Ron has been saying it for a while but I've been slow on the uptake.
Apparently, I'm rather resilient.
There have been many times in the last little while that I've felt like I'm at the edge. I've had enough, I'm not fighting any more, I'm simply going to sit back and wait for life to go away. But once I reach that point, I bounce back. So it might be "I can't take any more unpacking, we're only going to have to move again in a year, why bother emptying boxes, boo hoo hooo hoooo hooooo". Give me a minute. And I'm back at it "what if this went here? how about that? shall I just tidy this while I'm at it..."
It seems you can't keep a good Lily down.
Over the weekend, it seemed that I'd turned the corner a little. I was not feeling anywhere near so glum and alone in this new city. In amongst that new positivity was a new experience...
On Saturday night we went to see some friends in Leeds for a poker night. They've been hosting these for a little while with proceeds going to charity. I've never played poker before but with the combination of being a mathematician at heart and a general games lover, it seemed like it could be fun.
A couple of the players were rather serious and I managed to offend them a few times by playing out of turn or raising the bet by an incorrect amount (I didn't know there was a correct amount...).
It took me a few rounds to get into the swing of things but after about forty-five minutes, I realised that I was winning more than I was losing. Then I put the host out of the game by matching his "all in" and winning (perhaps not good etiquette...) and started to think I might not be all that bad at this.
A HUGE serving of luck and several hours later, I was the champion! Those who had played a lot before were perhaps a little miffed, particularly at my gung-ho nature at the end (I'd reached the point where I really just needed to go home so was doing wild and crazy bidding in the hopes of losing...but kept winning). I may need to refine my understanding of the game a little to avoid stepping on people's sensibilities in the future but I rather enjoyed myself.
It does leave me with the dilemma of what charity to donate my small winnings to. Perhaps I shall carry the right amount with me until I see someone shaking a charity bucket in town. Sometimes random is best.
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Saturday 20 September 2008
Friends
I am blessed to have friends spread all over the country and indeed all over the world. What I don't have is friends in this town which is starting to have a strange effect on me...
I once saw a sketch by Oscar Kightley, a very funny Samoan, in which he told the story of an advert on NZ TV as if it were his own. He started by explaining that he was at a party and was telling this anecdote to his friends. I watched without noticing for a while just what the story was. Then I started to realise that it all sounded rather familiar (the ad was for safe driving and was on TV a lot...). Finally, he finished by saying something along the lines of but much funnier than "and then I realised that I was telling the story of an advert and that was my only anecdote. It was at this point I knew I needed to get out more."
So the point of this? I'm starting to see characters in various TV programmes as my friends...Mostly, it isn't new telly - it isn't the soaps or other bits that I might watch "live", it is more the characters that I go back to when I'm feeling a little down, need some comfort watching. Spaced or Black Books or 'Allo 'Allo or Flight of the Conchords... (As an aside...if you don't know any of these, rectify it! There's plenty on YouTube as a start...) I've started thinking of these characters as my friends (ok, maybe not Bret and Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords so much...) I haven't yet found myself telling stories about them (though that is probably only because I have no friends to tell the stories too) but I am a little worried that it can't be long before I lose the boundaries between reality and start telling stories that simply aren't true.
Anywho, you have been warned! You may need to filter all content on here from now on to be sure there isn't a liberal dose of plagiarism going on!
I once saw a sketch by Oscar Kightley, a very funny Samoan, in which he told the story of an advert on NZ TV as if it were his own. He started by explaining that he was at a party and was telling this anecdote to his friends. I watched without noticing for a while just what the story was. Then I started to realise that it all sounded rather familiar (the ad was for safe driving and was on TV a lot...). Finally, he finished by saying something along the lines of but much funnier than "and then I realised that I was telling the story of an advert and that was my only anecdote. It was at this point I knew I needed to get out more."
So the point of this? I'm starting to see characters in various TV programmes as my friends...Mostly, it isn't new telly - it isn't the soaps or other bits that I might watch "live", it is more the characters that I go back to when I'm feeling a little down, need some comfort watching. Spaced or Black Books or 'Allo 'Allo or Flight of the Conchords... (As an aside...if you don't know any of these, rectify it! There's plenty on YouTube as a start...) I've started thinking of these characters as my friends (ok, maybe not Bret and Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords so much...) I haven't yet found myself telling stories about them (though that is probably only because I have no friends to tell the stories too) but I am a little worried that it can't be long before I lose the boundaries between reality and start telling stories that simply aren't true.
Anywho, you have been warned! You may need to filter all content on here from now on to be sure there isn't a liberal dose of plagiarism going on!
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Unemployment
Ok, not the most chipper of topics for a first post but that is what is happening around Lily's Pad at the moment!
We moved a few months ago to a city in the North of England. Everyone told us what a lovely place it was, how much we would love it, what a wonderful place to be...but for me so far it has brought unemployment and not a great deal else.
My ever wonderful husband, let's call him Ron (because the Harry Potter films are being made a decade or so too late...he was born to be a Weasley!), has a wonderful job here. He is indeed enjoying himself very much, as everyone promised. Of course, that makes me happy to but...well, I do rather need something of my own to do too!
So here you find me, with a long list of schemes to keep myself occupied. I have a full shelf of books that I want to read. I have at least seven presents I intend to make (mostly by knitting them) over the next few months. I have a novel on the go (it's been on the go for about sixteen months now, I'm on the second draft, today I don't like it. Yesterday, Ron did). I bake for England...well, for a household of two... I should still be finishing off the last few boxes of unpacking and sorting required from moving house but somehow the desire to achieve there has worn thin. And now this, a new blog to tell you my take on the world and the little events that keep me ticking over.
The last few days have been unemployment lows. I've been frustrated by the lack of...anything to occupy my mind and take me out of the house. I've been lonely with the lack of people (although I'm fortunate enough to have a number of friends at day-trip distance, there is no one at "fancy a coffee?" distance). Today, however, I have been a much more positive human being. So positive in fact that I was able to face a major challenge first thing this morning without any whimpering, protestation or denial...That's right, I managed to untangle that HUGE knot that had appeared in my ball of wool making it impossible to continue the marvellous slippers I'm currently making. (Actually, I don't yet know that they are marvellous. I'm really just hoping...) Now, so that you appreciate a) what being unemployed has done to me and b) the magnitude of this knot I must explain a little further. The knot appeared last night. I have a bit of a go at it and Ron had a big go. He attacked the knot at length. The kind of length that involved me shouting downstairs "Seriously. It's bedtime! Leave the wool alone!" This morning, it still took me an hour and a half to finish sorting the wool. In the end, I still had to use scissors. Which probably means that it should have felt like failure, I was just happy that so much time was gone.
Just think, if my interview on Friday goes well, I'll no longer have the time for giant knots. Or hours spent on Facebook (I know, I know). Or alphabetising books, CDs, DVDs, games....
We moved a few months ago to a city in the North of England. Everyone told us what a lovely place it was, how much we would love it, what a wonderful place to be...but for me so far it has brought unemployment and not a great deal else.
My ever wonderful husband, let's call him Ron (because the Harry Potter films are being made a decade or so too late...he was born to be a Weasley!), has a wonderful job here. He is indeed enjoying himself very much, as everyone promised. Of course, that makes me happy to but...well, I do rather need something of my own to do too!
So here you find me, with a long list of schemes to keep myself occupied. I have a full shelf of books that I want to read. I have at least seven presents I intend to make (mostly by knitting them) over the next few months. I have a novel on the go (it's been on the go for about sixteen months now, I'm on the second draft, today I don't like it. Yesterday, Ron did). I bake for England...well, for a household of two... I should still be finishing off the last few boxes of unpacking and sorting required from moving house but somehow the desire to achieve there has worn thin. And now this, a new blog to tell you my take on the world and the little events that keep me ticking over.
The last few days have been unemployment lows. I've been frustrated by the lack of...anything to occupy my mind and take me out of the house. I've been lonely with the lack of people (although I'm fortunate enough to have a number of friends at day-trip distance, there is no one at "fancy a coffee?" distance). Today, however, I have been a much more positive human being. So positive in fact that I was able to face a major challenge first thing this morning without any whimpering, protestation or denial...That's right, I managed to untangle that HUGE knot that had appeared in my ball of wool making it impossible to continue the marvellous slippers I'm currently making. (Actually, I don't yet know that they are marvellous. I'm really just hoping...) Now, so that you appreciate a) what being unemployed has done to me and b) the magnitude of this knot I must explain a little further. The knot appeared last night. I have a bit of a go at it and Ron had a big go. He attacked the knot at length. The kind of length that involved me shouting downstairs "Seriously. It's bedtime! Leave the wool alone!" This morning, it still took me an hour and a half to finish sorting the wool. In the end, I still had to use scissors. Which probably means that it should have felt like failure, I was just happy that so much time was gone.
Just think, if my interview on Friday goes well, I'll no longer have the time for giant knots. Or hours spent on Facebook (I know, I know). Or alphabetising books, CDs, DVDs, games....
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