End of June - end of July
Sarah's party
Sarah's 18th party was "S & P" themed (her initials, duh), and after toying with the idea of going as the Slayer, I decided it wouldn't be costume-y enough (it's Buffy that makes Buffy Buffy, not her outfits), so in the end I went as a pregnant woman. Several people actually thought I was pregnant, including Sarah's auntie who, by the by, is a professional caterer and had done all the food for the party, including doing a whole load of vegan stuff just for me, which was really nice (the gesture and the food......). Also, I got some funny looks when Missy + I stopped at Tesco on the way to buy booze. I'm sure it must've looked great; a "pregnant" 18-year old with a fag in one hand a bottle of spirits in the other.
There was a bouncy castle which was pretty fucking cool. Katy and Will turned up as Smurfs, complete with full blue body paint, which they managed to get on just about every single wall and door frame in the house (and because they both went home totally plastered, we had to clean it up....). Missy managed to demolish a mountain of rolls at about 2am in an attempt to sober up. It worked though; she was totally fine when she drove me home at 10am.
AYO Last Night Of The Proms
I got there really really early to practise for my solo. Just as well, because on trying it out I discovered that the Civic Centre piano is utter shite, and there was one part that I physically couldn't play properly without cutting myself on the keys (I'm not exaggerating...), so I had to make a minor "adaptation". Also, me + Steph (Sarah's sister, the solo singer) had our own dressing room. Not very swish, but it had Hollywood mirrors, a sink and a fridge, so who can complain? Plus the novelty of just having a dressing room can't be underestimated.
Anyway, I came on in the first half and looked into the audience to find the famerlee - including Ruth, who'd said she'd like to come - and when I saw them, I noticed there was one unexpected face... Becca had turned up to surprise me. I can only imagine what my face looked like, because I could feel my jaw dropping, and I was close to tears. That's how happy I was she was there.
First half went fine, then right at the end I had my solo. Fucking scary. But it went well, I was pleased with it, and at the end it felt amazing to have done it. All the work had paid off, and I'd really enjoyed myself, so it was totally worth it. The second half went fine, although it was all the patriotic nationalistic flag-waving stuff which makes me want to puke. Ah well.
At the end, me + Missy had planned to go out into town. But that was before I knew Becca was coming. She started to go home with Mum + Dad, looking sad, while I went with Missy. But then I just thought, "Fuck it, Becca's here and I want her with me!" so I told her to get in the car, and she came out with us. We went to the offy first, although they wouldn't serve me coz I was under 21 (I know, what the fuck?), so we tried another and then went back to Missy's for a bit. She has some tazi driver "on tap" who'll give her reduced/free rides because he thinks he's gonna get into her pants. It's incredibly creepy, and I think she genuinely can't see how wrong it is. Plus she drinks way too much. Before we even left the house she'd had 4 beers and about 2 pints of rum + lemonade. Anyway, we went out about 11 and ended up in the Hobgoblin for a bit. It was incredibly shit. Beyond description. Then Missy + her friends wanted to go to Litten Tree, so we followed. They wouldn't let Becca in without ID. I think this was a blessing in disguise, since town was so pathetic that we decided to just go home and get stoned in her room, which was a way better ending to the night.
Photoshoot
I got "nominated" by Vicky Warman to go and have this makeover and photoshoot done for free in London. Originally I wanted to take Sarah, but she was away. I couldn't take Ruth coz she wasn't 18. I asked Missy who agreed but then got the dates mixed up and was working. So then I asked Steffie to come, who agreed. We met outside the nearest tube station and then tried to find the place. I'd stupidly left the directions at home which turned out to be really problematic, coz even thought I knew the street it was on, I didn't realise it was inside a much bigger building with no signs saying what was inside, so we trapsed up and down the street for about half an hour before using Stef's phone to look up the directions on the internet and realising where it was. So we were half hour late, but it didn't matter. We spent a few hours being preened and then sat around for a bit before having the snaps done. Our photographer, Iggy, was actually really cool and made it pretty fun, whereas it could've been either really uncomfortable or just really really dire. In the end we liked loads of the pictures and had a hard time narrowing it down (which was incredibly necessary, since the photos were NOT cheap. Oh yeah, the makeover and photoshoot were free; the pictures were not). We ended up getting 8 each; I got 6 of me + 2 of both of us, and she got 7 of her and 1 of both of us. They're on Facebook.
AMC Summer Event
So I cried at the end. The previous day had been my last AMC rehearsal, and I'd given presents/cards to Hugh and Roy. Hugh gave me a "thank you for the card" card which made me cry, and also a rare antique book on cello playing. Afterwards me + Missy went out to the pub for a bit. We would've stayed out a bit longer, but we'd been drinking since 2pm and were both really tired, so we went home at 6pm. When I got in Mum was blubbing, which set me off again. It's weird not being there any more. It'll be even weirder in September.
Brum trip
Went up on Fri 18th to stay with Becca, and as soon as I got into New St. we got a train to Leicester, where they were doing a charity screening of Joss Whedon's Serenity in aid of Equality Now, which is a women's rights branch of Amnesty Intl. Fuck me, the film was fucking incredible. Becca got it for me for my birthday, but when she mentioned it being on at the cinny, I decided not to watch it, so I could enjoy it for the first time on the big screen. Which I really, really did. Fucking brilliant. But then what can you expect from the master?
The next evening there was a gig on at the Wharf with Garden Gang, Eastfield, d'CornerbOis and a cupla others. Was a good evening, and it was great to see people like Ben, Sam, Al + Jesse again.
Went home on Sunday morning since I was working a late.
Famerlee meal in Brum
The week before Gordon's birthday, Mo was in town, so she came with me, mum + dad up to Brum where we visited G, S, A & C and then in the evening the adults (woo, I can include myself in that bracket now....) went out for a meal with Becca as well, at some flash Indian place. Caleb is still a chunkster. Adam's hair is far too long.
Roanna's wedding
It's weird when childhood friends get married and have kids, isn't it? Roanna - who Becca grew up with - got married on 1st July. Mum & Dad were in Ireland at Trish's son's wedding, so Becca & I went instead, since it was one train stop away from her flat (Ro went to uni, and now works, in Brum). Since leaving home, Ro has become super religious. Properly intense. The wedding was so Godtastic, I almost couldn't believe it. Some insane preacher gave a half-hour sermon on how if you don't know + accept God, then you don't really know what love is (because God IS love), and so therefore it's totally pointless to love anyone, or even be nice to them. You might as well go through life being totally selfish and crap, since you're a pointless and empty human being without having God in your life. Also, a marriage is all about God, and you can't love anyone just because they have qualities which you find attractive. You only love them because it's a way of loving God... or something like that. Basically, without God, relationships are pointless, liove doesn't exist and athiest are stupid, loveless creatures.
Yeah, that was pretty much the gist of it.
Nevertheless, it was really nice to see the Selbys. Ro had a cool LOTR-style silver headband thing on. We stayed around to take photos and abuse the free biscuits, and then went back to Becca's, since were weren't invited to the reception. We were, however, invited to the evening ceilidgh. Yeah. We went along, not really knowing what it would be like, but armed with spliffs to get us through the night. Unsurprisingly, we didn't dance. We just laughed at people dancing - one woman in particular who obviously knew all the steps, and was really dominant and school-teachery with her dance partners. Funny to watch. About halfway through they started playing some Iranian music, and Venus and her sisters started dancing, and then got a few more people up. Sadly it didn't take off properly, but it was much better than the stupid ceilidgh dancing.
Sarah's 18th party was "S & P" themed (her initials, duh), and after toying with the idea of going as the Slayer, I decided it wouldn't be costume-y enough (it's Buffy that makes Buffy Buffy, not her outfits), so in the end I went as a pregnant woman. Several people actually thought I was pregnant, including Sarah's auntie who, by the by, is a professional caterer and had done all the food for the party, including doing a whole load of vegan stuff just for me, which was really nice (the gesture and the food......). Also, I got some funny looks when Missy + I stopped at Tesco on the way to buy booze. I'm sure it must've looked great; a "pregnant" 18-year old with a fag in one hand a bottle of spirits in the other.
There was a bouncy castle which was pretty fucking cool. Katy and Will turned up as Smurfs, complete with full blue body paint, which they managed to get on just about every single wall and door frame in the house (and because they both went home totally plastered, we had to clean it up....). Missy managed to demolish a mountain of rolls at about 2am in an attempt to sober up. It worked though; she was totally fine when she drove me home at 10am.
AYO Last Night Of The Proms
I got there really really early to practise for my solo. Just as well, because on trying it out I discovered that the Civic Centre piano is utter shite, and there was one part that I physically couldn't play properly without cutting myself on the keys (I'm not exaggerating...), so I had to make a minor "adaptation". Also, me + Steph (Sarah's sister, the solo singer) had our own dressing room. Not very swish, but it had Hollywood mirrors, a sink and a fridge, so who can complain? Plus the novelty of just having a dressing room can't be underestimated.
Anyway, I came on in the first half and looked into the audience to find the famerlee - including Ruth, who'd said she'd like to come - and when I saw them, I noticed there was one unexpected face... Becca had turned up to surprise me. I can only imagine what my face looked like, because I could feel my jaw dropping, and I was close to tears. That's how happy I was she was there.
First half went fine, then right at the end I had my solo. Fucking scary. But it went well, I was pleased with it, and at the end it felt amazing to have done it. All the work had paid off, and I'd really enjoyed myself, so it was totally worth it. The second half went fine, although it was all the patriotic nationalistic flag-waving stuff which makes me want to puke. Ah well.
At the end, me + Missy had planned to go out into town. But that was before I knew Becca was coming. She started to go home with Mum + Dad, looking sad, while I went with Missy. But then I just thought, "Fuck it, Becca's here and I want her with me!" so I told her to get in the car, and she came out with us. We went to the offy first, although they wouldn't serve me coz I was under 21 (I know, what the fuck?), so we tried another and then went back to Missy's for a bit. She has some tazi driver "on tap" who'll give her reduced/free rides because he thinks he's gonna get into her pants. It's incredibly creepy, and I think she genuinely can't see how wrong it is. Plus she drinks way too much. Before we even left the house she'd had 4 beers and about 2 pints of rum + lemonade. Anyway, we went out about 11 and ended up in the Hobgoblin for a bit. It was incredibly shit. Beyond description. Then Missy + her friends wanted to go to Litten Tree, so we followed. They wouldn't let Becca in without ID. I think this was a blessing in disguise, since town was so pathetic that we decided to just go home and get stoned in her room, which was a way better ending to the night.
Photoshoot
I got "nominated" by Vicky Warman to go and have this makeover and photoshoot done for free in London. Originally I wanted to take Sarah, but she was away. I couldn't take Ruth coz she wasn't 18. I asked Missy who agreed but then got the dates mixed up and was working. So then I asked Steffie to come, who agreed. We met outside the nearest tube station and then tried to find the place. I'd stupidly left the directions at home which turned out to be really problematic, coz even thought I knew the street it was on, I didn't realise it was inside a much bigger building with no signs saying what was inside, so we trapsed up and down the street for about half an hour before using Stef's phone to look up the directions on the internet and realising where it was. So we were half hour late, but it didn't matter. We spent a few hours being preened and then sat around for a bit before having the snaps done. Our photographer, Iggy, was actually really cool and made it pretty fun, whereas it could've been either really uncomfortable or just really really dire. In the end we liked loads of the pictures and had a hard time narrowing it down (which was incredibly necessary, since the photos were NOT cheap. Oh yeah, the makeover and photoshoot were free; the pictures were not). We ended up getting 8 each; I got 6 of me + 2 of both of us, and she got 7 of her and 1 of both of us. They're on Facebook.
AMC Summer Event
So I cried at the end. The previous day had been my last AMC rehearsal, and I'd given presents/cards to Hugh and Roy. Hugh gave me a "thank you for the card" card which made me cry, and also a rare antique book on cello playing. Afterwards me + Missy went out to the pub for a bit. We would've stayed out a bit longer, but we'd been drinking since 2pm and were both really tired, so we went home at 6pm. When I got in Mum was blubbing, which set me off again. It's weird not being there any more. It'll be even weirder in September.
Brum trip
Went up on Fri 18th to stay with Becca, and as soon as I got into New St. we got a train to Leicester, where they were doing a charity screening of Joss Whedon's Serenity in aid of Equality Now, which is a women's rights branch of Amnesty Intl. Fuck me, the film was fucking incredible. Becca got it for me for my birthday, but when she mentioned it being on at the cinny, I decided not to watch it, so I could enjoy it for the first time on the big screen. Which I really, really did. Fucking brilliant. But then what can you expect from the master?
The next evening there was a gig on at the Wharf with Garden Gang, Eastfield, d'CornerbOis and a cupla others. Was a good evening, and it was great to see people like Ben, Sam, Al + Jesse again.
Went home on Sunday morning since I was working a late.
Famerlee meal in Brum
The week before Gordon's birthday, Mo was in town, so she came with me, mum + dad up to Brum where we visited G, S, A & C and then in the evening the adults (woo, I can include myself in that bracket now....) went out for a meal with Becca as well, at some flash Indian place. Caleb is still a chunkster. Adam's hair is far too long.
Roanna's wedding
It's weird when childhood friends get married and have kids, isn't it? Roanna - who Becca grew up with - got married on 1st July. Mum & Dad were in Ireland at Trish's son's wedding, so Becca & I went instead, since it was one train stop away from her flat (Ro went to uni, and now works, in Brum). Since leaving home, Ro has become super religious. Properly intense. The wedding was so Godtastic, I almost couldn't believe it. Some insane preacher gave a half-hour sermon on how if you don't know + accept God, then you don't really know what love is (because God IS love), and so therefore it's totally pointless to love anyone, or even be nice to them. You might as well go through life being totally selfish and crap, since you're a pointless and empty human being without having God in your life. Also, a marriage is all about God, and you can't love anyone just because they have qualities which you find attractive. You only love them because it's a way of loving God... or something like that. Basically, without God, relationships are pointless, liove doesn't exist and athiest are stupid, loveless creatures.
Yeah, that was pretty much the gist of it.
Nevertheless, it was really nice to see the Selbys. Ro had a cool LOTR-style silver headband thing on. We stayed around to take photos and abuse the free biscuits, and then went back to Becca's, since were weren't invited to the reception. We were, however, invited to the evening ceilidgh. Yeah. We went along, not really knowing what it would be like, but armed with spliffs to get us through the night. Unsurprisingly, we didn't dance. We just laughed at people dancing - one woman in particular who obviously knew all the steps, and was really dominant and school-teachery with her dance partners. Funny to watch. About halfway through they started playing some Iranian music, and Venus and her sisters started dancing, and then got a few more people up. Sadly it didn't take off properly, but it was much better than the stupid ceilidgh dancing.