Hermione's hideout

Believe it or not, I've not texted my cousin to gloat!

It's good to get back to winning ways at Turf Moor, and they're our first 3 points since Brian Laws took over. The first goal was a very cheeky chip by Nugent (whose loan from Pompey has been extended to the end of the season much to the delight of fans, manager and aforementioned player alike) and then debutant Danny Fox, a deadline-day signing from Celtic, who is a defender, scored an absolute BEAUTY of a free kick that curled, Beckham-esque, into the back of the net. Benni McCarthy, WHU's January signing from Bastard Rovers (who, needless to say, got roundly heckled for the first half - he was substituted at half-time), thought he'd equalised, but another of our new signings, Leon Cort, cleared it off the line (it could easily have gone horribly horribly wrong for him).

We are now out of the relegation zone (for the moment...but to be fair, we didn't get into that until the end of January, 4 months after I anticipated us being firmly cemented to the bottom spot) - and the best bit is that Bastard Wanderers are now below us! Take THAT, Owen Coyle!

Pompey are SCREWED. Sorry, Nicky, but you know it as well as I do! RIght now they're facing a winding-up order in the High Court on Wednesday for reportedly millions owed to the tax-man.

A good (football) joke I heard on the radio the other day. Alex Ferguson, Rafa Benitez, Arsene Wenger and Neil Warnock go into the pub together for a few rounds of drinks. Fergie buys the second round, Rafa buys the third and Wenger buys the fourth. For the fifth round, Warnock goes up, buys a pint for himself and sits down to drink it. The others ask him why they haven't got a drink. Warnock replies, "Because, lads, this is the fifth round, and none of you are in it." 

For the benefit of the non-football fans on my flist, Man Utd (Fergie) and Liverpool (Rafa) went out of the FA Cup in the third round and Arsenal (Wenger) went out in the fourth. Crystal Palace (Warnock) made it through to the fifth round.

Much as I loathe Warnock, I have to admit that it's a good joke!

Nicked from yksi87 

( Meme )( 65 things )

We were pretty unlucky, overall - from what I saw on MotD and heard on the radio, and what Mum told me, we played really well, gave them a good game. John Terry was the focus of it all, though, because of all the scandal surrounding him. The media were going on and on and ON about it; 5Live were talking about it all through breakfast on Monday and for the entirety of my journey to work. By the time I got to work I was so fed up that I texted 5Live and said that what annoyed me most about all this is that people seem to have forgotten there was a match on Saturday - the papers were all 1 paragraph match report, 20 paragraphs John Terry. And it got read out! On national radio!

But one thing I do feel like I must say: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES leave Nicolas Anelka or John Terry unmarksed near the goal - you WILL pay for it. As we discovered.

Should post more but m falling asleep.

As promised! They're about 6 months old. The tabby one is Joseph and the black one is Mary (we didn't know their real names and as I took them in just before Christmas we felt it was appropriate). They're mine, too, so once I finally get out of this wretched county, they're coming with me.


Customs Cat inspects parcel from Wilde and Keepy that smells of Severus and Simon (ie. other cats)




Dungeon Master Cat says Natural 1, Total Party Kill, YOU ALL DIE




You hold it down, I'll strike the killing blow


Behind ur kurtainz, stealin ur burdz


I am SO CUTE AND ADORABLE when I'm asleep




And your motive is...?


No, you CAN'T have my box.

As in, OWEN COYLE'S Bolton. Or Bastard Wanderers, as we've taken to calling them, for poaching our manager. Needless to say the atmosphere at the Reebok Stadium was sold out in the away end and extremely hostile. There were a lot of "Judas" banners, but my favourite one is the one the commentators and Match of the Day picked out: "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy"!!! *likes*

It was a good goal, I'll admit that much. But our defence should have dealt with it better. The scoreline flattered Bolton - it was a very even game. We were incredibly unlucky - we had a couple that were SO SO close. By all accounts we played reasonably well, just got unlucky.

*sighs* Thanks to Wednesday night results, we are now in the relegation zone. Hmph. Admittedly, it's taken till almost the end of January for it to happen - I was convinced we'd be there by the end of August, never to come out of it before an embarrassing relegation a la Sunderland and Watford in past years, but even if we lose every game of the season from this point on, we'll still have got double what the aforementioned teams got. And we did beat Manchester United. Apparently Chelsea are "resting" some of their players, so they obviously think we'll be a walkover. It would be WONDERFUL if we could do ourselves proud. We've signed several players in the January transfer window, including Carl Cort's brother, Leon, from Stoke. He's a big and powerful defender - something I rather think weill need! Cameroon are out of the African Cup of Nations so we've got Bikey back.

Portsmouth are basically down; it's just a matter of time. They've not paid their players on time for the third time in 4 months, and on Thursday the official club website was down for a few hours because of debts to the providers. They're facing a winding-up order. Some Pompey fans say it's worth the short-term expense because they did win the FA Cup - but what good is that in the long term if 4 years later they go bust? I'd far rather have the attitude at Burnley - OK, we're paying by far the lowest wages in the Premiership, but we're keeping within our means, not overspending; yes, we might well go down but at least we should still be going 20 years down the line! I like having a board that thinks of the long-term, stays within its means, etc.

Relegation predictions: Portsmouth definitely; apart from that. it could be any from us, West Ham, Hull, Wigan, Bastard Wanderers, Bastard Rovers and WOlves.

FA Cup fourth round. Yes, the team from a lower division that currently sits in the relegation zone of that division and has only won at home once in the last year...they beat us. Mum went, said we were absolutely atrocious. The papers described it as a really boring game with hardly any shots on goal. The Reading keeper pulled off a couple of really good saves and Reading's goal was unstoppable...but still. *sighs* I suppose we can try to focus on surviving in the Premiership now. I'm not holding my breath.

Oh, and I didn't post about the home game against Stoke the other week because it got postponed - although the pitch itself was fine, the paths and so on around the ground were not at all safe.

And Stoke just knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup so I've got to choose between going to Arsenal (a ground I've not been to before) or the BSL signed stories at Colchester as part of this year's Essex Book Festival. Ack...

Saw quite a bit of this on Match of the Day. We were so so unlucky with several chances; the result could have been very different. The United goals were good, we were pretty decent, and the scoreline flattered United.

In about 12 hours or so, I will be Mary and Joseph's proper mummy! I got a text from my boss today to say that they'd been released for rehoming by the RSPCA, so I checked with my parents, and we're going to adopt them!!! We all love them so much! So I'll be able to post cute photos of them! I'll probably put some on here, although there are likely to be rather more on Facebook.

Went down to Exeter for the weekend. Stayed with Kat R on Thursday, Emma on Friday, and coloursofdusk and smudge_rat on Saturday and Sunday nights. Also got to spend the afternoon with Alex L, and Steve and Angela at Clifton Road Games. During which visit Steve pointed out that I had 2 flat tyres on Meredith. I didn't believe him at first because Exeter Disability Centre told me that my wheels were solid, not pneumatic. Apparently not. Hopefully I'll be able to see that before I go down to visit countertony andel_staplador this weekend.

TolkSoc Challenge was rather more enjoyable this year than last year. Mainly because I was actually awake! It was at fanged_geranium 's this year due to the departure of House of Special from TolkSoc-Scifi tenancy, and she and I were the only official survivors (coloursofdusk would have managed it as well, but she was a good Christian girl and went to chapel). It was really good to see people again!

( Quotes from TolkSoc Challenge 2010 )( Quotes from TolkSoc Challenge 2010 )

From el_staplador (though I think I've done this one before but hey, what the hell)

If you leave a comment on this post, I will:

1. Tell you why I befriended you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.

In return, you have the option of posting this in your LJ. Which you had anyway.

Rants about yet more departures from Turf Moor and the betrayal will appear at a later date when said betrayal has had time to sink in properly.

I am free of horny kittens!!! By which I mean they've been neutered so they should no longer try to shag each other at every opportunity (which they'd been doing since last Wednesday, which coloursofdusk will be able to confirm). I got really fed up with it; every time I caught them attempting to fornicate I felt like I was a mother walking in on her teenage child in the middle of shagging their boy/girlfriend! And they gave me the sort of looks I'd expect to get from aforementioned hypothetical teenagers. Really doesn't help that I'm fairly certain that they're siblings.

We don't yet know what'll happen to them; it depends what happens in court. If they're released for rehoming, we plan to adopt them because all of us have completely fallen in love with them. I was talking to Mum on the phone earlier (she's up at her mum's at the moment - and was meant to be coming home on Sunday, but given the weather forecast now feels it wiser to stay put) and she was like, "We have to adopt them if we possibly can!" So I think it's a pretty unanimous decision (Dad always likes having cats about the house and he really likes these two so it's a no-brainer, really!)

Right now I have Joseph snoozing away on my lap. Mary is sat looking out of the back door at the snow. She really wants to go out, I can tell - but they're not allowed out, so in they stay.

As for X-Files stuff, MY DVDS ARRIVED TODAY!!! So no doubt next weekend I shall be doing much squeeing about them with smudge_rat ! Sat and watched the pilot and episode 1-1 earlier (was originally going to be just the pilot but about 2 minutes into that one, something furry and tabby setlled itself on my lap and didn't move till the end of episode 1-1). I shall be good, though, and not go into overkill - besides, I have seasons 12, 13 and 14 of ER to work through. I'm not getting season 15 yet because it's still going for about £40 on Amazon. Eventually it'll drop to about £10 and that's when I'll get it.

It's official that Bolton have poached our manager. My opinion of Bolton Wanderers FC is now only marginally higher than my opinon of Bl*ckb*rn R*v*rs. I have suspicions that they'd already got him lined up before they sacked Gary Megson. So now, I don't care who goes down as long as Bolton are one of those clubs. Prediction (unbiased, I swear!) currently is Portsmouth (coz let's be honest, they've been doomed all season), Bolton, maybe Wigan, maybe Hull, maybe West Ham (ooooh, if West Ham were to go down and we stayed up, I think I may have to gloat a little to my WHU-supporting cousin...)

While I'm in a ranting sort of section in this post, why the heck can't my father lift a finger to do something round the house just for once??? Yesterday I got back from work (having gone super-early because I had to get the kittens up there in time for the vet run and also because of the snow - don't think I went above 30mph the whole way), then went to Sainsbury's, put all the shopping away, tidied up somewhatput the old newspapers in the recycling bag - and the washing-up from breakfast and Dad's lunch still hadn't been done. I wouldn't be complaining if he'd been out at work (not that he could have worked, with the snow) but he'd not left the house all day and spent the whole day doing his stamps. God forbid he should think to do the washing-up! So because of that, I found it rather slow and difficult to get up this morning, because I was so tired from yesterday (and he knows full well that my chronic illness causes considerable fatigue). Not too impressed.

My Christmas present from wildelover and keeperofthecats arrived today! Thank you SO much! The hot chocolate looks really nice, I figured out the Nerds as soon as I saw the shape of the box, and the socks look sooooo nice and cosy! *squeeeeee*

We have snow.  A considerable quantity for this area. As in, about 4 or 5 inches. Loads of schools have been closed. I suspect that Woodford County High School for Girls will not have been amongst them - I remember when I was in Upper Sixth, BBC Radio Essex stopped listing which schools were shut and started listing the ones that were still open. In this area, WCHS was the sole school still open. This does not surprise me; there's something about that school, as I'm sure auntygladys and tammy0001 would confirm.

I have a new watch strap. My old one finally died today. It snapped off (was on the verge of doing so anyway) while I was hunting around trying to find my prescription sunspecs. I have NO idea what I did with them! They must be around here somewhere! It's ridiculous - I've only just found my non-prescription sunspecs (for when I'm wearing my contact lenses) and no sooner do I do that than the others go missing! Before anyone asks, I've looked under my bed, and while I've retrieved 3 library books, my address book, Connect 4, a dead Biro, a book of stamps and season 5 of ER, I have not located my sunspecs. They're probably on my desk...somewhere... In all likelihood they'll be with my tape measure, which appears to have gone walkabout from my sewing box. I know this because I needed to measure Meredith to see if she's narrow enough to fit through the doorway of Matt, Rhodri, coloursofdusk and smudge_rat 's house (she does), but couldn't find it so had to resort to the rather-less-orthodox measurement of lengths-of-Dungeon-Master's-Guide-spine. For the record, Merry comes in at just under two DMG spines.

Not really in the right mindset for musings on interpretation of the Bible and whether transubstantiation is feasible and some what I could call double standards/hypocrisy from certain denominations. That will come soon enough, I'm sure.

Was prodded into X-Files mode a few weeks ago when I went in to Forbidden Planet to ask about Christmas temp jobs and they informed me that they'd appointed them all, so consoled myself by purchasing Skin and Whirlwind, the two X-Files novels that came out in 2008. Subsequently, a post on LJ by smudge_rat about her Christmas presents and the ensuing conversation has led to me making the following purchase: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Files-Complete-Collectors-DVD/dp/B000X41AY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262726852&sr=8-1

OK so I prooooooobably shouldn't really spend my Christmas money on stuff like this when I 'm not in paid employment, but given that the RRP is £200 - TWO HUNDRED QUID - and these are going for £66, which by my (admittedly not very good) calculations is less than a third of the RRP, NO WAY am I passing that up! OK so Mum might freak out a little if she's home when they arrive, but come on, they'll last me for aaaaaaaaaages, and considering the difference in prices...

FA Cup 3rd round.so not league but given that we lose every time another match happens before I've posted about the previous one, I'm not going to tempt fate!

First goal was a penalty - needless to say it was Graham Alexander who took it! Because of this, they were talking about records of penalty-takers, one of whom was the legendary Leighton James (a past Claret) and someone else who played for us at one point. Second goal was some horrendous defending on the part of MK Dons. It wouldn't be Burnley, however, if we made it nice and easy for ourselves!

I'll save my rant on the Wimbledon-Milton Keynes thing for another time. Only real shock of the round was a REAL shock - Leeds beat Manchester United, at Man Utd!!! Mind you, I watched the match on TV and Leeds wanted it waaaaay more. This is the first time in my lifetime that Leeds have won at Old Trafford.

As for Bolton... They want our manager. There are currently "talks" taking place. He played for them about 15 years ago, but NO NO NO! DON'T LEAVE US, OWEN COYLE!!!!!

Again, can't say much as there wasn't much on Match of the Day. We had some good chances and some bad luck.

And now Bolton have sacked Gary Megson so, because Owen Coyle used to play for Bolton, he's being tipped as favourite to take over, despite MANY MANY statements he and the club have released saying that he's going nowhere. Why won't they get the message?!?!?!

Meme yoinked from saralinda 

Then: December 1999

1. Age: 15

2. Romantic Status: Single, completely uninterested, more concerned about GCSEs

3. Occupation: Woodford girl (Year 10 pupil at Woodford County High School For Girls, state grammar)

4. Fun night out: Sleepover at a friend's (generally Catherine's, Katie's or Carol's).

5. My BFFs: Carol, Catherine, Katie, Claire, Naomi

6. I spent way too much time: Reading books late into the small hours.

7. I spent not enough time: Practising my flute.

8. I wanted to be when I grew up: Writer (author), nurse.

9. Biggest concern: Trying to get my teachers to accept that Higher GCSE maths was beyond me and that I should drop down to Intermediate (managed that about a year later); doing as well as I could at school in order to get the heck out of my home town (yet to be permanently achieved).

10. What my biggest concern should have been:  Probably what it actually was (see 9).

11. Where did I live: My parents' house.

12. Dumbest thing I did that year: Probably making some major social faux-pas that increased even further (if possible) my social alienation.

13. If I could go back now and talk to myself I would say: Insist on the Higher-->Intermediate maths switch.

14. Picture of myself then: Ponytailed, bespectacled, tall, skinny Woodford girl with books, notebooks and a pen tucked behind her ear.


Now: December 2009

1. Age: 25

2. Romantic Status: Single.

3. Occupation: Volunteer at a cat sanctuary; feline foster mum; level 2 BSL student.

4. Fun night out: A decent ceilidh.

5. My BFFs: Er heck... I'm going to pick 3 people from 3 areas of my life: Catherine; wildelover ; Caroline.

6. I spend way too much time: Playing Bejewelled Blitz on Facebook, playing GemCraft online.

7. I spend not enough time: Jobhunting. Problem is, it's a nightmare right now and I know what I want to do and how I want to do it (and I am doing it!)

8. I want to be when I grow up: Published author; BSL interpreter (working on both of these).

9. Biggest concern: Being stuck indefinitely in my home town with no prospect of an escape (looking more hopeful, though). Also, making sure the kittens are safe.

10. What my biggest concern should be: Trying to do a bit more gentle exercise (which, admittedly, isn't the easiest thing with the fibro).

11. Where do I live: Stuck back in my home town. I swear I can't escape this wretched place!

12. Dumbest thing I have done this year: Travel across London in a wheelchair avoiding the Tube (it takes about 4 times longer, is more expensive and you get snarky Overground people who whinge at you - and the slopes at Walthamstow Central are TOO STEEP for a self-propelled wheelchair).

13. What I think I would say to myself in 10 years: Why are you always putting off/forgetting to do things???

14. Picture of me now: Haven't got one to hand. Brown-haired, speccy (tinted), hoodie, cords, earrings, crucifix, d20 pendant (thanks, Liz!) Maybe I should do an update of my eLouai doll.



Summary

1. What do I miss most from 1999: I didn't have an irritating chronic illness then, so probably good overall health.

2. What do I miss least from 1999: Quite a few of the girls I was at secondary school with.

3. What have I accomplished in 10 years that I am most proud of: Getting a really good degree (and Dean's Commendation!) despite very adverse circumstances; being heavily involved in organising a successful major folk festival.

4. What have I NOT accomplished in 10 years that I wish I had: Getting away permanently from my home town.

Another penalty claim waved away (unfairly, yet again). Can't take anything away from Bolton regarding their goal - it was a beautiful free kick...(whether or not it should actually have been a free kick is a little disputable but that's something of a moot point now). Our goal was a nice one.

Not much I can say because it barely got a mention on 5Live and MotD only showed a few little bits.

Whoopsie, I've not read my flist for at least a week...

What to report? Haven't got anything particularly eventful occur - still at the cat sanctuary (nobody wants to employ me, and much as I love the sanctuary, it doesn't bring in any money), no longer fostering Brian and am now fostering two 5-month-old kittens. We don't know their real names so we're calling them Mary and Joseph (she's black, he's tabby). I'm not posting photos of them anywhere because they're "case cats", which means they're still technically the property of the owner and the RSPCA is taking said owner to court. They are ADORABLE! I've got them till January 5th (earliest; depends on the case). He LOVES laps, she's not so keen. They love playing, especially with a bit of paper attached to some string, which is attached to a wooden rod, and can keep going for AGES! I get tired before they do!

Writing is plodding along steadily. I'm still mainly doing Robbie stuff, although I am doing quite a bit of Rita stuff too. Pip's going to be a focus soon, after "glamming up" a bust of some obscure artist nobody's ever heard of, because he got bored in Art. I like Pip, he's fun! Tansy Cummings is starting to drift into the gang, but I 'm pretty sure she's only a background character. Mind you, I seem to recall saying that about Robbie...

Christmas was OK. Grandparents came down as usual on Christmas Eve and went home today - so I survived, just about. The problem with Granny M is that she taught seven-year-olds for many years (it REALLY shows) and I'm her only grandchild. This is A Bad Combination. I can only cope with her in VERY VERY small doses because she really stresses me out. For about the last 9 years I've had coursework, revision, course reading, etc. to get me out of spending too much time around her. Admittedly, this year I've had "work" - aka. playing with the kittens! The house is quiet once again, which is rather nice. Apart from the kittens having punch-ups and mad turns!

Am trying desperately to get some D&D going! At the moment I'm just doing it with the Exeter people via Skype - there is a London D&D Meetup group but they're generally 4th-edders (no no no no NO!) I've stopped buying D&D books - partly because I really don't have the money coming in, partly because there's no more room for them in my D&D box, and partly because, simply, I have all the ones I particularly want. I don't have the space for them like jedda does (though I must confess to some jealousy to her number of books!)

Yesterday I broke one of my absolute favourite mugs. It fell on the carpet rather than the lino-covered stone floor, thankfully, but the handle came off. *sighs* Oh well, we have plenty of others. It's just that this was the one I've had for about 6 years and that I always have my peppermint tea at night in it. I love that mug.

Hopefully coloursofdusk is able to come Wednesday-Thursday. It'll be good to see her again!

Right, should go to bed, due to work tomorrow. Religious musings long overdue but I'm too tired to do them right now.

I have two kittens! OK, it's temporary, because they're my fosterees (I'm officially a feline foster mum now, as a bigger role with the sanctuary than before). I've got them for 3 weeks (or longer, depending on court stuff). They're 5 months old; I think they're siblings. The girl is black and we're calling her Mary (don't know their real names) and the boy is tabby and we're calling him Joseph. They're really really adorable! I think he's spent more time on my lap than off it! It's so nice to have kitties around again!

This was on the radio, which was a good thing, a) because I wasn't there; and b) because it was a really good match! We took the game to Arsenal and for most of the match played them off the pitch. Not entirely sure what Bikey was doing a lot of the time, though - on several occasions he very nearly screwed it up big time and we were lucky that Arsenal only capitalised on that once instead of about 8 times.

It was reak end-to-end stuff. We equalised courtesy of one of the Arsenal players going in on Bikey with a really high foot - completely needlessly, but hey, I'm not complaining! We were awarded a penalty. Which opposition teams really shouldn't do to a team with Graham Alexander playing! He scored, obviously, being Graham Alexander! After that we were on top for most of the game by all accounts. We should actually have won it, because Fletcher did have the ball in the back of the net, which the linesman (wrongly) ruled out for offside. Even the Match of the Day pundits agreed that it should have been allowed. Still, it's a point, and it's against Arsenal, which is pretty decent.

Ah well. Wolves on Sunday. My first ever Premiership match and it's not even particularly going to feel like one because I've been to Molineux several times in the past so it'll feel like a Championship/Division One (whichever you want to call it) match. Ah well, it's still Premier League footie!

"Fading Burnley" is how the papers described us. Mum said we were pretty dire. Fulham haven't won at Burnley since 1951. So not much to comment on. I didn't think we'd lose it - but from what I was hearing I didn't think we'd win it, either. We went behind to a rather good goal from Zamora - at least that seemed to wake us up. Wade Elliott got a beauty a little bit later, to get us a point, which is better than nowt, but WE'RE STILL BELOW BLACKBURN. This must change. ASAP. At least they lost at Birmingham tonight.

This could be a long season...

I listened to this on the radio and I really don't think the scoreline reflects the match fairly. We were the better team throughout. And we still lost. It could have been worse - Pompey were awarded a penalty partway through the first half that NO WAY should have been a penalty. The radio commentators were certain about that after seeing the replay just once. The player who went down didn't try to claim a penalty and is adamant that it wasn't a penalty - he was as shocked as the commentators! So in a way justice was done when Jensen saved it.

But we had SO MANY chances when we could have scored. OK so their goalie was in outstanding form, but we need to actually capitalise on those chances. Definitely a low point of the season and, for the first time, Bastards are above us in the table (well, at least it took them till December).