As far as Sundays go, yesterday was a pretty good one.
I jolted awake super early and disorientated (perhaps I had been dreaming), and Jack - still asleep mind you - laughed and said, "Yes." He talks in his sleep sometimes. I get a real kick out of it.
Anyway, I went back to sleep and woke up at 10.30am, much more refreshed. Downstairs, Jack made me a cup of tea and then we had pain au chocolats for breakfast (because we're fancy), and after watching Nigella, I went to have a shower and then changed into a fresh pair of pyjama bottoms and an old baggy t-shirt. Sunday is a day of REST, okay? I had no choice.
Back downstairs, I removed my super dark purple nail polish and replaced it with a slightly lighter shade of purple nail polish whilst watching Christmas cooking shows on the Food Network channel. After that, I lit a candle and we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas followed by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, because they are Christmassy without being overtly Christmassy, if you know what I mean. I don't like to crack out things like Elf or The Grinch until December is upon us.
We ate leftover lasagna for tea, and then I caught up with Sophie who made me get Whatsapp and introduced me to the 21st Century. We chilled out for a bit before Jack went home, and then I wrote 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo whilst listening to Third Eye Blind (who have reinstated themselves as one of my favourite bands).
Yeah. A good day. I like to remember the good days.
Song of the Day: The Background by Third Eye Blind (The plans I make still have you in them 'cause you come swimming into view/And I'm hanging on your words like I always used to do/ The words they use so lightly I only feel for you/ I only know because I carry you around in the background)
Currently reading: The Invisible Library still. I keep stopping and starting.
Thoughts about Paris
I was going to write a blog post today anyway, an update on how I'm getting on with NaNoWriMo or something, but in light of what happened in Paris last night it didn't feel appropriate somehow to wither on about that. Not today.
It's another day when the world we live in just seems a little (or a lot) more terrifying than it usually is, and my heart just feels heavy and sad in the aftermath of such senseless violence and death. It boggles the mind.
I don't really know what I can really say about it that hasn't already been said.
Stay safe, everyone
X
It's another day when the world we live in just seems a little (or a lot) more terrifying than it usually is, and my heart just feels heavy and sad in the aftermath of such senseless violence and death. It boggles the mind.
I don't really know what I can really say about it that hasn't already been said.
Stay safe, everyone
X
NaNoWriMo
So November has arrived under a layer of fog, and Halloween came and went without a single trick-or-treater, leaving me with a bag of goodies that I suppose I'll now have to eat (it's a tough job but somebody has to do it).
This year I decided to do NaNoWriMo for the first time (basically trying to write a 50,000 word novel in a month). I've debated doing it for a few years now, ever since I first heard of it, but the timings never quite seemed to work out, or I remembered too late. But a few days before November started, I remembered that it existed and figured 'what the hell' and signed up. I didn't have a plan, I didn't have an outline, all I had was an incredibly vague idea of a particular character, and I decided to just do what I do best - wing it.
The target is to do 1,667 words per day, and yesterday I managed to do 2,602, so all in all I was pretty chuffed with my start. Today, however, I am sitting pretty on a grand total of zero words. Oh well, the day is not over yet.
Song of the Day: Everything's Not Lost by Coldplay (When I counted up my demons/Saw there was one for every day/With the good ones on my shoulders/I drove the other ones away)
This year I decided to do NaNoWriMo for the first time (basically trying to write a 50,000 word novel in a month). I've debated doing it for a few years now, ever since I first heard of it, but the timings never quite seemed to work out, or I remembered too late. But a few days before November started, I remembered that it existed and figured 'what the hell' and signed up. I didn't have a plan, I didn't have an outline, all I had was an incredibly vague idea of a particular character, and I decided to just do what I do best - wing it.
The target is to do 1,667 words per day, and yesterday I managed to do 2,602, so all in all I was pretty chuffed with my start. Today, however, I am sitting pretty on a grand total of zero words. Oh well, the day is not over yet.
Song of the Day: Everything's Not Lost by Coldplay (When I counted up my demons/Saw there was one for every day/With the good ones on my shoulders/I drove the other ones away)
Super Belated Newquay Photos
I promised they'd be coming, and here they are. Just a few, mind. I don't want to bore anyone too much. They might be the kind of thing only my mum would be interested in (hi mum).
The water must have been freezing; those people were very brave. Also, I managed to get sunburnt on my face despite it being cold enough for me to have to wear a cardigan and a waterproof. So, there's that.
On the way home we went to the Eden Centre which was cool and I have photos from that too. If I don't post them on here, I'll put some on my Flickr stream at some point.
Finally, as a bonus picture, here is me elegantly maneuvering around a puddle with the grace of a mountain goat.
Adios.
Song of the day: Hello by Adele (Hello from the outside, at least I can say that I've tried/To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart/But it don't matter it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore) Ohhh man, this song, it just gets to me.
Currently reading: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
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| Look, look, it's the hotel from The Witches! |
The water must have been freezing; those people were very brave. Also, I managed to get sunburnt on my face despite it being cold enough for me to have to wear a cardigan and a waterproof. So, there's that.
On the way home we went to the Eden Centre which was cool and I have photos from that too. If I don't post them on here, I'll put some on my Flickr stream at some point.
Finally, as a bonus picture, here is me elegantly maneuvering around a puddle with the grace of a mountain goat.
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| Many thanks to Jack for capturing this moment |
Song of the day: Hello by Adele (Hello from the outside, at least I can say that I've tried/To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart/But it don't matter it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore) Ohhh man, this song, it just gets to me.
Currently reading: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Little Updates
I had a visitor yesterday.
He kindly stuck around long enough for me to grab my camera and sneak outside to take a couple of pictures, and then when I looked up from my camera display, he had vanished. So long, friend.
In getting my camera to photograph my little fox pal, I finally got around to moving photos onto my laptop, which means a select few of the Newquay ones will be up at some point. There's some great ones, Newquay is beautiful. So watch this space for those. Or don't, whatever. I'm not the boss of you.
I recently read the entire Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and I loved it so much (excellent recommendation, thank you Lydia). Here's some mini extracts (non-spoilery).
He kindly stuck around long enough for me to grab my camera and sneak outside to take a couple of pictures, and then when I looked up from my camera display, he had vanished. So long, friend.
In getting my camera to photograph my little fox pal, I finally got around to moving photos onto my laptop, which means a select few of the Newquay ones will be up at some point. There's some great ones, Newquay is beautiful. So watch this space for those. Or don't, whatever. I'm not the boss of you.
I recently read the entire Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and I loved it so much (excellent recommendation, thank you Lydia). Here's some mini extracts (non-spoilery).
"Where I come from, old man, a soul's as useless as teeth to the dead."
"Spoken, I think, by one who still remembers what it was like to have one."
Akiva did remember. His memories were knives, and he was not pleased to have them turned against him. "You should worry about your own soul, not mine."
"My soul is clean. I've never killed anyone. But you, oh you. Look at your hands."
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone
"Mercy breeds mercy as slaughter breeds slaughter. We can't expect the world to be better than we make it."
- Days of Blood and Starlight
The two of them were stoic and stone-faced and ten feet apart, currently not even looking at each other, but Zuzanna had the impression of a pair of magnets pretending not to be magnets.
Which, you know, only works until it doesn't.
- Dreams of Gods and Monsters
They were right up my street, I really enjoyed them. Also they have what is maybe my new favourite fictional friendship in Karou and Zuzanna, I loved their dynamic.
In other news, I've seen a few new (to me - two of them are actually old) films. I watched Love, Rosie on Netflix which is your standard predictable romance, but fairly enjoyable nonetheless. The other two are both Studio Ghibli ones. Firstly, Laputa Castle in the Sky which is adorable and I really loved. The second one was Grave of the Fireflies which I knew enough about to know that it was going to be sad, but holy hell, it is potentially the most upsetting movie I have ever seen. I sobbed. And I am not known for sobbing.
Music wise, I have been listening to a lot of soundtracks, namely from Princess Mononoke and Braveheart. But also, Stevie Wonder and Adam Lambert (I can't get Another Lonely Night out of my head.)
Song of the Day: Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie (And I do believe it's true/That there are roads left in both of our shoes/But if the silence takes you then I hope it takes me too)
Woeful Wednesday
I'm having one of those days.
Dark clouds have gathered in a manner that has me peering out of the window every two minutes, scrutinising the sky with increasing suspicion, just waiting for the rain to fall. It's not supposed to rain; I have checked and re-checked the weather forecast, and when I put my washing out to dry earlier on the sun was shining. But not now. It's going to rain, I can feel it, but my washing isn't quite dry yet so I don't want to bring it in until I absolutely have to. So I'm waiting. Waiting for it to start to rain so that I can say, "I told you so," to no one in particular - to myself, I guess, there's no one else here. I could just get it in now and hang it inside to finish drying, but I know if I do that it won't rain, and I'll wish I had left it alone. It's Sod's law.
It took me ages to get to sleep last night because I had the theme song from Red Dwarf stuck in my head (it's a song I enjoy, but it's not exactly a lullaby), and as a result I woke up in a bad mood with a headache. There was nothing in particular I fancied for breakfast and so I didn't have any, and besides, I wasn't all that hungry. I had to wait in for a delivery which always sets me on edge, I don't know why, and it turned out I needn't have bothered because it ended up fitting through the letterbox anyway.
I'm cold but I don't want to put the heating on, not yet, and I want to make a cup of tea even though I only just had one. I don't know what I'm going to have for my dinner; I don't even know what my options are, I haven't checked the fridge or cupboards. So I'll probably just have whatever requires the least amount of effort because I'm tired and grumpy and seriously considering putting on some pyjamas and giving up this day as a complete and utter write-off.
So yeah, I'm having one of those days. And I'm still waiting on the rain.
Song of the Day: For What It's Worth by The Cardigans (A four letter word got stuck in my head/The dirtiest word that I've ever said/It's making me feel alright)
Dark clouds have gathered in a manner that has me peering out of the window every two minutes, scrutinising the sky with increasing suspicion, just waiting for the rain to fall. It's not supposed to rain; I have checked and re-checked the weather forecast, and when I put my washing out to dry earlier on the sun was shining. But not now. It's going to rain, I can feel it, but my washing isn't quite dry yet so I don't want to bring it in until I absolutely have to. So I'm waiting. Waiting for it to start to rain so that I can say, "I told you so," to no one in particular - to myself, I guess, there's no one else here. I could just get it in now and hang it inside to finish drying, but I know if I do that it won't rain, and I'll wish I had left it alone. It's Sod's law.
It took me ages to get to sleep last night because I had the theme song from Red Dwarf stuck in my head (it's a song I enjoy, but it's not exactly a lullaby), and as a result I woke up in a bad mood with a headache. There was nothing in particular I fancied for breakfast and so I didn't have any, and besides, I wasn't all that hungry. I had to wait in for a delivery which always sets me on edge, I don't know why, and it turned out I needn't have bothered because it ended up fitting through the letterbox anyway.
I'm cold but I don't want to put the heating on, not yet, and I want to make a cup of tea even though I only just had one. I don't know what I'm going to have for my dinner; I don't even know what my options are, I haven't checked the fridge or cupboards. So I'll probably just have whatever requires the least amount of effort because I'm tired and grumpy and seriously considering putting on some pyjamas and giving up this day as a complete and utter write-off.
So yeah, I'm having one of those days. And I'm still waiting on the rain.
Song of the Day: For What It's Worth by The Cardigans (A four letter word got stuck in my head/The dirtiest word that I've ever said/It's making me feel alright)
I'm a grown-up, and grown-ups go to the dentist
I've been meaning to post some of the photos I took in Newquay up here, but truth be told they're still on my camera. I'll get round to it. I will.
In other news, I went to the dentist this morning for my annual check-up. Normally when I go to the dentist all that happens is I sit in a chair, Mr. Dentist asks me if I've had any problems, I say no, he counts my teeth, charges me £18 for the privilege and then sends me on my merry way. Easy.
Today, after counting my teeth Mr. Dentist decided to give them a little extra clean for me and then take an X-ray. He said that he didn't suspect there were any problems but it couldn't hurt to make sure. In all honesty I think he was a bit bored and felt like playing with some of his dentist toys.
This is the first time ever in my life that I have had anything done at the dentist other than getting my teeth counted, so I know I'm one of those lucky people who doesn't have any dentist horror stories (so far at least, touch wood!). But getting my teeth cleaned was horrible; I hated it. It didn't hurt exactly, it was just incredibly uncomfortable and made my entire head vibrate and the sounds it made were horrendous. Also I did not enjoy having two people (Mr. Dentist and his lovely assistant) looking inside my mouth. I felt like saying, "Look, I know you're only doing your jobs and everything, but can you just sort of piss off?" Of course it's hard to say that with a suction thingymabob in your mouth, but I tried to express the sentiment through my eyes.
Immediately following the torture, it was time for my X-ray. We had the following exchange:
Mr. Dentist - "We'll do your right side first."
Me - "My right or your right?"
Mr. Dentist - "Your right."
Me - "So my right?"
Mr. Dentist - "...yes."
Me - "OK."
Mr. Dentist - tries to put the thingymabob in my mouth and says "Could you relax your tongue for me?"
Me - pushes my tongue into my cheek.
Mr. Dentist - "Relax your tongue."
Me - nods and does no such thing.
Mr. Very Patient Dentist - "No, just relax your tongue."
Me - finally relaxes my tongue.
Mr. Dentist - audible sigh of relief.
After that, I was all finished and got to pay and leave, somewhat traumatised from my ordeal but at least I got my moneys worth this time. In fairness, it can't exactly be a barrel of laughs, being a dentist. I mean, I know they get paid pretty well but god, at what cost?
Currently reading: I cheated and read Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas before I'd finished Ready Player One so I'm back to that now. I think I was disappointed. I enjoyed it but some of the characters seemed a bit out of character compared to the previous books and it made it a bit infuriating to read.
Song of the Day: Grow by Frances
In other news, I went to the dentist this morning for my annual check-up. Normally when I go to the dentist all that happens is I sit in a chair, Mr. Dentist asks me if I've had any problems, I say no, he counts my teeth, charges me £18 for the privilege and then sends me on my merry way. Easy.
Today, after counting my teeth Mr. Dentist decided to give them a little extra clean for me and then take an X-ray. He said that he didn't suspect there were any problems but it couldn't hurt to make sure. In all honesty I think he was a bit bored and felt like playing with some of his dentist toys.
This is the first time ever in my life that I have had anything done at the dentist other than getting my teeth counted, so I know I'm one of those lucky people who doesn't have any dentist horror stories (so far at least, touch wood!). But getting my teeth cleaned was horrible; I hated it. It didn't hurt exactly, it was just incredibly uncomfortable and made my entire head vibrate and the sounds it made were horrendous. Also I did not enjoy having two people (Mr. Dentist and his lovely assistant) looking inside my mouth. I felt like saying, "Look, I know you're only doing your jobs and everything, but can you just sort of piss off?" Of course it's hard to say that with a suction thingymabob in your mouth, but I tried to express the sentiment through my eyes.
Immediately following the torture, it was time for my X-ray. We had the following exchange:
Mr. Dentist - "We'll do your right side first."
Me - "My right or your right?"
Mr. Dentist - "Your right."
Me - "So my right?"
Mr. Dentist - "...yes."
Me - "OK."
Mr. Dentist - tries to put the thingymabob in my mouth and says "Could you relax your tongue for me?"
Me - pushes my tongue into my cheek.
Mr. Dentist - "Relax your tongue."
Me - nods and does no such thing.
Mr. Very Patient Dentist - "No, just relax your tongue."
Me - finally relaxes my tongue.
Mr. Dentist - audible sigh of relief.
After that, I was all finished and got to pay and leave, somewhat traumatised from my ordeal but at least I got my moneys worth this time. In fairness, it can't exactly be a barrel of laughs, being a dentist. I mean, I know they get paid pretty well but god, at what cost?
Currently reading: I cheated and read Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas before I'd finished Ready Player One so I'm back to that now. I think I was disappointed. I enjoyed it but some of the characters seemed a bit out of character compared to the previous books and it made it a bit infuriating to read.
Song of the Day: Grow by Frances
