Music, Art and Over The Hedge.

Music/Stuff uploaded to Ipod:

1. Transformers Score – Steve Jablonsky
2. Sweeney Todd Soundtrack – Stephen Sondheim
3. CD5A (TMA02 Help and Advice) – Open University
4. Le Sacre Du Printempts; Firebird Suite – Stravinsky (Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
5. Hits (free CD with newspaper) – Lenny Kravitz
6. Greatest Hits – Red Hot Chili Peppers
7. Greatest Hits – Guns ‘n’ Roses
8. Best Of – Def Leppard

I’ve been working through Block 1 of the OU course. The first block looks at art history, poetry, listening to music, and philosophy. As I’ve been learning more about poetry over the last few weeks (thank you, Mr Stephen Fry!) I feel pretty okay about the poetry part of my next assignment. All I have to do for that part is write it out in some form of coherent analysis now. I’ve worked through the art history unit, though I think I may have to re-read some of it before I attempt to gather my thoughts about the painting we have to analyse – Picasso’s Girl In A Chemise. I’ve not even ventured into looking at the music and philosophy parts yet.

Principessa woke me this morning by reciting parts of ‘Over The Hedge’ in a loud, screechy voice! It’s strange being woken up to “I’d be much less scared of it if I knew what it was called.” “Let’s call it Steve.” “Steve. Steve’s a nice name. I’m much less scared of Steve.” She is currently watching The Simpsons, the one where Bart falls down the well, and eating Milky Way Stars.

Mum has just come to tell me about further family history. She has traced it back to William Tressider who was born in March 1681. That’s some way back!

Stuff.

Well, I finally got the first assignment off of Thursday. I think it is okay, but we'll find out soon enough. I'm just glad it isn't being marked and used as a percentage of the final mark for the course. I'm kind of looking forward to getting the feedback so I can see what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. I'll be able to plan the next assignment against that then.

Kirst and I have been having a look at what OU course we will take on after we have finished this one. At the moment we are choosing between 'Art and it's histories' and 'From Enlightenment to Romanticism'. Currently 'Enlightenment' is leading the race.

In the last week a friend of mine has been in a nasty road accident. He is in a pretty banged up way. Thanks go to Deacon for keeping me updated, and get well soon wishes and congratulations ( ;-) ) go to David. I know you can't do anything other than this, but rest up and relax.

Principessa has decided it is time for one of her difficult phases. Kirst and I were trying to do a little bit of study on Thursday afternoon, but Principessa decided it would be much more fun if she bounced on the bed, bounced on us, and play monkey. Monkey, of course, is when she wraps her arms around your neck and dangles and swings at your back. Ooooh, she's a little pest! At the mo she is watching Pingu - the little ASBO penguin whom I blame for all her bad behaviour!

I went to see Sweeney Todd on Tuesday. If you didn't know it was directed by Tim Burton, you would after the first five minutes! It is so Burton! It is like the musical version of 'Edward Sciccorhands', but with added gore. And that in itself makes it fantastic. As a whole, I really enjoyed the film. Johnny Depp as Todd is, as usual, brilliant, sounding like David Bowie on some of the songs. Helena Bonham-Carter as Mrs Lovett is brilliant as usual too, though every now and again she sounds a bit unsure when she sings. The beach scene is truly a work of wonder, where Depp and Bonham-Carter completely complent each other.

Alan Rickman (can do no wrong, in my eyes) once again plays a fantastically slimy heel, but he has always been good at playing guys you love to hate, though in comparison Timothy Spall exudes more slime!

The comedic cameo by Sacha Baron Cohen as a faux-Italian barber injected a much needed blast of colour into the grey-washed setting, but even that dinginess added to the film, giving the impression of grimy, closed in streets.

What I really liked about the film was that Depp sang to the tools of his trade, the silver razors, like they were people. There was a sense that only the razors knew of his pain (if you didn't know, Depp's character, originally called Benjamin Barker, had been sent to prison for 15 years for a crime he didn't commit by Rickman's Judge Turpin. Turpin then took Barker's wife and daughter for himself) and only the razors could hep with gaining some release (i.e. revenge!). This is what made the film for me. It was perfectly executed (no pun intended).

Anyhows, Pingu Principessa is starting to get unruly, so I think I need to find something to calm her down a bit!

Possessed!

He's at it again! Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is just a fantastic player. He is battering Nadal at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I love watching Nadal play too, but over the last few years where it has been just Nadal and Federer at the top it did get a bit boring. But now we have Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Tsonga. That makes all the difference.

(Right now, Tsonga is 2 sets up and 5-2 in the third. I can't see him losing this. BRB, have to watch this now!)

Match Point! ... And gets it with an ace! Absolutely stunning! Take that, Rafa! Sorry, ever since seeing Tsonga play for the first time I've been waiting to see what he can do. Smacking Nadal down in the semi-final of the Aussie Open is just an amazing achievement. Wow!

Principessa has been bitten by the tennis bug, too. She dug out her little Wilson racket and one of the red tennis training balls and we spent about half an hour to fortyfive minutes playing thow and hit. To begin with I was counting to three so she knew when the ball was coming to her, then I stopped counting and let her practice keeping her eye on the ball. She did quite well.

She made me laugh yesterday. She was playing with her back to me on the floor in front of my chair. I noticed that she was trying to take the paper off a crayon, so I told her to stop. She turned around, jumped up on my knee and said;

"Silly Mummy!"

She grabbed my face in her hands, and she had a weird smell on her fingers. I said;

"Eugh! Your hands smell! What have you been eating?"

"Crayons," she said.

Hmmm, honesty!

Still not going anywhere with the story writing, but poetry is a different matter. I suddenly seem very inspired to write poems. I started writing one last night about abysses and demons, and it ended up having a feel of Doctor Who with the appearance of fragments of Gallifrey in there. Took me muchly by surprise as I wasn't thinking of that when I started writing. I am going to sit and work through it later and tidy it up a bit. I might even post it up here.

I need a cuppa fennel tea.

More excitement and disappointment.

In the tennis, that is. I watched the Ivanovic/Wozniaki match last night. I'd heard of Caroline Wozniaki as she had won the Liverpool tournament two years ago, so I was interested to see how she played. The first set was a complete whitewash, the score 6-1 to Ivanovic. In the second set Wozniaki changed. She was not the same player. She really tested Ivanovic, taking her to a tie break. She played some really fantastic shots, and she's definitely someone to watch over the coming years.

I am still collating my poetry. I've got poems written in books all over the place, so I'm trying to find them all. I've got poems dating back to 1991. Once I've got them all sorted out I'll ask Kirst and Gaz to read through them and pick a few, and I'll put them all together and send them out to the Templar Poetry competition. Let's see if anything happens.

Principessa was a funny girl this morning. She was still sleeping at 9am, so I woke her up. She jumped up in bed, pulled her dodie from her mouth and said;

"Oh dear! I have sloppy chops! I have to dried off, Mummy Fish!"

Don't know why I became Mummy Fish this morning. Maybe it was because Principessa was pretending to be a fish in the bath yesterday.

She was also very caring today. She came downstairs with Nanny in tow, calling for our cat Molly. Then Nanny and Principessa went into the kitchen, got a fork and a tin of cat food, and Principessa fed the cat. She was very upset with Molly when she wouldn't go and eat her food (probably because I get upset with Principessa when she refuses to eat), then she was happy when Molly went to eat, then she was again upset when Molly got upset with her bugging her while she ate!

Oooh, talking of Nanny... or Mum where I am concerned. Mum sent an email to the Alkazi Foundation to ask if they could send us copies of some of the photos they hold in the Tressider album. They got back to her this morning telling her that they would ask the Foundation's owner about her request, that an answer would take a few days, but that the answer may well be positive. They also said something about how it was a fortunate time for the contact. Sounds intriguing!

Travels in time.

Since Christmas, Principessa has once again become enthralled to the Doctor of Who. At least four episodes every day. She is finally out of the Daleks and Cyberman phase, where we had to watch the respective episodes over and over and over again (and as we only have access to series two of the new Doctor, we only have four episodes). So today we are watching Dancing Doctor Who (otherwise known as The Girl In The Fireplace) and Chips and School Doctor Who (otherwise known as School Reunion). I love how Principessa changes the titles, although sometimes it is hard for me to decipher her code names!

I am made up that she loves Doctor Who (to the point where, about seven months ago, she actually said "Mummy, I love Doctor Who."), and she has even been watching some of the Tom Baker ones that have been replayed on UKTV Gold. But she still loves the Daleks more. "Mummy, I really like the Daleks," she said yesterday. I have to agree though, after all, they were given some of the best lines ever in Doomsday. I still laugh when the Dalek says "This is not war. This is pest control," when facing off against the Cybermen. In the words of Christopher Ecclestone's Doctor (possibly one of the worst Doctors, ever), fantastic!

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow evening. Torchwood starts again. Woohoo. Not so much travels in time than travels in Cardiff. But whatever, it is still all good. I am hoping that, now the foundation of the first series has been laid, the second series will be amazing.

Birthday and Opera

It was my birthday yesterday. I spent most of it feeling quite low, but that's just the aging process for you ;)

I went to my favourite restaurant, Sapporo Teppanyaki, for a meal. Ooohh, yum yum! I really love the food there. I had Ika Tempura (battered, deep fried squid), Maki sushi, duck in raspberry sauce with fried rice, vegetables and potatoes, and ice cream for dessert. Kayte told them it was my birthday, so they came out with drums and tambourines and a special birthday ice-cream 'cake' singing happy birthday. Much fun was had by all (especially when drinking the sake/pimms/ginger ale cocktail.)

On Saturday night I went to see 'Carmen'. It was the first time I have been to watch an opera, and I was quite impressed. The sets were good, the costumes were fantastic (the flamenco skirts were amazing, I wanted one!), and the music was great. The only problem I had was that at some points the orchestra was much louder than the singers, and the woman playing Carmen didn't have a fantastic voice. In parts she almost sounded like a pre-pubescent boy when his voice is breaking. The surtitles also helped me a bit, not knowing the language. Someone said that the surtitles distracted from the opera, but I didn't think they did, in fact, there were times I was totally enraptured by what as going on on the stage that I completely forgot to read what was on the surtitle screen. I think I may have to go and see another opera soon (Madame Butterfly, hopefully!)

Principessa has been a funny one lately. I bought two teddies, one for her and one for me, and you can take the wheat bag stomach out of them and warm them in the microwave. Principessa was quite impressed by that last night, but over Friday and Saturday, she has just been playing with the teddy. She called her ted Jack, and I called mine Frax, after one of the characters in my story. Well, Principessa has decided that Frax is the more cuddly, and has robbed him! Cheeky monkey.

She was in the car when Grandand picked us up last night. She was having fun with Uncle Gaz playing with her Lunar Jim slippers when she turned to Gaz and said:

"Nanny said she would take the scissors to Jim!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that! I told Nanny, and Nanny said she was a fibber!

Hmmm, NaNo. Not been going too well. I have decided that my goal is to get 10,000 words before the end of the month. So far I have around 7800 words, so I have to do 2200 words in the next four days. That's 550 words per day. Hmm, that's some work to do. At least it seems to be going somewhere now!

Day 23: 538 words
Day 24: 429 words
Day 25: 0 words

Oooooh, shoes.

I have indulged in buying some shoes. It's not often I buy shoes, I'm not one of those 'I really must have a million pairs of shoes' type of people. I am really happy with my purchases:

Rocket Dogs.

Vans.

I think it's safe to say I have been spending a bit lately. I'll have to stop, it's getting close to the buying of Chrsitmas pressies time of year. Argh! I've usually started by now, but I have no clue what to buy people this year. And God knows what I'm getting for Principessa, she has too many toys as it is. And the Charlie and Lola books and DVDs are teaching her bad habits. She is getting very mouthy and answering back a lot lately. And, oh woe is me, the 'I am not tired and I will not go to bed' Charlie and Lola book has been more a bane than a help. Silly me.

And now I have Principessa sat on my knee, vying for space with the laptop.

"Can we go to the bookshop, Mums?" she asks.

"Not today, babe," I say.

"Can we go to Boots, Mums?"

Something tell you she wants to go shopping?

Coffee shop muse

It’s been a quiet few days, really. Spent some time with my friend Kayte, twas nice. We took Principessa to the bookshop, and Auntie Lindsay came along too. After browsing the books, we trundled up in the lift to Starbucks. Principessa gets very upset if we don’t go for a drink. After all, looking at books is thirsty work!

Well, we found a table, ordered out stuff, got ourselves settled, and then I spent the whole time watching a bloke at another table. No, I wasn’t perving! All I can say is JK Rowling and creative writing courses have a lot to answer for! There he was, his drinks (three of them, in varying colours) all lined up alongside his laptop. He was trying to be inconspicuous but he was so obvious as he looked around, his gaze lingering on a person here, a person there. I was so tempted to roll over to him and ask him what he was writing about. Maybe I should have. Well, more power to him. I know I couldn’t concentrate doing something like that in Starbucks, the music is just slightly too loud.

Principessa is doing a lot of drawing and scribbling lately. She was sat at her table yesterday with her Uncle Gaz perched on the second seat (that looked crazy!) having scribbling races. Then, as she always does, she starts asking for specific pictures to be drawn. Yesterday it was volcanoes. So, Uncle Gaz draws a volcano, telling Principessa what he is drawing.

“And that is your pyroclastic flow,” says Uncle Gaz. “Can you say ‘pyroclastic flow’?”

“Pirate-clastic flow,” says Principessa.

Genius!

I have fallen foul of the perils of Ebay. Okay, so I bought some clothes for Principessa, but I also found myself browsing and bidding on a load of Lobo comics. I loves the Lobo comics! I couldn’t help myself. They were there, and the titles needed replacing in my collection as the originals had been pinched. So yay, but oh so naughty!

Incy Wincy Spider gets flushed again.

It is once again too raining. If rain really were cats and dogs, then it would have been a lions and Newfoundlands downpour this morning.

I am currently being tortured by children’s programs. Go Diego, Go is on at the minute and he is saving Baby River Dolphin. Principessa is not taking much notice of the television; she has a little table set up with her pens, pencils and paper on. She can be so organised when she wants to be.

She had a bad night last night. She fell out of her bed for the first time since setting it up last week. That led to an hour of crying. First, she wanted me, then she wanted Nanny, then she wanted Grandand, then she wanted her pink potty, then her blue potty, then the white toilet. She finally settled down after she had her first ever wee on the toilet. She was very happy with herself about that. We then had to go and lie in bed and watch cartoons. I just wanted to go to sleep!

There was a horrible eight-legged harbinger of tiny fear in the bedroom last night. Oh, I hate them. Grandand tried to catch it, but the little bugger jumped off the wall. EEEEEEEKKKKKK! It appeared later on, and me, being stupid, was afraid to go to sleep. I didn’t want it’s filthy, little, sticky legs crawling over me. Nope Sir, I don’t like it, thank you.

So, after all my worrying about Principessa finding a place in school, I had a very welcome phonecall - whilst I was out - letting me know that she has a place in a nursery about a mile away from me. Luckily, bro was home to pick up the call, and we arrived home about half an hour before the teachers arrived at the house to meet us both.
The teachers seemed quite nice, and Principessa took to one of them really quickly. I suppose that was due to the bribes of new jigsaws to play with, but still, it's very unlike her to trust someone so quickly. The other teacher and I had a good talk and did all the silly bits of administration, though she looked rather shocked at some of the things that I told her Principessa could do. Maybe she thought I was lying when I told her that Principessa could count to and recognise numbers upto 20, that she knew and could recognise the letters of the alphabet, and that she knew all her colours and shapes. Can I help it if she is a sponge and can take things in quicker than little cat Z and the voom cleaning up the snow!
Anyway, we had a nice day out before the school news. We popped into Borders and Starbucks with Grandand and Nanny. Principessa loved running round the kids books section, picking up books and sitting at a little table to thumb through them. She was very happy when she chose a Peppa Pig book to buy. She also got a Harry Potter Hedwig owl and a chess set (yeah I know, bit young and all). I have to say she has loved playing with the chess set, making little Stonehenge style monuments with the chess pieces on the board!

It's nearly time for Principessa to go to school. She turns 3 in September, so I have to find a school for her to go to. The school I originally wanted her to go to said that the practice of having the childs name down on a list before she goes to school had been stopped, so I didn't think too much about it. I then changed my mind about which school to send her to in favour of a school closer to where we live. It was then I found out that this school still has a list. I am now worried that I might not be able to put Principessa in a nursery school. It is soooo frustrating. Especially as I could not afford to send her to private school (and the private school I was looking at taught the kids Japanese, I was very impressed).

Ah well, back to phoning round other schools.

Wow, it's been along time since I was here last, and it feels very strange being back. It feels strange putting down in words in cyberspace what's been happening. And I used to be good at this!

So, it's been what? About five years since I actually posted a blog here, the least used of my blog accounts. Good a place to make a new start as any, I suppose. So, what's been happening? Well, I now have my beautiful 2 and a half year old Principessa, who is going to be a languages genius. She is already muttering things in Italian and Japanese. I have started learning Japanese myself, which is why Principessa knows some Japanese. Still writing, a little, anyway. Need to do more, and not just when the mood takes me. Not if I want to actually be sucessful at writing a novel (that doesn't include having it published, btw. Nooooo, that's just a dream for now!).

Yup, on the novel side, I have about 4 stories on the go, but I am at an all time low on self-confidence and haven't written anything for ages. I think this is the most I have written in months!

My dad was in hospital for a week, and only got back home last Friday. He's suffering with an ear infection, which, considering what it could have been (mild stroke) is good news. He just needs to rest and get better now, because I've heard dizzy spells whislt driving just aint good! But seriously, I'm just happy to have him home.

Anyways, I'll write some more some other time, it's just a little late now and I know Principessa will have me up at stupid o'clock in the morning.