shall we not

Thursday, January 27, 2005

path depedence

Had a rather odd case of coincidence yesterday which set me thinking about such things. Had teacher training in the infamous Metallurgy Building which is not one of the 70's finer pieces of architecture and it has a layout which i thought was like a Labyrinth which made me think of the film of the same name starring David Bowie (and a very young Jennifer Connelly). Later that day a few people in our class were talking about the Isle of Man (which one of our group came from) and was telling us about how you get there (on the excellently named Steam Packet) and the fact it used to have a cinema which only showed one film...Labyrinth and now David Bowie is on XFM... At uni if me and my housemates mentioned a slightly obscure film that we liked or wanted to see it was always on tv the next week.

I want to go to the Isle of Man

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

bent ref

"Thanks, that was both honest and emasculating"

The OC is back, hurrah. A friend also pointed out the attractiveness of everyone in the show asking whether characters should ask, 'are you my girlfriend or my mom? i forget'.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

moses

Developed a fun new game on the train this morning. I was reading an article i'd printed off but realised a word had got cut off at the end of each column making reading it a challenge requiring my best Poirot skills of deduction particularly when the second half of the word was there without the first so is -mists; optomists or economists?

Also had a course on interviewing and discovered just how lazy i am. We had to interview each other about what motivated us to study and there was a guy from Fiji and a Botswanan who were both studying for reasons like it was part of a UN project or their national government's behalf. That made me feel like a right slacker.

Monday, January 24, 2005

January 24th

"Sometimes things don't go, after all, from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel faces don't frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail. Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well."
- Sheenagh Pugh

Today is the most depressing day of the year- fact

Sunday, January 23, 2005

why do frenchmen wave their arms about?

What i've been writing (and therefore thinking about) these past few days is about memory and whether you can base research upon the memories of others because of all the problems with the validity of memory, i.e do we remember things accurately or do we see them, 'coloured with nostalgia' ? Then i started thinking that i remember things either as completely good or bad, for example i really loved my second year uni house when in actual fact their were times when i could have cheerfully throttled the people there (but then i think that at certain points with mostof my housemates). But then i'm not sure if it matters if we have the capacity of filtering out the bad bits (and therefore the good bits too) of memories that might be positive. By asking people their memory of the past, that's what you get, how they perceive past events in the context of the present. I guess you just need to acknowledge that from the outset alongside the point that a lot of communication isn't verbal as illustrated by the posts' title.

retrospective cycles

Why are loads of good albums coming out soon? On my wish list:
1. Rilo Kiley- More adventerous
2. Arcade Fire- Funeral
3. And you will know them by the trail of dead
4. Lou Barlow
5. Bright Eyes (which i've pre-ordered on Amazon)

Thursday, January 20, 2005

directions

I was also reminded why i take the early train to Birmingham; it's not full of irritating children and tgheir equally annoying parents. And again, why do poeple ask me travel advice? No, i don't know which platform the train to Manchester leaves from. Last time i tried to get home from Birmingham i ended up in Cheltenham

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Man Found Tied to a Tree Again

Pride and Prejudice rocks! That is all.

ps. Why do paper cuts hurt so much?

Sunday, January 16, 2005

pining for the fjords

On a slightly happier note than last nights doom-fest, finished the 11th Lemony Snicket book yesterday (before Kate could i might add) which means my obsession has to end until the 12th and 13th books are published and have started back on Bill Bryson again which had my laughing out loud on the tram. Also, why do i always get asked for directions on the tram? do i look like an experienced tramsman or something?

Saturday, January 15, 2005

you know...for kids

so what i've been thinking about is my inability to balance working (for I have been writing and teaching these last few days) and having a happy social life. Now at school this was fine because i simply embraced work but now i'm not so sure that was/is a healthy option. Now i feel as if i'm working and being forced to have a good time on the weekends before starting the monotonous process all over again which means i'm unable to relax....damn. Also, Desperate Housewives appears to be turning into Sex and the City. I say again, damn

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

larch

there should be more board games played

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

sisyphean tasks

Seems like i posted just the other day when in actual fact it was three which kind of somes up what has been on my mind recently and that is time, or more appropriately the speed at which it appears to be running away. I don't know what it is about being back in Sheffield but days (and weeks) just vanish, life is something of a full time job leaving little time for my actual job. So whilst three years for doing a PHd seems ages, i haven't written anything yet. Hang on, just realised i'm doing work avoidance damn it so i'm going to write something down or maybe i'll just think about writing some more

do spiders make gravy? do earwigs make chutney?

Somethings i like at the moment:
1. Eddie Izzard-watched three of his shows recently and remebered; a) how much i liked them b) some of them are ten years old and c) i still quote loads of it.
2. Lemony Snicket- on book 10 (of 11)
3. Pride and Prejudice- started watching it on Sunday and really liked the first half (watching the rest this week) but made far more enjoyable when watched with people who love it passionately.
4. The Martina Topley-Bird album (Fopp £5) and the Feist album- lovely stuff.

when you come to the end, stop

Friday, January 07, 2005

morpeth gardens

"Do you know that the harder thing to do, and the right thing to do are usually the same thing"

"Easy doesn't enter into adult life"

Why is that i keep thinking that movie trailers are saying something profound and deep? (both the above are from The Weatherman)

Also, a big thanks to everyone at Beth's birthday last night, you all turned my rather dark mood into an altogether more pleasant one. Go Team!

Thursday, January 06, 2005

a nice cup of tea and a sit down

My apparent femininity appears to be a somewhat female construct as the majority of men i have discussed it with have all said the same thing happens to them i.e. they get called a bit girly. Therefore, it merely shows that women should change their frankly rubbish perception of men. Right i'm off to buy something pink, do dome interior design, cook some angel cake and other such manly things, bye

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

sensitive bitches

After a number of people have been pointing out my more feminine qualities i decided to prove my masculinity today by making beer with Andy. Now come on, if that ain't filled with testosterone i don't know what is (note to self, don't spend the day making and drinking beer if the most hearty thing you plan to eat for breakfast is a piece of angel cake).

Sunday, January 02, 2005

a couple of observations

Truly one of lifes pleasures is going to the cinema on your own, particularly when the cinema is completely empty.

Conversely, why do people ask you, "How's your love life?" at Christmas. Don't people realise that, "Winter is a time of alcoholism and despair" and this question may go down badly?

hello 2005

Well rather than muse about the evenings excellent events i thought i'd put up my favourite albums, films etc... (based on number of plays/watches and impact) just to make me think about it and so i can remember some of 2004's joys. So:

Albums
1. Modest Mouse- Good news for people who love bad news (partly just because i like the name but i love the originality of this album and how it jumps around styles all the time meaning i played it a lot)
2. Joanna Newsome- The milk-eyed mender (a harp player who sings a bit like a 12 year old, love or hate but i'm very much in the love camp)
3. Sufjan Stevens- Seven swans (really simple and well crafted songs)
4. Elliot Smith- From a basement o n the hill (last release before his death makes this quite a personal listen in places)
5. The Walkmen- The rat (single off Bows and Arrows which i played to death since about April)

Films
1. Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind (at least 5 times)
2. Garden State (three)
3. Hero (once)
4. Shaun of the Dead (three)
5. 21 grams (once)

(and of the blockbusters, Day after tommorrow and of course Mean girls)

TV
1. Six Feet Under (the onlt tv show i can remember being obsessed with. Well, that and MTV2)
2. The O.C (kept me sane while doing my masters)

Books
1. The Lemony Snicket books (got them for Christmas and am already on the fifth one)