Fashion Avenger

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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...

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

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!

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!

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

Lists, lists and more lists!

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.

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
5. Casablanca (1942)
6. Shichinin no samurai (1954) [aka. The Seven Samurai]
7. Schindler's List (1993)
8. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) [aka. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly]
9. Pulp Fiction (1994)
10. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
11. Star Wars (1977)
12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
13. Rear Window (1954)
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
15. 12 Angry Men (1957)
16. The Usual Suspects (1995)
17. Cidade de Deus (2002) [aka. City of God]
18. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
19. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
20. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
21. Citizen Kane (1941)
22. Psycho (1960)
23. Goodfellas (1990)
24. C'era una volta il West (1968) [aka. Once Upon A Time In The West]
25. Memento (2000)
26. North by Northwest (1959)
27. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
28. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
29. Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) [aka. Amelie]
30. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
31. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
32. Fight Club (1999)
33. American Beauty (1999)
34. The Matrix (1999)
35. Vertigo (1958)
36. Taxi Driver (1976)
37. Apocalypse Now (1979)
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
39. Paths of Glory (1957)
40. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
41. Se7en (1995)
42. Untergang, Der (2004) [aka. Downfall]
43. Léon (1994) [aka. The Professional]
44. Chinatown (1974)
45. The Third Man (1949)
46. American History X (1998)
47. The Pianist (2002)
48. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) [aka. Spirited Away]
49. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
50. Boot, Das (1981)
51. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
52. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
53. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
54. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
55. M (1931)
56. L.A. Confidential (1997)
57. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
58. Alien (1979)
59. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
60. Metropolis (1927)
61. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
62. Rashômon (1950)
63. Double Indemnity (1944)
64. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
65. Sin City (2005)
66. The Shining (1980)
67. Modern Times (1936)
68. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
69. Raging Bull (1980)
70. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
71. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
72. All About Eve (1950)
73. Some Like It Hot (1959)
74. Aliens (1986)
75. Rebecca (1940)
76. The Great Escape (1963)
77. Vita è bella, La (1997) [aka. Life Is Beautiful]
78. Touch of Evil (1958)
79. Amadeus (1984)
80. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
81. The Sting (1973)
82. Batman Begins (2005)
83. Jaws (1975)
84. Strangers on a Train (1951)
85. On the Waterfront (1954)
86. Forrest Gump (1994)
87. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
88. The Incredibles (2004)
89. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
90. City Lights (1931)
91. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
92. The Apartment (1960)
93. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) [aka. The Seventh Seal]
94. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
95. Braveheart (1995)
96. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1989) [aka. Cinema Paradiso]
97. Crash (2004/I)
98. Ran (1985)
99. Blade Runner (1982)
100. 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

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

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.

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

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!

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

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

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?

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