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The Occasional Tablefor the occasional entry ;)
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June 19 Happy Birthday Steven!Yes folks, it’s that time of year again: Steven’s birthday. He’s 29 this year, and we’re celebrating it in the same birthday-week style as always. This year, I’ve arranged for a surprise gift to be sent to him at work each day, and he’s received 4 so far. The fifth has been rearranged because we’re going Alton Towers so he won’t actually be at work. Maybe I’ll post what it is after the event. Monday he received some balloons from Interflora, Tuesday some chocolates from Hotel Chocolat, Wednesday a hamper from Fortnum and Mason, and today he received a happy birthday cheesecake from The English Cheesecake Company. Happy Birthday squish! (more photos to follow.)
May 21 Jackie's MouseHere's a pencil drawing I did today on lunch, whilst sat with Jackie (who'd nabbed my PSP). I looked around for something to draw and found her mouse. (Reminder to self, update Live Space more often and add car photos finally!). March 02 Womack and Womack: TeardropsJust because it's a cracking bit of retro music and 'cause Kay reminded me of it.
February 15 Electronic Ink TatoosFor all those who like tatoos, how about an electronic ink based tatoo? Have a look-see below:
February 14 A Valentine's Day Song - Johnny Cash: HurtI was listening to Jo Whiley's show on BBC Radio 1 today and there was section called Changing Records. A woman had asked for a record to be played and gave a story about how she had fallen in love with someone at college and they'd been going out for 7 years, when she had to move away with work. At that time she said she felt like she still loved her boyfriend, but wasn't in love with him. They seperated and it was only afterwards that she realised what she had given up. She said that she realised that it wasn't that the spark had gone but that it had become buried deeply beneath the day-to-day trials. She requested the song Hurt by Johnny Cash (actually a Trent Reznor cover). She said that she'd realised (or come to believe) that true love wasn't meant to be easy, and it took time and effort and sometimes pain; she loved this song and felt it meant something to her for how true love really is. Something in it rang a bell with me (not that I'm comparing myself to Johnny Cash's life of course), but about how love's not amazing, and fireworks but something deeper and more real and lasting, through shit times, calm times, and all the times in between. This song made me think of that. Have a listen...
St.Valentine's DaySo here we are again, February 14th, St. Valentine's day. I wonder how many people actually get the perfect St. Valentine's day that most of us feel we should be getting. I wonder how many people can even actually think what their 'perfect' St. Valentine's day would be. Each year it always strikes me as strange that on this one day a year people feel an obligation to be romantic, and surely, by the fact that it's an obligation kind of removes the romance of it anyway? Imagine if you received a Valentine's day gift on any other day of the year. It would easily be ten times as meaningful and seem all the more thoughtful, as opposed to the 'make sure she gets flowers and card' that the day has become. I can easily believe that there's a whole army of women out there who, having said they don't want anything, feel peeved when the day comes and they're empty handed. Likewise, there's the other legion who when they get flowers and a card, accept them with a kiss, and a painted smile and the 'didn't forget Valentine's day' gets ticked for another year: neither of these are really what it should be about.
Personally, I think Valentine's day should serve as a reminder to those people who have got stuck in the routine of their everyday life: a reminder to, at some point in the near future, surprise someone they love with a gift or gesture of affection. I think it should be a wake-up to those who don't value what they've got, to look at the love that surrounds them and find a way of showing it or saying thank you. But, for God's sake, whatever you do, don't do it on the 14th! Save it for a day when it will genuinely be an unexpected surprise! February 12 Art Installation #3For those who're not from the area (or those who just haven't noticed it), there's currently a new installation being installed near the Potteries Shopping Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. What was a leafy glade was razed to the ground to make space for what you see below. There's an arena with a metal tree in the middle with a walkway surrounding it and poles, each with lights on which cycle through colours. It actually looks quite nice and will be good when it's finished, although I can imagine it'll just get swamped with kids at night. Now, where can I purchase a mosquito device.
January 30 Yuki - JoyHaving bored everybody with this song I thought it was time to put it on my space and take my evangelism worldwide. The song is called Joy by Yuki and for sake of ease, I've inserted the video below. The video actually won video of the year at the Space Shower Music Video Awards in 2006, and personally I can see why - it's ace! I've been listening to this non-stop for the past few days and I think I'm nearly (NEARLY!) reaching saturation on it. Still, it's got a good few more listens in before that happens.
P.S., I'll be sticking some photos of the car I got following the accident (Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec 53-plate Black). January 05 Car Update: Damage PhotosWe went today to get stuff out of the car, and took a few photos whilst we were there. We also took some photos of the other van so you can see just how shockingly well it came off in the crash. As you can see, the front of my car hit his on the back right hand side. I'm going to look at a car tomorrow anyway, so hopefully I'll be back on the road soon. My Car Has Been Written OffOn my way home from work along the A34 (just before Tittensor, where the speed changes to 40), a car pulled out of Chase Lane onto the dual carraige way. The car then moved into the right lane (my lane) as I was doing 50-60 and it was raining I drove into the back of it. There was a big bang and the next thing I knew I was sat with my chest really hurting (seat belt pushed into it) and wondering why the hell my airbag hadn't gone off. My door wouldn't open properly as the wings on both sides had been pushed back so I force the door open with my feet and got out. As I walked towards the other driver, a bloke who had stopped the other side of the road came across as well. We both got to the other drive to see him lying face down on his steering wheel. We opened his door and gently shook him, at which point I realised he wasn't out cold but just very nearly so; with five minutes he was awake saying how he thought he'd banged his head on the head rest. I rang an ambulance when I saw him unconconscious, and that turned up after about 5-10 minutes, whilst we stood away from the cars.
The other driver said he was coming down Chase Lane when he went to stop but the car slid out of the junction, and that he saw the lights of the other car (in the left lane) and so changed to my lane having not seen me. The bloke got into the ambulance and we were both checked out. As he had been unconscious he had to be strapped up and neck braced as a precaution, and then he was taken to hospital. After being checked I was breathing ok and no gurgly noises were coming out of my chest when I breathed, I was given the choice to go home if I wanted to. Steve, mum and Chris had already said they were on there way, and the policeman who'd turned up to take statements, and the witness had all offered to take me home so I said I'd be fine. After the policeman took a statement from the witness, the witness left and I waited with the policeman whilst the kind people at Motor Clinic came to take the cars away.
So, today I have to go to the police station with my insurance, mot and driving licence, and also to get some stuff out of my car before my insurance company collect it with their designated mechanics. I need to get a V14 form from the post office to get a refund on the road tax disc that ironically arrived today, and I need to find a new car.
As for me, my neck aches a little bit, my chest feels better this morning, so hopefully I came out without too much injury; I hate shopping for cars when you don't really want a new one though!  January 02 My New Year's ResolutionsFor the record, I generally don't do resolutions. I figure if you're going to do something you do it, regardless of whether you've told everyone it's a resolution or not. For me resolutions generally seem like a good way of making yourself feel bad for not doing what you mean to. Having said that, I do think it's kinda fun to put the thoughts I've been having towards then end of 2007 regarding what I want to do with my life.
So, to contradict what I just said, here are my resolutions for 2008:
1. Spend more time at the piano and guitar
I keep meaning to work at a complicated piece of piano music and stop just mooching around the keys, something to push myself a bit. I wanted to get some words and music down on paper to instead of just letting them pass each time I have something worthwhile in mind. Likewise for the guitar, I know that I need to practice more to progress, it's just there's always so many other things to be done which seem more instantly entertaining.
2. Work more at Italian and move onto finishing my German
I started German ages ago when Kay said she wanted to do it, and for a while I could speak it ok. Because I never really had a passion about it, a lot seems to have faded and I moved onto Spanish. Now I'm on Italian I wanted to put some more effort into learning new words, and covering things properly so I feel I can move back to German to get that done.
3. Make 2008 the year I think of good product idea for development with Soraya and Rob
We keep saying we'll do something together (a software, mechanical and electronic engineer) and work towards some product we could possibly market or develop, maybe get a startup going of some kind. I figure there's got to be something which could be a winner of a device or system, which could be the start of a nice little earner, and the effort for that's got to start at some point. I think some brainstorming is in order.
4. Realise when I'm wasting my time and effort on something and let it go
Some resolutions are just nice ideas which probably won't happen all that easily: I think this definitely one of that variety. I have a real habit of not giving up on things (hobbies, projects, people even) and doggedly sticking at them, sometimes past the point of when I should've realised that they're a non-starter. I think this is sometimes a good thing; it means I don't just drop things when they get hard and push through until the benefits are clearer. Sometimes though, it can be a stubborn-ness which means I just keep at something which is a waste of time and effort. I want to start trying to see more often which are the wastes of time, and which are worth the effort.
December 24 Christmas DecorationsDecember 03 The Christmas Tree Goes UpThis weekend we went to Bridgemere Garden Centre to pick up some baubles and Christmas bits. I'd forgotten that we'd decorated the room since last year so all the blue and purple baubles had to go (the room used to be purple and green), so we invested in new decorations. The colours this year were lime and black and below you can see the results. The mirror looks really good, especially the birds on top and around the border and you can possibly catch a glimpse of the new piano (of which I'll post a better photo later). November 22 Ice-Cream #1: Maple Syrup with Toasted Walnuts and PecansTonight I gave the Magimix ice-cream machine a whirl. I got a recipe from www.deliciousdays.com (and added pecan nuts) and it all worked out fine. Was a bit rich for my taste, and a little custard-y but a good start nonetheless. I'll have to have a think about other things to try. November 18 One Thousand and One Hundred Photos in Four daysI know I said I'd put some photos on from the birthday meal but to be honest, there weren't that many good shots (and people would just moan about having themselves displayed on here anyway), so instead, I uploaded 26 photos out of the 1100 I've taken over the past few days. As I was off work for my birthday I had chance to go to Manchester for a day on train to look at a piano and have a saunter around; needless to say I took loads of photos. I've also been playing with the tripod Aaran got me for my birthday, which has meant I can take loads of photos in low-light conditions I wouldn't normally be able to take. Anyway, less talk, more photos. Click here for the album.
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