doph's world

Spontaneous poetry from folklore hurricane

2009-09-25T09:03:00.003Z

Last Sun evening, went to the latest folklore hurricane at the strong rooms, Shoreditch. Had a little go at dj'ing again (i.e. played about 5 songs!). Brought paper n pen n got people in the audience to volunteer words for poems once more.

Probs shouldn't have gone, felt pretty shite. Finally getting better now, been off work for over a week. Phoned the doc the other day, looks like it was probs swine flu, leading to a secondary chest infection. Always end up with bloody chest infections when I get colds/flu. Thought a few hours sitting around drinking lemonade wouldn't do much harm, felt crap when I got in though. Got antibiotics for the chest infection (oxytetracycline), which seem to be clearing it up quite effectively.

Here're the poems I put together, with the help of people in the audience:

on a soft seat
by a table, she sat
a pause between running
happiness in the calm before tomorrow

he heaves, his arms sweat
the oars plunge deep into choppy wet
a child waves from the shore
joy and innocence soon his no more

small paws pad over last night's broken glass
away from belly resonance
the mouse senses sorrow
a moment which passed, a potential not realised

skillful fingers make cuts on hot wax
she scratches when mixing between tracks
head gets hazy
warm instincts overcome melancholic thoughts

the monkey pounces
his friend pees in fear
sharp teeth cut into flesh
blood splashes like waves breaking on a sea shore

she tip toes to the toilet
must not wake the child
lavender in the vase reminds her of her mum

the night ends
she stands
in wait, to collect
the old red cardigan he nanna made her
anxious not to lose
evidence of her warm essence

it clinks into her cup
small penny thrust in aid
her elation, now happy
she walks to the shop for a cup of tea

withered and matchstick thin
he works the weights in desparation
bitter at nature for the frame he was given

her anger rises as the boat sways
beneath in warm water, a lilo rides the waves
she leaps, diving down with fingers first
her neck crunches on splashy impact
soft wet soothes

Bit better than last time's efforts!

doph
:o)

Folklore hurricane - spontaneous poetry

2009-07-23T22:39:00.003Z

Spontaneous poetry, done at yesterday's Folklore Hurricane at mau mau on portobello road. Brought a pad n pen along, got some people to chip in a few words and jointly build a poem from there. Think I'll do the same at the next night, was random but cool.

spontaneous poetry...number1:

in mau mau, drinking
how how? thinking
a sight of fresh faces - lust

number 2:

the star in heat
reveals their bitter core
grasping at the silent darkness

number 3:

the wise man grabbed the knife
as his enemy sat, drinking
he touched his weapon, handle of velvet
the hunger - suffocated
not the right moment

number 4:

behind a screen of smoked glass,
his veiny dome throbbing
standing still in wait
for the approach of flesh-coloured fun

number 5:

her intuition is the praise the puntina
to bounce like a rude boy's cortina
within walls like a conical flask
the bar contains her reaction

and a cheeky haiku done by just me:

the pool cue points
her curves and brain aim
a missed shot, and again

doph
:o)

Reading poetry! Out Loud! In front of people!

2009-05-28T21:47:00.003Z

Wooo!

First time reading out poetry on Tuesday :o) Went to the 'poetry unplugged' evening at the Poetry cafe, near covent garden. Read out beers and sports, was quite well received and even got a few laughs. Think the thumping in my chest has just about calmed though, was nervous as fuck stood by the mic reading it out. Not got a huge amount of experience at public speaking, really bloody helps having it all written down in front of you though :p

After going to the Stratford theatre bar to watch the odd bit of poetry when I was living over the other side of town and not quite having the courage to put my name forward to read one, it's been a long time coming. Think I first said to myself that I'd like to try reading poetry out over 5/6 years ago, back when I was temping in Swansea. Was sat by a Canadian chap called Mike who read out an interesting one about a dark haired woman passing him whilst he lay in a field in portugal. Quite vivid pictures. Might check out the Bristish Haiku society, which he mentioned.

Been getting on well with SOP and form writing at work this week, feels good to be getting into a decent rhythm in the project. Hopefully it'll continue to go well past the point when the inspectors come in to check out the facility in july.

The cycling to n from work is going well for the most part. Only managed 3/5 days last week, which isn't all that bad, on for 4/4 this week though. For a while the ride in was seeming to get a little quicker, though I suspect it's slowed a little the last week or so. Need a little more sleep, methinks. Speaking of which, do I watch an episode of battestar gallactica or go to bed sharpish? Hmmm. The first one of the miniseries was an hour and a bloody half, don't think I should be up past half 12. Again.

Either way, I've run out of vaguely interesting things to say.

Night

doph
:o)

toasted, tired and enthused

2009-05-25T23:11:00.001Z

Busy times, busy indeed.

Though I suspect things might slow down for a little bit! After recent trips to the US and Hong Kong, need to keep my head down a little for the next few months. Or at least in terms of money.

Finally sent my latest open uni assignment off today. Hope these bloggings aren't getting too samey, please feel free to email me feedback if that's the case! I've found the few days after completing and posting tma's quite calming over these courses, even though I know I can't afford to pause my studies for long, never that far from the next deadline!

Really needed those travels, joining current job meant I wasn't allowed to take leave for the first three months, probs the longest I've been for a looong time without a day off. Was starting to really knacker me, getting a little bit too much on a plateau of ticking over and feeling a little unenthused and reactive. Since seeing seth in the us, and rowan in hong kong, and remembering how a load of hard graft and proactively looking at things is what I need right now. Including this sort of thing, I feel re-invigorated and ready to do more creative things in spare time. Seems odd to be so busy doing things, living life when away but only plodding along when at home. Only so many leave days in the year, why wait for them to do something interesting?

Just need to be a little more careful with moneys for a while.

Not so moaney about being single with half empty bed at the moment, though it is a little frustrating in obvious ways. Realised the other day how full of shit it is to be regularly reading Hagakure - book of the samurai, reading about dashing headlong and sod the consequences, but allowing lazy timidity to overcome me when on a night out. Pretending to myself that I'm being laid back and non-desparate when really it's a matter of fearing rejection, hoping some woman is gonna make it easy for me.

Pretty good bank holiday weekend, bbq round mine on friday, then went out to brighton by car on sat evening after watching twickenham sevens during the day. Arms legs n face are still a tad crispy n burnt from sleeping on brighton beach on sunday. Started watching battlestar galactica today, a fact that my brothers will be most happy to hear! Been badgered by seth for quite some time to get watching them, that n curb your enthusiasm (speaking of which, I watched the 'christ nail' episode on the plane, think it was either on the way back from boston or the way to hong kong - haha that sounds a bit dickish n showing off, so be it). Found it to be pretty good, watched it with the laptop hooked up to the telly n hi fi. Made congee, or at least tried to, whilst watching it and other stuff, sat on the sofa. Turned out ok, bit bland but was nice with a touch of sweet chili n five spice.

Definately bed time now, rest needed for a busy week writing SOP's at work and hopefully other writing related stuff of an evening. Looks like I might be trying a short dj set at a folklore hurricane night at mau mau, portabello road on the 3rd June. Also, b3ta.com London bash is next weekend, will be good times :o)

doph
:o)

ny muthaflippers!

2009-04-14T16:37:00.002Z

chilling in L hostel, harlem. Third hostel me n seth have stayed in since i fllew in on sat evening, so nice to have a bit of a lie in today. Got up a few hours ago, maybe a mistake since late night will leave me flagging!

Went to a free comedy club last night, think it was on 26th street. Which avenue? Can't remember. One toward the left, on the blue line (have allowed seth to pretty much do all the leading, it's easier that way).

Ticked most of the boxes for places to visit here in on manhattan, went up top of the rock instead of the empire state though. Didn't fancy spending hours queueing for pretty much the same view. Weather's been pretty good so far, got a bit of rare colour in my cheeks now. Toward the end of the afternoon yesterday went to the batterires at the bottom of the island, got a nice view of the statue of lioberty from there. Lots n lots of orthodox jewish people out for a nice time in the sun, think a jewish museum's just around the corner from there. Have yet to find myself talkng to anyone who's orthodox jewish, an experience that's yet to present itself to me.

Noticed when getting the metro into town from jfk on sat just how segragated ny is. The L train through brooklyn was almost totally full of black people, then when i got off in manhattan at 1st ave, almost everyone was white. Also the difference between a few blocks down an the start of harlem from above central park. Just not the same in london, for the most part it's a complete mish mash. Be interesting to look at the history of the various peoples settling into their neighborhoods at some point. Spose the space is a big factor, in london things are tiny compared to here, groups of people not living in particular areas so much. Spose the likes of southall green street n brixton are examples of a particular type of people settling into the same general area.

pfft.

Time to give the phone a little juice upstairs, this's killing the battery a little.

Laters
doph
:o)

bedtime ramblings

2009-04-06T23:52:00.000Z

Bed is lonely
Half filled by me

Small comfort I offer it
Does not quench thirst

sense of lack
Just me on my back

Or side, lain foetal
Dribbling warm spittle

Patience, in a while
Find and hold one who makes me smile

Good times, bad results

2009-03-22T22:38:00.002Z

in the prince of wales, by cardiff central station.

got a lift from jonny to the station, the next train's not for about 45 mins so thought i'd nip into town for some food while i wait.

brilliant day yesterday, not been in cardiff for many, if any, 6 nations match days. or at least, not as an adult. always love the buzz of the place, cardiff has never offered me a bad night out over time.

big match days generally tend to be fun, chatting to randoms and friends of friends, friends of family etc.

also nice that the weather's been so good, beautiful sunny days both today and yesterday. proper spring time, the intensity of the sun but with the nip of northerly winds in the shade.

got the train into cardiff yesterday lunchtime from swansea, met up with seths mate harry n his dad n mates. tagged along with those lot shortly after rocking into the capital, once i'd found out from james where the plan was starting i headed off to the queens vaults.

nice start to the day, standing in the south wales sun chatting to a random irish chap outside the vaults whist i waited for the others.

was quite ignorant of the history of croke park until the friendly irish chap explained the story of tanks killing people there in 1916 or thenabouts. bloody hell! he was saying how when they played england there, last year i think, it was proper emotional for the whole of ireland. after winning, singing the national anthem in pubs across the country brought tears to every eyes.

lu met up with us for a bit yesterday afternoon, nice to see her for a few hours before she got the train to swansea.

which is where i am by now. had some food in the prince of wales, now heading to swansea (s-town).

after having a few in the sunshine outside the vaults, we walked over the river to a bar/hostel called nos da, just across from the stadium. watched the match there, bloody hell that was close! shame it didn't end with us that little bit in front, though don't think we really deserved to win the game. been some scrappy performances by wales this year, not the pretty rugby that we like to watch.

jonny n others had tickets, so they went in to watch the match whilst we kept drinking in nos da. met up with them after the match, and headed to the happy gathering for some tasty chinese in canton. just under 20 a head, not bad for dinner and a few rounds of tsing tao. the food was really good, though my drunken tastebuds couldn't be trusted for a truly objective perspective.

wrote this just after the match, texted it to a few people at the time:

ah fuck.

losing to ireland, never bad

4th behind england n french makes us sad

now, next pint

dissolution of pressure and points

so be it, not our year

maybs next time, no fear

then found myself in pretensious mode for a while, talking in poetry. basically talking like a weirdo trying to sound profound.

went to some late drinking place that looked like a primary school hall, then back to a mate of jams lot's place, some playing smash bros on wii whilst waiting for the taxi man.

then out to by cardiff gate, cup of tea and bed.

Tired legs, busy days and nights

2009-03-15T23:35:00.001Z

Quite a full weekend! Was out on Friday night clubbing, went with Tim n his brother, ended up going to 2 clubs. Started with a BBQ at his place, then went to Notting Hill to I think Notting Hill arts club or something, a slightly seedy place in a basement. The music was pretty good though, sort of soulful with trippy breakbeats. Quite a laid back vibe as well.
Then we headed to Fabric over near Farringdon, not been there before either. Not sure I've been to that kind of proper club night before, with big name dj's n that. Turned up there around 3am, then left around half 6 after a long long time of silly dancing to drum n bass, along with whatever good tunes they put on. Massive place, also seemingly full of pretty people. Quite a different vibe from the clubs I've been to in the past, people mostly well into their clubbing and dancing. Spose I did go to creation once or twice in Bristol, similar sort of place really.

Yesterday was sonny's leaving do from amersham. After having many drinks in the Allsop arms by marylebone, and watching the wales italy match, we spent most of the rest of the evening in G Casino, Leicester Square. I managed to restrain myself, only using £30 of chips on the roulette tables, being mindful of having spent quite a lot the night/morning before. Could have got something back, but felt like keeping playing for a while. Always a daft mistake, though with that kind of low stake it's not all that unreasonable to pay to play. Sat didn't end up being quite as long a night as Fri, a few people crashed in the living room so as to not rush back on the last train from Marylebone. Always glad to help! Was considering banging out some bacon n eggs on toast for them, though by the time I'd got home from a run with James M early afternoon they'd understandably gone home. More for me through the week! :o)

Played a bit of tibs wars (command n conquer 3: tiberium wars) with jam n seth this afternoon, we pretty much ruined the computer each time, despite the difficulty being set to very high. Always nice. Classic tactic, blowing the bridges to hold their forces off whilst we gather for a mahusive attack.

Went to the end of a poetry reading just now, over in kentish town, Torriano meeting house. Quite good, shame I turned up so late though. Was hoping to read something out, next time I'll be a little more punctual. A particularly amusing one was about ducks crossing a busy A road, caused me to have a smile and a quiet chuckle.

And so to bed, need to hang out my uniform ready for work tomoz, then sleepy time. Didn't manage to do any chemistry work this weekend, this week is when I'll nail the majority of my TMA for the ou course.

Night
doph
:o)

Cycled commute, blubbing, drinks n dancing

2009-03-10T19:54:00.001Z

Second cycle day today, first cycle day was, hmmm...fun. Last thursday finally decided to get on with it, and ride my new commute from chiswick to park royal.
Been looking to sell my golf for a while, got very little joy in the second hand ads using gumtree and the autotrader website. Just on polish (I assume he was polish) chap, who tried to be cheeky and get me to sell it for £2800. Was originally looking for 4 grand!
Him and his mate had a thorough look at the car, then asked how much I wanted for it. I said I was hoping for 4000, but realistically 3500. He said 'for this car, i can pay no more than 3000'. I said fine, was willing to accept a little less just to get the bloody cash, so that I can pay back parents for short term loans. Also the ever-present looming credit card expediture. He went off home to get the moneys, apparently not far away over the other side of chiswick. Then texted me about half an hour later saying he only has 2800, the cheeky get! I'd borrowed housemate matt for a little moral support, we were sat about watching csi whilst waiting. I took his advice and replied to the polish chap good luck car hunting, 3 grand is the lowest I could go.
I've since put the car into a local garage, such that they'll sell it for me and take their cut. Bit odd, I signed to say I'd take 3000 and they'll get what they can for it, with the waiting and hassle I now think it may have been ok to take the private sale instead. Odd handing over my car with only a slightly crappy contract, waiting to see how long it'll take. Hmm.

The point of saying about the car stuff is that I didn't want to get a parking permit for the new place, was hoping to sell the car well before now. So whilst I had it, I had to drive in to avoid paying for the permit. So now the car's sort of off the road, I can finally think about riding in with my reassuringly less shiny bike. As expected, had a bit of saddle soreness on friday in particular. Not as bad as others seem to get it, but sore nonetheless. One of those sorenesses that doesn't really effect getting on with one's day, just every so often when I tensed particular muscles in my, er, seat (not really arse or crotch, think it's called the perineum), it was rather tender!

Been a bit up n down over the last few weeks, last week in particular, wednesday even more in particular. Think that what's now almost 2 months since splitting up with kay and a long time of longing after another started to catch up with me. Was doing the micro at work (microbiological monitoring, setting settle plates and using contact plates n swabs to check the clean rooms for various bugs), listening to some tunes using my phone. The solitary nature of the work, being the only ones in the clean rooms, gave me a while to ponder stuff and release a little. Particularly in the second gowning rooms, where I had the privacy of no-one being able to see. Had stuff like laura marling, hot chip, ida maria and maximo park playing. Think it was more the ida maria, stella in particular, that set me off. Standing in the change room, waiting for the micro air sampler to finish its 5 minute or so cycle, gowned up with mob cap, non shedding coat, gloves overshoes and face mask as well, blubbing away like I was 10 again. Felt gradually better since then. Thurs was also difficult, this time whilst cleaning the clean rooms. Not as much though, once the pent up emotion's released, I find it much easier to get on with things without getting too soft.

Been blogging quite a lot on my phone recently, though a lot of it's probs too personal to post. Written a few poems about my affections for the other, though not really fair to post them to all and sundry without her seeing them first. Or something. It's helped me, though. As usual, stuff of the heart calmed itself down a lot once I'd written it all down and created something from it. Expect I'll share it sometime in the future, both with the lady it concerns and here on the site.

wrote this late sat/sunday:

stood waiting for a piss

whilst chris takes plenty time with his

shit shower shave

cold breeze cuts like a knife

slight shivers me awaken

spent last night dancing

with all who'd allow it

had great times, brilliant

was hoping for more

with some dirty whore

didn't happen, so be it

when the time comes i'll take it

by now it's been a while

should have got her bastard number, fail makes me smile

swirling and twisting

across the dancefloor we filled it

like tigers on patrol

round the perimeter, patrolling

eyes out for fresh meat or threat

What the fuck does that relate to?

Went to a reunion of the bristol (uni) lot at the weekend, in leighton buzzard. Friday was chilled out, went for fish n chips and had a few drinks at chris's (he was kind enough to host us for the weekend). Watched wayne's world for the first time in bloody years, on VHS as well. One of those films in which pretty much every single scene and line is ingrained into your mind, but still it never fails to amuse :o)

Saturday night we kind of all chipped in for a few drinks and a sort of buffet. Brought some chicken thigh fillets and a fajita kit, which went down well (how can it not? fajitas always win!). So by the time we set off for our pub crawl, we'd already loosened up a little. Headed into the middle of leighton buzzard, played some darts and pool in one of the pubs along the way. Ended up in the Wheatsheaf (classic country/market town pub name :o)), where there was a live folkesy band playing. Can't remember their name, not that it's all that important. The sort of band you might hear at a ceildhi, drums guitars and a chap on the fiddle.

So by the time we were settled in there, we'd had many several to drink. Inspired by faded memories of teenage celdhis organised by friends of mum n cliff, I had quite the best time doing impromptu jigs and spinning around (though i'm hesitant to call it this, i think it's a do si do or something of that noise). Got chris involved with relative ease, he's normally up for whatever. Great times. With my now-single eyes I spotted soon after getting into the main room a girl dancing up on a bench with her mates with longish dark hair and slightly tomboy-ish clothes on (jeans and a stripey top thing) that looked pretty good. So then did the classic of glancing every so often, seeing if it would be returned. Trying to avoid creeping her out at the same time, the obsessive stalker look doesn't seem to return many smiles :p
Was dancing more toward her direction from the core of our group, hoping to somehow get over daft timidness and get her to join me for a dance. Sort of bottled it, she did seem to be surrounded by her mates. Far too timid, never mind. After a bit I saw she was at the bar, thought fuck it might as well try something. Gently tapped her side (again, not being creepy, or at least i didn't think so!) and asked her if she wanted me to get them (as in drinks). She said no, I laughed at my fail, and shared a smile with her before heading back to the group. Since the night, or at least the jig part of the night, was drawing to a close, soon after was when I had crazy energy whilst dancing. Blatantly some sort of weird way of getting her attention. Never mind! Then at the end once the band had finished and we moved through to the other part of the pub, I went over and shook her hand, gave her a smile which was pleasantly returned, nodded then fucked off with a laugh. Oh my word I am odd sometimes.

As if all that looniness wasn't enough, after closing time we headed to The Office, some sort of late bar local dive place, though it was reasonably well kept. After getting settled in there and it started getting a little busy, we headed to the dancefloor. A couple of us were dancing in the usual daft way, particularly me n gabriel. Saw there was a pair of good looking women on the upper dance floor, with molly's encouragement, pointing out these were people who'd probs never seen anywhere more exciting than milton keynes, I went over and a had a little close dance with one of them. Very briefly, probs less than a minute! Again, never mind :p Sensing impending fail, I moved away though I expect they moved first, me sensing the impending fail and regrouping ready for next time. Think something clicked in me then, once we were loonying around on that part of the dancefloor I was dancing all over any half-decent woman who would allow it. Not that I allowed them a lot of choice, dancing on and all over someone isn't quite the same as dancing with them.

After we'd left that place we were kind of milling around outside, and we noticed some attractive looking women I'd spotted earlier in the night whilst we were at the cashpoint. Went up to one of them and said hello, that i'd seen her and her lot earlier at the cashpoint and thought she looked pretty. Then that she did indeed look pretty at that point. Bit rubs n pathetic, haven't really chatted a woman up since I was 18! Proper fidelity, man. She smiled and said 'aww' or something, which was better than a slapped face so I pushed a little further and asked if she minded if I kissed her on the neck. Funnily enough, she gave a slightly puzzled look. Said she didn't know, spose it's odd to formally ask for a kiss in the first place, let alone somewhere specific like a neck. I said 'bit rude?' and she responded with 'yeh, kinda' with a puzzled smile on her face. I changed tack and asked to kiss her on the cheek, she agreed since that's a lot less, well, odd than the neck. At least to a strange drunken welshman. Being cheeky, after giving her a nice peck on the cheek I carefully went to move her hair to one side and kiss her neck, pushing my luck a little, well a lot. She backed off a little then randomly ran off and turned down one of a few alleys from the main road. This left our lot and her also attractive friends standing around looking a little bemused. I gingerly walked off to see where she'd got to, couldn't see her down either of the obvious side roads and didn't get any answer from calling her name. After standing around for a few moments, she returned. When I asked if I'd scared her off she said no, which was pretty cool. Their lift had arrived whilst she'd gone off, so they got into their car and we got into our taxi back to chris's. Odd but happy way to end an equally odd but happy night.

Was annoyed at myself afterwards, not very, just a lesson to be learnt. Number one, should have at least asked for her number. Secondly, if she's hesitant to allow my odd request for kissing on the neck, and allowed a kiss on the cheek, try for a cheeky one on the chops. Daft/naive/odd git that I am.

Wrote this about it:

hello you katy

glad you met me

i told you i found you pretty

glad you smiled happily

met in leighton buzzard

should have got your number

i kissed you on the cheek

denied of the neck

too rude, too much

desperate for sex and such

why didn't i go for lips?

better to have held your hips

gone for a smooch, a snog

along with a simple hug

heppy night of dance

if only you'd have joined me prance

around like a looney

your number was greeney

and nice

i kissed your face

that is all

with friends of bristol

emptied head of the one

the one whom

i could be with

possibly, i ponder it

Yeh bit rubs, but I have the excuse of being drunk/hungover at the time of writing it.

That's all for now, time for a cheese toasty with some salad.

Cheers

doph
:o)

onwards and acrosswards

2009-01-07T21:50:00.002Z

On my way back from last day at Amersham. feeling a bit sad, feels a bit like when i left Bristol.

Except then it was more of a negative move, what with dropping out of uni. this time i'm only moving job. but being a bit softy i can't help but feel a little down to think i'll hardly see people ever again that i've been around day in, day out for the last 3 years.

Yesterday and today i've felt an almost nervous panic about leaving. as if things are being left unfinished. so i've been leaving cuttings from hagakure (book of the samurai) around the lab, along with small pieces of gaffer tape with smilies on them. sort of needing to leave a legacy or something?

Been going round site saying bye to a few people today, spose if i'm honest it's little more than attention seeking! bit like a birthday, everone wishing you good will and being friendly (for the most part).

Although, be nice to see various people from site next friday for my leaving do. probs won't be a huge turnout, not a problem though. only had one person make the effort when i left my last job! hmm.

Starting to feel more at peace this afternoon, partly from a swift half at lunch :p
also felt calmer after doing a html page with handy work numbers on it, then saving it to the shared drive. pretty much just me showing off, most of them are either easily found or on the phone list on the wall in the lab. most were numbers i'd scribblled in my lab coat diary for easy reference, think some of them were wrong now i think of it :p

Feels good to have left on good terms, to paraphrase dan le sac vs scroobius pip :

In this life you can be either smart orpleasant,

the rewards of being pleasant are far more incandescant.

(written on my phone on the train back from work a few hours ago)

doph
:o)

Julie Moult is an Idiot

2008-09-03T23:36:00.004Z

Just joining in the julie moult bashing, it would seem that a journalist working for the Daily Mail has made the mistake of pissing off internets people. It seems that many fellow b3tans have joined in the cause. I won't go into much detail since I'd only be paraphrasing the above linked blog.
It seems that both the google main search and image search now point mainly to sites calling Julie Moult an idiot, woo!

That is all, night
doph
:o)

today's drivel

2008-03-14T22:39:00.003Z

sat in flat
listening to jamie t in kitchen

wii singing to me
like a mermaid
plinkety plonkety

had a few beers
few jellies
few plastic cups of rum punch

sing star always a hit
chanting along like a tit

flicking through old ps2 titles
makes me reminisce

think of simpler times
containing similar stress
avoiding work at the time had no redress
allowed things to slip
whilst getting a high score on gran turismo
metal gear solid 2,
made me happy
emptily
things were going to shit
all life expectations went amiss

though
I am joe
am i regular joe?
special with tongue in lower lip?
pretensious with cocked hip?

useless tit.

selling tat for pennies

2008-02-17T23:36:00.003Z

Did boot sale today over in Rainham. Quite surreal first thing, haven't done one this time of year before, normally do them in the summer. So it's normally fairly light by the time we get the pitch and start setting up, though this morning, according to my car, it was -5 degrees C. Yes, bloody cold. Though there was just about enough light to set up n that, there were the usual hardcore buyers (no not in the 'adult' sense :p) walking around the stalls at around quarter to 6.

Except that, whereas in summer they'd be able to see reasonable easily, in the winter when it's near pitch black, most had either torches or headlamps whilst they looked for the juicier goods to snap up. Kind of like being interrogated, it distracted me whilst loading stuff onto the paste tables as some random chap shined a torch over the assorted tat I layed out. Kept being distracted by the torch beams, following their gaze like a bloody moth. Managed to get a few hours kip in the afternoon, which I feel is always needed after getting up around 4am, especially in the freezing cold.

Tend to feel less like doing boot sales more recently, since being in my current job it seems a shame to get up at stupid o clock on my sunday off, though after kay doing so well with selling cd's last time back in september there was more incentive this time. The music sold fairly well, we probably got over £40 for various albums, most of those sold in bulk at around 1 - 2 quid each. Not too bad really, got several more kicking around the flat to sell at the next one as well. We tend to do better at boot sales when we've got some stuff that makes decent money then pick up a slow to steady stream of little money off the more classic second hand stuff.

Off to bed now

doph
:o)

pffft

2008-02-02T11:15:00.000Z

Finally decided to do something with my redundant pictures page, was looking a bit naff, having no content n that.

Nearly time to hop on the tube to see wales england in london welsh, pretty much resigned to losing again. Although we do win from time to time (like last year!), as far back as I can remember it seems we generally lose this one. Or to be more specific, we tend to either narrowly win, or lose very badly. Hopefully a narrow win this time :o)

Just about getting into this year's ou courses now, started reading the books a bit more strictly now. First tma's aren't till march I think so not yet in a desparate rush, though if I don't crack on with them it'll start to get very stressful very soon!

Got a new bike for christmas, was all excited like a small child. I've even gone and used it since buying it last week, much to my surprise. There was always the risk of it sitting in the garden rusting for months and not getting ridden, though I've found it's really easy to use it for nipping to tescos in the evening n that. We'll see how often I can be bothered, especially when it's as cold as it is today.

Strange times at work, there've been about 70 jobs lost on site, with more inevitably coming, in the name of cost controlling. So there's a pretty much constant doom and gloom atmosphere among the tea room talk of late. Not that I'm necessarily expecting to stay with the same company, on the same site for more than a few years. Just I get lazy, like most, associating change with hassle and therefore being wary of it. To be honest, getting a mild redundancy package and looking for jobs elsewhere would hardly be a bad thing, with my ~50 mile commute I'd be fairly happy to move somewhere closer and possibly a train commute rather than driving up to 3 hours per day to and from work.

Well time to get ready now, check the wales top is clean n all that.

laters
doph
:o)

excercise as a distraction

2007-10-15T16:13:00.000Z

It's amazing what people do to get out of revision. I've just been for a jog for the first time in about 6 months or more, does that count as a normal distraction?
S205 exam's tomorrow morning, trying to do some last minute cramming before the end of the day. I was more up for it a few weeks ago, until I realised the score from this course might not count towards the final grading of my molecular science degree when I eventually finish it in a few years time. Therefore, with a weakened incentive, I've not knuckled down as much as I otherwise would have. Should be ok though, got decent marks through all the coursework, and I'm fairly confident after doing some past paper work that it won't be too hard to get something half decent like a 2:2 or 2:1.

Went out with work guys in aylesbury the other day, nice to do some more ad-hoc piss ups in between quarterly london trips, speaking of which next one's mid Nov I think.

Is it bad that I'd really rather england lose in the world cup final next weekend? Maybe I'm bitter for Wales losing earlier than expected, if nothing else.

Might join some local martial art dojo place, doing some rare excercise reminded me how I miss doing the small amount of aikido and jiu jitsu I did in Bristol. Maybe. Bit awkward with working shifts, spose it's not that hard to work around shift patterns if I make even the smallest amount of effort. No excuses.

I did manage to get further with the jogging than last time, in spring I think, managed to get past cathall bridge at least! (ie more than one whole mile) before feeling dead, made it to the green area I was heading for over towards forest gate area I think, there were a few other people running laps around the football pitches as well as me. Though that kind of implies that I was running, mostly walking if I tell the truth. Gonna try to go again wed morning, though I have my doubts that I'll get out of bed with enough time to do so before work.

Back to business and revision,
doph
:o)

checkpoint

2007-06-16T22:37:00.000Z

trying to update
my facebook status
how am i?

the details seem pointless
nothing exciting to report

done my third tma, been cinema soon bed
oceans 13 not as bad as it seemed
second one a disappointment.

thinking of jobs
where do I want to be?
I know where I am
in 4 years I'll have a degree
about 9 years too late
but that's the path I've chosen.

doing it on my own terms
but held down by medium debts

one day I'll realise my dreams were never met
but not yet
not yet.

London trip,

2007-02-11T22:40:00.000Z

the sunday wind-down. Had dinner and bath, just chilling out before going to bed. Had steak and jackets for din dins, with some argentinian red wine. very nice. Argentinian because of tevez at west ham, thinking it may somehow do good for the team. Worth a try.

Had the latest london piss up with work people on friday, went from baker street around the circle and district lines to aldgate east for brick lane, via gloucester road (randomness) and embankment. Had a few drinks on a boat just near cleopatra's needle, really nice and relaxed in there, with lovely view of the thames by night, the eye and westminster in the near distance.

Funnily enough, went to brick lane with the express intent of getting a curry in, and managed that....fairly easily. I've only been up there in the day, heading for the old jewish bagel shop at the top before now, so it was a little weird seeing the brick lane that most people see of an evening. It was like bar street in Faliraki, with all the little chappies out on the street tempting you in with offers of free beer and discounts. Not quite the same, but comparable in my head at least.

Plodding through my s205 OU course. On the second part of the third book, and quite surprisingly I'm starting to enjoy the organic side of chemistry. Wouldn't necessarily see that coming, as it's the most beastish and difficult part of chemistry, by most people's accounts. The sheer volume that you need to know and understand to be any good is ridiculous. Makes it a little daunting.

Nighty night

doph
:o)

films

2007-01-29T22:39:00.000Z

Just found the above link on google video site. Transformers the movie baby! Although I have suspicions that the original cartoon version, with, I believe, Iron Maiden or something very similar doing the soundtrack, will be much better than a proper film studio one.
Plus the fools seem to be making a big thing of Michael Bay being the director. I'm certainly no film buff or anything twattish like that, but I think that in Team America world police by South Park people, there was most of a song about how shite a job Michael Bay did on Pearl Harbour:

'I miss you more then Michael Bay missed the mark
When he made Pearl Harbor
I miss you more than that movie missed the point
And that's an awful lot girl
And now, now you've gone away
And all I'm trying to say is
Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you

I need u like Ben Affleck needs acting school
He was terrible in that film
I need u like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part
He's way better than Ben Affleck
And now all I can think about is your smile
and that shitty movie too
Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you

Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?
I guess Pearl Harbor sucked
Just a little bit more than I miss you'

(got the lyrics from lyricsbox.com)

Therefore the new transformers film may be a bit disappointing.

Saw Rocky Balboa this evening, not bad actually. Thought it'd be a bit naff but I quite enjoyed it. Fairly slow going, but I like those types of films. Obviously awesome when they whipped out the classic training montage with the rocky music going. da da daaa daaa etc.

night,

doph

Lots done

2007-01-23T23:20:00.000Z

Ah, one of those productive days.

Shame they don't come all that often, but it's just nice when they do.

Went into work a few hours early today - should have started at 1 pm but arrived at 11 ish - and went into the libarary there to do some proper studying for my ou course. It's always difficult on late shift to get anything done in the morning, as I need to leave the house by around half eleven to make sure I get in on time.
So if I do manage to resist lying in till 10 o clock, it's still really weird knowing I've got to wind up whatever I start doing, such as studying or very rarely some writing, by 10 or 11 ish so there's still time to make my sandwiches n that. The good thing about today was I arrived with loads of time to spare so I could work away happy in the knowledge that I'd pretty much definately make it into the lab on time. Plus I got a reasonable amount done in work, so altogether a good day.

Got to start a little earlier tomorrow (12) so I'll try to do the same again, as long as the traffic plays along with my plan. Been getting through the Michel Thomas italian cd's the last few weeks, on cd3 now so it's slow progress seeing as we've already been to rome and now I don't really need to know it so urgently, though my journeys to and from work are a little boring so it's nice to learn something at the same time as cruising lazily or sitting in traffic.

Night,

doph

Roma baby!

2007-01-18T21:59:00.000Z

Hello peoples.

Hello from rome/roma, here I'm having the best time. Yesterday we went to some more local places to our hostel, various piazzas like reppublica, quirinale where there seems to be a big military place (I expect I'll look up what it actually is later) and the trevi fountain.

Today went to the colloseum, roman forums and other stuff in that area like capitoline? hill with the museums that had the big statue of marcus aurelius on a horse, made around the time he was alive (I think the 2nd or 3rd century?). Really bad with the facts, glad I didn't try to do history in school!

Tomorrow, we're off to the vatican and all that entails. K managed to get us entry to St Peters crypt downstairs there, I'm a little bit paranoid that they'll somehow sense we're slightly heathen and get k to go confession for bloody ages, and just not let me in until I tell them I believe in god. Probably be a long day then.

Well, now I've transferred my photos from the camera to my flash stick I may as well upload one with this post (see above I think)

Ciao

doph

Tidy uup

2007-01-13T22:35:00.000Z

aaaah. Nice tidy flat.
One of those shockingly rare occassions where we've actually done a proper bit of cleaning, even involving mopping the mankier part of the kitchen floor. Such a nice feeling seeing all the empty floor space, gives a sense of opportunity I think.

Started writing a short story earlier, about my previous job at the radiopharmacy. Managed to resist the temptation to rush it and finish it in one session, I'm kind of umming and aahing over specifics like peoples names and that. Probably not that important really, if needs be I'll look some random names up and use them.

In some ways I'd rather do a few more about my temping days, create kind of a collection/series. Best finish this one first though, or it'll just sit on my memory stick for bloody ages.

Time for bed, gotta be up annoyingly early in the morning for sunday shift.

doph
:o)

ps the link is to a blog I found using the blogger 'random blog' search, it's got loads of really good pictures on it amongst the usual bloggy stuff.

Sport n Speed Cameras (cunts)

2007-01-07T02:10:00.000Z

First time in a long while (some say ever) that I've been and watched west ham win today - beat crap brighton 3-0 at upton park. Several people, including k and one of the supervisors at work, have been convinced that I'm the sole reason for west ham losing lots of games this season. Bit unfair really, seeing as it's unfair to blame just one or 2 players for a whole team getting poor results, it's even more unfair to blame someone who isn't even on the pitch!

Bit weird going back to work last week after around a week off over christmas, I kept not being able to sleep when going to bed around half eleven, then feeling knackered the next day, the week culminating in me sleeping in by an hour on thursday, thus being just under an hour late for work. Just great. Fuck it, it was one of those times when I wake suddenly, and realise before I look at the time that I've slept in. Really annoying, cos I'm sure I have no memory of my alarms going off, though I expect they did. Not quite the same as my proper laziness in Bristol, pressing snooze on the alarm clock for virtually the whole morning and missing loads of lectures.

Speaking of which, I've recently started Open University course S205, the molecular world. It's a level 2 course, so I spose that's the equivalent of 2nd year in normal uni. Might have mentioned it already on here, but never mind. Should be interesting this year, see how I cope with getting back into chemistry learning, this time a little more on my own terms though. All should be fine, just want to push on and get it done really. It is nice to read to learn instead of just novels n magazines n that, feel like I'm being that little bit more productive in life. Speaking of which, got one of the newer Murakami books for christmas so I'll be reading that sometime soon.

Speaking of christmas, I managed to get home in time for the Ospreys v Scarlets match so I got to see the Llanelli boys get a damn good pounding, which was rather nice! The bad thing is I've just got a speeding ticket through from South Wales Police, the fuckers caught me going 92 mph on the M4 on my way from working boxing day morning on my way home to watch the match. Well, I spose I should just be grateful that it's been so long before I got caught, though I got flashed on the 406 just the other day since then so I may have a rather nasty 9 points on my license in total given a few more weeks. Shit. Just as my insurance premium went down as well!
Looks like my boxing day overtime'll be paying for the ticket and the eventual increase in my insurance premium then, never mind it's done now so just have to be more careful in future, etc.

Odd listening to the radio at this time (2:30am) on a saturday night/sunday morning, as on early shift I'd be getting up in a few hours listening to the same dj. Very very weird.

Seeing as it's so late, time for bed.

bye bye

doph
:o)

doph on myspace

2006-12-07T23:05:00.000Z

wowser.

Set myself up on myspace the other day. Why? Why not? is more the question. (the answer being boredom).

bit weird having some calm before starting chemistry-related open uni course at the end of Jan. Hopefully it'll be fine, just it'll be rather sweaty doing book reading pretty much every day. But it should be worth it in around 2010, when hopefully I should finally have a degree in Molecular Science (or chemistry if you're old fashioned).

work christmas do tomorrow, should be a bit of a beast as obviously the drinking will start fairly early in the day, most people being on shift and several of those having all of tomorrow of as the shift's rest day. Gonna end up in Jongleurs comedy club in Watford, fun fun. Speaking of Watford, it was pretty appauling at Upton Park yesterday evening, watching West Ham v Wigan, and seeing the Irons get beated AGAIN. Apparently it's my fault and I'm a jinx, so no more football matches for me to go to for a while. At the end of the match people realised the club's now in the bottom 3 of the Premiership, so the chant 'We're going down with the Watford' was resounding around the empty stands where thousands of people left early in disgust. Can't be good for the players morale though. Looking up and seeing a now-empty stadium with over 20 mins left to play.

well nighty night, it's been a long day. Bit weird now I've got the myspace blog as well as this one, seeing as I only rarely post on this one anyway.

byeee
doph
:o)

casino royale

2006-11-19T00:30:00.000Z

Just saw new bond. Bit rubbish.

doph

Odd dream

2006-10-03T09:01:00.000Z

Just had an odd dream. I was going to see a primary school play with mates from back home, and on the way I got overly concerned with the tidiness of my trainers and general appearance, which is odd as I'm typically a scruffy get. So I lagged behind a fair bit, then as I went to go into the place, I noticed the exterior was like a pub. My mates had already gone inside, so I went in, saw some people queueing for tickets, whereas ours were already pre-booked, so I cautiously slid through the door into a bar area. Through the door it was very dark, and I couldn't see any of my lot, so I stood by the entrance for a few moments looking like a muppet, squinting to see if I could recognize anyone. After a few mins, I heard the voice of one of my mates, so I followed it and said hello and where is everyone else? He wasn't too sure, seemed like he lived there or something, he was standing by a very shallow bath or a shower cubicle without the shower, and images passed through my head of half naked people kind of writhing around in there, at least a dozen or so which was surprising as you could have barely fitted one person in there. I turned to my left, and saw an entrance to what looked like swansea leisure centre swimming pool, with the entrance say 20m up from floor level. It looked like loads of people were in there, so I thought my lot might be in there as well, then I realised I had no swimming trunks with me. Despite these being fairly obvious things to not carry around with me, it felt daft to have come unprepared. I went back through the bar, out onto the street, in case any of my lot were outside. Three girls, in their early 20's, so a few years younger than me, were standing outside and asked me to help them get in. I hesitated, as I was kind of busy, then obliged and walked into the bar, with them behind me. I left them in there, and carried on looking around for my mates. Then a door opened and loads of people came out of some sort of hall into the bar, where the primary school play had been going on. Still couldn't find my mates, woke up.

Felt like jotting that down, not sure what the meaning is but right now. I was going to save it on my hard disk, but as I shove all other thoughts onto my site why not dreams as well? Need to make sandwhiches for today at work, so that's all.

laters
doph
:o)