Ohh there was a bit of excitement in Woolwich yesterday as I made my way down to sign on. They were filming! Yes! In Woolwich if you can believe it! Something called "Children of Man".
They'd built a Shanty Town and had torched a car, although it was hard to tell what bit was the filming and what bit is "normal" Woolwich!

And Good news! Remember the last time there was good news? Me neither! But lookie right here and there is!

Dad's arms, had stopped working, one was due to the cancer killing the nerves that made it work, the other just mysteriously stopped and they couldnt even put it down to the cancer, but it stopped completely, and we've been feeding and drinking him, and Mother has been doing some of the more unpleasant tasks.

But this week, the right arm, the one that mysteriously stopped has started working again! Only slightly, though, he can grasp things, and lift very light things, like a tissue to wipe his nose.
He's now developed to such a point where he can eat biscuits on his own and almost a whole packet of crisps (the not eating thing is another story, they're trying to stabilise his weight at 7 stone)
But from not being able to move or grasp anything, this is a massive improvement. Ok he misses what he's aiming for 7 times out of 10 but still!!!

I went to the "classic" between Villa and Charlton today, all the way up to Brummieland being taunted by some Spurs fans, actually they were alright apart from a bit of teasing.
Met The Sheep at Brum station and he instantly terrified E by hugging her, then meeting STF, who snuck up behind me just as I was complaining that I was late and poking me in the ribs and then spinning me round in a hug before telling me off for losing weight, being the super-organised person he was, he didnt have a coat.
So we went shopping for him, bear in mind, that I had three layers on under my thick winter coat. So God only knows what he was thinking!
The usual antics ensued, the mocking of the Mighty 'dicks as he calls us, his joy at discovering "Charlton Two" (E - I'm known only to that group as Charlton, as I'm the only Charlton fan they know)
The bullying of me, which resulted in me slapping STF and then accidently (Of course! hehehe) poking him in the eye.
The game itself was crap, we were rubbish, the atmosphere was awful, so we wont dwell on that any more than possible!I wanted Romm! Fucking hell even Chrissy Powell was out running the Villa defence and he's 90 and using a zimmer frame!
Back To Brum, where STF tried to convince us to come back to Derby, before sending us on our way with lots of hugs.
I'd also like to take my chance to express my hate towards Muriel, the dippy bint who realised as we left Milton Keynes station, that she wanted to get off there and then pulled the emergancy alarm and then tried to hit the train bloke who tried to explain that the train couldnt go in reverse.

Happy Thanksgiving to you American readers!

STF" You're going to Villa at the weekend?"
Me" Uh-huh, Can't wait, The Sheeps coming along too, he's never been to a match before so we're bound to lose."
STF" You hopping across to see us after?"
Me"Sorry"

Next day.

STF" Right if you're not coming to see me, I'm coming to see you. I've got tickets to sit in the Villa end, what time are you getting into Brum?"
Me" What?!"

How odd! The Idea of E meeting The Sheep was strange enough, now she's gonna have to cope with meeting STF as well! Talk about two worlds colliding!

In other news, guess who's gonna go see Harry Potter again this weekend?!

Oh Dear....

"Charlton are to attempt to ban Manchester United fans from The Valley after a female member of staff was sexually assaulted and a steward was injured when trouble erupted for the third time in four seasons during Saturday's 3-1 defeat.
A male United fan was arrested and charged with sexual assault on Saturday afternoon, and spent the weekend in police custody - one of six away fans arrested.
The female member of staff had been helping disabled fans in the away end and was in the area to the rear of the stand when the assault occurred"

The Prawn Sandwich Brigade have caused a bit of trouble in the last few seasons, they keep breaking the gates at the bottom of the stand, I saw and RVN didnt help when he went leaping over there to celebrate with the travelling fans, even though you're not supposed to and a couple of fans leapt over the barrier and ran to him and all the others crushed forwards to get to him.

Full Story here

HARRY POTTER FUCKING ROCKS!
Its my favourite one so far, it was a very simplified version of the book, but better than 1 and 2 which I didnt really rate.
More than makes up for the debacle at the football.
I saw those Man U bastards break the gate again!

Actually you know what I hate most about football? The Weather! For the first two home games I'm dying of sunstroke and then the next two, its alright to go in just shirt and maybe thin fleecy but then its fucking freezing all the way through till March at least.
I dont mind cold weather as long as I'm wrapped up warm and somehow, the only part of me that seems to suffer from the cold is my knees.
And they suffer for ages after the rest of me warms back up when I get home, even now they are still aching from the cold! I hope this isnt an indication of me suffering for the rest of the season!

Charlton V Man U today! Very exciting stuff!
Plus later tonight I'm going to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! I can't wait! So excited!!

There was a riot in my school when I was 15.
It never (to the best of my knowledge) made the news or even reported in the local papers.
Enough people that I have told this story too have looked at me with a more than healthy look of disbelief and its fair enough, its a wonder that no one actually got hurt.
I started to doubt what happened too! And wondered if it was one of those fantastic dreams that you are not sure looking back if they are real or fake.

My school was pretty ordinary, I've spoken before about how much I hated it and was hated by pretty much everyone in there.
But in my GCSE years I found a small group of friends and was kinda happy to go into school.

My school was heavily in debt and as far as I can recall (remember that I'm going back 7 years here!) they decided that the best way to save some money was to get rid off all the teachers that had been there years and were actually established and respected and replaced with cheaper ones fresh out of uni and ready to start a lifetime of being took advantage of and mocked.
Of course there may have been other reasons why these teachers were chucked and a lot of crap ones kept.
A lot of kids and other people were up in arms about this. Me? I couldn't care less.
Anyway, one day a Thursday I remember cos I had drama, history and then PSRE.
A girl. T. popped her head through our door just before the pips went to send us off to the first lesson of the day.
"We're on strike."
Wahoo!
To be fair this was a false start, a few wandered round the corridors aimlessly, I had a brief discussion with GT and the other lads I was hanging with at the time and we made our way slowly to our first lessons, many kids where missing and many turned up late. Our drama teacher couldn't really care less I guess and there was rumours of things being planned in the school library.
The second lesson. History passed in the boring dull way it always did and then we had break and then all hell broke loose.
PSRE was a deadly dull compulsary subject even though we didnt have to take the GCSE if we didnt want to, in which we were supposed to learn about being tolerant to disabled people, religious types, etc, to avoid taking drugs and how to put condoms on bizarre white things that even now I can't describe and we watched Priest which gained legendary status in our school by having gay sex scenes, although our teacher refused to let us watch that part so I can't really comment if it was just a gay kiss or something that had been blown up out of all proportion.
Anyway I took this class with A and we spent most of our time playing noughts and crosses and writing letters to his girlfriend.
He was always trying to encourage me to bunk off and go hang out in the caff at the park, but I being the goody-goody that I was always refused convinced I'd get caught.
There were several cries of Strike! and this time no one went to classes.
Instead there was a mass rush to the main hall, where we made our way to stand aimlessly, I saw E's sister there and said hello and they were as puzzled as us.
Our Head of house came in then and bellowed at us to get back to classes and from then on it was pandemonium and everyone for themselves, running down one corridor, only to find a teacher there and then doubling back on themselves, crowding and crushing.
Forty or fifty kids running one way and then back the way they came and I was seriously worried for the safety of the little first years.
Running up and down staircases, yelling and shouting. I became seperated from all my friends and the only thing to do, to prevent ourselves from being crushed as I was caught in the crowd was to go with it, just running one way along the library corridor, towards the main staircase, only to find a big burly teacher there and then getting jostled and shoved and running backwards at one point until I could turn around and go with the crowd.
For nearly an hour 2,000 pupils ran riot over the school, yelling, shouting, running back and forth, hearing rumours that we should go one place, only to find a teacher there and to turn and dart back the way we came, and I found myself in the corridor where I normally had PSRE looking aimlessly for my Brat or a friend to figure out what my next action would be as all I wanted to do, was avoid getting caught, either by a teacher or by the crowd again.
I saw the crowd head one way, and then turn and run again, like a stampeding herd, followed grimly by a few dedicated teachers.
I was then caught by my PSRE teacher and herded into a classroom, where we ate Cadburys Roses and watched "4 Weddings and A funeral" until order was relatively restored.
A was one of the last caught in that hour of madness and came bursting into the classroom, telling us eagerly about how our House Head had cornered him against a wall and screamed at him and how he had wiggled free and then deciding to go and have a fag in library only to find the door locked and bolted with the librarians in and a few scared looking first-years inside.

It started up again half-heartedly during the rest of the day, but never to the same effect as that mad hour.
We came home bursting of the stories and laughing about the adventure only to have them dismissed by Mothership and Dad as over-exaggerated madness.
So that's our riot, and it just reinforced my belief that I never wanted to go into teaching!

A big whole bunch of randomness for you guys today!!

Thanks for the sympathy (And the bad jokes!!) It did make me giggle and normal service is kinda resumed until the next time!

As seen on El Tel's site, here's a list of the teams who's grounds I've visited on my football travels!

Arsenal.
Aston Villa.
Bolton.
Charlton.
Chelsea.
Fulham.
Man U.
Portsmouth
Derby
Leicester (both Filbert Street and The Walkers ground)
Norwich.
Sheff U.
Sheff Wednesday.
Chesterfield.
Doncaster.
Gillingham.
Notts Forest - Where I fell in the Trent in front of a bunch of Forest supporters and was soaking wet for the whole game!
Port Vale.
Rotherham.
Grimsby.
Stockport.

Plus, Wembley, Cardiff's Millennium stadium, and non-league Welling and York City.

Not a bad list huh?

I was also going to write about my NANOWRIMO efforts and about the riot in my school but that list has gone on for far longer than I actually thought it would, so you can look forward to hearing about them tomorrow and onwards!

Sick and fucking tired.

I'm sick of everything.
Nothings fun anymore and I feel like I hate everybody and everything.
Its all too much hassle, eating, sleeping, filling in these countless job applications when I'll only get rejected. Sitting in line in the job centre to be filled in with the rest of the spongers and scum. I'm sick of the fact that whenever my friends ask me what I've been up too I have nothing to say or no exciting stories to tell anyone.
I'm sick of the fact I've not had a good giggle in a long time or been carefree for ages. I'm sick that I feel guilty about even popping out for the afternoon.
I'm sick of the fact that all I want to do is sit in bed all day huddled under my duvet.
I fucking hate this and I'm sick of blogging boring, depressing shit.
Fuck it all.

Alex asked:

What is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given, and yet still ignored it...

I've been trying for a few days to think of what my reply to this would be.
I'm not very good with advice, some people go out looking for advice and act on it. I don't ask for it often, if ever and often when people have given me advice different to what I think, its made me all the more determined to go out and do the opposite of it anyway.
Or I don't tell people what I get up to or have planned until I've carried it out and then am left wondering why the hell it all went wrong.
The WORST piece of advice I've been given is from my Mothership and was "Don't go to uni, you won't like it and you won't cope. If you must go, apply locally and come home at nights"
Of course I ignored her and it was the best thing I've ever done.
I can think of several good pieces of advice like "Don't go with him" (meaning the BB) which I ignored and I'm glad I did.
I got told never to smoke so of course I had to have that one puff that then put me off for life!
I've been told to avoid drugs, and I have turned down the offer of weed but those don't really count do they?!
These are all good but surely not the best advice ever? There must be something more or have I just let a sheltered little life?

What about you guys? Whats the best advice you've ever been given and ignored or worst you've been given and ignored and do you regret it?

I went to bed reasonably early last night, after spending a busy day sanding, wiping and undercoating downstairs and then watching the England game trying as always to spot STF.
At 3am when I was in a half doze, the phone rings and I fall out of bed in an effort to answer it before the rest of my house is woken.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"

"Hullo STF."
He's clearly drunk and giggles down the phone to me and I'm so homesick for Derby and nights out and drunken fun.
"Are you still in Geneva?"
Through a rambled discussion over his soggy pizza and how he lost his match ticket stub in a bin and had to go through the bin to rescue it I find out that he rated Young, hadn't thought much of Konchesky, tried to chat up a french lady, despite only knowing "Do you know the way to the train station?" in French. And he demands that I come see him next weekend and get some Real Swiss Chocolate and when he found out Charlton have Man U he decided that he was coming down to see it and that I would be taking him to the Charlton away fixtures at White Hart Lane, Stamford Bridge and Highbury."
"Yes but STF where are you NOW?"
"I'm in Derby! Keep up! I've been leaving messages on everyone's answerphone, you're the only one who's picked the phone up!
Guess what? I fucked up getting back and I had to leave early! Only the second time ever I've had to leave early and we were 2-1 down with 87 minutes gone and then I get back to England and I find out we won! And I went out partying and everyone knew the score but me! And I had the fucking programme and ticket in my pocket. Did I tell you I dropped it in the bin?"

After ten minutes of rambling he dropped the phone down the stairs, told me his pizza was cold again and that he was now going to watch the highlights on telly and I try and get back to sleep.

Oops! Ok Spins here's the answer to that missing question:

"If you could do anything career-wise, regardless of family obligation or skill, what would you do?"
I'd be a marine biologist, working in the most amazing coral reefs and studying shark behaviour, and be damn rich doing it, or alternately I'd be the next David Attenborough, jetting round the world filming different animals for telly. All my life all I've ever wanted to do was work with animals and I was never smart enough at school to get the grades needed for vet school. I had the choice of going to Edinburgh to study Marine and Freshwater Biology, but I was struck by a terrifying thought of "what if I end up hating fish?"
So Zoology seemed like a nice way of getting a degree and not having to face the trauma of having to focus on one specific branch and I dont regret making that choice.
One day I'd like to go on and do a masters, perhaps in Marine Biology or Wildlife Conservation, but I want to do some living and saving(!) before I go back to studying. I need the break!

On to EL TEL's questions!!!

What would be the line-up (3 bands/performers) of your dream gig?
This is actually really hard! I like music as does everyone but I'm not fanatical about it like some people (wink, wink Flash!) In fact I only own three albums. I dont own a CD player, Mp3 or Ipod player and one of those albums is Flash's! So who would be in my dream gig?

Well We'll have to say Flash, just so I can leap around like a crazy person boasting of how I knew him before he became famous!
The next group I guess would have to be Queen. I'm working on the idea that I could invite who-ever I want for my dream gig and my Mum has always been a massive Queen fan and I think I've heard them everyday of my life whilst living at home and she missed her chance of going to a concert after falling and breaking some ribs the day of the show so I'd pick them and take her along for the ride.
Who else would I pick? Well I suppose I could be mocked for this but I'd like to see The Beatles or Paul Maccartney doing their greatest hits and some Wings songs, laugh all you like but who doesnt sing along with them when they come on the radio?
So I think that'd be my three performers, with special mentions to Green Day and The Killers.

What football fixture would you most like to see?

Charlton in the FA cup final/ Champions League final obviously! (Providing we won of course!!!)
International fixtures I'd like to see is an England game, I'm not fussy which, but if I could choose any I suppose I'd like to see them play Scotland, Germany or Argentina, just because I imagine the atomosphere to be great.
I'd also like to go to a match at the Nou Camp, I went there on a tour with school and the stadium was awesome empty so I 'd like to see a match there.
As for here, well I've been to Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and Highbury. I still want to make the trips to Anfield and St James Park so those are fixtures I'd like to make one day.

If you had to move to a different town/city etc, where would you choose, and why?

I'm not too fussy really, I'd like to live in Cornwall at some point, but I'd live anywhere, I get bored and restless when I'm in the same place too long, so I'd like a career where I can move about a bit, but I'd live in any city that met these three requirements.
1 - Not too remote. I'm too much of a townie to live like The Twins or CL does
2 - Not too townie and built up, I've had enough of that here. Maybe surburby though.
3 - Where I could make it home for football easily enough.

And finally, what's the most useful thing that you learned whilst studying?

Leaving essays to the night/two days before before is a big nono!

Wow! Some real hard questions here!

Spinsterwitch: Tell me about the most memorable person in your life (who you no longer actively see or know)?
This is really quite difficult as I'm quite loyal in my friendships and all of them are people that I've know for many years. But once I decide to drop that person I do so without any thought or concern and don't look back to them.
Had you asked me this the year I went to uni I would have said OF having not seen or heard from her in nearly two years. She's obviously one of the first people I remember in my life outside of my family and my family are all reasonably close due to the football.
What about Primary school? Well I was a fairly solitary child, happy to play on my own, I had a few girlfriends, but by the last year they grew interested in boys, and clothes and music and other stuff I had no interest in so I walked away from that group and have rarely thought about them since, I could name names but not remember faces in that group.
There was a group of three or four lads that I played with. "The birdy game" Some crazy variant of chase and I remember them very clearly although I was never as close with them as I was my girlfriends and I've thought about them a few times over the years and could contact one of them via Friends Reunited but I'm always put off actually getting in touch in case my memories are tainted by him being an idiot.
They were kind, funny and yet somehow on the outskirts of the class, not quite in with the group and thats one of my overridding memories, of them being slightly alone from everyone else and running around in the playground, trying to catch them and "chop their wings off" while they squawked, laughed and avoided me, being the slow person that I was.
They were more fun to play with and be silly with than the other boys who refused to let me play their games or the girls who sat in groups and talked rubbish.
As for secondary school? Well I keep in touch with those that I wanted to and most of them I want to forget about.
There's a PE teacher WW who I got on very well with and we'd go riding with her and her daughter, who was about eleven years younger than us. She moved to New Zealand about seven or eight years ago and we keep in touch via the odd email and one day soon I hope to go out there and see her and her daughter.

So perhaps the most memorable people in my life that I'm no longer in touch with and wish I was are that group of four lads, all slight outcasts in their own way and who accepted me.

Most memorable person that I've no wish to get in contact with? Well you'd need a list as long as my arm to list the bullies from school, but perhaps the earliest of these was a boy who we'll just know as a dickmunch, he frequently treated me like I was inferior to him and would draw on me and on my clothes and hurt me without getting in too much trouble from the teacher.
Still I kicked him hard in the balls one day and that's enough revenge for me.

Tomorrow we'll answer El Tel's question(s)!

If anyone else thinks there is anything you want to ask? A story you want to find out about? Anything YOU think I should write about? Go mad and I'll try and do my best.

Sigh.
I like the idea of putting something down here everyday, but its hard to think up new ways or new variations of "I woke up. I played online, I watched Telly, I went to bed."
So what can I write about?
Well tomorrow I'm getting tickets for Villa (taking The Sheep! Should be interesting him meeting E!!!)

So here we go, I'll turn it over to you guys, is there anything you want to ask? A story you want to find out about? Anything YOU think I should write about?
Go mad and I'll try and do my best.

So the story of me getting shot.
Its a lot more dramatic than it actually was I'm afraid, so you might be disappointed.

About this time two years ago, I was living in my Derby house with MH and CL. It was a Tuesday night, I had been curled up on my favourite chair watching Man U on the Telly when The Hunter phoned me.
Now The Hunter does exactly what his name suggests. Sees a bunny rabbit BANG BANG! See's a squirrel BANG BANG! Sees a crow/pigeon. BANG BANG. Gun Nut.
I don't actually like this idea but I'm a townie so don't like sticking my nose into and saying this is wrong in my idea, cos what do I know about country life? And to be fair he does eat the rabbits and pigeons he shoots. And grey squirrels shouldnt be in this country anyway and crows are pests.

So anyway, I'm watching Telly downstairs, MH is upstairs tidying or whatever and CL is out with UDOBF.
So The Hunter rings me. "Whatcha up to? I'm bored?"
I said I was just watching football and he could come round and hang out if he liked. So I go up and take my contacts out and put my glasses back on and go back to watching my game.
The doorbell rings so I bounce up and go to let him in, he's bent down doing his shoelaces up, then I see a guy in dark get up emerge from behind CL's car.

The guy comes running up to the house firing, The Hunter darts for cover and I panic and try to slam the door shut while ducking behind it.
Several sharp pains in my stomach and then I can't see anything out of one eye, its blurry. I try and slam the door shut and the bloke shoves his foot into it.
I kicked him in the shin and try to slam it shut somemore.
The Hunter is laughing now and pushes the door open and I stare out at this guy blankly.
MH came running to the hallway at the sound of the shots and then retreated again.
Blankly I say Hello to his mate, still kinda dazed about what has happened in the space of thirty seconds.
Apparently the pair of them are pissed and gone on the rampage with a BB gun, I've been shot several times across the stomach and once in the face, that I assume is a rebound from something, its cracked my glasses.
If I hadn't had gone to put them on, I'd have been hit in the eye and God knows what. Blinded for all I know.
Have any of you been shot by a BB gun? Or for that matter gone Paintballing, I reccomend paintballing if you don't mind getting covered in bruises.
But the bruises from this. I don't know how to describe them, several red bumps across my stomach, sticking up, they were sore and painful for a few days before turning to interestingly coloured bruises that took several days to disappear and it cost me £70 to get new glasses.

I told you it was more exciting that what actually happened. But lately I've been thinking about it lots and what would have happened if I was blinded. Would my eye have exploded in a ball of gunk or would I have one of those blood bruises in it? Or have I just seen too many violent movies? Its a scary thought nonetheless

Pinched from Spins as I'm bored!

Name someone with the same birthday as you? Halle Berry apparently!

Where was your first kiss? The back room of Our Beloved Friary. I can point out the sofa where it happened behind the pool tables. I recieved a whoop too from my audience too!

Have you ever seriously vandalized someone's property? Apart from breaking my brothers Mr Frosty maker when I threw it down the stairs at him? No

Have you ever sang in front of a large group of people? Probably in one of those dreadful school play things they make you do to your bored parents in primary school, never solo though, my voice is dreadful!

What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Eyes and smile, they have to have a kind face.

What really turns you on? Sense of humour

What do you order at Starbuck's? Hot Chocolate!

What is your biggest mistake? I dont think I have one

Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? no.

Say something totally random about yourself I keep having nightmares about the time I got shot lately.

Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity? Actually since posting that last pic on here that I did for GT, the one of me in the pink dress (bastard) I've shown it to STF and JF who said I looked like a ginger Sarah Michelle Gellar(?) and Herminone Granger from HP (I don't see either of those myself)

Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows? I love my Classic Disney movies and Harry Potter films and some kiddy TV shows are quite good, as well as the "retro" ones like Dangermouse, Thundercats and Trap Door.

Did you have braces? Oh God yes, fixed ones for two years and in some bizarre way I had coloured braces too, and did my nails to match, sometimes they were red and white (Charlton obviously!) or Green and Orange or Green and Red if it was near Christmas time, possibly one of the dodgiest decisions I've ever made there, and removeable ones for two years too that I was still supposed to wear till I was 22 but I lost them in the cinema (don't ask how!) and I never went back for new ones. I'll never forget the pain after they were tightened.

Are you comfortable with your height? Most of the people I hang with are a fair bit taller than me so I feel a little uncomfortable about it, but I'm of average height or a little under.

What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you?
Made me breakfast in bed, but then I'm not sure that counts as I kicked him in the back repeatedly until he gave in, someone did offer to buy me flowers once but I turned them down. So I don't think anyones done anything romantic for me!

When do you know it's love? I don't. I'm still deeply cynical about it.

Do you speak any other languages? Smattering of German, a couple of words of Spanish and I can say "Winnie the Pooh and the Forest of Blue Dreams" in French, as I'm sure you'll agree thats a useful thing to say.

Have you ever been to a tanning salon? Don't be daft

What magazines do you read? The ones that come in the paper.

Have you ever ridden in a limo? Yup

Has anyone you were really close to passed away? I'm working on it! But my Granddad, Great Granddad and a man I knew from the stables.

Do you watch MTV? Sometimes late at night, when they sign the songs, its quite funny.

What's something that really annoys you? Arrogance.

What's something you really like? ICE CREAM!

Do you like Michael Jackson? Some of the older stuff.

Can you dance? Yup, when drunk and very badly too!

What's the latest you have ever stayed up? I'm an ex-student! Every student has pulled an all nighter at some point or another!

Have you ever been rushed to the ER by ambulance? No but MH was in our last night in Derby and my dream was always to ride in an ambulance so I demanded that I got taken along for the ride.

Do you read these whe someone fills them out? Yup.

Firstly. Flash - Scunthorpe?!
I've been to Bognor Regis, to the Butlins and it snowed. However I did get to see Black Lace and sing Agadoo!
I'm not really an Ibiza type person so nope and Amsterdam! Don't even let them see that suggestion! Its bad enough taking care of them pissed without being stoned out of their head too! Although apparently they have a museum of gay pornography so they might like that!
El Tel - I'd actually like to go to Hull, I want to see The Deep. MH went to look at a uni there for her Masters and I was going to go to on a day trip out but stupid uni got in the way.

But here's the choices.
Goa, New York or Las Vegas.

Each one clearly very appealing in their own way. And I really want to be going where-ever they finally decide on going, but nothings ever that simple for me. I can't see Dad being here at the end of this month, let alone February next year but if by some miracle he is, I won't want to go away, I feel guilty enough as it is when I go out for the day and its stopped me going to Derby for the odd weekend as I feel bad at leaving them, but I have to leave the house sometimes.
I want to go and I want to say, yup sign me up now but then I don't want to have to let them down later in the line.
Plus there's the matter of his birthday being on the same day as my Mothership and I can't let her down too and I need to fit things in around my football.
And he wants to get everything planned and organised by the end of this month.
What's a girl to do?

Guess where STF wants to go for his birthday in Feb?
Go on!
Of course he's the kinda person to pull these things off but I'm not, so I'm keeping fingers crossed that nothing comes to screw me over.
Knowing my luck I'll still be in the same position I am now and unable to go anywhere but its a nice thing to dream about.

Here's a thought that The Sheep has just put to me.

The lads that I collect are all non-threatening. They are all teddies, there are a couple I wouldn't like to fall out with, N, LF, BB and J although they've always been sweet with me but the rest of my motley collection are softies.
He reckons as I'm a girl with classically 'masculine' traits, I find myself drawn to associate with men who have 'feminine traits' and vice versa, like we're all looking for the traits we're lacking in in each other.
I never really thought about it that way.
What do you guys think? Do you think its just random or do you think there's some sorta deep psychological reason behind the people we choose to have as friends?
Its far too deep a thought for me to have before bedtime, that's for sure!

"Bollocks." I thought to myself. "It's 2pm on the first day of this NanoWriMo and I still haven't got a fucking clue what I'm going to write about."
(My potty mouth extends to my mind too, although I daren't swear out loud.)
I'd had a few ideas, one I may return too, another a horror/thriller story, but I like to plan the main details of my stories before I sit and write them and this I realised last night borrowed heavily on "The Shining" so I dumped that idea.
So I was stuck.
I was clearing out the spare room, which had piles of junk from the attic in it, piles of old teddies, board games, my train set and Care Bears and books.
I have a huge collection of Enid Blyton, descended from my Mother and Aunty. I was never really into them, prefering the more exciting things like "The Hardy Boys" and "Three Investigators."
I particularly had the two school series, "Malory Towers" and "The Twins at St Claire's." I wasn't too into them, compared to books about murders and mysteries, tales of midnight feasts and lacrosse matches weren't exactly thrilling!
I flicked through them idily and remembered a few characters that had stuck out, Bill the tomboy, I'm not totally sure but I think she was the one really into her horses, and I can't remember the characters in those books, but I still remember the name of all her horses!!
And Carlotta, the gypsy/circus girl.
I remembered her cos she stood out from the middle-class girls with their boring lives, she was exotic, different, banned from living the lifestyle she wanted and forced to conform to the boring, greyness of the other schoolgirls and although by the third or forth book she was like the others, that idea stayed with me.
What if I was in that situation? Taken away from all I loved and forced to live with a family I didn't know and told to keep quiet about her background?

Two hours later, with the seeds of inspiration starting to grow in my head, I sat down in front of the computer and typed this:

"She sat in the dark shadows partially hidden by a tent, there were no nerves or any sign of emotion on her face, but the horse that she was sitting on showed her nerves.
There’s was a new act and one that had so far gone down a treat with audiences. The horse shifted its weight and jangled its bit, twitching its tail.
“Steady Sunny.” She smoothed, fixing a piece of mane that had been mussed up.
The horse was a beautiful palomino, part Arab, golden body, silver mane and tail and eye catching white markings on the legs and face.
She was dressed in a cowboy outfit of bright green and white, contrasting perfectly with the colour of the horse. She heard the applause as the act before her finished and the curtains parted suddenly and she was momentarily blinded by the light."

I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this, I have no little plans for my characters in my head, but I've managed to scrape 2,000 words out of it so far.
I don't know what kinda story it's going to turn out like or even if it'll make the word requirement but its gonna be fun finding out!