Put it Away Love

As mentioned, it was a Bank Holiday over the last few days and I live in Brighton where tourists flock. Both locals and visitors alike head to the beach and I have to say, some of them were not appropriately attired.

I'm not even talking about spare flesh on show; I'm talking about the fact that the warm weather seems to relieve (women mostly) the British of their fashion reason and they step out of their homes on to the streets in attire that should never be seen by man nor beast. 

I witnessed some terrible shockers this weekend; too many to mention but they generally consisted of rather large women wearing either very tiny playsuits that rode up their sweaty crotches like nappies, or wispy little pussy pelmets that were so short when they bent over you can see what they had for breakfast - you most certainly got an eyeful of cellulite. Playsuits should not be worn by anyone over the age of 11, nor should they be accompanied by patchy orange fake tan.

Now I am all for people being able to wear exactly what they please, and I will defend their right to do so; I also firmly believe that I have the right to criticise and mock what they wear in the public arena. Perhaps it's because we seldom get a good run of great weather in England that we just don't have the resources in our wardrobes, but it certainly seems that most of these outfits have been cobbled together from rags found in the cupboard under the kitchen sink.

Warm weather also highlights some appalling footwear choices. I have always believed that it is a crime to design and make ugly shoes; the shoe has the potential to aspire to such heights of wonderfulness that to reward it with anything less than beauty is a terrible waste of creativity. 

There has been a plethora of ugly shoes in the last year with my personal bugbears being those nasty holey suede sandals with a zip up the back of the ankle.  I actually find most flat shoes unaesthetically pleasing as it goes.

Even when you live by the beach it can be somewhat startling to see a very large man standing in the off-license in tiny black speedos with his rotund sweaty hairy belly spilling over into the ice cream fridge tainting the Cornettos and Strawberry Mivvis. You've just popped in to pick up some milk and people are queueing with their arses hanging out.

I did also see some incredibly stylish women out and about; one woman had on simple cream linen trousers, a well-cut soft grey marl vest top, and flip-flops and she looked cool, unflustered, and elegant.  There were also some fabulous dresses worn with wedges and long, sweeping maxi-dresses without floppy cleavages hanging out. Evidence that it can be done!

So this is an open letter to the great British public; maybe start your tan off in the garden or another enclosed space, buy some flattering clothes and look in the mirror before you step out in public. Perhaps even consider getting a second opinion - just because it's warm, doesn't mean we all want to see your thrupenny bit love.

All Good

One more sleep until we get our new kitty! Well, let's be truthful about this - it's one more sleep until I get my new kitty; because we all know this kitten is for me! 

My best friend drives the little fella down tomorrow which could be a hassle or it could be fine; it's only about 2 hours drive away but it's a hot Bank Holiday weekend and I live in one of the towns that people flock to on such occasions. The holiday started today so she might be ok with the traffic. I shall present him to you of course, and then I'll try to shut up about him I promise.

Brighton is great on Bank Holidays, a lot of the population are freelancers and it looked like everyone clocked off after lunch on Thursday; the pubs were packed and I think it might have gotten a bit messy. Because I'm going back up to my friends for the Royal Wedding, I'm only working a 2-day week next week - nice. All these Bank Holidays and the weather seems to be putting everyone in quite good spirits actually!

The Royal Wedding party my friend is holding is going to be really good fun I think; we're having tea and cake, little sandwiches and there's been talk of bunting and tiara's too! It's all brilliantly naff and I'm getting fully into the swing of it - bollocks to cynicism, it's going to be an occasion!

My business has definitely perked up a bit since I last mentioned it; I'm not making a huge amount of money, but I'm out of danger at least and things are going in the right direction. I had basically lost interest for a short while and felt a bit unmotivated; especially as I had discovered I loved making things and wanted to spend my time doing that instead. I sorted myself out and am back on track and going great guns again now - things are definitely looking good.

The craft stuff is also going well; I approached 2 local shops and both said they want to stock the badges I make. One shop is a rather lovely Boutique who have asked for exclusivity in Hove and Shoreham, and the other is a kind of 'trendy' central Brighton shop where a lot of locals and tourists go. I haven't been back to the second one yet but my badges are already selling in the first - the shop assistant had even bought 2! 

So all good all round I guess - have a good Easter folks!

Mixed Bag Bank Holiday

Well I had a very good Bank Holiday weekend; as you know, my oldest friend came down for the weekend and we went to The Brighton Pavilion, which disgracefully I'd never visited since I moved here 15 years ago! It was actually pretty good, although it would have been interesting to see more of it, such as where the staff hung out. It was laughingly evident that this building had first been designed by a 21 year old - it was somewhat extreme and he'd gone a bit mental with the gold dragon theme. 

The Dining room was incredible though and you could imagine what it must have been like by candlelight with the fires blazing. Apparently The Prince Regent would often call on you really late and even if you were halfway through your own dinner you had to go over to his. Pretty inconvenient, but then there were more than a few perks to being King - like fawning, mistresses and ham. We also had these large hand-held audio players that made you look like you were wandering around gormlessly with a TV remote stuck to the side of your head.

I also went on another date on Monday afternoon, which I think went pretty well. I have an awful feeling that I just rambled on incessantly (kinda like I do on here) but I think he failed to notice as we spent 7 hours together and have decided to meet up again this weekend. You never know with these things, but I liked him very much and he was both interesting and aesthetically pleasing! We had quite a bit in common and he was very good company. That's all you're getting on that one! He may turn out to be as mad as a badger but let's hope not.

On Friday, I'd gone out on a second date with Richard from last weekend, but although he was a really nice guy and we had a pleasant evening, I didn't feel any chemistry at all so have decided not to have any more dates with him. There's nothing wrong with him but if I'm honest, I couldn't imagine kissing him. Compatibility is important but if you're not sure you would ever like to snog their face off then there's just no future in it!

The thing that's started worrying me slightly about dating at the moment is that I can't spend much money. My business is still in its first year and I need to save to move out in the Summer; I'm trying not to spend much money anyway (shoes, dvd's and fabric are a big enough weakness as it is) but when you date someone, you naturally like to go out and do things. I guess people understand but the timing is a bit poor to tell you the truth. It's a bugger that being single is both more expensive yet cheaper at the same time!

I've been doing some more leafleting for the Lib Dems and have volunteered to help count the ballots on polling night; I also wrote an article for them on why I'm a first time Lib Dem voter but I'm not sure where and if they'll use it. It's the first time I've volunteered for anything political, although I did a lot of hunt-sabbing in my twenties. It's a pretty exciting election this time but if the Tories win I'll be gutted. It just doesn't bear thinking about actually...

Star Trek Girl has come back from Jordan having broken her leg in 2 places whilst stepping off a rock on Jordan's highest mountain (like you do) it sounded horrendous and the poor woman has been both in agony yet also off her face on the NHS's finest drugs which have only taken the edge off slightly. 

I've been Skyping her and sending her links to all sorts of crap in a rubbish attempt to cheer her up, but I need to go up to The Big Smoke soon if I can face it. (not a huge fan of London) I'll bring cake and shallow magazines to try and distract her from the agony.

So all in all a good weekend for me, but sadly not for my friend.

I've Got a Feeling I Don't Want to Know

9am and I'm debating whether to get up; It's still pretty early in my book - it's a shame you need to eat to survive really as I guess I should get dressed to go to Sainsbury's (just being a snob now; most people don't bother) otherwise I suppose I could just drag myself to the corner shop and buy a packet of chocolate Hobnobs.

The whole Bank Holiday thing is again passing me by as I had to work yesterday; the 2nd Bank Holiday and 5th weekend in a row - I'm hovering on the edge of self-employment and can't wait to get out of my job. Shame really as it was once my dream job and now it's just a lot of hard work for no reward whatsoever. I could care less if we reached our target; we don't get anything for it except a bigger target.

No, I think I'll wander down to Scummerfield or some other multi-conglomerate soul destroyer in a bit to recreate a scene from Dawn of the Dead then come back and do some work for my client whilst watching Star Trek and old Hollywood films all day. Then again, I could just make myself another Lavazza and stay in bed...