When has Plan A ever worked?

I saw this in the Metro the other day, and it sums up my relationship with Paz perfectly.



The cartoon is called Nemi.

I don't usually have a lot of time for Lily Allen, but I very much like this use of her song:

( NSFW )

Thanks to cupidsbow for linking it in the first place.

On the one hand, SGA Big Bang is live, and I have a burning need to start reading telesilla's, sabinetzin's and auburn's fics all at once.

On the other hand, there's 20% bonus Achievement Award on EQ2 this weekend and, while Raelynne is fully capped out and ready for the next expansion, I really need to be levelling my shadowknight, Sentai. And of course, I have my shiny new RAM to give everything Go Faster Stripes.

On the third hand (or maybe a prehensile tail), I've finally ported my RL journal to DW. But I now need to devise a tagging system that will work for that journal and this one (since I intend to crosspost) and then retag 6 years of entries.

( So, a poll to help me decide )

The first thing I am going to do is get dressed. It is technically the afternoon now, and I should not still be lounging in my scruffy dressing gown. Then, maybe a bacon muffin for lunch...

My RAM has arrived! \o/

This means I now have to shut down my laptop and attack it with a screwdriver. I have done such a thing many times with desktop towers, but never with a laptop. I feel unaccountably nervous...

I may have to log on to Paz's computer at the same time, so I can still feel connected to the world.

ETA: RAM was safely installed (several hours ago, actually) and I am now about to see just how much faster EQ2 runs. This will mostly be defined by how long it takes to zone in to the guild hall.

A couple of things I wanted to share:

• From lilithilien, Feeling grumpy 'is good for you'. Such a wonderful excuse!
• Regarding Stargate Universe, now commonly known as SG:Ugh, there is an open letter to Joe Mallozi et al, in the form of LoLcats. Please note, this link comes with a spit-take warning: put down your cuppa before clicking!
• Thanks to toft for this link: Real Program Slash - Google Desktop and Norton Antivirus

My list of open tabs is somewhat more manageable now, although SGA Big Bang is imminent, so that won't last long.

I came so close to having my hands on my RAM upgrade this evening! But all I found was a 'We tried to deliver' note :( Hopefully, they will deliver tomorrow after 10:30, when I will be back from my driving lesson, and not before. It would suck to miss it twice!

There were plenty of things I could have, and indeed should have done with my day. Have I done them? No. What have I done instead? tvtropes and cracked.com. These are deliberately not real links, so as to save you from my fate.

~x~

followfriday popped up on my reading page and I've been browsing some of the comms and people listed there. I now have a number of tabs open that are causing me some consternation.

Subscribing to communities is easy; I'm interested in the topic or I'm not, and I can always unsubscribe if the comm turns out to not be my thing. Subscribing to fic writers is also easy. I've found them because of their fic, I've left a comment to say I liked the fic and then I've subscribed. No particular mystery there.

But journals of people who make random and witty observations on their own life? I am not sure. I can be very passive on the internet. Even in RL, I'm bad at starting a conversation with a stranger. If they start the conversation I'll be fine and can hold my own on a range of topics. But online there are no visual cues, no common ground or observation about the late train and would the Tories be any better.

I sit here, with my self-doubt, wondering if these people are happy with being linked on followfriday, what their opinion is of random strangers subscribing to them, how I'll be viewed if I randomly chirp up in the middle of a discussion thread when they don't know me from Adam.

So, I'm curious. What's your position on adding random people or being added by them? Us shy and retiring types want to know.

~x~

In totally unrelated news, I really have to clean my oven. I can smell burning cheese (that presumably fell off one of Paz's pizzas), but what is supposed to be cooking is baking potatoes. Definitely time for the Mr Muscle.

I have successfully reduced my number of open tabs to 11, but I have not yet trawled my reading list for the last 3 days *sigh*.

I saw Eddie Izzard last night at the Newcastle arena and he rocked!!! The tickets were unexpected, so thanks to whichever mates of Paz' manager decided to bail. Our gain! Highlights of the evening were the jazz chicken and gazelles on elastic. I've noticed Eddie's getting rather more political these days. Significant time devoted to creationism and 'intelligent design', and several mentions of the BNP. It made for an interesting, intelligent show. It was also as funny as hell!

I currently have men drilling holes in my brickwork and stuffing the house cavities with yellow fluff. Soon we shall be fully insulated! Unfortunately, I can't go into town and meet my mate from London off the train until they're done. I'm also only half way through my to-do list for the day.

Still to do:

• Tidy bedroom
• Tidy desk (hah!)
• Food shopping for weekend guests - umm...
• Check train prices to Sheffield and London.

That last one is important. I have to go to Sheffield and I want to go to London, both before xmas. I probably can't afford to do both but, either way, I should book sooner rather than later.

OK, workmen finally done! I'm off to town to meet Andy, who I haven't seen since easter.

I've had a very random day:

1. I am 30 today. It feels much like any other day.
2. Despite the birthday, I still had to get up at 6:30am to go to work this morning.
3. HUUUUUUGE lunch to say goodbye to the lady I'm taking over from.
4. Area-wide power outage at 2.00pm somewhat inconvenient.
5. Cake and presentation for aforementioned lady (in the dark). I feel fat now.
6. Give up trying to work with no power and no network and am just packing up to leave when the fire alarm goes. Dammit! Needed 5 more minutes!
7. Stand outside (in the rain) for 20 minutes until we're allowed back in and I can collect my laptop.
8. Am just leaving as the power returns. Can't get out as the security systems haven't reset properly.
9. Am home, showered and in jeans, waiting for taxi to airport. Am going to Brussels for work. Back tomorrow night.

Also randomly, I'm on twitter these days. I'm raelynne79 if you're remotely interested.

Prepare to be angry.

Why there was nothing 'human' about Jan Moir's column on the death of Stephen Gately

I'm spending most of my time on Dreamwidth these days, only occasionally popping back to IJ. So I'm going to tidy up my IJ flist (with filters, no defriending). Please could you comment and let me know where you would prefer me to read your posts, DW or IJ. And I have a heap of DW invites if anyone else wants to come play on DW, and I'm queenbarwench for IJ readers.

I have seven tabs open with fic waiting to be read. They're all wordcount 15,000+ epic monstrosities that I really don't have the energy to start reading right now. I'm thinking maybe some Dollhouse instead.

1) An interesting evening for my rogue, Eris, on our current D&D campaign. We're on a dungeon crawl, and I'm making a lot of use of my Detect Trap skill. A couple nearly got me, but I escaped unscathed. Also, a bound Earth Elemental followed its instructions to the letter, motioning us to silence, before reporting to its summoner that it heard nothing and no one spoke to it. It was a rival house. We took care of the problem with a grenade!

2) I have lots of pics of D20's in a folder, waiting for me to make an icon. I should get round to that some day.

3) This morning, I mowed* my legs. It hurts, but it's also quite boring and my mind was wandering. I was thinking that I've read a few fics where John Sheppard shaves his legs (mostly in the context of genderswap), but none where he waxes them (or any other body part). I'd love to read that, especially as a not-genderswap fic. Any recs?

4) New job is becoming more interesting. They're sending me to Brussels for a meeting!!! I have a new project to start work on tomorrow morning, and some internet research that is driving me crazy because of the IE6 trauma.

5) I may have eaten too many chocolate brownies this evening. They may also have been more chocolate than brownie. Less chocolate or more flour next time. And also 5 mins extra in the oven.

6) This is reading like a drunk!post, but it's actually not. It could be a chocolate-overdose!post.

7) Bedtime! Commute is still a bitch and seven is a good number.

8) I remembered something else: Ian Brown and Kasabian both have albums out and singles playing on the radio. Given that Kasabian are pretty much Stone Roses II, I actually can't tell which single belongs to which band if I don't hear the DJ announce the song.


* I use an epilator. It sounds like one of those teeny electric Flymo mowers so, while I'm not technically mowing my legs, that's how I refer to it.

Wow, skip=300 to get past to the last entry I read, and about 70 tabs open to be read/ laughed at/ commented on/ acted upon. I feel this is not an effective use of my Friday.

However, plumber has been and fixed my boiler (and bled my radiators for me) and I now need to go into town and pick up Paz's 30th birthday present. If it's as awesome as I'm hoping, I'll try and post a couple of pics of it this afternoon.

Damn, I'm starving! OK, lunch first, then town. And then the washing up, now I have hot water again. *sigh* Where does Aion feature in this to-do list?

It's about bloody time. It's an agency placement so I'm technically working for Adecco while I work at Proctor & Gamble. It's a year's maternity cover co-ordinating an overseas training programme. My job title is "Administration Assistant", which is a bit rubbish, but it's all good experience and CV-able. It's 4 days/week and pays enough to cover the bills, so I can finish my driving lessons without changing instructor. And hopefully the recession will be mostly over before this time next year.

( The commute is going to be a bitch. )

Holidays are great for me but not so great for catching up on the flist afterwards. I made it to skip=100 and I have 27 tabs open to read and/or comment on. But now I'm going to make lunch before Paz and I go out to spend the afternoon at Gibside.

Next week I have two job applications to complete, some temping agencies to join, some studying to do, a friend to have lunch with and I must drag my fat arse to the gym!

When am I going to read my tabs?

I frequently make this little smoked salmon pasta thingy for lunch (recipe below, for those that are interested). It requires the zest of a lemon (or a lime works too), but not the juice. So I have all these naked lemons and limes sitting in my fridge and no idea how to use them up. The one dish I use lime juice for also requires the zest and there's a limit to the number of times I can justify having pancakes with lemon and sugar for lunch.

Any suggestions, anyone?

( Recipe )

While I often think of posts I could make, I very rarely make them. Now I find I have a hundred reasons to post and the inclination to do so. Where's that coming from, I wonder?

PLEASE TO STOP LIVING UP TO YOUR STEREOTYPE!

I swam into town to have lunch with my mother, which was very nice. She went off to her hair appointment and I headed up into town to pick up a book on SQL. I happened to accidentally fall into Clarks, where I accidentally bought a pair of shoes in the sale. Oops! I'm justifying them as sensible work shoes for wearing to the job I don't have yet. I think there may be a flaw in my reasoning.

We were promised a nice hot summer. Methinks they LIED.

I looked up from my computer and, noticing the time, decided to nip out to the shop to pick up the jobs paper. And maybe some chocolate. I'm reaching for my shoes when there's a rumble of thunder and the heavens open. I swear the weather is out to get me, or at least to trap me in the house. Last week I got caught in two thunderstorms on the same day and slipped and fell in the Bigg Market. The giant bruise on my knee is now turning an interesting yellow colour.

I have a couple of things to share. First up we have Heart Arrhythmia by lavvyan. I've been very carefully bookmarking links to Season 5 fics without reading them, given that I won't have S5 in my hands for another month yet, so I'm not sure why I decided to read this one. It's set after The Shrine and I'm very, very glad I did read it. It's just... right.

Second thing is courtesy of Cute Overload: Cats 'exploit' humans by purring. It's not really news, if you're a cat owner; just an explanation.

The rain appears to have stopped. Time to fetch the Evening Chronicle.

I think I'm just about over my Torchwood-induced trauma. This is mostly due to my wonderful mate, Erik, who introduced me to my ( two new favourite things )

Just finished watching the last episode of Torchwood. Now I need a hug :(

I've had a week of hormones followed by a week of weather-induced headaches (stupid humidity) so I have been in Lurk mode. ( So, some stuff... )