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Sunny Daze

It's not often I feel compelled to write about the weather, in fact I think it's safe to say this is the first time, but when it's so good I feel it has to be documented in some way.

Thursday - sunny but working so miss most of it
Friday - sunny, in garden most of the day
Saturday - not so sunny but warm, in garden until midnight
Sunday - very sunny, in garden all day, bbq for dinner
Monday - it's looking good so far...

Wedding Fever

I know summertime is traditionally wedding season but two in one weekend is pushing the whole thing a bit far. Joan and Keith were married, proper white wedding with full Catholic mass, on Saturday then Graeme and Lisa (Alasdair's cousin and his wife) were hitched at Brig o'Doon, big family do with a civil ceremony, on Sunday.

Both were lovely, Joan's was like a girl's night out with communion and Graeme's was great as I got to meet nearly all of Alasdair's relatives in one go, but it would have been nice to spread them out over 2 weeks rather than 2 days. Still, I made it through the weekend without too much drama, I only set fire to one table decoration and just had to mention the safety word once to Sarah for her to weesht so I'd call that a result.

Photos on my flickr page now.

PS I was trying to save a glass of wine from being spilt when I accidentally knocked over the table decoration onto a tea light - I was still sober at the time!

Phew!

It's all over, finito, done and dusted, finished. I never thought I'd get there but the thesis is complete - 6000 words on Interactivity in Dance Performance - and not only is it finished but it's finished early. It's not actually due in until Friday. I really am living up to this 'mature student' tag, in the past I'd still be up at 5am struggling to find printer ink on the day of the hand in.

Worst thing is I can't even celebrate with a glass of vino as we're all out and the shops are shut. Rubbish.

Saga by Ikea

No it's not a new wardrobe organiser or colander I'm referring to, I am actually talking about the ongoing saga of our new bed. First off, I bought a bed frame about 18 months ago from Ikea which has been getting stored in my parent's cellar until I took it over to Alasdair's this week ready for our new good quality, half price, Argos mattress to arrive.

First problem was that there was no midframe included with the bed frame meaning there was nothing to rest the wooden slats on. So we went out to Ikea on Tuesday evening to buy one. Not entirely convinced that the slats would just balance on top of the midframe safely we asked one of their staff for advice and got the crappiest replies ever, "Yeah it works" and "No-one else has a problem with it"! Cheers mate, you're really earning your wage there.

Incidentally, on the way back from Ikea on that occasion some stupid old woman almost hit us head on as she came round a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. Luckily I knew that sometimes huge lorries have to use the middle of the road to turn so had slowed right down but the speed she was going at meant it was still a skidding halt from both of us. My reaction: Phew, that could've been game over. Alasdair's reaction: Ya f&%($^g, s£@&*d-l**6$^g, b(&%h-f@£@d c*w! Nice and calm as always then.

So we get back to Alasdair's, assemble the bed, without so much as a raised eyebrow never mind a raised voice (I think we were both still grateful to be alive), put the old mattress on top for one last night and instantly realise that the Ikea double bed is bigger than the double mattress.

And not just a little bit bigger either. Oh no, a whopping 5cm all the way round. 5cm may not sound like much but it's definitely enough to slip down the edge in the middle of the night, bang your shoulder and leave a bruise. Trust me.

So the nice man from Argos arrived on Wednesday morning with our new good quality, half price, Argos mattress which we had to return straight away. Only he can't take it back because he only does deliveries and doesn't have any collection paperwork. Someone else will have to come to collect it. A bit annoying but their returns dept arranged a collection no problem.

So it was back to Ikea again on Wednesday night to look for an Ikea sized double mattress which actually cost us £40 less than our good quality, half price, Argos mattress but then they charged us £35 to deliver it. £35! It's only 3 miles down the road! Apparently it costs £35 for anything up to 30 items. We also bought a couple of pillow cases which I was tempted to add to the delivery just to split the cost a bit but we decided that might be being just a touch petty.

So Alasdair's waiting in today for the Ikea mattress to be delivered then again tomorrow for the good quality, half price, Argos mattress to be collected.

I'm really not looking forward to replacing the sofa now!

How did this happen?

There are a few 'how did this happens?' that I'm thinking about, firstly I covet a sofa, secondly I'm framing 'art' and thirdly I almost lost contact with someone completely accidentally.

To begin, Alasdair and I bought a mattress on Friday which was long overdue as his current mattress is an orthopaedics dream come true; lumpy, bumpy and uneven. Nightmare. Even I was struggling to sleep sometimes! So we headed down to Argos and pulled my favourite trick of buying something of decent quality in the sale. All the quality half the price. Fantastic.

After that, and a quick trip to his mum's to deliver a birthday bouquet, it was off to Ikea to buy some picture frames. Only it wasn't just picture frames that caught our eye... we now covet a dark brown leather sofa and pouffe and have started saving up accordingly.

Beyond the sofa desire, I'm shocked that I'm not only framing postcards and calling it art but I'm also framing the paper bags they come in and calling them art too. It's not as bad as you think though, they actually look good together, honest.

Finally, I'm a bit annoyed at googlemail. My friend Isla left Glasgow 18 months ago to live in Sydney before going travelling for a few months. We promised we'd stay in touch and we did. But googlemail had other ideas. Any time I emailed her she'd reply with her news and everytime she replied I had no idea. I still have no idea where her emails have gone, maybe I'll get them when I'm old and wrinkly but for now they seem to have disappeared into cyberspace.

Thankfully we met up at their party on Saturday evening and managed to sort our communication problems out. Formal congrats to Zain and Isla and Matt and KP who were all announcing their engagements at the weekend.

We also managed to catch Dean Queasy and David Bowie gigging on Sunday night. Dean Queasy are a great wee band with fantastic lyrics courtesy of Simon Richardson and David Bowie was in the guise of Tigers on Vaseline, an amazing Bowie tribute band. They played all the old Ziggy Stardust hits and with the exception of one particularly difficult note, the singer was spot on. Can't wait to see them again.

Flash! Bang! Whatta picture...

I've just uploaded a whole load of photos from the DISI party at the end of March and Club Noir at the start of June to my flickr page. Go and have a gander and a giggle.

Also, the first showing of 'As the sparks fly upwards...' went really well. It wasn't a huge turnout but the feedback was invaluable and I can't wait till September to do it for real.

Dissertations, Decorating and Dancing

It's all go at uni at the moment with the first draft of our dissertation in and awaiting feedback before the final is due mid July. It is driving me slightly mad at the moment because my academic writing has never been a strong point. Granted, I do always manage to pull it out the bag but it doesn't really come naturally to me so I need to get my head down and get stuck into it.

As always, the practical side of the work is rolling out no problem so I suppose I should be pleased about that. If you want an idea of what I'm producing have a look at Confessions of a Screendance Student. The work will be on display in Dundee this September as well as (hopefully) being programmed at The Arches at some point this winter as well.

Alasdair's been busy too re-decorating his flat. His flat isn't in the best area but it's a good flat with 2 bedrooms and a front and back garden which is great during the summer. Even better now he's got rid of the dodgy 80s decor that's been there since he moved in.

Finally, Lisa, Alasdair and I went to Club Noir this month for some old-fashioned, dressed up dancing. I'd been told that it was full of fag hags in their underwear so, of course, I went wearing my sparkly pants on the look out for new gay best friends to dance with. I wasn't disappointed. Lee, Lewis and Ricky certainly fit the bill and even came prepared with a feather for my sparkly headband - it was meant to be!

Guess my Age

Ok, so you lot probably know what age I am but there's a website where complete strangers look at a picture of you and in a click of the mouse can flatter you immeasurably or shatter any self-confidence you dared to have. It's quite fun flicking through other people's pics and guessing their ages, although be kind because they are the same people who will be guessing your age!

Have a look... The Age Project

Amsterdam Part Deux

Our second trip to Amsterdam in the last six months was even better than the first. As well as being my first time there during the summer it was also my friends, Yasmin and Adam's, joint Hen and Stag do, or 'HAG do' as I like to call it.

The hotel was a huge improvement on the last one simply because there was room to move around without having to climb on the bed or wait til the other person passes. It could have done without the clogs or coos on the walls though!



We spent most of our time watching the world go by, giggling like schoolgirls, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and wandering around the canals feeling jealous of anyone in a boat.

Saturday night was spent at Club 11, a bar/club/restaurant situated on the 11th floor of a dis-used postal building, which you have to enter by a lift complete with grafitti and ghetto blaster. I think it's the only club I've been to with windows (the only one I remember anyway) which meant we had great nights views across the city and an extremely early glimmer of sunrise towards the end of the night. Gorgeous.



Sunday was supposed to be sports day for the Hag do but the blistering heat combined with varying degrees of hangovers put paid to that. Instead we decided to laugh at Yas in her Hen gear and 'interesting' articles in the Candian Cosmo (apparently women are worse drivers than men because they are 'foolish' and 'apply make up'!!!) and just generally laze about... Can anyone spot a theme here?

All in all it was a relaxing weekend which is lucky because I have a presentation in front of the examination board on Monday for uni and need to have my wits about me.

Think I'm Turning Japanese...

After the untimely demise of my last car I needed a new one, fast. So it was off round the car showrooms on Saturday weighing up the pros and cons of different cars and I ended up with a shiny silver Honda Civic that has less miles per year than my old car, is a diesel (essential for the amount of miles I do), has a huge boot, spacious interior and 5 doors and is costing less than my old monthly payments.

All in all I was quite chuffed so decided to celebrate on Sunday evening by going to Ichiban - Japanese car = Japanese food, obviously. I'd been told it was the same deal as Wagamama but better and they weren't wrong. We shared a sushi platter and salmon teriyaki, each had a chilli chicken ramen and a couple of drinks all for less than £40 plus the sushi platter was £12 which you wouldn't necessarily have each time so it turns into a bargain night out. Plus Alasdair lost his chopstick virginity and it has to be said he did really well - everything in his mouth and nothing on his lap!

Anyway we're leaving Japan (and Scotland) and heading to The Netherlands this weekend. Forecast for Amsterdam is 20-22 degrees all weekend so I'll be spending today frantically de-fuzzing and fake-tanning the legs so I can wear an array of summer dresses and feel all sunny.

Lovely.

Condorrat Killed my Car!

On Monday 21st April at approximately 1.25pm the engine on my car chucked it just as I was driving over the brow of the hill. Luckily the big scary looking lorry on my inside realised that I wasn't just some dafty who had decided to change lanes and that I needed to pull over. Fast.

After over an hour at the roadside recovery centre with numerous mechanics trying to get it started again I decided just to take it back to the garage that had been working on it at the start of April. On Thursday they agreed that it had actually died but are looking into the possibility of a reconditioned engine for it.

All in all it's not looking good for my wee car but I have had more than my fair share of miles out of it so I can't complain (too much!). Any suggestions for what happens now will be greatly appreciated. Other than the engine the car is in really good condition so it's a bit of a pain that this has happened.

The Fate of the Hindenshug

Technical failings were blamed today ahead of the launch of Nitshill's first indoor airship. The Goodyear Radio Controlled Indoor blimp suffered a small tear during inflation and subsequently failed to get off the ground. Aeronautical engineer, Mr Sutherland is thought to be 'gutted' at the malfunction and blames shoddy workmanship at the source of it. His partner, Miss McGarvey, who financed the zepellin, agrees with this diagnosis and can't believe she was duped into parting with cash for this ill-fated project.

Another Year and What Have I Done?

In my 27th year I have gone back to uni, gone on holidays to America, Amsterdam, Canada and the Isle of Wight, performed in Chicago, had a film screened in Johannesberg, been in hospital, made my way down the housing association list (grr), managed to put 2 cars off the road at the same time, stayed up very late on more than one occasion, rediscovered my fringe and my waist, tried (and liked) brown sauce, met Slash, suffered with slash and burn, grudgingly thanked the Findhorn fairies, got to grips with html and css, freaked myself out with sleep paralysis, drove down the 101 with the top down, caught a fish and ate it for dinner and had my root chakra fondled by a pensioner.

Wonder what 28 will bring?

On the Upside...

Blaze @ Bacchus was brilliant. The dancers were amazing, so much more relaxed than usual, and the DJs were great with a full dancefloor for most of the night. I think the party/performance combo is definitely the way forward for Blaze but a bigger venue will be needed for the next one...

Suggestions on a postcard please.