Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Just remembered, though it's hardly worth a separate post, the german for 'no make-up' is 'keine Schminke'. Oddly enough, that kind of appeals to me.
Great. Just lost a big long posting due to some sort of server shafting. No really, I like that. To sum up, the following has happened since last post:
BBQ at Bruno and Chris's: good fun, nice people, some good digital cam pics, long debates about two of my Aussie pet hates (cockroaches and the fact you can't buy unscented loo paper), lots of champagne and voddy and a lift home. Fantastic. Minker minor.
Dreams: yep, strange ones again. This time a bit fuzzy. All I can remember is my Dad being there, some surfing down mud-slides and a very passionate snog with someone who shall for the moment remain nameless. No, all you Freudian freaks, it wasn't my Dad.
Bugger all: up late, down to the RooBar (really) for brekky and Net stuff, and now off to the pool as it's sunny today, as opposed to the hot and humid but cloudy stuff that's been going on for the rest of the week. I need much more of a tan. Currently not that brown (I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know). More later...

Tuesday, February 27, 2001

It's currently Tuesday just after midday, and the weather is about 33­°C. Have been a good boy today. Up at about 9am, worked out that I have a local gym membership courtesy of the place I'm staying, worked out it was my old gym, worked out the best time to go would be early morning, worked out. :o)
Have since feasted on a very healthy brekky - banana smoothie, fresh fruit salad (melon x2, banana, grapes x2 (varieties, not just 2 grapes),strawberries, pineapple), bagel with cream cheese and a latté. Fantastic. Caught up with David P (fine-ish, but still a bit under the weather from the Harbour Party) and arranged to be at the BBQ tonight at Bruno and Chris's. Phoned David Bassett (my ex from here) and we're going out for a beer on Thursday night. Actually having worked out and then calling David B whilst having brekky gave me an enormous sense of deja-vu. Have a couple of things to do before going down to the Boy Charlton pool, to basque in the sun and have a dip. If my triceps hold out that is - think I over worked them and my arms are trembling. Which is a good look. (Though maybe not as good as the basque).
Stange dream about my Mum and Dad last night. I can't really remember much, though I do recall me wearing something around my neck and upper body that resembled a cross between a life buoy and a UFO, but it was somehow attached to the little bone thing that I wear around my neck. My parents wouldn't help me get out of it (which I was trying to do), and I was getting more and more frustrated as they wouldn't lend a hand. I eventually got free and was shouting loudly at my Mum and asking why she didn't help. She didn't say a word and I slapped her. I asked Dad too, and all he did was shrug his shoulders and said 'Pocket money'. I know there was more, involving me cutting a deal with Mum that I wanted to leave and never come back, and her agreeing (in a really strange voice so I knew she really wanted me gone), and it also involving Kraft Cheese Slices (I was tearing small holes in the centre of them and then placing them on her shoulders). The only other person there was Gill, a girl I saw briefly when I was 18, who was just laughing. Go figure.
Right. Bits to bronze. More later.

Monday, February 26, 2001

Been in a strange mood for the day, but spent most of it alone which might account for it. Realised that part of the fun of Sydney is sharing it with people, and haven't been able to share it today :o(
Didn't shop at all in the end, just wandered. All day. Contemplated life, etc. Back to the room and read a while, then out for a very quick beer then lovely big salad in local café. Here now and heading back to sleep momentarily. The boys are back in touch, but suffering from Harbour Party minkering. Now I feel smug :o) More tomorrow. x
Oh, and finally managed to talk to Stevie P! Yay! About time too! :o)
Well I didn't get into the Harbour Party. Boo hoo. Went down and hung around with a million others, all who had heard that last year you were able to pick up spare ones at the gate. No such luck. Next year of course, everyone will be saying that it was impossible to get tickets this year at the gate, and so there'll be a vast superfluity. Never mind. I did try for about an hour, then decided my time could be better spent elsewhere. Hooked up with my mate Phil again, and had coffee. Phil went and crashed at mine for a bit and I trawled the bars getting nicely merry. Came back, woke Phil and we hit the Pheonix on Oxford Street, and managed to bump into people we knew. But kind of separately. There were a gang of four guys near us, and as it turned out one was an actor friend of Phil's, and one was Karl's lodger Sam - who wins the award for the 'person-I-bump-into-the-most-in-the-world-ever'. Nice to catch up with him, and good to actually spend a bit more time with Phil, who's not been having the bestest of times.
Not heard from the boys today as yet - I left a message with David to say call when he'd surfaced. No news is, well, no news really. Sure I'll hear more later. Until then I'm off shopping - new sunnies and a few Bond's t-shirts beckon, I reckon.
Zowie! I'm exhausted. I've just caught up on everyone's blogs since I came away - you guys are all having so much fun! Michael takes the award for 'making-my-links-the-most-like-Dave's' award - nice going pal, you make me grin! Am hanging my head in shame for the quiz team performance last Tuesday however. I expect better tomorrow guys.
Currently in one of my other fave coffee shops in Sydney, catching up on stuff. Have just eaten corn fritters with bacon and quacomole, had a long latté and an orange/apple/ginger juice. Fantastic. Feel like a right bloater. It's lovely and sunny again and yet I can't bring myself to sunbathe again until tomorrow. Have the world's reddest nose since burning it cycling round Rottnest Island. Also have some well dodgy pigment thing happening on my back, leaving big patches of it white, whilst the rest of it burns nicely in the antipodean heat. Nice. Attractive. Yeah right.
Anyway, I'm sure you're all dying to know if I managed to get into the Harbour Party last night? Read on...

Sunday, February 25, 2001

Ay caramba. Now it's Sunday afternoon, and I'm getting that Vauxhall feeling. Chatted to Nick last night too, which was great. Good to hear from someone back home and catch up on the gossip. Woke late this morning, and then went to one of my old haunts for brekky - it's so good to be staying locally to where I used to live! Called Phil and met him for coffee - great to see him again too. Plan is to try and get to the Harbour Party - big party on the Harbour, hence the name. All the other guys have tickets but me... so I'm going to head down and try and get one at the gate - a longshot, but it just might work. Will let you know later if I'm successful! Wish me luck - I really fancy getting minkered with the backdrop of the Opera House and the Bridge - anyone care to join me?
Sydney calling. But first, what's been happening since the last entries from Perth? Well, I'll let you know.
Tuesday evening: Brett came back from work and we decided to go for a bit of a drive to the beach. Did that, walked and talked, went up to Kings Park (fantastic view of the city) and eventually came dome and Brett made a curry. We drank champagne and got a bit tiddly. Fell into a coma around midnight.
Wednesday: Up at just after 6am, as Brett had got the day off and we were going to take a long drive down south. Left the house at 7am and managed to drive for an hour and a half until we had brekky in Mandurah. Carried on, and visited many different places heading further and further down. Drove through Bunbury and Bussleton and finally hit the most south-westerly point of Australia at Leeuwin, where there is a lighthouse to make the point. We carried on as far as Pemberton before coming back home inland. The whole things was some 880 kilometres and we got home at 8.30pm! What a day! We were knackered, so had some food and wine and fell into bed.
Thursday: Had spoken to the boys, but not actually seen them since we arrived, so we arranged to go to Rottnest Island for the day and see if we couldn't see some quokkas. If you follow that previous link you can take a virtual bike ride round the island - we did it for real!! First time I've been on a pushbike for years. Great fun, and the sun came out too so we sunbathed and had a most enjoyable day. Our favourite places on the island had, of course, to be Nancy Cove and Mary Cove... Home and showered and Brett was home from work. We'd arranged to meet up for dinner with the boys, Brenda and Alan (Chris's sister and hubby) and Frank and Jam (friends of Chris). This was in Joondalup, and so off we toddled. However, on Tuesday evening Brett and I had been talking about piercings - and he was toying with the idea of having something pierced 'down under'. So, we swung into a piercing joint on the way to the meal, and made an appointment. So, between main course and dessert, he and I nipped out and went back to the place. Some half an hour later, Brett was the proud owner of a gold bar through his dick - a little way down from the head on the underside. No pain, no blood, no nothing. I almost had a tattoo done, but will save that for sometime soon. I really hadn't expected to be party to any genital piercing whilst on holiday! Oh, and I thought better of putting a link from genital piercings, you bunch of pervs you! We went back and had a couple more drinks and then home.
Friday: Up at 8am and did some pre-BBQ preparations, as Brett had very kindly organised a party for us Brits. Then went off to the beach to meet David, Chris and Nigel again - though I went to the wrong one! Finally met on the right one and got a bit more sun. Back to the house and got everything ready, and people started arriving from about 6pm. It was great to catch up with so many familiar faces, and it was a great party. Think the last people went around 1.30am, and everyone had a good time. Thanks again to Brett for all his generosity and hospitality during my week there.
Saturday: Up and packed. Went to see Geoff (Brett's ex) on the way to the airport, then off to Sydney! Chris and Nigel were waitlisted on the same flight as David and I, and managed to get the last two seats. Bruno and Chris kindly gave me a lift to my apartment here and then we all had a bit of time to ourselves, before meeting in the Oxford for beers. Great feeling to be back in Sydney - still feel like a local after the 18 months or so of being away. Hit the Barracks for more beers and finally fell into a coma at 2.45am.

Tuesday, February 20, 2001

Thanks to Stevie P for getting me bean bag beans for the bean bag, taking me and David P to the airport and generally being a bon oeuf. Thanks to all of you that wished me bon voyage - I'll try and get this up to date as much as possible through the trip! Bye for now... x
Tuesday: Brett was up again at 6.30am this morning, and bizarrely me not much later at 6.50pm. My body has no idea what's going on! Had coffee on the verandah in the sunshine. Now I remember why I love Australia so much. Warmth and sunshine that early on - bliss. Brett hit work, I rang David and the boys and we're going to meet them tonight for a beer I think. I came into Perth to do some Internet bits and we're about up to date.
More news as it happens.
Sorry, my posts are going to be all over the place time line wise, but I don't want to be in the same situation as yesterday when the cafe I was in had server problems and I lost everything. Yes, temper included.
Monday: Went and tried to standby for the 9am flight to Perth, to be with the boys. They let me! Nice people at Singapore. However, the flight was full and I couldn't get on. This meant I said goodbye to the guys and started my potential 12 hour wait in the airport. Nice. Flopped in a chair at 9.30am to watch CNN, and as if by magic it was suddenly 4.30pm! How did that happen? Anyway, I grabbed a coffee and went and tried to waitlist for the 7.25pm flight (I was booked on the 9.40pm one). They said to come back in an hour as they had to find my bags, so I went and bought a lovely new discman and then had the bad half hour in the internet cafe. Grrr. Back to Customer Services and yes, I could standby for the earlier flight. I wandered about another half an hour and went back. Hurrah - I was on the earlier flight! So, by 7.30pm I was in the air again ready for the 5 hour trip to Perth. I managed to get the seat allocation of 'just in front of, to the side of and just behind' screaming babies, so it was lucky I'd bought the new discman. No films worth watching, so read, ate drank and CD-ed. Landed in Perth at 12.30am and Brett came and picked me up. Bless him. Great to see him again - such a lovely man. That completed my 34 hours of travelling.We chatted until 4am, when finally it was bed time.
Right then...
Friday: came home from work, finally, at 7.30pm. Yay! I'm on holiday! Went into Jamie Oliver mode and concocted something fabulous for me and Nick to have for tea, shimmied through the shower and arrived at the Kazbar in Clapham exactly at 9.30pm to meet Darryl. He was indeed there, as was Stevie P, Seamus, and David joined us shortly after. As did Rieg. We limbered up with some mild minkering, and sang more loudly the more we minkered. Strange that. Eventually we decided it was time to move on. Stevie P wasn't feeling so great so he left us as we moved on to the Two Brewers. Once in there, Darryl uttered the immortal words 'Ashley's here', and things kind of went downhill from there. Oops. Michael arrived, as did a guy I first spotted on Sunday at Marvellous. However things on Sunday hadn't gone quite according to plan. Well not my plan anyway. I saw this guy and thought he looked quite cute and eventually made my way over to him and said so. He took one look at me and said 'Sorry, but I only go for guys that are taller than I am'. This from someone who must be all of 5'7" to someone 5'6". Although he grinned at my suggestion of me going to get a box to stand on, I took the hint and left him alone. I did venture up to him on leaving and said that I still thought he was cute and as there was no-one else cuter there I was going. And off I'd toddled. So, who should be in the Brewers on Friday night? Correct! So, I sauntered over and said something along the lines of 'Hi, remember me? I'm the short guy from Marvellous.' Anyway, to cut a long story short, Richard presumably will now have to alter his patter of 'Sorry, but I only go for guys that are taller than I am', as I left his flat in Streatham at 2.30pm on
Saturday: Enjoyed the night with Richard, but not the journey back to Elephant, which for some reason took for ever. Finally got in, ate, considered all the stuff I had to do before leaving for Oz, ditched half of it in my head and went and had my hair cut. Came back, packed, sorted stuff out and Stevie P came over about 9.30pm. Said my goodbyes to Nick and hit Steve's via McDonalds. Drank vodka and stumbled upon '101 Rent Boys'. Bizarre. Bed at 12.30am.
Sunday: Up at 7am, grabbed David P at 7.45am and hit Heathrow. Met up with Chris and Nigel, checked in and our Oz adventure was underway. I tried and changed my flight from Singapore to Perth to match up with the guys, but sadly BA weren't having it. Take off at 11.15am post duty-free shopping and McDonalds. Didn't get chance to replace the discman which was in the bag I drunkenly left in Barcode the other week as the staff in Dixons couldn't be arsed to serve me. Gits. Seat allocation dramas, but eventually we got 2 lots of 2 and settled down for the 12 hour flight. Nice. Watched Shadow of the Vampire (weird), slept a while, watched X-Men again (fun, no intellectual anything needed), ate, drank, chatted to David, read a bit, drank more, chatted to Chris and Nigel, ate brekky and then we landed at 8am local time in Singapore on Monday.
G'day folks!! Well here I am, down under. I did try and blog in Singapore, but having just nicely typed up some of my exploits their server decided to give up the ghost and all my hard work was lost. Hey ho. Lots to update on since the last blog entry, so I'll crack on. Apologies now for the lack of normal 'crazy links ' - I haven't really got time to find the rubbish, er... search for the quality links that make my blog unique. Yeah right. It costs in an internet cafe OK??

So, where did I leave you last? It seems like aeons ago, but is only in fact 4 days ago. Or even less than that if you don't take into account that I'm currently some 8 hours ahead of you. (Or more if you're in New York Michael).

Friday, February 16, 2001

Remember the board game Operation? You had to perform joke 'operations' on a body - but it was wired up like one of those steady hand things that buzz when you knock into a wire. Every gay man should identify with this... (thanks to Sarah for the link!)
Happy Birthday to my sister Sue!!

Also, congrats to Michael - we solved his hyperlinking problem so his blog is now better than ever. God bless the Net.
So, my last day in work until March 7th. I'm so sad. Guess what I'll be doing?

Best story of the day so far is in Metro. Surgeons in Georgia have replaced a man's cancer-riddled penis with one of his fingers. Complete with knuckles. His girlfriends are apparently 'more than happy' with the results. Wonder if it's something to do with the claim that '...because the knuckles were left on the finger during the operation, the man has been left with an unusual trick. He can bend his finger penis as required.' Hmmm. The mind boggles. Mind you, they may have a point - a finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat. Allegedly. Wonder if he licks his fingers?

Finally, Nick and I are succumbing to the effects of too much minkering. The other night in Comptons, pre-Hannibal, I meant to say 'Just nipping quickly upstairs to see Karl'. However, what came out of my mouth was 'Just nippley quicking upstairs to see Karl'. Nippley quicking? Nippley quicking?? Then last night we were cooking (pork stir-fry thing - very nice), when instead of coming out with 'The juices are coming out of the meat' (and yes, I was talking about the cooking!), I uttered the immortal line 'The meeces are coming out of the jute'! I didn't know we had meece, let alone any sackcloth.
Did I mention I'm going to Oz on Sunday for two weeks?

"I'll get you my pretty... and your little blog, too!"

Thursday, February 15, 2001

Aaagh! Too much to do before my holiday!
Official statement from the office of Miss Sarah Fernau:
"I disapprove of the reference to me as a babymaking hussy. You'll have everyone thinking I'm out to ride the state system. Now officially no longer broody - many, many (far too many) children crossed my path on the way to work. They are all too loud. :P "

I'd just like to say that it wasn't the state system I believed she was out to ride. :o) Kissee kissee Sarah!! xx
So, Hannibal. Verdict? Well, the jury was out with the four of us that went last night. Nicely shot, Florence comes out as the big star. Julianne Moore is good, as is old Tone. Thought I might be more squeamish than I actually was, though there are a couple of stomach-flipping moments. Plot? I didn't think it too bad, though the person amongst us that had read the book was more than a little disappointed. Go see it, don't expect great things and above all, don't eat anything too sickly beforehand.
Almost home time. Didn't detail last night's weirdo freaky dream - there are way too many of these at the moment for my liking. Maybe I'm stressed or something. Last night's interrupted sleep had me with my family. Actually it was at my elder sister Sue's house, with her hubby Kev, my niece Julia and my Dad. We were sat around and something caught my eye out of the window. I kind of dismissed it until my Dad pointed out that there was a hurricane on the way - and boy was it moving fast. Me and Julia were almost torn out of the house, but managed to hang on to stair bannisters completely outstretched like you see in the movies. I bundled her into the cupboard under the stairs and managed to get in there myself, and then we were subject to the weird calm of being in the eye of the hurricane. I think I woke up just as things started to move again. I also remember looking out of the windows to see rows of rooves of terraced houses somehow bursting into flame, and Kev phoning the Fire Brigade but first saying he couldn't as he 'always does'.
Not sure what that all meant!! The spookiest bit was the feeling of everything going calm as the hurricane passed over and us being in the centre. Having never experienced this I've no idea that the sensation I dreamed I was having is anything like reality. Ay caramba.
Blog probs for peeps today. More later. Off to see Hannibal - do cinemas have sofas in so that I can hide behind one??
Hmmm - not happy. Just spent about half an hour copying my template back in from my archives after Blogger managed to leave me with no template on my editing page. Grrrr. Going to enjoy some winter sun and a walk outside. More later.

Wednesday, February 14, 2001

'You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world'

I think we can do it by blogging. Even Michael in New York's started - go Michael!!

OK, so I've not been well. The clue's been up in the title bar since Monday (for those of you that missed it, it said 'Ooh I'm not well (groan)!!!') and oddly enough, I wasn't. So I went home and haven't been back into work yet. It's currently almost midnight on Tuesday - I really should be in bed, but I think I may have slept too much through the days yesterday and today. Feeling much better though, you'll all be pleased to learn.

Any road up, the weekend's activities have not been recorded, so here goes.
Friday: Left work and went to meet up with my old mate Andy from Capital Radio (where I used to work) and his other half Sue. Andy and I met in The Lamb in Lamb's Conduit Street for a swift beer and then hit the restaurant to meet Sue. Had nice spanish food at Cigala and then I wandered, in a semi-minkered state, to Barcode, to meet Nick (my lovely flatmate) and David and Ian (see links below left). Continued to minker and had a great time - until the queue for a cab home when I realised I'd somehow completely forgotten about my bag the moment I'd set foot in the bar. Great. Wandered back in but to no avail. Gone. Home and sleep. Up very early on
Saturday: Continuing the theme of weird dreams from earlier in the week, I woke just as Martina Hingis had lost the first set to Maria Rubia - former model and guest vocalist on the current Fragma single. I've no idea if Ms Rubia does play tennis, but the 6-4 scoreline in my head suggests she's a dab hand. Train to York to spend the weekend with my Dad. Managed to catch up with my friend Richie and his boyf Martyn for coffee and then a swift beer or three. Home for dinner with Dad and then down the local boozer for more beer - post 'I love 1983' which was fantastic and really took me back. Blockbusters and leg-warmers. Oh dear. Must be getting old. Home and into a small coma until
Sunday: Awoke to another vague dream memory. This time Richard (Martyn's brother) and I were fighting off aliens by actually playing Space Invaders against them. We managed to get rid of a lot of them, but then they managed to get into the building we were in and I decided we could fight them off using revolvers. This logic was that as revolvers were from many years previously (I'd obviously set my dream in the future sometime) the aliens would not recognise them as weapons and we could pick them off. I've no idea if it worked though, as I woke up. Hmmm. Out for lunch with Dad to the local sports club, where I wouldn't be surprised to see leg-warmers still being considered fashionable. Train to London and down the Vauxhall. Missed the show, but not all my mates. The usual fun was had by all, though not as minkered as usual. Didn't stop me going on to Marvellous at Sub South - which was an odd mix of music and people, but strangely OK. Home and bed.

So, that was the weekend that was. What is going on with this dream stuff??

Tuesday, February 13, 2001


Here's something to keep you amused for a few nanoseconds. Probably best not done in the office if people can read your screen, as it does put up some naughty words! Go on, pornolize your site. Thanks to Carol in the office for this!

Monday, February 12, 2001

My brain is currently offline. Please try later.

Saturday, February 10, 2001

I was playing with AnagramGenius before David was, honest!! Anyway, here are the best anagrams of our blogging quorum:

David Sim - Did as Vim; Is avid MD?; Did Mavis
Ian Martin - Mint Arian; Ta! In, ram in!!; Rim in a tan; I am. In rant
Jonathan Green - Hang on near jet; Jog her antenna; Rang hen on a jet
Dave Boyes - Ova by seed; Sod by eave; Saved boy 'e'; Does a bevy

Well it kept me amused for a few minutes this arvo!!
Went and strolled round Portobello this lunchtime with friend Sarah. On the way down there, Sarah was mentioning how broody she was. Shortly after buying a pair of shoes from the shoe-lady, Sarah commented that the condom-man (i.e. the man who has a stall at Portobello and gives out free condoms and the like) hadn't been there for ages now. I fear the worst.

Friday, February 09, 2001

Can you copyright a blogging stylee?? If so, David would be in severe breach, for taking my 'linking-to-object-vaguely-relevant-in-some-way-perhaps-cute-or-obtuse-or-maybe-a-similar-to-a-dodgy-pun' style for his Wizard of Oz stuff. Mind you, having said that, Jonathan and I would be in even more severe breach, for copying in its entirity David's blogging layout within the Blogger templates!! Touché Mr. Sim :oÞ
Britney found dead in Greece!
Top detective hampered by madam of prostitute ring!!
People able to move up and down the outside of buildings without the use of lifts!!!

Well that about sums up my dream from last night - weird or what?? All I can really remember is that Britney had been found dead in a hotel room in Greece (stabbing, lots of blood), and I was the top detective assigned to finding her killer. In the hotel complex, there were no lifts, but people could actually move between floors by walking off the edge of the rooms. They then half disappeared in a cartoon/David Copperfield sort of way, and then reappeared at the floor they wanted. A la Star Trek. I seem to remember finding it an odd sensation in the dream but quite enjoying it. This was all set in Greece (naturally) and as part of my investigations I discovered a big porn ring in which Britney was somehow involved (but I'm not sure how). I was interviewing this old lady in a trinket shop and realised she was the madam responsible (this was because she kept answering on behalf of all the other younger womenin the shop and so I deduced she was the ringleader). My last image from the dream is of me half-throttling this old woman to keep her quiet whilst one of the younger women started to fill me in on the whole story.

So, anyone want to have a stab (as it were) at what all that was about? Best answers get posted up here and instant fame and fortune will surely follow (and then you'll become part of a prostitution ring in Greece and...)

My mate Rob from the Vauxhall has got the blogging bug. Be gentle with him as he's only just started.
My lovely friend Sarah had a long weekend in Finland getting minkered. We were just talking about it and wondering if this meant that she had been Helsinkering.

Thursday, February 08, 2001

Taphephobia - fear of being buried alive, or fear of well dodgy 80s pop songstress (lip-sync-stress might be more accurate) that sang I Love My Radio? You decide.
Ricky Martin was in here yesterday. Can't see what all the fuss is about myself. Anyone not understanding my links - tough. I tend to go off at tangents.

Yesterday evening was spent eating, going to the gym and then eating a Chinese whilst watching Sex and the City - is that all I ever do these days? More later, when I'm feeling a bit more inspired.
What?? It's 5.34pm and I've not even had chance to have a good blog today - how sad is that? Caught up with some friends in Oz this morning and now have nowhere to stay in Sydney! Disaster!! Hopefully various mates are on the case for me - watch this space.

Went to look at a loft apartment for possible purchase over lunchtime, and then came back and straight into a work meeting until now. Not sure I like this busy day malarky.

The quiz team won without me last night, so I feel particularly unloved. (Check out the full reports here and here). That coupled with the fact I was in the blackest mood last night - ay caramba! Sulked all day yesterday at work, sulked on the way home (as the apartment viewing was cancelled), sulked to Islington and back, sulked as I walked to the gym... but felt a bit better after that. Made noodles and slobbed. Felt a bit better. Slept very badly though - any suggestions from anyone for a good, restful night's sleep?

That's it for now - back to more complete obtuse blogging tomorrow guys and gals!

Tuesday, February 06, 2001

I'm tired today. Why am I tired I hear you cry? (mind you, that's just the voices in my head tra-la-la) Well you'd be tired after walking from the arse end of Holland Park all the way home to Elephant and Castle. Ay caramba. Next Monday I'm working from home.

Tonight I'm going to look at a possible flat to purchase (exciting!), going to the gym (less exciting but necessary) and then hitting the Retro Bar pop quiz. David says I have to.

Another David - David P... friend and all round lovely man is probably solely responsible for this. David - you know why. Everyone else can ask me.
Oh what a weekend of minkering. Saturday I just mooched - that kind of lazy post-night out dopeyness that culminates in the most challenging thing that you can do is watch two episodes of Voyager and find you're getting tearful because "60,000 light years seems a little bit closer today". Get a grip man! Toddled off to have a lovely new haircut and then up to Stevie P's for pre-Fridge frolics. This was the real start of the minkering. Stuart - Steve's lodger was trying out his cocktail making skills and so we limbered up with a Seabreeze, a Cosmopolitan and a Marguarita - before switching to straight champagne. Various assorted minkerers arrived - so by the time we left we were a complement of 8 - Stevie P, Stuart, Paul, David & Paul, Rob & Edgar and my good self. As we were quite early down to Brixton we managed to miss the long queues into the Fridge and the even longer queues at the coat-check that everyone else seemed to experience.

Had a great night - almost all the gang finally appeared. Steve and Steve, Mike and Nick, David, Paul, Rieg, Jason, Jason, Craig, Douglas, Tom, that guy from the gym whose name I always forget... as always a brilliant social occasion and lots of dancing. I thought the music was much better than the last time I went - and either way it managed to keep us all occupied until 6am! Obviously the sensible thing to do at that point was to go home and get some sleep. So instead we went to Trade for some extended minkering. Busy and fun - flatmate Nick was there and Steve and Gizmo and... oh the list goes on. Funniest moment? Tom being so minkered that he couldn't pronouce the word minkered. That somehow really appealed! By about 11.45am we'd had enough and again the sensible thing to do was to go home and sleep . So instead we went back to Stevie P's to chill. Further vodka based minkering ensued. Little Steve and Craig drove over to join the merry throng and suddenly it was about 5.30pm. Again the sensible thing to do was to go home and sleep, so instead I went home and wandered down to the Vauxhall. My disco needed me. As ever it was great fun. Quite a few of the usual crowd were missing for reasons assorted, but it was great to catch up with David, Darryl, Karl, Rob, Wayne, Andy, Rieg, Mike and Nick, David, Jonathan and Ian and more... I love that place. By 10.35pm though, the weekend's minkering had got the better of me - I could tell that things were taking a turn for the worst when I couldn't hit the last notes of Your Disco through too much weekend singing! Wandered home and crashed out. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.

Currently in work after a 2¼ hour trip in - bless the Tube drivers. Not sure a bracing walk from Elephant and Castle into Trafalgar Square was quite what the doctor ordered this morning, but that was what I did - then taking a bus to Notting Hill and walking in from there. Deep joy. Am proud of the fact that the meeting I immediately went into saw me coming up with particularly creative ideas for a promotion we're working on - maybe I should partake in a full weekend of minkering more often!

Sunday, February 04, 2001

Saturday morning. Well afternoon technically. Just up and about and trying to get my head around the day. Did gym, Kazbar and Sub South last night. Need more sleep. More later when I'm a bit more with it.

Saturday, February 03, 2001

So, the weekend beckons. Reckon there'll be more musings and changes to this as I get to grips slowly (hey! I'm learning!) with what does what in HTML. Expect something spankingly gorgeous at the end of all this. Heading home and gym-wards - then going to the Kazbar in Clapham to undo all the good work. Hey ho.

Friday, February 02, 2001

OK - slowly learning how to alter this page to how I want it. Managed to put the Stats counter on there, and also have just worked out how to change the message in the title bar. Watch out for stuff appearing down the left hand side of the page soon (though I won't just be copying David, Jonathan!). Hee hee.
Yesterday evening got more and more like the Hokey Cokey by turns. I was reinvited to the meal I was uninvited from, but by then was waiting to see if the introductory drinks I'd also been uninvited to was actually back on or not. In the end, I said yes to the birthday meal and hoped the other drinks weren't on. Fortunately they weren't. By that time though, I'd agreed to go into old London town to buy my sister's birthday pressie and so left myself about 10 minutes to get organised. A bit of a mad rush, but it was worth it though. The restaurant - Les Trois Garçons - is a bit off the beaten track, but looks great and has a nice ambience. The meal was excellent. Duck giblets as a starter. Lamb with aubergine mash as a main. Slightly disappointing Soft Block chocolate dessert and waiter with attitude when we pointed it out. Lots of wine. Not cheap, but recommended - and the decor is as camp as this.

So, feeling slightly groggy this morning at work. Gave Karen her present and card (bizarrely my sister works at the same place as I do) and resisted the lure of sausage and colcannon from the canteen. Managed to terrorise the office with the largest banana I've ever had the pleasure to behold.

Thanks to Richard (who won't let me link to his site yet, as it's "broken") who sent me this link this morning. It'll brighten up your day.
Sadly not enough time to do too much blogging today - how dare work get in the way of my new favourite pastime? More tomorrow...

Thursday, February 01, 2001

Bad things that happened yesterday

1. I got uninvited to a birthday meal this evening. This was due to a mix up in numbers (at least that's their story - only joking Stephen - Happy Birthday!)
2. I got uninvited to introductory drinks this evening. I'm going to Australia in just over 2 weeks with a mate of mine and two of his friends that I've only met briefly. The idea being we all get chance to get to know one another - though admittedly this hadn't been firmed up due to me thinking I was going to the birthday meal (see above)
3. I ate too much through the day and ended up on the loo with, amongst other things, a dodgy stomach

Good things that happened yesterday:

1. I started my blog
2. I learned that blogging, whether alone or with friends, can be a very rewarding experience
3. Jonathan, one of the almost legendary Tuesday night Retro Bar quiz team, very kindly got me a ticket for Soft Cell's reunion concert for mid-March
4. January ended
5. Slobbed out in front of Sex and the City
6. Had a long chat with my sister and niece
7. I tracked down a copy of my CV, which I thought had disappeared into the ether
So, what's in a name? Dave's quite a common name you might say (and not entirely inappropriate some other, less kind people out there, might add) - and you'd be right. So, minkered. I was amazed the other day to do a search on Google and find that there wasn't a single page out there that included this fine word. Who or what is minkered? Animal, vegetable, A to Z of vitamins? The dictionary definition of minkered is, well... there isn't one. Suggestions are as follows to use instead of minkered:

1. manicured
2. nickered
3. manicure
4. mannered
5. manicures
6. nicknamed
7. Millerand
8. nicknamer
9. manacled
10. minicar

though frankly they're all a bit wide of the mark. As far as I know, and this is really by keeping my ears to the grindstone (?) and picking up slang, minkered is a Scottish word (maybe even locally Aberdonian) meaning off-your-face. I think that in its original use it was mainly through excesses of alcohol, but down here in London it seems to be used for either drink or drug excess. Hence you can see that none of the suggested substitutes is really suitable - though sometimes excesses of alcohol and/or drugs can lead to one being manacled.

Let's decline the verb to minker then. It's normally used as a past participle so,

i am minkered
you are minkered
he/she is minkered
we are minkered
you (plural) are minkered
they are minkered

Get practising with minkered - throw it in to your everyday conversations (God, I was absolutely minkered last night!), use it round the office (Last one to get minkered has to sleep with the boss!) and use it as a term of endearment for your nearest and dearest (You're a little minker!). My aim is to get the word minker - in one form or another - into such common parlance as 'you are the weakest link, goodbye'. Hmmm, maybe that's not the best analogy.
Well I guess everyone's got to start blogging somewhere - so here goes. Firstly thanks should go to David for alerting me to the world of blogging - though on the other hand I've a feeling it's going to start and take over my life.