I went down to Cardiff yesterday afternoon to attend the theatre. I saw Chicago. I'd been told by the in-laws who had seen the London version of the musical that it is very very good and I would love it. Turns out the travelling version isn't as good at all. I think maybe we got the understudies. "Roxie" was quite good but the others just weren't up to much. Even the dancers were lethargic.

Never mind. It was a good night out anyway. Except for the extremely uncomfortable chairs. How the heck are you meant to enjoy a show in those chairs? I have quite long thighs so I usually have leg trauma in seats but this time even Jemma - who is only 5'2" - also suffered from bruised knees. But we got the tickets cheap so we didn't complain too much.

The show ended ten minutes later than would have suited us so we missed our 8 o'clock train home. We caught one that took us to Swansea but could we get one the rest of the fifteen minutes to home? No we could not. Unless we wanted to wait an hour and a half! Luckily Ray offered to pick us up. I hate public transport round here. There's going to be a whole heap of complaining going on to Helen Mary Jones over the next couple of weeks. I voted her in to power so she could sort this mess out - so she'd better get it sorted! Grr.

It was Ray and I's one year anniversary yesterday as well. Typical we couldn't spend it together, but never mind cos we get to live together for the next three weeks (I'm house-sitting for my uncle). On this day one year ago I was seeing Fall Out Boy; I doubt I'd see them again. But three days from now, one year ago, Ray and I went out to Pembrey for a walk and ended up vomiting out all the crappy stuff we'd been through; from that day on everything changed. I think I've seen him every day (bar holidays and work) ever since. Funny how life changes. I still can't believe I've dated someone for a whole year. Usually I'm much more fickle.

Labels: cardiff, life, public transport, ray, theatre

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I randomly clicked on a link on someone else's comments and found a writing meme/quiz. So this one is snagged from Un-Cool:

1. Do you outline?
Depends on the book. Sometimes I do. Most of the time I start with an idea, then write out a few chapter ideas and then see where they take me. Once they're done I usually have ideas for the next collection of chapters.

2. Do you write straight through a book, or do you sometimes tackle the chapters out of order?
I write in order. How the heck do you write out of order?

3. Do you know how a book is going to end when you start it?
I usually know the main thrust of the book. But the smaller story endings come about as I write and the characters talk.

4. Where do you write?
At my desk or sitting halfway down my bed.

5. What do you do when you get writer's block?
Get depressed, and snappy. I usually eat more. And mope. Then I read a lot. And it usually goes away then.

6. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the book as a whole)?
I tend to write about 4,000 words per session

7. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
"Soul Mates III"? That had three re-writes. It's my baby and so I wanted it perfect. I usually only do the original write, then a clean-up.

8. Do you let anyone read your book while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
Jem very rarely gets to read a chapter here or there. I used to let her read as I went along but it took the fun out of it. So now no one reads anything 'til it's done.

9. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
Spend a day doing whatever I want. And usually I want to go out and drink ;)

10. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
I usually have two books on the go, it stops boredom.

11. Do your books grow or shrink in revision?
Hmm... Well, "Soul Mates" 1 got longer, 2 got shorter and 3 got longer so. As for the other books I'd say they tend to stay the same.

12. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
God, no!

13. What are your favorite writing books?
I've never read any I don't think.

14. Morning writer, evening writer, or doesn't matter?
I write after lunch until I can't do anymore. I do like to write late at night sometimes as well.

15. How do you handle reviews? Open 'em up and brave 'em, or wait?
I've never had a proper review but I suppose I'd read them and then cry if they were bad hehe

16. How do you handle rejection?
I swear a lot and get very disheartened for a few hours.

17. Do you prefer to work on writing by yourself? Or do you prefer collaborating?
I couldn't collaborate. Not on a book. I don't know how that would work.

18. Able to work on airplanes?
I've had story ideas on planes but I've never written on one

19. Have you ever abandoned a book or an article that you had finished? When? Why?
I've only ever not finished one book - "Him". It fitted the times but then I left it for a few months while I worked on something else and then when I went back to it it just didn't fit anymore.

20. What writing advice do you really believe in?
Write until it just stops coming and then stop. Don't force it cos it'll be shit work. Write when you want to, basically.

Labels: meme, writing

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If anyone reading this knows me in person you should already know how shy I am, and how talking isn't my strong point - unless I really know you and then you can't shut me up (yes, I am aware of that). So I find meeting my dog-sitting client and all his various helpers very intimidating. Meeting up with the client isn't as scary anymore cos I have been coming here for over a year now and we've built up a bit of a repore. Some days I still find it hard to think of things to say but this time I found it really easy. And what we were talking about was interesting - as it often is, to be honest.

On the drive over from town in the car (crappy bus service can only get me halfway to his house) he asked how I was. I said I was good - sounding much happier than I've felt for a while. I do tend to lie, though, when people ask how things are - it's only polite, right? But I wasn't lying, as it turns out. Cos after I answered him I thought, "Shit, you sounded happy then. Why the hell are you so happy?" And then I thought about it and I realised the next month is looking like a really good one (don't want to jinx it). Compare it to the one just passed (jealousy, tears, hospitals, arguments, tears) and, yeah, I am happy now. The client turned to me and said, "You're in love. Everything's great then. It's when you get disillusioned everything goes wrong." I asked him how he was and he spent the next ten minutes telling me. I realised this was the first time in his life that he's been completely on his own without work to fill the void and something's happened: he's started thinking.

Now then, due to life throwing a spanner in the works, I spent a lot of alone time in my own head, contemplating life and people and purpose and ... well, everything, for a good five years. I think everyone should experience this. If everyone did then the world would be a very different and less-violent place. If everyone got out of the day-to-day routine, cut themselves off from other people and actually sat and thought about life they'd soon realise how completely empty and pointless everything is. But once you get passed that part you find there's light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, nine-to-five jobs, college, uni, getting pissed, getting laid: it is all empty and pointless. There's no meaning to that shit. But there's this point you get to where you realise the world is big and it doesn't revolve around you and your tiny problems. Then you realise actually that the world is so big that it does revolve around you. Your little world is the most important thing - to you - and the mundane stuff that doesn't mean very much suddenly means everything in context to your tiny universe. So, you see, life means nothing and everything.

How do I say that to a man old enough to be my father? How do I tell him that this mind-altering experience he's only just found I discovered at theage of about eighteen/nineteen? I can't. So I just smiled and nodded my head. It's strange to watch someone else go through it. Especially someone who's so intelligent and world-knowledgeable. I guess we all experience things at different times.

Anyway, when we got back he had work to do so I ended up watching the BBC News. On a whim I told my client (as he ate lunch) that I hated the BBC news, how patronising it was, how they liked to tell me how I felt and what I thought, how they thought they ruled the country, etc. etc. Usually I won't throw my opinions out there, and especially not to a man who is, I'm not ashamed to admit it, a hell of a lot more intelligent than I am. But we talked about it and I completely held my own in the conversation. I was very proud of me.

Today I had to talk to the gardner. And then the cleaner arrived and we spent five minutes laughing in the kitchen, trying to decipher my client's hand-writing in a note he'd left for her. Usually I just let her in, I say hello, give her the note and then take refuge some place out of the way. It felt nice to talk to a fellow grown-up who I don't actually know. It was almost like making a new friend, which I believe is an impossibility when you're in your mid-twenties, right?

So what's my grand conclusion? Um. I don't know. I just wanted to celebrate the fact that my mouth is running away with me. I'll miss it when it goes and I'm shy and awkward again. Maybe that's the point in this blog entry: enjoy everything when it's there cos when it's gone it's gone.

Labels: dog-sitting, life

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It was the Tumble RFC Presentation Night on Saturday. So here's what I wore - see how the mustard shoes, although sounding disgusting, look kinda pretty:



We sat downstairs for a while first. Mammy and Daddy posed for a picture - yes, they are my parents:



Finally upstairs, we took our seats at the back of the room. The boys sat on the table behind and next to us. The women all grouped together at one of the other tables (I still don't understand why women group together like that; I always sit with my boyfriend when he takes me out); while the old men sat around the other side of the room, by the bar. How it all looked from my angles:





All the many trophies...



And when they started getting handed out we got very bored, very quickly. It dragged on and on. Each of the thirty-four boys had a trophy each cos they'd gone from Division Three to Two, not forgetting all the other usual trophies that are given out; as well as many, many speeches about how great Tumble RFC are. Yes, they're achievement is great but, come on, let's not get carried away. So we took pictures to amuse ourselves...







Finally it was dancing time. But the DJ was an old dude who didn't want to play recent music. When he was forced to - by Jemma - he got very grumpy. We danced. It got hot. We drank. We danced some more. I even got Ray to dance. But it just wasn't the same as previous years. All the boys were downstairs congratulating one another on how great they were, all the women had been dumped upstairs out of the way. It just wasn't the fun comraderee thing it usually is. Well, maybe it was for the love-in boys downstairs but not for anyone upstairs. So we decided to drink - and drink some more to see if that made it better. It didn't. But we did get drunk.



The following day, slightly hung-over, Jem (who didn't drink) dragged us down to Trostre so she could buy an Ipod dock and speakers thingy. Then when we got home, she got sick so skipped the BBQ that Daddy decided to make for us all:



I put my feet up...



While Mammy contemplated what to eat...



Then The Cat, Wang, struck. Watch how he goes from sleeping to begging to eating. He loves a BBQ.







I then did the washing-up before collapsing in front of the TV. Any one else notice how the only thing to watch on a Sunday evening is "Everybody Hates Chris"? Funny show, yes, but isn't Sunday night TV meant to be full of entertaining wildlife documentaries?



I ended the day by eating a 99 Flake down by the Woodland Park. Where Jem and I showed Ray how to flare his nostrils (he can't do it) and he showed us how to wiggle our ears (we can't do it).

And that was the weekend. Not as fun as last year. Last year I'd given Ray my number and was waiting for him to call. He did call. This year ... well, this year, he and I got drunk together.

Labels: photos, tumble

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My new trainers arrived - and I adore them!





They are both white and pink, which is what I've been looking for for about a year now; plus they're a designer name, which just adds to the yumminess.

I have fallen in love with the shopping buzz. This week I have shopped two nights already, not including the online shopping, which was frequent but unfruitful (nothing fit when it arrived and now I've run out of time). I've got myself some icky but fabulous mustard heels and bought a matching mustard bag and belt (the belt doesn't match the dress, though) the following day. And now my trainers have arrived. And tonight I get to go bra shopping. Don't think I suddenly have lots of money - I don't. The trainers were a birthday present, the shoes, belt and bag were all on the sale (I love my sales) and my bra... well, okay, yeah, that's a treat to myself.

And in the middle of all that I even managed to have a fight with Ray and make up again - for the record Goassmer condoms are evil; they burn like hell! Won't be using them ones again; I've passed them along to my sister to see if her body likes them; if not, they're going onto one of her friends. I like to think of it as a condom chain.

Hmm, I love my new trainers. It is raining, though, and when I test-drive them tonight they're going to get dirty, aren't they? Aww well, who cares?

Edit @ 2pm: New layout: I fancied a change.

Labels: condoms, photos, ray, shopping, sweepie

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As requested >by Gen:

What was the name of the teacher that was most influential in your life from grades K through 6?

Um...Probably Mr Stephens. He was the first young male teacher I had and he was into rugby, like my daddy. He caught me helping my friend on a test and ripped up my test paper, which I think made me cry, but I'm sure it taught me cheating was wrong. I once told him in a completely innocent child-like way that my father was either in work or the pub, to which he replied, "Is your father an alcoholic?" I was seven and didn't really know what an alcoholic was. For the record my father wasn't then and isn't now. Mr Stephens asked the tough questions exactly the same as he asked the easy ones. I liked that.

What subject did you favor in high school?

English. Like it was ever going to be anything else with me? I adored English. And I loved all the Macbeth stuff as well.

Did you attend a university and if so, did you attain a degree?

I did not attend uni. I didn't even attend college. Family stuff happened. And then by the time that was over college and uni seemed like something other people did, you know, the normal ones. So, no, I never went.

Do you learn best through books, by watching, or hands-on?

I have to be thrown in at the deep end, splash around drowning like a fool and then find my feet, either will a little help or by myself. Not that I like it very much but it's how I work at my best. I hate people telling me what to do. I can work it out for myself, thanks.

Has education been an ongoing process for you? How do you feel about that?

Education as in schooling? No. I left at sixteen and haven't looked back. I think life is educational enough. Bits of paper are needed if you want to be a doctor or something like that, but if you just want to live a quote-unquote normal life then I think you're better off out of a classroom and experiencing life.

What six people are you tagging to do this?

I don't think I know six people who read this blog and have a blog/journal of their own so I don't think I can technically do that. So whoever wants to: do it.

Labels: education, meme, school

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I spent the weekend down in Cardiff. It didn't quite go as I expected - I spent most of the time doping myself up on painkillers to rid myself of period pain. But it was fun in between the pain bouts.

Friday night we went down to see the Blues V Leinster game. It rained right up until we got to the stadium and then it stopped - perfect. Jemma stood us by the tunnel so she could watch the players come and go - check out how many little Blues' groupies swarmed around her by the end of the game:







Saturday we met up with Gesine and Will, who were taking Jem to see The Manics that night in the uni. We all shopped a bit.



I was looking for a new dress but spent all morning without finding one, which was very frustrating. But in the afternoon, I found a dress in the most unlikely shop - Miss Selfridge. (I can't find a picutre of it online but I will be wearing it Saturday so there'll be pictures then, I'm sure.) And Ray got himself a really nice black earring:



After a quick break and a rest of our feet, we all went out for a Pizza Hut.
On the way we found one of the statues enjoying a drink from McDonalds:



Jem went off to the gig and me and Ray went back to the hotel



This is my Come and stay at the Novotel pose:



And we watched The Eurovision Song Contest, cos we're seriously hard core. It made me laugh a lot. I love Terry Wogan!

This is a video of us riding in the see-through lift with some background chatter from some guests who jumped in the lift with us and didn't realise we were filming:



The next morning, we had time for breakfast before it was time to drive home through the pouring rain...



Yesterday I had a lovely lie-in and then finally started watching my Angel Season 5 DVD, which Jem got me for Christmas. It's not as good as the previous seasons' but it's still very funny - and David is always a honey ;) In the evening, I bought some mustard shoes - ones I call Random Shoes because mustard is a random colour and the style is like those little cool kids' random style of shoe. They sound icky but they really do suit my dress. Now all I need is an icky mustard bag to match.

The water's gone off today! And we had no warning! I'm not impressed! But I did finally find trainers I wanted, after searching for a month. Of course, I am now officially bankrupt.

Now I'm going to catch up on everyone else's blogs :)

Labels: angel, cardiff, czekaj, photos, shopping, the blues

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Today Tony Blair resigned. Well, he's leaving on June 27th but he announced it today. I found it all quite sad. However uncool and unpopular it is to admit: I like Tony. I'm going to miss him.



Perving:



Bye-bye Tony:



Hmm. Wonder what will happen when Gordon Brown takes over...

Labels: labour, photos, tony blair

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I'm dog-sitting again. This was a last-minute booking. Well, I only found out at the beginning of the weekend, and I was so busy arguing with Ray I didn't really remember until Monday. I think Ray and I are going through that almost-our-one-year-anniversary thing. Where we're both feeling stifled one minute and then worried it's all going to end the next. Stupid really. But when you get two people who over-think it's bound to bring up some bad shit. We're okay again now, anyway.

We went out for a McDonalds on Monday. We only ate there cos we wanted to get more houses and maybe win something. But turns out they only put stickers on our sandwiches and we already had all the houses. We only needed Fenchurch Station and we'd have won a TV. Ahh bloody McDonalds! The competitions ended now. The food tasted awful as well. The chips were rubbery and my veggi cheese melt had a piece of meat in it! Ray had extra mayo in his ;) Hehehehe.

To amuse ourselves after that disappointment we watched eight rabbits running around the hillside next to the car. Of course when I took a (about a dozen) picture they stood still and so were camaflouged. But believe me they were there:



Here's a picture of the bin with our crappy McDonalds rubbish in:



Ray then went to read the information board while I took heaps of photos. I told him to make it look like he was really interested:



While he read, I decided to wave at myself via my shadow:



Then we went into the little round hut and posed for some pictures:





We also watched Green Street, which Jem had bought me for my birthday cos I fancy Elijah Wood. The film was so bad it's not even worth rating. Needless to say, Elijah had so fallen in love with the UK during his time with his British LOTR friends that he thought he'd do any film based in the UK. Well, I hope that's his excuse cos, man... And who'd have thought little Nathan would turn out quite so bad? This film isn't even funnily bad - it's just bad.

It was a fun Bank Holiday :)

I was sent the link to Suicide Girls today (if you have myspace check out their pictures here). The concept is "different" looking girls half-naked/naked instead of run-of-the-mill girls half-naked/naked. I like the dark-hair-dark-make-up look so I really like the pictures. I think having a boyfriend has really brought out my lesbian tendencies. Maybe cos my straight ones are being satisfied?

Better go check on the dog then. He's very moody this time. Pouting in his bed all the time. Poor Zeb.

Labels: dog-sitting, films, lesbian, photos, ray

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I went down to watch the Blues V Scarlets game yesterday. It was a last-minute thing. We usually go down for them games cos we live close to the Scarlet's grounds so it's an easier game for us to attend. Luckily, Jem found some spare cash so we bought tickets.

Here's some photos...

Me and Jem before the match, just enjoying the cool shade and watching the boys warm-up:



The boys doing a pre-match huddle; mmm check out that bum right in the centre ;)



This is the guy Jem likes - Nicky Robinson. He didn't play the first half so she enjoyed him watching the game ;)



This is my favourite - Czekaj



Some pictures from the match:





The Blues just milling around...



Nicky now on the pitch and preparing to kick a conversion. That's Rhys with him who's always smiling



And that's Nicky getting the conversion over



If any one watched it on the TV you'll know The Blues lost. The Scarlets fans were hilarious. They wanted us (the Blues' supporters) to be upset that we were losing but you really can't rattle a Blues fan. I don't know what it is about us but we just don't care. We are the only fans I've met who freely admit when their own team is playing like crap. And, unlike the Scarlet fans by me this time, we don't say the ref' is biased any time he goes against our team. I just think Blues' supporters enjoy rugby. It's not about winning; it's just about enjoying the sport and the atmosphere. I had a great time. I really got into it and was soon shouting, "Run Czekaj!!" at the top of my lungs. My throat's a bit sore today actually. Hehehe.

Labels: czekaj, nicky robinson, photos, rugby, scarlets, the blues

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I saw The Used on Wednesday down in Cardiff Uni. They were so very good - as of course I knew they would be. Before they came on I watched Bert chatting to the support guys, playing it cool and not waving like a loonie ;) He knew I was watching, though, so I doubt very much that I looked in any way calm and cool, hehehe. The good thing was that when he came on stage later he gave us lots of Bert Stares (yum) until he got bored and moved onto the kids in the centre of the front row. We got lots of new tracks - much more than I was expecting actually. It was a really relaxed show actually; much like watching a sound check rather than an actual show. We all bounced hard though hehe. It was Ray's first show and I think he nearly soiled himself with excitement. It was so weird seeing someone experience their first gig at the age of twenty! Cute, though, very cute. And talking of all things cute: Bert looked adorable. And he had some cute red trainers on. He did need a shave though. The grizzly was just a little bit too grizzly for my taste. He spent most of the night eyeing Quinn's arse as well ;) The encore was really fun. I just giggled throughout cos Bert was being particularly silly. I have no idea what happened to Jepha though. Quinn got out his acoustic and Jepha didn't come back on. Never mind. It was weird cos we had a slow song to end the set and usually we have a really loud one. It was a nice change actually. I think Bert had a bad throat. He was on the herbal tea all night, and was spraying the back of his throat with stuff. You couldn't tell anything was wrong, though. As always, they were great :) I hope they come back soon!

Then, the following day I had to go and vote. If you didn't vote (UK people, obviously) then I really don't know what to say to you. I have never ever understood this lame excuse of "they're all the same; they do nothing for me." If you live here: vote for who rules you!

Anyway, because of the shitty-shitty-shittiness of Labour round here I voted for Plaid Cymru. Yes, they are very Welshy and that can be a little annoying but I think they'll look after us better here in Llanelli than Labour have. Put it this way: under Labour we are losing Prince Philip Hospital, the bus fares have gone up by 25p in the rural areas and are increasing every couple of months, we've had a shortage of dentists, our old buildings are getting torn down, new houses are going up everywhere! Nope, sorry, but Labour have done really bad things here. Lets see what Plaid can do.

THE RESULTS FOR LLANELLI, AND OVERALL IN WALES.

This, of course, has nothing to do with my support for Labour in the National Elections. My life is good because of Labour. It's just a shame that my constiuency is bad because of it. Local and National Elections are not the same thing to me at all. That's why when Labour's Catherine Thomas came on TV at twelve and started bitching about how she'd only lost because of people not liking Tony Blair, that Plaid, the Tories and Lib Dem's had banded together and decided Plaid would take her on, rather than splitting the votes so that there was one clear anti-Labour vote - that really pissed me off. My vote is about my life and how it's affected and how those around me are affected. I don't give a shit about what's going on in Westminster when I'm voting for my local AM. You lost, Catherine, because you've done nothing but bad things here! Take responsibility for your actions and quit shifting the blame. Bloody politicians!

I had a fun night watching the results anyway. Huw Edwards was so, so funny. I sat up 'til 4am and then decided I'd better get some sleep.

So a good forty-eight hours for me containing two of my favourite things: live music and politics.

Labels: cardiff, elections, gigs, labour, plaid cymru, politics, the used, voting

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