Sunday, June 24, 2007

We got the funk

A lot has happened over the past few days, and knowing where to start is difficult. For the purposes of this post not being maudlin I'm going to start from the end and finish up at the beginning.

Last night we went to see The Misses Robinson in Wimbledon for the evening. They fed us and chatted to us, and so saved us from an evening in front of the telly grunting at each other. Plans were made to get together again at the allotment next time.

Yesterday afternoon was punctuated by sleeping off hangovers and bouts of watching episodes of the Mighty Boosh. Prior to that we said goodbye to our lovely guests.

When we got in from the party we chatted about this and that - mainly who snogged who - as well as news from all our camps. A lot of setting the world to rights was done.

The party went off well. I would recommend Upstairs at The Walrus Social to anyone who wants to have a shindig in central London right next to a tube station. It also has the cheeriest landlord and bar manager of all time. They're a right nice bunch. Nobody showed until 8.15, by which point I thought no-one was coming and was about to pack up. At any rate, all the most lovely and gorgeous people were there - the list is too long to post. The mighty mp3 player and JJ took the strain of the DJing, JJ in particular was superb: he was on fire, he was banging out tune after tune (although mp3 player's playlist was beautifully crafted). At the party there was plenty of dancing, drunkenness and shouting, which was ace.

The work party was the dampest of damp squibs: quite literally, when the monsoon came over. At one point I sat by myself, wishing I was far away and not really wanting to talk to anyone. I stayed off the booze, which was the right decision given the long night ahead, but I was very bored. I behaved just like a person who has already disengaged from their job and had some heavy news weighing on their mind, in other words.

On Friday morning I woke up at 6am and discovered two text messages from two of my sisters, both telling me the same thing. My eldest nephew's girlfriend had taken a cocktail of drugs and had died. My nephew had been arrested on suspected manslaughter. It took me a while to process this. My nephew has since been released from custody. Quite what long-term damage this event will cause to him and others, I don't know. But for a family with an already impressive few chapters of weirdness, it has to be the very worst thing that's happened.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

If you didn't come to party, then why did you come here?

Where does the time go? My heavy workload at work doesn't help with updating this regularly. You should know that I'm approaching my final two weeks in my job and am becoming increasingly demob happy. I've also started being the real me when confronted with rudeness from colleagues whom are keeping their jobs. Some of the stuff I'm being asked by those dimwits has to be heard to be believed - one even had the temerity to ask me what would be happening after I left. You can imagine how I dealt with that.

I am currently mid-way through a fairly intensive interview process for job with a big city firm. Not quite the love-in I was hoping for after many years of crazy corporate nonsense, but it promises to be interesting and very well paid. Keep 'em crossed for me.

I have just been home to spend a bit of time with my family. It was very pleasant, and I tried not to do very much else bar chat to people and walk the dog. On the whole it was very relaxing.

And I'm going to need a bit of down time before it all kicks off. This week culminates in a big party to celebrate my emancipation and I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

Friday, June 01, 2007

I don't believe you wanna get up and dance...

Recently, I have found myself having to explain the phenomenon of the Oops Upside your Head (aka the Rowing Boat Song ) - see video of people 'performing' this here - to a number of young people.

I find this utterly bizarre, because to me, this is much a part of the fabric of my life as having arms. Ever since I was small I can remember doing this dance (of sorts) at discos, wedding receptions etc., in fact, it was always the highlight of the evening for me. I've seen as many as 60 people in one long line, slapping the floor and rocking from side-to-side. However, it seems to me that people who were born after 1981 (or born in another country) don't seem to have much of a concept of it. Incredible.

More soon.