Wednesday, July 21
Apologies
I'm back at my parents' at the moment (still), which clearly has prevented me from going to the Bloggers' Meetup that was arranged for this evening. I've decided to stay here for a couple more days, and won't be back in London until Friday lunchtime.I will also be very hungover, for reasons that I will describe this weekend. I'm not hugely in the mood for writing a marathon post here, so I will save it until Friday afternoon or Saturday, when I will hopefully be that way inclined.
Also, I haven't got access to my gooneruk.com email account, so apologies if you sent me an email and think I'm ignorant for not replying. I will get back to you!
I've got a few sets of photos to upload when I get back to London (didn't bring my cable back here with me), including a nice contrast between two bus rides I've had.
Until the weekend, then.
Sunday, July 18
Erm, Can't Think Of A Title
I'm struggling to think of a title, and also of a coherent structure for this post. I think it could be another random, these-things-have-happened post. Apologies in advance for that one...I've got a little list on one of the notepads lying around my room of subjects I want / need to write about, but I wrote it a week ago and have now forgotten the details that these little headings were supposed to inspire me to write about. For instance, having the word "Internet" in the list gives me no clue whatsoever as to what I was thinking about. Therefore, this is going to be a rambling, possibly nonsensical, and certainly not chronological post.
Basically, like any other post, if the truth be told.
I'll start by mentioning that I watched the original Japanese version of Ring on Saturday night, after I got back home from work. A housemate and his girlfriend were watching Donnie Brasco in the living room, so I popped Ring in my computer and watched it there, with the sound pumping out of my ever-so-bassy stereo. Come to think of it, it's Saturday night again, and now a different housemate and his girlfriend are watching Donnie Brasco in the living room. Weird...
Anyway, I own a copy of the Hollywood remake of The Ring (the one with Naomi Watts, who is a fucking brilliant actress. Get a copy of 21 Grams to see her at her best), and whilst I was pretty impressed (yes, and scared) by it, I'd heard so many good things about the Japanese original that I just had to see that at some point. Thankfully, the DVD rental website I use sorted me out on that one.
The only problem that came with watching the remake first is that you know pretty much what is going to happen. This is reinforced by the fact that almost every camera shot (especially in the opening scene with the schoolgirls) is exactly the same in both versions. Nevertheless, the ending in the original is a bit different, so I still shat myself at a couple of points.
Oh, and "shit" is such a fantastic verb to use in various tenses! It's almost as good as the classic example of "smite". You can use smite in so many cool ways. "He was smote"; "You shall be smitten"; "God smites heretics"; "A smiting shall occur"; Goddamn I love using that word.
Anyway...
So yeah, get hold of Ring, especially if you haven't seen the American version. Watch it in the dark, alone if possible, and scare yourself. The film that properly scared me the first time I saw it was The Exorcist, but I blame that on building up to it by sitting in the dark for an hour, alone, listening to Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield (the film's theme tune). I was very fucking scared by the end of that one.
That "Internet" on my list is still bugging me. What the hell was I wanting to write about? Meh.
I think we went to play a bit of football again on Sunday, as well as a little bit of cricket, if memory serves. I swear that walk gets longer and steeper each time we go! The real killer is getting home and then having to go up 2 (2!) flights of stairs before I can collapse onto my bed. Note to self: claim a ground-floor bedroom next time.
I was rudely awoken on Monday morning by a phone call from my landlord, concerning the rent, or lack of for June. And yes, this would have been on 12th of July, exactly one day before July's rent was due. I'll go into the whole issue of rent at some other time, because I'm on a meandering post here, rather than a rant / discussion of one topic.
I had a day off on Monday, but I can't remember anything that I did. I'm sure I did something productive, I must have done! Did I blog on Monday? I can't remember, and I'm still too lazy to check.
Ahh, that was it: I got a phone call on Monday from my Mum, who was at her sister's house. Apparently, the entire extended family was there, including my aunt, uncle and cousin from up in Scotland (random trivia: my Dad's side of the family come from a tiny town called Troon, which is currently playing host to the world's golfing greats and Nick Faldo).
Anyway, the important information she had to tell me was that my aunt (my mum's sister) was planning to take my Scottish relations to London on the Tuesday, and was wondering whether I could / would be able to meet with them, at least for a few hours. I had work on Tuesday evening, but of course I was ready and willing.
And so Tuesday rolled around. I met them at Trafalgar Square, grabbed a Subway sandwich with them (my new favourite food place), and we stopped at Victoria Gardens to munch them. As I've said before, Victoria Gardens is just about my favourite place in Central London. It's tranquil, very green, and a perfect place to get away from the hubbub for a little while.
We then walked over to the London Eye, since they'd booked tickets for a "flight", as the marketing paraphrenalia insists on calling it. I'd been on it twice before, but my uncle insisted that I join them, going so far as to pay for my ticket. Thanks for that one!
I took a few photos, which I'm now in the process of adding to my Photoblog. There's even one of me, for the random person that asked for one. Strange one that, whomever it was.
After that exhilerating circular journey, we popped over Westminster Bridge to gawp at Big Ben, and then ambled up Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square again. Basically, we did a big loop of the Westminster area, which I haven't done since I (drunkenly) got lost there a few months back on my way to the last Phase.
It's been a while since I've done anything touristy, to be honest. I struggle to appreciate the sights of London, since I see them every day, and they just happen to be on my way from one place to another. I guess the hordes of camera-toting, AtoZ-holding, slow-walking tourists should give the game away, but Meh.
I took them to Covent Garden, but had to abandon them there in order to get home to get changed to go to work. I must have spent nearly 3 hours on the Tube that day. And yes, I still did my usual thing of looking around, at people and at the floor. I keep thinking back to that test thing I did the week before.
Oh, that reminds me: I got a follow-up phone call from them on Monday morning, asking me a few more questions about the experience and any subsequent Tube travel. The lady was once more fascinated when I mentioned that I now notice myself noticing other people, but again I couldn't expand on it too much, because it is only a fleeting thing each time.
That was one of the phone calls that stopped me from having a decent amount of sleep on Monday. I did my usual Sunday night thing of watching the baseball until nearly 5, but was rudely awoken by my landlord at 9.30, as I mentioned. It took half an hour to sort that crap out, so I went back to sleep.
The psychiatrist lady then rang me some time around 11, and was on the phone with me for about 10 minutes. I dropped off to sleep once more, only to be woken by a third phone call, this time from my Mum, the one I referred to earlier. That was the last straw. I knew that there was no way the world was going to let me get a decent amount of sleep for the rest of the day, so I capitulated and went for a shower.
Note to self: Turn mobile phone OFF at night. I'm usually very good at remembering to do that, for the precise reason of not being woken by it in the morning, but it seems on the nights that I forget, I always get a call before 10am. Don't these people know that I work late?!
Anyway, time to draw this rambling mess to a close. I'm off to my parents' house (there's that phrase again) for a few days, but I should be able to get online at some point. Stay tuned for random (OK, slightly planned) posts about the rent issue, and also the "fun" I've had at work this week. I've made notes for them, decent ones that I'll be able to follow!
