So this is the grande finale...

I just joined the shiny and all new libs community dilly_boys! Let's hope it will grow and prosper... but in order for this to happen, PLEASE JOIN TOO! As of late I've become increasingly fed up with libs_daily, or more precisely the flood of anonymous comments that seem to swamp the place whenever some "controversial" discussion is taking place. Anyway, I hope Dilly Boys will provide a good alternative with a truer sense of community! :-)

On another note: Does anyone have (or know where I can find) a sweet (preferably Libs-themed) Friends Only banner? *looks cute*

It wasn't the brilliant night out I had secretly hoped for, but it was a good gig nonetheless, considering that large parts of the crowd seemed to consist of pissed wankers. Peter looked sweet and sounded good, although he seemed more distant than at any of the other gigs I've recently been to, but I really can't blame him. My personal highlight of the night was Dot and Peter playing Sheepskin Tearaway together. I enjoyed Dot's set too, her new stuff sounded fabulous. Oh, and Drew mouthing the words to Love you but you're green was very cute as well. :-)

Between trying to stay on my feet, fighting off some drunken morons and catching glimpses of Peter's fluffy hair (and I admit his really really nice tight jeans :-P), I took a couple of snapshots and some videos, because I had promised I would and because by angling my camera in a rather uncomfortable way I could actually see what was going on on stage. :-D I'm still feeling a little sore today (I'm definitely not going to stand in second or third row again in a hurry), so I'll keep this post short and sweet. Oh, and I realized two flights in less than 24 hours is obviously pretty hardcore, if you have to work before and after your trip, lol.

Anyway, it was really lovely to see some of you and I'm already looking forward to next week! :-D

My favorite picture of the night:



( more pics and videos of Peter, Dot, Drew and... erm, toilet stalls )

I AM GOING TO THE QUEEN OF HOXTON GIG. :-D :-D :-D

Yes.

I know. I know.

But I really didn't plan on going. Honestly, I felt very sensible last night when I decided I wouldn't go. And then the trouble started. I couldn't sleep. I woke up with a headache. Got a text that totally threw me and today at work I was enveloped in misery. Then I got home. Still with a headache. And heartache. I sat down and thought to myself: What't the one thing that would make you feel better right now? Hmmm...
So yes, I did check RyanAir. Just because. And of course the sale was over. But guess what? There was a new one. And the flights were even cheaper. Ridiculously cheap to be precise. To cut a long story short: I'm booked now. I will try to take the 10th off or leave early, so I can catch the afternoon flight. I'll be in London around three. So there's plenty of time. It should be fine. I'm looking very much forward to seeing some of you at the QoH!

I'm feeling much much happier now. And calmer. :-))

So the gig is rescheduled for September 9th. *sigh* Which is a Wednesday, a strategically BAD day for skipping over to London. Since I AM crazy, I did check RyanAir though... and this is what I came up with:

Work 'til four on the 9th, take the flight at shortly past seven, get to Stansted at 19:25. Arrive at the QoH between 9:30 and 10:00, if all goes to plan. Hang around as long as possible, take the 4:00 bus from Liverpool Street, get on the 06:40 flight, arrive at 9:00, run home, get a shower, be at work at 10:00.

It COULD work, you know. Erm... anyway, I'm not sure, how good that plan actually is. The part I'm most worried about is getting too late to the QoH to get a good place. Eeep. But it's unlikely I can easily take the day off. I'm a bit panicky right now, because I would have to book tonight, since it's the last night of the RyanAir sales and I expect the flights to get ridiculously expensive soon. Any advice on what I should do?

And in case I decide against going *sob*: Does anyone want to give my well-loved, well-cared for ticket a new home?

Hello lovelies,

can any of you technically savvy people give me some recs concerning computers/laptops? As most of you know, my laptop isn't exactly working as it should at the moment. The screen has a loose contact, so sometimes when I turn the laptop on, it stays black for quite a while, before it kicks into action, usually helped by a little loving slap from me. ;-) Then there is another loose contact somewhere, because every time I start the computer it doesn't know which date and time it is and asks me to fill those things out. Which is quite funny (albeit annoying), since I usually don't know the date and time either. Ah, we're a right pair. :-P But the reason I'm thinking of buying a new laptop very SOON is the crash from a little while ago, in which I lost big chunks of projects I work on. I don't know if any of you have experience with StarOffice (it's similar to OpenOffice, I believe), because that's my writing program... And yesterday night IT SHOWED ME THE MESSAGE OF DOOM AGAIN. I think someone out there DOESN'T WANT ME TO WRITE FIC. *paranoia alert* Because it was the (new) Escalator file AGAIN. ARGH! At least this time I was clever enough to copy and paste the - once again *sigh* - almost finished, re-written scene to my LJ before I closed the document. And yes, when I opened it again I got the same thing as last time: A blank page. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong here. So I spent the rest of last night saving all my new thesis entries and other important, recently updated documents to my external hard drive, just in case.

Well, if you know a bit about computers, here is where you come in: Do you reckon it's a bug that's to do with the program or with my computer system in general? Should I remove StarOffice and try to install a new version? Or should I forget about it and buy a new laptop? I was just offered one, which is affordable and has got everything I need, but it's second hand, so I'm a bit scared it won't survive two years of excessive usage without giving up the ghost. I don't know what to do! I love my ThinkPad! But it has become so unreliable... And the worst thing is this: Right now, I don't have ANY writing program I dare to use. So I'm stuck with writing on my LJ and using the tiny LJ comment box, which is DRIVING ME FUCKING MAD when I'm working on long texts. Errrrm, I've whined enough for now, thank you. :-) Very grateful hugs for any advice!

PS I just discovered I've never posted my latest pics and videos of Carl and Peter (which are quite old by now - haha, the videos, not the boys ;-))... Sacrilege!

Morrissey, thank you for giving me this nasty cold! Hope you're happy now. ;-) No, really, it wasn't his fault, was it? But I have never ever experienced a torrential rainfall like this for as long as I live here. Queuing in the rain = not good for your health. I know. But what else can you do? It was MORRISSEY after all. :-D And he was great!! Plus I had very lovely company on that day, so it was worth losing my voice over. But could I please have it back any time soon? Thanks. Did any of you see Morrissey on his current tour? Does he always do the fan Q&A session in the middle of the gig? I know I certainly expect him to shred at least two shirts every night, hehe. :-P

It's fic survey time! Since the last part of The Escalator hasn't exactly received lots of rapturous reviews and I got a few puzzling, mildly discouraging emails on it, I have grown really curious as to why this part obvioulsy didn't fulfill (many?) people's expectations and might even have annoyed some of you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not fishing for compliments here, I want honest criticism! Admittedly, I don't think I would have been that puzzled or bothered to not know, if this had happened with any other part of my story, but this one is so close to my heart, took me literally ages to write and sort of starts to wrap things up as we're nearing the end here, which is why I'd really like a few constructive answers. Haha, I also tentatively try to ascertain, how likely it is you'll cry with dismay at the ending. :-P You can comment anonymously if you want to, since I know some of you don't have an LJ account - or might think I'll bite (which I usually only do when asked to ;-)). Thanks a lot, if you take the time to answer! Oh, and if you have no opinion on that and would instead rather tell me your favorite part/chapter of the story, that would be interesting as well.

Right, here is a random list of things that have made me happy in the last few weeks. Recently I haven't been in a happy state of mind at all, so I deliberately try to focus on the good things for now:
- Listening to the new Patrick Wolf album; yay, I've finally got it!
- Going to gigs
- My friends (you know who you are)
- Re-reading The Bloody Chamber
- Seeing my dog happy and healthy again
- My new, tiny cactuses (I love growing all sorts of plants, but looking for a catcus has become quite the quest nowadays - apparently they are not in fashion anymore. Huh? They are older than mankind and fucking amazing, how can they be "out of fashion"?!)
- Finishing another part of my thesis outline
- Listening to Glasvegas, AFI and Peter
- enharmonies stunning Gatsby-inspired fic - If you haven't read it yet, go over to A_F right this second and do so!!!
- Writing.

Okay, I guess that will do for now. xxx

Sorry for neglecting you, dear f-list! But the last two weeks have been... eventful. Let's put it that way: If you ever consider starting a new job in the same week as traveling to another country not once, but TWICE, you might want to think again. As convenient as cheap-as-dirt, crack-of-dawn flights are, there comes a time when your body begins to insist that sleeping is not as overrated as your mind wants to make it believe. Worrisome things may result from lack of sleep: Like greeting your boss in the wrong language or almost fainting in pubs before Carl is even on stage. Hehe. Having said that, I'd still do it all over again (and knowing me, I probably will), so don't let sensible advice stop you. :-P

List of memorable gigs I managed to squeeze into the whole London adventure:
1) Manics (twice) @ Roundhouse
2) Patrick Wolf @ Electric Ballroom
3) Peter (sort of ;-)) @ The Den
4) The Horrors @ Electric Ballroom
5) Carl (and lots of good bands like the Paddingtons et al.) @ Camden Crawl
6) Kieran Leonard (twice) and Drew (once) @ Gaslight.

Not bad, eh? :-D There's video footage and pics of most of the gigs, so if anyone's interested in anything in particular (apart from the Carlos stuff, which I'll dutifully post anyway), I can upload/link it. Personal highlights and unexpected treats included seeing JDB dance again, Patrick's in-between song banter and the fact he does indeed sound a lot like Alec Empire when he puts his mind to it (I just say: "Battle!" :-D), the incredible sing-along at Peter's short but sweet gig, which was so loud that I didn't realize for the better part of two songs that his mic was broken and you couldn't hear Peter singing at all, getting squished during Count in Fives, finally hearing The Ballad of Grimaldi live, the intimacy and relaxed atmosphere at Kieran's gigs and Drew forgetting the words to The Man who came to stay, bless him. :-D Lowlights included sacriligous queue-jumping at the Manics, hysterically squeeing teenage girls at The Horrors (wtf???), terrible organization/security at all Carl and Peter related events on the list (surprise, surprise! *g*) and of course the pain of being forced to choose between seeing Peter or Carl at Camden Rocks. In general though, there certainly wasn't a lot to complain about gig-wise! :-)

Other things I realized while I was in London this time:

1) Recently I haven't been to any gig in London without meeting at least one or two people I know. I hardly ever (unexpectedly) meet anyone I know at gigs at home. Hmmmm...

2) Gin and cranberry is quite addictive.

3) My oyster card tells me more about where I went in the last couple of months and at what time than I feel comfortable knowing.

4) It's lovely to always see so many kind, familiar faces in a city I don't even live in.

5) London starts to feel like home.

In other news, my thesis supervisor told me I should stop mixing American and British English. You lot are obviously corrupting me! :-P

I know. I know. But honestly, I can't help it! The gig's on a Wednesday... Hmmm... 22/04... Is anyone going? I so shouldn't even consider doing this. It would be possible for me though. Definitely not sensible. But possible. Theoretically. *sigh* Any advice? Wonder cures? More or less legal ways of obtaining time and/or money? Or just some pretty pictures to feed my obsession? It's all greatly appreciated.

In a moment of reckless joy and enthusiasm I just booked my flight for Peter's show at the Troxy. 0_0 I can't believe it, this is insanity!!!

It's NOT my fault though! At least not entirely. Why do they always have to do stuff like this:

whenever I try my best to be reasonable??? WHY WHY WHY???

Now all I need is a ticket. And a place to stay for two nights. And a place to store my bag during the gig. And lots of coffee. *slaps forehead* I feel like this is becoming something of a recurrent theme in my life, lol!

But first things first. Can any one of you darlings buy a ticket for me, if I send/paypal you the money? I'm sick and tired of the box office collection business, it's always so nerve-wracking if you haven't been to a venue before and don't know whether they'll actually open the box office before doors or not. I'd love you forever, if you could help me out! :-D

YAY! Happiness overload! Now all Carl needs to do is come to either London or Berlin or Ghent or some cool place like that and my gig life would be perfect. :-D

AWWW! I just realize coming to the Troxy also means I'll be seeing beesandbarley again before she leaves for Australia, wohoo! :-D Lots of you lovely people will come to the Troxy gig, right? Heee, this is making it even better!! SO MUCH JOY!! YAY YAY YAY! HELP, I CAN'T STOP USING CAPS, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME? :-D

Anyway, this is going down as one of the greatest days/nights I ever spent grinning/laughing/cringing/shouting/dancing/punching the air like Carl/gaping at my laptop screen! :-D I'll go to bed now (for exactly 5 hours). Hopefully all of us will have sweet dreams tonight. :-)

Well, yes. *points at title* This is the reward for the lovely beesandbarley cos she has found one of the hidden The Smiths quotes in my story. :-) Well done, you! Now, let's all have some Drew:



( something borrowed, something new )