Without shin-splints

Old and busted: my Nikes. The new hotness: my new trainers.

Went shopping for trainers with my ex today. She knew of a sports shop in Reading so we hitched over there to check it out. A small place, but it was empty and the staff give consultations to ensure you get a trainer that suits your running style. Sounds a bit over the top, maybe even unnecessary, but it didn't cost me any, so I ain't complaining.

Next week, I'm back on the track. Anyone wanting a laugh should get their video camera out.

Later . . .

Without alcohol

Went drinking on a school night again last night. Was able to relax a little as I had today booked off work, but didn't go mad as I didn't want to write today off.

Seb and one of his mates were out. Seb didn't drink, so was able to save a bit of money by getting a lift in and out. Another of his mates got us on the guest list to Poon's, which was cool, so I ended up having a relatively cheap night. Nothing much to report from it though.

Later . . .

Without anything to do

From the 'Wanted' bulletin board:

Item 1:

Forgiveness
Looking for forgiveness of my friend who caught me in bed with his gurlfriend. He is a great bloke and i feel very guilty. I am a very very bad person

Item 2:

A gurlfriend
looking for female company after breaking up with long term partner. (foung her in bed with my flatmate!!!)Im looking for a attractive 18-22 year old. She must have a gud sense of humour. I miss feeling the closeness so if your the right girl to fill this hole in me heart please come and see me and say hello.

Funny-sad . . .

Without love

Nolove from The Dark Krypt [entry].  It looks like a form rejection, so its back to Ralan's tomorrow night.

Also, looks like it's a nolove from Bloodletters [entry].  I haven't got a rejection from them yet, but they respond within a week, and the themed issue I submitted to has been published.  Time to take the hint, I think.

Later . . .

Without nuts

Recycled from someone else's page:

Squirrel name generator . . . And the best permutation of my name gave Twitchy McBush.

Okay . . .

Without film 2

Digital camera arrived yesterday. Didn't have much time to play with it last night as I spent much of the evening in bed, trying to rest. Tonight though . . .

. . . Bye-bye, writing.

In illness-related news, I'm feeling better today. Still bunged up, but it was a lot easier getting out of bed this morning.

Later . . .

Without sneezing 2

Okay, it's not hayfever. Am obviously coming down with something; two antihistamines down the line yesterday I still hadn't stopped sneezing. Bunged up all night, and then stiff and bunged up this morning.

Not feeling too hot, but I've come to work to share the love.

Discovered that G-2, whom I sit next to, has come down with a case of glandular fever. Hoping that's not what I've contracted.

Later . . .

Without sneezing

Okay, that's the last time I clean the house.

Ever.

Four hours spent hoovering and cleaning this morning, and now I cannot stop sneezing.  Took an antihistamine and it's done nothing.

So much for thinking that I wasn't going to suffer for my allergies this year.

Without sight

Daredevil

Well, seeing as we're going through a bit of a comic-book film invasion at the moment, I thought it an ideal opportunity to catch Daredevil when it premiered on Sky Movies last night.  And . . .

. . . and it's not as good as Spider-man.  Which isn't to say that it's a bad film (as I've heard many a Spidey-fan decry), it's just not a great one.  It's darker, and a little less smooth in the flow, and I felt that some of the characters were underused and their relationships with other characters were not fully explored.  But entertaining enough, and DD's back story was handled quite nicely.

Later . . .

Without Jason Statham

Jet Li's The One

Watched another film starring Jason Statham last night, and it's official I can't take anything this guy does as an actor seriously any more.  He could be delivering Shakespeare, and I still wouldn't be able to watch without laughing.

The other night I saw part of John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, also starring one Jason Statham.  Again, same result.  Same hilarity.

Actually, looking through this guy's CV over at IMDB, he's contributed to some truly awful movies.  The Italian Job (remake), Mean Machine, Snatch.  He's like the King Midas of crap.

I'm tempted to watch his films in the future purely because I know I'll get a laugh.

(Oh, and The One should be avoided plague-like.  Hole-ridden plot, tepid action sequences, crap parallel universe explanation -- here comes the science -- and an ending that disappointed in about a dozen different ways).

Later . . .

Without Franny

Bit of a Mission reunion night on Thursday as two of the guys we used to go out with last year are back for the summer.  Following watching a friend's gig in a pub (and half another band's set, whose name I didn't catch but was quite getting into), we strolled off to another pub.  Gilly had his drinking head on, and suggested the drinking of sambuca, and then the drinking of Goldschlager (s?), and then the drinking of tequila.

Not a good idea.

Suffering for it yesterday, altho' luckily it didn't hamper my work any.  Unlike Gilly, who took a hangover day and lay in bed all morning, and Franny, who puked all over the cottage when he got back.

We moved on to the Apartments, and discovered it empty.  Some stunning girl convinced us to move on to Poon's -- we were already planning on heading over there, but a kiss on the cheek sealed the deal for me :)

Franny didn't get in.  The bouncer didn't give him any reason, just stopped him short.  Hence how he was able to come back to ours and early and redecorate the bathroom before we could stop him.

Without a safety net

Spider-man 2

Kirsten Dunst is the reason I find red-heads attractive again.  She is, simply, beautiful.

The rest of the film isn't bad either :)  I couldn't help notice that they had another one of those 'New York people look after their own' moments that made me laugh so inappropriately during the original.  It's funny that in a film about a guy who has superpowers after being bitten by a super-spider, battling a guy possessed by robotic snakes who is trying to create controllable nuclear fusion, this part is the part I had trouble believing.

I really can't find much wrong with this movie, though.  Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

Later . . .

Without film

Finally got around to ordering a digital camera.  Bought from amazon of all places.  Sad thing is that it's going to take a while to arrive because the additional memory card I ordered takes one or two weeks to dispatch.  If I'd just ordered the camera on its own, it would have been shipped in 24hrs.  Oh well.

Later . . .

Without potato salad

Cooked up a storm at the barbecue yesterday, until Si decided that the guests weren't getting enough charcoal and took over the cooking duties.  We were later getting started than planned, because a lot of the guests didn't arrive until 1830hrs or later.  Unfortunately this meant that most people missed what little sunshine we did have, but it wasn't too bad.  The kebabs the Girl I See on the Stairs and I prepared went down a treat, and we managed to produce a surprising amount of food for little cost.

As it started to get dark we went out to the green to play with an aerobie, staying out until it was so dark you could only tell that someone was throwing it to you when you saw their arms moving (and, a couple of seconds later, when it bounced off your unsuspecting forehead).  Great fun.

Went to bed to discover that Seb had placed a softball bat underneath my mattress, altho' I was drunk enough that it was a couple of seconds before I realised my discomfort wasn't due to me lying on the bed in a funny position.

Later . . .

Without a little slice of lime

Went for a Mexican with Si and the Girl I See on the Stairs last night.  I'm not a great fan of Mexican food so a great pile of refried beans and Mexican rice was left on my plate by the end, but the tacos and enchiladas were good enough.  Those bottles of Sol went down well enough as well.

No one was really up for a big night out (except for Gilly, and he was out on his own) so we came back to the Distant Past straight after the meal.  Still managed to have about eight or nine bottles somehow.

Planning a barbecue this evening, because we've been promised good weather.  Got about a dozen coming, by all accounts.  Should be good.

Later . . .

Without Tom Hanks

And, to add to that last post . . .

Road to Perdition: Tom Hanks good, Jude Law odd (but good), surprising child actor good.  Ending slightly predictable, but good.

Later . . .

Without hope

Made a couple of posts yesterday, but the formatting was fucking around so I was forced to delete them.  I'm not going to write them out again, so to summarise:

The Transporter: Silly film; inventive fight scenes (if somewhat improbable, because it's Jason Statham and not Jackie Chan doing them); crappy dialogue; ridiculous plot; enjoyable enough.

Orange County: Jack Black = good; gripe with the fact that writer spends no time actually writing in the movie (only moping . . . reminds me a little of me); gripe with the fact that Tom Hanks Jr. runs down to a completely flat sea at the end shouting 'I'm going surfing'.

Later.

Without ice cubes

Went down to Marlborough for a friend of a friend's birthday drinks last night (I'd like to call her my friend, but I swear she hesitated when introducing me to her friends -- 'This is . . . Kevin').

Quite a nice night, and it made a change to be drinking somewhere other than Old Town in Swin.  I don't mind Old Town in Swin, it's just nice to go somewhere different every once in a while.  That obsession Old Town bars have with hip-hop grates after a while.

Marlborough is a lot nicer to be drinking in on a summer evening, it's just let down by its location somewhat (Gilly had to taxi us last night, and it's always a shame when one of the party has to be the responsible one).  Marlborough has beer gardens though, and beer gardens that don't overlook busy roads.  The pub we were in was nice, and not busy or too chavvy.  If we'd been in Swin we'd have been surrounded by chav because Thursday night is Underage-Drinking night.

Later . . .

Without Content

In avoiding-writing news, infinitewhite.net has been relaunched. Not much in the way of content at the moment, but as soon as I get my writing pages written they'll be posted, and other stuff as and when I think of it.

Check it out, feedback is always welcome.

Later . . .

Without sultanas

Went for a curry in 'the first Balti house' with Big Ron, Tris, and Wes, and then went pubbing and eventually Fusioneering.

The Balti house tells us that 'Balti is the latest trend in Indian cuisine'. It's been telling us this for six or seven years, and I wonder why more restaurants aren't doing it.

The Ship has the fittest barmaid in Devon.

Tris turns down an opportunity to talk to the young ladies that Wes was chatting up, because he can't 'be bothered'. I despair on hearing this and wonder why I chose that moment to go for a walk.

Without an eight-year age gap

Scallie has blanked me the last couple of times I've been home. Last night she seeks me out and spends most of the evening telling me about her sex life and moaning about the guy she wanted to pull. Telling her that I didn't actually care about this stuff doesn't do me any good.

The weirdest thing is that when she first speaks to me she brings up a conversation we had over two years ago. Totally randomly, like we'd not spoken about anything in the interim.

Without chopsticks

Went for an all-you-can-eat buffet at Swin's chavviest Chinese restaurant on Friday night. The food was quality, although they could done with bigger plates. Sat next to a table full of scantily-clad, but super young, girls. I'm talking so young that I felt I should be put in prison for being in the same room as them. Finally going to have to accept that I'm getting old; there was a point when I wondered where these girls' fathers were when they left the house dressed like that. I swear one girl's skirt was so short I could see her arse-cheeks when she stood at the buffet.

God I'm getting old. Was a time I would have just sat back and had a good perv.

One girl ate her eal with a chopstick in each hand for fifteen minutes. It was only when they heard our entire table near killing themselves with laughter that one of her friends instructed her in the correct method.

The vodka bar we went to offers six shots for £8 (what it calls a speed stick). We split one between two. Seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Now, sat on a train that will take me west again, I'm not so sure.

Finished the night in the Walkabout. Despite the fact that it's the fairly standard end to a night in Swin, I haven't been there in a while. Finding it hard to say I've missed the place.

Without restraint

Things are good financially at the moment. I have money and no one to spend it on. I'm far from rich (I didn't join this profession for the money -- no I joined it for the glamour), but I'm comfortable.

So I find myself being generous on nights out. I'm first up to buy a round. I buy people I hardly know drinks, friends of friends. I paid for my ex's taxi home last week [entry]. I'm not trying to be flash; I like being able to share my earnings, and I've never been one of those 'short arms and deep pockets' guys.

I feel I should watch myself, though. It was £50 last night, and I'm sure it will be about the same tonight. I've got to be careful not to be taken advantage of as well. Some people never put their hands in their pockets, and I can't pay for their nights out. That would be silly.

Without Ron

Well, looks like the holiday plans are falling through, as Big Ron's gone and broken his collarbone playing with his new toy.

Clumsy bastard.

Without skill

Tris got a first in his degree.

I'm of the opinion they should take it away from him as he's spent the last few weeks thinking he got a 2:1, because he read the results slip incorrectly.

Well done, though.

Later . . .

Bad blogger

Don't make me come in there . . .

Without prices

Went to my first work garden party last night with Shameful, The Girl I See on the Stairs, Janner Dan and my ex. Really good night, but strange. It was set in the grounds of my office hear, and by all accounts 1000 people came. I can almost believe it, because I didn't meet half of the friends I knew were going (or any of the women that I wanted to dance at :)

Met up with an old uni mate (Ed, whose gf works in one of 'alcrow's other offices. Nice catching up with him again, and couldn't really believe that it's been two years since I last saw him (at graduation!) We both agreed that we have to make more of an effort to get everyone together for some kind of reunion. It's been too long, and we're just too crap at this . . .

There was a free bar until after ten o'clock. My head's a little fuzzy this morning.

There were fireworks! I've not watched fireworks in years, and this was a good display. Must have been expensive :)

Plans to go into Swin afterwards to continue the drinkin' and dancin' went pear-shaped. Ended up going home with my ex, because everyone else ditched us.

Later . . .

Without a bit of a choice

Concerned about the recurrence of an old injury brought about by new running routine, I've been reading sport injury literature online. One set of advice on how to avoid injury:

• DON’T be male
• DON’T drink alcohol
• DON’T be aged 26 to 30
• . . .
• DON’T be a newcomer to the sport

How, exactly, am I supposed to not be male? I can't afford that operation.

Later . . .

Home

Words yesterday: 530
Words total: 57425

Also, continued working on the July Challenge piece [entry].