Guess where I'm going....

...on 10th July?

Here, as it happens.

The happy couple

Well, a good time was had by all, especially these two:



Once again, congratulations to Mr and Mrs Dave and Avril Childs. And, of course, to Sunderland.

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage

go together like a man from Durham and a lady from Singapore. Which incidentally, is the combination I'll be watching tomorrow afternoon. I was surprised to discover (I was surprised when I mulled it over later, I wasn't in a fit state for surprise when I discovered it) that Dave and Avril will be living apart for at least a few months once they're married. But I have bought them a couple of nice picture frames, cause I know how a photo is a nice thing to have when someone you love is far away.

So, while I'm in the office and can add to this thing - Congratulations on your forthcoming nuptuals, the future Mr & Mrs David and Avril Childs.

Passing the torch

Michelle put me up to blogging, admittedly at my request - now I've passed Blogger onto the subtly respelt Michele. Not to mention Chris and Ben, who talk politics. It's nice to see things passing by word of mouth, with no use of paper, no money changing hands and everyone happy. Isn't the internet a wonderful place? Apart from the child porn of course.

London Marathon

I feel like the whole event this year was about getting the Olympics in 2012. Sure, money raised for charity, athletic achievements by new and old faces, but an awful lot of talk about the Olympics.

New York has a marathon in November, by which time it will be too late. Paris had one a week ago, though, and I bet that was a give-us-the-Olympics-fest too.

Also, our walk-in surgery for patients with broken legs.

Last night,passing a 'Dental Laboratory', which I took to be a dentist's, I saw the words on the window 'Dental repairs while you wait'. It may be that I'm missing something here.

Mothballs of doom

My flat smells slightly of mothballs. Mothballs, according to this page, are extremely hazardous to your health. The problem is, I can't find where the smell is coming from! Somewhere, there must still be a few mothballs that I need to be rid of, but where?

If anyone has a sniffer dog, I'm prepared to pay generous rates.

Wherever I lay my playstation...

I feel very bad indeed. For some reason, sleep escapes me. It could be the smell of mothballs, it could be the alignment of my bed against the magnetic fields of the Earth, or it could be the week I'm having generally, but a proper night's sleep has proved impossible. I sit here a broken man. Tonight I shall attempt to sleep again, and with luck, tomorrow there will be a new Matt in this seat - refreshed, vigorous and alive again. With luck.

Woke up this mornin'

Last night, Ben and Emma came round for dinner, and we chatted, having eschewed the TV and the Playstation. For some reason, I forget what, the White stripes track 'The Hardest Button To Button' came up in conversation, and I don't need more excuse than that to reach for the guitar. There followed about half an hour of blues, a bass lesson for Emma, and a discovery that I really miss playing music with other people. If anyone feels like making the journey out to Streatham for blues purposes, please let me know.... In the meantime I'll hunt for a jazz quartet gig on bass. Wish me luck.

More photos

See here for photos of my lovely new flat.

I'm in

All the furniture has been assembled, all of the boxes and crates have been unpacked, and the flat finally looks like home. I've just droppe dhte van back to work,a nd I'm going to go home now and enjoy some nice dinner and nice wine. Photos of the flat will probably be up tomorrow, with a specially requested photo of my adopted primrose.

Mmm, beer

Excellent beer, excellent company, and an excellent Turkish restaurant afterwards. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Though my head is a little sore today.

I'm off to the pub

This evening I'm going for a nice drink here. I've been putting socialising on hold to some extent, with the last two Saturdays being spontaneous exceptions, and at least one evening of excess after work, and no one evening where we didn't drink something at Ben and Emma's. Actually, I suppose I've been socialising quite a lot... well, anyway, now I have somewhere to live, from Friday at least, I think I can let my hair down a little. Or a little more.

Tomorrow I'll be shifting stuff into an Abel & Cole van (they're the people I work for and they lent me a van for free,thus the blog-whoring) and then in the morning I'll be off to the new place, and, rather foolishly, Ikea.

When is it appropriate to say...

I've been feeling slightly ashamed recently. Much as I'm a fan of the late Pope, I can't quite get this out of my head. (Please don't click on the link if you are easily offended). And it was only a few hours after the Colombia shuttle crash that people were emailed to find out that N.A.S.A stood for 'Need Another Seven Astronauts'. And only a few days after 9/11 that my father emailed me to tell me about PanAm's new service that flies you straight to your office.

How long do we have to wait after something happens that we can make fun of it? And is it really disrespectful or is it all part of dealing with the tragedy?

Exciting developments over the weekend

Well, I found a new home, bought a Glastonbury ticket, and generally planned at least my immediate future. The Pope passing away put a bit of a dampener on things for me - he'll be a hard man to replace. But everything else was pretty rewarding. I'm now looking forward to Christmas.

And what's more...

We (the Royal We, in this case)'re not going to see the flat this evening, as it's David's birthday, so he has other plans. I, too, have sprouted other plans since this morning. Bea has insisted we all go to the pub this evening. But the flat is rescheduled for tomorrow morning, and if I make it and I like it, then I'm housed again, almost immediately! Hurrah!

Housewarming

I'm seeing this flat this evening, so I'll be able to say on Monday whether there will be a housewarming, and whether the flat is big enough for any of you to come.