A Perfect Moment

In life, you sometimes get those perfect moments.

Yesterday, I managed to throw a Malteser into James' mouth from about 2 feet away, on the second attempt. We are aware this will probably never be repeated. The astonished look on his face will be treasured forever.

The World's Most Pedantic Printer

At university I had my own printer. It was quite difficult to print from because there was no room next to it for my laptop and the cable was tiny, so I had to balance next to it holding the computer while it was printing. Still, it was useful for essays and other important documents. The trouble was that I rarely used it, so the ink just stopped working after a while, and was very expensive to replace. In the end I decided it wasn't worth it (the university printers would print a page for a few pence) and it went back home.

I've missed having a printer though, the world seems to expect that you'll have one these days, not having one is a bit like not having the internet - where have you been for the last few years? I seem to be continually needing to print things - CVs, applications, forms to fill in, timetables etc. There don't seem to be many printers available to the public either, except ones in professional print shops who expect a 30 page document to print and bind, not my slightly-pathetic-barely-two-page CV.

I also missed it during NaNoWriMo, when I wanted to be able to print my work as a reference. I can't edit anything I've written on the computer either, I need to sit down with various different coloured pens and highlighters and read it as I would read a book, but making changes and comments as I go. Then I can sit back down at the computer and type out the changes.

Now, finally, I have access to a printer again. Unfortunately, it comes with a personality.

It's James' printer and it hasn't been used in a while. Today we got it out and he attempted to print something while I dusted the printer (it needed it, badly). The printer did not like this. First it spent a few minutes clicking and screeching when we turned it on, and again when we put paper in. Its 'ink' light was flashing a furious red, but it didn't seem inclined to tell us which ink it had run out of. Instead, it clicked for a while and waited for us to open the ridiculously tight packaging around the replacement cartridge (we thought it was probably black it had run out of, we turned out to be right, thank goodness, since we don't have any neon yellow ink or whatever the other sodding colours are).

The section of the printer which holds the cartridges is exposed when you open the printer, but in order to change one you need to force it out into the larger space beside the 'slot' where it usually sits. Lurks. It was definitely lurking when we opened the printer, and refused to be coaxed out of hiding until we found the right button, at which point it shuffled obligingly into the open. The old cartridge was taken out, the new cartridge put in. Doesn't fit. Taken out again, some strange orange thing removed, put back. Fits. Cartridge holder retreats hastily back to its burrow.

We attempted to print again. James sent a two word document to the printer (didn't want to overwhelm the poor thing). The printer seemed gleeful about this and seized some paper. It printed for about a minute, going back and forth over the page. We couldn't work out what it was printing - a test sheet? We'd only told it to print one line.

One minute and much noise later it finally produced its masterpiece. Two words.
I think it'll need all week for a full page.

Thoughtfullness

I have been in a thoughtful mood recently. It hasn't always been cheerful, but it's not all negative either. We're coming up to a time of year when Christmas is looming and the weather turns colder, money can get tight and there's generally a lot to think about. So. Some of my thoughts:

Christmas. This will be the second Christmas I get to spend with James, and we've been thinking about nice traditions we could start. So far we intend to personalise advent calendars by giving each other something small for each day of December. Obviously this is all on a low budget so it will usually be some small chocolate item or other minor treat, but hopefully some home-made things will find their way in there. Even a hurried note is so much more Christmassy and personal than a cheap advent calendar (we don't really need them, being adults, but I still like to count down the days!)
There's also the usual present issues. Some people provide lists, other people say they don't want anything (grr), some people are just impossible to buy for. It's a nice aspect of Christmas, the present buying, but can be rather tricky when you've no idea what anyone wants and have a limited budget. I'm trying to compensate by being very organised, to the point where James now refuses to help me write lists, he's had enough of them.

The dog. Still. We'll be going home for a few days at the end of this week and although I'm looking forward to it, I can't help feeling the house will be a little emptier without Layla. Probably smell better though.

NaNoWriMo. We failed! Actually it's probably more fair to say we gave up. I personally knew I wasn't going to complete it within a few days of starting. My idea just wasn't structured enough and, while some people start on November the first with no ideas at all, I work better if I have a more clear idea. I cared too much about what I was writing to rush it. I knew I could go back later to 'fix' it, but writing is partly about getting lost in it, and I was skimming over things, ignoring plot holes, not developing characters.
It has really confirmed, in some ways, my initial opinions of NaNoWriMo, although I'm now more aware of how other people see it and why it's useful for them, it's just not for me.
I hope we can carry on with the writing we started, but I suspect lack of routine may get in the way.

I appear to be developing a charming sore throat and the snow outside is so thick it's hard to open the window. I'm expecting another day of being trapped inside thoughtful tomorrow.

Dear Layla

Dear Layla,
I'm not sure why I'm writing this, since you couldn't read even when you were alive, but I felt it needed to be said. We have a few things to clear up between us.

Firstly, thanks. You were are loyal and incredibly gentle dog.
You somehow knew when I was upset, despite being fairly dense about most other things, and could generally be relied on to come over and put your paws on me as a form of comfort. If not, you at least put up with being cuddled with only the minimum of protest.
You also put up with being dressed up occasionally in humiliating outfits, usually made worse by the fact I'd made them so they didn't fit properly.
You would sit with me for hours in a tent in the garden while I went camping in broad daylight.
You put up with being showered with dirt in my archaeology attempts.
You put up with a whole load of other pets and extended the paw of friendship to all of them, even Zach who obviously found you slightly beneath him and the gerbils who I think you wanted to eat.
You would squeal and yelp yourself half to death when I returned home from university, and then follow me closely for the next few hours in case I dared to leave again. Thank you for your endless loyalty.

Anyway:
Sorry for calling you stinky so often. It was true, but probably mean.
Sorry for that time I sat on you when I was about ten. It really was an accident.
Sorry for the times we trod on your paws when you managed to fling yourself under our feet.
Sorry for using you as a foot rest/warmer. If it's any consolation, I do the same to Samuel.
Sorry for refusing to go near you after you chewed that rat, but it was a bit gross.
Sorry about that rabbit we used to have who would run his chain into you at full speed to break it. I don't think you actually noticed at the time.
Sorry I could never resist soaking you with the hose. You smelt even worse when soggy.
Sorry for that week I spent trying to teach you English. Obviously you weren't ready.

Also, I forgive you for that time you chewed my Star Wars lego into unrecognisable twisted shapes. I may have made some angry comment afterwards about liking the Lego more than you.
I apologise, it wasn't true.

All my love,
Rachel

Today I Have Learnt...

I have been quite busy recently, although when I actually try and work out what I've been doing, I'm not sure. Just... things. Dealing with finance, doctor's appointments, cooking, cleaning, walking, volunteering. Surprising how these things take time.
Anyway, in amongst all this I have found some time to devote to my new hobby. It is very difficult. Not when you get used to it, but there are lots of little things you need to learn in order to be able to do it properly. I'm still not saying what it is, because I'm still no good at it and will probably get worse. Still, today I finally learnt to do something that I've been wondering about for a while. It's quite magical when you realise. I currently have a small goal that I've set myself, then a bigger goal for later.

Also we learnt out how to turn the heating on. Warmth, I remember you.

Dust and Cobwebs

Well, my poor blog has been gathering dust and cobwebs. Much like the flat actually.
NaNoWriMo started on the 1st and we managed to keep up with the word count for a grand total of... 2 days! So we're struggling to keep up a bit. We hit the word goal yesterday and were only about 500 or 600 short today, so we are catching up (although technically also falling further behind, which is a bit of a weird concept).
Our dreadful word goal failings are mainly due to being busy with other things. I'm still job hunting, James works every Saturday and some Fridays while also juggling lectures and essays, and he insists we only write together, so between us free time is limited. We also seem to spend an astonishing amount of time dealing with small things such as paying in cheques, paying bills, going to various meetings and the dreaded flat tidying. I keep telling myself we'll work out a system eventually but I think we're too lazy, so the system atm is to tidy when people visit.

In other news, I'm attempting a new hobby. It's a bit of an uninteresting hobby, but I'm not telling anyone but James what it is in case it doesn't work and I'm rubbish at it. So far I've fallen at several hurdles but it seems to be going a bit better now, so I'll see if I can continue to find time for it.

Mother, if you're reading this, it's not anything dangerous or illegal.

York

It's occurred to me again today just how weird and wonderful it is to live in York. I love the old buildings, with their twisted staircases and uneven floors. I love the Golden Fleece, the pub which is supposed to have a ghost in every room and where your drink slides off the slanted table. I love the cobbled streets and little alleyways which you suddenly realise hide a whole new row of shops or a huge church. I love the fact that you can walk down a boring concrete street and suddenly encounter a Tudor hall, or a big glass window behind which wax figures are frozen in a depiction of some aspect of old York life.
Most of all, I love the strangeness. It is not at all rare to encounter a Roman soldier or Viking in the streets, particularly near the big tourist attracts to lure people in. Then there's the man covered in purple paint who sits for hours on his purple bike on Stonegate. There's also the people who advertise the dungeon and the ghost walks, who lurk around the minster looking evil.
Today the Grim Reaper was walking innocently along Petergate. He seems to have been affected by the economic situation too, his scythe was only made of plastic and kept dragging sadly along the ground whenever he adjusted his hood.

So that's the wonderful world of York. It has it's faults, of course. You have to learn to be able to stop dead behind tourists who suddenly decide to look in a window. You have to learn to walk in the road too, since much of the city is sort of pedestrianised some of the time. Bit confusing really, but the most important bit is to remember to move out of the way when there's a car. People still like to ruin it by dropping their rubbish everywhere, but I suppose we'll have to live with that.

Although... I think I've got some bloody chewing gum on my shoe.

Busy Days

Well, I've had a busy few days... 

Started volunteering today in the hope of improving my CV, which was an interesting experience. Spent a lot of time identifying and labelling clothes. Surprising how difficult it is to tell the difference between a jumper and a jacket.

I was ill the other day too, so haven't had much time for NaNoWriMo preparation. Only about 5 days to go. Should make it interesting. 

We are currently watching Kiki's Delivery Service, which James has wanted to watch again for ages. He does love that cat. 

Also, the sink is now unblocked. Astonishing things, plungers. 

Coffee Shops and Pens

With a week to go until NaNoWriMo, I am plotless. Actually that's not true, I have plots, but none are very well developed. 

The most promising (as judged by my pet editor James) is probably about 1/3 plotted. I have the start of the outline, I have the characters, I just need to fill in the details. The trouble is, there are a couple of quite major plot flaws that need to be ironed out. The general opinion on the NaNoWriMo forums seems to be that it doesn't matter whether you have an outline, some people even start on the 1st November with nothing at all and see where it takes them. I thought about trying that, but I get the feeling it would go badly and I would just give up on the mess I created. 

So my solution was to get away from the computer. A text document doesn't allow me to mix ideas enough or reorder as I'd like. I've found a useful little piece of plotting software, but it's only really useful if you have the ideas to fill it. 

It's surprisingly tricky to find a decent place to think and write. My requirements weren't many: it had to be warm, it had to have coffee, it had to have a decent toilet with soap provided at the sink and it had to have something to eat. I went through two cafes before I found a good one. One was rejected due to lack of food, the second due to lack of soap (one of my pet hates).

Anyway, once I finally found one I spent over an hour nestled in a corner with a cup of coffee (that lasted me over an hour, I could only afford one), 5 new pens (of varying colours and types) and a new notebook. This approach worked surprisingly well actually, and the result was several scribbled pages of notes and solutions to a couple of the plot holes. 

Maybe I'll go back tomorrow. I wonder if they'll let me take my own coffee...

Also the sink is blocked, is immune to bleach and drain unblocker, and James didn't buy a plunger. 

New Blog and NaNoWriMo

So I've started a new blog. Seems like the ultimate act of arrogance to start a blog when you've not got much to talk about, but I'm hoping it'll encourage me to get more done so I have something to post about.
On that basis, I've decided (finally) to have a go at NaNoWriMo, the month long writing marathon where the sole aim is to write 50,000 words. As far as I can tell they consider it a mere bonus if those words actually form a coherent story.

The main problem now is that, with only a week to go, I've got no story. No plot, no characters, no ideas. I think I prefer it that way. Means I've got a (panicked) focus for the next week anyway.

Also I'm not so good with blogs so this could get updated anywhere from three times a day (procrastination) to once a week (desperation).