After a couple of exhausting weeks of making a million calls and viewing properties, I've finally found a place to live in London \o/
I'll take pictures when I move in (whenever that will be; I'm not sure yet).
Hmmm, I'm not sure that I fancy moving now though. London's gone quite scary. Srsly, London, what's going on?
Yo!
I am being strangled by the flat-hunting monster at the moment so I don't have much time to write. Here are a few things though.
1. Thanks for all the birthday cards and wishes and presents, guys! I got some lovely things from Mariya that I would love to share with you all, along with photographic evidence of some birthday-card wars (because you were clearly trying to outdo each other. Nick and Linda, I am looking mostly at you). But photos and things will have to wait for another time. Needless to say, I love you all ♥
2. This is quite possibly my favourite Horrible Histories sketch of the all:
Francisco Pizarro visits Peru
3. Can we talk about Sherlock? Not that you get a say in this, mind :D It's been a whole year now since it was first on the telly-box. Can you believe that? I'm pretty sure exciting filming things are happening for the second series right now (although I'm attempting to stay as far away from any spoilers as possible).
Anyway, I figured it was an appropriate time to share some things:
- This girl is talented and funny and quite awesome. She sings songs about the show and they are well worth a listen. The latest song about Dr Sarah is an absolute corker, but the others are good too.
- Words cannot describe how much I want to see the Shard building in the second series. It's been growing over the past year or so and now it's gotten to the point where London's skyline has been changed dramatically. And the thing's not even finished! Honestly, in some parts of London, it's impossible not to notice it. I adored how the first series was basically a love-letter to modern London. What better way to emphasise that modernity than to show the new skyline? Please?
- This one's only tangentially related. I watched Van Gogh: Painted With Words the other week because it was being repeated on TV. I don't normally care much for biographies but this one was interesting in that they took all the lines from Van Gogh's own letters. It was heartbreaking too. I was nearly in tears by the end. Great stuff.
4. I've still been reading millions of books. Including The Grapes of Wrath. Golly, it's easy to see why that book's famous when you read it. It's very good and very angry. I don't think I've ever read a book that's been so angry or so socialist before. I highly enjoyed it. Warning though: reading this book on an empty stomach will have you pining for a nice bit of pork (not a euphemism).
Hi guys!
I'm busy trying to get used to this working business again. SUDDENLY ALL MY FREE TIME HAS DISAPPEARED. This is mostly due to a gruelling commute, which is actually not so much gruelling as just long.
Still, work is good and the people all seem nice, although I was suffering from a bit of confusion when I started because apparently my subconscious finds it hard to go from one workplace to another. Ahaha. Change management; I need to learn how to do it to myself.
The next task is to move to London and give the train the old heave-ho. The good thing about the train though, is that it gives me loads of time to read. I've been going through books at the rate of knots!
Here, have some book-y thoughts:
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
I finally finished it! It's a fun read this one, although I'm still trying to work out exactly why it's become such a cult classic. It's a good book though, and I always adore things that make me laugh. GIGGLING ON THE TRAIN; IT'S A GOOD LOOK, SHUT UP. A lot of the humour is very very silly, but the book is clever in that there is a lot of sensible stuff hidden amongst the silliness. One of my favourite bits of sense is the following:
It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.
I also liked this bit of silliness:
Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.
Cordial and Corrosive by Sophie Hannah
This book was recommended to me by a friend because it's about a guy who is having very little success with finding a job. The premise sounds a little dull, I know, but don't let that fool you, the story is actually really great and not much about job-hunting at all when you get down to it. It's more of a mystery story set in the cliquey world of a Cambridge college with some great characters. I almost couldn't put it down in places. Highly recommended. Warning: best read while employed, though.
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
I'm still only halfway through this one, but I'm really enjoying it so far. This book is not fiction. It's a book-shaped rant about all the confusing bits of 'science' that the media and advertisers like to bombard us with on a weekly basis. I'd first heard of Ben Goldacre when I heard him on the radio once, getting angry about all the nonsense that gets attributed to 'science' in the news (oh those crazy scientists, apparently everything causes cancer these days according to them); it was a wonderful moment in which I felt like I'd found a kindred spirit. He's also apparently pals with the Prof (aka Brian Cox) and all his Infinite Monkey Cage friends, which knowledge spurred me on to buy the book.
So far, the book is great. It picks out a lot of nonsense (like homeopathy and everyone's favourite poo-obsessed TV nutritionist) and explains how they don't hold up to scientific rigour. He gets a little angry sometimes, but I personally quite enjoy that. YMMV. There's also a fascinating chapter on the placebo effect, which points out that homeopathy and other alternative therapies aren't without their benefits. Who knew?
And, while I'm on it, let's have some non-book reviews!
Ideal
I've been watching this show with my parents. It's a BBC3 comedy that's been running for a good few years now, but I missed it when it first aired. Let me tell you: I had been missing out. We're only on the second series so far, but I love it already. Don't be put off by the fact that it's on BBC3. This show is funny. It's a rather dark sitcom about a drug dealer, played by Johnny Vegas, and all his customers. It starts off fairly normal, but things slowly start to grow more and more surreal as time goes on. Most of the comedy comes from the characters, who are all amazing, and slightly terrifying.
Here's a clip of Troy, who's the crazy brother. He likes to think he's a DJ.
Song of the moment
Howlin' For You by the Black Keys
Kinda bluesy. Mmmmmmmm.
Psychoville and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle are now over D:
Oh, it was great while it lasted though, Stewart Lee in particular. The noises I used to make when watching that show were embarassing (kind of: heeheeheehyuhyuhyuheehyuhahahaha). God, it was brilliant. I wish there were better clips on youtube so I could regale you with them, but for now, you will have to make do with this one about satire.
So, what now?
Well, I start work on Monday \o/
But, in the mean time, I have been watching Horrible Histories :D
Yes, I know it's a children's programme (and you can tell that because of the number of jokes about poo), but as sketch shows go, it's actually quite funny. If this had been on when I was 9, it would have been my favourite thing in the world.
Clips!
Introducing, books!
WWI Wee Wee
Dick Turpin (this has resulted in me rocking out to Stand and Deliver for the past two days)
Hi!
Remember when I used to be a person who drew pictures? No, me neither.
A very rough WWI drawing. (Hahaha. What do you mean they don't look like sandbags?) I've been reading a bit about WWI recently. Can you believe that it was nearly 100 years ago now? Wow. Horrific, horrific times. Apart from the uniforms though; the uniforms were cool.
Also, I have had my tablet for over a year now and this is only about the fifth time I've used it. Worthwhile purchase! Shhhh. I love my tablet, really.
In other news, I went to Helen's pre-Hen-do do on Friday. It was fun! We baked cupcakes and ate pizza and watched Flashdance. If you don't know the plot of Flashdance (Which I think will be a very very small number of people, but you never know) here is a handy summary:
- Girl is a welder by day and by night works in a bar full of greasy truckers who prefer artistic contemporary dance to seeing a lady get her baps out.
- She is so poor that she has to live in a massive warehouse.
- But what she really wants to do is dance at the conservatoire with all the poshos.
- I think some plot might happen in the middle. I wasn't paying attention.
- She does an amazing dance for her audition, but everyone agrees that it's not as good as Robert Webb's version.
Then we watched Confetti, which was not quite as hilarious as it could have been, given all the people that were in it, but it did contain Robert Webb's winky, which was welcome after all the sexual tension generated by that dancing.
My parents and I went for a little trip down to the Thames yesterday. The weather wasn't brilliant but there were loads of swans, so I think we broke even.
The sky looks rather dramatic in my photos. I'm sure it wasn't that dramatic when we were there.
Wild roses, apparently.
We also found a sign to Sex City, home of free anal. Thank goodness for that! Being unemployed, I'm always on the lookout for a bargain.
Then we went and had a burger at a Wimpy. A Wimpy! The burger came on a plate and everything! God, I've never been in a Wimpy before. And to be honest, I didn't think they were even still around. I thought they were one of these old mythical creatures that everyone talks about but never actually existed, like centaurs or Middlesex.
I bought new glasses today! I got my old pair four whole years ago, so it's good to feel a little more fashionable again.
Of course, my new glasses look almost exactly like my old glasses, only the arms are a little more modern (and, God, I'm not used to this. It feels like I'm wearing blinkers all the time! Peripheral vision? What's that? I don't need it, do I?)
Also, I found my webcam :D
'Serious glasses modelling' pose:
'No, wait, I'm still an idiot' pose:
Gah, it's going to take a while to break these new glasses in though. As always happens whenever I get new glasses, my depth perception has disappeared completely D:
I spent all afternoon feeling really tall because the ground looked so far away!
Bear with me if you see me walking into things for a while.
Guys,
I got a job!
I'm really excited. It's a one-year contract, based in an archive in south London. This means I'll probably be moving back to London in the near future :D :D
Now, don't get me wrong, I love where I am living now, but London is so exciting! The only problem is that I'll have to flatshare again. I'll miss having my own space, but still, it could be lots of fun. I hear the place to go for new flatmates these days is the lab at St Bart's. I should check it out.
In all seriousness though, I am so glad that I was able to find work in an archive. It's only when you're faced with the prospect of not being able to do the job you want to do that you realise how much you enjoy doing it.
I love working in archives. And it's not only for the touching of the old stuff and being able to hold a piece of history in your hands. It's the fact that every day I get to learn something new. It might be an obscure something, but it will doubtless be a fascinating insight into where we have come from ♥
To celebrate, I have been dancing along to Bounce by Calvin Harris.
I also re-watched The Great Game :D
Clearly, I know how to PARTY HARRRRRD.
Oh dear.
This was not supposed to happen.
I've been watching Doctor Who solely for the jokes and Matt Smith's hair. And I was pretty sure that I didn't really care one way or another about who was romantically involved with who. (Haha! Todays pun quota = filled unintentionally.) (Ok, so it should technically be 'whom', but I'm not one to let grammar stand in the way of a good pun!)
Of course, yesterday's episode had to come along and scupper everything.
This video should explain things adequately. (Warning: It contains spoilers for yesterday's episode, The Doctor's Wife, if you care about things like that.)
ahahahahaha BEST ROMANCE EVER :D
I spent my book token this week. It was only when I put my new book on by bedtime reading pile, that I realised quite how massive it is.
My new book is as big as my old book!
Woo! Sherlock Holmes is in the house! How I have managed to go 26 years without reading any of these stories, I don't know. Time to fix it now :D
I also bought Good Omens because everyone and their aunt raves about how good it is, so I figured I should finally read it. And I should have The Three Musketeers winging its way to me very soon too (Dumas! Get in!)
I have £5 left to spend on this book token. I might wait and see if anything else catches my eye.
In other news, I've been watching some good shows this week.
Good shows I have watched this week
1. Psychoville - Series 2
God, this show is scary. The League of Gentlemen was comedy with a touch of horror, whereas Psychoville is horror with a touch of comedy. I spend more of my time cowering rather than laughing. But in a good way!
2. Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - Series 2
I am so happy that this show is back for a second series! Stewart Lee is a very funny man. While watching the first episode, I think I laughed loud enough to annoy the people in the flat next door. He has a sense of timing that's unconventional but amazing; I laughed more when he wasn't talking than I did when he was talking (p.s. that was a compliment).
There are quite a few clips of the show on YouTube if you go looking for them, but this is one of my favourite parts from the first series.
Stewart Lee talks about rappers.
Did a bit of walking in the May Day sunshine yesterday. Nearly all the trees have their leaves now, but there's still plenty of blossom about. We're on the cusp of summer. I love it.
You can't see them in this photo, but there were loads of little ducklings playing about in the currents of this stream. It was the cutest thing.
The woods were carpeted in bluebells :D
And also
Have a watch of Adam Buxton reading out some YouTube comments. It sounds simple, but it's very very funny.
Speaking of funny, it looks like there are going to be some jolly good comedy shows starting up on TV this week. I can't wait!
As promised, here are my new sandals:
They are surprisingly comfortable! I'M GOING TO WEAR THEM ALL SUMMER.
In other news, two things happened to me yesterday:
1. I watched the second episode of The Walking Dead.
2. I had a nightmare about evil mummies coming back to life.
I HAVE A SNEAKING SUSPICION THAT 1. AND 2. MAY BE RELATED.
Hmm. I shall have to watch this so I can be prepared.
I've always thought it would be awesome to be a zombie extra in a film. Trying to walk like a zombie is so much fun! (I can't be the only person who tries this at home. Can I?)
Here's the thing. As I go about my daily business, I (without meaning to) mentally compile lists of things that I should blog about. And I don't blog about it right away because I always seem to be busy on that particular day, but I tell myself that I will get to it soon. But then the list of things that I have to blog about ends up growing so large that I would never have the time to write a blog post about it all anyway and, of course...
This means that I don't post for weeks on end.
I AM SORRY GUYS. I need to learn to start posting short snippets. It'll be easier that way. (I have been telling myself this for about 7 years now. It's not worked yet. BUT IT WILL WORK THIS TIME. OPTIMISM.)
Here, look at all these things I'm going to be telling you about today.
CONTENTS
1. tl;dr My mental health
2. And all the rest of it
***
tl;dr My mental health
I have been meaning to write about this for ages. I don't bring it up much, because I don't like to be too serious on the internets. (Actually, I don't like to be serious when I'm not on the internets for that matter.) BUT LET'S TRY THIS SERIOUS LARK FOR ONCE, SHALL WE.
You may have heard me mention, briefly, over the past couple of years, that I have been suffering from a bit of a mental health problem. It's not serious serious, but it's not very pleasant either.
In its bare bones, here's what I what I was dealing with:
1. Fear of panic attacks
2. Anxiety
3. OCD
Look at that last one! OCD! It was a late developer, that one; I only really generated it in the autumn last year. Didn't realise it was OCD at the time though. Who knew?
Anyway, I'm telling you all this because I have good news to report! It turns out that the OCD was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back. When I realised that I was unable to really do anything without being terrified all the ruddy time, I decided to go to the doctor.
Now, some people had told me to go to the doctor about this before (thanks, Nick!) but it's one of these things that you really have to work yourself up towards. For ages, I was in the mindset of a lot of people. I'd say: I'm going to the doctor about this. And they'd say: Oh, you don't have to do that, surely? As if somehow going to the doctor means it's suddenly serious. As if this is still the 1800s and mental health treatments are all straight-jackets and padded cells and all the mad criminals in Batman.
Luckily, this is the 21st century, and it's not Batman either. Phew.
The way I see it is like this:
If you had a rash, you would go to the doctor to get some cream for it. It's not serious, but it is itchy all the same. And while, if you don't go to the doctor, your limbs are not going to fall off, the rash might spread and get itchier, and who wants to put up with all that when you can easily go to the doctor and just get some cream for it already?
So, I finally decided to go to my doctor to get some (metaphorical) cream for my (metaphorical) rash.
My doctor was really nice about it. He let me explain the symptoms, and then, instead of pressuring me into anything, he sat back and said: So, what do you want?
And I said: I don't want drugs, but I do want to talk to someone. So he referred me onto a local mental health team.
MY TREATMENT HAD BEGUN :D
So, what happened from there, was that I got some treatment in the form of a lovely lady called Alison who phoned me every week. I told her my story in the initial call, and then she sent me some self-help books based on CBT that were specific to my problems.
These books are wonderful. They set down everything in clear terms, took all my fears and explained them away, one by one. Having something authoritatively spelt out on the page was so reassuring to me.
Of course, while the theory may make perfect sense, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can take it to heart. But the good thing about CBT is that it's built around exercises that you can do to re-train your brain to stop thinking in the same way.
And this is where the phone calls with Alison came in. She'd point out which exercises it would be best for me to try, and then set me tasks so I'd have to do them and report back to her the next week.
The exercises I had to do were all based around exposing myself to the stuff that was scaring me, and while that's hard at first, it gets so much easier as you keep going.
I had my final phonecall with Alison a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER THAN I DID JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO.
MILES BETTER.
MILES AND MILES :D
I'm not 100% yet, but now I have the tools to help me, so I know that if I keep working at it, it'll only be a matter of time before I'm back to my old carefree self.
Words cannot express how wonderful this is. (Rashes are annoying, you know. Even metaphorical ones.)
Wow, that really was tl;dr. SORRY ABOUT THAT.
Here, let me lump the rest of my news together in one category.
***
And all the rest of it
1. I bought some lovely new sandals a week or so ago. I WILL TAKE A PICTURE OF THEM WHEN I AM WEARING THEM SOMETIME I PROMISE.
2. I have a book token that I need to spend. But what to buy? If you have any suggestions, please feel free to fling them in my direction!
3. I did some volunteering at my old work-place last week. It was great to be able to see everyone again.
4. Why am I eagerly watching the new series of Dr Who? I never used to be a Dr Who fan. Isn't it a bit silly? WHERE DID I GO WRONG. If only it would stop making me laugh. I'm a sucker for anything that makes me laugh.
5. Speaking of which, Twenty Twelve finished and it was very very funny. I'm watching Campus right now, which is pretty funny and wonderfully surreal, and we won't even mention where it's set :D
"But, whatever could it be?" you ask.
"Well," I say. "Have you heard of caramelldansen? Have you heard of Sherlock? Have you ever considered putting the two together?"
"Golly gosh!" you say. "But that would be... would be..."
"Exactly," I say. "Exactly."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjDKFNgQ6-Q
Oh God. You know when something seems like a fun idea at first, but then it takes forever and a day to complete? Animation is harrrrd, man.
Also, that music is stuck in my head permanently now D:
It was my last day at work on Thursday. I found it a bit sad because I really enjoyed working with everyone a lot; we always seemed to have the best conversations :D Still, I might go back as a volunteer, so I may get to work with them again!
It was Simon's last day on Wednesday, and we clubbed together to buy a tonne of cakes and pastries. NOMNOMNOM. I also bought some glowsticks, for that extra rave-y atmoshpere! TECHNO TECHNO TECHNO TECHNO.
I got some nice gift vouchers as a leaving present, which I am going to spend like a beast, and I also got a very pretty bouquet of flowers.
Such a gorgeous colour! Very spring-like.
Now, let me tell you, my new found free time is wonderful. First thing I did was to finally tidy my flat post-leak. Everything is now back in my wardrobe, and I'm shocked to find that I have so much free space!
Then I cooked mother's day fajitas for my parents and forced them to watch the first two episodes of Twenty Twelve :D
Other tasks for this week include:
- sending off some job applications
- attempting to get as much money out of the government as I can
- going for lunch with my grandparents
- finishing my SUPER SECRET PROJECT :D (hopefully more details on that later)