Magenta_Thursday's Xanga

Two steps forward...

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:32:56 GMT

And then another two…

Yup, that’s right – America plans have taken a giant leap for mankind. We have accomodation booked for Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco. The bus from New York to Washington is booked. The train from Washington to LA is booked.

I’ve bought a backpack (and a pair of really comfy trainer type shoes that will be perfect for schlepping all over the place) and set up a new bank account. Now I just have to wait for my card to arrive, and then I can transfer some money!

T-shirt plans have ground to a halt, sadly, although I am also now plotting a mission badge with the help of my dad. Are we mad? Yes, very. Did you have a point? Do we look like we care?

So, a mere 33 days left at Seawhite, and in seven weeks time I will be… er… on a plane. Damn, that doesn’t sound nearly as cool as I’d hoped.

And then there’s Phosie’s party to look forward to – where DOES the excitement end?! And Phosie’s present is all completed and ready to go… apart from lacking any kind of wrapping. Plus I have a new painting in the planning stages.

Basically, I’m a weirdly happy person right now… Don’t worry, folks, it’s Monday tomorrow, you’ll have the normal miserable, grammar nazi BJ back then…

America countdown – 7 weeks

A man, a plan...

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:42:02 GMT

Yes, planning for the USA Tour is taking a step forward… followed swiftly by several backwards. It, horribly, means Thinking About Stuff, Finding Out About Stuff and, you know… working… It’s also expensive. The trip, not so much the planning.

Still, the train from DC to LA is booked (huzzah!) so we have three days accomodation and food at least. Just got to work on the bits in between now. Alas, alack, I came to book the Good Hostel in San Francisco, and suddenly, whoosh! – all booked up. Shocking, I know, that they aren’t just automatically making room for LisaMan and myself. Still, what can you do?

Nonetheless, I have vague plans for making myself a tour T-shirt.

Also, a birthday present for Phosie is underway, a sort of plan for T-Kup’s kind of exists, and I had an idea for Hazel, but I’m not sure I can pull it off in time. That may well have to be a late present.

Well, now that I’m once again in debt to my dad, and STILL in debt to my aunt (heh, yes, well, I can’t pay them for Austria until they tell me how much it is…) my bank balance is soon to be looking distinctly less healthy than it did the last time I looked at it. Thankfully, I have a further eight weeks of work at Seawhite, so plenty of money to be earnt…

America countdown – 8 weeks, 1 day

48 Days

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:39:25 GMT

I have an annoyingly itchy arm right now from where I gave blood earlier. It makes me feel like a fine, upstanding citizen, but it isn’t half itchy.

Anyway, 48 days. That’s it. That’s how many days of work I have between now and when I leave for America. Scary. But it WILL earn me some £2100, so, well, I’m not complaining, you know?

I haven’t actually got anything else to say other than that I’m panicking like mad over Script Frenzy because I keep getting distracted by other characters from other stories and it’s REALLY IRRITATING.

On the plus side, new season of House starts over here tomorrow – hurrah! – and I have a four-day weekend coming up – hurrah! – and I think I really, truly will do some painting during it – hurrah! AND I’ve just been invited to an 18^th birthday party. My life isn’t as dull as I thought…

Looking forward to a Cranford-fest with the lovely Jet on Monday. Now for drawing some more cups…

America countdown – 10 weeks, 4 days

Lights... Camera...

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:28:31 GMT

First blog entry in a bit. I did write a little mini-blog when I was in Austria with the intention for typing it up… But I just haven’t got round to it and now can’t be bothered. Suffice it to say, snowboarding is FANTASTIC, and there is already talk of going to Italy in January – hurrah!

Very little to report as my life is, as we all know, incredibly dull. Hardly written a thing recently, which doesn’t bode well for Script Frenzy, but Bram is back, and kindly deigning to actually be a useful character. The possibly-a-TV-series is evolving, and I have what may well be an opening. I have characters and a soundtrack, anyway, which is a good start, plus Pye has been back (but I’ve seen hide nor hair of Noosh…).

Went to see “The Other Boleyn Girl” on Tuesday, which was thankfully a hell of a lot better than that crappy TV one from a few years back. Still not quite right, but far more acceptable.

I think I’m going to do some painting this weekend. I’m really in the mood for it. No idea what I’m going to do, but I’m sure I’ll think of something… fingers crossed.

Making my promise again at Brownies on Monday, but I still haven’t learnt the Law… It’s so much longer than the Brownie law. Very boring stuff like “I will be a nice person” sort of thing. Sigh. Still, I might get a new promise badge out of it… Not sure whether I do or not. Can’t remember. Thankfully I haven’t lost my Guide one, or left it in Austria. It remains safely pinned to my bag. It seems I’m quite sensible after all.

America countdown – 11 weeks, 2 days (yikes!)

John was a scientist...

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:09:09 GMT

There. I made it safely to the point before I leave to go snowboarding without injuring myself. Which is actually a minor miracle as the past couple of days at work have involved helping unload two containers (and by that I mean those massive containers you see at docks) full of boxes of… well, mostly canvas, but also rollers, oil pastels, pallet knives and more canvas.

Now I can do the traditional thing of injuring myself whilst participating inwinter sports…Or perhaps not.

Anyhow, finally finished that coloured drawing of a horse. At work. What can I say? It was a stupidly annoying day, customer-wise. I had a lot of people asking me how much things cost. I ask you! Am I meant to have memorised the entire seven-page pricelist?

Well, no matter now, I have a whole lovely week of freedom. And hopefully an FP Meet Up in the near-ish future to look forward to. Hooray! Hooray again! And one more hooray for luck!

Austria countdown - 1 day

America countdown - 13 weeks, 2 days

Something and nothing.

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:03:16 GMT

More characters have been assembling for what is looking likely to be my Script Frenzy. I’m not sure whether to make this a film or a TV series. Leaning towards TV series as I get the feeling it would work better, but I don’t know yet. Anyway, it’s all been very interesting meeting these new characters; Jules, Pye and Noosh. Don’t know too much about any of them yet, but… Well, the cast is growing, so that’s cool.

Also, had some useful snowboarding tips from Richard today; watch out for trees, and also other people. I’m sure this will come in handy…

Oh, yeah, and I got trained to use the electric trolley in the warehouse today! Huzzah!

Austria countdown: 3 days

America countdown: 13 weeks, 4 days

Nothin' doin'

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:19:14 GMT

*le sigh*

Very bored, slightly depressed, and horribly uninspired. Meant to practise on the old guitar a bit today, but I didn't seem to get round to it, somehow.

Mind you, I did get post. Actual post. In actual envelopes. With actual stamps. Two pieces of. In fact, I think it was ALL of today's post. For me! (OK, so one was only addressed to me and was actually for my dad, but, you know.) I should probably write Clare a letter. Perhaps I'll do it at work. On Thursday or Friday. Hmm, better be Thursday. I'll need a time to post the thing.

Tasty pie for dinner tonight. It seems that my dinners are the highlights of my days. Of course, steak and guiness... Well, there's a pie to get excited about. Flora came and sat with me when I'd finished eating and tried to get on the table to lick my plate. She's very cute when she's not biting you.

Austria countdown: 4 days

America countdown: 13 weeks, 5 days

C'mon!

No news is good news

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:40:33 GMT

But even when news comes it can, of course, be good.

Still somewhat depressed, but I had some more shepherd's pie tonight, which cheered me up a bit. Also the horse drawings are going remarkably well. A bit too well. Oh, such fun being a cynic.

Might have an idea for Script Frenzy, though, which is goodish news. It involves some really sexy characters, which is also goodish news. The downside to this is that they are, in fact, fictional.

Plus, week off next week - hooray! - during which I'm going to Austria - hooray! - and trying my hand (or feet) at snowboarding - hooray!

Unfortunately, this involves 1) missing mother's day (again) 2) losing a week's worth of money and 3) having to admit, at some point, that the toadstool will not be ready or returned in time to the meeting I'm going to miss. If number 3 made little or no sense to you, go and see your doctor immediately - it may mean you are sane.

The good, the bad & the ugly

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:17:35 GMT

So, had a really awesome time with a very good friend of mine today, which is shiny because she's leaving for Paraguay tomorrow and I won't have the chance to have a really awesome time with her again for six months... Also had my first public performance (in front of real live people who I had never met before in my life) playing guitar and singing today. Played "Hazel's Song" (for it is she who is leaving tomorrow and who I had a really awesome time with today) and then "Mary's Song" because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Thinking about it now, I probably should have played what has been dubbed "Clare's Song" too, just to keep things even.

Well, that's most of the good over with: The bad? Well, Hazel is leaving for Paraguay tomorrow and I won't see her for six months. Also, only one of my paintings was sold at the fair, and it was to a relative and therefore doesn't really count.

Today has really just left me feeling horribly depressed about... Everything, really. I was hoping that this year, whilst being the end of many eras, would be full of new beginnings, too. Sadly, it seems only to have brought ending after ending, and no new beginnings are presenting themselves.

I suppose that's the ugly.

Going places...

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:07:44 GMT

So, Austria in a few weeks, and then... Well, LisaMan and I are soon to be booking our FLIGHTS TO AMERICA!

Starting to actually get excited about that now; starting to feel... real.

Just wanted to share the excitement.