Trying to ascertain if the day has been successful...

Today has not been what I personally would describe as successful - I'm a tad irritated, truth be told!

So, I need some new jeans. No biggy. Except for the small fact that I can't get a pair of bootcut jeans in the colour I want - I don't want skinnies, I've already got a pair and I don't find skinnies very practical or comfy! Wouldn't be too much of an issue if it weren't for the fact that both my pairs of bootcuts now have holes in the inner thigh =/ Another annoyance - Its official that, despite it still being listed on the Garnier website, nowhere seems to sell Garnier 100% Colour anymore. This is a serious issue for me, since I've been using that brand for six years! Back when I was 14 and dyed my hair red, I used the "Intense Deep Red" shade, then I used the black shade that I can't remember the name of, and since I started dying the front of my hair red in the middle of last year aswell as using it since I dyed it all red again just before Christmas, I was happy as Larry. But noooooooo! I don't get it, its not like it wasn't selling well, whenever I got there I had to delve to the back to find any 9 times out of 10! So I'm in a bit of a bah humbug mood right now. On the plus side however, after some digging on the internet (I love you Google!) I found the blog of a girl that uses the Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL dye in "Hypnotic Red", and despite looking a little ginger on the box (which is why I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole before) it is actually a nice red! So after all the lack of Garnier trauma, it may not be so bad after all *Mops brow*

The up-side of today is that although I didn't manage to buy either of the things I went out for, I did manange to get some rather nice Lara Croft-esque shorts. When I lose some more weight before long I'll be donning a tight turquoise tank top (alliteration, go me), buying some pistols and going off on exciting adventures around the world =D

In other news, I'm thinking of some ways to scrape some cash in since I'm not working, maybe learning how to make some little gifty/crafty things to sell or charging a little to research some family history if people are interested. The latter is my real forte of course, I find it stupidly interesting and it'd give me something to get my teeth into. And I wouldn't just be nicking people's money for nothing, I'm a hard worker once I get damn persistent (as proven by my hours and hours of work trying to find the "Cowderoy" side of Ben's family and trying every wrong spelling under the sun, lol!)

Rayness out!

Applications, Valentine's Day and Graduation

I'm finally back from Ben's! I stayed an extra week after dislocating my bloody knee, which was nice but the knee was still painful.

So what's going on? Well, I've applied for just over twenty jobs in the last four days, twenty, just count them! All various admin, PA and secretarial jobs. It would be lovely to at least get an interview, but I'm not really holding out any hopes. I've applied for jobs in London, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, South Gloucestershire (where I live) Bristol, Somerset, Wiltshire... nobody can say I'm not trying and willing! I'm more than happy to travel, provided of course I'm not using my entire week's wages on travel expenses alone and subsequently earning less than the Job Centre would give me! Tch. How is it that some of the most miserable, unhelpful and usually inarticulate cows I have ever met get receptionist jobs and I don't even get an interview! How is this possible? I just don't understand!

Also, Valentine's Day! I can't stand single people that bitch about it - quit complainin'! It may be over commercialised, but its a nice excuse to have a day with your other half. Neither me or Ben have much money at the moment, so we went to the restaurant part of our favourite chippy for lunch (which Ben bought), then walked up Epsom highstreet, wandered around Maplin (where I was going crazy over the fact that they still sell tapes and video cassettes!), then went in the Co-op where Ben bought me some Dairy Milk Whole Nut =) So quit being bitter and let those of us that enjoy it have some fun! While I think of it too, Ben's official graduation photos came through, and I'm pleased to report that in the family one, I don't look like a complete moron! Everyone looks quite good, lol. And Ben's single one came out lovely =)
Here's one his mum took of the two of us before we left his house - this was at 8am, so I think I look pretty alive and spritely considering! And Ben with his fag behind his ear *Rolls eyes*



In other news, another random thought that's popped into my brain, I need to stop off in Basingstoke on the way to Epsom at some stage and perhaps pay a certain lovely someone a visit =P

I have a poetry assignment due in on the 23rd - joy. I'm struggling, poetry is not my strong point! I have some ideas but I just can't seem to get them together. Ah well, I can but try my best I suppose. Although you never know, I may come up with something so miraculously awesome that I decide to post it here!

Rayness out!

Dislocations and new toys

Well, this week has been eventful! I believe I left you on Sunday with Ben and Frank setting up Ben's new decks. Since then, the, ahem, rather large speakers Ben ordered arrived, Tuesday I think it was - Ben being Ben is, it would seem, not very good at gauging measurements. 22" x 19" it said (roughly) in the item description. "Oh that's fine!" thinks Ben. He didn't tell ME the measurements, otherwise I would have stopped him. His dad yells up the stairs "Ben, there's a small box for you in the hall!" The two boxes were stacked on top of eachother and here is the result:



As you can see, the boxes were rather large! And then there was the amp. Anyway, those were pretty simple to set up so there wasn't much stress there, and it was mostly Frank that helped him set everything else up, thankfully for me!

Meanwhile, this is what I was doing one night during one of Ben's mixing sessions:



Now, on to the injuries. We're not doing very well for dislocations in this house this week! Tuesday night, Ben and I were fast asleep, and the first thing I remember of this is hearing a loud clunk and feeling excruciating pain in my left knee. I realised pretty quickly that it had dislocated. Its dislocated about four times before, but always when I've been awake, standing up and have turned awkwardly or something. I have NO idea how this happened - I must be exeptionally talented! Anyway, I rolled staight onto my back and pushed it back into place, and yes I cried a little but Ben was right there and looked after me =)
But today, Ben managed to earn the muppet of the week award - we were off to see one of his friends in Byfleet and stopped to get petrol down the road. Have you ever been sitting at the pumps behind a car and the person driving it has been in the shop for about 5 minutes practically doing their weekly shop? Well today it was like that but SO much worse. Pretty much every car at the pump was sat there for about 15 minutes - that's how long we had to wait! Anyway, people started beeping their horns and Ben with the temper he has, joined in. His horn is to the side of the centre of the steering wheel rather than in the middle, so as he slammed his thumb down on the horn he managed to - clever boy that he is - pop it out of its socket! Luckily he's used to pain (he's had a bad knee since the age of ten and a bad back for nearly two and a half years) so he popped it back in but... idiot, lol! He's laughing about it though, you couldn't not from how he managed to do it. The funniest bit is that his best friend's just come back from a week in France snowboarding and is in one piece, but Ben tries to blare the car horn and fails epically!

We went to an event that one of Ben's mates was putting on in a little club in the centre of Epsom on Thursday, a hip hop night. I have to say, I don't like hip-hop especially (unless we're counting Eminem as hip hop?) so I didn't really want to go, but I went for Rosh. I have to say, despite the fact that I didn't like the second guy on stage at ALL, the first guy was really good!

Meanwhile, I've actually found some jobs to apply for today! One at Bugler Coaches in Bath, £8 an hour office assistant post, and one in Billinghurst (yup, Sussex when I live in North Bristol!) Applying for jobs kinda makes me happy but on the other hand it depresses me since I've only ever had one interview, and its frustrating because I know I'm more than capable of doing most of the jobs I apply for, despite not having the experience - argh! I need to knuckle down to some writing again too...

Rayness out for now!

Odds 'n' sods

04/02/2011
I write this particular bit as I'm travelling through the Wiltshire and Hampshire countryside, so I suppose this is going to be a slightly odd post! My train's pulling away from Warminster (at approximately 16.49) As you may have guessed I am, once again, on the way to Epsom; Bristol Temple Meads direct to London Waterloo and then from there down to Epsom. Its strange, this train passes through Farnborough Main station and then goes OVER the track I normally travel on between Reading and Dorking, hah! This weather's kinda depressing - oddly enough "Horse With No Name" has just come on on my iPod, not very apt for this weather! So, the stops left... I THINK, Salisbury, Andover, Basingstoke, Woking, Clapham Junction and Waterloo. I may have missed a stop though!

Soooo, what else? I need to book some more driving lessons. I've only had one, which was back in November. My instructor was very impressed with me =D Although I do have to drive a Fiat 500, which kinda sucks - and what's with the gearstick? I kept reaching for the handbrake to change gear! I really want an Evo VI - Its my goal to have one. After my white 5-door '99 reg. Focus (thank you Chris!) and Mitsubishi FTO. I like Jap cars =D Aye up, train's pulling into Salisbury - cue 15 minutes wait there! Bah humbug. I really wish I had some writing inspiration right now - I want to write but there's just nothing in my brain =/ I'll write some more to this in a bit when I can be bothered!

06/02/2011
Okay, so I never wrote any more to that last bit. I had a headache! Anywho, right now I'm watching Ben and Frank put together the bench for Ben's new decks - He's finally saved up and bought some. So, consequently this means that the poor super squishy sofabed (aka The Cotch) is being chucked out - Where the hell am I meant to sit to play on the Xbox?!! Nooooooo! Well, I'll have to coax him into getting a couple of cosy beanbags! =D These decks of his - we had to drive all the way back to Bristol for them! The idea was that I come down so we could go and get the ones in Suffolk, but then (Ben being Ben) changed his mind, so I came down, went back to Bristol for an hour or so, and then came back, so Ben could infact have picked me up en route! However, if I hadn't been with him he wouldn't have found his way around getting to the M4 from his, because some kind people closed off Staines highstreet - we took about a ten mile detour, no exaggeration there. We had to eyeball it the entire way because there were no "diverted traffic" signs. Impressed we were not.

Anyhow, enough o' my bitchin' - Rayness out!

The lost lighter and some fiction

Well, Ben's gone and lost his very expensive lighter; what a muppet! The Zippo case itself was solid silver, which he had engraved with "Lord B.M. Chamberlain" (he had his title changed to "Lord" by deedpoll for the sheer fun of it, so he is genuinely "Lord") and he had the four diamonds from his ex girlfriend's commitment ring set into it - lol! Well, she asked if he wanted back all the jewellery that he gave her after they broke up so his attitude was "Yeah, okay, if you're offering!" lol! I took great joy in comparing those diamonds to the ones that are on MY finger =)

However, after about a week, he's a lot less upset about it, and thinks he wants to get another one, this time maybe with an emerald, a diamond, an amethyst and maybe a sapphire or tanzanite. I'm buying the stones =) I wanted to buy the whole lot but he won't let me!

Anywho, what I'm about to post below is the piece I wrote for my first Creative Writing assignment, and I got 74% for it from my tutor, so I'm confident enough to put it up here. Nothing brilliant, just something based on a personal experience. The basic idea is the same, but the physical encounter, words, characters and setting are completely different. I didn’t want to write an autobiographical piece; I wanted to focus more on character thoughts and feelings, specifically of the guy, which I wouldn’t be able to do with a piece of autobiography. I also felt that in reality me and the guy in question were too calm to make an interesting piece from it! There isn’t much character development – since it’s only a short piece and I wanted to make the most of it – but it does hint that the male character may still have feelings for the ex-girlfriend. In my first draft in my notebook, the characters were still a couple, but I thought it could be more interesting if they were ex-partners, since that's also what we were. I didn’t wanna write more on the events before or after 'cause I would have had to cram it all in, so I left it comfortably under the word limit. The rail influence came from my train journeys to Ben's and I took loose inspiration for the guy from something I jotted in my notebook. I was on the train to Ben's and as it pulled in to Guildford I saw a young bloke, only about a year or two older than me I reckon, sat on a bench looking pretty worried/nervous with his head in his hands and I wondered what was on his mind. I love people watching on the train! Nearly always sitting in my little corner at the back on the right XD
Anyway, I think it turned out pretty well, but its far from perfect! (Try to) Enjoy...



He stared out of the window, looking out across the Berkshire countryside as raindrops lashed towards him, thudding against the pane and streaming down it. He ran a hand through his abundance of thick, dark hair, his body swaying slightly with the gentle rocking of the carriage.

Please don’t let her be, he thought to himself, grimly. His ex girlfriend had sent him a text the day previously, simply saying, “I’m late… I’m sorry.” He sighed. He was twenty-two. Too young to be a dad! He thought to himself. But suddenly, thoughts of him were interrupted; what about her? All this time he had only been thinking of his own skin, but how was she was coping? His stomach lurched as an enormous pang of guilt swept through him. God only knows how she must be feeling, he thought. Although they had only been together for a couple of months, they had been friends before that and he still held great affection for her; he still cared for her.

It was approaching her twenty-first birthday, but all his thoughts of what he might buy her had been put swiftly on the back burner for now. He was grateful at least that she worked in the ticket office at London Paddington. The fact that he had to pay a little more for a train ticket than to tank up his car was a minor detail. It would save him a lot of trouble. He shivered. It was oddly cold for September. Surely it couldn’t be much further? ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be arriving at Reading, Reading our next station stop in a few moments’ time.

'Ugh!’ This was uttered somewhat louder than he had intended, earning him a rather stern glance from an oriental-looking couple across the aisle. Another half hour? ‘Pfft,’ he breathed, far quieter than his previous expression of annoyance. He turned to continue looking out of the window, glaring at the fog and clouds for depressing him further, as the rain continued its relentless attack on the countryside.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be arriving at London Paddington, London Paddington our final stop where this service will terminate.’
He woke with a start to the voice over the tannoy. The last time he blinked he was pulling into Reading station, now he was in the centre of London! He yawned, stretching out his six-foot frame. That felt lovely. Then he remembered why he was there, and the feeling of bliss was quickly erased. As the train pulled up, he could see her waiting anxiously out on the platform, still in her work uniform, her mahogany hair tied back and clipped up. Despite this he was happy to see that she didn’t look in any way restricted as her long fringe fell out of position and hung about her beautifully pale face. His chest and shoulders heaved and he let out a deep sigh as he made his way to the door. Although he wasn’t looking forward to the potential stress of the next couple of days, he still felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her. He wasn’t sure why… but it would be good to see her again. He smiled slightly as he pulled on his hoodie and waited for the doors to unlock.

She spotted him as he stepped off the train, and ran along the platform towards him, throwing herself into his arms. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed into his shoulder.
He blinked blankly, looking down at her, still a little taken aback at her unusually high expressions of emotion. ‘Hey,’ he said, as softly as he could over the noise of bustling crowds and announcements, ‘it’s not your fault, is it? And anyway, it takes two…’ he trailed off, feeling terrible about the position he had potentially put her in and hanging his head a little in shame. He wiped away the tears which had rolled down from her warm, deep brown eyes and hugged her tightly. The smell of her hair was a combination of diesel engines and food stands. He kissed the top of her head, desperate to comfort her. ‘Come on you,’ he said, ‘home.’



Rayness out!

Pizza Hut, boring trip and family history!

The Pizza Hut coupon spree was a baaaaaad idea... we over-ate so badly you cannot even begin to comprehend! Our feast consisted of:

3 boxes of cheesey garlic bread
1 box of spicy chicken pieces
1 box of breaded chicken... stuff
1 box of potato wedges
1 box of potato skins with cheese and bacon
A chocolate brownie cake thing
1 tub of Chocco Rocco ice-cream
1 maHOOsive pizza

It doesn't look like much on paper but I can assure you, it really was. I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with the ice-cream, which saddened me - I actually fed the last of it to Ben =( On the plus side though, on Monday (my last night down) we had Dominos, so I got my chicken strippers and Haagen Dazs choc choc chip; heaven! =D

The trip home yesterday was uneventful, no delays or notable goings on. Other than the fact that my seat between Reading and Bristol was the creakiest seat in the history of seats! Even if I just shifted a little it was stupidly loud, it was really really annoying.

In other news, I am a HUGE family history nut - I'm seriously considering genealogy as a career option - and since we've come to a little bit of a stutter with my family history, I've decided to delve into Ben's. After gathering some info from his mum, I've managed to go directly back to 1841 without too much trouble, and some interesting things are being unearthed! Even though I already knew that they were quite well off on his mum's mum's side until the early 1900s, it was interesting to actually see the transcripts and all the children, jobs, servants, etc. I branched off and did uncles and such too and it turns out that Ben's... great x4 (I think) uncle was a Chelsea Pensioner and was living in Bristol in 1891! And one side of his family were from Gloucestershire which is all kinda creepy, especially since branches of my family seem to be moving closer and closer to Surrey with each bit of research; I occasionally get worried that we might be distantly related!

Well, that was an essay!
Rayness out.

Down in Epsom!

So, I'm writing this as I sit on my boyfriend's bed - he's fetching a beer and chatting to his dad. His mate's quickly run back to his house to grab his debit card so that we can take advantage of a ridiculous Pizza Hut coupon; we shall have a feast!
I came down yesterday evening, and was running late when I left the house, so I was more than a little annoyed when I remembered not far down the road that I'd left my memory stick in my room - I'd put my Creative Writing pieces on there and some music for while I was here. By the time I realised, there wasn't any time to go back. I don't even have my notebook! More annoyingly, when we got to the station it transpired that my train was running 7 minutes late, so we could infact have gone back! So then I missed the earlier connection at Reading which then meant I had to stand out in the cold there for another 20 minutes and ugh!

It was Ben's (my boyfriend) graduation ceremony this morning. I didn't take kindly to having to get up at 7am! It was supposed to be one evening before Christmas but because of the snow it got postponed and some clever person thought it'd be a great idea to have the students there by 9.30am! It went well though, even though I did mock him for a good while about his "dress" and mortarboard, hah!

Anyhow, they've both come back and crashed my fun so I'm signin' off; Rayness out!