It's been a while.

Okay, so, update on me. Am still with The Boy, and now we're living together, renting a very swish city centre apartment. I am unbelievably happy, having never really believed in love, but now being head over heels (hurray for online dating!). The reshuffle at my place has sent me back to the job I started at four years ago (albeit at a higher grade than when I started, although a lower grade than I was at six months ago), and even to the same seat. The team are lovely, but the work is incredibly dull and I'm itching to get out. I went to Hong Kong and China (again) and had an amazing time, although I do not intend to go back to Beijing. As many interesting things as there are to do, once you've done all those things you realise that the city itself is actually pretty crappy. And big. And noisy. And often very smelly. I'm doing Chinese lessons again, this time with the aim of actually getting a qualification. Um... that's about it really.

What about you, friends list? What are you up to?

Still haven't watched the SGA finale. I'm just not inspired. Sorry SGA. You should have been better than you were. I'll get around to watching it eventually, but life is hectic, and I struggle to watch the two shows that are still being screened (NCIS and Hustle).

I have quit the job at the library. I feel weird - I like working there, but at the same time, I miss my weekends, hate having to get up early on a Saturday, having to chuck The Boy out of bed at the same time, and the work itself is actually... pretty dull. And frustrating. Another librarian and I were considering putting up big 'DON'T TOUCH' signs in each section after we had tidied it. Do you know how pissing annoying it is to have spent a good hour tidying up junior fiction, only for some bored kid to go up to the shelves and pull out handfuls of books? AARGH!

I watched the Super Bowl. I don't get it. It's a bit too stop-starty for me. I fell asleep before Bruce appeared. Plus there is something very English in me which makes me shudder and grimace when I see people being so patriotic. And Americans can be very patriotic. I can't imagine tearing up at the British national anthem. Hell, I don't even know the words. And it's not like I'm in the minority, either.

It has snowed. And contrary to the BBC's opinion, the entire country has not ground to a standstill. The entire country contains quite a lot that exists north of Bristol. My home town has never, not once, been snowed in. My school was never closed. (Not even when they found asbestos when they were refurbishing the science labs.) Public transport continues to run, only it's more crowded and slower. And, weirdly, smells a bit. The closest I got to snow today was wandering to a section of the city where the Roman fort used to be, and finding someone had built a small snowman in a bit of waste ground.

I'm hoping for a miracle tomorrow. Open the door to three foot of snow.

Am going to see a screening of Singin' in the Rain on Friday at our local cinema. I can't wait. Not just because I get to see my favourite movie on the big screen, but also because the cinema is very old-school, with intervals, ladies selling ice-cream from trays, red curtains, and even an organ that comes up from out of the floor.

The snow had better stop for that.

I have handed in my notice at the library.

I've never before handed my notice in somewhere and been so uncertain about it. Well... not uncertain, exactly. I want my Saturdays back, and the job doesn't pay me enough for the loss of a weekend. But sorry to see it go. Although the work is increasingly so mind-numbingly boring that I won't miss that much. I will miss spending Saturday hanging around a lot of books, though. It will be nice to have a book amnesty for a while, so I can get through the pile that is by my bed, and the other pile on my desk at work.

In terms of the main job, I have to submit my application for any vacant positions within the organisation by the first week of February. I am not excited by either of the positions I'm applying for, as they would both represent a step backwards, and wouldn't utilise anything I've learnt in the past two years. But they will pay the bills, and given the lack of jobs out in the great wide world at the moment I don't have much choice.

I was considering doing an MA in Library and Information Studies, but having seen the cost - £6k - I'm reconsidering.

One of my colleagues is having the time of her life travelling around Africa for the next nine months. I think she's bonkers! I love travelling, but to do it alone, as a girl, in Africa... eep! A thought that has been reinforced since, in her first week of being there, she's already been attacked by tear-gas throwing protesters. She's still having fun though - I'm not sure I would be.

The Boy has taken me rock climbing. I am now au fait with tying the ropes and being the belay. I don't quite have the same adrenaline rush that he gets from doing it - I have no desire to own my own chalk bag - but it's fun, and excellent exercise.

I have started learning Chinese again. I'm not sure how much worth I'll get out of the class. The teacher is lovely, but she hasn't yet taught me anything conversational. Instead I have learnt twelve different ways to say 'Happy New Year.' Hmm. There are only two students in the class, including myself. I'm not optimistic that there will be a third term.

In two days Barack Obama will become the most powerful man on the planet. Geeks will actually rule the Earth. About time too.

Anyone have any tips as to how I lure birds to a bird table? Having solved the squirrel problem with a squirrel baffle (a large plastic dome that sits over the bird feeder pole, stopping the little buggers from running up it) I now seem to have put off all the birds. I've had the same feeders full of peanuts and seed for about a month and a half now, and they're not interested. Even the fat ball has remained untouched. There are birds - the feeder in the neighbour's garden is very popular - but they don't want my food, and I can't work out why. It's pissing me off! Damn birds, it's winter, you're supposed to be starving, and I've got a frikkin' buffet out in my back garden that you're not touching!

I'm just loved up.

I have A Man. Which is, for me, unusual. I'm not going to go into details, just to say:

a) I'm very happy
b) It's been ten weeks since I last posted. I've been a bit busy.

To summarise the rest of my life:

- saw Billy Bragg, had my vintage t-shirt signed, and even got a hug. Huzzah!
- on the same night, was given a Barack Obama t-shirt by The Man.
- President-Elect Barack Obama!!
- am way, way behind on SGA. And there's a fic burning a hole in my back pocket.
- my job is down the shitter. They're moving my post to Bristol. I'm not moving to Bristol. Lousy timing, but it could be worse - I should be able to get some sort of admin job with the company, at least for as long as it takes me to get a different job.
- the trailer for Yes Man looks awful. Why bother using a book as source material if you're going to produce something that bears no resemblance to the original?
- it's nearly Christmas, and I have done zero Christmas shopping
- have bought tickets for Glastonbury next year. Oo-er.
- Star Trek movie trailer. Does a geek's heart good.
- Watchmen. Hurry up!

I've completely lost touch with the Internet world and all you lovely people in it, for which I apologise sincerely. I miss you guys, and I miss fandom.

The week just needs to be a few days longer.

Am back from Turkey.

The trip was amazing. It didn't seem so at the time, but the more I reflect on it the more it makes me think.

I spent the first week hiking in the hills near Fethiye. Our group was small, but that worked well. Our guide, knowledgeable about the area, navigated the geography himself - we were scrambling up scree slopes, edging nervously across slippery cliffs, ducking tree branches. We didn't see any other Westerners. We had picnics in sheperd's refuges - wooden platforms elevated from the ground, built beneath trees. We stayed with local farming families, in houses ranging from the luxurious (a flushing squat toilet, hot running water, and carpets) to the basic (wooden buildings, shoes and family mementos hidden in roof rafters, washing with a jug and bucked of water, heated over the fire). We ate wonderful food, while the dutiful host family watched, before the sun set and they were allowed to end their own fast.

We sat in the living rooms and chatted about our lives while outside the world went dark and the sun came out. Chickens went to roost in trees, and goats came down from the mountain. The room filled with moths and other bugs.

Oh yes, the bugs.

I am not good with bugs.

After the first, sleepless night I found a system which allowed me to relax. I created a cocoon in my bed clothes, pulling the sheet over my head and tucking it around my body. Incredibly hot but insect free, I could at least sleep. Then there came the night when, as we settled into sleep, I felt something crawl along my neck. I put my hand there, felt the thing crawl onto my hand, then screamed, sat bolt upright, screamed some more.

My roommates scrabbled about for a torch, which was then cast on the intruder.

"What is it?"

"I don't care what the fuck it is!" Me, still screaming. "Get it the fuck off me!"

Thankfully, my roommates saw sense, and one of them plucked the praying mantis off my bed and dropped it out of the window.

Poor praying mantis. Definitely an occasion of me being more scared of it than it was of me.

Oh, bollocks.

I was expecting SGA to go to six seasons. I know five seasons is more than a lot of shows get (Carnivale, Due South, Popular, Arrested Development, Jake 2.0, Odyssey 5, Brimstone, VR.5... wait, maybe it's me, maybe I curse shows...) but still... 

Season 4 largely sucked. But I've loved season 5 so far. And it's the only show, aside from Robin Hood, that I feel drawn to write fanfic for. And you know that Robin Hood is cursed not to survive past season 3, no matter what the BBC say.

Financially, I don't see how this makes sense. SGA was getting respectable ratings in the States - not amazing, but respectable, especially for Skiffy. Cancelling it so they can pay for a different show, one that will draw a bigger crowd, has some logic. But replacing it with another SG show, one for a 'younger' audience (and what does that mean, I'm 26, so if they're aiming a show at an audience considerably younger than me, it's going to be Hollyoaks in space... which on reflection is a genius idea) just seems like a huge gamble, one which could prove very costly. SGA already has an established foreign audience and range of merchandise. Trying to achieve more success with a new show is too risky, particularly for a skint network like Skiffy, surely?

Oh well. I wasn't impressed by the idea of a spin-off of SG-1, when SGA was first announced, but I love SGA more than SG-1. So I'm trying to stay open-minded.

But I will miss you, Hewlett and Nykl. And Flanigan. Maybe slightly less, Flanigan. I'll miss Luttrell, but not Momoa, who has been unsurprisingly unattractive to me since the whole 'spaceman' incident.

Still, with the announcement of a movie, I guess there's still a remote chance of them pulling a Family Guy.

In other news... did anyone see the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games?

What a bag of shite.

No, not the Chinese display (magnificent, and just a little bit camp), but the effort from the home of 'Team GB' (and don't even get me started on how angry that term makes me. Lazy English. Aargh!).

What. The. Hell.

Allowing Boris to appear in other countries, and on television, where, y'know, other people can see him... that's bad enough. But then they brought on the bus. And the weird dancers. And Leona Lewis. And a creepy, sweaty guitarist.

If I knew it was paid for by council tax, I wouldn't be annoyed. Still embarrassed, and feeling the need to apologise to the world on behalf of my country... but not annoyed. 

But that's my salary that paid for that.

We are the country of literature, drama, poetry, music. History.

Not anymore, apparently. Watching our display at the Olympics was excrutiating. Short of strapping Geri Halliwell into her Union Jack dress and having her burst out of a giant Big Ben-shaped cake, I'm not sure how much worse it could have been.

Maybe if Geri hadn't been wearing the dress...

I borrowed Martin Lewis' 'Money Diet' book from the library.

In case you haven't heard of Martin Lewis, he's a professional money saver (self-described). Basically he's an expert on all the tips and techniques for saving money, from how to get free mortgage advice to cheaper cosmetics. His advice is at different levels, so you can learn as much as you like - whether you're in huge amounts of debt but determined to do everything and anything to get out, or like me, you'd like some easy wins to make a few savings, and get a handle on outgoings.

Money saved so far (per year):

- applied for interest free loan from my company to pay for an annual train ticket. Saving: £170
- canceled direct debit to charity I no longer support. Saving: £60
- negotiated with phone company for a better mobile phone package at no extra cost. Saving: £60
- also negotiated for a free upgrade, which I'll flog on Ebay. Saving: £50-80.
- compared travel insurance, finding cheapest quote. Saving: £40
- compared currency exchange rates, finding best rate. Saving: £2.50 (well, every little helps!)

Total savings so far: £332.50 plus the £50-80 I hope to get for the phone.

Seeing the figures written down inspires me to keep saving.

Sometimes the world can be a very cute place.

Gnome returned after worldwide tour

As Alan Alda, and probably countless other people, has said - you can tell a lot of a person by the way they treat the help.

I have just come back from a very nice, short holiday in Bath with my mum. It's an annual tradition. She treats me to the hotel and meals, and in exchange I promise that when she's retired and I'm rich and famous, I'll pay for a cute male nurse to tend to her.

Anyway. we found ourselves in a very posh hotel up on the Crescent, which is a classic landmark of Bath. While I was getting excited about finding Bill Bailey's head painted on the back of a ceramic pig (art, apparently) she had found this posh hotel, and a wander into the luxurious Georgian interior revealed a restaurant serving afternoon tea.

For those of you unfamilliar with this very English concept, afternoon tea usually consists of delicately cut sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and a selection of small cakes, all washed down with high quality tea. It can also be quite expensive. This was no exception, but my mother, being the woman she is, decided we would have some.

(My mum works hard for the money she earns. She also works hard spending it, working on the theory that, well, you can't take it with you.)

Anyway... the staff were very lovely, and served us our very tasty, if overpriced afternoon tea. Our table was in a garden overlooked by Georgian buildings, the sun was above us, it was a beautiful day, and there was a wedding reception going on in the bar with a live guitarist playing gentle music as an accompaniment.

At the table behind my mother, and directly in my line of vision, sat three individuals, two men and one woman. The middle aged man looked a little like he'd just finished filming an episode of Dragon's Den (read, expensively tailored successful businessman). The woman was just as well dressed. The younger man lounged on his chair, smoking, face almost entirely hidden by a massive pair of reflective sunglasses. On the table was the remains of a bottle of wine and several half full glasses.

I sometimes eavesdrop on strangers' conversations. I would claim that this is in search of story ideas. It isn't. I'm just nosy.

I couldn't hear their conversation, but I could hear - and could see - what happened when the waitress walked past.

Young man: "You - miss?"
Waitress: "Yes?"
Young man: "I've tried three times to get our drinks order taken. Do you think you could do that now?"

(bear in mind that there was a WEDDING going on, so any normal person would have cut the waiting staff a little slack, and just enjoyed the sun)

Waitress: "Certainly sir."
Young man: "Oh, and you can take THIS," (he flicked his fingers at the debris on the table) at the same time."

I really, really hope that waitress spat in his wine. Horrible little man. If he had spoken like that to my sister, who has worked in a bar for several years, then I KNOW she spat in his drink.

If not put rat poison in it.

How is it that a complete stranger can make me so mad?!

Oh, Sam Troughton. How I love thee. When you're in a bath, I love thee even more.

*sighs*

What?

Oh yes, real life. Long time no see, Livejournal! Life is hectic, as always. Work is a nightmare, but I have achieved a new zen. When ever something happens to piss me off, or threatens to make me cry with frustration, I remind myself that I am not paid enough to care, and will do my job, and do my job well, but anything else is someone else's problem. After all, the worst thing they can do is fire me. And with the organisational restructure, they might do that anyway (fire, redundancy... it amounts to the same thing), so... zen.

Hello everybody. How are you all?

Watched the first episode of the new season of Atlantis last night. Loved every second! No spoilers, I promise. But I thought it was fantastic, if a little fanficcy. But then, SGA has some *great* fanficcers, so that's not neccessarily a bad thing.

Spent yesterday with my family at York races. Yeah. A bunch of middle-aged people in expensive dresses getting very, very drunk? Not fun. Enjoyed the horses though, even if I made no money. There was quite a surreal moment when I was down at the track, watching the horses race, hearing the crowd scream: "COME ON, SMELLY CAT!"

Genius name for a horse. Everyone placed a bet on Smelly Cat, even though it was the horse's first race and didn't have a hope of winning.

Neither did 'Supersonic Dave', but I bet on him as well. Who thinks up these names?!

You know what phrase I really, really hate?

'Real women.'

"Does the range cater for all shapes and sizes?"
"It's for the larger breasted woman - 32-38 D-G cup and size 8-18 bottoms. It's for real women." (Jordan, on her lingerie range)

"When the Dove team decided to use real women instead of professional models to launch its new Firming range, it was clear that this was going be no ordinary advertising campaign. With a refreshing take on beauty, a celebrity photographer, and real women with real curves." (Unilever, on Dove's new 'Real Beauty' campaign)

"Avon is in touch with the real woman... Avon has a fantastic range in now at both ends of the size market..." (Avon bra sizes start at 34B, and go up to 42dd)

"During the first series of Coleen’s Real Women shown earlier this year, Coleen took on the mission of putting REAL women into high-profile advertising and modelling jobs."

Huh. As a 32B bra-size wearing woman, I didn't realise I was a fictional character. Damn. I guess I'd best go make out with my fictional Much-shaped boyfriend, and then ride away on my fictional unicorn to find a bra shop which can accomodate the invisible woman.

Stargate Fan awards were announced!

I got an honorable mention for 'Maybe I'm Dead', which was nice. Not quite sure what honorable mention means. Second place?

Congratulations to all the winners. Who, mostly, I have never heard of. Where are all these authors hiding?!

Vic Reeves in drag advertising online bingo websites. Jackie Chan in a Woolworths television campaign. Elijah Wood (also in drag) prancing about with the walking monstrosity that is JLC and Alan Carr. And Peter Dinklage's latest roles are called 'Mongo' and 'Trumpkin.'

Why don't you just rip out my little fandom heart and stomp on it?

Apparently money can't buy self-respect.

 Quick plea for assistance from SGA fans...

Does anyone have a link to the wallpaper which is essentially a giant screencap of McKay's "I'm with Genius" t-shirt, asleep on the couch moment?

Thanks in advance!

It's all very well, looking at jobs sites for new vacancies, if I had any clue as to what I want to do.

At the moment I work within learning and development. I provide administration for training courses, as well as designing, delivering and evaluating some of the more basic courses (time management, for example). Now, this isn't what I ever saw myself doing. I took the job because it was a promotion.

Have I enjoyed the last twelve months? Well, yes. Mostly. My reasons for not enjoying it haven't been because of the work. However, is it something I want to do for the future? As a career?

Aargh!

At high school the careers advisors made my entire class do a brain-numbingly-boring online personality questionnaire, designed to tell us our ideal career choice. My results? Tour guide.

Tour guide?!

Yeeaahh.... at least I know what I don't want to do.