Team Cook-A-Chilli…
My lovely housemates, Nick and Lara.

Across my many travels and exploits at university, I’ve found that these two methods never fail to break down some boundaries…

1. Cook together. Give everyone a job and take a beer with you. Laugh (nicely) at those who can’t cook (Nick) and enjoy the end result!
2. Play cards. Even if people think it’s lame, snap never fails to get people involved.

I have had the aforementioned beer so I’m going to quit here before I say something truly retarded.

Let the good times roll, everyone!

So, today I decided to try something new, something I’ve always wanted to be good at, and something that will hopefully get me a little fitter…

Hip Hop Dancing

Stop sniggering. I’m assuming you are because my housemate was teasing me about it mercilessly for a good half hour…

“So, you’re going to be ‘gangstar’ then?”
“I imagine I will be a little ‘gangster’ yes.”
“No, no, it’s either ‘I’m going to be G’ or ‘I’m going to be gangstaaar’. You can’t be ‘gangster’.”
“Fine, I’m going to be well ‘G’ innit.”
*laughter*
“Stop it, man, you’re killing an actual dream here!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Say ‘gangstaaar’?”
“Gangstaaaar.”
*more laughter*
“Oh my life, I hate you!”

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. It gave a  good buzz. It made me “feel so fly”. Most people were new so I didn’t make a complete fool of myself. I actually kept up a lot better than I thought I would. And they’re not really ‘gangstaaar’. In fact, the main teacher looks like a Smith from the Matrix gone hip-hop; picture tracksuit bottoms, Nike hightops and a gangster hat (as in the bootlegging type) and some sick shades… on a Smith.

—

And as a side-note, have a groovy graffiti stencil.

My space.
No, not the social networking site. 

So, I’ve taken various blogs’ advice and made a space of my own to get work done. University work and creative work. I’m told it’s important to create an environment where you feel comfortable but not so comfortable that you spend the whole time being distracted. I shall give you a run-down of the features.

• Photographs (here stuck to the irremovable mirror that’s attached to my desk).
• Plants
• A lava lamp
• Tools of the trade, a.k.a. my laptop and pens, a little stack of books.

Being surrounded by the products of creativity usually soothes me; whilst I’m jealous that I can’t create the incredible images that I stick on my wall, it makes me happy that others can and that there is no end to the riot of colours and lines and expression from their domain. Vive la creation! Similarly, nature helps so I stuck some pot plants on there. If I put my head to the desk I can pretend I’m Jurassic Park for a couple of minutes, realise that my problems in the academic world are somewhat smaller than being eaten by dinosaurs and then get on with my work, grateful I am alive, uneaten and only have a headache! The lava lamp is just plain cool. It also makes the scene a little less static.
Then, of course, I have all the things I actually need to do work!

By the way, this is my favourite feature:

Bob and Finn.
Bob’s head wobbles when it’s sunny.

A solar-powered duo of adorable blobs, constantly smiling and finding even the smallest ray of sunshine to smile about. These two have been reminding me that life can be good since my first year of college (around four years… now I feel old…). Yes, I know they are just plastic, and that the sun may shine but life may at that point in time stink, but even on this grey day Bob’s head is wiggling just a little. There is sunshine out there, everyday, if you think about it.
Of course that little bit of inspiration falls flat on its face at night-time, but somewhere in the world the sun is shining still.

I should probably get on and use this space for doing my work now. Blogging is such a great form of procrastination!

:)

A random doodle.
I quite like elephants.

Ladies and gentlemen, this morning I woke with a solemn intent to proof-read my dissertation and create a final first draft. Instead, the circus came to town and now an elephant is sitting on my Appendix. I didn’t plan this one, I just followed my pen… I think the fact that he is staring maniacally at a water droplet reflects my current mental state.
Anything is more interesting than doing work!

An Asian Pear.
Sitting on a free literature review magazine… 

Anyway, so this isn’t a complete waste of time, I am going to review the above fruit. The Asian Pear. I believe this one is closer to a Chinese pear; it is pyriform, whereas Japanese pears are round – there is your fun fact for the day! I didn’t particularly enjoy it. It had little to no taste, however this is England we’re talking about, and getting good foreign fruit here is nigh on impossible. To it’s credit, the Asian Pea was crisp and refreshingly juicy, but not so juicy that it would drip down your hands. It started to taste a little bit sweet near the middle.
I feel I’ve probably had a bad experience; my friend was raving about this fruit a month or so back. So, give it a shot; who knows, you may be more lucky!

:)

A very tasty burger and chips.
Courtesy of The Rusty Bicycle (Oxford).

Last night was… interesting. I went clubbing for a friend’s birthday, and it was the first time I’ve done said activity in over a year. I’m not a tom-boy but I’m an enemy of all high-heels and whilst I love some good loud music, I prefer band performances to DJ sets. Anyway, that’s not really the point. The point is I had a bit of headache when I woke up this morning. I know, I’m terrible. But it was a lovely day so my housemates and a friend and I decided to get out and find ourselves a pub lunch. Nothing better for mild hangovers than good food!

The pub we “discovered” has actually been visited by us in the past, but only for drinks. All I can say is I wish we’d eaten there sooner; the food was fantastic, but the experience has a nice unique flare to it. The flare mostly involved blocks of wood; the menus are blocks of wood with brown paper stuck to them with the creatively written options. I don’t think they were handwritten but it would be amazing if they were… I spent about five minutes freaking out over the menu form, I forgot I was supposed to be choosing something to eat. I made my housemate, Nick, pose with it for you:

His enthusiasm is inspiring! Oh, and that’s Hugh’s thumb…

Anyway, the food came on big blocks of wood also. Again, I couldn’t contain my excitement; how unusual and exciting and just plain awesome! We wondered how close they were to the first invented plate. This made the sophistication of trying something novel seem more like we were just regressing to being cavemen.

A pleasant was had by all. I definitely recommend this pub; great atmosphere, and not massively crowded. One great memory I have of this place is one time my housemates and I and Lara’s boyfriend went for a post-coursework-deadline drink. I had a little too much red wine and whilst reaching to grab a crisp I managed to throw my glass all over some poor gentlemen’s bag. He was French, and had a great sense of humour; he said “Oh, that’s Spanish wine, you can throw that on the floor any day!”

Have a good day people and go explore a new pub/food place!

:)

Neil Gaiman
The Sandman, Vol.9: The Kindly Ones

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I felt this had to be shared.
Gaiman is an incredible author, if you haven’t read any of his work yet, do it. Do it now!

My newest creation.
Spicy bean and chickpea curry. 

Right-o! In the name of being healthy I have been gathering ideas for more vegetarian dishes that I can make. This here is Exhibit A – Chickpea and Mixed Bean Curry. It’s fairly mild, cost me £1.50 to feed four people and took 15 minutes to make. If you are a student or anyone else who is squeezed for time/lazy/almost too tired to lift the saucepan, then I recommend this for you. Though I will stress right now, it’s very basic…

You will need:

• Rice (however much you eat yourself, multiply by the number of people)
• 1 x Can of Mixed Bean Salad
• 1 x Can of Chickpeas
• 1 x Can of chopped tomatoes
• Some mild curry powder (again, this is to your taste, I won’t give you measurements)
• 2 x Medium-sized saucepans.

The “How-To”:

Bagheera and his girlfriend.

Let me tell you something about my garden in Oxford. Firstly, we were told to “keep the grass in good condition”. “The grass” consists of dandelion leaves and occasional tree sprout (courtesy of the family of squirrels that live in the tree next door). Secondly, it is a battleground for upwards of three cats. Who knows what they are fighting over; the territory is far from classy and, whilst I love cats, we don’t leave any treats out for them. The battles are sometimes fierce and scare me when I’m trying to take a shower. Actually one of them popped in through the bathroom window once… we worried that it was a clever thief sending in a camera on a cat to assess our wealth. He didn’t come back, clearly because we’re poor as pennies.

Anyway, today we were visited by one of my favourite felines, Mister Bagheera (on the wall). As you can see, he is a big black cat, somewhat akin to a baby panther. He is my favourite because he provokes a round of Disney’s The Jungle Book songs. But today he was a particular ray of sunshine because he brought with him a beautiful little girlcat. Clearly the panther of the back-garden has proven his brute strength and won himself a lady friend.

Happy days!

:)

My kiddy food tower!

You’re never too old to enjoy eating spaghetti shapes. Today for lunch I had Bob the builder. I chased Pilchard all the way round the plate and then onto a piece of toast before devouring him… I mean, sending him on a mysterious journey to a magical place…

I’m on a bit of food discovery drive at the moment so I bought several snack-sized packets of nuts (various), some Asian pears, some curry powder and a tin of mixed beans. Here’s to healthy  new discoveries!

I really should be getting on with work, so unfortunately this is a short one. Today’s words of encouragement are: play with your food. Seriously, it will improve your day just that tiny bit…

Slowly they walk.
Relentless in their pace.

Ok, technically this is an old photo, it’s not from today. I was on the road to university today and it was hectic and I completely forgot to take a photo. Anyway, this one is from Reading station, upon which I planted my bottom earlier having missed a train. This was the exact same scenario in which the photo was taken several months ago, and it gave me a massive sense of dé-ja vu.

I called the photo “Zombie Nation” because in train stations people automatically follow a certain pace; if you don’t you get shoved, pushed or trodden on, and trying to go faster rarely gets you anywhere. Everyone is also very anonymous; character isn’t often seen at a busy train station because everyone is too busy trying to get somewhere, or too tired after coming from somewhere. It’s surreal and sometimes frightening.

I am totally wiped from the journey so that is all from me. I hope you enjoy the anonymous legs. I like to think that is how a friendly station rat might see the world in rush hour.