Below are the most recent 11 friends' journal entries.

Saturday, November 21st, 2009
cosmicavatar	8:06p	*stre-e-e-e-e-etch* Was unable to get to sleep for a long time last night. Fortunately, so was H, and as we were under no pressure to get up early the next day, we just lay there and talked and snuggled. It was nice. Today we have done bugger-all. Well, I made the usual cooked brekky, walked to Tesco and got Star Trek on DVD, but that's it. After working all that extra time on Friday, it was good to just chill out. We've mucked about on the computer, snuggled on the sofa watching TV... we might be productive tomorrow but there's no hurry as after one day of work on Monday, we're on annual leave again for a week. YAY! This time of year may be dark and miserable, but all my holidays are coming up in short succession and that rocks. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
loki_nb	1:12p	Apropos is a good word. Apropos and as a follow-on to my previous post about Photography and people blocking shots with their hand (Oh, I'm not going to link to it, just look two inches down the page), I add this: On Thursday, Gonzo, while sitting on the other side of the pod from me as I was trying to organise something at my desk, held up his fancy schmancy digital SLR and started snapping photos without looking into the viewfinder. I, being extremely busy as well as annoyed by other things, held up my hand to block him. He then cited the blog entry, saying "Don't you hate people who do that?" This gave me pause, but in my head I can up with an answer. He was not taking photos because he found what I was doing interesting. He did not think I looked good. He was not even looking at the pictures he was taking. He was using the camera simply as a tool to annoy or provoke a reaction from me. This then gave me the right to block with my hand. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
loki_nb	1:11p	I read on someone's Twitter that smart Twitterers and Bloggers were part of the "Douchenozzle Offset Program". This made me smile. (Comment on this)
Monday, November 16th, 2009
bally	9:19p	Mars Needs Women Apologies for the title, but I've already used Life On Mars, and, well... yeah. ( Doctor Who episode 4.16/30.16 The Waters Of Mars review ) Current Mood: excited Current Music: Air - Mike Mills (6 Comments |Comment on this)
cosmicavatar	9:20p	Blurg Redux I have a cold. Wank. Waking up through the night and then being wide awake from 4.30am with no hope of going back to sleep is also Bad. My nose wasn't too awful first thing so it was mainly the bunged-up-ness and knackeredness, but during the morning the dam suddenly broke and it was Not Pretty. Tonight I shall go to bed with a nice Lemsip and honey. And maybe put a sneaky shot of Drambuie in it. Uggghhh. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
cosmicavatar	4:43p	(Almost) Done Everything He's been working for hours, but H has almost finished repairing the fence. He refused to go the concrete panel/professional route (an argument for another time as I just wanted the panels back up), but went for new wooden posts and metposts to delay rotting, and I fear the joins still aren't tight enough to make the fence solid against gales, but it's better than nothing - and how - at least people can't see into our garden now! He's just (hah) got to put the surround for the back gate back and drill a new hole for the lock, but otherwise things are looking so much better. I'm very grateful he's so good at DIY. Actually, this has turned out to be a small blessing, seeing as the posts needed replacing anyway, and while he's been doing that, I've been tidying up in the garden (weeding, pruning) and cleaning the windows and doors at the back to keep him company. More productive than sitting on the sofa feeling sorry for myself and watching TV, at any rate. I'm now fixing dinner and logging some more CDs so they can go up into the loft and create more space (a project on the To Do List). 1,510 songs logged so far... Current Music: Out Of Control - Hoobastank (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
cosmicavatar	5:45p	I hate gales. The three fence panels at the back of my garden (the ones looking onto the drive where the TARDIS is parked) have blown down. The panels themselves were fine, being new last year; unfortunately the older wooden posts had rotted away. It's interesting that the side adjoining our neighbour's garden, which has concrete posts, is not moving an inch. Same goes for all our other neighbours' fences, which are all concrete-posted as well. Bet they're feeling nice and smug/relieved/sympathetic (delete as appropriate) looking at my poor vandalized fence. The reason we didn't put concrete posts in all the way round is that H put concrete down for the metposts there which currently hold the wooden posts in a few years back, and he thought it would be too difficult to drill down enough to get concrete ones in. I think we'll have to get concrete posts for the back, though. At least there's no concrete to drill out there. I am safely locked in the house so am not worried about anyone taking advantage of the open back garden to come in here, and am fairly Zen about any stuff being nicked from the side of the house as most of it is ancient junk and easily replaceable. (H's nice bike is locked in the garage.) It's annoying knowing it's so vulnerable, though. H doesn't get back till Sunday evening at least so it'll be a while before the fence can be repaired. And it would be the side with the custom-built back gate built into it, wouldn't it? Bother. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
bally	10:15a	Mull Of Kintyre Help settle something for me, team. Michael McIntyre: funny, or the complete opposite? Current Mood: apathetic Current Music: none (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 13th, 2009
loki_nb	11:14p	"Oh, don't take a photo!" I’m finally taking a stand.   I hate, hate, HATE people who:   1.   flinch away, or try to block their face with their hand when you try to take a photo   -or-   2.   people who, upon seeing a perfectly fine-looking photo of themselves that you just took, will exclaim “Oh, God! I look ugly/fat/stupid! Delete that!”   Seriously, I’m over it.   As someone who takes a lot of pictures (nearly 4000 this year alone), nothing frustrates me more. This is especially bad when I’m trying to take a candid photo to actually capture a funny or interesting moment that I feel would make a good and well-composed picture. That candid photo is ruined when the person becomes a cringing blur as they exhibit behaviour A. Yes, I know that everyone’s image is their own business and that I shouldn’t be taking photos without permission, but come ON. Behaviour B seemed to be more of the ingrained body-conscious insecurity that’s drilled into people (of which I myself am an occasional victim) in which we must automatically downplay ourselves as ugly for fear of being considered arrogant and conceited (or worse, actually believe that we are unattractive and dismiss ourselves out of hand).   In any case, it comes down to this:   1.   I am a photographer and therefore (for better or worse) am an artist (of some sort). 2.   The pictures I compose and attempt to compose (for better or worse), are art (of some sort). 3.   Therefore, the people and objects in the picture (for better or worse), are part of that art (of some sort) and are worthy/interesting. 4.   Therefore, shut your face about it. I think you look good/interesting in this photos and that’s that.   These thoughts were kicked into action by a farewell I was at last night, and two friends of whom I took a candid photo of two people I know sitting by a wall and laughing at what a person standing nearby had said. The candid photo was natural and looked great. They then noticed I was taking photos and got quite embarrassed saying “Oh, delete that, I’m sure it looked terrible.” Despite having not seen the photo. I tried to downplay the situation by saying “Well, if you don’t want me to take a bad photo, let me take a good one.” (my mantra of sorts), and they posed. Then viewed the picture. “I look terrible in that one,” one said. “Take another.” They posed again. Repeat times 5. In the end, I just walked away. When I looked at the results, the two best-focused and best-looking photos were the first two I’d taken. Also, after putting the photos on Facebook, I got a narky comment about the candid one, stating “When did you take this, how dare you, I’m going to kill you when I see you next OMG.”   I can’t win. Frankly, I miss my old camera-phone, where you could take a picture without making a shutter sound, so people wouldn’t know (though, the camera was no good, and I know they auto-enabled the noise to stop locker-room shots and such).   So yes, if you’re one of the people like Craig and Stevie and Ted, of whom I can take many many photos and just love the attention, then I salute you.     Lucas Brown | Proxy Champignon Master of Brainthinking   Current Mood: frustrated Current Music: 1000 BPM - Beck (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
bally	10:51p	Skeleton Tonight - instead of doing the luxurious and joyful marking I could perhaps have been devoting myself to - I spent my hours idling on planet Earth's great time-sink, l'Internet. By chaining mad links together for moments on end, I came across something truly scrumptious, which I am seconds away from sharing with you, dear omnidirectional reader. This is a link to the first episode of The Skeletor Show (sound vital, not safe for work due to SWEARS), which is basically Skeletor-related segments of old He-Man cartoons with a different dub. I found it almost indecently amusing. Laughed out loud, so I did. Current Mood: tired Current Music: Moby - 257.zero (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
cosmicavatar	9:15p	You Wanna Hear About The Deal I'm Making The Bones soundtrack album: not bad, actually. Particularly what I'm listening to right now. Nice thumpy bass. I really liked it when I first heard it (er, probably on Bones), but didn't buy it until yesterday evening. Along with the rest of the soundtrack. Today seems to have gone by rather fast. Time for bed. And I didn't even get round to the latest HIMYM... Current Music: Running Up That Hill - Placebo (2 Comments |Comment on this)