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February, 2007

  1. Sunday Roast: by “Hot Lesbian Sex”, we mean tea. But it’s still hot!

    February 25, 2007 by Cas

    What to roast, what to roast… That’s something that goes not only through my mind throughout the week, but through the minds of my minions spread around the globe. Boy do they do sterling work! As they are already have my eternal love and devotion, all I can do is give them a shout-out at the head of the Roast – thank you this week in particular to Moose, Divine M, Neko, Surly and illyna (and she’s the one responsible for the title as well).

    ProBlogger (who I haven’t linked to in a while. I feel bad) has an article on the 10 mistakes that will kill a blog. Whilst I know I’ve been suffering from 6 (slow blog) lately and trust me, it’s annoyed me far more than it’s annoyed you! And I try not to let 2 (cliques) form, I like to think that I’m not doing to badly against that list. Um… You will let me know if I’m starting to go to the dark side, won’t you?

    Blurbs in the publishing world are much maligned, yet they do a vital job – getting you to read the book in the first place. As a dedicated library-surfer, I’m always on the lookout for new books, but if that blurb doesn’t catch me then the book stands no chance. Conversely, I’ve also fallen foul of brilliant blurb only to get three pages into the book and go WFT?! and put it down in disgust. Blurbs however are not only needed in the literary world – I’m struggling to write leaflet blurb/bumf for one of the projects at work at the moment and Damn, but it’s hard! So I could do with all the help I can get.

    Kristin, one of my long-time blog-crushes has a stellar how-to on making fancy-pants WordPress sidebars. Even if you’re using a theme/mod you didn’t design yourself, it’s always good to understand what the code actually does so you can play and not break things.

    danah’s thoughts on how musing online can make things ‘real’ came at around the same time I (once more) accidentally-on-purpose gave the URL of Bright Meadow to the RLO at work and at the time I was having a mental hissy fit over the Cute Canadian. Timing. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who does this kind of thing.

    I know when I really want to Roast something when I go digging through archives to find a post again after my bookmark got broken due to permalink re-structuring (grrr, btw). Turns out, Josh has a bit of an icon obsession going on. My own obsession with icons is slowly growing. I’ve not got to the point where I’m rethemeing my entire desktop, but there’s a fair smattering on non-standard graphics in use now. It just makes the whole computing experience more personal.

    The things people do for charity. I wouldn’t go quite that far, though work are trying to get me to have a sponsored tattoo for Red Nose day (no), but I am doing this.

    Want your shiny gadget laser-etched? Go to adafruit.

    I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to stumble across this blog! Penguin Geek. It’s all in the name.

    It’s long, but the ending makes it ALL worthwhile. What do you get when you mix two Top Gear presenters, a Reliant Robin, and eight and a half tonnes of rocket fuel? Watch and find out.

    I thought I was bad enough with my pens, but Gnorb takes it one step further into a pencil obsession.

    And lastly four film trailers that have caught my eye for various reasons. Not saying I want to watch all of them at the cinema, but if I saw the dvd I’d most likely rent it.
    Fracture – Anthony Hopkins really has cornered the market in crazed psychopaths, hasn’t he? (And yes I know that ‘crazed psychopaths’ is a tautology).
    Wild Tigers I Have Known – I want to watch this if only to work out what the f*** the film is about!
    In the Land of Women – we all know I’m a sucker for a happy/fluffy.
    The Condemned – this I really don’t want to see, but the soundtrack for the trail is just perfect.

    Category Sunday Roast | Tags: | 23 Comments

  2. Pancakes

    February 20, 2007 by Cas

    It’s official. I don’t like lemon on my pancakes. Each year I go to myself “do I like lemon on pancakes?” So I try some lemon on a pancake and invariably ruin a pancake because it turns out I DON’T like lemon on pancakes.

    So I thought I would blog about it so next year, I don’t forget.

    Category Daily Waffle, Mini Meadow | Tags: | 17 Comments

  3. The trouble with RLOs

    February 20, 2007 by Cas

    I really need to stop giving out the URL of Bright Meadow to people I know in real life. More importantly, I really need to stop giving out the URL of Bright Meadow to RLOs (that’s random lust objects to those who are new).

    So what did I do today?
    Yup. You’ve guessed it.
    Firmly put my size sixes in my cute little mouth and gave the work RLO the URL of Bright Meadow…

    We were having what started as this innocent conversation about work and the future of the team and the next thing I know I’m explaining how writing is my thing, and that I have this website, and – well, it was give him a moo card with the URL, or let him think I have a MySpace. What else could any self respecting 9ruler do?

    I think I might have said this before, but this whole blogging my life deal does make it hard when objects of my desire are suddenly equipped with a window into my neurotic thought processes. I mean, I have taste in my lust-objects, so they invariably have brains, and are MORE than capable of penetrating the cunning code I use to disguise identities. That’s the other problem with my life: when there’s *counts in head* ONE guy in your team who was born in the same decade, it kind of restricts the potential candidates for RLO status even more.

    Sigh.
    I have no other way to end this post really. I’m just going to have to drunkenly dance around my room a bit more to a bizarre playlist comprising Enrique, Eve 6, The Ataris, NFG, Foo Fighters, Mika, Greenday, and Fools Garden (bless autofill) and then go get some sleep. I mean, the RLO could be in the office again tomorrow and I’ve got to be looking my best ;)

    Category Daily Waffle | Tags: | 7 Comments

  4. Time to move on please

    February 19, 2007 by Cas

    So I’ve got one ex definitely out of my brain – woot. It’s about as confirmed as it can be: Mr T no longer floats my boat in that way. As I said, woot. Now if only that meant I’d also worked the other “tall, ginger(ish), good collar bones, climber” out of my system…

    Hand on my heart, if the CC asked me back today I would say ‘No’. Not that he’s going to ask me back, but you get where I’m going here. I’m logically over him and probably about 85% emotionally over him as well. But that leaves a treacherous 15% of gooey, icky, soppy heart that’s whimpering in the corner, remembering the good times. Damn it. I blame Valentine’s Day.

    It used to be I didn’t get many daily reminders. There’s something to be said for your ex winding up on another continent as you can be pretty certain you’re not going to run into them down the supermarket whilst you’re looking particularly fetching in your tracksuit. I finally got rid of the football he’d left kicking round the flat at Christmas (figured Moose’s nephews might get more use out of it than me). Somehow his favourite glass has managed to survive fifteen months in the Meadow Towers kitchen which is a miracle considering my clutzy nature, but when (note the when, not the if) it does break I won’t be devastated. I can even wear the earrings now without immediately feeling conscious they were a gift.

    But… I’m not as there as I figured I was. I was trawling through my hard drive looking for a particular picture last night and I stumbled across a batch of photos I’d forgotten about. The little lurch in the pit of stomach was a good indicator all was not hunky-dory in Cas’ head.

    Why, when I’d convinced everyone including myself that I was like, so TOTALLY over him, do I now realise I was perhaps protesting a bit too much?

    Because Facebook friends collided, as they are wont to do, and suddenly there’s the CC’s profile, in all it’s cute, Canadian glory, connected to my profile. I deleted his blog from my rss reader a while back because I’m really not up for that whole masochistic “does he still think of me, will he write about me, I hope his life is miserable” gig. I didn’t delete it straight away because I didn’t want to seem petty but then one particular post got written and I decided I wasn’t over him enough to want to read about his new partner. There are more enjoyable ways I want to spend my free time – college work, cleaning the bathroom, having my left leg amputated. And I never signed into IM programs so I never saw him online either.

    Of course, I’m now signing into IM programs a lot more so, not only is he there in my Facebook list, he’s also there on my buddy list. Silent. Not plinking me. Why?! Yes, I’m not plinking him either, but… He ended it with me. Does online etiquette mean he has to plink me first, or I have to plink him, or is the accepted thing for both of us to sit there on our respective sides of the Atlantic, studiously ignoring each other?

    Why should I care? Why do I feel it’s like the elephant in the room when I talk to mutual friends now? Why, when I am actually at a point where I am moving on, does my heart just want to look back?

    And more importantly, what can I do about it? They say time heals all wounds and recent experience running into Mr T. has proven this to be true, but I’m not sure I want to wait three years! Plus, if time to get over is related to seriousness of the given relationship, then I’m doomed to be single and hung-up till *does some rapid calculations on the handy Dashboard calculator widget* 2010 at least. Let’s say 2015 to be on the safe side.

    That’s really not a viable solution. I should just bite the bullet and plink him, right? Be all cool, calm and confident? Oh, that won’t work, because the blithe confidence thing was part of what attracted him in the first place. I guess I could just hope he still reads Bright Meadow and realises that, appearances to the contrary I’m really still a ditzy bundle of neurotic insecurities. But then, that was partly what kept him hanging round so long…

    I’m doomed. I wish I wasn’t, but I am. And you’d hope I’d learnt my lesson, but I really haven’t. What *is* it that I find so bloody fascinating about rangy ginger guys? Seriously, it’s like a disease or something :?

    Category Daily Waffle | Tags: | 11 Comments

  5. Sunday Roast: stand still long enough and the dragon will find you

    February 18, 2007 by Cas

    Happy Chinese New Year everybody!

    I am sorry that the Roast is on the later side of the afternoon today, but as I had a near escape from being eaten by a Chinese dragon in the city centre, feel fortunate you’ve got one at all! And then we went to go and see Hot Fuzz and now I am horrendously homesick. The movie was very funny though :)

    Continuing the ‘Chinese’ theme, I (OK, the BBC) bring you these sickeningly cute picture of a Panda cub playground. I challenge you NOT to go “awwwwwwww…” at some of these, especially pictures three and nine.

    World of Warcraft can teach us valuable life lessons. No, really – see, respectable people say so.

    Pictures of the Hot Fuzz premiere – as I already said at the top of the post, Hot Fuzz is a very funny film, go see it – . I just love that they not only filmed in Wells, but they held the premiere there! In the local cinema that was once a Scout Hut! And god-damnit, I’m still feeling bloody homesick.

    Feeling inspired? Fancy writing a chapter of a story? Now you can. But it had better be good, because you will be up against me, mwhahaahhaaa!

    And lastly (eek, this is a short Roast!), it’s getting to that time of year again when I ask you all for money – once again, I’m doing the Race for Life for Cancer Research UK. I’ll be talking about it more in the lead up to the race in July, but I just thought I would give you some warning.

    And, yep, that’s it for this week. I’ve clearly been spending far too much time over at 9rules notes and not enough time finding things to Roast. I’ll try to do better for next week, promise.

    Category Sunday Roast | Tags: | 2 Comments

  6. Wow! (A call to delurk)

    February 17, 2007 by Cas

    101 subscribers?!

    One hundred and one subscribers to my RSS feed? Wow, where did y’all come from? Not that I want you to go away again, just… Man, it’s good to see you.

    If anyone fancies delurking and introducing themselves, please do. Everyone’s lovely and friendly here :)

    Category Housekeeping, Mini Meadow | Tags: | 17 Comments

  7. Dreamers

    February 17, 2007 by Cas

    He looked across at the figure at the other end of the bar, his eyes drawn in fascination by the sharp planes of her wrist bones, the casual grace of the limb. It wasn’t something he would normally remark upon. The hand wasn’t the usual appendage noted about the female form, at least not first, but on her, the wrist was all he could clearly see. Resting along the battered counter top, motionless, as if it were divorced from the rest of the world. A sculpture. At that moment he would swear on any scripture you cared to name that, if he could touch it, that arm would be as smooth and cold as the marble it was carven from.

    The middle finger, centre of the bridge her hand made, arced up ever so slightly, bearing a wide sliver band. From here he couldn’t see, till she raised her hand to lift the tumbler to her lips, the rectangular amber stone recessed flatly into the metal, the colour of the whisky in his own glass. All he could see in the downward shaded pool of light was the silent flight of her arm: the fingers birds, stilled momentarily in migration from the shadows cast around. A moment of silence in which he felt the woman had come closer to him than a lover. He knew her deeply, and was moved in turn by the honour she had bestowed upon him by permitting this glimpse of quiet strength. She might laugh at her companion’s joke, but it was he who was privy to her lyric calm.

    Oh yes, he would later tell his children, it is possible to love someone you have only just seen. To commit so deeply to one person, for the chance that you might one day be permitted to see once more the silent grace, and rest at last in its calm.

    Category Writing | Tags: , | 4 Comments

  8. 240 songs, my cute little be-hind

    February 15, 2007 by Cas

    So the new iPod shuffle is meant to hold 240 songs. Not bad going – definitely more than enough music for a trip to the gym or the daily commute.

    I just hit ‘autofill’ for the first time out of curiosity to see what I’ve got in my collection as I know I am guilty of just listening to the same five bands over and over. iTunes has decided that my shuffle can actually hold 463 songs. It’s busy copying them across as I type. (Sidenote – dear lord it’s taking a long time! The old iPod could have copied my entire collection of 4000+ songs over the firewire connection in the time it’s taking to update 400+ songs via USB2)

    This discrepancy confused me somewhat till I had a look at what quality I’ve been importing my songs in on: turns out, I’ve been using 64kbps. Yes, that’s right, half the 128kbps that Apple recommend and use to work out how many songs your new iPod can hold. Here’s the kicker – I never noticed this supposed drop in quality and would still be ignorant it if weren’t for the silly way my brain remembers odd numbers and facts.

    So I have crap hearing in the upper range and never made any claim to being an audiophile but really, it might be worth bearing in mind importing at lower rates if you want to get more music on your mp3 player. The average person probably isn’t going to notice the difference. And a true audiophile is not going to be listening to music on a shuffle with Apple’s earbuds anyway.

    Category Daily Waffle, Mini Meadow | Tags: | 5 Comments

  9. To Tat or Not to Tat

    February 14, 2007 by Cas

    Tattoo.jpgI’ve been pondering for the past year or so getting another tattoo. I’ve even played around with a design. I’m pretty much sold on ‘yes, I am going to get one’ and I’m pretty much decided where it’s going to be.

    But there’s always room to canvas opinion from my Internet Faithfuls.

    Due to the location of the last tat, I can go for days at a time before I remember I’ve got one, till I see it in the bathroom mirror and go “ooh, there it is!” However, considering the amount of time I spend barefoot (which is considerable, including at the office) this one’s going to be a LOT more visible than the last.

    Most people I see on a daily basis at work can’t wrap their heads round the idea of me with a tattoo – you could have knocked the Energizer Bunny down with a feather when he caught a glimpse last summer (his words). I’m not quite sure why this is, but I must portray a bit too much of the good-girl vibe on a day to day basis or something. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a tattoo or that my colleagues are judgmental, but am I prepared for comments and questions that are bound to be more frequent with a visible design?

    <tangent>True story: I’ve got a friend who was training to become a tattoo artist. He gave it up because he couldn’t face putting ‘tramp stamps’ on an endless stream of chav girls for the rest of his life.</tangent>

    At the same time, I’ve not regretted for a moment that I got the last one as I adore it and the story behind it. I’d wanted to get one from the age of 14, after my godfather proposed the idea as a way to get me to accept some fairly major scarring as a part of me I could like and take control over. Somehow in the intervening six years a snake up the scar morphed into a dragon on the back, but the whole idea of using ink as a way of reclaiming ownership of a recalcitrant, and frankly fairly broken, body held true. I don’t think I’m alone in this justification for tattoos or piercing. I’ve no desire to turn myself into the painted lady, but I can fully understand the drive people have.

    So my hesitation isn’t to do with “am I going to get bored with it in six months?”, it’s more to do with questions over whether the art I want fits with my own body image. I think it does. I want something lighter, more frivolous, and if I’m being honest here, prettier. Not girly-girl, heaven forfend, but definitely feminine. It’s no longer about trying to reclaim my body but, if I close one eye and kinda squint at the whole situation sideways, it’s about putting a stamp on who am I now and going “yes, this is me, and I like me”. The first tat is secret, intensely personal, and with sub-text I don’t think I am explaining very well. This one’s going to be public.

    It’s not about aligning myself with certain sub-cultures, though those questions are of course going to be raised, and if I’m being truthful here if I didn’t move in the circles I move in, tattoos might be less acceptable to me. It’s not about branding myself a rebel. Nor, as my mother is convinced, is it a mark of a deep self-loathing and my incipient downfall (she does worry, bless her). Rather than all that it’s just ink on my skin. Something of my personality made visible and public, and an affirmation for me that this is where I want to be. Life has shat fairly heavily on my head in the past and this is just me sticking my tongue out and going “No, you’re not going to win”.

    This is me. I’m a work in progress. I’m going to get things wrong, that’s pretty much guaranteed, but I’m going to have fun doing it, and by god I’m going to do it how I want to.

    And get a kick-ass tattoo in the process ;)

    p.s. 1 – you know those posts you start wanting to say one thing, but then end up talking about something completely different? Yeah, this was one of those. It started with a whole “shall I get a tat?” theme, and ended with a whole “I’m getting a tat, like it or lump it, but here’s my justification”. Ah well, it’s what wanted to get written I guess.

    p.s. 2 – To be serious for a moment, if you are seriously getting a tattoo of your own think it through carefully. Don’t get one because you’re friends are, get one because YOU want one. Go to the parlour before hand, talk to the artist, make sure you feel comfortable with them. And talk to other people who’ve had work done there (recommendations are the best way to go). Most importantly, check the place is clean and safe. Some councils license tattoo parlours: make sure you go to a licensed one. Tattoo’s can be removed (eventually, after a lot of painful laser work) but hepatitis and aids will be your friends for the rest of your life.

    Category Daily Waffle | Tags: | 15 Comments

  10. Sunday Roast: nothing brings people together like a Christmas lung fungus

    February 11, 2007 by Cas

    I’m sorry for the rather gruesome subtitle for today’s Roast. I blame illyna! She’s been carping on for… well, as long as I’ve known her actually… about how good Bones is. For the price of playing with her Wii one evening (oh, the jokes just keep coming) we got to borrow Season One on DVD. Damn, it’s addictive. The first few episodes were a little rocky, but it’s settled down now and it’s really rather watch-able. David Bore-what’s-his-face (I can say the name, but not spell it) has the most amazing smile. Yes, SMILE. So he’s pretty much all over hot, but his smile – which you saw all to rarely on Angel – is just the icing on a very tasty cake. On top of that it’s just plain funny with great supporting characters. Good show. But with rather gruesome subject matter, which tends to lead to quoteable’s that are also a little macabre.

    And I really should stop talking about my TV watching habits and leave you with what you came here for.

    Something for Moose to start with – she regularly finds things for the Roast, and puts up with being mentioned with monotonous regularity on the internet, so it’s only fair. Here you go Moose: a blog about Formula One.

    Ever wondered what six pounds of dynamite might look like? Wonder no more.

    I keep bookmarking these posts that would make great memes and/or “I am still alive” posts, but then I just never get around to doing them. So what are your reading habits? Mine are remarkably similar to Nils’, so just go read his :D

    I’ve been holding off talking about Clive Cussler’s big whole lawsuit against the makers of Sahara because it’s just TOO silly. But then this little article came up and I just had to say something. Mr Cussler? The movie didn’t damage your book. In fact, I only read the book because of the movie. What damaged your book is that it is just BAD. Very, very bad. Painfully so.

    So I was going to do this review of my new (green) iPod shuffle when it arrived, wasn’t I? Yeah, that’s not going to happen because, as usual, Paul’s done a much better job. From my own POV, the thing is just so tiny! It’s adorable and wonderful and just what I needed, but I am petrified of loosing it when it’s in my bag NOT clipped to me. I like the new shorter headphones – being smaller than Paul, the length isn’t a problem for me, and shorter cord = less to tangle. I haven’t noticed any real problem with the sound quality. Then again, I’m not an audiophile, I have dodgy hearing as it is, and I rarely listen to ‘quiet’ tracks anyway. I’m on more of a Bon Jovi kick at the moment. So yes, I love my shuffle. My poor old iPod hasn’t left the house since it arrived… Consequently, I haven’t forgotten to set my alarm clock all week. Result :D

    Lately people have been saying nice things about my writing style. Thank you :) I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I do feel I’ve finally settled into my own ‘voice’ and that this is partly what makes people seem to like Bright Meadow. (I am fully prepared for y’all to correct me here!) If you want help finding your own ‘voice’ all I can say is be true to yourself and read this article for some pointers.

    Continuing a sort-of theme about penguin shaped gifts, how about a penguin shower radio. Cute, no?

    More on the Megapixel Myth (sounds like some new thriller or something, doesn’t it?)

    I’m having a bit of a “I want to bake” thing at the moment. The following are things I would cook if there wasn’t this whole big nut allergy going on in my house and office:
    baklava
    flourless chocolate cake

    Who said you should never play with your food?

    Apparently, no sleep = no brain. Told you I wasn’t at my best when I’d had no sleep :P

    Oceans 13 trailer. I loved Oceans 11, I loathed Oceans 12, this one looks like it might make up for the hideousness of the middle one. Hopefully.

    Glen is going to be trying to live the 9rules way. I like to think I already do (especially 1,2,4,5,7 & 8) and I like how I’ve turned out, so way to go Glen. Good luck :)

    And the reason the Roast is so late is a film. You should go and see Music and Lyrics. It’s actually very funny, well done, and a damn good example of it’s type. If you absolutely loathe rom-coms in all their forms then OK, don’t go. But this was a highly enjoyable film. The opening alone had me and Moose in hysterics for the first ten minutes of the film. Always a good sign.

    Category Sunday Roast | Tags: | 8 Comments

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