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Oh hi! I haven't been around much recently. Which is mostly because I've been on holiday.

Last weekend, Steve, Heather and I flew over to Frankfurt to see Nick, and Linda drove across from Luxembourg too. The reason for the trip was to celebrate Nick's birthday but not Steve's (because celebrating birthdays early in Germany is unlucky and bad). Sorry, Steve, but you probably wouldn't have enjoyed a birthday party anyway.

Song of the weekend:
Baby by Justin Bieber (because someone was kind enough to give Nick a hardback Bieber biography as a birthday present. I am the best friend, I know.)

Time to recap our trip in a very image-heavy and text-light way because a picture is worth a thousand words, right? And it's late in the evening.

Frankfurt is called Bankfurt because it has a lot of banks in it, including the European Central Bank here, which is in the shape of a Euro. Nick didn't believe that Frankfurt was nicknamed Bankfurt, but it was on a sign at the Occupy Frankfurt protest so it must be true.

This is the main touristy square in Frankfurt which is close to the cathedral with the big dong (IT'S GOT A LOUD BELL OK GUYS). The buildings in this square look old but they're all lies. Unfortunately, Frankfurt got severely bombed in the Second World War so there's hardly anything around that pre-dates the 1950s.

Here is the Museum for Communication. We never went in because you have to pay and we are cheap, but it had an awesome robot on a horse outside so we all stopped to take photos.

That evening we had a red wine fondue with pork and beef (which were tasty) and shallots (which no-one enjoyed). Afterwards, we sat down for story time and Nick told us about the ups and downs of his love life, with the aid of a handy graph and also this music. It was very emotional. We were all seriously moved.

The next day we went to Bad Homburg, which is a pretty little spa town. We didn't find the statue of a rabbit that we were looking for, but we did find a schloss. This one was built by some duke or something? Idk. Nick wasn't able to furnish us with this information.

Inside the schloss was a tower that was (if I remember correctly) built in the 17th century. I think that's a statue of the duke in the tower. Here you can see Steve appreciating it.

Then it was time for traditional German food nearby. The place we went to had lots of stags heads on the wall. They were tiny stags too! I had the schnitzel and potatoes. Heather was all up for the sauerkraut until she got some and realised what it was.

That evening we went out on the town. I wore high heels for the first time in weeks (hooray!) and we went to a club that played electro swing. I might make another post about electro swing later. I'd never heard of it before, but it sounds a bit like this and it's quite possibly the best thing I've heard in a club ever. Dancing to it was seriously fun. Unfortunately, the club was very hot and very smoky so we couldn't stay for long because it was making us all feel ill :(

The next day we said goodbye to Linda and then went for a walk. On the route was a memorial to green sauce, a local Frankfurt delicacy. Apparently, in this case, 'memorial' means 'row of empty greenhouses next to a field'. Who knew?

The walk took us along the River Main. In the background you can see where they're building the new headquarters of the European Central Bank. I'm not quite sure why they're moving. It could be because that giant Euro has just gotten too small for them, but I like to think they're moving to get away from the occupy protest.

The rest of the day was filled with eating and taking impromptu naps because we were all quite tired from the day before.

On our final day we went for a walk in the woods. It was very nice until we almost got lost. Then Nick turned on the GPS on his phone and we realised that we were only a few metres from where we were supposed to be. Note for the future: use the bloody GPS!

In the woods there was a playground with swings and slides and everything, which we all played on because we are good at acting our age. There was also a maze. Heather and Steve got to the middle of the maze first. You can tell how enthralled Steve was about this.

Earlier in the holiday, when Steve was falling asleep in a café, this happened.
Nick: Steve, are you tired?
Steve: No, I'm just bored.

Well, then. Although we hadn't started listening to Bieber at that point, so maybe it was a fair assessment.

And that's all we did on our trip (well, there might have been other stuff, but I don't have photos of it so I've forgotten).

Before I go, a special mention (feel free to play this music again, guys) a special mention has to go to Malibu, who we met in Nick's flat. You might think that Malibu is a fridge, but no, Malibu is a cupboard that just looks like a fridge. I think Malibu has a special place in all our hearts.

Until we meet again, Malibu. Until we meet again.

Foot Update

I am still hobbling around in trainers. But at least I am now hobbling faster. Success! I think the pain is going too. I can walk well enough that I've now said 'screw you' to the bus and have started walking to the tube station again. Ah, it's so nice to be able to walk during my morning commute, even if it does hurt. Having to take twice the amount of public transport in the morning was giving me twice the amount of public transport-related rage.

Also, the swelling is going down. There's now a hint that I've got some ankle bones in there somewhere! Good. Let's just ignore the odd bruising for now though; I'm sure it's fine.

***

Tiger Update

So, the tiger apparently got tired of living in the kitchen. I came home one evening to find it staring at me from a darkened room:

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ITS GAME IS. But, at least, in there it's less scary in a shocking way; now it's just scary in an insidiously creepy way. Good job, tiger.

Normally this room, which is my flatmate's spare room, is kept in the dark, but I got home a few days ago to find that the lights were on.

Ten minutes after that, I realised that I'd actually started singing an impromptu song to myself with the lyrics: 'Tiger's got the lights on. Tiger's got the lights on. Tiger's got the lights onnnn. Tiger. Tiger. Tiger. Tiger.' (It was quite a good song actually, but maybe you had to be there.)

***

Street music

This is a list I've compiled. It's a list of songs I have actually heard on the street because someone thought it would be fun to play them super loud on their car stereos.

Doctor P - Tetris Dubstep
I heard this one on the way home from work this evening. I had no idea that a dubstep version of the Tetris theme was an actual thing until tonight. In fact, when it started, I didn't realise it was dubstep, there was just this really loud tetris music playing. It was kind of cool for a moment. Then the baseline suddenly kicked in and, Jesus, it was so ridiculous that I was left giggling to myself on the pavement. I actually can't listen to this song without laughing; I think I might actually enjoy it.

Orbital - Doctor Who
This one was a couple of months ago. Just imagine the scene: It's 8:45am on a cold morning. At the side of the road is a nondescript white van. And coming from the van is this song so loud that you can hear it halfway down the road. I laughed at this one too. I just loved the fact that somewhere inside that van, there were a couple of white van men who thought that before nine in the morning was the perfect time to rock out hardcore to a dance remix of the Doctor Who theme tune. I don't even know any more.

Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child
Ok. I actually heard this one about four years ago, but it was so epic that I still remember it. I was walking down the road, minding my own business, when suddenly this intro started playing. It was so loud that I didn't even realise where it was coming from; the sound just seemed to be everywhere. For a good few moments, I actually thought that I was having a bit of a turn, and that my life now had a soundtrack, and that that soundtrack was awesome. It was only later that I realised it was coming from a van that was sitting at the traffic lights. But those few moments of ignorance were the best few moments of my life, guys. I'll never be as cool as that again.

***

Humour

Man, I've been reading some random blogs of people who are funny, including one person who's hilarious and only 17. I am so so jealous of all their talents. Seriously.

So, I have decided that my internet persona needs to be more amusing. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to actually think up jokes and stuff, so what I'll do is just end my sentences with the following emoticon: XD
This will be your cue to pretend that I've just said something funny and laugh about it. Ok? Ok XD

I've been gone a while. Sorry about that. I was busy doing things. Here, have a list of all the things I was doing.

Contents!
1. James and Eppa's housewarming
2. Snow weekend
3. Mysterious animals
4. Then the pain
5. Musical accompaniment

***

1. James and Eppa's housewarming
This was a cheap and cheeful housewarming party involving fish and chips, pissing in a flaky bathroom, the macarena, and a train-station-to-train-station trek through central London.

Also, completely to my surprise, I realised that I have now hooked Heather and Eppa onto caramelldansen. When two people, who you'd always thought were sensible, normal people, suddenly, and with no external prompting, start doing the caramelldansen dance, it is a moment of triumph :D

So, there was plenty of YouTubing, in which we watched the video in question. (It's nearly on its way to 40,000 hits now. Holy Moly.) Then we watched the lovingly-made mash-up, which I am really quite partial to (good call, to whoever made it). Subsequently, we all spent the rest of the weekend humming Barbara Streisand. I'm sorry, guys D: but it was also really fun.

Oh, yeah. We went and had a look at how the Shard Building is progressing too.

It's so tall! And so exciting! I'm a fan. When this beast is finished, I'm going to see if I can't go up it.

2. Snow weekend

Last weekend we finally had some snow! I went to the Saatchi Gallery with Susan just before the heavens opened. I did enjoy getting some culture, but the artwork there didn't catch my interest as much as on my previous visits. Shame.

The snow was fun though. I got to wear my new wellies. Then it melted. Hooray! Let's hope it doesn't come back. Snow, you are fun but also well annoying.

3. Mysterious animals

So, this appeared in my kitchen the other day.

I asked my flatmate about it, who told me that he'd found it up a tree :|

The most disconcerting thing is the fact that I kept forgetting it was there. For about two days I jumped each time I went into the kitchen. (I think maybe I am more scared of tigers than I first realised.)

4. Then the pain

You know, if you want to make things extra embarrassing, then you wait until all the snow has melted before you fall over. And for the place to do it, you decide to choose the middle of a busy crossing, in front of all the pedestrians and the drivers. And if you really really want some embarrassment, don't think of a good reason to trip, just fall off your own high heels. Yeah. That'll do it.

So, I sprained my ankle on Tuesday. In the middle of a pedestrian crossing, just as the lights were about to change. One minute, I was walking along, the next, I was on the floor. Because I didn't relish the thought of being run over, I scrambled up and dashed across the rest of the road. Then I stood at the side of the pavement thinking 'Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. It hurts. I can't walk. I can't walk. I'm stranded.'

Luckily, it wasn't too bad a sprain and I could walk on it. Ok, well, hobble. I could hobble on it. So I hobbled to the bus stop and then I hobbled home. And I've been hobbling ever since. And my ankle has swollen up. And apparently these things can take weeks to heal.

Paracetamol-ed up, in my grotty trainers and elasticated ankle support, I am so graceful right now, guys. Like a butterfly!

Ah, but today I don't have to leave the house or walk anywhere. I am taking a breather and it's amazing.

Thankfully, I also have my new hobby to keep me occupied. Guys, if you're ever bored, just try reading your spam emails out loud in funny voices. What am I doing with my life? It is worth it.

5. Musical accompaniment

This section is for Steve (if you're reading) and anyone else who might share my taste in music. Here are some of the songs I've got on repeat right now:

Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand
Justice - Newlands
The Rapture - How Deep is Your Love?

This week, I've been mostly weaning myself off Sherlock by watching Stargazing Live.

Did you know that pretty much all the stars and everything you see in the night sky are part of the Milky Way? I didn't because I'd never really thought about it before (and now I feel like an idiot). But when you consider it:
Other galaxies are really far away. So far away that you can only see one other galaxy from the northern hemisphere, and it looks about the size of any other star in the sky. So of course the only stars that are close enough for us to see properly are the ones in the Milky Way.

Blew my mind.

In non-serious news, my Dad and I were doing impressions of Prof Brian Cox the other day. Here's my Dad's:
If I take these tic tacs and throw them on the floor, there's more stars in the sky than that. And that's amazing.

Tell it like it is, Brian. Tell it like it is.

The best bit about Stargazing Live though is that it is live, so Brian gets to rant about why no-one should believe in ridiculous conspiracy theories and superstitious nonsense, and nobody can do anything to stop him :D
For example: this gif.

How refreshing to see some sense on prime time TV. Brainy really is the new sexy.

Spoiler-free review:
This episode may have been written by the same person who wrote The Blind Banker but do not fear. The Reichenbach Fall is far better. It is perhaps even my favourite episode of the second series. So there you go.

WARNING WARNING: SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT
Click read more for my meandering, spoilery review:

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Spoiler-free review:
This episode was more simple and tighter in terms of plot than A Scandal in Belgravia. Still lots of fun though!

Click through if you want to read an embarrassing, spoiler-laden review of the episode.
WARNING: SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT.

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Hi! I said I owed you a massive Christmas post, so here it is.

I hope you all had a good Christmas and a happy new year! Mine was good, although it was subdued a little due to two deaths in my extended extended family. I only met them both once or twice and they both had good innings at around 80 years old, but it still hit a lot of my family quite hard. It just goes to show how important it is to have a celebration at this time of year. You can only imagine what it must have been like thousands of years ago when these traditions first started. Winter is hard as anything, so it's good to have something to look forward to. Christmas and other mid-winter festivals are basically humanity's way of saying 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

For me, this year, Christmas started when Nick, Steve and Heather came to London and we all stayed with James and Eppa for some fun times.

On one of the days, we went on a nice walk through South East London. It was meant to be a 'transport tour' but this is the only piece of transport we encountered all day.

It's a train carriage and also a cafe. Apparently. After walking all the way to Deptford to find it, we realised that the cafe was closed for the day. Also, the weather was rainy and horrible and we had some really disappointing soup in another cafe, but other than that it was really good, guys!

Chilling in James and Eppa's place afterwards. We all drank lots of cranberry juice because apparently it's healthy for your fanny.

Then we had a cheese evening.

Here's the spread. Quite impressive, I think you'll agree. What this photo doesn't show is the pièce de résistance, which was a Camembert that had been baked in the oven. Dipping apple slices into that was heavenly. I still think back on it with fond memories.

The remains, once we'd gorged ourselves.

In other food news, Eppa made us poached eggs on crumpets for breakfast. I had never even conceived of this as a thing before, but let me tell you, it was good. If you've never had poached eggs on crumpets before, I urge you to try it.

Post-cheese, there was much karaoke-ing. This was massively fun for Nick and I, and massively annoying for everyone else. (Sorry guys, but I was having too much fun to shut up.)

Then, somehow, it was Christmas eve. I packed up all my stuff and took the train back to my home-town to go stay with my parents for a week.

It was nice to be back. After moving out of my home-town earlier this year, I hadn't been to visit for about 4 months. I got to catch up with some old work friends too, which was good.

Also, there was much visiting of family. I have a pretty large family of various grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, so this took up a fair amount of time. One of the days involved a family walk through the cold countryside.

My Granddad (on my Mum's side) with two of my cousins.

This house that we came across looked rather fabulous. I loved the way those steps suddenly stop at the water. I don't know if the water is meant to come up that far, but I think it gives the place a rather run-down, romantic look.

The rest of the time at home was spent with my parents watching a glut of Christmas TV. Some of the highlights included:
- Tony Robinson's Gods and Monsters - This was a little unnecessary in parts (like forcing Tony to sit in a bath of entrails in order to imagine what it would have been like for some Celts) but it was still interesting. I love learning about old folklores and customs. The part about corpse mutilation to stop bodies coming back from the dead was particularly fascinating.
- Great Expectations - This new adaptation from the BBC was really good. I read the book a couple of years ago and I think it was captured very well and very faithfully here. It's a great story. Oh, and it looked gorgeous too. There's not much I like better on my screen than some old-school costumes. Ohoho.
- Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - I watch these every year with my parents. Despite the fact that they're aimed at children, they are always interesting for a more mature audience as well. This year we learnt a little about how brains work. Brilliant.
- Still Ringing After All These Years: A Short History of Bells - Ok. So I watched this one slightly before Christmas, but I want to talk about it anyway. Over the past year or so, I have come to realise that anything presented by Richard Taylor will be fascinating. This show was no exception. A history of bells might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was mine. He talked about how bells used to serve a very religious purpose before gaining other uses, so they're still seen as being quite mystical. And their magical properties are so ingrained in our culture that, even today, if you hear a lone bell tolling it can be really quite spooky.

There were more programmes, of course, like Downton Abbey and Doctor Who and something about some sort of private detective and his doctor friend having adventures across London (I forget the name) but if I listed everything I watched over the Christmas period, we'd be here for hours.

Christmas over, I headed back to London for New Year's Eve. I'm afraid I didn't take any photos of this, so you're going to have to put up with text text text :D

I went to see Deborah, and together with a large number of her friends, we went to the flat of another of her friends in Dalston. The flat was new and really nice. As a bonus, it had a roof terrace, which meant that we all piled out there to watch the fireworks at midnight. It was a great view, but we came to discover that there are problems with being so high up on New Year's Eve. Namely, flying Chinese lanterns. I didn't realise they were dangerous until we had a run in with two of them. If the night is slightly windy, they don't just go straight up, they also go across and down and all over the place. One came careering right towards my head D: If I was a couple of inches taller I think I could have some nasty burns right now. Of course, it's only after the event that you stop and think, 'Hold on, that was actually quite dangerous'. At the time, I was fine. After midnight we headed back down into the flat and celebrated the new year with some 90s dance tunes. (As you do when you're well into the second decade of the 21st century. We're so down with the kids. Rock on.)

Incidentally, you know those times when you instigate a huge Whigfield dance-off only to realise, after a few minutes, that only two of you are dancing and everybody else is watching with a vague mix of admiration and horror? What do you do??? Keep on dancing until the speakers break! That's what you do!

And it's hard to talk about Christmas without talking about Christmas presents. Let's go.

Once again, Maryia outdid herself with a parcel of lovely things. Here are just a couple of them:

This necklace is quite rock-chick, I think. I like to wear it with my big leather belt and some knee-high boots.

This is lots of fun. It looks like a bunch of grapes but they're actually made of soap! Very cute, and they smell lovely too.

When it came to presents, my Mum was very big on giving warm, cosy things this year. I always feel the cold, so warm, cosy things are a-ok with me!

This may look like a big, black scarf, but it is, in fact, a snood. I love it to pieces. It's warm and looks great and I've already worn it more times than I can count.

Who's rocking the house with Sarah Lund inspired socks? I am! Seriously, I am going to solve so many crimes in these socks. Watch me go!

I bought these boots in the new year sales, but they're not what I want to show off. Those fluffy bits on top? They're detachable! Another present from my parents, these. They fit on any boots and instantly make them five times more fabulous.

In other news, I got some books! I've never read Gone With the Wind or seen the film, so that should be something to look forward to (I'm assuming it's good otherwise it wouldn't be so famous).

The Hark a Vagrant book is possibly one of my most favourite things right now. Jokes and history and comics = all my favourite things! I particularly enjoy the Nancy Drew comics. This Nancy will stop at nothing to solve mysteries, even if they're all in her head. I love how, with each set of comics, Nancy grows more delusional.

So, that's it. The first week back at work is over, and it's already getting stressful! But that doesn't matter, because there are good things too. Like arranging a holiday to go to Frankfurt later in the year (so excited!) and more Sherlock and a literal video version of The Hobbit trailer and this:

This is my poinsettia. I bought it for Christmas last year. They normally only last for about a month, and any plants in my care normally last less than that. But look! It's still going! It's about a year and a month old and it's still alive! It even survived the move to London :D

Keep rocking, poinsettia. Keep rocking.

Let me review the new Sherlock episode in a non-spoilery way:
It was good!

Right, now that's out of the way, let's go into a little more detail. WARNING: SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT.

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Hope you had a nice Christmas! I've got a massive Christmas post to write at some point.

No time for that at the moment though because:

It's T-minus three hours until the new series of Sherlock aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I have my TV on BBC1 already (it's good to be prepared) and they've just played two adverts for the new show in the past two minutes. I'm so excited I might explode! Or do a wee! Or both! At the same time! Aaaaaa!

And that's the end of the drabbles!

If you didn't want to read all of them, here's a handy summary. (Warning, actual numbers may be slightly different, and may go up as well as down. Always check with a financial advisor first.)

The drabbles contained:

Twelve daring chases,
Eleven angry clients,
Ten steepled fingers,
Nine gruesome murders,
Eight dirty test tubes,
Seven breathless giggles,
Six tricky puzzles,
Five stolen things,
Four deleted facts,
Three smug smirks,
Two sodden Johns,
And a naked Sherlock on the settee.

Merry Christmas, guys!

Sherlock advent drabbles :D

Today's word is: Runway

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Sherlock advent drabbles :D

Today's word is: P's and Q's

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Sherlock advent drabbles :D

Today's word is: Owie

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So I went to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows today. And I was planning to write a review about it and the explosions and the japes and the Stephen Frycroft etc etc

But then I got home and discovered that ALL THE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.

The trailer for The Hobbit was released!
Oh, God, hearing that music again sends chills down my spine and look at all of it, and was anyone else expecting the other dwarves to crash the song with 'Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam'?

But, while that is exciting, look look over here!

Four new trailers for the second series of Sherlock!
Oh, be still my beating heart! LOOK AT ALL OF IT. Ahhhhhh. I can't believe I have to wait for over a week before the first episode airs. The agony!
Molly Hooper's blog has updated too!
And apparently The Science of Deduction has also updated, although I can't actually see any updates myself. I am so excited I must have gone blind!

Also also, I had my last day at work today and Nick, Steve and Heather are coming to visit tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it!

p.s. Go to bed, Janine!

Sherlock advent drabbles :D (I know I'm a little late today. Shhh. I won't mention it if you don't.)

Today's word is: Psychrolute

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