I stole the idea for this post... Actually no, it's in reply to a post James did over at Whatleydude.com called What's on your iPad?
iPad first page, not really into folders on here
So, if you're interested, here are my top 5 iPad apps. In no particular order.
1) - Pinterest
I absolutely LOVE Pinterest and have done since it's early release. The iPad app is so slick and is perfect for settling down with a cup of tea and being inspired. I could pin all day long if I were allowed to.
2) - YouTube
I've really gotten into YouTube, and it's really ever since I got the iPad just over a year ago. The app came as standard in the original iOS but was then removed but the new app is really great. I can open it up and watch the latest videos from the channels I subscribe to. This is also Ryan and Connor's favourite app. Ryan pretends he doesn't know what it is but he knows that white square with the black and red writing leads him to endless videos of Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder and old Tom and Jerry cartoons.
3) - Sky Go
We don't have Sky tv at home but my sister does. So as soon as I realised that Sky subscribers could use the Sky Go on two devices for free I just had to beg her for her sign in details. She only has an iPhone (my old one) so I use Sky Go on my iPad. It's been really great for me as I love sports so I've watched most of the Australian open on it, I'll be able to watch live F1 races when the new season begins and I'm currently loving the fact that I can watch new US dramas on Sky Atlantic at the same time as everyone else. Hello Kevin Bacon in The Following!
4) - iBooks
I like books, i do, but i'm not a great reader. A book has to completely suck me in for me to stick with it. But having iBooks has made me grow to love reading again. I just tap it open and settle in with a good book. I mostly do this when i have total distraction free time, which is mostly on train journeys. I pack up the iPad and then read on the train. My current book is The Passage by Justin Cronin, a recommendation from Ross (@electroross). So far so good.
5) - Tweetbot
It's no secret that i love Twitter. But the Twitter app on the iPad could be so much better than it is. That's the reason I use Tweetbot on there. Strange, because I flick between Twitter and Tweetbot on the iPhone. On the iPad is everything you need. A clear timeline. Easy to use search. Clear favourites. Heck, there's even mute filters on there if you're one of those folk who pretend to be social and follow you so you'll follow back (to get their numbers up) and they never actually interact with you and they slip up and have a conversation (in your timeline) and let that cat out of the bag and you suss out that like probably most of their timeline they've got you on some sort of Mute filter or List which means they are preaching (and getting paid for it) that they're all social and shit but actually they're probably more anti-social than you. Phew. Apologies, that's a bug bear. But, Tweetbot's pretty decent.
Anyways... what's on your iPad?
EDIT: I just hit publish then checked this post on the web. Oh wow, look how out of focus and non-retina those iPad 2 screenshots are! Jeez...
Ah Ha haha ha haa. Hahahahahaha ha ho hee hee. Aha oh hee ha. Aha. Ho hee haaa.
(I hope someone gets that reference. I LOVE it).
Yes, that is the sound of laughter emanating from the offices of Twitter and Facebook (nee Instagram) this past few weeks. It's the laughter that says 'we're launching a new filter and a kinda fancier UI' (Instagram). It's also the laugh that says 'oh yeah, punks! Well, we're introducing Filters. So, nah!' (Twitter).
What the laugh should represent is the laughs of despair from us, the users, because it means we are missing out a little bit. While they squabble in their millionaires playground, we users wish that we didn't have to click twice instead of just once to view our Brannan filtered sunrises (me!) when they appear in a tweet. For yes, that's all you'll see now is a link, not your lovely photos. It's something to do with Instagram and a disappearing card trick (please someone get these references before i finish this post?!), or... something technical like that. Oh and I jest about having to click the link to see the photos. I don't get why folk are decrying this, it's what you do when you want to read an article from a link in a tweet too.
my favourite recent capture
In return our Twitter friends have totally eradicated all traces of your Instagram pictures from your profile. What you have left is those crappy pictures that appear in tweets you retweeted and you thought were funny at the time but goddamn you don't want them showing up on your profile. They're there. Gah!
Willow. No not some new movie set in a magical land where people are 2 foot tall and have scraggy hair, Willow is the new filter in Instagram. It's black and white and grey... ...*tumbleweed* ... ... Yeah, that was my reaction too. It is nice, but i don't really do black n white photos.
Baubles in Willow on Instagram
It's okay though, because over on Twitter they are soon to launch new Filters. *Cue ticker tape and marching bands and funky street dancers that tumble all over the place*... ... ... ... Wait, have you seen the filters? Wow. I have an app called Camerabag on my phone. It was one of my early forays into camera trickery and while the filters are nice, it's pretty basic. That's what i think the Twitter Filters look like. That is me just viewing the pictures on their blog though so no hands on experience because lo and behold, shortly after announcing that filters were coming... some 18 hours later it's still not there in the App store. Click, refresh, click refresh, click refresh...nope, still not there. Oh how I so want that little red circle to change from 2 to the number 3 and for it to be there.
All joking aside (you got that reference yet?), I think it's a pity that two of my favourite ever social playgrounds appear to be at loggerheads. It's not a war as most people are calling it. A war involves guns and fighting and bad things happening. It's a disagreement, ultimately about money, and the making of it. Of course Instagram wants to make some more, I mean who in their right minds could live off 100 million, right? Of course Twitter wants to get rid of their once nice bedfellow after they only went and shacked up with the black sheep (FB) of the social family. Why can't they all just get along nicely? eh.
Me, well I'll still use both. At the last count i currently have 39 photo taking or photo editing apps on my phone. I love mobile photography and the wise people say, the best camera is the one you've got with you to capture that moment. I will never have too many filters in my life. The more the merrier. But what i love about Instagram is not only my beloved Amaro, XProII and Brannan filters, but the fact that people give you a little love heart when they 'like' your picture or that they can leave a comment on your picture. It's those little things that may be lost with Twitter filters. I mean we could 'star' them as favourites but then no one else would see that would they?
How you see the Likes
Instagram gives you all the pictures you want to see in your feed. Those people you have actively followed because they take the most wonderfully shot pictures with a phone. There are people who aren't necessarily on Twitter or they no longer tweet but give great Instagram. There's the brands who really excel at Instagram - Red Bull, Sharpie, Converse. It's a whole little mini social network within the wider landscape.
little like hearts and comments - love
With Twitter you get all the tweets and pictures from the folk you like to tweet and chat to, but man some of them can't take a picture to save themselves. Sorry folks. Also there's the thrill of checking your newsfeed in Instagram and seeing that X number of people liked your picture enough to 'like' it. Likes = Lovehearts *swoon*. Now don't say that doesn't bother you because evidently it does, we all want a little bit of loving, enough if it's just on the snapshots we take of our lives. Incidentally, a few weeks ago Instagram released a web platform whereby all your pics are stored and displayed in a grid format. You can also like and comments on photos there. Here's mine http://instagram.com/ange77h/
ooh look, shiny shiny lovely web Instagram thingy
How will Twitter let me (and others know) when my pictures are liked? Perhaps Twitter filters are not meant to be used in that way. Perhaps they're just filters. Whatever they are i can't wait to use them too. I hope they're worth the wait. The Cinema filter looks akin to Instagram's Brannan so I'm sure it'll feature heavily in my picture tweets. Brace yourselves. I'm gonna filter the shit out of all of my photos from now on.
Yes, that's right. Three whole years have passed since I joined Twitter. I can't actually tell you when my first tweet was though. Maybe I just lurked about there for a few days. Can you find out? One of the first people I followed, and still do to this day, is Ashton Kutcher. We all follow Ashton, right? along with the soon to be ex Mrs Kutcher. I liked their tweets. Still do. We got (get) to see a side of celebs that we wouldn't normally get to see. I like that.
I would recommend anyone to get themselves a Twitter account. But my biggest piece of advice I could give to you is just to be yourself. Be honest. Be you. Tweet what you want, when you want - just don't be nasty or vile or harassing. Watch yourself on that, kids.
Engage with people (I've a whole blog post on engagement coming soon). In my mind it's how you get the best out of it for yourself. I don't go in for that thing of limiting the number of tweets you send per day. Who's counting anyway? Granted, there are times when people are constantly retweeting stuff and it looks like spam so I just scroll past it. Find your happy medium. Find cool, interesting, fun people to engage with and to make your world that little bit better. I've found a few. The faithfuls. The ones I can reply on to tweet some of the good shit or to just bring a smile to your face.
@Joey7Barton Before Twitter I'd have turned my nose up at the mention of his name. Joey Barton was that footballer who always seemed to be getting himself into bother on and off the pitch. Now, having followed his tweets for a good few months i can honestly say he's been a revelation. He take some abuse on it but is fit for the protagonists. Much of what he tweets about is true, in my opinion. He's often getting into trouble with the powers that be of the FA but he doesn't care much. I find it refreshing that he seems to tweet so freely and can back up what he says.
@JohnPrescott The Lord himself. Starts lots of funny little hashtag games, although admittedly I do find them annoying at times. He seems a lot of fun. You only need to check out his avatar - boxing robe and all!
@Audi my dream car manufacturer and they 'do' Twitter so well. Engaging with (lucky) customers and those of us who lust after an Audi in equal measure. The tone of the account is fun and informative and who doesn't love a picture of a new R8 to lust over.
That's all I'm listing just now. I might come back later and add a few more.
I never read a physical newspaper these days. I never buy a magazine either. They're probably about 87.6% adverts anyway. I get all my news updates online. But this headline met me when I came into the living room this morning.
How silly is it? It totally got me riled. These kinds of headlines really annoy on me. Like that little bit of skin on the roof of your mouth that would go away, if only you could stop tonguing it. I haven't read the story except the first page. That was enough.
"Social media site Facebook is wrecking marriages and harming family life". That is the first line. There are all sorts of wrong with it in my opinion. Let's see... Facebook isn't wrecking marriages. If your marriage/ relationship is rock solid no amount of social media site browsing is going to wreck it. However, if there is something missing in your relationship and its always been a bit rocky but you just won't admit it then Facebook and other social media/networking sites will make it easier for you to have that much sought after get out clause. They themselves will not wreck your relationship, you will. YOU WILL. You will go on there searching for something because of that missing piece in your life. You might see an old school boyfriend/girlfriend and start the "innocent flirting" thing. But that is you, not Facebook. "..harming family life". Hhmmm let me see. I've always thought 13 was too young for anyone to be on Facebook. For all sorts of reasons. Safety, loss of innocence, not savvy enough, loads more. But here parents should be more aware on behalf of their kids. Learn more about the security features in Facebook. Make sure they're set to the highest level, insist on having the password to the account (too far?), heck even friend your own son/daughter so as to keep an eye on them. Limit their time spent online even! That is a parents responsibility is it not. I think so, at least until the child is 16.
"Facebook Addiction Disorder". I mean what the actual fuck?! That's all anybody is needing. Another label for themselves. I wonder if you can go off sick from work with FAD... Seriously! Sure we all spend a lot more time on various sites, some of us blog, some of us read all the news articles we can, some of us do spend lots of time online the days but where does anyone get 35 hours a week to spend on Facebook. Actually, I take that back, we know many people can.
I think social networking sites get a hard time in stories produced with headlines like that. They are the facility but they are not the cause or reason for your failed marriage/relationship or your wrecked home life. Don't get me wrong, there are some people who openly flirt online, you see it LOTS on Twitter. They may label it "innocent flirting" but is flirting ever really that innocent? Think about the other person in that relationship... Maybe they have no idea that their other half is engaging online in the so called innocent flirting. I wouldn't like that, would you? There are some people who just do it for attention and have no intention of backing it up with any kind of action (for want of a better word). I have one particular person in timeline who is an outrageous flirt. Sends provocative tweets that are begging for a flirty response, then acts all innocent. The thing I can't get over is that the responses come in, lots, from people who we know are married! I mean, come on. That is not Twitter / Facebook making them do that, it's just making it easier for them to do it. They'd probably find another way to do it in an all-offline world too.
It's about time people took responsibility for their actions. Its all too easy to blame outside factors on our own faults and misdemeanors. If you meet an old school boyfriend/girlfriend on Facebook and start something and end up divorced, that's YOU. If you're openly innocently flirting and cause some strife in relationships, that's you. If you're spending all you're waking hours scouring Facebook, online etc, that's you and you need to stop, think, take ownership and do something about it. Don't blame everything else.
Angela x
I should probably add that this story is in today's Sunday Post newspaper. It doesn't really matter because there's probably another story in another paper along the same lines somewhere else.
.
I think we are. This is something I've been thinking about for a while. These days we're all connected in approx. 7.3 kinds of different ways. That's not scientific, just my own conclusions. We're on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, Path, Flickr, Instagram... the list could go on. But yet we're all a bit anti social aren't we?
Admit it. When was the last time you actually wrote on someones Facebook wall? You actually took the time to go to their page and write on their wall. When was the last time you tweeted someone (that wasn't an @ reply) just to say how the hell are you? We're all guilty of this. Being socially anti-social.
Is it to do with the overload of information available? I mean we can all see from Facebook if our "friends" are adventuring/having fun/getting married/engaged/announced a pregnancy/been on a date/got dumped.... It's like we're immune to them now. Endless status updates provide these little insights. But in reality they're only a tiny window into someones life.
There was a story (true) of a guy on Twitter who had over 100,00 followers and indeed he followed about the same amount. I always found that bit daft, i mean you can't really keep up with that many people in 140 characters. It must just look like a constant stream of social noise. You can't really be forming any sort of relationship with them all, some yes but certainly not all. Anyway this guy was seen as a bubbly figure, a nice guy, a guy who outwardly it appeared didn't seem to have any troubles. And yet he did, sadly. But how many of his 100,000 or so followers actually noticed or took the time just to send that one tweet (that isn't an @ reply remember) to say how the heck are you? Believe me it can make all the difference.
I'm currently sitting at around 41,000 tweets. I used to feel ashamed by that but I figured at least I'm actually talking to people, getting to know them, forming some sort of relationship. I try to reply to everyone's @ replies too. (Don't you just hate it when people don't reply?). Because to me this is the way that I'm social - I don't get out much. It has brought me some great offline banter too. You could very well do yourself a favour if you work for a brand and actually spoke to people - Engagement Currency? Sometimes a simple little tweet of acknowledgement would suffice.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that we all get too caught up with being on the latest new social play thing that we're there all present and correct, yes, but are we really listening and taking notice of people we are supposed to call friends (or indeed we are trying to sell our clients' product too. Think about that). Don't get caught up in the numbers game. Having been on Facebook for four years I've only just hit 100 'friends' and there's even some people on there I'm thinking of taking off. Having forty squillion (or at least a few hundred) followers on Twitter is nothing if you're not actually having any dialogue with them and by dialogue I mean actual conversations, not you tweeting out the link to the latest cat video or blog post or... well, whatever. Those snippets are all well and good but if you aren't actually (and I'm going to have to use that word that I hate) ENGAGING (cringe) with people, then what's that actual point?
So, go, tweet someone you haven't for a while, if only to say hello. Write on their wall. Comment on their check in at the local sandwich shop. Smile at their Path. Write them a letter. Before it's too late...
As a follow up to my Five Things post last week, here's the start of a weekly Five Things series.
1 - Christmas presents...
...from friends you've met on Twitter. A lovely little surprise waiting on me when I got in from work on my first day back. Was it timed that way? Not sure but it was a welcome little addition to a not too bad day at all. The contents were even better and the kind of presents I wish my family thought about buying me. Just my thing indeed.
2 - Extra day off work
Not an extra day to me but it seemed to be one day longer than most people had off. That was good. I spent it with mum and the nephews. One was grumpy so me and Ryan spent about hour or so watching Fireman Sam on the iPad and then he tried his hand at tweeting. Not technically old enough for a Twitter account (being 5), but he soon got the hang of it. He even remembered the little search magnifying glass icon from YouTube. "that's what we press then type in Fireman Sam isn't it Angie?". Proud. He didn't tweet much wisdom, instead he chose to type words of things lying around. Irn bru. Phone. Calculator. Wee cutie.
3 - Songs that transport you
Zane Lowe has been on the Radio 1 breakfast show this week and he does a feature called Zane versus... On the morning I was up early to go to a spin class (Wednesday), it was Zane versus Matt Smith aka Dr Who. The first song the Doctor chose was ERASURE - A Little Respect.
Oh my god it just transported me back to happy places. If i hadn't been driving the car i'd have been jiving around my room. However, i find that car-seat-dancing is the new dancing around your room. Try it. Carefully though.
4 - A Two Day working week
ah those extra little holidays mean that this week i've worked just Thursday and Friday. Bliss. It's been quiet so got things done. But also, i'd rather have these two little days back than try to haul myself out of bed on Monday morning after two weeks off. That would be hard. Praise be to small little victories like this.
5 - Sherlock Holmes: a game of shadows and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
I can't tell you how much i was looking forward to seeing Sherlock Holmes. I saw the first film two years ago on New Years Day sat in a late showing at my local cinema. Me, alone, and about 7 other couples. Cringe. But i liked it a lot. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson was fab and it didn't disappoint in this new one either. Honestly, from the first scene i was grinning like a loon at the screen. It's witty, clever and RDJr is just ace. Jude Law does help too. Also there were a few surprise appearances from actors I didn't know were in it. That was a nice addition to my viewing.
I was looking forward to The Girl WTDT ever since i saw a sneak peak of the trailer a few months back. I'm not a huge fan of Daniel Craig (I've never seen the Bond films he's in), although I did like him in Layercake. But I was willing to give it a go. I watched the original version of the film on a pixelated laptop screen via the LoveFilm website at the beginning of last year. It was good. Very dark and gritty and gruesome at certain parts. I wondered if 'hollywood' could capture that. My verdict is a big fat YES. It's just as dark and gruesome but with a Hollywood sheen over it. Rooney Mara is good and I almost forgot about the original girl. Daniel Craig is blooming marvellous as Mikael. There's even a cameo from Jim Robinson off of Neighbours (he pops up everywhere). It's long at over 2 hours but honestly I didn't really notice the time. It would be too obvious to say it has a bit of the look of Seven to it since Fincher directs here too but I thoroughly enjoyed it and warmed to Daniel Craig more than I thought I would. I would even say i like him now.
I hope they're doing the full series, it would be wrong not to. Can anyone confirm?
One week. Five things. Lots of smiles.
What are yours?
Wednesday 26 October was the 3rd Worldwide InstaMeet day. What's that you say? Well Instagram is an iPhone photo app (one of my favourites) and an InstaMeet is a group of people who get together and chat, take photos all relating to Instagram. Well, that was the idea, but despite countless calls and few people saying yes, they'd come, I ended having a day to myself walking around taking pictures and posting them to Instagram, and Twitter.
As you might guess this is a picture heavy post so look away now if you don't like pictures. But I wanted to mark the day, my day, in pictures. I decided that i'd go to Edinburgh for this day that on Instagram and Twitter I called #InstaWalkAnge #InstaWalkScotland I'll explain... The hashtag for the day was #InstaMeet - check the Instagram blog - with the name of the city attached to the end. But since there weren't many takers i thought I'd name it after our beautiful country. I mean surely we have enough going on in the wee nooks and crannies of our cities to capture. Yes we do and that's what i did.
I hope you like the photos. There will be more days like this soon so give me a shout if you fancy tagging along on the next one.
my pillow - the morning of Worldwide InstaMeet day
This one isn't an Instagram but these shoes kept me walking all day in comfort
White Building - Royal Lyceum Theatre
again, not an Instagram but a picture from food stop at Illegla Jack's
Stained
Castle by night
Door. Pillars
Trains
Last one of the day. Me. Ange
Hope you enjoyed my walk with Instagram. I certainly did. You can follow my photos on Instagram by looking for my username @Ange77H
And a big thanks to @Drgonzolives @CaesarLopez @Cheakodaman @littleembot @abzquine @nickdixon8 @ for the likes and comments on my pictures. Thanks for walking with me, virtually.
What a week! Feels like I've been on a whirlwind merry-go-round that i never want to get off but i have. And what i've been left with is a stuffy nose, a dry cough and a throat so tight it's taking all my effort to drink my tea. This week has been filled with fun, excitement, nerves, aching-gut worry, cinema, music, birthday, lunches, dinners, baby and the most excellent friends a girl can have. And mostly all thanks to Twitter, and me of course.
Tuesday saw a long overdue lunch and window shopping in Glasgow with gorgeous wonderful friend Nicola (@Lilacswizzle). I really have to thank her for the much need confidence boost and wise words I would never have thought of under the circumstances. I have so much to thank her for this week, you don't even know!
Later on Tuesday I ventured cross country from West to East to Edinburgh, where I was attending a preview screening of new movie Warrior, via RBS Film First. This time it would be a solo trip as cinema buddies were busy. Panic started to set in on the train when the battery indicator popped up like a looming message of doom... 20% battery left. Argh! how would i find my way without google maps?! How would I check in on FourSquare?! How could i review this movie afterwards and let the whole of Twitter now how it was?! But still i continued to refresh my timeline. The train was nearing the East and the signal is really fucking patchy isn't it. So all I had was the O2 O of doom and no 3G. Panic, panic. I sent out a desperate tweet: Edinburgh, where can i find a bite to eat and (more importantly) a plug to charge my phone?!! Refresh.... Refresh.... Switch off... No signal... BUZZ! a reply! "well @illegaljacks of course. Ask nicely and you might get to charge your phone :)" Yay. I immediately sent a tweet, asking nicely of course, and the reply was yes, it would be waiting. Phew, what a life saver. Safe in the knowledge that my phone would soon have juice in it, i settled back to enjoy the remainder of my journey with plenty in my thoughts. Well as much settling back as you can do on a Scotrail train seat without thinking about all the other heas that have touched that spot where yours is... yes this is what i think about?! *shudder*. I digress...
The train arrived and I made my way to Illegal Jacks. It was a lovely not-quite-autumn-but-getting-there evening, a bit windy but the sun was still shining and embracing me in his warmth. Wandering along the street it occured to me that I seemed to be heading in the complete opposite direction to the masses. Rush hour. There were suits, numerous. All shades of dark. Navy, Grey, Black, Charcoal. Suits. But what I did notice that stood out were the sensible women who'd opted for trainers and suits when running to catch the train. I mused how they must've had a pair of work shoes hidden under their desks like me. Just in case, you know...
Anyway I reached Illegal Jacks and ordered from the menu then sheepishly asked if there was a plug. I was pointed towards the window, sat myself down and plugged in. PHEW! It really is a disaster when your phone runs out of battery but all was now well. A few minutes later my very tasty cajun spiced chicken wings arrived. They were hot, hot hot and spicy hot. Lovely. I sat and recharged and watched the world go by out the window. I do love a good people watching session! I exchanged tweets were back and forth from various people and then what a lovely surprise that Kelly (@Macfack) had dropped by to see me. (She saw i was checked in on FourSquare). We had a wee chat then it as time for me to head to the movie. This was the purpose of my visit afterall. I unplugged, 73% battery should see me right.
I walked along to Cineworld, not too far really, and headed into the cinema. The screen wasn't ready yet so we waited about 10 minutes before being let in. I had a wee chance to think a little. I'm always thinking. I was wishing that i had a companion with me, it would've been nice. Sadly, not this time. They opened the screen and we filed in. I checked in - obviously and tweeted a few people. Then the ads came on and it was time for the film. Thank goodness there weren't any noisy popcorn eaters in my vicinity. It was bad enough on Sunday.
The film began. Warrior. I thought it was about boxing but it was in fact about cage fighting. It was shot nicely and leads were Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton - who you may remember from that Australian programme that used to be on BBC2 years ago, The Secret Life of Us. I loved that show but they never showed it again here. Anyway, Warrior. It was good. It was kinda predictable towards the end but well shot, nicely acted and the emotion caught me a bit at the end. Loved it really. I'd recommend it. Here's the trailer...
Out of the cinema i was a little bit scared walking these strange streets at night. There were one or two people around but as soon as i got back to the train station i was fine. I was freezing cold but. Shivering. And there was still a half hour wait on my train, darn. I was kept company by a few lovely people on Twitter. It's so great for that eh. Soon enough the time passed and my train would arrive on 5 minutes but not on platform 4 like what was on the screen. It always gets moved at Haymarket to platform 2 at the last minute! Grrr very annoying. Anyway the train was warm and I enjoyed a little convo with a totally awesome person via DM. There was something I wanted/needed to tell them but somehow the right words didn't come out. It would have to wait.
Platform clock
I woke on Wednesday with a dry mouth and chesty cough. Bugger it. I was heading out tonight, again! and there was no time for petty ailments. But I smiled when I checked my phone and had a wondrous text. Lovely. headed to work for another busy day answering loads of emails from students and every other thing that needed doing. But i didn't care. For tonight was a surprise do for Lovely Ian, the Surf Punk (@surfpunkian). Today was his birthday!!
The Mayor's Birthday
He'd told me previously he didn't like surprises but i was sure he wouldn't mind this one organised by one of his friends. I left work early at 4 to catch the train and headed through again. Fast becoming a regular jaunt for me. I arrived at Illegal Jacks a little after 6 and a few people were there. He said he was surprised and didn't have an idea. Nice. And he was parading about with a FourSquare Mayor t-shirt, a present from someone. Cool. By such a coincidence, a lovely girl, Andie (@MissAKis) i've followed on Twitter for nearly 2 years was in town with her work and she would be in Illegal Jacks for dinner too. I couldn't wait to meet her and when i finally did she was chatty, bubbly, lovely and such a warm person and a totally brilliant raconteur. Loads of stories. LOADS. Great.
All too soon it was time for me to head to my train and so I said my goodbyes to Andie, she was recounting her days spent in and around Newcastle to the group, and had a little chat and said goodbye to the wonderful birthday boy. I think he had a good birthday...
Heading home i had a few things on my mind. I wanted to kick myself, for a good reason. I wanted to turn back the past few weeks and do a thing differently but you can't can you.
Thursday i woke and was feeling pretty rubbish to be honest. Tired. Knackered. Flu-y. Coughy. Still had work to go to, boo. But i was visiting Linda and baby Kai tonight for a good old gossip and dinner. It was a good night. We had cheesburgers and chips and tea and juice and sticky toffee pudding. A treat indeed. I filled her in on everything from work to me and my past few weeks of fun. All the while Kai snoozed, fed, played on his mat and farted loads. I mean loads. For a month old baby he was farting like an old man. haha so funny and so beautiful. I headed home about 8.30 for an early night but i had a sinking feeling in my gut. You know when you get that? Bleh. I was glad to get to bed that night.
Friday was work and then spin class. And full on flu symptoms. I couldn't even eat the packet of marshmallows i've had for about 2 weeks. What's wrong with me?! I must be sick.
So that dear readers was my full on non stop crazy exciting wondrous gut-achingly massive week. It was emotional...
In case you hadn't noticed, I'm tweeting today (perhaps longer) in pictures only. Gets a bit tricksy when you want to reply to someone but i think i've put my drawing skills to good use. Here's a few of the pictures i've used so far (all over on my Twitpic stream). I've been numbering them all too so if you get a tweet from me and it has a weird number in it like, say, 1.6, then it's for my reference and means nothing except its picture number 1.6. Okay? good!
