Watercooler 0: Nothing Is A Problem For Me

I had a nice time in Bath over the weekend (the town in Avon; I did not spend a whole weekend in the bath, that would be silly). The Christmas Market was a bit rubbish (lots of stalls, but they were all much the same, and also the stuff was v over-priced), and everyone seemed very rude and bad tempered, with lots of elbowing and barging going on. It was just really nice to have a weekend away though :)

Excitement yesterday = taking the dog for a walk through nearby woods yesterday lunchtime, I found a SKELKLINGTON! It's the size of a very large dog - Great Dane sort of size - and it was in a curled up/sleeping position under a tree. My husband insisted on bringing the skull back home with us to look at more closely (because he was convinced it was that of a Big Cat). There have been several reported sightings of a panther across the moors where I live, and so he was all excited that we might have stumbled across something exciting.

I've checked loads of animal skull pictures on the web, and I'm fairly certain it's actually a very large dog - the skull is probably about 15" long, and the canine teeth are simply huge. Since the teeth are in almost perfect condition, I'm inclined to think that it's a domestic pet, and not an animal which has been living wild. Which is kind of sad, really - someone's Very Large Dog must have gone missing, and died alone in the woods (probably about a year ago, based on how clean the carcass is).

I've got that feeling too. Partly because I had a lovely weekend and now I'm back at work, and partly because my mother decided to start shredding her old credit card bills at 7am this morning. Having the house filled with a loud GRRAAARRRRRRR noise when I'm still only on my first cup of coffee is not going to set me up right for the day.

That's a sad thought, CJ.

I remember going something along the lines of "Argh fuck fuck fuck that really hurts"....

That's because you're doing it wrong ;-)

(candle-wax tips: drip it on from a height. If it hurts, drip it from a higher height!)

(Now at the other side of A Very Strong Coffee, so have perked up somewhat)

Oooh, FP, how was the photoshoot?

(if you think of them as "main subject with fashion accessories", like your usual fashion shoot, then I'm one of the accessories)

The woman who is the main subject has put some of them up elsewhere. I'm not posting links here, but if anyone *really* wants to see I will email a link.

It's interesting for *me* to see the pictures, because, due to the poses, most of the time I couldn't see a thing and had no idea what was going on in the rest of the shot, what pose the subject was doing, what her expression was and so on.

Three weeks until Christmas! Hurrah! I seem to have spent most of the weekend on a bus, going to and from London on Saturday/Sunday morning to see Johnny Boy at the Stay Beautiful Christmas party. Which was fun, although being by yourself at one of those things is a rather soul-crushing experience.

And now to Monday. Bah. I think I may have got up on the 'can't be bothered side of the bed' today...

I'll close early when the parcels have been collected most likely.

Have I mentioned this before? - here that kind of thing gets attributed to cosmic rays. They even mention it in the weather forecast!

Can I add to the chorus of "bah, humbug, morning" around here?

Actually, I'm in a pretty good mood, I'm just tired.

Had a great time last night, mulling and then barn dancing, but even though I left at a decent hour, the OMIGOD I'VE GOT TO HAVE CHIPS IN PITA NOW NOW NOW urge struck me as I was walking down the hill home so I didn't sleep very well.

I'm looking forward to seeing the skullington pictures, CJ! Poor dog. But the last time I found a skull in the woods, it was a deer skull and I had to fight my dog to get it off him!

Something else has just pissed me off today but I can't talk about that. Grrrrrrrr. :-(

But then I got a nice email from PBW, which kinda made up for it. Just when I decide I'm totally not bothered by him, he decides he wants to be friends. OK. Whatevs. ::shrugs::

Anyway, as I said last night, I am officially Over Boys. Square Dancing is the new sex. For the first time, ever I stripped the willow* without managing to take out an entire row of dancers.

*this is actually a folk dancing move, not something FP is into.

Folk dancing is also full of cute girls.

http://home.maine.rr.com/abajoran/img2/abrick8a.jpg

Which one is Yanqui? I can't tell GSYBE records apart, though I think my favourite is A#F#∞ but that could just be the name. (the one with that gruff voice talking about "the driver is dead at the wheel" or whatever he says. Cannot quite remember, will have to dig it out when I get home.)

I haven't been anywhere folky (for want of a better phrase) for a while, but there was no cuteness where I was. It might be different in the Big City, where folk dances are gonna be populated by horsey types (a good thing, btw).

JB, this folk dancing was in Bethnal Green so it was full of cute hipster girls and young nu folk types. I danced with a floppy-haired pointy-nosed friend of Ed's and he didn't even complain when I stepped on his toes!

(I am the world's worst dancer, but my god, I don't let that spoil my enjoyment of it.)

nah, it just reminds me that it's Monday morning ;)

problem w/ilm for me is that I've said it all by now, and anything I post is just re-re-re-re-repeating myself.

My brother just asked me what I want for Xmas. I feel like writing back and saying I don't do Winter Consumerfest. Or asking for something that will really wind him up, since he was so rude about my mum's Xmas present.

You danced with Henry is lovely, if bumbling, and has really hot sisters. I think Canadian lodge is becoming one of my favourite dances a proper mixup dance.

Damn my country pumpkin roots! Why can't I got to folk dances with cuteness, instead of folk dances with beardy old men covered in last year's cider and inbred country types that look like extras in an english remake of Oh Brother where art thou?

Xmas presents - Ug! I've never been good at presents. As a child we didn't really DO presents in our house, so I haven't got in ingrained that I have to buy people things (I'm the same at b'days). As such, the whole thing seems like such a chore - I'd rather just go round and see people that I want to see and bake them cakes.

Problem is, I never remember the *names* of the dances I like! That over-and-under one is great! Everyone gets tied in knots.

I think the other one I really like is called Riverside - is that the one where the top two couples run down the room yelling "Charge!" and you have to duck before they take your heads off?

Plus, it's got doe-si-doeing in it.

Riverside is the decapitation dance, I've done that one with 120 people in a field

Canadian Lodge is the go fast bum bumping dance

There were lots of men last night - just none of them would get on the dancefloor - they hung back behind us, looking at the girls.

x-post - Waves of Tory? Ah, so that's why they were talking about Ireland!

Is Canadian Lodge the one that goes round in a big circle? I've yet to dance that one, I always end up deciding to sit out a round before it comes up.

I can't imagine we'd have the energy to go dancing after a rolling London walk.