Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Torturous Cookie Quest

Aaagh-despite today being one of the few days that I've had 'free' in the last few weeks, I am at my wits end. I have a million and one things I need to do and little motivation/organisation/goddam time to do any of them, and I keep finding myself wasting time (like now!), trying to stop myself, and then being unable to, then getting annoyed with myself and getting more and more stressed.
One of the million odd things I had to do today was bake cookies for the Green Action meeting tonight. Well I guess I didn't 'have' to, but I want them to like me, haha, and also I generally enjoy cooking stuff for people. So I decided to knock up a batch of vegan oaty currant cookies. I needed to get some vegan marg, caster sugar and light muscovada sugar. So I went to Maumoniats, who had the marg but not the sugar-no problems, thats what I expected. Clever me, I decided to ride the bike to the Co-op. Now, riding the bike is not an easy thing for me to do. I have no sense of balance and even less road sense. But I have this image of myself being one of those elegant looking boho girls that whizzes past me on the way to uni each morning, so I am desperate to improve. I managed to get to the Co-op with only a few car horns beeped at me, one near death experience and a lot of riding on pavements and down cul-de-sacs where no evil cars will kill me. In fact, when I reached the Co-op I was rather pleased with myself. Until I realised I didn't have the effing key to the effing bike lock. I was not a happy bunny. I considered leaving the bike propped against the wall, being really quick and trusting in humanity, but then I remembered I was in Hyde Park, noticed the scallies in the gold Corsa watching me, and realised that Graeme would be quite annoyed if I got his bike nicked. So I risked my life again and rode back. Only a bloody wall had seperated me from the caster and muscovada sugar! Why?! It was upsetting, believe me.
So I tried Abu Bakhars, who again had neither of the effing sugars, although they do have lovely veggie samosas so I bought 2 of them instead to make me feel better. Eventually I went to evil Jacksons, where they had caster sugar and 'light brown sugar' which I decided will have to do. And I made the cookies-they're OK although some of them decided to merge into a giant cookie monster. But so not worth the life threatening bike ride and the very very cold feet I got during said bike ride, that have still not thawed out.
Well, I guess now I should get on with the bazillion (yes, it's a bazillion now) things I must do. Seriously, why can't I just be content to go to uni and have a job-are all these societies and saving the world efforts really worth it? Bloody hope so.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Anarchists Have The Best Parties

So it seems I'm not doing very well with the regular posting thing, never mind! Have been so busy recently that I've genuinely not had time, so much going on it's stressful but good fun nonetheless. Today I'm in a sleepy happy crazy mood, as last night was absolutely effing awesome. Went to a huge squat party in town, it was truly amazing. So glad I got to go in the end. The people who had said they might come with me lamely didn't want to, so I resigned myself to a boring night in the Old Bar, which is what it started out as, then I met some other friends (accquaintances really), went back to theirs for drinks and then eventually at 2.30am got a couple of lads who I barely know to come with me. And it was so worth it. I've been really tormented recently over the fact that I have loads of 'issues' with the whole radical/environmentalist/anarchist/whatever 'scene' but at the same time am fascinated by it and agree with a fair bit of what goes on (by no means everyhting, mind). But last night was just so insanely good that none of that really mattered. In my sleepy state I am in no position to start discussing the ins and outs and politics of squatting/free parties etc, but suffice to say the whole thing just had an amazing atmosphere. There were maybe a thousand people there, all in various states of intoxication, and yet I saw no trouble, no aggro, no real unpleasantness whatsoever. You couldn't say that about most of the clubs in Leeds that charge you a tenner to get in and chuck you out at 2am. I met loads of people, vague previous accquaintances and some randoms. I danced till 7am and didn't feel tired (this is without any chemical assistance, before anyone gets the wrong idea. I wasn't even that drunk, just unbelievably happy). It was indescribably great, and even though I ended up losing the lads I came with and causing them to worry (unnecessarily), it was without doubt the best night I've had in ages. Today I've been just giggling for no reason because the whole thing made me so happy. Even though I ended up flaking on the volunteering I was supposed to be doing for Together For Peace (I probably wouldn't have been that useful anyway), and, I fear, declaring my lust for a girl in one of my classes who I've never spopken to before, all things considered it was very well worth it.
Now I will go and watch Notting Hill and do some knitting and return to the big bad real world for the week ahead. Never mind, I will probably carry on giggling inexplicably.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

So cold...

Wow, posts on two consecutive days, it's obvious how exciting this is for me! Especially since I don't have anything exciting to say. Today I worked behind the bar all day serving obnoxious students who make me want to weep and wail, and looking longingly through the window at a perfect autumn day of the type that rarely occur in these parts. And when I finally left the bar it was pitch black outsisde. November is evil. Now I'm at home, eating baked potato, drinking tea and freezing my arse off because we had the heating on yesterday to dry the washing and I can't afford to have it on 2 days in a row. Not when it's just me in the house. Hmm, perhaps I can't actually afford this internet thing. Ah well, it keeps me amused.
I'm off to a fundraising night for the Terence Higgins trust tonight, as part of my attempt to be slightly more involved with the UN society, who are organising it. I'm supposed to be selling tickets on the door. Can't really be arsed, as no one fancied coming with me and I don't really know anyone there. Feel like curling up, drinking chai and knitting christmas presents. But duty calls...

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Fully Connected

This is a very exciting day for me. Today I have truly entered the technological age. I am now the proud owner of a fancy schmancy laptop thing. With broadband. Oh yeah.
Of course, I was not entirely without internet before (which explains the prior existence of this blog). But I could only get at it at uni, where there's always a huge queue of students with important essays to write behind you, or when I went home to my parents, where there's always an impatient mother or father waiting behind you, and reading over your shoulder. Plus it's a mac and for some reason blogger did not like it at all. But now I am free to waste all my time on the net reading and writing crap. Hooray! Plus, I can now post pictures... See? Wow that's scary. And most unflattering. But never mind, it is still a truly momentous occasion. Yay.