Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Rocky Horror...and I don't just mean my family!

So I'm back in Plymouth. I have survived the book wars, which take place at the end of every Spring term, where students fight over library books to take out to do essays over the holidays. I am unscathed as well - I'm beginning to think I always choose the hard titles, hence me nearly always being able to get hold of books.
I also survived last weekend. There was a house party on Friday, which was amazing until we all got way too drunk, when I lost the power of communication and really messed up...Saturday was another house party, this time in Bristol, which was really nice. And Sunday I went out to dinner with my Mum and Nan for Mother's Day. In Plymouth. Which was really tasty, actually, they did me a delicious stirfry, with loads of yummy mushrooms.....mmmmm! It was also Syd's Birthday, but she's not nearby, so I rang her and we had a bit of a chat; I'm thinking of getting on a megabus soon to see her and also visit Bethan this 'holiday' (If you had to do 7,500 words this holiday you'd use commas too).
So I'm finally here. I'm doing what I always do when I get home; being taken out for lunch by Dad, and cleaning. 48 hours into me arriving there's always a kind of arguement - at least one of us falls out with the other, but with that out of the way this morning I'm hoping that's all over and done with.
My brother had a spare ticket to see Rocky Horror tonight, so we went to that, all dressed up and so on. I love Rocky Horror, and tonight was probably the best one I've seen! My favourite musical? Probably, actually, although offically Chicago holds that title. It was wicked, so glad Zander's friends couldn't/wouldn't go with him!
Anyway, it's late. I have to go peel myslef out of electric blue fishnets stockings before I go to bed. Night all!

Saturday, March 11, 2006

My Style Gurus

My Style Gurus

This is a special post that I will update, as and when I find somone else to add. My taste is bold, which is why so much kid's TV is there, and I love anything 1950's inspired. So, to date;

Holly Willoughby http://www.hollywilloughby.co.uk/


From Holly and Stephen's Saturday Showdown, and Dancing on Ice etc etc. Fabulous taste. And gorgeous.



Sophie (My Parents are Aliens) www.granadakids.com/aliens



Ok, so it's not the best picture, but if you watch the show, you'll see the costumes for Sophie are pretty funky.



New Update 30th August 2006



Cyndi Lauper





Awesome make-up, huh? Definitely more inspiring than Madonna, although until she started getting her bikini line out at every opportunity, I was quite a fan.



I should also register my approval of Sheridan Smith. Star of one of my favourite shows, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, she has possibly the best cleavage on television. Admittedly, she's often seen in tracksuits becasue of her character, Janet, but I think she's rather lovely. She's made quite a career out of her breasts too, Grownups, the other BBC Three show she stars in was kept afloat by them. Although the guy with the Welsh accent was rather sweet too. The picture is from the West End production of Little Shop of Horrors, and some of the other pictures I've seen are stunning.

By Special Request; Breasts!

Bethan and Penny are, of course, the very special requesters. Actually they've got a good point, a lot of time is spent talking about breasts; mostly our own, as we have best experience of them.
Penny is slender. Very slender in fact, and not just by my standards. However, she does it all without managing to look like a 12 year-old boy. How? She has slim hips, an even slimmer waist, and breasts which although small, are large in proportion to her body. She says it's all air filled, but then showed us (in her pajamas, perverts) the difference, sans bra. Well, as Bethan would say, I was holding myself back. Her boyfriend's a lucky man.
I'm a shortarse, as I've mentioned before, and what Bravissimo would call 'super curvy'. Which means that the difference between my waist and bust is significant. And I've always thought of my breasts as my best feature (well, for as long as I've had them, anyway). They are...medium. Or small, if you come from my family, where I'm beginning to think someone managed to concieve after a threesome with a pair of watermelons. Don't even think I'm joking. At family parties, my Nan and her sister get stuck in doorways, when walking sideways. And it's not excess baggage - just the way they're all shaped. I daily thank the errr, divine, or whatever, for my less extravagant breasts and the hips to balance them out. I am the hourglass people bang on about. With freakishly muscular legs to boot.
Bethan is similar in many ways, but I suspect would describe herself as more of a pear, as that's where her genes lie. As apposed to watermelons. But actually, she balances out well. Her breasts are definitely bigger than mine. Then again, she says that in proportions, mine are probably bigger (she's at least average height). Let's just call them sumptuous, because I love that word, and Bethan is more than a handful, so it's apt, too. And I am more than happy to reliquish the large breast crown to Bethan. As it's her. In fact, I'd probably look more like her, if it wasn't for that freak accident I can't remember at all (yet am convinced happened) when I was cruelly but unintentionally smacked on the head with a giant hammer and ended up six inches shorter than I should have been. (Not really, the women in my family rarely exceed five foot).
Anyway, I hope that fills their breast blog requirements!

Since I've been exercising I've had a stupid amount of energy. Strange but true. I went out on Thursday, threw some granny pants at the band we went to support, drank a bit and hugged everyone several times. And yesterday I was itching to go out dancing. It's made me realise how much I miss Will. Will was my dancing friend. We were very close, and had the same awful taste in music. Which was why we could go out dancing together. He never made a move on me (wish I could say the same) but was enough to throw off the wierdos when we were out. All the boys I know know like good music, and won't dance, or get the wrong idea.
Enough moaning, I'm going to Bristol later to go to a benefit Charley's putting on for our friends. It's mostly folk, but with cheesy DJ-ing from his flatmate! Yay! Much danceage tonight then.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Ooh! Quizzes!

You Are Psyche!
Eternally in search of purpose and insight.You're curious and creative with a total sense of wonder.Totally empathetic, you pick up on other's moods easily.Just be sure to pamper yourself as well!
What Goddess Are You?

I know, I'm really opinionated.

So, discussion in our house yesterday evening. I know I'm really cold and harsh and all that, but I was relieved that the Euopean Court said no to Natalie Evans with her request to use the embryos her and her ex partner froze to have a baby. I think the court was right because;

1/ It is not your right to have your own genetic child. I'm sure it's lovely, and very fulfilling but really, as someone who was brought up by a man who is not my father, it doesn't make a difference. The world is overpopulated. Infanticide is common in certain areas such as China, abortions happen regularly, babies are given for adoption. Adopt instead.

2/Why does she think it is just up to her to decide when to have a baby? It's not just up to her, it is as much her ex partner's choice as hers. No contest. Things change.

3/Why does she think it's a good idea to knowingly have a baby without a father? Would you want to be that baby, finding out that your father did not want you, and that it was dragged through the courts to stop you being born? I actually think that single parent families are fine, and that single people should be able to adopt, but this is an argument that could be put forward.

4/The rights of the unborn child. If she really believed in those, she would attempt to carry every single one of those embryos. Bet she wouldn't. Some would be destroyed. I work on a pain factor. I'm told that the foetus develops a central nervous system at about 10 - 12 weeks. After that it probably can feel pain, and then I think it probably does have rights, in my opinion. If I got pregnant and felt I had to abort, I would do everything I could to make sure I did it beofre then. I think here was a case of someone misusing someone else's ethics to make an impression on the court.

Bethan disagrees with me, citing the genetic child as important; which is fine, but I just disagree funadamentally. Then again, as I said, I'm harsh - I don't think IVF should be available on the NHS. In fact I think it shouldn't be available at all, but I understand the exsistential arguement there - how can you univent it?

In my seminar today we talked about this kind of thing a little; it was interesting becuase one girl even thought that rape vitcims shouldn't be allowed abortions, becuase of the child's right to life. She was coming from a religious point of view, obviously not my thing, but it was good to hear someone being more radical than me, even if I totally disagree.

Anyway, today I must choose and start to research essay titles. I love choosing essay titles! In fact I love everything and everyone. I'm ovulating at the moment, and I've been swimming twice and to the gym twice this week. I'm over-energised! I went out last night, there was a lot of love from everyone, we were all hugging each other. A little too much alcohol, and a generally over excited bunch of people. Nice though, had a good time.

Monday, March 06, 2006

oh no, she's banging on about veganism again...

I know I've mentioned it before, but I REALLY REALLY love and am addicted to www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com ...and today I was browsing Jennifershmoo's other blog (see it at www.schmooblog.blogspot.com). She has made a little list of
...if the whole world was vegan...

Which made me think of my own list! (YAY! I love lists!!)

If the Whole World were Vegan I would....

1/ Eat out a lot more. Being Vegan means eating out is hard, if not actually impossible. Usually there may be one thing on the menu you can collaberate with the chef over to make it vegan. Or you can go to a special restaurant, where the food may be vegan, but it may equally be tasteless, and I hate paying for food when I can make it better at home. (That actually happens a lot. I think it's partly because when you cook for yourself, usually totally from scratch, ALL the time, you really get down to what you like and what you don't. It's also because when you have that much practice, and are a student on a seriously low budget you've got to get good - or really hungry.)

2/Make more friends! Maybe. Some people, I've noticed, make eating a lot of meat part of their personality...How odd is that? I'm a vegan, but it's not my personality - it's my lifestyle, idiot. It does make compassion part of my personality though - what do you get?

3/Talk about vegan food less, and talk about food more. It would all be the same!

4/Start up the 50's diner I dream about - immediately. I'd be one of the few who actually knew how to cook.

5/Hopefully, get more time to study and make clothes - now I can eat out!

6/Drink alcohol (especially wine) and not think twice!

7/Rejoice in smoke free air. I have a strong belief that you can't smoke and be vegan. Think of the Beagles, and all the crap in the tobacco - you know what it is, do you? Do you my ass! There is a vegan brand, but that doesn't make it much nicer.

Anyway, that list got a bit out of hand. I don't mean to sound so...vegan!
I do like my lists, so there's bound to be more. It's another seminar week, I'm up late trying to scrape a presentation together - I hate giving bad presentations, but I've really tried on this one, but am throughly confused.
Another one to give on Friday...there are not enough hours this week.
If you see any bits of my brain floating round Wales after my head has exploded, please let me know...I feel a combustion coming on!

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Jesus H Christ...

What the hell is going on? So many people I used to know at school are (no, not pushing prams, thankyou, Billy and Kirsty - it's much scarier than that) getting religion. And not just religion, but Christianity. Well, bugger me with a fishfork. I was a particularly spiritual person at school; I was a solitary witch and it was a big part of my life. It helped me a lot, but it helped me the most by making me realise that the best way for me to honour the divine was by actually getting off my ass and doing something, which is part of the reason why I do activism. But my beliefs are deeply rooted in ecology and so on, and as an anarchist, organised religion is crazy shit as far as I'm concerned (and all this from a girl who went to sunday school for ten years). What's most interesting is the way it's happening at the same stage of people's lives, while they're at university. (Don't you know you're supposed to be having orgies and experimenting with drugs? It's the anti-rebellious backlash! I guess I'm not either, but I don't know about you guys - I did all that while at school.)
I still love all you guys. But I can't say I understand you.
I think that's ok though, no doubt I'm difficult to understand too!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

so much driving....

Sorry ozone layer. I really am. I think that this week I have sealed its fate by driving from Swansea to Plymouth to Falmouth and all the way back again. I didn't want to learn to drive, but then I had the experience known as 'driving with Ben'. Ben could drive. Ben would drive. Ben would drive lots of people around to various things around the country. With Ben I travelled many miles. After a while it became apparent that Ben was incredibly short sighted. (My right eye is pretty bad, but his were both worse.) After that, driving with Ben was hardly relaxing. I couldn't sleep because at roundabouts and junctions he couldn't read the signs. This experience really spurred me into action on the learning to drive front. And it took tears, rage and three driving instructors and tests but I did it. Just. And yet I still reckon I'm one of the safest drivers I know. I also reckon everyone says that.
Anyway, Charley can't drive. Well, he can, but he's not allowed, they say he has too many bad habits. He failed his test 6 times. So I drove. And drove.

The funeral was actually ok, teary, but there was a real sense of relief, closure and thankfulness that she wasn't suffering any longer. She was buried, and Charley was a bearer, which I think is a really brave and lovely thing to do.
She left him one of their mother's rings, which she had 'looked after' for him.
In better news, there's to be a wedding of one of Charley's nieces in September, and plans to make a proper weekend of it; I love Charley's family, there's so many of them! If we can go, it'll be fun.

Afterwards we went to see our good friend Syd. She lives nearby, and it was so great to see her. She cooked us a fabulous (and let me tell you, I am seriously fussy about indian style food) coconut curry - I don't think I've enjoyed aubergine in anything so much, ever. It was so nice to catch up a bit, I haven't seen her in ages as she traverses the country to see family and partner, and our paths rarely cross these days. We went through all her books and stuff, and she has a new laptop; maybe she'll visit here soon!?

It was nice to see our cats and my Dad and brother too; I took some photos of the cats, when I get Zander to send them over I'll hopefully upload them.

Now I'm making an appearance back in Wales after missing a whole week of lectures I'd better get on with those seminar presentations...and there's supposed to be a lecturer strike next week. I've got no chance, have I?

On house news; I can't quite believe it but; Bethan's room is really quite tidy! What has happened? All my housemates are out, I might die of suspense before Penny gets back!