Life Through a Teacup

Enjoy the Silence

2010-11-06T05:39:00.001-07:00

~ fin~

Song of the Month: October 2010

2010-10-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

'don't let go ~ never give up it's such a wonderful life'
Hurts. How beautiful can one boy band be?

Song of the Month: August 2010

2010-08-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Came bouncing jauntily on my IPod on the way home from work. Appropriate for today, when the rat race and responsibilities have you by the neck. And of course the lines ' No one ever told her that she'd ever reach the stage, where her husband bored her or she'd lie about her age'. There is no substitute for good lyrics.

So, here it is. Reverend and the Makers - Heavyweight Champion of the World. Be like everybody else. That refrain, crashing over and over into my mind.

Snippet #1

2010-08-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

In an essay written by the wunderkid that is Neil Gaiman, he recounts how Terry Pratchett (another top bloke) began his writing career by ensuring he wrote at least 400 words per day even when working full time. Made me feel guilty. So perhaps this empty blog can have purpose and house the occasional paragraph of work in progress. Let's hope it is start, of sorts.

As The River Flows, So I Follow

Initially it was the Derwent, that lazy ribbon that stretches right through the Gill where I was bred, her bank scarred by drifts of coal dust blasted from the overhanging chimneys that belched out plumes of noxious black smoke in the distance. Me ma would curse on washing day if the wind swept the wrong way up the valley, and we’d stink for days with that acrid stench.

But we were up river; it was cleaner here where we could steal off and trap sticklebacks in jars. We’d remember their existence days later, and find them suffocated in the stagnant water, floaters of skin and eyes drifting like snow in glass, a macabre winter shaker in the jar as we swirled them with careless horror before discarding them down the sluice.

JRM 2010

Song of the Month: March 2010

2010-03-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

Has to be Abney Park's Airship Pirate's, because I'm feeling quite open to being swung around and about by a drunken airship pirate for some reason!

Song of the Month: January 2010

2010-01-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

All About Eve - Drowning

Reaching out a hand
There’s a hand you want to hold
When the night feels blue
The hand feels cold

The fog takes my breath
But we’ve got to keep breathing now
Gonna live to tell the tale
Gonna live to tell the tale

The drowning man
And the drowning lady
They’re soaked to the skin
Cling like ivy
I can’t let you go she says,
Hold me now - keep me alive

The fog comes down
And stars fall down
The moon leaves the sky
Can’t ask why
Got to keep dreaming
Leave me now
Safely in your arms
Felt like home
I wanna go home now
Gonna live to tell the tale

Photos #1

2010-01-04T04:41:00.001-08:00

She (Sally)He (Paul)

It (Me, Jane)

Us, the family unit

GD: cold toes (no suprises there!); sleepy; stilton consuming; dreaming of Whitby outfits when there's still 4 months to go....

Dreams #1

2009-12-22T09:53:00.001-08:00

These are real, not made up. Though I'll steal one of P's as well:

{P's} We had flowers blossoming out of our hands. I think he's been at the V*
Ron Weaseley. Specifically Rupert Grint. Oh. My. God. I snogged him. Now if I have to metaphysically cradle snatch, it could have at least been Draco Malfoy
Christmas pudding. Phil Mitchell*. Phil Mitchell covered in Christmas pudding. Nightmare

Phil Mitchell's toilet face. Never knowing invited into my sleep

*True Blood - V - vampire 'juice' or blood that leads to fit people cavorting about Elysian fields wearing nothing but tight white pants. Smokin'!

**for those oversees, Phil M is the pantomime bad boy in a soap called EastEnders. Its like the Sopranos and the Wire, with a little bit of Desperate Housewives, all saturated in bacon fat and grime. But not as good.

Memos to self #2

2009-11-30T02:25:00.000-08:00

You can't type with cold fingers - editing becomes paramount
Your imagination leads you to places at night that others fear to tread. Deal with it: its how it's always been
There's a cusp at all stages of life: the balance is in your hands and how you choose to deal with this particular cusp is entirely your choice (although as the results won't be known until January, a fully formed choice isn't really possible - side with caution?)
Read Wicked next - it's been at the bedside for a month and he's hoping you really enjoy it (because it's not just the thought that counts, it's also the execution!)
Stop wallowing. It's been six weeks of absolute self absorption - get off your arse now and start living rather than existing
Demanding to see the manager when services suck is actually quite good fun, especially with an irate queue building up behind you! And you won that particular consumer rights battle
Why hasn't your study been painted yet? C'mon dolly, there really is no excuse - you emptied it two months ago!
Tea cups, tea cups everywhere - time to unpack and use those pretty babies...
Your mother is going to kill you for missing the Ringtons order for the Teafuser. You can tell her til your blue in the face its not your fault it's out of stock, but she'll remind you you should have ordered it two weeks ago...

GD: spinning on that dizzy edge

Memos to Self

2009-11-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

Don't neglect the things you start. You are most definately not a natural starter finisher but you could try a bit harder...
Deadlines are there for a reason!
One book started is good, two ambitious, three just plain stupid
Hot water bottles are the provenance of angels
Reality TV sucks, except for Stricty Come Dancing (and even that's gone downhill this year)
You like having purple nails: paint them more often
Oasis (who have just come on the TV) are creatively bankrupt plodders
Resistance is futile. Your mother will insist on purchasing you the largest box of sweets in the shop. Don't argue, just smile through gritted teeth and spread the bounty with your grateful work colleagues even though it makes you feel like a bad daughter
Keep working on that being sociable thing. For some odd reason people like you when you actually make an effort, so keep trying...
Not everybody appreciates the greatness of Muse or Jack White. You can only help them to understand a little, but if their genetic makeup is flawed you cannot convert them.
Liquid eyeliner WAS NOT created just to make you feel inadequate in your gothicness. S'not your fault that your hands go wobbly on application
One grey hair does not equal cronehood. However it is never permissible for your eyebrows to take over your entire forehead.
Occasionally your husband needs to be reminded that he is the centre of your universe, even if it's spoken through gritted teeth. Mutual appreciation gives dividends.

Phew! Don't know where that lot came from, was just supposed to be checking out some deadline dates...

GD: the she of ongoing snot and germ.

Whois Ginger Doll

2009-09-28T04:52:00.001-07:00

At the moment I am well and truly at sea. I am drifting within some other place and time and have no idea where I will wash up and what will become of me. Whilst I wish it wasn’t so, I could make it not so if I truly wanted. But I’m guessing that I don’t.

I am a reader and a book whore. On clearing my study yesterday for rejuvenation I discovered that I have books that I didn’t even know had been written, let alone my having read them. This worries me a little.

I write, occasionally. I hesitate to call myself a writer: I know several of them and they are utterly dedicated to their craft. Sadly, I lack the attention span though I am capable of making pretty strings of prose if the moment takes me.

I feel the cold. I lack physical ability and I am chronically shy which leads to extended procrastination when I should be more forceful and make things happen. I’m trying to be better but I’ve fallen at the first hurdle.

I do work for a living, and here I am lucky in that I adore what I do and who I do it with. I know this is rare and I honestly do treasure this, whilst also realising it could be somewhat precarious. To put it simply, I give money away to good causes. Not my money: other peoples and it’s a privilege to be able to do something that actually makes a difference. This does not stop me from mentally abusing my clients on a regular basis for their occasionally stratospheric bouts of stupidity: however, I can generally leaven it out because of their good intentions!

Finally, I am the child of an alcoholic, who is not an alcoholic themselves but has a predilection towards the amber nectar on occasion. Thus this blog, I am trying to occupy my often vapid and bored mind by carrying out specifically focused tasks (all of which I have put off for sometime). Whilst drinking tea and other wholesome beverages and eschewing the ruby wine before my liver implodes.

Task list to follows but the first two are as follows:
- Rejuvenate study – in progress
- Complete the volunteer task that I’ve been avoiding for a week now due to fear of looking stupid. Well, I’ll look even stupider tomorrow if I haven’t done it. So there.