I'm turning into a socialite, well, kinda. I'm doing a lot of stuff. This is probably why I'm tired, although having pollen grains eat my brain doesn't help my cause.

Nice lunch with erestania yesterday at the little noodle bar down the road from work, we discussed larp, larpers, theatre, boys and haircuts. A very specific type of girly chat, I think. Shoes were not discussed. Perhaps this makes it a non-girly discussion. We picked each others brains and frankly, it was just nice to see her in a non-in-a-car-going-to-Strom way.

It was mossman's birthday party in the evening which was a festival of Amerikana, I'm not sure whether this was intentional. Started in Ed's diner with chocolate malt milkshakes (all of your weekly calories in one glass) and then over to The Diner in Carnaby street where the food is better but our waiter was doing a good impression of Amy Winehouse, which was a bit surreal. Surreality levels increased with the introduction of misterspidergod and kangeiko, the latter in world-shatteringly high heels. Burgers, fries and sides were ordered, it was tasty if a little trying-to-hard. Coleslaw came with sultanas in. I will be having words about this with someone. Definately going back when I'm not on the anti-histamines to order some of their hilarious cocktail menu or hard shakes, which look like death in a glass.

Flying off to Spain tomorrow afternoon, need to get money today, buy a hat and oodles of suncream. I would like a cowboy hat but fear that may make me look like I'm on a hen night. Bad plan. Have double-checked details with queenspanky and it turns out that she doesn't know where we are going either. I have limited Spanish, therefore will be doing the talking. God help us all. Frankly, it will be board games around the pool, so we should all be fine. I'm packing Munchkin. Wherever you go, be geeky. 

Bleurgh.

General grogginess continues with the front of my face trying to itch me to death in a terribly slow type of oxygen deprived torment. I actually think that about 70% of my brain cells are now so gunked up that I've lost a good few IQ points I'll never get back. Thinking is difficult, and I also can't hear all that well.

Must take drugs.

But before I do, and lapse into an anti-histamine induced coma, let me first share these wise words with you. Don't see Wanted. It's rubbish. Well, the first 30 minutes are ok, but then it becomes some strange addled and confused rambling. Much like any converstation you might have with me in my hayfevered state.

Gakked from B3TA, but still marvellous
A ladybird book with original photos but new text to tell all the little children about  The Police

That book meme thing where I astound you with the books I haven't read, but might have pretended I had, in the pub once, to keep up with the cool kids. These are the top 100 most printed books, or something. They have a relevance to statisticians. Um. Anyhow, I've read about 60 of them which means I should get a small prize. Perhaps a book token.

I think it's done the rounds before but I gakked it from tyrell and thought, well, try a little literary honesty for once. Notice my general avoidance of Austen. Bah.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or hated
5) Reprint this list in your own LJ, if you want, there's no law about it or anything

Took a long roundabout route into work this morning as I was (unusually for me, I know) up and about quite early. Wandering about town watching people come and go, listening to my ipod, which selected some fun tunes for parts of the city that I thought I'd share with you.

Grandaddy - Weeping Willow looking at actual willows (and actual swans and cygnets) in the lake on St James' Park
Cat Empire - Hello making me jive in front of the lions at Nelson's Column to the amusemnet of tourists
Rammstein - Reise Reise whilst crossing Westminster Bridge which worked rather well with the breeze and boats
The Stranglers - Still Life when walking through Covent Garden

London never fails to amuse me, whether it's people watching (what is that man in the suit smirking about?) or just observing the bustle of activity as the city builds and rebuilds itself, and the odd bits you find when you take a wrong turn. Never leave an alley unexplored, leastways if it's well lit and at a reasonable time of the day. I know this town only pretends to be a fairy tale....

More cunning uses of the technology.
Improve yourself whilst at work by reading a book formatted to make it look like your woking

Not to great for you Mac nerds though...

Technology, politics and people with opinions combine to form: Lords of The Blog in which some more of the cyber-savvy members of our un-elected but nevertheless feisty and interesting  post their thoughts, and respond to comments about, well, Stuff and Things, really.
 

I may have mentioned this before, but theatreland tends to be very quiet on a Friday. We have about half the people in the office we should do and everyone is drinking coffee and haphazardly poking Facebook. I have done my Tasks For The Day and have no real inclination to do some of my standard "I've a bit of free time" work things such as Crunch Numbers For A Bit or Organise The Press Folders.

In no particular order I think I shall:

• Drink coffee and eat biscuits - very important
• Think about LARP - alasdair's Vampire game is coming up soon so I may spend some time practising a not-dire German accent and I need to do some behaviour / language stuff for Team Tritoni as I have realised that the first people in play with be invisible_al and satyromaniac13 with no steady female paw to guide them. It will be some sort of lion-based buddy movie. At best. I also need to think about costume and suchlike as the nose pros. arrived yesterday and is a little big.
  
• Plan cultural vulturing, at the moment I want to see Psycho-Buildings at The Hayward, play in a giant Doll's House at the Barbican and watch The Revenger's Tragedy  although weighing in at a mighty 2hrs 45mins scrapes the edges of my ability to sit still.

What else shall entertain me in the next 7 or so hours until I can run away to the pub to celebrate wingsmith being free from his Horrible Job?

The reason that I cannot go and see Kung Fu Panda, despite the many billboards and bus T-sides exhorting me to do so, is because it is not open yet and does not open until 4 July, by which point something else new and shiny will have captured my attention.

Fools.

A pack of custard creams, which make the office love you, go so well with tea and you can never have just one, sell for about 35p in the shop around the corner. An apple, which does not divide well between co-workers is hard to dunk in hot beverages, is about 40p. In this capitalist world, the apple is a luxury item, the biscuit a neccesity.

A single custard cream has around twice the calories of an apple, although probably more fat and less vitamins. An entire packet is around half my daily calorie requirement, although the end result might leave me a little dehydrated and sugar crazed especially if I had the neccesary mugs of builders to go with. The apple feels a little paltrry by comparison, although no doubt, wingsmith would disagree although it has been long agreed his eating habits are mad and not to be emulated.

The custard creams have a long and happy shelf life, or they would if they were less tasty, I suppose. The apple, does not, even though it does have that annoying waxy covering that all supermarket fruit gets. giving it an extra few days grace before it becomes mush.

The apple sits on my desk, looking meaninfully at me whilst I munch happily on little rectangular vaguely vanilla flavoured biscuits, probably spoiling my dinner.

A parable for life, I feel.

David Bowie never had it so right, except in that outfit in Labyrinth. Formative experience that one. Things are happening, mostly all good, in fact *touch wood*. I'm not moving on so much as moving, but the journey is quite fun. No, I'm not being cryptic, it's just more of an attitudinal shift than anything else, and also Going Places and Doing Stuff (lovely dinner last night with alasdair, wingsmith and kangeiko) Looks as if I might have a new flatmate, sourced via work, so I know that he is a mutant, but in all the ways that are acceptable. He's coming over for a look-see on Sunday, so fingers crossed.

Weather is perkier, which also helps, although I am now concentrating on not getting horribly burnt and maintaining my aura of pale-but-interesting.

I also need to work on my CV, but life is too sunny and too full of weekends away, roleplay, pubs and picnics. Would someone like to do it for me?

I appear to have some sort of throat infection. Or at least a swollen throat deemed "urgh!" by wingsmith in Captain Science mode, I also have sore ears and stiff shoulder and neck muscles. Damn, damn, damn. Could be Maelstrom, could be anything.

I am mainlining all the druggly goodness I can get my hands on as well as those herbal remedies that may/may not work or may turn me into a mung bean eating hippy.

It occurs that I have been made of fail, and have not seen queenspanky and sundry other people for ages. Apologies. Must try harder.

Maelstrom was good

New armour looking super shiny with the arm pieces, thank you clawbeast
Superb new icon-ness from lovely piccie -- thankyou empresscam
Great weather
Kiku made some new friends and confirmed old emnities
I fought an honour duel!
I won!
Innocently offering round "soft white confectionary" and "hard black confectionary"
Setting the Gold Standard For Inappropriate Relationships
Confusing and upsetting people with Kiku's Awesome Powers Of Insight: "oh, so you're still alive then?"
Seeing everyone was lovely, even if I didn't do much of it ('pologies)
Playing "Can you guess what it is yet?"

Maelstrom was bad

Death
Tears
Emo
Saying goodbye is hard
Gothic plate - where is that Holy Tin Opener Of The Huntress when you need it?
Sunburnt nose
Not getting a moment's peace
Failing to roll people due to poor timing
 

Off to Maelstrom. Back online Monday.
Be good.

It is chucking it down. Five day forecast is optimistic.

But I remember the torrential rains of last year's "summer" events. Impromptu guttering on Flembic tents and Bill Pennington manfully roaming around with satellite photos and pallets trying to keep us all above the mud. I also remember that it dried out so quickly when the sun came up that steam rose from the Sons of Set graveyard in a truly terrifying way.

Pros - cool special effects.
Cons - may die.

That said, we didn't freeze to death last game. So now we must all not drown.

Went to see the musical based on John Water's crazy ass film, and it was indeed crazy and had a lot of ass.

What can I say? Big hair, big costumes, massive 60s voices including a beautiful soul number, some hilarious Elvis takes and a vast quantity of dancin'. Plus a bloke in a dress, which is the pinacle of English Theatre as anyone will tell you. Especially when said bloke in a dress sings and dances and pretends to be in love with another man. This is charming, witty and funny. And not gay. At all. No.

Go and see it, I still have a massive grin on my face.

I had forgotten how much I love hip hop.
But now I am enlightened.

Also, anyone who takes a stage name from Edward Lear gets my vote

How can this be? Today is even more dull than yesterday.
Damn.