Fortnums, Stansted, Langoustine

What do those three have in common? My Christmas in Brittany! I decided. Not a very hard decision it has to be said. My flights are booked, my luggage is to be checked at £7 per piece and my arms are to be full of my gift for the French family. I thought a very English hamper from Fortnums would do the trick.

That leaves the langoustine. Now, this one deserves some discourse. In the past when I have had houseguests or indeed been a houseguest, the question one asks and gets asked is something like "what don't you eat?". Or if you had a menu in mind "do you eat such and such?" Such and such usually being brussel sprouts (no) or cranberry sauce (yes). This must be the first time that I have been asked if I will eat langoustine! Sadly, the answer is no. What! you cry in disbelief. It's true. Tuna and cod is my fishy lot. I'm a food Philistine, I know. But I'm going to France for Christmas, so there.

Write it down: my favourite song lyrics

:)I may have mentioned before: I love music. This is the place where I will write down any song lyrics that have an impact on me, not ones that run round in my head, those annoying ones you can't get rid of, but the ones where I know, just know, that actually it was me who wrote them. They, those artisty musically musical people, sucked them from my brain and put them to a tune. Some of them are meaningful sentences (to me obviously), some are just words that I think are nicely strung together...or uniquely descriptive...or funny. I'll put a link on the sidebar for continuous updating.

Ani Difranco (Adam and Eve) - "So I let go of the ratio of things said to things heard, and I leave you to your garden and the beauty you preferred."
Arcade Fire
(Neighbourhood #1 Tunnels) - ...then I'll dig a tunnel, from my window to yours."
(Crown of Love) - "Your name is the only word that I can say..."
The Bravery (Give In) - "All I want is everything."
Charlies Amp (Lights in LA) - "...it's staying out 'til 3 with people that excite me."
Cooper Temple Clause (Waiting Game) - "...I promise I never meant to turn you away. Why did you trust me with your heart?"
Counting Crows (A Long December) - "All at once you look across a crowded room to see the way that light attaches to a girl."
The Cure (Just Like Heaven) - "I kissed her face and kissed her head and dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her grow."
Feist
(Mushaboom) - "It may be years until the day, my dreams will match up with my pay."
(1243) - "Sweet heart, bitter heart, now I can't tell you apart."
The Fratellis
(Cuntry Boys and City Girls) - "I love the way you city girls dress, even when your head's in a mess."
(Whistle For the Choir) - "So if you're crazy, I don't care, you amaze me."
Guillemots (Annie, Let's Not Wait) - "I found something crying; it was my soul."
Interpol
(NYC) -"It's up to me now, turn on the bright lights."
(NYC) - "I had seven faces; thought I knew which one to wear, but I'm sick of spending these lonely nights training myself not to care."
The Killers
(Sam's Town) - "I know that I can make it as long as somebody takes me home, every now and then."
(Read my Mind) - "...with magic soaking my spine."
Neko Case (Hold On, Hold On) - "I leave the party at three a.m., alone, thank God."
The Ordinary Boys (Talk Talk Talk) - "Tell me all your secrets, I'll never tell you mine."
The Psychedelic Furs (Pretty in Pink) - "The one who insists he is first in the line is the last to remember her name."
Puggy (Sorry) - "Sorry you didn't notice what this meant."
R.E.M.
(All the Way to Reno) - "Your Achilles heel is a tendency to dream."
(Aftermath) - "And you've worked it out, and you see it all, and you want to shout how you see it all."
(Leaving New York) - "It's easier to leave than to be left behind."
Roddy Woomble (My Secret is My Silence) - "You approach land without a harbour to find your way home."
The Shins (Phantom Limb)
"Follow the lines and wonder why there's no connection."
"This town seems hardly worth our time."
Stereophonics (Hurry Up and Wait) - "Wait to get there, and when we get there, we wait around for anyone to tell us what we even got there for."

A nice warm feeling

Today I was invited to France for Christmas. I was lamenting the fact that I was sans family for the first time in many a year (OK, ever) and that I would be the only housemate without somewhere to go for the usual celebrations. Woe is me. And that's when My French Friend said, "Let me ask my mum, then you can come to France with me and spend Christmas with my family." How nice is that? How nice I ask you? There is one small issue I see in this arrangement. She is the only one in her family who speaks English. Problem. Sign language is an option...or at least enthusiastic gesticulating, like some earnest form of Charades...

But France for Christmas. v. intr. pon-der-ing.

We just didn’t connect

Today I wandered the street called Oxford in search of what I thought was a pretty simple request. I’ve read about it, I’ve heard about it, but I’ll be damned if I can find it. A data card: laptop internet connection through my mobile phone. Quick explanation: I’ve moved into my new houseshare (love love love) but we have yet to install wireless broadband. Now, it must be stated as a fact that the internet is essential to my being and I get [insert Latin name here] a.k.a. “the shakes” without it. This posting is quite a naughty one because I’ve hopped onto an unsecured wireless network. What? It’s a medical emergency(ish). Thank you whoever you are.

I was saying. I visited all of the mobile phone shops up the street and down. Whilst every single one was able to offer me a data card on a 12 month contract, only one (brightly coloured one) was able to offer me one without – but I could only get it online! How funny is that? I’m looking to get an internet connection and the only way I can get it is online.

One sales advisor at one of the major mobile phone providers, who I have always regarded highly (the provider not the advisor), informed me that although I was able to get what I was looking for, it wasn’t there, and what’s more he refused to tell where I could get it.

Here’s to piggybacking (but just until I get my own). Thank you.

Putain!

I've had such a sh*t day at work, it deserves its very own posting. That's it, that's all I'm going to say about it, lest I get fired.

Could it be, could it be?

1 x 4-bed house. Check.
3 x friendly housemates. Check.
1 x lovely street. Check.
1 x awesome bedroom. Check.
With en-suite. Check.

Woo hoo! Almost there. To do:

1. Meet landlord.
2. Sign tenancy agreement.
3. Move in.

Easy as 1,2,3? Let's hope so! I do so deserve it.

The beat goes on

I'm back onto my flatshare saga. It's ongoing. Yesterday it appeared to be moving in a good direction. The fabulous Gumtree brought together a whole bunch of seemingly like-minded people looking for a decent place to live at a reasonable price. Outcome? The search begins for a 4-5 bedroom house. At this time of year? Apparently not. 4-5 bedroom houses seem to be very scarce "at this time of year". Why? Students, that's why. They've swarmed the streets of Clapham and nicked the lot of them. Where does that leave us (read: me)? Frustrated. I have the means, I just don't have the end. And I was so hoping to move by the weekend.