So, the weekend was very good. Long entry coming up. Sorry ’bout that.
I acquired some birthday money (to the tune of £60), but I can’t decide how to spend it. I’m thinking of one of these:
1) Allaire / Macromedia Homesite – my fave HTML Editor, which is would be nice to have a full (legal) copy of.
2) Mememememe – splurge the cash on getting my hair done, plus massage, facial, and all that.
3) Computer desk, and chair, and possibly a new mouse, so I can get my ‘puter (and my bum) off of the dining room table / chair that I’ve been using.
Opinions, anyone? I can’t make up my mind….
Other birthday stuff I got includes a black “pashminetta” (damn big but light scarf), jewellery and candles from the parents, the Linkin Park and Alien Ant Farm albums from my brother, and a one-off designer mirror from Alison (she’s a glass and mirror designer; my birthday present to her is a domain and website for her business). And it’s not even my actual birthday til tomorrow. *g*
Had a pretty uncomfortable journey down on Friday – I left Hull on the 4:30pm train (the last direct one of the day) and it was full. My seat was at one of those four-seats with a table between, and since there was someone opposite me and beside me, I couldn’t stretch my legs at all, or even really move them much. For over 3 hours. Ouch, much cramp. The seats aren’t really designed for short people, either. Still the journey across London was nice and easy, and I even had time to stop for a burger and chips before I caught the Hastings train. That was much less crowded, but it was one of those where you have to slide the windows down and use the outside handle to open the door, and since they only close from the inside, it got very very drafty. I ended up walking up and down the carriage closing them from time to time. God knows why anyone else didn’t do one or two, cos they were all sitting there looking cold. Mad.
On Saturday, I slept in for ages, and when I finally did get up, we went out to Finchcocks, where Alison had a stall at their craft fair. There was all kinds of spiffy stuff, but I had no cash, so so much for that. Heheh. On the way back, we drove through Battle, where I saw a Saxon soldier chatting on a mobile phone…. slightly surreal. *g* It was the Battle of Hastings anniversary, see, and they’d been doing the reconstruction. That evening, I went round to Clara’s to see her new place and meet her cats, and then we went down to the old town to meet Alison, and Debby and Beccy – friends from school that we haven’t seen since we all went in various directions 9 or so years ago! There was much hilarity and catching up. Some guy in the pub actually sent a rose across to Beccy, then sent his mate to ask her name. She had to tell him she was very much attached. Awww.
Sunday was the meet up with Daisy, The Cheeseman, ‘the child’, and Red. We had fun, meandering through the old town, drooling over leather and velvet clothing, and being tempted by the tattoo parlour. ‘The child’ is just adorable – very bright and energetic. Eventually the shops all shut, and it decided to rain, so we went home at 5pm-ish. That evening was the traditional birthday Chinese takeaway nosh-up, which me and Martin went and fetched. Far too much food for four people there. Yum! Then spent the rest of the time vegging out, pretty much. Watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, got pressies, generally faffed around.
Yesterday I started out on my journey back at 4:30pm. Got to London at 6pm. Now, during the rush hour, Kings Cross underground station closes down for, I think, all but one line. At any rate, the Northern line (that’s the black on on the underground map) doesn’t stop there between about 4:30 and 7:30, and that’s the one I take from London Bridge when I’m crossing London on my way between Hastings and Hull. Since my train from Kings Cross was due to leave at 7:30, I decided to take the Thameslink instead. And I’m glad I did…. the train goes right through the belly of the city, and seeing it like that instead of just travelling under it like I usually do reminded me of what I love about the city, especially the city at night. It’s fucking glorious, the streets, the lights, the river and the traffic going by, the contrast between the huge majestic older buildings and the sometimes run-down, sometimes high-tech, newer ones. I remember remarking in a bit of a pretentious moment that the city is a “symphony in grey”, but at night it’s all black-red brick, charcoal and orange from the streetlights, with the occasional expanse of marble. I’d lost sight of all that a year ago, living there in pretty miserable conditions. All of a sudden I kind of miss it. But I wouldnt’ want to live there unless I could really afford it. And it’s expensive. Feh.
It was a slightly surreal journey in a way – the train was very quiet, and relatively empty to start with, and a man sitting behind me had a radio or something that was playing that formless unchallenging jazz that often ends up as lift music. Heh. I think I will take that route in future when I’m passing through, even though it takes slightly longer. Definitely the better way of doing things. And then as I was leaving Kings X Thameslink to make my way to the mainline station, an announcement came over the tannoy that made me smile (imagine in a West Indian accent for most accurate effect):
This is a non-smoking station. Please extinguish any cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or illegal substances you may be smoking. Thank you.
So anyway, I got home OK. At 11:30pm. Where I had a mountain of email waiting for me. I’ll finish going through it tonight…. maybe…. because I now also have the first two eps of Buffy Season 6, and the first ep of Angel Season 3 to watch. Plus Andromeda which B taped for me. Heheheh. Wheeeee!
