If your life had a face, I'd punch it.
I've been having a jolly week off. So much so that today is especially hard, being back at work. I hate my job, so I'm kicking into action Plan B. I'm going to start applying for part-time library work and see where I end up. It's quite nice earning an ok wage (especially on 4 days a week) but with library jobs being few and far between I can't just wait for a perfect job to come up. It's nearly a year since I got my MSc and I'm still here. So There's a good, 20-hour a week job at University of Leeds which I'll go for. I guess I'm too comfortable here but if I want to get out then I really need to take a risk.
On Bank Holiday Monday we did the new, extended Leeds Owl Trail. I recently emailed the people who do it with some extra owls we found and I got a reply today to say that they're not actually Heritage owls, they're 'scare' owls. Fake owls! Who knew?! We finished up near Millennium Square so we went to Spice Quarter for lunch and had their all you can eat buffet. It was so good! I'd never used a chocolate fountain before, fun stuff!
On Wednesday we went to see Scott Pilgrim Vs The World which I really enjoyed. It's fun stuff. I have a love/hate relationship with 'geeky' (I can't think of another way to describe them!) films. For me they either try too hard (Lost In Translation) or have really unlikeable characters (Ghost World, Juno), but then I'm aware that the ones I hate, other people really love, and the ones that I love (Eternal Sunshine for example) also divide people and can have the same arguments that I've just mentioned fired back at it. I've never know any other type of movie to divide people in such a way. Anyway, I'm glad to say that it was on the right side. It was really funny and there were a surprising amount of characters in it. My only problem was that I didn't care if George Michael (no, not that one) got the girl or not, Knives was much cooler and he totally should have run away with her at the end instead of being blinded by Ramona's colourful hair.
On Saturday we went to Lotherton Hall. Typically the summer bus that goes straight there had stop running last week so we had to get the bus to Aberford and walk a mile to reach the place. It really is in the middle on nowhere. Still, it was worth it. It has a free bird garden which was really nice, especially as the weather was great. And the house itself is stunning. There are no ropes holding you back from wandering around, the windows are large and let loads of light in and so the house doesn't have that cold, hollow feeling that a lot of similar big houses can have. There were a lot of worldwide knickknacks around along with bird artifacts, and an exhibit upstairs which had fashion items influenced by birds. All really interesting. We had dinner in the café where James declared that 'there are a lot of lumpy people around aren't there?' and we walked around the grounds and had a really nice chat about family and other things. A great day.
We got back and walked through the market where I saw a teenage mum pushing a pram wearing an 'I *heart* Justin Beiber T-shirt. I cried inside. In the evening we went to see Witness For The Prosecution at Leeds Grand. I love Agatha Christie and it's surprising how much work she did on the stage. The play is wonderful, although it's very wordy so you do have to concentrate. All the twists at the end totally pay off.
Must mention the book I'm reading. I've just read Superfreakonomics which was great, and now I'm on to the Bad Book Affair. I should read more novels with a librarian as the main character. I'm loving it. I'm really into reading at the moment.
Music-wise I haven't really bought anything new apart from the new Kim Wilde album. The Hurts album is on the way though. I've mostly just been listening to Dragonette - 'Get your titties off my things'!
Might be booking a Xmas trip to Denmark/Sweden soon. More details to follow.
On Bank Holiday Monday we did the new, extended Leeds Owl Trail. I recently emailed the people who do it with some extra owls we found and I got a reply today to say that they're not actually Heritage owls, they're 'scare' owls. Fake owls! Who knew?! We finished up near Millennium Square so we went to Spice Quarter for lunch and had their all you can eat buffet. It was so good! I'd never used a chocolate fountain before, fun stuff!
On Wednesday we went to see Scott Pilgrim Vs The World which I really enjoyed. It's fun stuff. I have a love/hate relationship with 'geeky' (I can't think of another way to describe them!) films. For me they either try too hard (Lost In Translation) or have really unlikeable characters (Ghost World, Juno), but then I'm aware that the ones I hate, other people really love, and the ones that I love (Eternal Sunshine for example) also divide people and can have the same arguments that I've just mentioned fired back at it. I've never know any other type of movie to divide people in such a way. Anyway, I'm glad to say that it was on the right side. It was really funny and there were a surprising amount of characters in it. My only problem was that I didn't care if George Michael (no, not that one) got the girl or not, Knives was much cooler and he totally should have run away with her at the end instead of being blinded by Ramona's colourful hair.
On Saturday we went to Lotherton Hall. Typically the summer bus that goes straight there had stop running last week so we had to get the bus to Aberford and walk a mile to reach the place. It really is in the middle on nowhere. Still, it was worth it. It has a free bird garden which was really nice, especially as the weather was great. And the house itself is stunning. There are no ropes holding you back from wandering around, the windows are large and let loads of light in and so the house doesn't have that cold, hollow feeling that a lot of similar big houses can have. There were a lot of worldwide knickknacks around along with bird artifacts, and an exhibit upstairs which had fashion items influenced by birds. All really interesting. We had dinner in the café where James declared that 'there are a lot of lumpy people around aren't there?' and we walked around the grounds and had a really nice chat about family and other things. A great day.
We got back and walked through the market where I saw a teenage mum pushing a pram wearing an 'I *heart* Justin Beiber T-shirt. I cried inside. In the evening we went to see Witness For The Prosecution at Leeds Grand. I love Agatha Christie and it's surprising how much work she did on the stage. The play is wonderful, although it's very wordy so you do have to concentrate. All the twists at the end totally pay off.
Must mention the book I'm reading. I've just read Superfreakonomics which was great, and now I'm on to the Bad Book Affair. I should read more novels with a librarian as the main character. I'm loving it. I'm really into reading at the moment.
Music-wise I haven't really bought anything new apart from the new Kim Wilde album. The Hurts album is on the way though. I've mostly just been listening to Dragonette - 'Get your titties off my things'!
Might be booking a Xmas trip to Denmark/Sweden soon. More details to follow.