NotJustAHatStand

I saw a man on a bike this morning on my way to work. This in itself isn't unusual. What is unusual is that he was not appropriately dressed for the cold and heavy rain, and was soaked to the skin.

He was also cycling along at a leisurely pace (in rush hour traffic in central Edinburgh) whistling 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life'. For no obvious reason, he looked like he had his own personal little patch of sunlight, filled with rainbows and unicorns.

Maybe he just won the lottery. Maybe he got laid last night. Maybe he had just escaped from a secure unit somewhere and thought he was in the Canary Islands. Or maybe he was just enjoying his morning cycle in the rain.

Who knows, but it was a nice change from the usual grumpy commuters I see every other morning, and he brought a smile to my face. Which is an amazing feat before 9am.

Labels: Commute, randomness

Hm, the holiday pictures I promised last time may be some time. I've lost my camera. The camera that broke 2 days into my holiday. So when I eventually find it there's a good chance that there aren't actually any pictures on it. And if that's the case then I'll have to steal pictures from my mum. And she has lost HER camera.

So, yeah... Don't hold your breath waiting for the snaps.

In other news, I've been pretty much stressed out the entire time since I got back. There was the wood pigeon incident of course (I have a horrible suspicion it may be back as well, I heard cooing coming from the chimney last night), and then some wedding related stress which I can't go into (suffice to say that I'm maad).

Ack.

I've also become dangerously addicted to Bebo. I've been in contact with a few people that I've lost touch with. My productivity at work has taken a serious dent, but more importantly I've still not caught up with all the my blog reading.

It's hard you know, juggling this many balls.

Labels: blogs, randomness

My first job was in the food court of a shopping centre, picking up people's dirty dishes and cleaning up their mess (and before I go on, I must say this: The Public are DISGUSTING).

There was a couple who used to come in on a fairly regular basis, and Gay Best Friend at the time would comment on them every time they did - neither of them ever looked particularly happy but the woman in particular had a seriously soor face, which seemed to bother GBF for some reason. I (inexplicably) stayed in that job for a few years, and was in my first year at uni by the time I left. The miserable couple had continued to come in every so often the whole time I worked there.

When I started seeing them in the canteen at uni, I didn't think anything of it. Uni wasn't far from the shopping centre where I used to see them, so it made sense to see them in the same part of town. It was just a coincidence that we ended up at the same campus of the same university. If they were students attending that university, the shopping centre was a convenient place to go for lunch, so this was all this perfectly normal and not without the realm of possibility. However I continued to see this couple every so often, always together, even after I'd left uni.

I still do. A few times per year.

I now work in a completely different part of the city, and I saw the man when I was out at lunchtime today. He was without his soor faced companion (maybe he dumped her in favour of someone who cracks a smile occasionally). I've also seen them in various places across Edinburgh, and once in a completely different town.

I don't speak to them. They don't know me. And they don't know that I know them. At least, I don't think they do. But I see them, regularly. There was a period of a few months when I started to think maybe they were following me, that I was a pawn in some Orwellian kind of game, and that somebody somewhere was having a laugh at my expense. But now I think maybe I was just smoking too much weed.*

I know Edinburgh is only a wee small city, and it stands to reason that you're going to bump into people - why, just the other day the Boy and I bumped into Petifilou and her Pol in Tesco (thankfully there was no farting controversy or toilet brush related fallings-out for them to witness). I'm beginning to wonder if this couple and I have some kind of cosmic connection. If it wasn't guaranteed to sound totally absurd I might go and ask them if they agree the next time our paths cross. But there's just no good way to ask that question without coming across as a weirdo stalker who's been watching a random couple for the last 6 years (4 months and 17 days).

So; is it just me? Does anyone else have random strangers that turn up like this? Am I really a crazy stalker?

*Luckily, however, I gave that up a long time ago.

Labels: randomness

I've had a busy few days. I'm pooped and it's Monday tomorrow... Gah!

We went to the kilt shop yesterday for the Boy to try some stuff on. He tried on what will probably be the outfit he'll end up wearing on our wedding day and he looked so handsome, I couldn't stop grinning at him. My image of the wedding is much clearer now - I can really picture it all coming together on the day. I'm hoping this means my eye will stop twitching now.

And poor old Scotland, getting bumped into bottom place of the 6 Nations... It was an exciting afternoon, but I was glad I wasn't Irish - there must've been some sweaty palms/brows/buttcheeks over there. I really don't think we deserved to be bottom, but of course I'm biased. We may have got the wooden spoon, but I stumbled across a nekkit picture of Sean Lamont (beware, there is an actual naked picture here, don't click if you're at work) completely by accident.* I suppose I'll just have to make do.

I've been tagged by Cat and because I have no problem with being a lazy blogger I will be posting my answers tomorrow...

In other news, the Big Book of Blogging is out. I'm not in it, but that's no reason not to buy it - it is for a good cause after all. I ordered mine on Friday, you can too by clicking here.

*Ok not COMPLETELY by accident.

Labels: randomness

I had another scary wedding dream last night - probably because of all the gift list chat yesterday, and the fact that I am ever so slightly freaking out about how much I still have to do.

I dreamt that I was all dolled up this time (unlike the last one where I had to get married in a pair of jeans and a manky t-shirt), but no guests had turned up. There was no minister to marry us, no flowers and no band. I'm taking this as a sign that I need to pull my finger out and get busy with the wedding plans, if only to ensure I can sleep through the night without waking up in a cold sweat and shouting 'stationery!'.

Otherwise, I had quite a good day - at lunchtime I picked up the shoes I ordered at the beginning of the week. I've coveted them for a while now, so I was glad to finally get my grubby little paws on em. Then the Boy took me to the shops after work and bought me a new springy jacket. I think he was feeling guilty about watching football EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. this week and was trying to keep me sweet. I hate football, but if it means I get presents he can watch as much as he likes.

Unfortunately it's now pissing it down and blowing a gale so it's unlikely I'll get to wear my green springy jacket tomorrow. Ho hum.

Still, at least I wasn't on this bus today.

I'm off to have a relaxing lavendery bath.

Labels: dreams, randomness, Shopping

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

Labels: randomness

I've recently discovered the wonder that is SiteMeter, and I check it on an embarrassingly regular basis. Occasionally when someone Googles some random phrase, they (inadvertently I'm sure) get directed to my blog. SiteMeter shows you the search terms and these are quite telling, and in some cases, worrying.

A selection:

• 'Fiance trouble' (errrr, Cam? Don't go delving into the archives, kay?!)
• 'Putting a buster collar on my cat' (My advice? Don't even bother trying)
• 'Mic Martin' (my weird crush, which I now wish I hadn't disclosed on my blog)
• 'Two cats making banging noises' (What. The. Fuck?!)
• 'Keeping us warm in the night pooh' (Again, WTF?!)
• 'Ian McEwan bookworm' (ok, I get this one, but the previous two?!)
• 'Take my fiance's name' (I'm saving further discussion on this topic for the New Year)
• 'Minky Dusting Dog' (courtesy of Sarah)

And my personal favourite (and by far the highest in the rankings):

• 'Big schlong' (I have nothing further to add)

So the themes seem to be the Fiance, cats, books, obsessive cleaning, and just plain weirdness. Sounds about right.

Maybe I need to branch out.

Labels: randomness

I'm a bit out of sorts today. I had a bad start this morning (nothing worth writing about, just the usual morning-from-hell where nothing goes right) so I'm feeling a bit ... meh. I also feel quite overwhelmed by the festive season (despite my holiday cheer last week - I think I peaked early), and certain things in my life are kind of stressing me out. I may write about these things sometime but today isn't the day for it.

I've been finding it quite hard to keep coming up with light-hearted things to write about. My blog has never been an outlet for any of my deepest darkest feelings - when I started writing it it was mainly an avenue for writing stupid observations and jokes, but increasingly I've been feeling that I need to write something with a bit more substance. Maybe this is the start of the long-awaited BWN (Booker Winning Novel), or maybe it's a sign that I could do with some counselling too. Either way, it's got to be good for me.

Anyway, I've written and deleted four posts about various things, and it turns out I can't get my head together enough to write anything coherent enough to publish, so I'm not even going to try.

Weird crush of the week:

Mic Martin, the scary trainer from my new favourite programme: Dog Borstal on BBC3.

Labels: randomness, Weird Crushes

I've written about the Metro and it's less than serious reporting before, but today I thought they were winding me up. I was reading a story about the benefits of male circumcision in relation to contracting HIV/AIDS and actually snorted out loud with laughter, prompting strange looks from my fellow passengers. Obviously AIDS isn't something to laugh about, what made me publicly embarrass myself on the bus was this:

"'It [male circumcision] has the potential to prevent many tens of thousands and perhaps millions of infections over the coming years,' Dr Kevin de Cock of the WHO said."

#double take#

I'm sorry... what? Dr de Cock? Seriously?! Yes, seriously. The BBC don't lie.

I certainly needed cheering up after my disastrous day off yesterday. Fiance and I had both taken a holiday to do some shopping and various other things and it turned into the kind of holiday that makes you wish you were back at work. We had an appointment to meet our wedding photographer in the morning, which was fine, but we came out of his studio to find that we'd been given a parking ticket. Now, Fiance is very careful with his money and it enrages him no end when he has to pay out money unnecessarily so he did not take this news well. Especially given the fact that we had bought a ticket from the machine across the road (the one that said 'Parking Tickets Here') and parked next to LOTS of other cars, none of whom seemed to have been ticketed.

Things didn't get much better for the rest of the day - I had an appointment with our new GP at 3pm, so we had to come home from town in the middle of our [decidedly unsuccessful] Christmas shopping expedition. When I got there the receptionist told me that they didn't have me down for an appointment - the person I'd spoken to that morning hadn't booked me in. And they couldn't fit me in at all that day. So back into town we go, in the howling wind and lashing rain, where we wandered kind of aimlessly for the rest of the day, too disheartened to even argue with each other.

In other news, Fiance's birthday dinner was a success, although slightly marred by the strange behaviour of my little cat Coco. Coco is normally a very active, vocal and friendly cat, so when she sat in the same spot all night* without eating, drinking, climbing into anyone's lap or jumping on Roo, we started to get worried. She was also drooling, which can apparently be a sign of a sore mouth or throat. Just as I was starting to worry that she'd ingested a Christmas bauble (and envision an emergency trip to the v-e-t), she seemed to throw off whatever was making her feel bad, and by the time I went to bed last night she was back to her old self, thankfully. Roo didn't seem quite so relieved however - I think she enjoyed the peace and quiet for the day and a bit that Coco was under the weather, and is now back to having her tail relentlessly pursued by a small, very determined, black Bombay cat.

*In the presence of both her grannies. This is unheard of.

Labels: Cats, randomness

I'm 26. I'm past the hormonal-teenager stage. I look after my skin.

So why, oh mother of god, am I still getting spots?!?! When I used to complain about my skin at the age of fifteen, I was told that it would all be different when I grew up and it was just cause I was 'at that age'. My ass! No sooner has one cleared up than another appears!

I feel so cheated.

Labels: randomness, Skincare

I woke up in a cold sweat at approx 4am yesterday morning after a dream about my wedding day.

My dress had gone missing, and I'd spent all morning looking for it. As a result, I wasn't able to get my hair and make up done, and I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It came time to leave, and the whole wedding party was immaculately turned out and looking lovely, and there was me denim clad with bare face and greasy hair - they said there wasn't time to sort myself out and that I had to go as I was.

For some reason, before the wedding, I was to be paraded around my home town on a float (I know - WTF?!), and the whole town had turned out and were lining the streets looking disappointed at the state of the bride.

It was awful!

Labels: dreams, randomness, Wedding