Where did you get that from? The Other Place?

I’m up for fun and FAPPING right through.

no it wasn’t from Cambridge. It was from here.

Kate, midway between Xmas and New Year I will probably be so fed up with the parents that I probably *would* be up for driving down to London to FAP if I could find somewhere to crash.

A sofa, I mean, not whilst driving.

JB, that is a great poem! I’ve never read any Pope but I have this impression that he has a bit of a boring reputation.

Ah!

Ed, my mum would like sausages and bacon. Can you oblige her, maybe Wednesday or Thursday this week?

I don’t think he’s ever boring, I think that the problem with Pope is that he is very much *of his time* in most of his works. That poem has a timeless quality, but when you consider that a very famous Pope quote “A little learning is a dangerous thing” is followed by the line “Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring” you can see what I mean. WTF is a Pierian spring??? One hopes his C18th audience knew.

The only Pope I’ve ever read is The Rape of the Lock, but I remember being more interested in the Aubrey Beardsly illustrations than the poetry.

18th Century educated persons had access to/knowledge of a heck of a lot more obscure, often mythological, symbolism than we did. Sometimes I think we are missing out, not having that knowledge. But then I think of all the things that we have to remember these days that 18th Century poets didn’t have to have any knowledge of.

Possibly thursday.

That would be good. She is running off with my godmum tomorrow. Lord knows what the two of them will get up to!

I love reading old poetry in one tab with wiki in the other tab so I can cross-reference archaic words and references. It reminds me of when I was little with my cheap encyclopedia and Dylan albums.

Let’s not talk about Dylan albums, it will only make me sad. :-(

What I really hate is when you are reading an archaic book and all the footnotes are in the back, so you have to keep flipping back and forth, maybe even keep two bookmarks. I far prefer when they’re at the bottom of the page, as footnotes should be, so they do not disrupt the flow of reading.

So what is a Pieran spring?

A pedant writes: if they’re at the back they’re not footnotes, they’re endnotes.

That’s not pedantry, that’s wanting a job in publishing!

whenever I hear anyone mention footnotes I always think back to the style guide from when I was writing my dissertation at uni. There was a supserscript 1 in the midst of the text and at the foot of the page the footnote read “1Don’t use footnotes.”

I have read books in my time when the footnote is longer than the text above the horizontal rule, which is just silly.

so superscript tags don’t work here. I see.

A spring in Ancient Greece that was sacred to the Muses and inspired poets and the like if you drank it.

I’ve read books where the footnote takes up a page and a half! Just make it another section, fool!

of course such horrors would never be allowed in one of our publications.

It’s usually science books that have the mega-long footnotes that go on for pages. Those can go in the back of the book. But it’s like those one-liners that define archaic words or explain current events that are being referenced which really should just go at the bottom of the page.

do you prefer the Vancouver or Harvard referencing style, Kate?

I don’t even know what that means.

Vancouver—references are numbered throughout the text in sequence and then are listed numerically in the bibliography

Harvard—the name of the author (or authors, though et al is more common for more than two) and date are given throughout the text and the bibliography is listed alphabetically by authors’ surnames.

Ann Coulter is very good with endnotes

I dont’ give a shit about bibliographical footnotes! (Though I always used the Vancouver method when I still bothered writing papers.) I just care about the ones that explain what archaic 18th Century words mean!

Vancouver does rule. Harvard, although the older and preferred system, suffers from the disadvantage that if Smith & Jones wrote a huge corpus of work during 2005 and the author of the paper or book wants to cite several of these works, then you then have to employ (Smith & Jones, 2005a), (Smith & Jones, 2005b), ect ect. And what if there are two A. Smiths and you want to quote both of them???

We had to use the Harvard style at university, and no footnotes at all. If you studied history, though, you had to put your references in footnotes.

the one thing that you can guarantee is that authors will totally ignore the link on yr website that says INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS. Still, if they didn’t then the people who write text manipulation software for automatically converting Harvard to Vancouver or vice versa would be out of a job.

Ha ha ha!

Every year at work the company buys loads of white stressballs and we have a “snowball fight” in the office. It’s organised fun of the worse kind, but still. The safety email that’s just been sent out liberally made use of the phrase “snowballing”, which I remember from Clerks. It casts the whole safety notice into a new light . . .

Safety points to note:

Snowballing is a voluntary exercise, so join in at your own risk.

Have a quick warm up before going from a period of sedentary work to sudden activity. We don’t want anyone to hurt their shoulders and retaliation won’t be possible if you are out of the game!

Please be careful snowballing around people who are wearing glasses.

Have respect for those who don’t wish to participate.

Water and electricity don’t mix so remove drinks, etc from the desk before the games begin.

I have no idea what the Clerks definition of “snowballing” is. Sigh.

Why am I feeling so rub today? I just feel more and more down as the day goes on. It’s not normal Monday blues.

Here is the link, SFW if you don’t have a computer checking naughty words: http://www.answers.com/topic/snowballing

I feel terrible today. The weather’s not helping either, cold and wet and grey.

don’t worry Johnney, pub soon!

Lack of crush is definitely up there. The bad, negative side of the happy upswing of crushing. When it wears off, and the world seems like a cold, grey place again.

And the reality of no more band sinking in. It’s hard to get my head around. The amount of email that used to go back and forth every day, OK, it was a big hard to handle at times, but at least it made me feel 1) like I was important and 2) like I actually had friends. Now no one writes me at all any more. And it just reinforces that feeling of “Oh, we weren’t actually friends. You just hung around me because of what I could *do* for you. And now I’m not *doing* anything for you any more, you have no reason to talk to me.”

Which is a horrible feeling.

I’ve been feeling awful sleepy the past few days—was in bed to sleep at half-eight on Saturday night, and half-nine Sunday.

I bet FP knows.

damn x-posts

And I used tofu instead of paneer in my curry this week because my mum cannot eat cheese and it is rubbish—the tofu has not held together and has crumbled. It wasn’t very nice tofu to start with. English tofu SUCKS.

Kate, say hi to your mom for me!

Will do.

And now for a photo that totally makes you want to kill yourself.

Just.

Fucking.

Great.

All you former friends. Love each other. Hate you.

I’ve just realised that barely a single person has come down to my office today. I’ve hardly even spoken to The Goth.

xpost

no photo, Kate. anyway, if that’s the case, then they never were your friends, so you should glad to be rid of them. (And the farther you get from Bumlove, the better, no?)

So I just (finally) signed a lease on a new apartment. Of course, it’s so expensive that it means my “plans” of buying next year have gotten noticeably less realistic, but the view! The View!

I didn’t post the photo, and it was deleted from the account anyway.

I still feel like I’ve been slapped in the face. You. Are. Not. Part. Of. Us. Look at how happy we are without you.

I don’t care if I’m reading too much into one photo, but it’s not just one photo, is it?

I don’t know understand how to “have friends”. I don’t understand how to keep friends. I don’t understand any of this. It makes me want to become a recluse and never talk to anyone again, never try to do anything again. If my mum weren’t here, I’d probably be contemplating suicide again, as a defiant final FUCK YOU to the world.

I wish I knew how to just give up.

Well, at least I don’t have to worry about “not talking about it” for fear of offending my “friends” if I don’t have any, any more.

No matter how much I hate anyone else, I hate myself most of all. So how can I blame anyone else for hating me?

My mom is on about all ‘liberals’ are stupid, because they’re liberals. I asked her to define liberal—did she mean X or Y—but she yelled. Which avoids an answer, but there you go. Oh, and Mexicans are ruining the country. I am so tempted to ask her if she’s been eating Bill O’Reilly’s knob cheese off Ritz crackers. If you hear screaming from MN in the next day or so, you know why.

Kate, remember, it’s always going to be rough when people you know get together and don’t include you or seem to have forgotten that you exist when planning socially. Especially when there are certain past friendship or relationship issues involved that they appear to be oblivious to, or just way too egocentric about (in your opinion) because they are committing the grave sin of disrespect or omission. It is easier said than done to ignore.

Suzy, you are projecting your situation onto mine, and they are not the same, thank you.

The answer is... just let go.

Let them go.

You cannot force these things. You cannot force people to remain friends with you.

(It just feeds the fear that actually, yeah, I am fundamentally just an asshole. And I am, fundamentally, just unable to carry on normal human relationships. I have been going through the motions for a long time, doing the things that I think are “normal” for friendships, but they just aren’t working, and other people can tell.)

I feel so stupid.

:-(

Kate, your projection comments are inappropriate under the circumstances.

Otherwise please please please be kinder to yourself. You are not an asshole, whatever you think.

I don’t know why I’m reacting to this *so* badly. I guess I’m not as “over” this breakup as I thought I was.

Band breakups are a lot like romantic breakups—sometimes even harder for me, I guess, because it involves work as well as emotions.

I thought I was walking away just “Phew! Everything’s OK now!” when obviously I’ve still not dealt with the issues which broke up the band in the first place.

I am being an asshole at the moment. I’m being a totally self indulgent, selfish, not giving a shit about anyone else asshole. That’s how people who are in pain behave. The pain will go. It’s just unrealistic to expect it to go so soon.

Good analogy!

I’ve got another friend in pain due to a deep personal loss and it’s never been so hard to be her friend as it is right now. I am optinistic that things will get better. In both cases you have lives filled with structure and work and friends beyond the relationship/tight circle you’ve left, so hang onto that.

Tuesday, December 19. The drama continues here on the Watercooler...

Morning all.

Interior shots sometime next week, Ed, I move in on Saturday—there will be some definite Ikea elements but otherwise it’s more like standard iffy-Euro-renovation.

Although I’ve been meaning to post some of the last two places I’ve stayed, both of which are quite... “instructive,” I think. People ask often. I’ll try to get around to it before Xmas.

Standard Moscow Gangster proof door etc.?

Like the three sister, i want to go to Moscow. (Again)

Morning, you lot. It’s our department Christmas lunch today—hopefully, because last year’s ended up being a bit of a damp squib.

Hi all. You going anywhere nice for your xmas lunch? We’re off to the Kite Inn tomorrow lunchtime for beer and pie!

I was up doing favours all last night (not half as much fun as it sounds) and am the world’s sleepiest man. I think I’m gonna have a Tomcatnap at lunch, assuming I last that long.

The local chinese buffet, I think.

the Kite on Mill Street Johnney? Near the station? Or is there another one?

I didn’t realise there were different CATegories of catnap!

because last year’s ended up being a bit of a damp squib.

I was reading somewhere how somebody described something as being “a damp squid”. Surely for a squid being damp is a very good thing!

Unless it is a SPACE SQUID, of course.

The mild green hairy lipped squid.

I’m not sure Mark, I think it’s down the botley road somewhere? I guess that would be near the station. noen of us have been there before, is it nice?

I’m having a TomCatnap in honour of the dead cartoonist.

(CJ, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry)

surely that would be a Top Cat Nap???

yes, down the Botley Road. Very close to the Westgate Hotel. Standard Greene King fare pubwise, although I’ve never eaten there. Interesting choice.

Tonight! It is “some greek place that Chris Tarrant goes to”

News tomorrow.

What’s That?

“A stamp Quid”

Has the Wetgate Hotel lost any more letters since last I looked?

I smoked my second cigarette. Last night, after a bit of a fight, I had one and it tasted FANTASTIC. Today less so, thankfully, due to another headache. So I guess I’ll remain a non-smoker. Or a VERY casual smoker.

they’ve found replacements, Marcello.

and I no don’t mean

Now there’s sleeping on a railway line, which got that bloke 6 months...

and there’s moving a sofabed on!

Get off my thread, Marcello. I’m serious. You are not welcome here, and you know it. Any further posting will be considered an act of aggression.

Freaking HR department. I’ve said already I am not signing any contract that does not have my flexitime written into it. Got the contract this morning. No flexitime. I’m considering going on strike until I get a proper contract.

And my mum has given herself food poisoning. Eating dodgy sausages at dodgy takeaways that I told her not to go to. Sigh.

Give the guy a chance, he hasn’t said anything remotely offensive.

Never thought that yr mother would go to dodgy takeaways. Still, hope she gets over it soon.

No, I’m sorry, given the history between us, he’s not getting any more chances from me.

I’m in a fucking fowl mood now. Been teetering on the edge of it, but headache, sinus congestion, hacking cough and the cold I had last week has just decided to settle and make my life a misery. :-(

Yeah, I’m here like a little shower of shit to darken all your days.

In the interests of balance:

I have been signed off work for a week with a viral infection. Boo. (not that I want to go into work, but I would kind of like to be paid since I am temping, the office is shut for two weeks, then I’m only back three days before I go on holiday. This pretty much equates to three days pay to last me a month. Just as well I haven’t wasted lots of money on Christmas presents, eh?

)

Argh, that’s awful, Ailsa. Viral infections are teh suck. Do you have no holiday time acrued? I remember I built up some, even when I was a temp. At least you can stay home in bed and get some rest and maybe get well.

I feel like I have to just keep going until I collapse. :-(

Quick! Cheer Kaet up!

*gis for pointy noses*

tada!

warning: GROSS

OK, that makes me feel kinda ill.

yes

the

quicker

that

drops

off

the

top

,

the

better

,

says

I

.

Well done!

Better?

That is definitely not as bad, yes.

Could someone please remove that image? Mods?

My TWO (count ’em!) accrued holiday days went on ATP, which probably kick-started my body’s collapse.

I am investigating the possibility of claiming incapacity benefit for a week right now but the forms are hella long for the sake of £60.

I’d fill out long forms for £60.

First result on a GIS for pointy nose

that looks like a round of catchphrase.

It does, doesn’t it? “Is it pointy nose, Roy?” “ah, it’s good, but it’s not right”

Oh, I can’t even be bothered to google for pointy noses. I looked at some Dylan Morans and some Jared Harrisses and just couldn’t get a care on. Even the Pointiest Boy in the World doesn’t really seem to do it for me right now. :-(

Though that could be because at the moment, he’s just another person who doesn’t return my email. :-(