Weekend wibblings...

[cybermule]

Gave the house a blitz on Saturday morning. I haven't touched it in about 6 weeks and it was filthy. So I've finally hoovered up the layer of cat hair, cleaned the bathroom and even dusted, which I tend to do somewhat irregularly.

Saturday night was "Kill Bill" with my brother and his GF. This cheered me up a bit - housework always makes me depressed, and together with certain work and emotional problems, I'd got myself into a bit of a mess by the time I went out. But the film was pretty good. Not great, IMO - it was a bit slow and predictable, but maybe that will change in the second volume. However, I really enjoyed the style, particularly the cartoon-y bit, and generally had a good time. Saw the trailer to the new Matrix film, and wish to state comperhensively that I will not be going to see that.

Ate pizza at my brother's place while watching his "pirates of the carribbean" DVD (don't ask!), then crawled home ridiculously late, with a sore throat and headache :( Still felt crappy on Sunday, so I took advantage of the fact that I didn't have to do Mom's shopping until Monday to get some provisions and spend the day wrapped up in my quilt, self-medicating and watching cartoons. Watched a neat documentary on Pompeii. Then had bad dreams about volcanoes :P

Monday was incredibly busy, which took it out of me again. Went walking very early in the morning. I saw a massive hawk dragging a rabbit along - gross, but fascinating. There's a cute little lake near my hometown, so I went wandering around that. It was so still and frosty... amazing. That kind of recharged my batteries (must do country walks more often!), which was good because I needed it for the day ahead :P

Got home, tidied up a little (my family are VERY messy - it's best to get ahead of yourself). Then my brother phoned and asked if I'd drop in with my mom. I wasn't sure, but then neither of them have a car, so I feel like I kind of have to. Went to get my mother and took her to the housing office, where I argued endlessly with a council officer. Net result - my mom has an extra 60 points and has shot up the waiting list. So at least I feel like I did something concrete. We then had to do some shopping (Mom always runs out of money conveniently just before I take her shopping *sigh*) and hang around for my brother for an hour or so. Nonetheless, I enjoyed spending a bit of time with my mom, and cheering her up a bit.

Saw bro for half an hour, had curry for tea, then took my mom home, came home myself, showered and collapsed in bed for 10 hours. Still have a sore throat :(

Actually had quite a good day at work - some entries on my friends page cheered me up, I patched up a couple of sticky situations with my colleagues and got through a lot of narky tasks. Even phoning two people, which I've been putting off for about a month. I'm going to spend the evening catching up on a huge backlog of emails and working on my new website. Oh, and maybe watching one or two cartoons :P

In short, after a really shitty couple of weeks, I start to feel some serenity returning :)

Comments

[kidkarrot.livejournal.com]

The only thing that made the movie predictable in my opinion was that Uma Thurman was playing the starlet role. Tarantino really likes her style, so if she's the hero, then yep, 'good' will win. The rest of it was a cartoon, of course, so I do hope the sequel will be more worth it. I haven't seen the Matrix 3 trailer yet, so what strikes you as so bad about the movie?

Cleaning does suck, but when I'm in my new house, I'm sure my cleanliness standards are going to shoot vertical because it will be a place I finally own! *bounce* Then, at the housewarming party, you can join me on a nice country walk around a waterless landscape with a sad pile of boulders people call the Organ Range. ;)

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

Tarantino really likes her style, so if she's the hero, then yep, 'good' will win.

*nods* I think that was pretty much the problem. It just seemed layed out from the start, so I'm hoping the sequel will be a bit more interesting. I'm quite a fan of slow "vendetta" westerns and "Japanese Westerns", but this seemed to take their slowness and leave behind the intensity of the interaction of personalities. I didn't hate it, but I guess I was expecting more of it.

I haven't seen the Matrix 3 trailer yet, so what strikes you as so bad about the movie?

Heh - see comment to unsane1 above - basically I loved Matrix 1, but Matrix 2 was dull (other than Agent Smith ;P) and the thrid part looks more of the same. I'll probably watch it eventually, but not at the cinema.

it will be a place I finally own! *bounce*

Yeah - I'm way fussier now I own my own place. Although, not so fussy that I quite get around to cleaning. I guess I use all my organising energies (and they are few!) on my garden.

Looking forward to that walk :) I loved the desert in California - so different to the SW of England... no water, few trees, piffling little piles of boulders ;)

[fyatuk.livejournal.com]

I loved the desert in California

*chuckle* if you want no water, few trees, and flat land dirve the 600 miles from San Antonio to El Paso (west texas). You get a tree every few miles, shrubs every few hundred feet and the occassional oil well.

I definitely prefer the central TX hill country to the pseudo-desert of west TX, SE NM.

And kidkarrot, do I get an invite to the house warming? not sure I have access to transportation, but it'd be nice to be invited *grin*

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

And kidkarrot, do I get an invite to the house warming? not sure I have access to transportation, but it'd be nice to be invited *grin*

So how far do you guys live apart? I've no real grasp of the scale in the US :P

[fyatuk.livejournal.com]

IIRC, he's about 600-650 miles (sorry, don't remember km conversion) west and what 60-70 miles north. Only about 650 as the road goes I think... (its 583 to El Paso, he'd no better from El Paso to him though).

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

I like your dreamcatcher icon :)

It's OK - we use miles over here. And that's about as far as it is from my town to the end of Scotland!

[fyatuk.livejournal.com]

Well, let's see. Its about over a thousand miles from one end of texas to the other along I-10, and about 600 along I-35 (I-10 is east west and I-35 is north-south, but hit San Antonio). Course that's road miles...

As the saying goes: Everything is bigger in Texas.

Maybe that's why we're now the most overweight city in the US! I feel like an outcast be quite a bit underweight myself (if you haven't seen it, kidkarrot is fond of saying i can turn sideways and disappear).

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

if you haven't seen it, kidkarrot is fond of saying i can turn sideways and disappear

LOL - that's a neat trick :)

Unimaginable distances! I don't think the entire length of Britain is that much, and I've only personally driven about 300 miles :P

[fyatuk.livejournal.com]

Not too far. A few months ago I drove to southern Ohio (1450 miles by road) in 24 hours. That 24 hours includes a 2.5 hour nap and being lost in Cincinnati (sp?) for 1.5 hours. Also got stuck in rush hour in a construction zone in Little Rock for 1 hour.

That was a long drive.

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

Blegh - I get boggled by more than about 600 miles in a day. Even if I nap, my brain just refuses to drive any more...

[fyatuk.livejournal.com]

I have issues driving for more than 5 or 6 hours straight in daylight. The sun starts getting to me. During the day I stop at every rest stop and walk around for a bit.

During the night its non-stop as much as possible.

Course I also hate driving in cities (on highways at least). I'm much more comfortable when I can't see any buildings.

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

I'm much more comfortable when I can't see any buildings.

Yeah - that's quite hard to do in England, although you can avoid cities quite well. Hate driving in towns - too many ppl all in one space, getting really stressed. But to drive any distance you have to use the motorways, and they've got they're own set of problems.

Blech. Guess I don't like driving anywhere, except the open country road :P