A Tale of Two Weekends

I never did blog about the weekend before last.  This was mostly due to having written the blog, then losing it, and then getting carried away by frappe angst instead.

But it was an important weekend, and must be blogged about...

 

I went to Manchester, traveling with Dan on the Thursday to my parents house, where we both stayed, before heading into the city, refreshed and suited up for a wedding.  Yes, the middle of a heat wave, and my friends Dave and Jo are getting married.  Boy am I glad I wasn't an usher - those guys had to wear good quality woolen suits with wastecoats and everything all day.  Everyman in the congregation had sweat patches under his arms and down their backs - but the magesty of the occasion was not dulled by the smelly guests at all - it was a heartfelt service with beaming smiles all round.

The reception was great - good food, fine company, merriment and celebration.  We even had, and yes, I realise how big a geek this makes each of us, but we even had amongst all the normal wedding photos, a WoW Guildies Photo of Dave, Caleb, Will, Dan, and myself.  And... and now don't get all judgemental here - I realise how embarrasing this is but it was his special day and Dave wanted it - I'm just such a good friend I'm willing to forgo dignity to make the day special - we did a second WoW photo with assorted character poses.  Plus it was a total breeder fest so there was no potentional pull material to keep dignity for.

Was great to see everyone form uni there, espeically the WoW group and Sarah, Matt, Alex, and Dave P.

 

Seriously though - Dave's an awsome guy and though I don't know Jo as well as I know Dave, I know her well enough to know that she to, is awsome, and wish them a long and happy life together.

We're holding a memorial for Dave's characters on WoW next week, as men find it strangely difficult to ever see the sunsets, oceans and Mountains of fair Azeroth post-marraige. <jk> :-P

 

I crashed at Calebs, and this was good.  Then we made a party happen, and this was good too.  Then we partied, and this was... good.  I even did the BBQ for a bit.  Someone was asking me how I was brave enough to do it, and how they were always uber paranoid when given BBQ responsibility incase they poison everyone.  I shrugged and told him I live in London and very few people here know who I am - I'm also not eating from the BBQ cos we had food before the party, so what do I care if it's undercooked?  He weighed his odds carefully and looked me in the eye for a hint I might be joking, then decided to take his chances and eat a burger.

MJ got very drunk.  He asked me, as the 'classy person', what you mix port with.  I told him 'cheese', then hit him round the back of the head and told him classy people wouldn't even suggest port should be mixed.  He went with Sprite and Port in the end.  *shrugs*

I had a good time hanging out with Will - I always feel my relationship with Will in underdeveloped, but that we're both ok with that, and can happily hang out for prolongued periods without needing to deepen it.  Having said that... I feel I got a deeper insight into Will than I'd ever had, or wanted before, but it's always good to have ample blackmail material right?

Crashed at Caleb again, and hung out with him some more the next day.  This was great.  I really miss Caleb and it was so good to just chill out and talk, watch 4400, and talk, and drink tea, and talk with him.  Why are there no Calebs in London?  Why?!  Pah.

Didn't see Mattius :(  He rang on the Sunday but like MJ, had beocme quite intoxicated on Saturday night and wa s alittle too hung over to make good of the day.  I'll definately catch him next time I'm up though.  And... that leads us to Monday, which I spent having elevensies with Grandma and Mum, and heading of to the station. 

 

Hurah.

 

This weekend just gone... I spent almost entirely on WoW.  Yes, on WoW.  Most of it.  Like, 18 hours worth.  And I'm like, a grown man so I get to do that if I want to :-P

As I hadn't WoW'ed for about a month, this was long overdue, and it allowed me to spend some more time with Caleb and Will, as well as toher guildies who I don't know in RL.  Will and I WoW'ed till 4am on Saturday/Sunday till my eyes bled!  Awsome.

 

I could tell you lots about that - but I wont :P  Other than to say I got Beaststalker helmet for Anny - Woot!  and BurlyTurtle (my pet) and I main tanked BRD cos the warrior was *crap*.  Though this was tough on the healer, it was fun all the same.

 

Picture of a dwarf in Beastalker Armour set (beard not included):

 

All in all, I'm getting a bit of a hankering for home.  I miss my friends more and more and WoW aint cutting it as a dose replacement.  Though, this is possibly due to the lack of WoW time over the last however long (until this w/e), but with all my friends talking about house arragements for the next year as September draws close... I feel a bit issolated.

 

That's all folks,

__

Phil

Bed, Bikes, and Backpacking

So this weekend, I slept in Tim's bed.  No, Tim wasn't in it - he was away, but he said I should try out his mattress on this kind of weekend to help me in my bed purchasing decisions.  My goodness it was comfortable.  It has renewed my passion to get a bed, or at least, a new matress, and so I will.

But let me check the old bank statements first, as this weekend I spent a rather large sum of money on a bike.  It's a real good bike - and I'm using it to comute to work so it's saving me money.  It's large enough for me and designed for low-hastle street riding.  Though it's really hard for me to spend that kind of money, I am pleased with the bike.

 

 

As for backpacking, well, ok, it wasn't really backpacking - I just needed another 'B' word for holiday.  I was tempted by brochure but as the holiday did involve hiking, I thought backpacking was ok to use.  Anyway - I'm not going.  Thought it'd be cool to go to Switzerland for 10 days and have some quality rest time, but given the bike and the need for a matress (and indeed a few annual bills that just swung by), the budget doesn't excuse such lavish expenditures as a group budget holiday.  Perhaps just as well, the trip would make the 30 or so of us all captive to each other, and there would be a spectrum of Christian 'Young Adults' there - and I'm a bad person... I don't think I could get through 10 days without causing severe phycological distress to 1 or 2 of them.  Still... would have been nice to have seen Switzerland. 

Ho-hum - another time perhaps.

__

Phil

Our House

I live in London in a beautiful 3 bedroom flat that's all stylish and modern like.  It's spacious and tidy, but possibly a little on the bland side.

In fact there's a chance we'll be leaving it soon, I don't fancy the idea of finding a new place but you gotta do what you gotta do.  Even so, I'd quite like to make another improvement to the household in the form of art.

Living with a graphic designer and a musician, you may wonder why I, am man born wihtout a sense of astethics, would decide to take on the decor of the front room.  The answer?  Meh.

 

So here's the offending bland wall...

 

 

And here's my thoughts on the sort of thing that should go on it:

 

 Something like that anyway.  I'm into the split canvas thing atm.

 

Either something modern arty like that, or some still life painting along these lines...

 

 

What?!  It's art!  Heh - Just kidding :-P

__

Phil

 

My Friends

So... I guess I've been meaning to say something like this for some time now.  The thing is I've had a lot of very good friends in my life.  More than I deserve really - and while I'm not going into names right now, chances are you're one of them.

Old and new, young and old, you've all been more than I could have asked for in supporting me and helping me through life, and yeah - it's been great to have you as part of this journey - I just want you all to know how mcuh I appreciate every single one of you.

That said... I know I don't always show it very much.  Sometimes in fact, it's fair to say I'm a downright git with all the consideration, empathy, and honour of a Vorta in a bad mood.  You can prolly all think of times... I dunno what would get into me... but I'm sorry forwhen I let people down, and when I fail peoples trust.  Everytime, it stays with me for a long time, I try to pay penance is different ways but ultimately it should always coe back to sorry.  So sorry.

 

I think most of you know appart from being an occasional jerk - I am, and will always be here for any of you.  I really mean that - anything you need, what's mine is yours.  From where I live to what I've learnt - it's all there for you guys and I don't want you to hesitate on calling that in.  I think once upon a time I might have been a port of call when people needed a place and a person to just be for a while - and it's been a while, some might think I'm not really the same guy anymore - but it's still true.

 

The last few years... I think it's fair to say I've gone against the grain of my home people.  My beliefs have undergone significant development, my life has become perhaps unacceptable to some of the people who love me and respected me.  You might think I don't care what you think, or that you don't care what I consider... the latter isn't really up to me I guess - but I do care what you think - and I haven't forgotten the things we were taught or stopped understanding life from those views - but my journey, one I was always prophecised to take - has taken me through some difficult terrain that's ultiately taught me a lot about God and creation.  But before I get too metaphorical and flowery in this blog, I'll just bring it to the important point, that different details of beliefs and theologies, can't ever stand in the way of love between people - and this goes for my love for all of you.

 

So... sorry... the people I've wronged - if it makes you feel any better you can apply for compensationry favours or maybe just drop me a hint you want way more appologising - you're totally entitiled to both and worth every moment I could have to invest in our relationships.

And I love you all - you can count on me to be there, and call on me to help.

And I do respect, and love you all far more than I think I portray - which - I'm working on - but know that I really do.

 

And that's it.

 

__

Phil

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Off the top of my phone

Being a historic day in world events, and being present at said
events, I took some pics. Because it was quite a few - I downloaded the
pics off my phone to my lappy for the first time in ages and saw a
bunch of other 'one shoters' from the last few months, and I thought
I'd share some.

Oh - the historic event was the removal of the large back cabin at
ALOVE (or for those die hards out there, the Youth Ministry Unit, and
for those really old school - The Mission Team). Yes that cabins served
a chain of brands, birthed an entire maturnity ward of brilliant life
changing projects, sheltered the prayer that's fueled fire of the
Salvation Army, hosted countless bigwigs and produced world changing
documentaries and presentations for the powers that be (or have been).
For those of you who have spent a night huddled in a sleeping bag on
it's cold hard floor... I'm sure you know of the bonds we all share
through this beaten old wooden box. Take a moment in reflection if you
will.

Ahem.

So cabin moving is pics 1 & 2.

Picture 3 is Sister Sues - a blog entry from a while back explained how
she took care of me when I was ill. This is the lady herself wearing
the crown I made for her as a thankyou gift.

4 is Kai on the bus - this is from last weekend in Brighton - a lovely day at the sea side even if it was tiring.

5: Back to me being ill - this was the infection in my mouth before it
gota lot worse - oh and my teeth aren't that bad - I'd just eaten a
chocolate cake made by Laura's fair hands :)

6 iss... oh, yeah, Martin, playing cars with my nephew Kai. So
sweet.  I think it's clear to see Martin's enjoying himself
more... still - nice to see the smiles.

7 is from Spring Harvest. Yes this is my friend Danimal from uni
sitting at the visuals control desk. Doesn't he look professional? I
tell ya - I taught him everything he knows... well... cept the stuff
about sound that Dave taught him.

8 is that very venue in action. Aww, such happy little young
peeps, and oh yes - Visual file: Sun1 - filmed by my boss himself while
he was in the states. So very very useful at these things.

9 - Me and Laura on her couch - we were having fun with my new
phone. Only the two of us in the room you see - who took the pic? WHO
TOOK THE PIC!?!

10 - More fun with the same phone - 3 Laura's - What fun!

11 - And 3 me's! Uh-oh!

Last but not least, 12: Andy (my bf) draws a web comic called
special school. This was a cameo he drew of the two of us in it. (start
here: http://specialschool.spiderforest.com/?comic_id=0)

And that's it. :)

__

Phil

P.S. I'm very sorry for the lameness off the photo thing in this
blogging system - I could link them in from external places and insert
them into the text... maybe I've been a bit heavy on the photo's here
anyway. Ah well - for now - it's like a mini game to match the
descriptions up to the photos as they're not really in any order or
show their labels very well.

P.S. - UPDATE - I haxored it :-P I've just hotlinked the pictures
from the location MSN upload them too... ok - so it's a bit bandwidth
heavy - sorry about that - but they're all from a phone camera so suck
it up. :) I might upload smaller versions so long as this little way
around doesn't break or anything.

Narby Narby Narby

Been playing a bit of WoW this week - mostly as my character Narby.  He's a 3ft Mage with green hair.  He was stuck on level 31 for ages and now he's lvl 34, going on 35, and that's a good feeling.  Any day now he can be an expert (Artisan?) tailor.

Other than that, flirting on the web, working, and watching a few DVD's has been my lot.

Ok - this entry is crap but I'm just taking a quick break so I might edit it later.

Cya's

 

--- Edit --

And here I am.  Only another quick break but let's see how far we get.  Narby is now level 35 btw, and indeed, his tailoring skills are on the up once more.

Got into a tight spot in the badlands the other day.  they don't call it the badlands for no reason, and it's no place for a lvl 35 gnome to be going alone.  But I had a package to deliver there and figured I'd just keep runnning through - if I don't stop, maybe I'll make it.

So run I did, and trailed behind me a conga line of angry dwarves and hungry tigers.  I eventualy reached the guy I had to deliver the goods to, but I was running very low on health and mana by this point.  Two tigers hot on my heals, and a hundred more lurking about the area - I had little option but to turn to fight them. 

I turned one into a sheep and after a cstly battle killed the other, using my last potion to give me a health boost, and mana stone to give me a few more spells. 

Now I had little mana, almost no health, tigers to the left of me, dwarves to the right - here I was stuck in the middle with this big cat, who broke out of the sheep spell almost immmediately after I'd defeated the first. 

I turned him into a sheep again and ran to the guy expecting the goods, who of course made me satnd there while he bored me with some monologue asthough there was no rush at all.  By the time he was through, the tiger had asserted it's carniverous form once more, and in true 'What the hell can I do' fasion, I re-sheeped it.  Conscious that this spell would not likely work many more times on the same cat (each time you do it the targets resistance to the spell builds), I quickly whipped out my hearthstone and began the old (not to mention slow to cast and eaily disrupted) 'teleport to the other side of the world' trick.  The sheep became a tiger once more and ran over to me, and as it swung it's hefty claw at my little pokey body, I dissapeared in a dispaly of lights and symbols... materialising safely in Theramore.  That's right Theramore - don't ask me why I've got my home set there. What?  The swamps not a good enough view for you city boy types?

Anywho - on appearing in Theramore, I can't tell you how good I felt.  I know - I need to get out more - I'm working on that.

 

I know this is a crap update.  It's not that nothing's happened in real life - it's just Real life is kinda... foggy right now.  I'm not sure what I have to say about it exactly.  Definately lots to say, but I've not got much of a perspective on anything.

For now I will say this - Love life is looking more alive than it has for a long time, work is having a few ups downs (and late nights), and friendships are finally getting a bit of attention.

More on all these things in future entries but for now... Gnome eating tigers are way more exciting anyway

 :-P

__

Phil