Category Archives: Personal

So, On The Advice of My GP

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I have been varying the amount of Trazadone I take, to see how I sleep.

50 mg. Wake up in the middle of the night at least once, don’t get back to sleep for an hour or more.

100mg. Sleep straight through, but only about 7 hours (which is not enough sleep for me *at all*).

150mg. Sleep straight through, but only about 7 hours (which is not enough sleep for me *at all*).

So, since 100 and 150 is the same result, I’ll stay with 100 mg.

In other news, the following questions have been raised as we pack and unpack the office:

  1. Why do we have 100000000000 pieces of crockery? Very little of which match.
  2. Why do we have 100000000000 hanging file folders?
  3. Why do we have 100000000000 rubber bands, when we never use them?
  4. Note for Robyn: don’t purchase any more staples until you’re absolutely positively sure you are out.
  5. Therefore I know why we have 1000000000 staples.

The above list is full of a bit of hyperbole.  But not much.

Nice Hit Count Yesterday

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I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

In other news, after my post about Vaudeville the other day, I was talking to my dad. We were talking about my Great Great Uncle Jacob ‘Jack’ Leyser, aka Louis Lytton, who was an actor. He literally ran away from home and joined the theater.

I am trying to find out more information about him, but it is sparse. My Aunt is our family historian, so I sent the above link to my dad who sent it on to her (I didn’t have her email address…now I do!). She has all the old pictures and an advertising brochure from Uncle Jack: –

“Louis Lytton was guest lecturer and critic at Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, during its Shakespeare Festival in April, 1941. In recent tours he has appeared at the Universities of New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Illinois, Montana, Ohio, Minnesota and other states. He has performed at senior high schools, clubs and educational centers throughout the United States. During a complete theatrical season recently he acted the role of the Duke of Venice in the celebrated Paul Robson production of “Othello.”
“Mr. Lytton is available for universities, colleges, high schools, little theatres, clubs, eductional units, etc.”
We are talking about sending some of the biographical information, like his birth name, to the IBDB.
So.Very.Neat.

Once More, With Feeling

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Okay, let’s try these pictures again, shall we?

The hallway after you first come through the front door of the flat: –

At the end of the hall there are some of my masks,  I have quite a few.

This is the hall bathroom, which is the first door on the left as you enter the flat: –

Nice, big, deep tub.  Shower too!

The next door on the left is our bedroom: –

If you look very carefully, just past the second set of pillows, you will see my dragon.  Her name is Isabella Francesca.  I got her a few weeks ago.  She is green and purple with silver fingernails.  I may take a closer picture of her later.

Another thing to note in the above picture:  There are, above our bed, two pictures that are exactly the same.  They are prints of a Georgia O’Keefe flower, framed identically.  I bought them at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  I framed them the same and posted one to Simon when I was in San Francisco and he was in Belfast.  Now they hang side by side.  (they hang a bit crooked because I used existing hooks…man are the walls *hard* in this place!)

The next picture is the view from the other side of the bed: –

That’s my dresser, which I use as a dressing table.  You can also see the very nice, big jewelry box that Simon bought me as a gift one year.  I love that thing.

And the other side of the room: –

Where the stereo lives!  That door straight ahead is to: –

Our ensuite bathroom.  I deliberately didn’t shoot the floor, but trust me, its blue. The shower is to the left and the toilet to the right.  That glass shelf with the towel rack Simon and I installed ourselves.

This is the view from the door of the Master Bedroom down the hall to the lounge: –

On the top of the shelves to the right you can see some of my puzzle globes.

The first door on the left is: –

The library.  All that bedding on the bed is new as of yesterday.  I was in Primark and found a duvet set, with sheet and pillow case, for about £7.  And a duvet for £4.  And its pink because I expect the only person who will ever stay in there will be my nieces.  And they love pink!

If you stand with your back to that bed and look to your left you will see: –

A set of bookcases.  Look, there is *actually* room for more books!  Those pictures at the top are of my nieces and nephews.

And the other side of the room: –

More bookcases! Hence being the library.  On top of those are my baseball caps.

The next door down the hall to the left is the guest bedroom: –

I have no idea why that duvet is so lumpy…anyway it is completely coincidental that the duvet cover actually matches the curtains.  We brought the duvet cover with us, the curtains were already there.  And that picture on the wall? Its a chicken.  That was already here!

Here is the view to the foot of the bed: –

Wait, you mean you and Simon have even *more* bookcases? Why yes, yes we do!

Next up is the view from the lounge door back to our bedroom: –

More masks on the right there.  And another shot of my globes!

And then you enter the lounge: –

This is what you see when you look left.  Well, Simon isn’t always there, but a lot of the time!

And when you look right: –

The dining area.  And a bit of the kitchen.

And here are our new wall units: –

Look! All my pretties are out!  And that curved shelf is my perfume bottle collection.

And finally, the kitchen: –

Isn’t it pretty?

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Come back and see me sometime!!

More UK versus US…

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It seems odd to me that the British are considered, historically, more formal than the US, but the language isn’t necessarily so.  Elevator seems more formal to me than lift.  Escalator more so than Moving Staircase.

In the US you would probably not hear someone ask, in a shop or a restaurant, where the toilet is.  In the UK its the most common term.

I think UK slang is just more interesting than US.  Quid versus Buck.  Wanker versus Idiot.

There is slang that still gets me in trouble.  Blow someone off has a totally different meaning here.  I’ll you figure out what it is.

Fanny is not your bottom in the UK. It is a woman’s front bit. 😉  Want to get a bunch of UK natives chuckling?  Tell them you own a fanny pack.

Interestingly, a penny is a penny all over the UK and US.  In fact, I found an American penny at work one day and our accounts manager refused to believe it was also called a penny.  I had to prove it to her online.

I still call potato chips chips.  And I still call french fries french fries.  Except when I don’t!!

And in other news, the lift in our block of flats announced the third floor again as we went by.  Silly Lift.

Reading

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Reading is one of my great pleasures.  Anyone who has seen the pictures of our flat will realize that my husband and I are *huge* bibliophiles.

So, what is on those shelves?

A plethora of things.  I like Mysteries, with Laurie R King being one of my favorites.  Simon likes Alternate Histories.  We both read Science Fiction.

Some of the books on our shelves are unmitigated trash.  And we know this.  Occasionally we like to read trash.  No romance novel trash, but adventure novel trash.  A big favorite is Matthew Reilly, the man of !!! and 2 sentence chapters.  And the 59th Minutes of the 11th Hour Saves.  We both enjoy him.

Some of the books on our shelves are first editions.  I have several Firsts by Robert A Heinlein, my favorite Science Fiction Author, hands down.  I have every book he ever wrote, including the ones written for him posthumously.  And I have several of them in both cheap paperback and First Edition.  If you ever come to my house, please ask before reading any of my Heinlein books, thanks.  I am trying to keep the Firsts in good condition!

We also read humour.  Simon likes UK political humour.  I am a huge Dave Barry fan.

And we have comic books, all kinds of comic books.  Graphic Novels, single issue, you name it, we have it.

We both read, constantly.  I always have a book with me.  And so does Simon.

Reading is, indeed, fundamental.

Oh.My.God.

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I just unpacked the last three boxes.  Its really truly done.

Still a few things to rearrange, but I will do that tomorrow, since it is May Day Bank Holiday tomorrow and I am off work.

Once that is done I will take more pictures to show y’all.  So stay tuned!

So what are we doing with our three bedrooms?

Well, the Master Bedroom, is, of course, mine and Simon’s bedroom.

The middle, small bedroom is now the library.  I have even turned the single bed in there into a sort of couch, so come on over and pursue the shelves, grab a book and curl up!  There are even throws if your feet get cold!

And the third bedroom is for guests.  It also has bookshelves in it (as does the hallway), but I think it is still a cozy little place for a guest to spend the night.  Or for me to spend the night when I can’t sleep and don’t want to wake Simon with my tossing and turning.

So I am very satisfied with what we have here.  I think we’ll stay awhile, if the landlord is okay with that.  We’ll see in about 7 months!

Playing Games

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I like games.  Puzzle games especially.  But I am also a big Feeding Frenzy fanatic.  We have it for the XBox 360.

What I like about it is that it starts slow and builds up in good stages.  First level is just you and the fish who can eat you.  Then they add additional predators and things to eat, until there is so much going on the screen you are dashing around like a maniac!  A lot of games ramp up too fast, but Feeding Frenzy is just perfect.

But mostly what I play are puzzle games.  Picross for the DS is my favorite, hands down.  I play it over and over, trying to beat my times on each puzzle.  I also play Denki Blocks for the Game Boy Advance, which can be played on the DS.

And I have recently purchased Crush for the PSP.  Also a lot of fun but HARD!

And in case you’re wondering, Simon and I own: a PS2, an Xbox, an Xbox 360, Two Nientendo DSes and a PSP.

Yes, we are geeks, thanks for asking.

Maybe I Am Not As Smart As I Think I Am…

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So I am currently reading The Boomerang Clue (aka Why Didn’t They Ask Evens?) by Agatha Christie. It was written in 1933.

In the book, the main character gets offered a job in South America. For £1,000 a year. And he is stoked about it.

£1,000 a year was a good salary in 1930s Britain, obviously. So the part I don’t get is how, in 72 years, basically one generation, we can go from £1,000 a year being a good salary to £1,000 a month being not quite enough.

Simon says part of it is decmilization. And, of course, inflation. But I still don’t get it.

Its like I also don’t get exchange rates.  Theoretically, if something costs about £20 in Belfast, shouldn’t that same something, based on the approximate current exchange rate, cost $40 in the US?  But it doesn’t.  For example, a book I just found on both Amzon.com and Amazon.co.uk. .com is $7.99.  .co.uk? £6.99.

So maybe I am not as smart as I think I am…cuz I just.don’t.get.it.

Depression and Self-Harm

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Let me preface this post with the note that I do not cut myself.  I do not self harm that way.

So how do I do it?  By picking my pimples. Yes, that is considered self harm behavior.

My face is very discoloured under my chin from picking at the pimples there.  I am trying to break myself of the habit, but I think it does two things for me.  It gives me ‘worry spots’ and, in some odd way, it sooths me.

I don’t just pick my face.  I pick anything on my body that’s pickable.  I had a very odd cut on my upper right arm that I picked the scab on.  I pick in grown hairs on my knees.  Anything I can get my fingernails into, I pick.

Its gross.  I know its gross.  And I try very hard to not do it in public. Or even in front of my husband.  But I also don’t always realize I’m doing it.

I am not sure I will ever be able to stop completely.  Even when I am at my most stable, I do it.  Some people rock in place to sooth.  I pick.