Iesus Non Amat Me

Happy Doctor Who Day! 54 years ago today the very first episode aired. And four years ago today I was in London to watch the 50th Anniversary Special in Covent Garden cinema. Four years ago tomorrow I went to the Doctor Who 50th Celebration convention at the ExCel. That was a good weekend.

Talking about TV, I do keep meaning to make a post about what I'm watching at the moment but between entering the super-busy Christmas period at work and still trying to de-clutter the house and de-bramble the garden at home I never seem to find the time. I can say that it'll definitely include Star Trek Discovery and The Good Place, both of which I am loving at the moment.

And talking about Christmas, I'm doing pretty well with my plan to get my Christmas shopping done early. I'm doing most of it online and everyone's getting food and drink. It just makes so much more sense to get them tasty things I know they'll enjoy rather than risking getting something that'll just sit around gathering dust. (This decision may have been influenced by the sheer amount of stuff we already have in our house.) I have bought a few non-edible items too, but the majority has been food.

And talking about food, I'm hungry. Time for me to head off and make dinner. Bye!

Somehow I managed to make it through 31 years of life without ever going to a ginormous Swedish furniture shop. Yesterday I corrected this oversight as I experienced Ikea for the very first time.

I say 'experienced' because that really is the only way to describe it. It was like walking straight into the Buy menu on The Sims.

Fortunately I was not in the market for any large pieces of furniture, but I did end up buying a ridiculous amount of throws, some fake flowers, and an apple slicer that promises to make my apple slicing a much quicker and more efficient process than it currently is. Plus it was only £1 so if it's rubbish I can just throw it away. (I feel like this is some damming indictment on the wastefulness of modern life, but seriously, £1!)

According to my friends, one of the best things about going to Ikea is the Swedish meatballs. Unfortunately the vegan meatballs that they've just introduced in the US have not yet made it to UK stores so I was deprived of that particular aspect of the experience. I suppose this means I'll just have to go again at some point in the future.

I've just bought a Tardis skirt from Etsy. It's the third Doctor Who-related item of clothing that I've bought in the last month. Someone should probably take Paypal away from me while I still have money in my account.

Evitavonni, the shop that took over the building that used to be Woolworths, has finally finally opened. I keep thinking about going in and having a look around but it's rather intimidating. They have a security guard and everything.

I'm not sure how long they're going to last though. I don't think this town is nearly as posh as they think it is.

I have returned from London! I had a very good time and got lots of Christmas shopping done! It was great to see Paul again too.

We went to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which was rather lovely. I especially enjoyed the mulled wine and cinnamon pretzels! And I went on the Power Tower ride while Paul waited for me at the bottom. It was brilliant, although rather cold and wet due to the fact that it was raining quite a lot by this point! But that just added to the fun!

So it was a good weekend, although on my train journey home I discovered that South West Trains have devised new and unusual ways to drive their passengers crazy. I was on a train which split into two so you needed to make sure you were in the right half. A helpful announcement told us "This part of the train is for Woking, Ash Vale, Aldershot, Farnham, Bentley and Alton." Very useful, I thought, and I was pleased that they bothered to do something like that. I was less pleased by the fact that they repeated that same announcement every 20 seconds all the way to Woking. You may think I'm exaggerating that for emphasis. I am not. I timed it.

Hello! I have returned from not-so-rainy-after-all Edinburgh!

Actually I returned just over a week ago but I haven't turned my laptop on until now. Which means that I have two weeks of Flist to catch up on and 111 emails in my inbox to read. Mostly from the BiCon Newcomers mailing list, it seems.

Edinburgh was lovely. Beautiful castle. I found myself trying to work out ways that I could move there. (Edinburgh in general, I mean, not the castle specifically. Although that would be awesome.)

Since returning I have spent most of my free time playing Lego Harry Potter, which is an excellent game. It does now make me want to reread the books and rewatch the films though. And it makes me wish it was autumn. I love autumn. (Although it is currently pouring with rain here, and there was thunder earlier, which does feel quite autumnal. So that's very nice, even if a load of rain has come in through an open window and soaked the stairs to the room down below and one of its walls long with everything on it. Ho hum, my CDs are rather damp now!)

Anyway, I shall say my goodbyes for now and get on with all the things I've been putting off, such as checking my credit card statement and seeing just how much I spent in Edinburgh! On second thoughts, perhaps I should have a drink before facing that...

Hello everyone.

Paul and I are in a shopping centre in Sydney. We are full of cake and doughnuts. This is good.

It is very hot here and we spent yesterday on Bondi beach. This is also good.

We are sunburnt. This is not so good but we have learnt our lesson and are now liberally applying sun cream whenever we go out.

How is the weather at home? :)

Today was good. My friend and I saw the Sex and the City film at the cinema. It was simplistic and predictable and exactly the kind of mindless fun a Sex and the City film should be.

Then we went shopping and I spent too much money on clothes. But I hardly ever do that so I feel pretty good about it.