Gamezzzbox

Sweet. Games are on their way. Gears of War 2 is technically already here, but as I was in hospital when they tried to deliver it and it's recorded delivery, I'll have to wait til Monday. Just Cause, Dark Sector, Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 2 have apparently all be dispatched. I know, the games are old, but I've completed AC2, and can't afford JC2. Besides, I'm clearly old school. Only ones that haven't heard of dispatch on are Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. Actually, I find it quite funny that I've already got loads of games, and with these too... I blatently don't have the time to play them. Ah well. I'll muddle along, ever so slowly.

H.x

LEATHER BAG!!! :D

Oh today is a happy happy day.

I awoke today to a voicemail from Mr Henry Tompkins of HTLeather, telling me my bag was ready for collection. I literally jumped out of bed, rang my dad and told him we'd HAVE to go and get it today as he doesn't work weekends and there was no way I could wait another weekend.

Originally we were going to go and get it at lunch time but then dad got called into a meeting, so at 3pm we left and headed to his workshop. Oh it's oh so glorious.

Apologies for the quality of the pictures, the lighting is a bit shit in my house. It smells lovely, a proper leather smell, and the feel of it is amazing. Smooth yet very sturdy. I was most nervous about the colour if I'm honest, as he had lots of different colours of leather, and even though I picked what colour I wanted I was still nervous, as even the same colour leather can look different from piece to piece. But fortunately, its gorgeous. And if I want it lighter or darker at all at any point, I can always polish it or leave it in the sun for a little while. But I see no need for that right now at all.

As for the interior, its so roomy!

I don't think the photo really shows just how much room is in there, but I'm seriously excited about how much I should be able to fit in there! The thinner pocket towards the back is for a laptop, or iPad, and maybe an A4 notepad/sketchbook. The two pockets on the front of the divider are great for smaller gadgets or notebooks, and you cant really see, but on the front of those pockets there are some pen slip thingys too. The main front section is huge. It extends under the two pockets really, and is so, so roomy. I can fit some books, spare clothes for the flights, my camera, and all the other gadgets etc in there easily and still have room left over.

The buckles seem really nice and sturdy, as does the strap, though I havent yet figured out how to lengthen it.

I am SO happy. This is basically my 18th birthday present, just a few months early, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. I'm so excited to use it in Australia too. No doubt tonight after badminton I'll simply be found sitting on the floor putting all the gadgets I've already got for the trip in there, just to see what they look like in their home :) I'll probably take some pictures then too, and whack them up on here.

As for the weight of it, its perfect. It's heavy enough to not feel flimsy, but light enough that it wont weigh me down before I put anything in it.

Basically, its perfect, and I love it.

March.

Is it March yet?
My bag should be ready, the Fuji S2500HD will be out, my second GBM and Otterbox Defender iPhone case (courtesy of Alex Dixon, thank you dear) will be here, the 3 Pokemon games from Hong Kong should be here, I'll be on pay&go on the iPhone so saving money, and the uk pricings for the iPad should be revealed.
So hurry up and be next month already!

Sweeeetness!

Today's post was a joyous collection of jiffy bags; Yoshi's Island, Tony Hawk and Dragonball Adventure, plus the Guildhall notebooks for my mum and I. Now the only games I'm waiting for are the 3 Pokemon ones from Hong Kong (Ruby, Fire Red & Crystal) which according to an email received this morning have now been posted, and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, which should be here tomorrow, in theory.

I've tested out all three games that arrived today, and Yoshi's Island really is the cutest thing ever! The graphics are so cute, the noises are so cute, and, in the words of @Abcmsaj - its got Yoshi in it for fucks sakes! :)

Tony Hawk's is pretty fun too, but I'm going to have to get used to the controls on it methinks. Dragonball Adventure is nothing too strenuous, just general kiling fun :)

So now I'm OH SO eagerly awaiting the Pokemon games and hoping the Hong Kong postal service gets a wiggle on.

War.

I won the bidding war on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team :D

So that's another one to add to the list of parcels I'm waiting for now.

Still massively debating whether or not to buy that other Gameboy Micro from my friend, its a blue one and I expect its in quite good condition as he says he didn't use it much as he got it just before the DS came out. Not that there's anything wrong with the silver one I've just got, its just that it is a bit scratched, and as I've said before, I'm thinking in terms of Australia too. Think I might haggle with him.

EDIT: I have offered him £15 :)

Gameboy Micro - Pic-cha!

So this morning the doorbell rang, I ran for the door, signed the electric thingy, ran into the living room with my parcel in hand, ripped off the copious amounts of parcel tape, and lo and behold, I beheld my Gameboy Micro in silver with games :)

All the games pictured, apart from Rayman 3, came with the console. I've had a little go on each of them, and the first thing I know is that I havent a CLUE what I'm doing on the Yu-Gi-Oh games, so I dont expect they'll be getting much play time. Spiderman 3 is really cute, kitsch and fun, and Crash Nitro Kart is going to get some play time for sure.

Rayman 3 arrived with the normal post, and its awesome. Another one that I'll definately been getting some time on.

I've charged it too, though it had obviously been pretty much fully charged recently as it didnt take long for the blue charging lights to go out, which is good. I'll be taking it with me and playing it in the car while I sit and wait for my appointment.

And now I'm just waiting on all the other games - Tony Hawk 4, Avatar: Last Airbender, FIFA 06, Dragonball Advanced Adventure and all the Pokemon games. I haven't actually paid for the Pokemon games yet, as I requested a total from him and was waiting on a reply regarding postage. I got the reply this morning and sods law he said that he'd be able to give a £5 postage discount when I buy 5 games, which of course was the original plan but I decided to give up on. The cost of the Pokemon games and p&p is roughly £25 whereas it'd cost £35 if I got Fire Emblem and Zelda: Minish Cap as well, but I decided I'd just go for the Pokemon games. I'll have enough games as it is without Zelda and Fire Emblem so its all okay now. Even though I've probably spent nigh on £40 on games by now.

The only other thing I'm thinking about now is buying another GBM, in blue, from a friend on Facebook. I know, I know, but in terms of Australia it might be handy to have two, especially for the plane journeys, in case I run out of battery. Plus, ITS BLUE. He's asked £20 but if I can whittle him down to £15 I think I might just go for it to be honest, what do you all think dear readers?

So hell yeah I'm happy right now, 'cos I have a cute little GBM :)

H.x

Woohoo!

I literally just yelled "Woohoo" a few minutes ago; Why? Because I won Yoshi's Island for my GBM :D I am now, as my dad oh-so hilariously pointed out, "the proud owner of 2 Yoshi's" - My rabbit and the game.

So I have now purchased and am waiting for:

- FIFA 06

- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

- Avatar: The Last Airbender

- Rayman 3

- Dragonball Advanced Adventure

- Pokemon Ruby

- Pokemon Fire Red

- Pokemon Crystal

- Yu-Gi-Oh Stairway to Destined Duel

- Yu-Gi-Oh Reshef of Destruction

- Crash Nitro Kart

- Spiderman 3

All of which makes me a very happy - yet slightly poorer- bunny. (Oh the irony - rabbit - Yoshi - happy bunny... never mind).

Now I just can't wait for them all to get here so I can waste more valuable Wuthering Heights/Jane Eyre essay time playing on them. The console bundle (including the last 4 games) should hopefully get here tomorrow, which means having to get up early as its coming via Recorded Signed For delivery, but in this case I so don't mind. If it does get here tomorrow, it'll be great for another ridiculous reason - I have my counselling appointment tomorrow and normally have about half an hour to kill after I've parked, and I normally take a book but the book I'm reading is too big to fit in a cool little bag my dad was getting rid of but I have commandeered, whereas the GBM will fit. I know - I'm such an excitable loser of a geek sometimes all of the time. I cant help it. Nowadays when I get focused and excited about something, I do tend to pour all of my energy into it. I think its because I have no social life and nothing else to get excited about that I go ever so slightly overboard. Oh well :)

Pokemon!

Okay so this idiot in Hong Kong apparently obviously doesn't want to make a sale because he hasn't bothered to email me back at all today about the Pokemon games. Boo.

So I worked out that he would probably charge the £3.50 p&p for each item, which at 3x£4.99 and 2x£3.99 it worked out to £40.45 for the 5 games, which is a bit much really. I decided I'd give up on Fire Emblem and Zelda Minish Cap for now, seeing as I really want the Pokemon games and they're all basically RPG's I figured I'd just stick with the Pokemon ones for now. If I was to get the 3 Pokemon games from the Hong Kong guy though, it'd cost about £21 which actually isn't bad seeing as the Pokemon games tend to go for near enough £10 each anyway. For the time being I'm watching and bidding on other listings of Pokemon Fire Red and Ruby, both of which end in about an hour ish. If they look like they're going to go for more than the Hong Kong guy's selling them for then I'll just go for his listings of all three. Plus the only Pokemon Crystal I can find is from him, so I'll just see what happens in the next hour. Hopefully I'll end up with Pokemon games.

I've also bitten the bullet and just bought Tony Hawk 4, Avatar; Last of the Airbenders and FIFA 06 too, all under £4 each, bargain.

I'm also avidly watching another listing of Yoshi's Island after I unfairly lost out on one yesterday. This one ends in about an hour too, and I so badly want it. I'm watching Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red team too which ends tomorrow, because it just looks so cute! You get to BE a Pokemon! Did I mention that already?

So the game hunt is going...meh. Okay I guess. Didn't realise how many games I was getting til I wrote them all down earlier! Which means I'm also going to need some cases in all likelihood...

EDIT: Fire Red bidding gone. Might as well get that one from Mr Hong Kong. Just waiting on Ruby now.

Gamezzz.

Now have;

- Rayman 3

- Dragonball Aventure

- Yu-Gi-Oh ...destined duel

- Yu-Gi-Oh Reshef of destruction

- Crash Nitro Kart

- Spiderman 3

for definate on the gbm.

I'm still waiting on a reply email from the guy in Hong Kong about the others, which is fucking annoying seeing as the items finish this evening. I could just risk it, buy them all and then negotiate a p&p discount, but I'd rather not. Just check your emails mate!

:/

And now I've seen screenshots of Yoshi's Island and NEED it.

Gameboy Gamezzzzz :)

So having now won a Gameboy Micro on eBay, I'm going nuts regarding games.
The console comes with: Spiderman 3, Yu-Gi-Oh Stairway to Destined Duel, Yu-Gi-Oh Reshef of Destruction and Crash Nitro Kart
No idea if the Yu-Gi-Oh ones are gonna be any good at all, but I'm excited about Spiderman and Crash Nitro Kart.
I've also bought Rayman 3 on eBay and that's meant to be a good game, and I'm apparently winning the bidding on Dragon Ball Z Adventure, which if it goes cheap then fine, but it does look quite cool.
Now the thing is money really. While each game isnt exactly mega bucks, it does all mount up, and though I've got a bit more money at the moment its not a bottomless pit, for shame. The other thing to consider is whether or not its worth it as I may only play each game once, but the way I figure is that if I do play it and then dont want it, well, that's what eBay is for, right?

So, the games that are currently enticing me;
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 - cos it looks fun
- FIFA 06 - a football timewaster is always a good buy
- Avatar: The Last Airbender - looks cute, cool, and fun
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - never played Zelda and want to
- Fire Emblem - apparently a great game and it looks gorgeous

And of course, some Pokemon games;
- Ruby
- FireRed
- Crystal
EDIT: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Team - get to BE a pokemon! So cute!

The last 5 on the list are all available from a guy in Hong Kong, so I'm thinking a postage discount should clearly be on offer if I do go for the 5 of them, and the other 3 are from the same person in the UK too, but as its free p&p, not an issue.

So I'm wondering if anyone reading this has any experience with any of the above? Am I making a mistake by even thinking about any of those games? Of course, Mr Alex Dixon and @Remy_Foster have told me what they can about the Pokemon games, thank you boys, but if anyone else has any opinions please feel free :)

Oh yes, and I've also changed my blog theme yet again.
Obviously.

Update.

Afternoon all. Apologies for not having posted for so long, been rather busy.
The past few weeks have been a bit...meh. The depression hit with a vengeance again a couple of weeks back, and I had a weird episode/fit on Sunday night, meaning that I am now back on anti-depressants (which is a medicine at the moment and tastes VILE) and am going to have to have a brainwave scan.

College work is coming along nicely, although I'm still struggling with it, my tutor is pleased with my progress and keeps telling me to believe her when she says I'm doing well... I'm trying to! The other side of the college work is going into college, which I've been finding very difficult due to my growing agrophobia and paranoia - being in public is funtimes for me! But I'm getting there; each time I go in I find it a bit easier. I've finished one bit of coursework and am starting the next, which is a bit achievement for me.

Money wise life is going good; I managed to sell the 2 guitars, amp and keyboard, all in total for around about a cool £400 which has certainly boosted my bank account. I'm thinking of selling my video camera to get a bit more money too. All of which means I have enough money for a new camera :) I'm loving the look of the Fuji bridge cameras, specifically the S2000HD, and its new upgrade the S2500HD. The S2500HD is in the Argos catalogue but not actually released yet, but the Devon Camera Centre is apparently getting the model in stock in just 2 weeks :D its around £200 and I cant wait.
I was also going to upgrade my iPhone 3G to the 3GS when my contract runs out in April, but seeing as there are so many rumours of an iPhone 4G coming out in September, I'm thinking that it would be more prudent to just stick with the 3G for now, especially seeing as I'm going to need/want to pick up another phone/Blackberry for when we're in Australia, AND gonna want to get the iPad, it seems financially sensible to wait. I guess my brother will have to wait a bit longer for my iPhone.

In terms of all the gadgets and what not for Australia, the list is ticking off nicely!
I've ordered a leather bag from a local leather man, I've got the travel journal and yet MORE pens, (the Uni Ball jetstream SX-210 and SXN-217, both BRILLIANT pens) and I've also now got my Polaroid PoGo!!!! (And spare films. Ha.) I'm also waiting for the retractable iPod cable I've ordered which will be a great space saver whilst travelling, and my Guildhall pocket notebook, another essential for while I'm away in terms of verse writing.
I cant wait for my bag to be finished, shouldnt be much longer now though :)

So all in all things are ok. The diet is coming along ok, I'm back on medication, money is sorting itself out, and gadgets are rolling in :)

H.x

Australia wantings - the leather bag.

Ok so I made a list of all the things I want for Oz, and despite all my plans (which I still haven't posted yet) I now can't stop myself from looking into things in more detail as if I have all the money in the world.

Most importantly, the bag. The Saddleback Leather Company's Dark Tobacco Briefcase, to be more precise. There are reviews here and here, and despite the drawbacks, I've fallen in love. Check out the Saddleback Leather Company site to bask in the full leathery glory, but this is the one I've fallen in love with:


The pictures on the first link of the interior show just the kind of thing I'd be using it for.
But yes, the drawbacks are the price and the weight. Part of me thinks that $530/roughly£320, while steep anyway, might actually indeed be a fair price for something of apparent quality and durability, that will last, that I can consider as more of an investment... but then I think of the weight. The size I like weighs 6.5lbs with nothing in it! Can I physically even carry that? And with things in? As I grow up will I become strong enough to carry it?!?
But it's SOOOOOOO gorgeous, and although some of the pockets might not be 100% what I had in mind, they're 90% there. Another option would be to actually buy some thinner, lighter leather and make one myself, but I wouldn't really have a clue what I'm doing.
When it looks THAT gorgeous, can you blame me for wanting one? I could always sell a kidney I suppose...

And as for the travel journal and stationary... As I say, the trip is 6 months away, and I have vastly more important thins to be thinking about between now and then, but did you really think that logic was going to stop me from looking? No, of course not. So I did. The notebook I thought would be perfect, isn't, and I have currently not found the perfect one

I know I'm just being typical stupid impatient me, but hell, I'm excited!!!

H.x

Australian wantings, now with pictures :)

So as you know, in 6 months time my parents and I are going to Australia to visit my sister and see the huge land mass :D
Almost as soon as the flights were booked, after being home less than 5 minutes, I was already diving into eBay and Amazon etc and my imagination was playing havoc with my empty wallet.

So basically, this is the list of all the things my tiny, tiny mind is telling me I would love to take to Australia with me :)

• Leather bag.
Seen some really nice ones online, I'm thinking over-the-shoulder, darkish leather, kind of rustic distressed look with room enough for all this other stuff. It needs to have lots of little pockets, but not too many. The perfect amount. Unfortunately, leather costs. Even more unfortunately, the bag in my mind clearly doesn't exist; unless you count the Saddleback Leather Briefcase, left, which costs about £350.

• Digital Camera.

Well my Casio Exilim EX-Z1080 10mpx camera is less than 6 months old and works a charm so I'm happy with that :) Love this bad boy. I'm no photography pro but this takes a sweet picture. Might need spare batteries and memory cards though.

• Laptop/netbook.

Of course, I already have a laptop. In fact, I own two. The three of us in total own 4 laptops between us so you wouldn't think it'd be a problem, right? Well, you're right and you're wrong. First off, size wise my MacBook is probably best suited to the journey, but as it's the older white MacBook it's not exactly feather-light. So weight wise, dads would be best suited, and in terms of price his is the cheapest too so if anything were to happen to it, it's the easiest to replace. However, my inclination, in a perfect world (and this is just my Australia Wanting remember), would be to buy a cheap, possibly second hand from eBay, basic netbook thing to take with us and then sell when we get back. But then we all sit and think, well, do we really need to take one at all? Mum says yes: she can barely go one week without checking her facebook let alone 7! So it requires thinking. Ouch.

• Polaroid camera - One600? SX-70?

Had a real craving for one of these for SO long now. There's something about the charm of those photos, and the simplicity of taking them. Plus, the photos are great for what I have in mind by way of a travel journal (more on that later.) Been looking at two models; the One600 which was the last mass produced Polaroid camera, therefore a bit more modern and sturdy/portable/less fragile, or; the SX-70, a very early model (not sure how early) that's apparently quite sought after but there's a few of on eBay.

• Polaroid PoGo.

Basically the modern reincarnation of the Polaroid cameras of old. Can't be bothered to link you but google it, it's amazing. Size of an iPhone, prints photos in 60seconds, doesn't use ink, (ZINK technology) and the films are self adhesive on the back, yet another advantage for my Aussy photo journalling needs. Around £100 new, Amazon marketplace has them for £22.51 :D especially appealling seeing as the technically superior Fujifilm Pivi is an £100+ import.

• Video camera.

Technically yes, I already have one, and though there's nothing wrong with it, it's so out of date already. I'd love to be able to capture Australia in all it's HD glory, rather than on the one I've got which is slightly grainy looking now. Sanyo VHC-FH1 HD looks good, and £350 on Amazon, but definately needs more looking into.

• iPod :)

OBVIOUSLY. Two lots of 12hr plane rides just to get down under, not to mention the other 6hr flights across Oz, the 2 day Ghan train and the same two 12hr flights home! Not that my parents are so boring I'm going to want to constantly drown them out, but y'know, fair's fair. Does mean I may possibly need to invest in some superior headphones, but in that long run that'd just seem a waste of money.

• Moblie phone.
Yes I have an iPhone, but no I won't be able to use it out there: A) I'll have upgraded to the 3GS by then and B) it'll only be a few months old so there's no way I'm jailbreaking it, and most importantly C) there is no way in HELL I'm paying O2's international roaming charges for 7weeks, especially not when I'll be texting mostly within Oz. We're going to buy Australian SIM cards over there, but obviously although mum and dad will be able to use their own phones fine, my iPhone and I will fail. Hence, I am also looking at Blackberry's on eBay. Plus I want a Blackberry as well as my iPhone anyway :P Specifically the Curve 8900, cos its hot :D

• And last but by no means least: Travel journal.
Some of you may know of my love of Moleskine notebooks and my general borderline-creepy love of all things stationary, but perhaps not of my love of the idea of photo journalling. I say the idea because as of yet my past attempts have ended up being rather neglected. There's an awesome blog at moleskine.vox by this guy who is a creative genius in my eyes when it comes to stationary and journalling. It's not even especially obvious, or even intentional perhaps, but to me there is something so innately and intrinsically cool and artistic about the perfect notebook and pens and such like. Even his handwriting is amazing to me. And he's SO organized! It makes me and my flittish, haphazard ways a little jealous actually. Anyway, partially from his own work and partially from a magazine he talked about and scanned in, I was inspired into trying again when I go to Australia. It'll be the perfect opportunity; sun, sea, sand, Aires Rock, Palm Beach, NEIGHBOURS :D. I can snap away on my digital camera at scenic sweeping outback, Polaroid pwn the Sydney Opera House, and then when we stop at a cafe for lunch or something, I can PoGo my pictures and stick it all in. I can cover the page with glue, grab a handful or sand and take some of the outback home with me. I can really keep track of this once in a lifetime opportunity (that I actually do hope to repeat but still, I'm more likely to keep on top of it on holiday with my parents than travelling with friends in years to come.) Napkins from restaurants will no doubt go in there, cards from hotels we stay at, etc etc. I really want to remember it. Of course, I'll have to be careful not to spend so much time travel journalling that I miss out on anything actually worth journalling. Same goes for filming, though mum seems to want me to film every minute of it.
Now, as any self respecting person will know (:P) the perfect journal needs the perfect pen. And glues. And pencils for sketches. And more pens in case the other pen runs out. And a perfect pencil case for all of the above. So for the next 6 months I will be on the hunt for my perfect travel journal and stationary. I can't wait :)

So that's my ideal Australia wish list, and at the moment it is very much a wish list; with me myself earning no money and anything my parents earn now basically going into the Oz trip, there are a hell of a lot of if's and but's. Firstly I'm going to try and get a job soon hopefully, if I can actually do it. If I cant yet, I suppose there's always my savings if I'm simply overcome with desire for some items, and I can pay myself back when I do get a job as it were. As I say; if's, but's and even a fair few maybe's in there too!
Plus, I've got plenty of shit I can sell.

So there you have it. One long, approximately £800 long list.

If anyone can help me out with any of the items in any way, do please let me know! :D

H.x

Frustratum.

Was originally going to blog about my visit to the zoo yesterday but I think that can wait a while. Because I'm annoyed and completely NOT in the mood.
While I was at the zoo however, I finally managed to get hold of my SOLO, who'd been trying to get hold of me and we kept missing each other. I've arranged for her to come round sometime after I come back from London next Sunday to help me come out to my parents. Agreeing to that felt very real. Decided, partly on the advice from many of you here and on twitter, that its probably the best way forwards to tell them with her present. It will probably be the biggest test of my courage, just even saying the words.
So I'm stressing about that. Just a little.
I'm going to try and relax and enjoy the time in London though. I decided to do it after we come back from London and not before as I wouldn't want any shadows hanging over what is essentially our holiday.
In other news I also finally got a date for the court visit. Basically this will just be a 'grand tour' of the court, so I can see the size, layout, where I'll be, where he'll be etc and get a feel of the place. It'll be then that I'll decide whether or not to keep the special measures in place, or whether I feel I can be strong enough to just stand up there. I'm not sure yet.
And now we have the pc man round trying to sort out our wireless network with mum and dads new pc's and my macbook. And the fucking macbook wont connect. Grrrr.
So that's stressing me out too.
In general yes, I'm more than a bit stressed. And I realise this is just ANOTHER post about me being stressed, but its a big part of my life right now is this bastard stress!
But I did have a very nice day at the zoo yesterday, which I will blog about sometime when I can get my photos sorted, as they're on the macbook.

Source of life.

This is dedication for you; despite needing to write approx. 2250 words in about 3 hours of an A grade quality to be handed in tomorrow, I am still blogging. Actually, this isn't so much dedication as me desperately trying to find something else to do other than what I should actually be doing. But lets not be picky here.

Rather aptly, today's photo is of my macbook; apt because I am constantly glued to it these days. As we speak I am trying to write those previously mentioned 2250 words, and once I've got those done I'll have to get started on another 1500, and after those anther 100, and then...well, you get the pattern of my life at the moment.

My macbook is probably my most beloved possession (rivalling only my cuddly toy monkey and my iPhone), and I use it everyday for everything. I am a self confessed internet addict - I literally go a little nutty if I can't get access for a few days - camping in low signal areas will just not do - so I have to check/modify/post to my emails/facebook/livejournal/blogger/twitter/hotmail/flickr/various other internet time-stealers every day. I also record music, edit photos, edit films and much more, so my macbook literally is my life force most of the time. I don't know how I managed without it (and of course my 320gb portable hard drive), and could not do so in the future.

Of course, my macbook is also my creative center in terms of writing; apart from the obvious access to lj and blogger, I have folders upon folders of half-written novels, abandoned plays, and to-be-re-worked poetry. If my macbook were to be stolen or broken, I would break every finger of the person responsible. Therein lies an important lesson with me; my macbook reigns supreme - watch your step. Or something like that anyway.

Now I have essays to write.

Windows.

Another day, another photo - or in my case, another day, another two photos. Admittedly and obviously this really is just the same photo, just edited in two different ways, so you could say I'm cheating.

Although this/these photo/s were taken (as you can see) at 01.14 on the 15th March, and Iam also writing and posting this entry on the 15th March, I am counting this as my photo/blog post for the 14th - a day filled with hangover TV and sleep, which did not leave much time or energy for taking photos. However, at 8pm I decided to go to the pub (as twitterers will know) and the alcohol clearly gave me a new lease of energy, naturally.
Thus upon my return I rather viciously seized my camera, opened the window and...took a photo. The first few snaps were blurry haphazard attempts, so I made myself calm down a little and play with focus. That was honestly the first time I have ever thought about depth of focus etc in a photograph. And so this image was born; I pointed the lens at the frame, held the button half way down, then centered the slip of outside and pushed down. It seemed to work. I shipped the image over to iPhoto and once more fiddled with exposure, highlights and contrast. And B&W. I liked what I saw - I hope you do too.

On a non-photographic note: All day today (14th March, remember) I had been meaning to sit and write a fairly lengthy entry about all sorts, but alas, my sleepy body and brain had other ideas. Therefore tomorrow (today, 15th March) I will endeavour even harder to do so, while of course aiming not to repeat the neglect of photo-taking on the correct day. Hoping I can stay awake and focused for enough of tomorrow to a) complete overdue work and b) honour the afore-promised promises.

Wastefulness.

Another day, another photo; but today I have 2 :) both edited a fair bit, played around with saturation and noise levels, and both up (in slightly better quality) on my Flickr.

Took these today over lunch, where my friends and I enjoyed a nice game of 'tear up as this lovely drugs advice leaflet into as many pieces as possible'. Don't worry, we put it all in the bin afterwards. Got a couple of strange looks when I started taking random snaps of our rubbish consisting of apple cores, half eaten chips and various food wrappers, but I had a promise to keep to my blog so I carried on :)

Something about all the different colours, textures and shapes compelled me to take these particular photos - the piece of paper that looks like giraffe skin is my favourite, although I honestly can't remember that being in the booklet - and then I had a little play with iPhoto to alter the colours even more.

Bottled it.

Yesterday I had the bright idea of saying I would try and take at least one photo per day, and make at least one blog entry each day; so here goes for today.

The story behind this photo is fairly simple; as with every day I got on my normal bus, although today it was a double decker which threw me a little bit as it offered me more choice of seats than I could cope with, so I dithered in the aisle for a millisecond whilst I tried to scan and pick without people noticing, and then I took my seat at the back on the left hand side. I have to sit on the left hand side of the bus - it doesn't matter where really, although the back is preferable. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I chose my seat at the back and put my feet up on the opposite chair (which is the one in the photo), pressed play on the iPhone's iPod, sat back and started rolling a cigarette to the sound of Fleet Foxes.

When I'd finished that little job, I brushed the little flakey bits of tobacco that had fallen into my lap onto the floor and sat up, feet on the floor, leaning forwards. It was as I did this, and looked out the window, that I saw this bottle wedged between the window and the chair opposite, and then noticed the pen next to it. Something, and don't ask me what, grabbed me about it, so I dived into my pocket, wrenched out the iPhone and took a photo.

Todays image has also been through a fair bit of image editing because the light levels made the original image look faded and over-saturated, but I still can't decide if I'm as happy with this picture as I am with the traffic lights. Something about that photo really grabs me, and its quite possibly one of, if not the, picture I am proudest of having taken.

Daily photo aside, today went well. Still slowly working up the courage to post some 'original writing', but that will come with time. I hope. I am still physically writing things, lots of things, but that's about as far as it gets at the moment. Just too scared of letting something go out there, of letting others see something so personal. In time. In terms of tweeting, today was a quieter day from me, didn't have as many conversations going or as much to tweet about. Tomorrow is Red Nose Day - that means costumes, friends, fun and music; and all for a brilliant cause - I can't wait. Having been to one of the poorest countries in Africa myself, I know how much good Comic Relief money does. Give generously, raise enthusiastically, have fun, and remember what you're doing it for.

Night all.

Snowy lights.

Now I'm not a photographic whizkid by any stretch of the imagination, but I took this photo during the recent snowfall and I liked it, but as it was taken with the less-than-brilliant iPhone camera, it lacks in quality. Therefore I popped it onto iPhoto and had a little play. Some of the edits I quite liked so I thought I'd whack my favourite one up here.

I played with contrast, saturation, sharpness, temperature and highlights :) whatever that means?

EDIT 11/03/09: I'm pretty sure this might be my favourite photo I've ever taken. No idea why; technically, it's rubbish, but there's something about it I love.

EDIT 16/03/09: I'm still bloody proud of this. I keep on scrolling down to it whenever I'm on my blog page. How bizarre.