Last day at work today.

I've thankfully managed to line something else up, and I'm looking forward to the redundancy pay out too, although I'll not believe it 'til I see it sat in my bank account.

I hope I never have to go through this again though, plus it's been nearly five years since I changed jobs and starting somewhere new is going be hard, good I think in the long run though.

I get to pay off some debt and take an easier job, it's less money, which is a little hard to swallow (I've never taken a step down in pay before, job changes have always included increases before, it's a curiously, and unfortunately emasculating experience) but maybe I'll get to spend a little time sorting the rest of my life out; instead of grinding myself into the ground.

Thank you Takashi Murukami, I liked your work before, but it's like you made this just for me...

So I just got back from ANOTHER job interview, this one a follow-up in London; I'm sick of being so damn chipper, and keen it's so painfully self-aggrandissing. But fuck it I need a new job.

Also, Why do Virgin persist in lying about how long that train journey takes?! Just accept it's not 2 hours, we all know it, be honest about it.

So it's been a long, long time since I lived our Capital city, and I do really miss it, I went for a walk in Hyde Park as it got dark, and then headed to the French House for a glass of wine, and then the Ship for a pint of flat southern piss.

Here's some pictures:

Ummm, I bought an IPhone. It now rules my life.

I also went to an indoor ski slope this week (it's amazing what you can get away with when your place of work is about to close down, and nobody bothers checking on what you're up to anymore...)



Oh and I'm really digging this guy and his paintings right now.


Sage Vaughn

That's about all I think.

Happy New Year.

So, so long 2009 and may you never darken my door again (I'm pretty confident that on this point, I can say it won't), for you have been possibly the worst year in living memory for me and my fortunes;

Finally lost all hope of being with the one person I have (sadly too late) come realise is the only woman I have ever truly loved.

Best friend moved back to Glasgow.

Work deteriorated more and more and is heading towards an inexorable, redundancy orientated conclusion.

My stress levels rocketed, and I've lost a fuck load of confidence/self worth.


Thank you so much 2009. 2010 isn't looking too pretty either, what with the redundancy thing getting ever closer, and money therefore becoming scarcer to lay my grubby mitts on.

On the plus side, I do love a bit of snow, and, well, there is a lot of it about right now.

Ah fuck it, I guess it'll all turn out for the best at some point in the near future.

So this Christmas period has taught me that:

If I'm going to take up running on a regular basis; making a promise to myself to start during the worst weather the country has seen for many winters was possibly not the best piece of timing.

On the plus side i got a fancy Nike+ thing that berates me into following through with aforementioned promises.

(It's like wearing the future on your wrist!).

Ice is slippy (I thought I'd already learnt this lesson, apparently not).

There is such a thing as too much butter.

I'm rubbish at chess (but am determined to get better).

Well I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year, despite the dreadful 12 months that lead up to it, mine was pretty nice, it was the first time I've ever had more than a couple of days off, and I spent them wisely (by doing very little indeed), drank booze (hot buttered rum is a source of severe heartburn it seems), saw family, ate food, and then watched a lot fireworks.

2010, welcome and do a better job than your older brother, he was rubbish.

I appear to have drunk more in the last three days than in the previous three months, go team! I've been avoiding booze for a while, as I have absolutely no understanding of the word 'moderation' - but friends visiting from Glasgow + finding out I am (along with everyone else I work with) being made redundant at the end of February induced some awesome levels of overconsumption...

So we trawled the town for beers and shots, gathering others along the way before effectively laying waste to my flat (I'm left, swimming in cumulative filth right now), three day benders are not clever post 30; I now know the intimate pain of heartburn...

But hey ho; we went to a 1st birthday party for a good dinky tiki bar (free-poured booze straight from bottle to mouth, good times), a new tiki bar adorned with puffer fish lamps (I feel must steal at least one of them), and a godawful new poolhall bar full of wankers in hats.

In the midst of all this we seemed to have stumbled upon some sort of street parade (apologies for the quality, I've a crap camera phone and couldn't see straight)...





And this is what the last three days have looked like...



So I'm cleaning and tidying and looking forward to a booze free weekend. Next week it's job hunting and a bit of gentle Kiwi reggae/hip hop (oh and meeting up with my ex, eeeep!)



Hope you're all good!

Hahahaha.

So my week's been a predictibly squalid mixture of self-hatred and booze, but it's done with now.

Last night I went to see Grizzly Bear play at Manchester Cathedral, and it was.... ok (nice building, poor sound, a musical style I like in small doses).

I was actually really looking forward to a bit of looking at these fucking hipsters, but sadly they were in short supply!

Instead it seemed a more common breed turned up in their place; almost as if there had been special coaches (those home knitted, hummus fuelled, crocheted steering wheeled ones) laid on to ferry most of Chorlton into town for the night. This meant I spent most of the night resisting the urge to slap iphones out of hands and punch thick rimmed glasses of faces...

I feel this last week has left me with some unresolved anger issues.

Ah fuck it.

the 29th marks the anniversary of my failed marriage.

I'm off to crawl into a deep dark pit full of self-pity and loathing for the next week.

Could someone wake me up when it's Bonfire night please?

So I've not had a day off for nearly three weeks, and despite this fact (and horrendous 12 hour shifts I've also been on) I managed to go see some fine quality Scando-noodley jazz ensemble this evening... So, the 5 Corners Quintent!




They played at Band on the Wall, it's been closed for a good number of years and just reopened, (it smells so new!) - If you're in and around Manchester, plese go see some stuff, there's a real dearth of venues like this and they need support (and not just the lottery money that got it back open again!).

Oh, I also cooked a damn good pizza, the other day...



I got the weekend off, and I'm going to sleep some.