August Bank Holiday

Friday night was in the New Inn, as most people know not my first choice but Chris was out for the first time in ages so I headed down to see him. Joe, Phil and David joined us. It was quite nice sitting chatting in a quiet pub but it's not something that I plan to make a habit of. ;)

When I got home I had the strangest urge to weed my front garden, several people walked past and looked at me like I was mad. It was one in the morning after all.

The following morning I awoke fairly early again with a strange urge to do household chores although that didn't last very long. I collected Joshua and we had a walk around Kings Heath, I bought a book about the Sudan and Louis Theroux's Wild World and some CD singles for 30p each (I don't think that I've listened to them yet).

Dan had arranged to meet Emma and Roxy in the Sunflower Lounge at nine. Everybody was fashionably late it was more like ten before we had got there. I had a bit of a thirst on. Emma moaned that the only people that did stuff that she liked doing was me and Dan and now Dan was leaving, it left just me - I think she was talking bollocks, she has lots of mates and none of them go to Harborne every weekend.

After the pub shut we all went back to Dan's fo a bit of an impromptu party. I smoke too many of Emma's cigarettes yet again. I got home about five.

Joshua and my Dad woke me up at half nine wanting me to go to a Car Boot Sale. I was like a zombie. I picked up a Jane's Addiction CD (again I haven't listened to it).

I managed to get half an hours kip on my Mom and Dad's setee before being jumped on by Joshua. After this, we walked the dog to the Yachting Pool. We saw lots of men playing with there expensive radio controlled boats, why do women never build models? Joshua wants me to build him one, ha ha, I the most useless person when it comes to craft.

Then it was back out on the sauce. Rich Meakin and his mate Russ (Ross?) came from Kidderminster and joined Joe, Dan and I at the Custard Factory to see Tiga and 2ManyDjs or 2ManyD(od)j(song)s, he he he. It was a fun night. Rammed till closing time too.

Bed at six only to woken up at eleven again by my Dad. I took Joshua to the Ikon gallery, we saw some paintings of dates which was a bit naff.

Then to finish the weekend off good and proper, The Quiz at the Country Girl, we lost because we didn't know how many letters are worth 5 points in Scrabble. Oh well. Pizza afterwards then bed much too late.

Sleepy Rich

I am worn out. I've not had a decent sleep for ten nights. Life has been a little bit hectic as of late. I enjoyed my week in Reading but going to bed at two in the morning and getting up at seven and then going through a full day of intense training five days in a row sort of takes its toll.

I am dropping off to sleep as I write this and I'm sat in the office.

I have had a couple of very productive days this week full of enthusiasm to get some work done but today I have the motivation of a sleeping koala (or should that be a sleeping Joe?), computer programming is something you have to be in the mood to do otherwise you get stuff wrong which takes ages to fix. This sounds like an excuse but today I haven't been able to concentrate on any of it.

That's probably something to do with staying out till three last night, I met Phil in the White Horse for a couple of beers and then went to the Plough. I probably had too much to drink but I don't think that is the problem. It is the lack of sleep.

Dan's last weekend in Birmingham was never going to be quiet but I didn't expect to woken up at nine in the morning after not going to be till five and then the following at eleven after not sleeping till six thirty and then not very well.

Recharge.

Yes. I need to recharge, a fairly quiet weekend would be nice (well it would be healthy anyhow).

Still Reading

I have seen some live music nearly every day this week. Tonight it seems that there are quite a few Reading Festival warm-up parties on. The place is full of people wearing wellies and rucksacks and 'Metal!' T-Shirts. Dan suggested that I went to the Purple Turtle pub but it was full of kids like the Flapper and Firkin used to be.

Yesterday when I caught the train to London and saw Nick whose face has swollen up and is off work sick. He took me for a balti on Brick Lane and to the Ten Bells Pub next to Spitalfields Market which apparently is a Jack the Ripper pub.

I've heard that it never rains in London?? Yet it always does when I go...why does it always rain on me? ;)

I quite like Reading there seems to be absolutely no town planning whatsover, office blocks next to georgian houses next to ancient ruins next to a great big shopping centre. The Oracle shopping centre is horrible like every other shopping centre and this one doesn't even have shiny hubcaps all over it.

The J2EE course I am on is OK, quite intense, I'm not that use to getting up so early so it's rather difficult trying to keep my eyes open when somebody is taking about message driven enterprise java beans or transaction management at nine o'clock even after ten coffees.

Reading

I'm in Reading, it is very exciting, there are a ridiculous amount of bars and pubs here and there is some sort of Fringe Festival going on

Summer Sundae

Considering that Alec had one of the first sets at the festival he had a fair size crowd and most people who wandered in, stayed. They sounded a lot more danceable than the record he sent me. I reckon he should put a live set on his website. I also reckon that they were the best thing I heard on the Friday apart from "Do you want to try some free Jim Beam?".

The festival was sold out for the first time ever but I think that there was a few too many singer/songwriter types twanging their guitars and they definately need some sort of dance tent.

Friday, I had a great train ride up with other people going to the festival drinking beer and chatting, I met up Alec and Russyn and then Paul and Kerri. I don't remember what I watched but I remember that I lost everyone and wandered around watching everything and nothing in particular and then bumped into everybody at the end whilst Elbow (very very strange) were playing and they were all very drunk and got even more so after we went to the pub. Joe didn't arrive until 10 minutes after the last act had finished.

Saturday I woke up and went shopping, there are lots of cool independent shops in Leicester. The went and woke everybody up. I briefly met up with Alec again, he left quite early. I remember seeing Forward Russia, The Proclaimers, a Zimbabwean singer who wanted to know where all our mountain lions were and lots of waily people. I bumped into a Liam who I had met on the first night at Summercase, then bumped into again on the tube on the second night going to summercase, then every day at Benicassim, I reckon he might be stalking me. The sun was shining most of the day but it belted down as soon as Gomez came on (who sounded like Pearl Jam). I took some pictures of a very silly young man who was sulking because it was raining. It finished rather abruptly, Saturday, Paul went home and I was stuck with Joe who just wanted to go to sleep, I was up for staying out forever.

Sunday was grey. I drank a bit too much red wine and smoked too many cigarettes early on and felt a bit queasy and needed to sit down quiet for a while, luckily it passed. Coldcut were really good, they did exactly the same set as they did at Benicassim only every song sounded completely different. At the end, Matt and I stamped our feets until everybody else joined in, the 6 Music DJ man came out and said the festival was over but we carried on doing it and everybody else joined in again until they came back out which was kind of cool. I wanted to go for a pint before coming back to Brum but Joe was having none of it and he drove us home.

We had a spare wristband for Dan but claims not to have eight quid for the train fare, I suspect he doesn't have enough for his flight to Finland. ;)

Wanderlust

wanderlust

A noun
 1  wanderlust, itchy feet
   very strong or irresistible impulse to travel
  Category Tree:
psychological feature
╚motivation; motive; need
╚urge; impulse
╚wanderlust, itchy feet

Why do I have such a strong urge to travel?

It's nothing to do with working out what I want to do with my life because I have never known that. I don't particularly enjoy my job but then who does??

I have never spent more than three weeks out of Birmingham, even when I lived in Nottingham I came back here every weekend, I've been here thirty-one years. I like Birmingham but nothing changes and I now feel like I have done everything that there is to do in this town. I want to spend some time away so that things feel new again.

Because of my relationship with Rebecca and then having Joshua, I've never had any time to myself. Now I have all the time in the world but there is nothing to do. And there's less and less people to do nothing with.

Oh well, I'm not going to be going anywhere soon, I'll just have to content myself with armchair travelling for the time being. And I'm doing quite well at that, I'm reading a book about Polynesia, Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman's book about riding motorbikes around the world and a book about Ibn Battutah who spent 30 years travelling the Middle East and covered three times the distance of Marco Polo.

Warehouse Party

Dave has moved to sunny Rubery and Ben organised a nice leaving barbeque. Nick came up for the evening and we all got right royally pissed.

Dan had been invited to a party in a warehouse in Ladywood. I was quite disappointed to find no ball pool as promised but there was karaoke... I didn't really know anybody and we hadn't arrived early enough to be introduced and make conversation. Everyone was wearing clown costumes and very drunk it seemed which was kind of wierd.

I had sort of organised to go out with Emma and she complained when I said that I was going to go to the party instead and made me feel a bit guilty. I wasn't enjoying the party that much so my brother, Laura and I caught a taxi to The Rainbow, I did try to lose them but they insisted on coming.

We were too late to get into the pub but some people were arguing with the bouncers and I slipped inside while they weren't looking. I got kicked out shortly afterwards. Luckily the barmaid (who's name I should really find out) came running out grabbed me by the hand shouted at the bouncers and dragged me inside.

After the Rainbow shut I ended up in a pizza shop where Emma and her mates harrassed the poor blokes behind the counter.

I wanted to go to the Skate Park to carry on partying but nobody else was up for it. So I came home and played Soulwax very loudly and then went to bed.

Back to Work Blues

I have definately had back to work blues this week coupled with an increasing feeling of wanderlust.

I'll write about the wanderlust another time.

Friday tomorrow so that sort of thing should go for a few days...