WIDATW

Jan. 30th, 2012 12:03 pm
xmakina: (south park)

Need/Want to get back into the habit of writing up at least a summary of what I’m doing with my time.

Hayley came over for the weekend, arriving Friday evening and she was on my bus home. We came home to find the internet, and indeed phone line was dead. Asked next door and same thing. Phoned up Plus.Net to sort it out. BT will apparently look at it on the 31st so clearly not a major outage. Suspicion is cable thieves. Bastards.

Since we couldn’t order any take-out, we had the closest thing to a “home” meal I’ve had in forever, scampi with mash, veg and gravy. Will definitely make that again. Since Una was away Friday night seeing Hannah, me and Hayley watched the last few episodes of Game of Thrones (which Una doesn’t like), so now we’re both psyched for Season 2!

On Saturday me and Hayley went on a charity shop run around Templar Square and Cowley road. First we went to Spoons though for a (now customary) breakfast from there. During our wanderings, Hayley got 2 plushy unicorns and some ponies, and then we struck jackpot when Hayley spotted a “party crate” (read Wooden box) edition of Apples-to-Apples for £4. Given we’d been looking at the standard edition in Gameskeeper for £30, this really is one of the best finds ever. We headed home and, after something of a saga involving left behind backpacks and cancelled trains, Una finally got home and we all enjoyed jacket potatoes and wine (well, Baileys for me, natch) in front of Jurassic Park and finished the night with Starship Troopers.

On Sunday I took the girls to Build-A-Bear for a Valentines present. They both really enjoyed themselves and there are lots of little touches I didn’t realise they did, such as putting in the heart before sowing the bears up and the birth certificate. Hayley got an adorable pink kitty she called Nymphadora and Una got a patchwork bear with a fedora hat she named Bradley. We then did a bit of browsing before heading over to O’Neils (an Irish bar Una really likes) for a nice big lunch and drinks until it was time for Hayley to head home. After walking Hayley to the station we headed home.

It was a lovely weekend and more than made up for the fact I’ve cancelled the next two weekends to get in some much needed overtime in for work.

Originally posted at Contradiction In Terms. Please leave a comment there.

xmakina: (Default)
Anything that makes me get up at 0530 on a Saturday has got to be something worth doing. And it so was.

In Brighton for 9:30 and at the meeting point for 9:45, a drawn out period of "hurry up and wait" followed as the parade amassed. Me and [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth were marching with the Sussex LGBTQ group, closely (and mingled in with) the Socialist Workers. I have a rant against them (particularly their attitude to/at Pride) brewing but I will leave it be for now.

The march could only be described as intense. The heat wasn't helping, but with such a huge number of people, but with none of the wide open spaces afforded to somewhere like London, the overall effect was much more in-your-face. There was also a lot of revelry in the parade that left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

We covered what felt like a very large distance (probably 2 miles) and the whole city was involved - rainbow flags everywhere, even the shops, was a sight I haven't seen anywhere else. The park itself was crazy busy and the Bi Meet at the stall was excellent, something I really think we should consider doing again at some of the other prides.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out with [livejournal.com profile] sunflower_29 and finally got a lift home to Jess' aunt's about 10pm where we promptly went splat. Sunday was dedicated to recovering before heading home.

Brighton has left me with some mixed feelings - much more so than the other prides I've attended. What's odd is where they lie. I loved that the whole city seemed to be involved, rainbow flags everywhere and streets closed for the whole day was amazing. The actual parade and festival though left a somewhat bitter taste.

The parade seemed badly managed, it was far too long. I was very glad I'd brought a big bottle of water with me or we would have had to bail early. It was also massively overpriced, £45 for volunteer groups is messed up. Then to have the nerve to bug people constantly for donations is just testament that someone, somewhere, is making far too much money from this.

One of the big things I noticed at the festival was that for a lot of people this was a piss-up and nothing more. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it's meant to be a party but, I don't know, I just didn't like the atmosphere there. I do avoid music festivals for this reason though so maybe that has something to do with it. There was a good community village though (I'm looking at you, London) and the Bi Stall was excellent. It seems they were the only ones who came prepared for the wind though!

There were also some major organisational concerns. Food sellers were heavily overcharging (£3 for a small box of chips) and there wasn't a single extra bin provided. The mess was horrific by the time we left and still looked awful from the quick glimpse I caught on the train home as it passed the park. Why there weren't skips dotted around (like at Oxford), I don't know.

This post is coming across far too negative. The Pride was amazing, with the whole city getting involved and seeing so many people out-and-proud both in the parade and in the crowd. I'm going next year, undoubtedly and the whole weekend was a blast.

Very much looking forward to the much more sedate plans we have this weekend though. Ice cream, anyone? *grin*

WIDATW

Jul. 26th, 2010 11:17 am
xmakina: (Default)
So last weekend was very unusual. I had planned to spend it with the delightful [livejournal.com profile] rosemary_sweet, but alas she was taken ill so *get well soon hugs* to her.

Instead I had the first weekend to myself in a very long time. I could have met up with people but I decided I wanted to stay in and save money for BiCon and OpenCon and all the other lovely things I have planned in the next few months. I was hoping to be more productive than I actually was, but otherwise it was nice to spend some me time.

I did end up starting up another project, bringing my total of "things I can do to kill time other than play video games, but will still probably keep playing games (damn!)" up to 7. This one should be interesting if I can get it off the ground, a game that rewards you for playing another game.

Other than that, a very quiet weekend with myself. Looking very forward to seeing [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth as this has been the longest we've gone without each other in... ages.
xmakina: (Default)
Saturday
This weekend was very enjoyable. A bit of a late start, I met [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth in Oxford about 4pm. It was a lovely, sunny Saturday and Oxford was absolutely heaving. Not good. We decided eating in City Centre was a bad idea so went out a bit too the Subway near the Pink Giraffe. Then, remembering the free refills we went into G&D's mode and spent over an hour there chatting and relaxing. Was very pleasant and something I'll probably remember for the next time I want to spend a long time talking to people when outside isn't an option.

We then headed off up to [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat's for a very nice evening of talk and Dominion and Pizza. It was great to see Chesh, something I don't get to do nearly enough. We all had lots to talk about and it was nice to share some recent revelations of my own and listen to her and [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth and just connect as a tribe.

At 11:30 we said our goodnight's and headed over to [livejournal.com profile] amuletts' to spend a very lovely night catching up with her and [livejournal.com profile] feanorfinwe. Finally fell over about 4am after an excellent night.

Sunday
Woke up about 11:30 and headed off back to [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat's. We decided was nice enough to risk it, met up with [livejournal.com profile] wolfpeach and his 2 (adorable) smalls and headed to Bury Knoll for a picnic breakfast. It was excellent to see [livejournal.com profile] wolfpeach again, especially since I've only met him at parties so struggled to find the time to have a dedicated conversation.

We then headed back to The Flat With No Name for a game of The Shinnin' where I was promptly wiped out as the traitor after 2 turns without even killing anyone. Bad rolls + items already in play = anti-climax. Was a very funny moment though when one of the characters fell through a continuity hole (wall switch + moving room = what?)

Then [livejournal.com profile] wolfpeach headed home and I had a much needed nap as [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth and [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat spent an hour or so chatting with [livejournal.com profile] anarchist_nomad on the phone. Then me and [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth said our goodbyes and headed home for nachos, an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, cuddles and bed.

A good weekend (TM).
xmakina: (Default)
Friday evening was spent relaxing with [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth. A fun night spent reconnecting with her after the problems of the last few weeks was exactly what we needed.

Saturday was spent looking forward to the evening. A very lazy day, starting with bacon sandwiches and more relaxation and reconnecting. We were in a good place now and headed out to meet two lovely people we'd met on OkCupid (thank you, DD!). We were feeling pretty optimistic; both poly, both our ages, lots of shared interests, both well written profiles (not a single use of "ur" or "lol" anywhere) and both... well... easy on the eyes *smile*.

We got into Oxford a bit early and called in at Games Workshop where (amazingly) they had a copy of Battlefleet Gothic: Armada in so I was able to get it there and then. Then it was off to the food van in Gloucester Green where we grabbed some (really yummy) cheesy chips for a late lunch and ate them on the steps. Then it was off to the Gate to meet new people.

A bit of a shaky start when they ran a bit late, but turns out their landlord has the worst timing so an understandable delay. Besides, when you're friends with [livejournal.com profile] anarchist_nomad a 15 minute delay is nothing *grin*. When they arrived our optimism was thoroughly justified. We spent the whole evening talking about the things we were passionate about, listening to each others stories and just having an awesome time.

After a few drinks at the Gate it was over to The Mission (a place I simply must go to more often) and then on to G&D's for yummy ice cream and more delightful conversation, including the customary swapping of the psycho ex stories. Good times. We were then very honoured with an invite back to their place (the flat name of Black Mesa only improving their standing in my eyes) where we played a new game (Mall of Horror, very fun) which I won and [livejournal.com profile] miss_amaranth came second. I'm sure the hosts let us win, but I did pull a bit of a "dick move" where I ended up luring the last few survivors into a trap before sprinting my piece away to safety.

After some more delightful conversation and an introduction to Pandora, their pet corn snake who is just as friendly and fun as her owners, it was time to head back (that is, it was 1 in the morning!) so we said our goodbyes and headed home very pleased with the evening and looking forward to meeting them again.

Sunday was another day of lounging around with bacon sarnies and a quick and easy lunch. I did happen to spot a the BFG Rule Book + counters (from when it was a boxed game) on eBay going for a real bargain so put in a bid. Which I then won! So I got the rule book at half price and the counters for 50p. A fantastic end to the weekend, if I don't say so myself!
xmakina: (Default)
Thanks to Zippy and Bungle down at RBS, I've still not had my credit card address updated. They've updated all my other accounts, but the one I actually need they haven't. The branch has no idea why so I have to wait until tomorrow just to find out what's stopping me. This is not a good thing as that card has all my Christmas money on it. Starting, pretty much, today. Which leaves me in the really awkward situation of probably having to ask the 'rents for a loan of some description. Fun fun.

As soon as I've cleared all my debts with them, I'm leaving RBS. Admittedly, that's looking like 3 years away, but it's the principle, dammit.

ION: I saw an AWAC on the walk back to work. And a helicopter must've been right on top of the office as there were a few rattles from the looser desk items.

Also, the weekend was very fun. Expensive cocktails (white chocolate martini being a clear winner), a fancy dinner of fish in pig (Cod wrapped in Parma ham) and all for the great price of £0.00. Hurrah for work dos.

Now I just need to limp through this week and I'll be home free, thanks mostly to an early pay day.

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xmakina

February 2012

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