Monday, May 31
Relaxation, Rob-Style
It's all about lazy, lazy weekends.I figured that I was due a lazy weekend, seeing as it's the first one since the end of my exams. The fact that I pretty much took every weekend off during the exam period is neither here nor the. The fact that this is a Bank Holiday, 3-day weekend is a bonus.
It started with complete relaxation yesterday. Well, when I say relaxation, I actually mean being unable to do anything due to an overwhelming and inhibiting hangover. That would be the inevitable consequence of Saturday night.
Shit! That reminds me. I still haven't texted that girl with details of the house party we're having next Saturday. Bollocks. I shall have to do that tomorrow. Or can I risk not doing it, and pray that I don't meet here over the summer at all? Remember, I won't be in any classes next year in London, which is oh-so-convenient. Do I sound particularly nasty here? Ah well.
As I said, Saturday was a bit of a washout. I even turned down an offer of going to the pub for a couple of drinks in the late evening, because I just couldn't cope with the thought of being around any alcohol. Although I was in the pub at lunchtime, which I guess means that the hangover had some sort of delayed effect, and didn't hit me properly until mid-afternoon. Either that, or the smell of beer in that pub triggered it.
Nope, instead of going to the pub that evening, I had the house to myself, and sat down to watch a few episodes from the quite large stack of recently-delivered Buffy DVDs. I managed to fit in 4 before a couple of my housemates got back, which is pretty good going.
Watching the entire series of Buffy (I have Season 7 in the post to me as I type) is one of my relatively minor goals that I have set myself this summer. Another one is (along with Pete, a housemate) to watch all 3 series of Family Guy in one solid sitting. We've worked out that in total there is about 22 hours worth of episodes, and we've set ourselves the challenge of watching all of them in one go. Easy, if a little ass-numbing. And yes, some of your taxes are going towards us being able to do this. Don't you feel used?!
Oh, and I also need to get a job. I have an ever-increasing overdraft to pay off, as well as some money to save before going to Germany in September. I've been hunting on the University of London Careers Service site, and I've found a few which appeal, so I'll be emailing them tomorrow with my somewhat bare CV.
I swear I was talking a few paragraphs ago about how I've had a thoroughly relaxing couple of days, so let's get back on that subject. I ramble too much when I write here.
I think I finished last night, so I'd best mention today. Again, very chilled and uneventful. I managed to read the entire Observer newspaper, including all of the extra sections, which is very good going. There's a hell of a lot of text to read in a Sunday newspaper, which is all the more reason to buy one and waste away your Sunday afternoon.
I had some F1 on the TV (boring procession race, again. Oh for Monaco every week!), and then Henman in the tennis in the French Open (exciting, although the constant use of the word "purgatory" by the commentators started to grate just a little), followed by the end of the golf at Wentworth (what?! Golf is relaxing to watch, even if my housemates don't really appreciate it).
We all mucked in and did a little bit of cleaning around the house, because it was in a real mess, as per usual for a Sunday. I'm not quite sure how this time, because the messiest / slobbiest of my housemates has been away for a couple of days. His presence lives on.
I was finally able to pack away all of my notes and handouts from the year's work, which was very satisfying. If I was a little more confident of achieving good grades from the exams, I would have either thrown them out, or burnt them in a small act of victory and glory, but as it is they are neatly stacked in a pile, waiting to be referenced once more in the August resits.
Oh, and another thing that happened today. I got a phone call around lunchtime from a mate of mine from back home in Melksham. I'd texted a load of them about this party we're having on Saturday, and he was letting me know that at least 6 or 7 of them would be coming up, including a couple of them who I haven't really seen for a year or so. Hopefully, a few others will be coming from various universities across the country, which will be fantastic news. I haven't got drunk with all of them in at least 7 weeks!
I'm looking forward to this house party in a big way. I got so very, very drunk at the last one, and it was an absolutely brilliant atmosphere. Admittedly, the hangover and the missing £50 from my wallet the next day put me on a bit of a downer, but I had a great time at the party itself.
This one could be even more of a heavy drinking session. I don't know exactly what time any of my mates are turning up, although if they are coming by train, it's probably going to be mid-afternoon. Coupled with the fact that there is an England game (the friendly against Iceland) kicking off at 3, it becomes clear that the drinking could start "properly" around 2 in the afternoon.
I would remind you hear that at the last party, I was still drinking at 7 in the morning after starting around 8 the previous evening. Like I said, I was hungover the next day... Same again this time round? I should hope so.
But I'm not an alcoholic. Remember that.
And where did i find myself this evening? Erm, in a pub. Dammit, I just can't keep away from the bastards.
Before that, though I watched the last episode of the little series on Channel 4 about Vincent van Gogh. It's been a very interesting and enlightening documentary, even for someone like me who couldn't really give a monkey's about the art world. The presenter was very, shall we say, eager, but he also gave some great insights into van Gogh's world. Highly recommended if it's ever repeated.
I also managed to catch the repeat (see how my brain works: I use the word "repeated" and it makes me think of something else I watched earlier in the day. I'd be so good at writing a stream of consciousness [and I don't care if using parentheses / comments in this way makes me sound as if I am up my own ass. I like making little comments like this, to myself as much as to any potential reader]) of the last episode of Friends. Isn't it great that she did get off the plane?
Excuse me whilst I go and throw up from all of the sugary goodness that Friends has been dragging out for the last series. Do you know what would have been better? If Rachel didn't come back, leaving Ross a broken man. Ha, that'll teach him!
Anyways, getting back to whatever it was I was on about. Ahh yes, the brief trip to the pub. We know this fantastic little place called The Holly Bush in the back streets of Hampstead, so we popped up there for a quiet beer on this gloriously mellow Sunday evening.
Of course, it was rammed. Nevertheless, the sheer quality of both the beer and the surroundings made up for the lack of elbow room. I was even asked if my name was Jake by this random blonde girl at the bar, because I supposedly looked like a friend of hers. Couldn't have been a particularly good friend if she'd forgotten just what he looked like.
In an ultra-smooth move (OK, so very cheesy and a terrible decision [and yes, I still like using these comments to myself]), I had to ask if Jake was her (direct quote) "astoundingly good-looking friend". Yeah, very smooth. It's a wonder the girls aren't falling over each other to get to me...
She at least humoured me, and it did look like a genuine laugh in response. I am so very good around good-looking women, can't you tell?!
Is self-deprecating humour a sign of hating yourself? Someone with more psychoanalytical knowledge than me, please let me know. I'm pretty good, if I may say so myself, at noticing my own faults and fuck-ups, and I quite enjoy pointing them out to myself too. I can smell the brown leather couch in the counsellor's office already.
And that's about it for the evening. We watched a quick episode of Family Guy (so very, very funny, with a wicked surreal quality) and then a couple of episodes of Jam (so very, very disturbing and scary. The most disturbing element is that you find yourself laughing at something so dark and surreal. Chris Morris is a genius, albeit an insane one).
And now I find myself typing all of this stuff, basking in the gentle breeze coming in through the window, and with Disturbed on in the background, providing musical relief. The perfectly relaxing end to a relaxing weekend.
Now if only I can sort out the rest of the summer to be like this, but with a continual income too, my life would be complete.
Oh, and a girlfriend too, that would be nice to have as well. Here's praying (I was going to write "hoping", but it's reached the stage where nothing less than praying will suffice. A few more weeks and my soul will be up for auction on eBay...).
2 Comments:
You are aware that "you look like a friend of mine" is a classic I'll try and get chatting to this bloke line for girls don't you?
Kate http://screamtoasigh.blog-city.com
By 
, at 11:44 PM
you see, that would be my complete lack of ability around women thing that i have. i thus don't rule.
By 
Rob, at 3:26 AM
