Building and demolishing

I think there's an Eddie Izzard quote in there somewhere, to do with the Gods of Destruction and Creation. But I wouldn't do it half as well as he does, so I shall refrain.

I spent a blissful day today sitting outside with my laptop and working. Thank goodness for wireless Internet. The landlady very nicely cleaned their garden chairs for me, and brought out a little table so I could rest the computer there, and I stole the extension cord that had been attached to the fan which had previously used to make our carpet dry quicker. I sat there in my T-shirt and jeans, watching the builder attack what used to be a deck and is now a pile of rotten wood, and occasionally distracted his dog. Oh, and I went down to the 7/11 for what Shaw told me was a Chipwich, but I don't know if this is the brand name or the name of the actual thing itself. It's two chocolate chip cookies with ice cream in the middle. And damn, is it good. I had a chipwich craving in the mid afternoon, when the sun was pounding down on me, and just had to go and buy one. So at the end of today, I have quite a lot of work done, I have a slightly suntanned face, and I'm probably a couple of chipwich pounds heavier. But it was a good day :o)

I completely forgot to post that we went to see Sin City at the cinema on Saturday night. It wasn't what I had expected. I had thought it was going to be more comic-booky and less violent, but the first ten minutes soon put those ideas out of my head. All I can say is, thank goodness it is in black and white, because there was a lot of gore. And this may sound strange coming from someone who can go to a post mortem and hold a brain in their hands, but I can't stand gore and violence when it's to do with the living. All in all, however, it was a good film. One of the storylines I thought was a lot more interesting than the other two, but then I guess there will always be bits you like and dislike. I would recommend it, as long as you don't mind people getting hacked to pieces in a slightly comic way, a la Kill Bill.

Other news: I went to see a room in a house on Wednesday, and it was a lot worse than it promised to be. Not in the sense of dirty or rat infested, but just one of those ones where they word the advert so it's not quite a lie, but it's a definite distortion of the truth. Which was sad really, because the house was a once-lovely 1912 character building, with a shit load of oak panelling and nice creaky staircases. But it was obvious that no-one had done work on it for about 40 years, it was definitely the worse for wear, and they had tried to cram as many people as possible into it without updating it. Five people, plus a not-quite-specified random in the basement, and only one shower/bath. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the shower schedule on the door. I kid you not, people had booked the shower for the week ahead, specifying when they were getting in and out (15 minute max). The garden was lovely, but I had to run away quickly. I told the guy I would ring him today and let him know whether I wanted the room, and luckily I got his answer phone. In my first year of Uni I probably would have thought the whole thing was a bit of an adventure, but at 26, I'm just too darn old.

For the first time since being here, I actually have a hectic social schedule over the next week. And I'm not lying! Tomorrow I am meant to be meeting my friend Catherine for iced coffee/hot choc, as well as doing some more work, and then of course we see The Killers in the evening! Sunday I am provisionally going to wander the sands by Spanish Banks, if it doesn't rain, since the builder obviously took pity on me yesterday (poor friendless English girl) and invited me to the beach with him and his dog. And more work. Then on Monday I am meant to meet a girl who I came across at the filming of the marathon commercial the other weekend, whose name (honestly) is Sunshine. We have arranged to meet in "A grungy vegetarian cafe," as yet unspecified. Then next Friday it is the Kerrisdale Carnival, on Saturday I am sitting at an info table for the Emergency Social Services in the community fair, and on Sunday...............I die in the half marathon. I can't actually remember the last time I went jogging, so that can't be good. But hey, even if I walk the entire thing, it's good exercise :o)

The good news is that our landlady reduced the rent to half for the month of May, because of all the carpet hassle and general crap that has gone on over the past week. I think we've convinced her to put tile/lino down in the kitchen this time, instead of carpet. The fitter came today and we plugged the idea of something easier to deal with than carpet, resulting in much choosing of colours and measuring up. What with this and the deck being built outside, I feel as though I'm in a home design show. If only this wasn't a basement and it actually had some light, I wouldn't mind staying. But then life is full of 'what ifs' and I'm sure this is a minor one in the grand scheme of things.....

I'm knackered, so I'm going to bed. We went to see the band that Denise's friend Pat is in last night, Bedouin Soundclash. I can safely say that I have never been to see a band who plays their brand of music. I didn't dislike it, as they were very good at what they did, but I'm not really a reggae girl. They did, however, get a little rocky at the end of the set, and if I wasn't so tired I would have been dancing. And if some tosser hadn't practically stood on my Achilles tendon when they were fighting with someone who was telling them (quite rightly) that they were indeed a tosser. Anyway, the singer in the band has a fantastic voice, the bassist was very funky, and Pat played the drums like a maniac, so I can see why they're doing well. Check them out, people!