Afternoon all! Yep, it's another Monday, and I'm out of the office once more. But, before you get too jealous, rather than cracking on with the decorating, I've spent most of the day down the doctors - or flat out on my bed. That's right - I woke up today with a lovely dose of tonsillitis. Great. BUT - I'm not going to let it get me down. Yes, so it looks like my planned trip to a knitting group in the pub is off the agenda, but I'll survive. And one of the reasons I'll survive is because of my mates, who, even though I'm not a complete invalid and can get to the local Co-Op for my tomato soup, I know they are there for me. Take work, for example. It's no secret that I've found the day job a bit frustrating of late. But, last weekend, after a wander around Wood Street market, I chatted with my chums about my work woes - and, whilst making all the right sympathetic noises, they helped me look at the situation objectively and drill down to what was really bugging me. Then, after a particularly bad week, on Saturday I went out with friends who helped me forget all about it, made me laugh by behind off and danced with me until the wee hours - my kind of therapy. It isn't just work that they've been helping my get my head around. As you regular readers will know, I've just bought a flat - and admit being a bit overwhelmed by the experience. Not only have my mates reminded me that I don't need to have the entire place done-up within the first few weeks, they've also offered practical advice on how I can overcome some of my conundrums - and even got stuck in with the DIY. But most importantly, they are there for me when the going gets tough, reminding me that, even though I occasionally begin to lose hope, I've come a long way - and, with their help, can overcome any obstacle. So yeah, today I want to say thank you to all my mates - and hope that they know that I am there for them too. Cos I love you guys and wouldn't be without you.
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It's Monday! Hurrah! Yep, you guessed it, I haven't been at work today, which means I've been at liberty to do whatever I darn well fancy. The problem is, I do have an awful lot of things I should be getting on with but, quite frankly, I can't be bothered. In fact, I think the only thing I've managed to get done over the last five days away from the office is to knit my mate Lexi a phone sock which, although it looked pretty cool in the Good Mixer last night, wasn't exactly a major project. On my short term "to do" list I have a variety of bits and bobs that I need to finish off, and, in all honesty, none of them will take me that long, or be that difficult. My Peru collage just needs a lick of paint and a blob of extra glue here and there, the polyfillering of the smattering of holes in my walls won't take more than 15 minutes and, whilst the last occupants left it in a bit of a state, the worst of the kitchen's deep clean is over. However it seems that today I have done everything to avoid tackling any of these tasks. Instead I've updated the playlist on my phone, read my magazine and been for a lovely walk through Walthamstow Marches - anything, but ANYTHING other than what I should really be doing. If I'm honest with myself, I think I know what this is about. This morning I made a start on the penultimate chapter of my second novel, which means that, by the end of July, the first draft will probably be complete. This also means that, after a couple of read-throughs and the odd tweak here and there, it will be ready to share. With other people. People who might not like it. Which is fine, except I've really enjoyed writing it and really hope that, even if like Faith, it goes nowhere, people get it - and find Emily's story as absorbing as I have. So there you have it. I've developed a fear of finishing. Let's just hope it doesn't develop into writer's block and remains a simple barrier to me getting off my butt and cleaning the oven. Only time will tell, and also reveal whether my novel is enjoyed by anyone other than myself. Just remember, if I ask you to ready it, be honest, but if you don't like it, let me down gently... like my protagonist, I don't always like to face up to reality... Happy Sunday everyone! Yes, I know, it's Monday tomorrow, which means we all have to go back to work. I'm relieved to say that I'm only in for two days before taking some annual leave - a much needed break from what often feels like Groundhog Day. But whilst work has been rather tiresome, this week I've noticed a few firsts. Okay. maybe they aren't anything major, but little things that, when I think about it, show that, whilst making the most of life, I might actually be getting somewhere...
Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. I've been trying to recuperate after a rather busy week. Out of Hours opened on Tuesday with a little private view for some of my chums. Much wine and pizza was consumed and I sold two pieces! WOO HOO! Now I just have to do it all over again this week, but perhaps with a little less of the vino... So apart from cleaning my flat and a spot of DIY (very proud of myself for unblocking my sink all on my own - knitting needles really do have multiple uses) today I'm going to read through novel numero uno again in the first time in, well, about 18 months. I'm investigating getting it professionally edited and published as an ebook, but want to go through it again myself first to check I'm still happy to put it out there... So that's pretty much me. It's been a whirlwind of a week, and work and the flat buying saga haven't exactly been letting up whilst I've been muddling on with my creative pursuits. Someone tweeted me the other day when I said I'd just paid a solicitor several hundred pounds to do things I didn't really understand, advising me that it was essentially to do not a lot as slowly as possible. Simon, you have a point... I'm just happy to say that it's the vendor's solicitor who is causing the delay, not mine. Unfortunately this means there isn't much I can do about it... Laters! Hello my lovelies. Again I have been more than a little slack when it has come to updating my wee blog. I know it’s a poor excuse, but life has been a bit hectic – the day job has been getting in the way (BOO!), flat hunting has been getting me all a bit stressed out (ARRRGH!) and people have been, well, getting on my nerves (GRRR!). Yes, my friends, it is time for a rant. The day job has been, to say the least, trying of late. Okay, so I’ve only been back for one week after a fortnight break, but it took me about half of my holiday to repair the damage that such a draining situation has caused. This is especially annoying as, not only have I been feeling completely wiped out after a day in the office, I have been left with no energy to do the things that I want to do – namely, the things that I write about in this blog. As for the flat hunting... well, at first it was kind of exciting finally looking to buy my own place. But several viewing no-shows and a general lacklustre service from practically every estate agent I have approach has left me feeling more than a little disheartened. But I shall stop there – planning a blog on the subject for AngloInfo later this month – watch this space! Then, along with the pressures that my employers and customers put on me and the trials of tribulations of trying to get estate agents to HELP YOU when your budget doesn’t allow for the kind of commission that gets them all excited, I’ve recently come across quite a few people who are, quite honestly, not very nice. Yes, there are the perpetrators who cause my customers such grief, but there are also people who have unbalanced the status quo in my private life – and the lives of those I love. The people who think that it is absolutely fine to cheat on their partners, lie to get a someone into bed and to sleep with their long term friends – only to dump their friendship when a new girl/boyfriend comes along who disapproves of their new squeeze having mates of the opposite sex. Even worse, there are then the people who seem to think it is absolutely fine to abuse their partners – physically, mentally, and/or emotionally. People like this make me ANGRY. But, folks, before you reach for the vodka – THERE IS HOPE! You see, whilst I have been observing from afar – and occasionally a bit closer – such disagreeable behaviour, I have also met some really inspiring people. People who, despite being abused, bereaved and sometimes emotionally damaged by the kind of people I have written about above, have stayed strong. In fact, they have not only stayed strong and laid to rest their demons, they’ve also reached out to help other people who are in more pain and have less confidence to let go move on with their lives. People who are truly inspiring and keep me going when things are looking more than a little bit grim. You know who you are ladies. Thank you for saving my sanity. So, there you have it. My blog for this week/fortnight/month, depending on how the next few weeks go. But, just to prove that I am still writing and painting – albeit not as much as I would like - here is the link to my London Staycation blog on the aforementioned AngloInfo website and a snap of my latest artwork in progress. Hopefully to follow soon will be a couple of guest blogs – and maybe the above pic in its completed glory. Keep smiling! Hurrah! The sun is shining, Murray has won Wimbledon and I’ve just poured myself a glass of chilled pinot to reward myself for another day of hard graft in the office. It’s the kind of day that makes you think that, even when the going gets tough, anything is possible – as long as you put your mind to it.
Whilst I admit that I don’t always quite fully subscribe to this idea, I am a firm believer in giving things a go and, if I make a fool of myself in the process, at least I will die knowing I gave life my best shot rather than wondering, “What if?”. Take my trip to Peru for example. I’ve wanted to go for years and came to the conclusion that if I didn’t just get up off my arse and book the trip for me, myself and I, I’d probably never get there. Then there are my attempts to find a publisher – and now an agent. Okay, so the rejection letters suck, but I’m never going to get anywhere if I don’t take them on the chin and keep trying. And now I find myself in the throes of training for the Great North Run. So far it could be going a bit better (not having thrown myself down a mountain on said trip to Peru would have helped) but, you know what? Even if I crawl around the course, I will be able to say that I gave it a try. It interests me when I tell people about my escapades and they look at me and say, “Oooh, I could never do that! You’re so brave!” I apologise if you’re one of the people who has said this to me over the last few months, but I disagree. I don’t think that I’m brave. I’m not doing these things because I’m heroic, I’m doing them because I want to achieve something, to experience something, or to move on to better things in my life. Okay, so sometimes I have to take a deep breath before I march into my next scheme and ignore the little voice inside my head (or the negative person I’m talking to in the pub) telling me that it’s a stupid idea and I’ll just end up with egg on my face. But essentially my motivation is purely selfish. Over the last few weeks I have heard lots of stories of true bravery. Of course there is the woman who faced up to the Woolwich murderers. On telly last week I saw Eye Spy on Channel 4 and watched with amusement at how bystanders reacted to blatant sexism, homophobia and racism – and was proud to see my fellow Brits stand up for those being discriminated against without a second thought. Closer to home, I see people being brave every day of their lives. An old friend of mine has a niece who, at thirteen, has just had surgery to try and reduce the curvature of her spine caused by muscular dystrophy. The surgery left her very weak and for a while my friend and her family thought she might not recover. But she’s still fighting – a fact that, having known her for quite a large part of her life and admiring her feistiness in the face of her circumstances, doesn’t really surprise me. An attitude that takes guts, if you ask me. At work, my colleague and good mate Chris recently sent an email around the office, not asking for sponsorship for something stupid like a half marathon (ha!), but reminding everyone about the importance of being a registered organ donor – and making sure your registration details are up to date. Her niece Emma, who was only twenty, had been given under one year to live unless she could find a donor and have a lung transplant before cystic fibrosis would take her life. A couple of days later I was sat in the pub with Chris and asked her how Emma was coping with her prognosis. I know I for one would struggle to keep going in the knowledge that, unless I was lucky enough to have someone with the same blood group as me who also happened to be a registered donor die in a relatively short period of time, I was done for. But was Emma sat at home feeling sorry for herself and bemoaning her fate? On the contrary. In fact, she was rocking out at the Isle of Wight festival along we me and thousands others only three weeks ago. Yep, that is one brave lady. Luckily for most of us, we don’t have to climb such huge mountains on a day to day basis. But I think we can all be a little bit braver. When we see something that we don’t like or disagree with, we can take action, whether it is supporting a campaign or just speaking out when someone in the office makes a derogatory comment about the homeless person selling the Big Issue outside or the transgender waitress in the canteen. Of course I’m not suggesting we wade in if we see a fight in the middle of the street, but rather than rubber-necking along with everyone else, we can call the police - something I’ve felt compelled to do twice in the last few weeks. The other thing we can do to show our distaste at a situation (or of a person for that matter) is to simply walk away. Whether that be boycotting an unethical business or turning our back on people whose behaviours or beliefs we do not accept, it can often be more effective than arguing with some narrow-minded people will ever be. In short; as long as you aren’t harming anyone else, do what you want to do, be who you want to be, stand up for yourself and for others and you can’t go far wrong. Oh, and be thankful for what you’ve got. It could so easily be taken away from you. Sadly, that is what happened to my mate Chris and her niece Emma today. As I left my last meeting of the day and headed to M&S to buy that well-earned bottle of white, I received a text message telling me that Emma lost her fight today and had passed away just an hour earlier. I admit I shed a tear as I walked through Camden this evening, but then smiled to myself knowing that this plucky woman had lived her life to the full right up to the end of her tragically short life. So, tonight I am raising a glass to Emma and everyone else out there who shows such incredible courage in spite of illness, persecution or discrimination. They are the real heroes in my book - and a true inspiration to us all. http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ Happy Friday one and all! I don’t want to know how long it is since I last blogged here but I know it’s been a while. Sorry about that, but, well, I’ve been really rather busy, mainly putting my body through hell whilst having a bloody good time. Those of you who read my Overground Underground blog (http://blogs.angloinfo.com/underground-overground/2013/06/05/mountains-and-molehills/) will know I’ve just been to Peru – and have since fallen in love with it – and anyone who follows me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/lovehatelondon) will also know that this week has been dedicated to recovering from a really rather wonderful weekend at the Isle of Wight Festival. It would appear that standing in a field bopping to a plethora of bands for four days starts to hurt in your thirties... So, needless to say, my creative endeavours have taken a back seat over the last month or so – but not completely. Following two rejections from literary agents (FOOLS!) I have written to two more, and managed to squeeze in a writing session between my jolly jaunts too. Other than that, I admit I’ve not done a lot – but I’ve had a break and am rearing to go. Of course, going to far flung places and being able to take a step back from the day to day grind has given me space to reflect, gain perspective – and be inspired. The stresses of work aren’t getting to me anywhere near as much as they did pre-Peru, and I thank the country for reminding me what is important in life – and not to sweat the small stuff. And, as corny as it sounds, it brought me back to earth – as in it reminded me how beautiful the world can be, even when it pushes you to your limits. So, on the way home I made this little sketch – and intend to turn it into a painting some time soon. Another great thing about travelling (and the silver lining of long haul flights with dreary stop-overs in dull airports) is that you get time to read – and devour a book in 24 hours. I practically inhaled Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood and found myself nodding away to Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman – and have been inspired to get the paints out to celebrate womanhood too. No doubt I shall produce a collage or two to record my time in Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and those amazing mountains whilst I am at it.
Watch this space.... It’s Friday! The weekend is here! And today is my “work life balance” day so, rather than dragging my ass to the office, I am sat in my dressing gown talking to you lovely people. Cool, non? So, what am I going to do on this gloriously wet spring morning, you may ask? Well I have a gratis lunch booked at 1pm (keep your eyes peeled on Capital Life for the review!) and then I think I’ll treat myself to the stupidly expensive May Ray exhibition. At £14, it better be good. You see, that’s the problem. Going out can be an expensive experience – which in general I am cool with (well, you have to be in London!) as long as I have a good time. Last week I made the mistake of going to see the Folly Mixtures at Madame JoJos – okay, so it was only seven quid, but by the time you’ve bought your dinner in town and had a couple of glasses of wine, the cost starts to mount up. I wouldn’t mind if the show had been organised to the extent where you could see the stage without standing on your chair (no, I’m not even joking) and if JoJos hadn’t filled their venue to such a ridiculous extent that I am pretty damn certain that it breached a number of health and safety regulations. And, if the show had had a bit more to it, we might have stayed beyond the first half... I know people have been saying it for ages, but maybe staying in is the new going out after all. Last weekend I had two really great evenings quaffing wine and munching takeaway/cheese and nibbles in the front rooms of two of my chums, talking Tooting (it’s hip, dontcha know?), men (ha!), the trials and tribulations of that thing we call work (uff) and everything in-between. I admit, in the week I have been a bit of a hermit too – but this does mean that I have been busy making stuff! After a very painful introduction to cable knit (sorry sis) I managed to create a lovely cosy headband (modelled by Mr Pink) just in time for spring, and also threw together my “Bag Lady” carrier bag holder – and am thrilled to announce that I can remember chain stitch from my home economics classes at school. Yay me!
The jury is out as to how far I shall venture into the wide world this weekend, but, if the weather doesn’t start to improve, it may not be far – which means that at some point I shall have to stop procrastinating and compose a letter to be sent to the two literary agents I have chosen to approach. Yes I am scared – rejection is never a nice feeling - but I guess a girl’s gotta to what a girl’s gotta do to get what she wants out of life. Anyways, I’m off now for a lovely bath before facing the world – and whether you decide to stay in or brave the weather, have a fabulous weekend. Adios! It’s funny old world, isn’t it? This time last week, I was knackered. I’d been out four nights in a row with only Monday night off to recover after a week of hedonism with my mate Lisa (There’s a rumour going around that we’re not good for each other. Can’t think why.) and, after a gruelling week at work, I was more than ready for a weekend hibernating in my flat – and very nearly cancelled my catch up with fellow arty-type and good friend Laura. Laura was pretty knackered too, but like the troopers we are, we hauled our arses out of our pits and met for an exchange of collages (I’d left a couple of creations at Laura’s last time we met), a mooch around the South London Gallery, tea, cake, and a bit of mutual mentoring. You see, Laura and I have “buddied up” and meet once a month to talk about how we have been getting on with our respective projects – and offer moral support when things haven’t quite gone according to plan. We both work full time, have busy social and home lives and often find focusing on our creative pursuits more than a little challenging. Laura admitted that she had not done as much of her “to do” list as she had hoped – but had the excuse of a new voluntary job, manic work schedule and an addiction to Coursera – a directory of free online courses on anything from philosophy, social networking and mathematics. Take a look at your peril – Laura is currently signed up to about half a dozen courses... So, last week was busy. This week, however... has been pretty dead. Other than a rather dull evening meeting I’ve been in every night – which, whilst relaxing, does lead to a bit of cabin fever, along with an over-indulgence of jaffa cakes. Having said that, it has been a rather productive week. I’ve caught up with my writing (novel number two is at about 12,000 words and counting) and have been getting on with a bit of crafting. Not only have I made my mum a snood (modelled by Dog below) and a rosette-style brooch to accompany her ticket to see Carmen for her Birth/Mother’s Day treat, I’ve made Breezy, a metre-long beast of a draught excluder commissioned by a chum who has unusually wide doors. And tonight I’ve titivated my collage “Fist” yet again... keep an eye on the “Art” section of this website for its unveiling once I decide it’s finished.
You know what? I feel a bit sorry for my man. Not only has he been stuck with me for longer than I care to admit, but, when he stayed with me down here in London last week, it appeared that the gods were against us. On Monday we hit Soho to check out Time Out’s vintage shopping trail followed with a goldfish bowl of gin at Star in the Sky – only to discover on our arrival that it was closed. On Saturday we headed to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photography Award – but tickets had sold out. The following day brunch was scuppered by some black pudding that had decided to grow a slimy grey coating whilst still within the use-by date and our Sunday matinee was cut short when my DVD player decided to have a hissy-fit halfway through Three Lions.
The poor lamb. But, you know what? These unfortunate incidents turned out to be less disastrous than I thought. In fact, you could almost call them happy accidents. Rather than admitting defeat, we swapped gin in Soho for beer in Finsbury Park, and Soho Joe’s for Papagones, who make up for any shortfalls in the pizza department with chocolate and hazelnut ice cream to DIE for. Photography was replaced with a rather successful shopping trip (especially as HMV had started to accept gift vouchers again), black pudding with the much healthier option of grilled tomatoes (which incidentally go very well with a bit of pepper sauce) and the movie with a games of cards – made all the better by my inevitable victory (ha!). So, my point? Well, just because things don’t always turn out the way you hoped doesn’t mean that other good stuff won’t happen. Last Friday I had a horrendous interview for a job I really wanted. Needless to say my impersonation of a rabbit caught in headlights did not impress the interview panel and I was not successful. I admit I was gutted – and telling my workmates was excruciating, especially as everyone expected me to do well. But, you know what? Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Just like it wasn’t meant to be for me to find a publisher last year, or for me to be discovered by a best-selling glossy, Charles Saatchi or a hip and happening craft shop in Shoreditch. But that’s okay. Because something much better is just around the corner. And I fully intend to have a bit of fun whilst I find it. |
THE JUICEHere you will find my latest news, including what I have been up to and what I have been writing (and making). Hopefully you'll like what I have to say - and perhaps I will motivate you to get creative too... Archives
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