Homo-geneity

How utterly depressing. Yes, I know it's late - well aware of this fact! And walking home from the station because there was the biggest f-off queue for taxis has not improved my mood, in fact probably initiated it because it appears I'm not comfortable with my own company just at the moment; meditation urgently required, but knowing me and my past record.....

Anyhow, a quick blast through the events of the day. A lazy start to the morning, and then a train ride to Manchester. Glorious sunshine, which really makes a change, and all in all a very good day weather wise! Nice to see my aunt again, dont think we've met face-to-face in a good long while. But considering my current track record of seeing the family, this is hardly surprising. She's changed a lot from what I remember, but again this is hardly surprising. Manchester, however, resembles nothing so much as a completely different city - nothing is in the same place, sure someone's been playing an enormous game of shuffle with the road map. A good walk around in the sunshine and the discovery that there is in fact a cathedral in the city (there was the clue, huh?), but it's a mini one, and a nice lunch. Handed over book for rapid devouring, and then off to meet Baz.

Bless the boy, but I think he's not keeping up with himself this weekend! Seemed very tired, but that could just have been a late night yesterday or too many afternoon beers today. Whichever, he didnt seem to well. And was rather later arriving than expected (:-/ which gave me plenty of opportunity to observe a bit of life on Canal Street.

Now Canal Street, as many of my readers will be aware, is more than a little bit gay. And completely hammered home to me tonight was how utterly obsessed by uniform the gay community at large tends to be. I dont think I'm one to talk at the moment, but there's a shocking lack of individual flair. And I'm not talking about the disco bunny set here, but the more bearish and certainly more bullish sections are apparently even more rigid in their codes of behaviour. Something I find utterly, utterly depressing. It's a real shame. The individual has been lost somewhere along the line, and it only confirms to me why I've never gotten along with the scene. Never mind, huh?

Anyhow, nice to catch up with Baz, but perhaps not worth all the time I spent shivering in the cold! Should have gone and nestled inside, but there you are. Never one to take the easy route, am I?

Spoke to Patrick on the phone, and it's becoming harder ever day to be away from him. But it does raise all these horrible questions I dont want to answer about what I'm going to do in the future.....the scary, nebulous future........

I was going to blog a load......

....but it all seems to have escaped me! Never mind, eh? It's all because of new phone traumas......why do mobile phone network companies seem to insist on you upgrading your handset all the time? They'd save loads of money if they didnt bother, no? There's an ever-growing problem of old discarded phones, something they seem to have realised with their 'money for old phones' jag - though why they just DONT offer all those new phones in the first place, I dont know.....anyway, have the hassle of re-configuring a new one to get rid of all the hideous colour schemes and useless functions they always have, but my new SIM card doesnt seem to have been registered yet, despite the fact that it should have been done about lunchtime, and it's now after 5. Ah well. Just a bit of a bugger if it doesnt work, what with going to Manchester tomorrow! Never mind.......but it really is a pain in the arse, no? All I wanted to do was change my tariff, didnt need all the shite that goes with it.

Go Boney!

Tee hee hee

This really quite tickled me. Actually, the whole site is rather a laugh, though some pages are better than others, obviously. I'm glad people can take the piss out of each other. Certainly better than the spam cheesecake, at any rate.

Booooring

tedious tediousum et omnia tedious.

Started jury service this week, and so far we've only drawn a huge boring blank of not doing very much! Have solved my way through umpteen sudokus (another mystery plural for you there - sudoki? sudokoi? sudoken? Hmmmm.....) and drunk many many cups of coffee both caffeinated and decaffeinated. It's a really depressing room and building to, arselicks!

But there is a little story to tell, since I was nearly called for an 8-week long trial. Thanking absolute bolox that I didnt, really, because that would have seriously messed me about and lost me both of my bank holidays! There were about 100 of us potential jurors in to start, which then got whittled down to about maybe 45 before the ballot. You could feel the tension mount as names were called out and people sitting on the edge of their seats, hoping it would not be them! Relief was palpable outside of the room, and I do pity those poor sods who now have to do the trial - but it is something that has to be done! I'd rather be keeping trial by jury than have a bit more convenience.

Anyhow, none of this stopped me from having to supress, with a great deal of trouble, an enormous fit of the giggles whilst in the courtroom.

I've also been out in my spanking new birthday leathers, and I'm loving them. Will be loving them even more when my bike is back up to scratch! Big grins all round.

Other than that, I've not got much to tell. Life goes on, with the added bonus that I've got Patrick to share it all with - bejaysus, but it sickens me sometimes!

Shall I put in another little bit here? Seems to be only fair. And four is such a nice number. And it fills up the space, yes?

Why I love riding

Today has been (is being!) a positively LOVELY day, the first really nice day oop here in the north. Summer is on it's way! And I've been enjoying it most immensely. Have taken the bike out for a little spin - not too much because she's in need of a bit of TLC, I'll be giving her a good seeing to sometime this week - just around and about the town, but it was so much fun, totally (:-) -worthy. Going to be doing a lot more riding over the summer, no doubt! And maybe evening jaunts too. Cant get enough. Only problem is I've mentally spent another 300 squids on motorbike stuff, just when I was starting to knuckle down and be good over the money thing. Not least to say that I've got the humonguous gas/leccy/council tax/phone bill thing at the moment. And all the train fares I've spent in my head. Alas, alas......and I'm of no fixed profession after December too - so bang goes the idea of a nice new Honda/Triumph/Suzuki!

Anyroad, riding just kicks arse, beating the traffic, eating up roads, doing the nice little turns.....*waxes lyrical*.......

Jury service starts tomorrow, got to make sure I'm at the court good and on time, and shall be taking the train just because it's easier. I shall also be investing in newspapers, sudoku books and chemistry reading. Making a pact with self not to go into work if I get released in the afternoon, at least for the first week. Because I deserve the time off *grin*. And I cant be arsed with much at the moment.

Enough of the posting, just a small note to say: pie for dinner!

Currents

Well, more current than the monster effort, which I may not bother doing any more for. In brief: Conference - old 'respected' speaker talks for half an hour too long which shows a stunning lack of consideration for both his audience and the conference organisers, no? - week with Patrick which was just the best time. I dont even feel uncomfortable not saying anything or not doing anything, or just being in the same room doing different things. Love the poor man to bits, more fool I! Shall be shuttling up and down the country quite a bit in the coming time, to see him as much as I can.

Yesterday met my niece in person for the first time, and basically people, it's a baby. With all the things that babies do (i.e. not very much). But stuffed myself silly for free, which is always a good jag, and had a bit of a conversation and ended up feeding Katherine too. We'll see what happens as she gets older, eh? Dont envy my sister all the hassle! Though Dad is blatantly stuck with the grandfather thing, suppose it's because he's not had much to do with babies for a long while, but I get the impression he's good at it (despite a twenty-odd year gap!). I'm just uncomfortable...suppose it's the 'not being able to communicate' thing, whilst also acutely feeling my own mortality!

Today has been slow slow slow......I've done the assignments on one lab book, got the other one to do in the coming days or weeks, despite a fear all my things have decomposed! But we'll not mention that. Done a column today, maybe will do another little reaction this afternoon, too.....oh joy! And jury service on Monday, which means even less to blog about than usual, since I cant talk about it. Never mind. Sure I'll come up with enough waffle to keep everyone going, eh?

Monster Blog Effort - II, the quickening!

Hello there! Boring day at work today, though I did get all of the vaccing down done, and have not much to do but paperwork for the rest of the week. Most dull.

Anyhow, returning to Sunday before last. Enormous hangover was to be had in the morning, owing to staying up very late the night before and a couple of beers in the bargain. And by 'couple' I mean 'more than a couple'. My own fault, and I did deserve it, but did make me subdued for the rest of the day; even Ade noticed this! To be fair, though, he's never really seen me on a depressive day, and most of the time we meet up we're usually yacking in the pub, so....anyhow, Ange was all bright and breezy since she'd got to bed at a sociable hour (despite being chronically unable to make a decision). Pub lunch was the order of the day, and whilst I sat monged out they both came to a decision about where to go. To be fair, I'd have been happy just sitting in all day, and breakfast would have been a good idea, but no! A fifteen-odd mile drive was in order to the little village of Star.

I love place names in Britain, you've got the really dowdy sounding ones and then every so often, something really pretty. And Star seems to be a very nice place, though to be fair I'm in love with the West Country in general. Pub lunch was perhaps the best I've ever seen in a long while, and I'm absolutely gutted that I didnt do it more justice, as I would have done on an ordinary day. Hangover contributed general feelings of ill, so that I actually had to stop eating and dampen down the feelings of sick! Was very nice food though, and the best way to describe it would be to hint at the expressions on the faces of Ange and Ade when huge slices of beef were being cut for me, expressions of longing and hunger, coupled with appreciation of something exquisitely beautiful. And delicious it was.

Sat around in the pub for a while at my insistence - if I'd been taken in the car on a full stomach it would have ended up being such a waste - and then headed back into Bristol for what I'm going to term the Great Chocolate Shopping Extravangza. Having decided that the diet had all gone to pot for the weekend, A&A (both on same regime!) thought 'fuck it' and went a bit mad over the choosing of sweeties. Or at least Ange did. I think she was channelling her inner little girl quite succesfully! Most amusing.

A quiet Sunday evening was then had, revisiting the delights of Spaced which is still dead funny, recommend.

Monday woke up very early, early enough even to witness Ade in his desperate attempts to get a towel without waking me up (bless), but then stayed in for a doze. Didnt have anything in particular to do, but strolled down Cheltenham Road and into Broadmead and eventually along the waterfront. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, plenty of sunshine and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'd forgotten just how lovely Bristol is in the sunshine, something I lost appreciation for whilst I still lived there. Shame the Wills Building is cloaked in scaffolding at the moment. Lots of thinking and anticipating was done, and an extended phone call to Patrick outside the hospital just made my day, really. And then pretty promptly into bed after an evening of soap opera (I remember why I dont watch it!). Hairy muff, no?

That's your lot for those days, stay tuned for Tuesday!

Start of Monster Blog Effort

Well, I've been away for the week. Hence no posting. Though I suppose I could have done, if I really wanted to! In order not to get ahead of myself, I'm going to take the events of the past days over a couple of postings, which may get rambly or not, so you need to work upwards from HERE. I'll add them as I have the time to do so, and intersperse them with a bit more recent stuff. Got it?

Groovy. Well, Friday night was good and relaxed, arose Saturday morning and set off for Bristol to see Ade. Amazingly enough, everything ran to schedule and I made the 10-minute connection in Sheffield, having taken the weird route for purposes of cheap tickets ($16 vs. £80-odd - which would you pick?!). Mucho coffee was drunk that day, I've conditioned myself to buy coffee whenever I'm in a station or getting on a train, doesnt seem right without it! Also bought a bike magazine, which I havent read, 10 days later......

Absolutely GOBSMACKED by sight of Ade. He's been away doing the antipodean travelling thing, so I've not seen him since last September, which is a heck of a time, really. He said he'd lost a load of weight, and he wasnt lying - he looks so much better for it and generally a lot more healthy and happy, bless. Great to see him again, picked up exactly where we left off, though obviously we both had a lot of news to tell each other; him about his travels and me about my traumas and otherwise in the North. Turns out he had a good time, spent far too much money and had to deal with a psychotic trip-mate. Always nice. And dogs eating CDs.....dont ask, I dont remember much more than that!

Saturday was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who by all accounts was a funny feller. Not least for the smoking of cigars, being short and wearing stovepipe hats. But since he designed the rather marvellous Clifton Suspension Bridge, there was a bit of a celebration going on, with the fireworks and the 200 saxophonists (*giggle*). So we decided to go and have a watch, along with the fifty thousand or so other people. Started out being a very nice evening, and we had a very long one in The Mall (formerly of Footbridge and Firkin fame) where I nicked me Hoegaarden glass from in days of yore, owing to enormous crush of people and not being able to get to the bar. Saw hideous hairstyle, of a lady with quite grey hair who had decided to dye the tips of it both red and purple, in some kind of explosion/paint factory way. Not pretty. Then we joined the masses on Avon Gorge Road, and stood shivering as it got colder and colder and took ages to kick off. Not least because some idiots decided to climb the gorge and watch from the cliff face, right in the flight path of all the fireworks! So they had to be shifted before the show began. Also, we had to suffer a shower of ENORMOUS hailstones. Now, those of you who have never met me need the piece of information that I have no hair (I shave it all off, so very convenient), which makes for very painful sensations when my head is battered by huge hailstones. So I had to shelter under Ade's armpit, and what a site we looked - especially since he decided to start stroking me up top (much appreciated though!) and I yelled out 'Are you stroking my head, Mr Morgan?' at load volumes to the omnipresent crowd in general. Cue mass sniggering.

Fireworks were very pretty, though not sure it was worth the long wait in the cold and hail, especially since we then had to endure a short rain of ash. Obviously the wind was up a lot, because bits of it kept coming down over the whole Avon Gorge road, luckily it wasnt still glowing!

After that Ade and I headed into town for a few more bevvies, though we kind of ran out of steam, so headed back to his place for a little wine and discussion with Ange. Ange is Ade's new flatmate - Grace to his Will - and what a nice person she is. We got on very nicely, I think, she's just as easy to talk to as Ade and I can see why they get on. Talked to her a lot over the weekend, and she's got a wicked sense of humour and a wide variety of friends and acquaintances! Was totally chuffed when she suggested that, no, what I really wanted to do was move to Bristol. Which I probably would, given the option, it's a lovely place and I can always cope with more of it. Though I'm looking at it through beer-soaked goggles and the living in lovely Clifton eyes. Not so sure I could cope living in Westbury! And in any case, there's not much in the way of work around there bar AZ's process site (not likely!) and Tocris, who arent that good from what I've heard - though I could be doing them a diservice.....

Anyhew, it made for a bit of a *meh* hour, before Ange decided that she wasnt motivated enough to go out and Ade and I headed, at great cab-age expense to Winn's for more beer and loud shouting at each other in the presence of the army boys (well, the army fetish boys). Who we promptly totally ignored and just talked the night through! Nice to get a little pissed and talk, we do have some rather dodgy conversations (mutual confessional), but I have to say that we could have picked a nicer environment. Ade warned me off going into the gent's because of an orgy taking place, so I was most disappointed when I had to have a pee and found there was nobody in there. However, the empty sachets of Liquid Silk on the floor belie my experience. Rancid goings-on. Be assured, dear lurkers, that Jon-ster does not approve of such things (the use of the loos, that is - people can bugger who they like in a consensual setting!), really makes for an unpleasant air. Even more so later when I went to the ladies (yes, this time I chickened out) to the redolent odour of poppers. Yick.

All in all, a very succesful day! Went to bed at about half four in the morning, far later than I usually would, and I certainly paid for the demon liquor the next day, with a minging hangover. Not a pretty sight. But more on that story later.......

Weekend!!!

Been looking forward to this weekend for an age! Taken so long to get here. But now it's arrived, I can kick back and relax for the evening.....good stuff.

Anyhew, kudos from the boss today, which was most gratifying. Very nice. To be appreciated, and all that lark! Now for the great weekend of train travelling, and blow me if I havent gone and forgotten to note down all my booking information. So I'll have to just save it in my phone, and have it there! Never mind......

Going to see P on Tuesday. I'm so pleased.....

Why hasnt this one been done before?

Have a look at this one - amazing I've not seen something similar before!

Many thanks to Tony for providing that link....and I guess I should link his site here too - though you really shouldnt view it at work, and maybe not even at home if you are easily unsettled! And for all you worried people out there - it's so not my bag, rest assured that vanilla Jon-ster remains very much so!

Not much to say, but I'll blog anyway

Had a bit of a hum and and a sing at work today, whilst doing a column; nice. Still pissed off about my lack of nitrogen = no complicated reactions. But off to a conference tomorrow, so can relax somewhat.

Life just a bit slow....

Idiot pedestrians, grrrrrr

Why are apparently sensible, moderate people driven to such stupidity when crossing roads? It annoys the bolox off me. Especially when it is a busy main road and there's a bloody traffic light less than a hundred yards up the road. It's there for a reason, people! Dont wander out into the middle of traffic and not look as I come streaming towards you, almost having to do an emergency stop because you are standing in the middle of two lanes of traffic! And, what really fecks me off, is that it would automatically be me at fault, not you for being a pillock and not using the handily provided crossing.

*steps down from soapbox*

Totally freaks me out

Why does housemate feel the need to lock his door every night? Paranoia? Illegal activites? Surely he's not got a shag over? Totally strange.

Well!

It was so much fun coming home this evening. High winds combined with motorbike riding and lots of buses. Mine should be quite wind-stable, hell it's bloody heavy, but nope, was being buffeted around like nobody's business. And it's still high now, which is a shame because it's still light and would have been nice to go for a little jaunt. Dusk must be about seven o'clock by now, nice to know spring has finally arrived in spirit as well as actuality!

Today has been spent mostly having abject chemistry failures. Having overcooked and decomposed one thing, two other reactions have been abject failures. Never mind. Repetition and columning on the morrow! And more reactions to set up......

Entry

Well, seems like I'm starving hungry all day today! I've not exactly been eating less than I used to - in fact, I'm probably eating more these days than at any time since puberty. It's probably a stomach stretch job from yesterday, what with the copious amounts of chinese.....speaking of which, I need more rice. Lots more rice. People, it's 10kg in less than three months. I'm worried.

Saturday was a most enjoyable day. I spent most of it sitting in a dark room with no windows. Or, to put it more accurately, I spent the whole day at the theatre. Northern Broadsides are having their current residency at the West Yorkshire playhouse, and as I've not been to see anything in ages, I decided to go. I'm not sure if this is their opening weekend, but they were staging an edited version of a load of Shakespeare, of the Wars of the Roses. That is, three plays in a day, or four Shakespeare-equivalents. Not the whole bloomin' cycle, that would be far too painful on the arse and maddening to the brain (what with them not having literally a cast of 000's, confusion of who's who would run riot!), but just the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III. Nicely, they decided to call the second part Edward IV, makes it a bit more distinct from the load of Henries......plus some of those Henries aren't really about Henry!

Obviously it's a load of old revisionism - not least from Shakespeare but also in the current edit - but really makes you appreciate the long and bloody history we have in these isles. Barely a century without some kind of major war! Nice to know we all get along these days, and the closest we come to civil strife is when they open a new IKEA shop and people go loopy for kit-pack Swedish furniture and overpriced meatballs....getting sidetracked.....so yes, nice to revel in my own country's glory, even if it was a load of toffs topping each other over land in France, and the fact that my own family history will probably place a lot of me not in England at all!

On with the crit. A very good Margaret of Anjou, played by Helens Sheals (no internet biog. I'm afraid!), though she did have a few moments of stumbling where she was obviously getting far too into it and tripped on her tongue. A very good ensemble too, despite the fact of some of the (to me) hilarious staging, such as Talbot in full flood of vitriol getting pushed about on a little trolley. Never mind. Sparse set, as always for these kind of things (though to be fair, you arent exactly going to hop from Wakefield to St Albans to Westminster to Burgundy on a standard backdrop). I managed to get in for the first two on very cheapie stand-by tickets, and even had a prime seat for the middle part, sat next to critic lady taking copious notes and sipping her water. Shame that I had to end up right at the back and top for Richard III, which I found myself drifting away during. Probably not due to a lesser quality, but due to fatigue and having a view not totally in my face like for the previous one. Never mind.

All in all, worth going to see, especially if you dont go to many of these things. To be fair, I would say that the middle part was my favourite (being sat in the good seats really does help) but that perhaps diving straight into it would be a little hard on the grey cells, there being umpteen amounts of backplot. To be fair, even before the first part there's a lot of backplot, but you have to begin somewhere. Suppose it makes it easier when you know a little bit of history - though to be fair, most of my knowledge of the time probably ultimately derives from Shakespeare......maybe I should start reading about it.....but no, too much else to read!

Ended up kicking my heels a lot in the intervening time between shows - the actors needed that rest though, was kept at a very high pitch and intensity - and munched and did the whole overdose-on-caffeine thing. Managed to bag myself a free programme since someone left it on the seat (if I'd paid for it, I'd be reading every last damn word - programmes are a rip-off), which made for a bit of light reading. No heavy textual commentary or bardolatry there. Seems like people are forever trying to reclaim Shakespeare these days.

Sunday, today, really has been a day of rest. I've not left the house except for a quick trip to Morrisons this morning (yes, I know, a supermarket evil) which seems like it was another day! Bit of laundry, bit of folding clothes and putting them away, a bit of Aerosmith and a lot of sudoku. And all the hungry. Looking forward to getting into work tomorrow, plenty to be getting on with!

WHAT did I say to everyone?

What did I say, huh? Welcome to funding governmental projects by stealth. We really didnt want the hassle.

Shock!

Well, it's not everyday you end up with a small child in your crotch. Walking home from the supermarket was cannoned into by a boy at top speed having a bit of a race. Most unexpected!

Blog on plays to follow.....busy right now.....