limitations, but this is fun.

For the record: I would never wear those colours together.

Six Days Later: Jetlag Defeated

2006-08-06T12:01:00.000+01:00

I think I finally may be over my jetlag. And it only took six days.

We flew back on Sunday on an overnight flight from LA that got us into Heathrow at 3:30 in the afternoon. I had to go into the office, so by the time I got home it was about 6. I stayed up as late as I could, but went to sleep at about 10. I slept until 3:30 the following day. I got up, did some grocery shopping, did some laundry, watched some TV and then went back to bed at about 10. Got up at 7 on Wednesday and went into work.

If you do the math on that one, you'll see that I slept for just over 26 hours in two days. Sweet.

The rally itself was hellish, as I knew it would be. I had some truly awful news from a friend just after I got there, and spent the rest of the time wishing I could be more help to him. I only cried about three times, and only wished I could just quit my job about five. So, all in all, slightly better than I exepcted it would be.

The rest of this week has been a catch up from the jetlag. In retrospect, those drinks on Thursday night were a baaaaad idea, as I felt like the undead on Friday at work.

The kittens seem happy to have me back, although they were a bit "oh, were you away, we barely even noticed, oh, I don't feel like being pet now, maybe try again later, who are you again?" when I first got back. We're all good now though.

Today is day of cleaning and buying phone chargers because I'm using my old phone again and I can't find the charger (suitcase fell on new phone. It's a long story) and maybe seeing The Break-Up, which I can't help feeling I will love.

I'm so rock-n'-roll right now, I can't even tell you.

The Dodge Grand Caravan

2006-08-03T15:24:00.000+01:00

The Dodge Grand Caravan
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Farewell, Dodge Grand Caravan. We've had some good times, haven't we?

I'll miss you.

Los Angeles

2006-08-03T15:23:00.000+01:00

Los Angeles
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Finally. Sunny Los Angeles.

Las Vegas - San Diego

2006-08-03T15:22:00.000+01:00

Las Vegas - San Diego
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Seriously people. How freaking beautiful??

Vail - Las Vegas

2006-08-03T15:21:00.000+01:00

Vail - Las Vegas
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Can you even believe this car was going faster than a Dodge Grand Caravan??

Kansas City - Vail

2006-07-26T03:21:00.000+01:00

Kansas City - Vail
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Apparently, Colorado = mountains. Who knew?

Chicago - Kansas City

2006-07-25T05:30:00.002+01:00

Chicago - Kansas City
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Oddly, this car attracted more attention than our white Dodge Grand Caravan. Weird, eh?

Toronto - Chicago

2006-07-25T05:30:00.001+01:00

Toronto - Chicago
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

Dude. I'm getting all arty like.

New York - Toronto

2006-07-25T05:30:00.000+01:00

New York - Toronto
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

The weather, she was not pretty for the drive. Oh, that's a lot of rain.

New York

2006-07-25T05:29:00.000+01:00

New York
Originally uploaded by alice's dark place.

The view from my hotel room.

Too busy for a real post? That means it's meme o'clock!

2006-07-18T15:16:00.000+01:00

I'm going to the States (and Toronto) on Thursday to film again, and I'm too stressed to write a real post. But I didn't want to neglect y'all. So it's meme time!

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says.

' "Have you tried calling him?" I asked Connie. ' (Boring! It's Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich.)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can...what do you touch first?

My awesome giant stamp that I use for invoices. It's so great. It makes this wicked "ca-CHUNK" sound when you use it.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

My morning episode of Quincy. Sam, who works with Quincy, was trying to prove that someone wasn't responsible for killing themselves because they were given radioactive LSD (seriously!) by the military in an interrogation. Sam's my favourite character. He wears a lab kimono instead of a lab coat. Awesome.

4. WITHOUT LOOKING, what time is it?

Um, 3:30?

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?

3:18. Close.

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

The air conditioner, someone walking in the hallway and the radio playing BBC Radio 1.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

I walked to the bank to order a massive amount of US dollars. Seriously, I could live in Mexico for a long time on this cash. It's lucky I'm so honest.

8. What are you wearing?

A white camisole-y top over a pink tank top with a pink flowered skirt. I'm ever so summery.

9. When did you last laugh?

When Ellie, my boss's daughter, was just in the office a few hours ago and doing pretend office work. She's hilarious.

10. Seen anything weird lately?

Weird? I don't think so.

11. What did you dream last night?

I can't remember. It's a pretty good bet that it was about work though.

12. When did you last laugh?

Dude. We already did this question. And no, I have not laughed since I answered question 9.

13. What's on the walls of the room you're in?

It's my office, so it's pretty boring. Some whiteboards, a plasma TV, my lists of phone numbers.

14. What do you think of this survey?

It's taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Memes are supposed to be speedy!!

15. What's the last film you saw?

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 with Julia. And it was so great. I loved it so much. Can I be a pirate when I grow up? Arrrrrrrrr.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?

A new flat. Or a car. Probably a car, actually. Or some jewellery. Or some new clothes. I'm going to be honest, I have no idea. I'd probably be in a state of shock that would take me weeks to get over.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.

When I worked at a summer camp, all the counsellors had nicknames. Mine was Konobe, because I didn't know that Obi Wan was spelled Kenobi. My friend Jackie was Anniken. Again not knowing about the whole Anakin thing.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, what would you change?

Hmm, I guess I should be all altruistic and whatnot. But I think we all know that would be a lie. What I'd probably change is make it so that people were more honest with each other. Lying and game playing makes me tired.

19. Do you like to dance?

I love it! I especially like going dancing with the girls at The Garage. Good times!

20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

I like Maggie, short for Margaret. Or Madeline. Or Alice Jr. We could call her AJ!

21. Boy?

AJ works for a boy or a girl! But my old school boy names are Simon and Elliot and I still like those.

22. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Well, I do. So yes.

The Routine

2006-07-05T13:14:00.000+01:00

Every evening when I go to bed, I have a fairly clear idea of what the plan is for the following morning, timing wise.

It should look something like this:

7am - Alarm goes off. Press snooze button.
7:15am - Get out of bed. Open bedroom door and dodge kitten attack as they race into the bedroom.
7:20am - Have relaxing shower.
7:40am - Follow skincare regime - toner, moisturizer, eye cream. Admire fabulous looking skin.
7:45am - Return to bedroom and turn on TV to ITV3 to watch Quincy. Comb hair, apply styling product and begin drying.
7:55am - Finish drying hair, put on makeup, get dressed.
8:10am - Feed kittens, feed fish and water plants. Try to close bedroom door, remove kittens who have raced into bedroom, close bedroom door
8:20am - Locate iPod, mobile and anything else I'll need for the day. Brush teeth.
8:30am - Leave for work.
9:30am - Arrive at work, on time.

It seems so idyllic, doesn't it? And like a crazy person, every single night, I convince myself that this will be what happens in the morning.

I am twenty eight years old. I have been working full time for eight years. That's approximately 1,960 work days.

You would think that, by now, I would be more aware that this is going to be more likely the situation:

7am - Alarm goes off. Press snooze button.
7:15am - 8am - Continue pressing snooze button, deluding myself each time that I will get up after the alarm goes off the next time.
8:15am - Sit bolt upright in blind panic, realizing that I have to leave in 15 minutes.
8:16am - Race to bathroom, tripping over kittens in haste. Kick kittens out of bathroom after they attempt to jump in bathtub. Have world's fastest shower.
8:20am - Slap on toner and eye cream. There's no time to moisturize! Cannot admire face, as mirror is still steamed up from shower. Assume I look fine. Race back to bedroom.
8:22am - Turn on TV. Curse the fact that Quincy has been moved to 8:45 and I now have to watch stupid Heartbeat as I get ready. No time to find something better.
8:23am - Dry hair and get dressed at the same time. While choosing outfit, choices are limited, as a large portion of my wardrobe is disqualified. There is no time for ironing. Curse the pile of clothes on my chair, wrinkling clothes as they sit there.
8:26am - Put on makeup and jewellery at lightening speed.
8:28am - Kick kittens out of bedroom, and shut door.
8:29am - Realize I've forgotten my rings, phone and iPod. Get them. Kick kittens out of bedroom again, and shut the door.
8:32am - Feed kittens and fish. Debate whether or not there is time to water plants. Feel guilty for being a plant killer. Water plants.
8:36am - Brush teeth.
8:38am - Leave for work.
8:39am - Realize I've forgotten my phone, and whatever I needed to bring to work. Return to the flat.
8:42am - Leave for work again.
8:42am - Realize that although I have still forgotten something, I can't return to the flat again. There's no time!
9:45am - Arrive work. Late. Again.

Clearly, my morning plan has flaws. But unless I start setting my alarm for 5am, I don't think that this problem can be solved. Curse my love of the snooze button! Curse it!

I think the start is a new alarm clock - this one may be the ticket.

I am a plant killer no more.

2006-06-29T13:47:00.000+01:00

I am a miracle worker. From mere seeds, I have created life. Truly, I have staggering abilities.

I have flowers! In my garden! That I planted myself, and they didn't even die!

To truly appreciate how cute that flower is, you really need to see it in detail. Isn't it just beautiful?

And not only that - the seeds in pots are a-bloomin' too!

And the plants that I bought and then re-potted? They're flowering and looking beautiful!

Seriously, I'm so proud of myself. Go me!

Best! Trip! Ever!

2006-06-29T12:59:00.000+01:00

I wasn't going to write about it, because I thought it would jinx it, but since Heather spilled the beans, I guess I can tell y'all.

Guys, we are planning the BEST TRIP EVER.

Picture it: June 2008. Three sassy Canadian girls living in London and one as-yet-unnamed but sure to be equally sassy other girl fly from London to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Upon arrival, they hire a vehicle, as you would for almost any trip.

Do they hire a sensible compact car? A sporty convertible? A huge-ass SUV?

Oh, no. They hire possibly the coolest vehicle ever.

A recreational vehicle. That's right. A Winnebago. (And yes, I am aware that "Winnebago" is a brand name, but it just sounds cooler than "RV")

They then, over the course of the next three weeks, drive this kick ass vehicle across the whole of Canada, excluding Newfoundland and the territories. Territories are for suckers. I have no problem with Newfoundland, it's just inconveniently located.

Because I am a huge geek, as soon as Heather and I first discussed this, I worked up a tentative route that would get us across the country, from Halifax to Vancouver, in 21 days with rest stops in all the places we're from - Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. And then I looked up the mileage, converted it from miles to kilometers, made an Excel spreadsheet, formatted it nicely and printed it off. Dude. I told you - huge geek.

We'd be looking at a total of over 7,150 kilometers (actually 7,159.7 by my reckoning) over the three weeks. In a Winnebago! How awesome is that?

I've always wanted to do this trip. And, as those of you who have heard me rave about the coolness of Winnebagos in the past will know, it only makes the dream better to do it in an RV. Think how much tacky souvenir crap I can buy! Bliss!

Because we are poor, it's going to take us some time to save up the money, hence the 2008 thing. But that just means more time for planning! How awesome!

I can't wait two years! I want to go now!

Man, I listen to an odd mix of music..

2006-06-21T13:10:00.000+01:00

Yet another fun meme via Gwen. (updated 29 June with missing song titles added)

The Rules

Step 1: Put your iPod/MP3 player or iTunes on random.

Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.

Step 3: Post it on your blog and let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.

Step 4: Update the list with the song title when someone guesses correctly. (I will identify any unguessed songs by next week some time.)

Step 5: Make your guesses by leaving a comment or sending me email. You have to identify both title and artist, and you're not allowed to Google any of these, either.

1. Hello, hello, hello, is there anybody in there? [Buffy: "Comfortably Numb" by Scissor Sisters]

2. Raise a little hell , raise a little hell, raise a little hell! (Man, these are tough, eh?) [Heather: "Raise A Little Hell" by Trooper]

3. It's been one week since you looked at me. [Aaron: "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies]

4. Four o'clock in the morning, my mind's filled with a thousand thoughts of you. [Le Chat: "Last Thing On My Mind" by Ronan Keating and LeAnn Rimes]

5. A lovestruck Romeo sings a streets a serenade [Kobrinsky: "Romeo & Juliet" by Dire Straits]

6. It's pretty good, the wine, the way that we look ["Used To Be Alright" by I Mother Earth]

7. I didn't hear you leave, I wonder how am I still here ["Here With Me" by Dido]

8. Come to my window [Aaron: "Come To My Window" by Melissa Ethridge]

9. Hey now, where you going with that load of nothing in your hand [Jocelyne: "Going Down To Liverpool" by The Bangles]

10. Touch me, how can it be, believe me [Lady Librarian: "The Sun Always Shines On TV" by Aha]

11. Drove downtown in the rain [Aaron: "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies]

12. She calls me from the cold ["Shimmer" by Fuel]

13. Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you [Stinkydog: "Pop Song 89" by REM]

14. Once upon a time, not so long ago, Tommy used to work on the docks [Aaron: "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi]

15. I took my love and I took it down [Gwen: "Landslide" by Dixie Chicks]

16. As he sat down upon the train, silence settled in his brain [Le Chat: "Runaway Train" by Blue Rodeo]

17. Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you [Aaron: "Wonderwall" by Oasis]

18. We've got stars directing our fate [Buffy: "Millenium" by Robbie Williams]

19. Little ditty about Jack and Diane [Gwen: "Jack and Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp]

20. Now there's a backseat lover that's always under cover [Sarah: "Walk This Way" by Run-DMC]

I'm a little embarassed by some of that, but I'm going to power through the shame. And it's amusing how many of them are SO FREAKING EASY!

Concrete Blonde

2006-06-18T13:26:00.000+01:00

Brad asked: What I want to know is do you still have that Concrete Blonde t-shirt?

Answer: Hell yeah.

Imagine, if you will, Toronto in September 1992. A young girl from a small town is about to attend her first non New Kids On The Block concert with her two best friends. It's Concrete Blonde on their Walking In London tour and Wendy was a big fan.

All three of us bought t-shirts, as I am prone to do at concerts, and Steph and I wore them pretty constantly. By the time I got to university, it was pretty worn out but I still loved it. It was my signature look - long black skirt, Doc Marten MaryJane style shoes, tights, Concrete Blonde t-shirt and plaid shirt.

I don't wear it anymore, but it's still a much loved item of clothing. It's comfort clothes. It's lasted 14 years, and I think with a bit of care, it'll last another 14.

Question

2006-06-13T10:22:00.000+01:00

Internet, I have a question for you.

Let's say you get an order of chips (that's what those crazy Brits call fries, for all you North Americans) with your kebab when you come home a bit tipsy on a Monday night. Now, you don't feel like eating them at the time, so you stick them in the fridge. Then, the next day, you reheat them in the microwave and eat them.

Gross or no?

Outed: I am a Bon Jovi fan.

2006-06-11T21:16:00.000+01:00

In January, tickets went on sale for a concert. A concert that I had a not-so-secret desire to see. I immediately called Buni and Sarah, thinking they were pretty much my only friends would be up for the concerty goodness. Sarah declined, as she had already seen the band in concert. Buni was in.

And thus it began.

I bought Bon Jovi tickets.

They were more than I thought they would be, but still I thought, Bon Jovi. C'mon! They're clearly worth it. It was scheduled to be at the new Wembley Arena, so I bought mediocre seats and thought no more of it.

A few months ago, I got an email from Ticketmaster. Wembley wasn't going to be ready, so the concert was being moved to Milton Keynes. Travelling to see Bon Jovi? Even better! Now it's an event!

And yesterday was event day.

The gates opened at 2, so we figured we'd get there for about 3. Nickelback, the opening band, was scheduled to go on at 6, so that would give us plenty of time to snag a good spot. Oh, that's right. We did some planning.

This was the crowd when we arrived. We got there at about 4, and we thought this was crowded.

Oh, we had no idea what was coming. We snagged a spot on the sloped bit, just to the right of this walkway thingy.

After about an hour, a few more people had turned up.

Man, that's a lot of people. So, we sat in the sun for a few hours, drank some beers, contemplated which t-shirts to buy, chatted, the usual. Good times were had by all.

At about 5:30ish, the first opening band went on. It was a band called Spin, who won some kind of contest on some radio station to open for Bon Jovi. They were from Leeds, I think. They were kind of annoying. The lead singer was all "Milton Keynes! You must love us! Now sing along to this song you've never heard! Woooo!" Dude. Relax. They're here to see Bon Jovi. No one cares about you.

Nickelback was on after them. Now, I am not a Nickelback fan. I find them annoying. I tend to describe their music as "that one song and all those other songs that sound like that one song." So, I assumed that they would suck.

Now, we all know what happens when we "assume", don't we? That's right. Nickelback isn't as bad as you think they'll be. What? That's the definition of assume that I'm familiar with. This is just the first time I've been able to properly use it.

The lead singer guy was very funny and charming. So even though I wasn't the hugest fan of their music, I find myself liking them now. At one point Buni turned to me and said "Dude, he just sounded just like you." We're both Canadian. It's in our Canadian genes. We're funny, and we all sound the same.

Not everyone enjoyed the Nickelback though.

This lady slept right through them. Well, you can't win 'em all.

But then Nickelback was done! And you know what that means!

That's right. The last of the sixty five thousand people turned up. All there for Bon Jovi. Sixty. Five. THOUSAND. That is a LOT of freaking Bon Jovi fans.

And then there they were! Bon Jovi, right there in front of me. Well, there were about thirty thousand people in between us. But still!

Bon Jovi! Hee! They came onstage, and I turned to Buni and was all "Dude! That's totally Bon Jovi!" Hee!

I have to say, they were pretty awesome. They played for two and a half hours, pretty much straight. They played most of their big hits, and in a good order. They mixed the big singalong hits with the slightly more obscure songs and newer stuff. And they were great.

They had a bass player, rhythm guitarist and keyboard player with them, but they didn't get any screen time. That was all for Bon Jovi. And they were awesome.

The part that I loved best was that they were clearly having such a good time. And they obviously like each other a lot. And goddamn, Jon Bon Jovi is a good looking guy when he smiles. They were obviously loving the fact that there were sixty five thousand Bon Jovi fans singing along with every word.

When they sang "Livin' On A Prayer", Jon Bon Jovi started by singing the chorus alone by himself on the stage, and got the whole audience singing along. Sixty five thousand people singing the chorus to your song, and clearly loving every single second. How could that not be the biggest rush of all time?

It was dark by this time, and when the song started, the sea of people in front of me lit up with little white lights. Thousands of people recording video and audio on their mobile phones. Awesome.

They didn't play "Blaze of Glory", which was the only disappointment, but it's technically a Jon Bon Jovi solo song, so I didn't really mind.

As the concert was ending, I was getting nervous though. Sixty five thousand people in Milton Keynes. Now, let's say that a quarter of those people were taking the train back to London. That's probably a conservative estimate. So, that's sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty people getting trains, the last of which is leaving at 12:13am. Bon Jovi finished at 10:30. It's a half hour walk back to the station. That means that there will be one hour and 13 minutes to get those sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty people onto trains.

Obviously, some of them are going to be stranded in Milton Keynes. I was determined to not be one of those people. Fortunately, we got on a train. I was happy that we made one. Not everyone shared that sensible attitude. This short blonde woman wearing inappropriate footwear was moaning the entire time we were lined up to get into the station. Now, I thought they had the whole thing organized pretty well. The line was moving, they were only letting people into the station when there were trains to get on, and there were obviously more trains than normal running. But no, she was all "this is so stupid and frustrating, I'm meeting someone, why am I not on a train already, I'm so angry, this is so annoying, why aren't I on a train, I'd better meet that person or I'll kick some ass".

I wanted to kick her ass, but I resisted. I'm strong like that. We got on a train, sadly without any seats left. I sat on the floor and we got to Euston in time for me to catch the second last tube train. Sweet!

Not so sweet was Buni's experience on the tube, where she caught her last train, and ended up on the same car as annoying blonde woman. Apparently her friend was pointing out to her that even though they got back to London later than she planned, they were lucky enough to get the last tube train. Obviously, logic is not welcome to such a crazy person. She's just lucky I wasn't on that train, because I don't know if I'm strong enough not to have kicked her ass then. You do not want to mess with me.

In summary: Bon Jovi is awesome. Blonde women with inappropriate footwear are annoying. The rest of the photos are here. Woo! Bon Jovi!

This Post Is Not About Bon Jovi

2006-06-11T02:13:00.000+01:00

I was all set for the next post to be a witty and entertaining story of the adventures of Buni and Alice and their Bon Jovi concert attendance.

That was until a bug flew in my ear.

People, a bug flew in my ear.

It did not hover in the perimeter of my ear area. It did not do an uncomfortably close fly-by that freaked me out. It did not fly into my hair and get stuck.

A bug just flew into my ear. Into the inside of my ear. As in, there was a bug in my head.

Now you might be the most rational and calm and able to deal with a crisis person in the world. But I defy you to remain calm when a bug flies into your ear. It's just not possible.

It's not just freaky because you're aware of the bug on a logical level, and it's icky. It's freaky because you can hear the wings flapping inside your head. INSIDE YOUR HEAD. And that is a level of freakoutedness that I had not believed possible, until I achieved it moments ago.

My first instinct was a "get it out get it out get it out get it out" panic that had me scratching and poking and trying to get the bug out. That didn't do anything, and the bug was clearly panicking as the wing flapping was very intense and frequent. My freaking out only increased with the bug's panic levels, so I raced to the bathroom to try and use a Q-Tip to extricate the bug. That was also unsuccessful. Also unsuccessful was banging the other side of my head, as if I had water stuck in ear, and not a living, breathing flapping bug.

I was practically in tears at this point, so decided to call NHS Direct to see if they had any protocol on getting bugs out of people's ears. Maybe there's a system. I don't know. I've never had a bug in my head before.

Imagine, if you will, my panic increasing and freakoutedness reaching startling new levels as I proceed to do the following: start up the computer, open Explorer, Google "NHS Direct", call, listen to the huge introduction message, get disconnected, call again, listen to the huge message again, get put on hold, and finally speak to someone.

She refused to talk to me, because I don't know the number I am calling from. They need a call-back number apparently. And yes, perhaps I should know my own home number by heart, but I never call it! Or give it out to people! Or really use the phone for anything except ordering takeaway food.

Anyway, she wouldn't help me, so I hung up in disgust.

By this point, the flapping had slowed. It was now a long pause, feeble flap, long pause pattern, rather than the short pause, intense burst of speedy flapping, short pause that was FREAKING ME OUT.

And then the the flapping stopped.

So, you know earlier, when I was all "I had a bug in my head"? That was misleading.

The truth is I have a bug in my head.

But I think it's dead now, so hopefully I can get some sleep.

Hello Kitty!

2006-06-07T12:55:00.000+01:00

Well, hi there Internet! I'm glad you stopped by. I've got a couple adorable girls I'd like you to meet.

Meet the most adorable kittens in the world.

The name debate carried on until yesterday afternoon, when my friend Jess at work pointed out that I would be getting them on 06/06/06, so they should have eeeeeeeeeevil names. Jess came up with the names, and Aaron came up with the abbreviations. It's all about teamwork here at the blog. My friends are very clever, so I'd like you to meet Lucy and Beez.

Lucy (short for Lucifer) is on the left, and she's very adventurous and outgoing. She's also sleeker looking and a bit bigger. Beez (short for Beelzebub) is on the right and she's much shyer. She's also quite fluffy.

And they could not be cuter if they tried. Seriously, they're adorable. It's a wonder I could make it to work today, what with the overwhelming cute factor in my flat threatening to keep me at home.

How can you not love this face?

This is Beez, looking adorable.

They were a bit shy and scared when I brought them home and had them in the kitchen, but once they got into the living room, the inhibitions came off and the cuteness ran rampant.

They really liked the shelves.

They're just as cute as can be and I love them to bits already. We just need to work on Beez's shyness. Last night, Lucy slept on my bed and Beez slept under it. Aw, bless.

For the full photo spectacular, Flickr away, Internet. Enjoy.

In anticipation of KITTENS!!...

2006-06-05T15:24:00.000+01:00

I give you the nerd test.

The kittens will not be nerds.

Potential Cat Names

2006-05-31T16:13:00.000+01:00

Right, people. I am getting the adorable kitties in a mere 6 days! I am very excited.

So, now it's time to think about names. These are the current forerunners.

Cagney & Lacey

Lucy & Ethel

Laverne & Shirley

Betty & Veronica

Mary & Rhoda

Mary Jo & Carlene

Wilma & Betty

It's time to vote! Alternate TV and/or comic themed female duo names welcome in the comments.

This is so true.

2006-05-31T10:31:00.000+01:00

Your results:
You are Catwoman

Catwoman		90%
Wonder Woman		85%
Green Lantern		85%
Iron Man		80%
Spider-Man		75%
Superman		70%
Supergirl		60%
Hulk		60%
Batman		55%
Robin		45%
The Flash		45%

You have had a tough childhood,
you know how to be a thief and exploit others
but you stand up for society's cast-offs.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Television Designed To Make Me Cry

2006-05-30T21:21:00.000+01:00

So, I'm sitting here on a Tuesday night, waiting for my chest of drawers I sold on eBay to be picked up, watching a bit of TV.

I'm watching an episode of King of Queens when an ad pops up on the screen that makes my heart go all a-flutter and my eyes begin to well up in anticipation.

Paramount Comedy, a channel that shows American and British sitcoms, does this thing on weekends, where they have a theme, and the weekend is dedicated to it. Recently there was an "Americana" weekend, with episodes of Cheers, Roseanne and the Wonder Years all weekend. Quality. You see the idea.

And what are they planning for the coming weekend? Oh, they're airing is airing a Finale Weekend. I won't tell you who it was that was once caught crying over the last episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but you have to be made of stone to not get a little weepy when Will tells Uncle Phil that he wants to call him and Aunt Viv on Sundays, when his kids call, and Uncle Phil hugs Will and says "you are one of my kids." Seriously, you're dry-eyed? Are you actually made of stone?

Anyway, the point is that I am so the target audience for the Finale Weekend. It looks like in the ad that there are finales for Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld, Roseanne, M*A*S*H, Ally McBeal, Veronica's Closet, and Becker. I do not care about the last two, but I am prepared to weep like a baby at all the others.

I love a good finale. Tears at the ready!

Kittens!

2006-05-24T13:07:00.000+01:00

For quite some time now, I've been wanting to get a cat. I couldn't have one in any of the rented places I was in, and now that I'm in my own place, I thought this is the time.

But my first attempts did not go well. I called one cat rescue place, and I couldn't manage to coordinate with the woman who needed to do a home visit because she was very weird. Then I went to the Battersea Dog's Home and went through the whole interview process, but they needed to visit my house to make sure I had a cat flap to the garden, and anyway they mostly have old cats and I wanted kittens or young cats.

I mentioned this to Jess in the office the other day, and she got all clever on the internet and found an ad on a London forum from a lady who had two kittens she was looking for a home for. After some emailing and calling, I went to see them yesterday, and they are the cutest things ever.

The two black ones are the females, and they're the ones I'm going to take. The ginger kitty is their brother, and he's staying with his mum.

The one on the top of the kitty pile is pure black with some white patches on her tummy, and she's the shyest of the kittens. The middle one in the kitty pile looks like she'll be black and brown tortoiseshell patterned with some white patches on her tummy, and she's the most outgoing of the kittens.

They could not be cuter if they took a PhD in cuteness. They'll be ready to leave their mum in two weeks, so I'll get to have them then. Yay! I'm very excited about all the kitten adorableness.

And I would completely recommend as the antidote to a bad day at work the cuddling of kittens. I was in a horrible mood when I left the office, and in a great mood when I got home.

Now, to think of names. Any suggestions?

What should the kitties be named?
	Cagney & Lacey
	Lucy & Ethel
	Laverne & Shirley
	Betty & Veronica
	Mary & Rhoda
	Mary Jo & Carlene
	Betty & Wilma

Free polls from Pollhost.com