The words contained in this here journal may not make much sense and they may not bear any relation to reality but one thing is for sure, they'll contain the word pasty.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Tents are far more user friendly these days than how I remember them. Everything is cleverly colour co-ordinated so that even a trio of semi-trained monkeys can successfully pitch the tent without being left with a pile of torn fabric and carbon splinters in their hands. I tell you what, when people in Scilly see this tent they’re just going to be overwhelmingly jealous of its sheer scale. Lets face it even Capps can stand up inside the thing!
Besides practising our camping (and obligatory camp impression) skills we managed to successfully cook another roast and me and Capps had our standard six mile hike in the early hours of the morning. We decided to spice things up a little bit this time by going OFF ROAD. Unfortunately the sunrise was a bit rubbish, resembling more the gentle glow of knackered street light that’s refusing to illuminate the world than those glorious scenes you see plastered on holiday brochures. The conversation was good though, we managed to discuss all the important issues as well as some that aren’t nearly so important.
I was asked a couple of damned fine questions this weekend which I’ve been thinking a lot about:
1) What song would you have played at your wedding? (This is a Jono question and hence makes little sense)
2) What sort of girl would your parents like you to have a relationship with?
The first one is a bit difficult to answer without listening to every single song I have in my repertoire and I guess would probably depend quite heavily on whom I was marrying. The second one is just a cruel and a nasty question though I loved speculating on it. My Dad would very much be “If she makes you happy then good luck to you”. My mum would probably be a little more discerning. I think she’d need to know that the girl in question was “good” for me, that she wasn’t about to steal all my money or something. I think she’s got enough faith in my judgement to pick out the nice un’s though :)
Saturday, June 14, 2003 The Dream Recorder Dreamt I was staying at Wend’s house. She lived in a terraced house with a wonderful construction round the back which would best be described as a multi-storey patio, all pebble dashed with little brown stones. Lovely. I made a little investigative climb to the top in my usual way then halfway back down encountered Wend herself. We then broke into a spontaneous play gunfight which is a bit weird, I did some fine Matrix style manoeuvres including rolling along the ground firing.
It was an extremely vivid dream and I could easily describe what my surroundings were to the tiniest detail from the hanging baskets to the garden furniture, even what Wend was wearing. (Since you ask; black strappy top, dark blue jeans, black sandals and a fine pair of sunglasses. Oh and a pink surfers watch).
I then remember wandering through a salt marsh on my own for no terribly good reason. I recall, along my journeys, picking up one piece of flint, one piece of black Lego, one piece of blue painted pottery, one stone with crystals in and one ring pull. I can only suggest I was planning to make something fiddly from Blue Peter like a seaside pencil holder.
For flips sake! It’s twenty to four and I’m not tired!!! It’s at this point I’d normally start moaning that everyone else has gone to bed but I don’t blame them really, the sun will start coming up soon.
There’s something about light aircraft that always freaks me out a bit, they all give me the impression they were built in the 60’s and are on the verge of a catastrophic failure. From the rattly engine to the chips on the windscreen and the interior that looks like it’s been ripped straight out of a Morris Minor they seem to offer very little guarantee of safety. In order to quash my fears they had thoughtfully crammed a small fire extinguisher in the seat pocket in front of me, presumably so that when one of the wings drops off I could squirt foam at the thing as it gently glided away from the fuselage. Even if it did drop off I knew we’d be safe in a crash landing though because the other seat pocket had a first aid kit literally bursting with things like elastoplasts and paracetemol which are extremely useful if you get into a bit of a plane crash.
Besides this I did enjoy the taking off which always brings a beaming smile to my face, after that I got a bit bored to be honest with you. I’d not realised just how many light aircraft flights I'd made until I thought about it earlier, it’s probably somewhere in the region of 25, and it’s getting a bit samey. What’s worse is that the gentle swaying of the plane and the noise of the engine was making me very sleepy. There I was flying a mile above the ground wanting nothing but to curl up in bed and go to sleep, I think it’s about time I let someone else have a go to be honest with you. Not even my mum taking control of the plane got me to wake up. Shouldn’t I have been frightened rigid? Perhaps my brain was just releasing some chemicals to keep me calm through a potentially lethal situation.
Got to see the sea which was good.
Had a lengthy conversation with Ryan on the phone earlier probably for well over an hour. I’d just got in and was looking forward to chatting to people on’t net and he managed to totally distract me, sorry to those who got mostly ignored. My brain just isn’t geared up for chatting on the net and phone at the same time, if I try to type I go quiet on the phone and vice versa and it’s most irritating. At one point I inadvertently just read out something Wend had typed without even thinking about it. What Ryan thought about it I don’t know. Mind you, despite my total inadequacies I did manage to have a conversation with Wend through nothing but smilies for ten minutes. I’m not entirely sure what she was saying but I think she might have been proposing to me which is nice if a little unexpected. Of course she might also have been saying that I smell but that’s not really important is it?
Right well I’m off to go and lie awake in bed and ponder the mysteries of the universe. Night all.
Friday, June 13, 2003
At half five today I shall be setting off to take part in my Dad’s birthday present for my mum, she’s getting a flying lesson and we’re all going along to sit in the plane and watch. I was a little concerned about it being Friday the 13th until I remember I was a scientist wannabe and don’t believe in all that nonsense, touch wood. But I’m really looking forward to it, we have to fly over the Scilly in a little plane and it’s damned fine fun. There’s something extremely exhilarating about seeing everything GTA style, all the wee little people in their wee cars heading to their wee houses.
I remember the first time we flew over on the plane (as opposed to the passenger ferry) I was rather nervous about the whole thing. I’m the sort of person who won’t go on a rollercoaster for love nor money despite the fact I know I’d just absolutely adore the experience if I did. I think my biggest reluctance is about letting myself get into situations in which I don’t have full control, given a tandem to ride and I’d make damned sure I was the one steering the thing rather than sitting looking at the back of someone’s head wondering what we’re about to ride into. It could actually be more of a problem in trusting people with my life, I’m dreadful as a passenger in a car and have absolutely no faith in anybody not to crash into things. People say I haven’t been driving but the truth is I have for about 15 years, inside my head. That sounds a bit weird doesn’t it?
Well I’m off now to go and slob away the afternoon.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
It’s my mum’s birthday today and unfortunately I failed to get up before she left for work so I’m feeling a tad guilty at the moment but I’ll see her when she gets back. I know she’s a fan of Fleetwood Mac so I bought her the new album yesterday, I just hope it’s not a pile of rubbish to be honest with you as I have little knowledge about these things. All I know about music is what I like and what I don’t like, this left me somewhat way behind a lot of the conversations in Cambridge which were often about technical music nonsense and artists I’ve never even heard of. Blardy music students and hippies.
I’ve just been programming various numbers for Wend, Liam and such like into this portable phone we have. The bloomin’ thing cost a fortune and resembles a mobile phone far too much for my own personal peace of mind, I sometimes wish it was a mobile since it’d be able to store more than about three numbers. Unsurprisingly, like most of the irritating things in my life, it plagues me at the behest of BT who make these things. It does have some advantages though…
There’s Tarte Au Chocolat in the fridge. Everything else is mere details.
Tomorrow I shall be playing football with the lads if I haven’t died of chocolate poisoning by then. I’ve eaten so much of the stuff recently I think I might actually be getting sick of it, it’s something that’s never happened to me before. Right through the last 19 years I’ve had the same love for chocolate that most women seem to have, can’t get enough of the stuff. But this weekend I ate so many chocolate bars, so many smartie cakes, so many chocolate digestives that they’re starting to get a bit boring. I’ve replaced them though with the delicious exotic fruit juices available except for the one aptly nicknamed “Kiwi Piss” which is just so horrible I'm not going to buy it again.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
I decided today to get the old keyboard out and have a tinkle on the ivories. Of course I got it all set up, sat down to play and hit the inevitable wall of realisation that I don’t actually know how to play any tunes or more accurately that I don’t actually know how to play any musical instrument of any sort. So I sat and looked bored for a while and pressed a few keys at random. An hour later and I’d figured out how to play (In appalling fashion) two monkey island tunes, a bit of the theme to Beverly Hills Cop, and the Casualty theme. All rather fun really. I might get some books out of the library and learn properly, I’ve always wanted to play a musical instrument with some degree of skill and I’ve got nothing much to do until I go back to uni.
One final note for Wend who gets a great big hug for being such a special friend to me:
*HUGS*
Monday, June 09, 2003
Monday, June 09, 2003 – Published
Well that was somewhat of an odd weekend. Since Friday I’ve been in the company of primarily Wend and Liam though also present were Ste, and to a lesser extent, James (the guy with long beard and facial hair), Ian (the stoner), Gav2 (the boozer) and “Dunster” (the nutter). It was good to have Liam along because he has a tendency to be good fun despite his “fag binge” this weekend in which he smoked away more fags than is usual for him or just about anybody.
Friday didn’t start out too well with me and Liam managing to travel south on completely different trains. Fortunately, given the fact I’d forgotten to write down anyone’s mobile number, I found him stood in Peterborough station looking a bit lost. We clubbed together and finally got on route to Cambridge with some sort of co-ordination though he beat me at travel Connect 4 by 5 games to 2 which sort of put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. I’m not a very good loser.
Once in Cambridge we had a trip to Sainsbury’s which for me and Liam was more just an exercise in Tesco praise. We had a fine dig at the poorly laid out aisles and the ugly staff. Provisions for me and Liam included:
- A smartie cake
- A big value pack of chocolate digestives
- Some Robinsons jelly
- Dairylea
- Bread
- Multiple Packets of Skips
- A LOT of Lemonade
- A LOT of fruit juice pinnacle
Given the large quantities of fluids purchased you’d be surprised to know that I spent all weekend being questioned by Liam and Wend about why I never seem to need to wee. I’m not entirely sure from where this fixation developed but it was a fixation nonetheless and I’m pretty sure it’s not a healthy one. It certainly didn’t make me feel terribly comfortable this weekend, being asked if I was off for a pee every time I stood up.
The Strawberry Fair itself was semi-good. At times it was a little boring but messing about doing buggar all, in the sunshine, with friends is just about my favourite activity. Speaking of the sunshine it was all rather too strong for everyone else as they all proceeded to get burnt the result of this being a large number of watch/strappy top/beret shaped markings on people. But not me though, my browniness won through. Other activities this weekend included visiting pubs, eating curry, shaving bald patches on my arm and the “One pound challenge” *blushes*
We actually did fairly little this weekend but it was very intense in the fact that I was in a conversation of some kind almost non-stop all weekend. Only now when I’ve plonked myself at my PC have I realised this and I have to admit that I’m missing the human company to some degree. Whether I took the company for granted I’m not sure, that old saying about not noticing something until it’s gone certainly applies here. I think I may have been a little quiet this weekend and if I was then I must assure people that it’s because I was happy enough just listening to the witty banter and sniggering from time to time, sometimes adding the phrase of the weekend “Oooooooouuuuh Dear”.
I’d say that all in all, despite a few things, I really enjoyed this weekend. The company, being Wend and Liam, was of a very high standard and I’d say we had a great giggle. Perhaps a bit too much use of mobile phones but you can’t expect perfection every time can you? I’m going to make it a mission to see Wend at least once more before I disappear off to Scilly for a month mainly because my poor wee brain seems to need it’s fix every now and again. I should hopefully get to see Liam as well, we have conjectured already about getting together to do a Matrix spoof at some point over the summer.
Two final notes:
1) I think I may be getting somewhat bored of this journal malarkey. It’s starting to feel more like a chore than anything else now and unless this changes my frequency of posting may drop a little.
2) I received a postcard today, a pasty related postcard addressed to “Pasty Hodgeson” reading “I was going to Post You a Pasty But This Was Far Cheeper”. No name, no identifying marks. I have no idea who sent it, or why. It’s stamped from Cornwall, I don’t know anyone in Cornwall. I have no idea why this person felt the need to put an “e” in my surname nor why they should want to capitalise the first letter of most of the words. My best guess is that it’s come from a drunken Ryan. If anybody knows anything, please do tell. The mystery is driving me nuts.
