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Friday, August 26th, 2005
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I gots me some Franz Ferdinand tickets!! Woo hoo!
Hmm... I guess this means I should probably get their new album too...
Yipes! Currently sitting in the office and there's this creepy girl from the office next door who keeps coming out on a daily basis to smoke on our tiny *shared* balcony. It's highly irritating cos I can always see her pacing back and forth from the corner of my eye. And if the door or window is open, then the smoke comes blowing into our office. How lovely!
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005
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Oops... so it's been like a million gazillion years since I updated this thing! And much has happened in that space of time, including my life turning around 180 degree's... and the fact that I like living in London now.
Much of it has to do with 3 simple little things:
a) I'm loving my job as a Web Developer
b) We recently moved to a crazy but awesome 70s James Bond style apartment in Barbican (right in the City), meaning everything is very close by, and I'm not squished in a tiny bedroom.
c) I can afford to do amazing things now like seeing every concert I've ever dreamed of (seen Ash, Moloko, Placebo, Garbage x2, Beck, and Tori Amos so far - tonight I'm going to see Royksopp!!), and can occasionally eat out at yummy places!!
It's weird, but I think the fact that I previously went through so much crap and horror and sorrow during my stay last year, has made my time this year so much more enjoyable. Really simple little things make me ridiculously happy! And I appreciate things more because of it. I can truly say I love my life in London right now. I don't want to go home next year!! Waaah!
I've passed on details for a work permit application to my employers so we'll see how it goes. Fingers tightly crossed!! And toes too! :)
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, March 12th, 2005
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WAH!!
Just found out...
Beck : 03.14.05 : London, ENG :
Islington Academy
London, ENG
TICKETS: Tix onsale Saturday March 12th 9am ::
NOTES:
Surprise London show.
So... tickets onsale at 9am this morning, and I only found out at 1.30pm when they were sold out. Damn city where I never know what's going on and things get sold out so quickly...
Am quite gutted considering I still rate his show in Wellington, New Zealand, 1998 as the best concert I have ever been to, and I haven't had a chance to see him since. Hope he'll play here again soon.
Oh well.. at least I got Tori Amos tickets!! (Funnily enough I was trawling for those at 9am this morning). And Garbage tickets... for two different shows!!
And Jeremy made me a breakfast of home made pikelets with fresh strawberries and yoghurt.
I am feeling quite spoilt actually!
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Sunday, February 20th, 2005
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So basically I sent all the agencies/employers e-mails in response, letting them know that I wouldn't be available until after Wednesday at least, if at all. And here's one of the replies that made me go "EH??!!":
( aforementioned e-mail response )
Either way it makes for a nice little ego boost!
Anyway... I'm hungry. Went to London Bridge last night for Raindance. And after a 3 hour journey in -2 degree temperatures (which also included waiting outside in the icy night wind), we finally arrived home at 6.30am!! Even slipped on some ice which we thought was a puddle on the way home!!
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, February 17th, 2005
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... And I'M the Weather Witch!! *"BURN HER and see if she FLOATS!", Lea hears Jeremy's voice say*
So I called the mini-interview/phone screening guy (that I mentioned in my last post) back on Tuesday. He and the IT Guy gave me an interview on Wednesday. And today I started a 5-day trial. It was a long day which started at 8.30am and finished at 6.10pm.
Not only this, but the whole time I was inundated with calls and e-mails from people asking me if I was available for work and offering me jobs!!
Come on people!! Get with the programme!! *snaps fingers a few times* Where were you all when I was desperate, crawling on my hands and knees begging for work? Huh? HUH??!!
Either way I quite like the fact that for at *least* 5 days I can say to people, "I'm a Web Developer". :)
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Monday, February 14th, 2005
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Hmm... I can hear the neighbour in the flat next door drumming away on what sounds like mini bongo drums. Except he's TERRIBLE. As if he's had no training whatsoever and is listening to headphones while bashing away on his drums in a haphazardous motion.
I just went "SSSSHHHHH!!" really loudly... and it actually worked!! It stopped!
I used to think it was something weird with the pipes between the walls as the beat was always so irregular, but now I am almost convinced it is a neighbour with a poor sense of rhythm.
Ah... I want to move!!
Was quite glad when 2 out of 3 housemates were on holiday actually. Weekly chores all went to crap since I was away and house was in quite a state. Really uncomfortable to live in. The new girl went and spilt what looked like laundry powder all down the stairs... and didn't even vacuum it up properly, so everytime I can down from a shower, I'd get icky soapy stuff stuck to the soles of my feet!! It was like this for almost a week before I got fed up with no one taking responsibility for it and vacuumed myself. Boo!
The kitchen as usual feels like a bacterial haven. Sometimes I'll wash all the dishes myself or rewash them in some instances as they'll still have the remains of someone's dried up leftover dinner all over them. Bleh!
Goal: Must stop complaining and get job so can a) go on holiday to get away from grotty house and b) move out of grotty house and into nice newly refurbished luxury house.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
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Man, I like this song. I *knew* it was Beck from the moment I first heard it while watching Jim Carrey break down listening to it while driving in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (best movie ever!!), despite knowing nothing about the soundtrack or any new Beck material beforehand. Sounds very Beck and Jon Brion-ish. And it is! I think...
Kinda like I just *knew* it was Jude Law doing the narration for Lemony Snickett after hearing his voice in the trailer.
I know too many useless things... wish my skills were more tactfully placed. Or at least put to good use. Somebody recognise my brilliance please!
I'm soooooo bored today!! Need. Job. Now.
Going out of my scull with boredom already..! I think I'm also suffering from post-holiday blues after having such a good time away. And loneliness! Even though I have my flatties here, it just isn't the same as your friends and family. I'm kinda just hanging out for Jeremy to get back.
I've called the temp agency but haven't yet received any offers. And applied for 3 webby jobs today, with one interested bite. I kinda fluffed the phonecall though as the recruiter guy totally caught me offguard by calling me just as I was looking for his phone number with the phone in my lap.
I pretty much choked and stuttered my way through the conversation which mostly consisted of "yes's" or "no's" on my behalf, before I started slapping myself on the forehead for my stupidity. I wondered if he could hear me as I was doing so? He said he'd get back to me sometime next week when he heard more from the company. I've had too much rejection from agencies and everyone else for that matter to really think too much of it, but I'm still hoping all the same...
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Sunday, January 16th, 2005
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By the way, I made a new icon out of my new favourite stuffed toy from Japan... Gloomy Bear. It has blood running from it's mouth and claws. Isn't it fantastic?! I find it completely adorable and love it to bits!
I think I have problems...
I also like this one:
He swings the kid around! Hehe...
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, December 20th, 2004
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| Subject: | Travels |
| Time: | 11:51 am. |
| Mood: |  awake. | | Music: | Franz Ferdinand - Michael. |
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Oh yes... I will be going to Osaka for a week in January where my lovely teacher friend Sam will be my tour guide, translator and life saver (who I am sure I will cling to for dear life since I have absolutely no knowledge of the Japanese language or much of the Japanese culture for that matter). Apparently it's the FOOD capital of Japan. This makes me happy.
In February I will be going to Oslo for a weekend. Ryan Air was having a FREE flight sale! You just have to pay the various taxes, charges and whatsits. So it came to about £26 for a return flight. Hurrah! Actually I have no idea what I'll be doing there... it was just a completely random choice! What is there for one do in Norway anyway? Is Cross Country Skiing a good idea for one who has never skied in her life? Oh well... I'm sure it will be good.
I am a lucky girl.
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Well I'm back in New Zealand now and am soooooo unbelievably happy to be here! It's weird... it's almost as if I never left home, and I've just been asleep for the past 10 months dreaming about London life. The only difference is the fact that I find myself feeling especially sentimental and grateful to be with my family and friends, and for the simple, relaxed, laid-back, stress-free NZ lifestyle.
Had my barbeque on Saturday and typically the weather turned it into a cosy, indoor affair. Which worked out, since our oven has a grill function, and I managed to get *everyone* completely hooked on Singstar. Laughs a plenty as *everyone* had a go on the mic! Got rather competitive actually!
And in the evening we went out for Kat G's birthday and almost everyone showed up in some shape or form and had SUCH a good time crammed round a little table at Great India, catching up on all the gossip and scandel, and the silly jokes that we make which is just so uniquely us! Felt quite emotional really... it feels like it's been such a long time since I've been part of a group of friends and when I think about them and how great they all are, I can't help but feel choked up and incredibly lucky to have them. Wah! I love my friends!! :)
Sunday morning, we went to Fidels for brunch... which is a favourite pastime I have missed muchly!! Filled up on eggs benny and yummy coffee!
Had a good catch up with my hairdresser on Friday too... funny that he still remembers me! I got him to fix my dreadful looking fringe and now I have a new mullety do with plenty of blonde streaks. Still getting used to it but I'm happy for the change!
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, November 6th, 2004
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So I had a pretty awesome night. Can you say Placebo's LAST concert until 2006 at Wembley Arena?!! Yeah baby!
( them ants are the band! )
Despite having the crappiest seats way up in the balcony which made the band look like ants, and the sound tinny, it was absolutely BRILLIANT!! They played all their hits including Pure Morning, Every You Every Me, Taste In Men, Nancy Boy, Special K, and in the first encore, they dedicated their new song Twenty Years to John Peel who sadly passed away recently.
Then they had a surprise guest who turned out to be none other than... *drum roll please* ROBERT SMITH from THE CURE!! They performed Without You I'm Nothing together before bursting into a rendition of Boys Don't Cry. Awesome stuff!
And now I am four Placebo badges and one Placebo Live at Wembley, London 2004 sleeveless-t better off. :)
( the merchandise )
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Comments: Read 8 or Add Your Own.
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Time for a new experiment! Will a stick of Mosi-Guard AND a canister of citronella insect repellant be enough to repel the evil midges from my charms? It better otherwise I will be a very unhappy Lea!
Honestly, I have like 10 bites on one arm, 2 on each ankle, plus a whole array of them on each leg! None of the other housemates have this problem, so it's just ridiculous. Not to mention the itchiness is driving me crackers in this hot weather!!
I can't wait until I have insect bite free skin!
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Hmm... just gave myself a crash course in ASP.NET for my interview. Seemed straightforward enough though it was slightly different when Ian wrote the backend stuff for the SchoolFest site. REALLY wish I had been able to stick around long enough to see how it all worked. :(
Unfortunately my webspace only handles ASP so I can't do any practice. Stupid Microsoft and it's stupid incompatible products!! *shakes fist*
Anyway, I was foiled again by the blasted squirrels! This time a cute little baby one was bouncing around our backyard... I rushed to get the camera just in time for it to hop up our stairs and help itself to the seeds in our flowerbed. It was stuffing its face right there in front of me for ages. BUT THE CAMERA BATTERIES DIED!! Bah!!
In other news it twas fun "hanging out" at my friends AP gathering this morning! Come on caller, join the party! Only problem was not getting to sample the food...
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Bah! I don't feel like doing no interview prep right now... but I should! I usually get through on my applications - apparently I have a 100% success rate on those I post out (not that I've really ever posted that many), but I screw up on the interviews. It doesn't really help that my mind usually goes completely blank when I'm nervous and I become a babbling, inarticulate wreak. Example: "I uh... have.. um.. foundations... I mean uh... a solid foundation in um.. the uh.. workings behind a website, due to my.. um.. background in computer science..." *horrified look* "For example... uh.. I have a strong background in HTML...and er... yeah" *confused look that says even I don't know what the hell I'm talking about* And the interviewer goes "Hmm... okaaaay." and writes something down whilst I look on even more horrified.
Either way, I really want a job in this field because there's so much I want to learn! And if I'm not working as a web developer, I'm either playing around with something or learning how to do something in my spare time anyway. So yeah... I really need to overcome this obstacle and practice, practice, practice!
Ouch! I have just cut myself twice within the space of 5 minutes. The first was my finger whilst throwing out some old cellphone catalogues - they sure have some sharp pages! The second was when I stepped on some mysterious sharp object in the carpet. This place really needs a good vacuum!
Anyway, heh... I find it amusing that I can always tell when Jeremy's been secretly eating chocolate. I can smell it in his breath from over a meter away. My chocolate sensing devices are strong!
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, May 26th, 2004
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I nearly got to see Ash and PJ Harvey playing live at "Later With Jools Holland" tonight. But I found out about it much too late - basically I only had 40 minutes to get to the BBC Television Centre from home. Unfortunately it wasn't going to happen!
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Urrgghh!! If you know me, then you know I just can't stand spiders! Not that I'm one to go out on crazed spider massacring frenzies or anything like that. But I'd just prefer not to have them in my prescence... let alone ON me!
Anyway, there I was happily reclined on the couch watching my new Tori Amos DVD "Welcome to Sunny Florida" when all of a sudden I noticed a spider crawling up onto my knee as if it were conquering a mountain or something. Not just any regular old spider, but one of those shudder-inducing, wispy, long and spindly-legged ones! *BIG SHUDDER* Either way, I freaked out and it ended up flying across the room landing safely on the carpet where it crawled away behind the radiator.
Now it wouldn't be so bad, but this is the *second* time it has happened to me over here, with the exact same kind of spider. I was asleep in bed when I noticed something tickling my collar bone. Thinking it was yet another sandfly out to bite me, I kept swatting at it in a half asleep fashion. Then I noticed something goopy on my fingers, so I pryed my eyes open as best as I could to examine what it was... it was a mysterious black, goopy substance. This didn't appear to bode well. And then I noticed the pile of spider limbs on my pillow...
:( :( :( !!!
What the heck is with me and this country's insect population??!! Not only am I suffering from constant sandfly bites that I can't do anything about, but now the spiders are all out to get me too? (iiieeee!!)
Anyway, now I'm all creeped out and too anxious to sleep. It's constantly feeling like something's crawling on me...
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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I'm one of those annoying people who plays the same song over and over and over again if I hear it for the first time and really, *really* like it! The artist in question this time is the lovely Charlotte Hatherly from Ash (i.e. the cool rock chick who plays all the guitar solos), who is just on the verge of releasing a solo album. Hurrah! I'm definitely looking forward to it. She's come a long way since her earlier stuff which was very basic but not too bad. The last song she released under the bands name was Gray Will Fade which is just awesome. It makes *me* want to write songs... alas but I need to learn guitar first.
Anyway, the song in question is her first single which has been playing on radio here (not that I've noticed). It's called Kim Wilde (1.81MB MP3 download - recorded straight from radio). A bit more poppier than your typical Ash song, but is definitely a lot more complex than your typical pop song. It took me about 3 or 4 listens before I could finally "get" it, but I did instantly like it. Her voice is very cutesy punk. I love it!
It is SUCH a hot day today... we're having another barbeque tonight! I just marinaded some chicken wings. Of course it doesn't help that I put fresh chillis in it and now 2 fingers on my right hand are completely and utterly in pain. They're on FIRE! D:
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The mosquitos bit me 5 times... ON THE FACE!! My face is soooo itchy! :(
Actually the worst thing was, when I was walking through Camden, I got something in my eye - it was driving me crazy, I just couldn't get it out. Then it started to itch. Then when I finally got a chance to sit down and get the mirror out and inspect it properly, I found a dead mosquito under my eyelid! EEEWWWWWW!!! Needless to say, I was thoroughly grossed out!
Beat that Sam!
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Blah... my sleeping patterns all out of whack. I feel like such utter crap right now. Of course this is all due to my not being able to sleep last night... It would be okay if I could only manage to wake up early for once and spend a day tired so I could go to sleep at a regular time, but noooo... Jeremy tried waking me up but to no avail.
I'm currently listening to a full band version of (don't get any) Big Ideas by Radiohead. It's a song they've never released, but a fan has taken Thom's vocals and acoustic guitars and added his own bits and pieces to complete it. It's very clever! I think he used the same software that Jeremy uses to create it. I wish I could do music.
I particularly like his take on one of my personal favourites Follow Me Around.
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Cover story I noticed on a trashy magazine as I was waiting in the queue at the supermarket today: SHOCK! CELEBRITY SWEAT STAINS! This was accompanied by photos of celebrities with damp patches beneath their underarms - damp patch kindly circled by the magazine editor. *lea shakes her head in disbelief*
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was awesome by the way! I guess it had to be considering the talent behind it... written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), directed by Michel Gondry (one of my favouritest music video directors), soundtrack by Jon Brion (Magnolia). Anyway, I'd highly recommend it. It was clever, amusing and very sweet. Go see!
Oh yeah... and I didn't end up getting any Ash Love from Virgin Megastore. Boo hiss! :(
I'm hungry... :( Joining all those cooking/recipe lj communities (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) cooking, food_porn, culinarydelight) was a baaaaad idea...
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riotproof's journal
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